99obw

I think it's much easier to fix the Phase I, which really isn't too bad with a good set of gaskets in it. I did the EJ22 swap in a friends car and I don't think I'd do it again, I'd fix the PH I EJ25 instead. I don't think we saved any money and he ended up with less power. The early Phase II's were fairly problematic as well, though the HG failures were less severe, replacing the gaskets on the donor engine would be prudent. I think if the Phase I in question is in reasonable condition that that's the way to go.

I respect your point of view as well, I would have the same attitude toward car care if salt didn't destroy my vehicles so quickly. I work on a road with a huge salt mine, so much salt is on the road in the winter that it actually makes it greasy. Our vehicles have shown a significant increase in the rate of deterioration since moving to this locale. I think that UOA can guide a person to longevity with nearly any engine in nearly any conditions. When I drove 110 miles a day I had some awesome UOA's at over 10k miles on ordinary full flow filtration and group IV synthetics. I eagerly await a 6 month OCI UOA on my current 1.5 mile commute with group III 5w-40 HDEO, it should be greusome! I am looking into an oil/coolant heat exchanger to reduce fuel and water contamination in the Jeep and increase average oil temperatures with the short commute. I'm also using an extremely high VI 0w-30 for winter, if I were a risk taker I'd use a 0w-20 or 5w-20, my wear rates might actually be lower, even in the stovebolt 4.0. I should also mention the reduction in reliability of the lubrication system in general as a result of external components, I'd be willing to guess an order of magnitude is not out of range, not because they are overly problematic, but because the stock systems are nearly 100% reliable. Sorry to derail this otherwise productive discussion, just playing devils advocate as is my nature. Wishing you the longest possible ownership experience!

The OCD part of me (dominant) really wants one of these systems, but the practical side of me will not allow it. From a practical point of view I am a skeptic of these systems, especially in this part of the country, as rust will kill a car long before the engine wear that can be mitigated by a bypass filter, unless the car is driven an insane number of miles per year (>40k?). I don't doubt that excellent filtration can extend the life of an engine, but virtually any well cared for engine nowadays can last 200k, well beyond most peoples' tolerance for a particular vehicle. Engines also typically outlast most of the other systems in a car. I have yet to junk a car with a bad engine, and I've driven countless cars into the ground. I did replace a turbocharged dodge engine once, though I doubt a bypass filter would have prevented a burned piston.

Ahhh a good oil question. This could get ugly. In general the owner's manual should be followed. 10w-30 is generally a longer lasting oil than 5w-30, though most any newer oil is really good. With that said; I prefer a 5w-40 summer and 0w-30 winter. I'm a bit OCD and I like to know that my oil is flowing as quickly as possible, yet is still thick enough to prevent excessive oil consumption in the outback. I'm using a thick 0w-30 in the outback to keep the consumption down, and a thinner 0w-30 in the Jeep for my short trips to work.

Nah, despite what the t-shirts might say, Ithaca is relatively warm. We have a big deep lake nearby that significantly moderates the temperatures. I'm talking about western NY, where I lived from '83-'05. OT: Hello from Sweden. I've only seen one Subaru, a gen III outback, been here a week.

One thing that rarely gets mentioned is climate. My informal non-scientific survey of upstate NY people suggests that most end up replacing the PHI HG's before 150k miles. Obviously there is no always, no never, but it's very common none-the-less. I think that cold starts, let's say just for example 5F or less, are a huge contributor. The day ours blew it was 5 F outside. Hmmm, anecdotal no doubt. Many of the people I have seen on here singing the praises of the PHI live in an area where colds starts at these temps rarely if ever happen. I have started our PHI down to -20F, and many many starts have taken place in the -5F to 5F range. I think it's absolutely hilarious that anyone brags about a subaru reaching anything less the 400k, as I have seen small block chevies and 4.0 jeep motors fly past 300k without hesitation, and they are primitive detroit iron. Apples and oranges perhaps, but funny to me anyway. Don't get me wrong, our Subaru has been a great car, but there are a lot of good cars out there now-a-days.

If it were me, OEM PCV and no thicker than 15w-40.

