99obw

I think theotherskip has a pretty comprehensive list on his web site. Maybe he will chime in or do a search.

Russ, Where is tri-flow sold?

Your advice is spot on Howard, but comparing it to WD-40 is an insult to PB to say the least! Supposedly there are penetrants even better than PB, but I have yet to find one. Someone told me Kroil was better than PB, they lied. They talk about a penetrant on BITOG called Penetro 90 that's supposed to be awesome, but I haven't used it. FWIW I think PB is even cheaper at Walmart.

I think you answered your own question. Q: A: When our outback was new I incremented the intervals up to 3k, i.e. 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 2.5k, 3k. So the oil changes were performed at 1k, 2.5k, 4.5k, 7k, 10k miles using Pennzoil 5w-30. I switched to Mobil 1 5w-30 at around 70k miles and was using 3-5k intervals. At 120k miles I switched to Amsoil 5w-30 winter and 10w-30 summer and have been using 7.5k intervals. I am going to switch to Amsoil 5w-40 soon and start using 10k intervals year round.

or the engine has been neglected or abused.

Or you can use a hub tamer.

Double-clutching is letting the clutch pedal out as the shift lever passes through neutral, then pressing it back in before the gear is made. You might try shifting differently. Each model of transmission and each gear lube behave a bit differently. I have found that some cars are intolerant of shifting too quickly or too slowly or at too high of RPMs etc. I would just experiment until you find what the car likes. If you are ambitious learning to match speeds will likely improve your shifts as well.

I will address the Subaru experience from my perspective, 30ish professional 2 kids outdoors lover. This group is buying mostly outbacks and foresters. To me, our outback is one of very few cars that can make it up our road with 14" of fresh powder on it. I love the way the legacy wagon handles but it lacks the ground clearance I need. Subaru to me means value and utility. Most of my peers are driving trailblazers and explorers, or saturns and hyundais, YUCK!!! Subaru means you are different, you think for yourself, you don't follow the crowd. Subaru owners expect more. Subaru is the epitome of the SUV mindset before the SUV mindset was going to the mall and the grocery store. Most Subaru owners actually use their vehicles to their full potential, something that can be said of very few SUVs.

FWIW in 2001 I rented a Ryder truck and car trailler, one way from Wichita KS to Rochester NY was about $900. Ryder was cheaper at that time than any other company. I once nursed an F600 truck from Albany to Rochester with a badly blown head gasket on the thruway in the middle of the night. Took about 8 hours and countless stops to get water. Your experience shouldn't be nearly as bad if you choose to try it. I recommend removing the thermostat and stopping for water very frequently.

Yep, head gasket. You might be able to nurse it home but be very careful with the temperature.

IIRC EJ22 should be cast into the block roughly below the alternator.

AFAIK on the Phase I EJ22 the spark plugs exit the head above the valve cover, and on the Phase II they pass through the valve cover.

Hmmm. How did you measure the amount of refrigerant that you added? I remember reading somewhere that the system won't be as cold if either you have too little or too much refrigerant. I can't remember where I read that though. I do have a book on the subject, perpahs I will look it up if I get time. The outback is a little undercharged according to the low-side gauge I have and it is as cold as it has ever been.

I didn't see any recalls when I looked on alldata.com related to the seat belts for that car. I hate to sound like a broken record on this one but consider this next time you see an animal in the road. "The Montana Highway Patrolman testified that Mr. Barnard swerved to avoid an animal."

When I put the new compressor on the outback I had too much oil in it at first. It would cycle on and off rather quickly, so cooling was poor, but the low side pressure was fine. I think it is pretty hard on the compressor to have too much oil in it. I let the refrigerant out of the system and a lot of oil came out with it. I have no idea how much oil is in there now, probably too