Perhaps the Danes dispense the salt with some measure of restraint and care, here they seem determined to destroy everyone's car. It makes me upset that our '99 is already rusting away. I know we could get 300k out of it if only the body would last that long.

I'll just chime in to give my praise to the Yokohama Avid TRZ's that we are currently running for a summer tire. They have been great in all conditions, but are a little loud (which I don't mind at all). I bought them based on their rating and reviews on tirerack.com, though I purchased them locally. I think they are a great tire for the money. My experiences with several sets of Michelins has been high price and mediocre performance. This is my second set of Yokohamas and they are every bit as good as the Michelins for less money. I haven't run them in the snow as we have four studded nokian hakka 1's for the winter. No hard-tread all-season tire has decent snow and ice performance, not by my definition of decent at least. Look at the ice braking column in that chart!! <flame suit on>

Those work great on newer vehicles, but I have had little luck using those threaded holes on rusty drums and rotors. Either the threads on the bolts strip or the holes are too rusty to get the bolts into. OT: I'll be in Copenhagen Monday, then to Stockholm and finally to Lund. Buisiness trip for 3 weeks. My first trip out of NA.

Our '99 PH I EJ25 drinks the average 30 weight like crazy. It especially likes Mobil 1, though the new formulations are thicker. In the winter I run a thick 30, German Castrol 0w-30, and it uses about 1 qt/2k. In the summer I'm using Rotella T 5w-40, and it uses about 1 qt/4k. Based on my experience your consumption seems reasonable, given the miles and the oil you are using. If I were you I would use a 5w-40 or 10w-40 and see what happens. For temperatures above freezing a 15w-40 is a good choice as well. Also check the PCV as mentioned. Cookie is my thick oil hero. That's thicker than I'm willing to go.

Even if the shoes are loose sometimes the rust is severe enough to make removal impossible. BTDT One time I used a REALLY big 3 jaw wheel puller that I borrowed, another time I put a 2x4 across the front of the drum, pressing on the hub, and used my spring compressors to squeeze between the 2x4 and the drum. Once pressure was being applied, one good tap with a 10lb sledge and the whole thing flew apart. I have had many people tell me that beating them with a sledge is always enough, yet in these two instances it wasn't. I had already damaged the drums beyond being usable with my sledge before finally getting them removed. Like tcspeer said, get the shoes loose first. If they still won't come off, spray the area where the hubs, studs, and drums meet with penetrating oil and let it sit for a while. I like to then heat the face of the drum with a torch by circling the openings where the hub and studs go through. Be careful because the remaining oil will catch on fire. Then hit the drum on the edge of the front face with a 10lb sledge, working your way around. Repeat. The chances of damaging the drums using this method are high. I like to coat the hub with some never sieze when reassembling, makes the next time much easier.

The back of the kit lists Acura, Chevy, Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Geo, Honda, Isuzu, Plymouth, Subaru, and Toyota as possible applications. Maybe your plunger was worn out, I know that mine was at least as bad as the contacts.

I finally replaced the starter solenoid contacts on the '99 outback. It has been acting up for a couple of months now, but always seemed to start after a few tries. My wife spent about 5 minutes in the parking lot at work today cycling the key before it started, so I decided I would quit making excuses and get it done. I've had the parts for weeks! I used the "Victory Lap" ND-34SOL Nippondenso OSGR Starter Solenoid Repair Kit that I got from http://www.partsamerica.com. http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=VLP&mfrpartnumber=ND34SOL Just thought that I would post this so that people searching would have another source for these hard to find parts. The kit contained four contacts, two that I needed and two that presumably fit other vehicles covered by the kit, and it also had a new plunger. Installation was a piece of cake, getting the starter off was the hardest part.

As rcoaster said, the relay box is on the driver's side between the battery and the windshield washer bottle. They are easy to test with a 12v supply and an ohmmeter. The other way to test them is to plug them into another location in the relay box with the same relay and see if they work. I have found that all of mine have failed in the same way, they develop intermittent connections in the base. If I wiggle them the lights will come on intermittently, but at that point they are too unreliable for continued service. My experience has been that one relay failing causes these symptoms in one headlight, so your son's problem may be different, but this gives a place to start, and testing them is easy. If I remember I'll look at the wiring diagram at home tonight, then I can be more certain.

That's what happens in our outback when one of the relays dies. I have replaced them several times with OEM parts. In a pinch I have substituted other relays that are in the same box, but that is risky as they run important things.

Sorry I didn't explain very well. It's the metal pipe that the gas cap screws into, and it runs down to the gas tank, probably 2'-3' long. It hides behind a black plastic cover in the right rear wheel well. When I removed the cover several pounds of salty sand fell out. It seems that regular washing doesn't clean around this pipe. I also replaced the gas cap, shut valve, and some of the metal evap lines with rubber hose, for a total of around $225. The dealer had all of the parts in stock, which makes me think that this is a common problem. It was original, 99 outback, 198k miles, tons of salt. This is just one possible cause of the P0440, any leak in the system may cause it.

Take a look at the gas filler tube for the p0440. Ours was rotted out, I replaced it and the code is gone.

I finally completed the gas filler tube repair about 6 weeks ago. I ended up replacing the filler tube, gas cap, shut valve, and related hoses, spent around $225. MIL has been out ever since and it passed the NYS inspection. This morning the Jeep gave me the same !@#$ code!!!

I just thought that I would post my experience with this difficult to diagnose code. When I first got the code I spent a fair amount of time checking the evap solenoid, PSS valve, map sensor, and related tubing, finding nothing wrong. I decided that I could wait, as it doesn't really affect drivability, so I waited until my NYS inspection had nearly expired (80-120 hour weeks will cause this) to take a look at it again. A couple of days ago I discovered from looking in the gas filler tube that it had a small rust hole that was probably the location of the leak. Last night from inside the wheel well I took off the small plastic cover that hides the fill tube and evap lines that run in that area. All of the fasteners very easily broke off. I WAS MORTIFIED!!! The damage from salt is absolute unbelievable, bordering on carnage. I highly recommend to anyone driving in the salt belt that they try to wash behind this cover the best they can on a regular basis during winter. It had about five pounds of salty sand stuck behind it when I removed it, and the car has been washed half a dozen times since winter. I take great care to wash the wheel wells when I wash a car, but I doubt my wife is as anal, and this is her daily driver. This is a design flaw in my opinion, it either needs to be completely sealed to keep stuff out, or it needs enough access to allow easy washing without endangering the lines from flying rocks. I will probably need to buy the "shut valve" as well. It bolts to the top of the fill tube and two evap line connect to it. It is totally encrusted in a mound of salty sand, and I'm relatively sure I won't be able to reuse it. Some of the other metal evap lines in the area crumbled when I touched them. This is not going to be an easy repair. I'll post back later....

Due to the pending expiration of our NYS inspection, and the fact that they now check OBDII codes, I need to finally get rid of this code. I bought a gas cap and was going to replace it. When I got it off, upon closer inspection, I noticed that the gas filler tube was rusted through from the outside (salt ). The local dealer in Ithaca had one in stock ($120.00), so apparently they fail somewhat often. I will start what looks like the painful process of installing it tonight. Fingers crossed that this fixes the leak.

Seafoam is bound to thin the oil quite a bit, I personally wouldn't leave it in for long. On the other hand, based on how volatile seafoam is, one could probably argue that it will evaporate out relatively quickly. Perhaps BITOG has something to say about it.

I bought a B&M SuperCooler from Summit Racing. It has a viscosity index-based thermostat designed in, so it's supposed to not overcool the fluid. I will most likely be plumbing it in after the cooler in the radiator.

I have a week or two on the Rotella 5w-40, and I'm very dissapointed. It's as loud as a typical 5w-30 in the Subaru, and the Jeep is making those tractor noises again!!! I won't be using it again except in the diesel Jetta during the winter. Please oh please bring back my beloved Mobil 1 5w-40 (at $4.00 per quart)!!

Last I knew the 5w-40 Mobil 1 Truck and SUV had been discontinued. A synthetic 5w-40 from Mobil is pending under a new name, but I haven't seen it yet. It may available, but when I looked a few weeks ago there was none to be had.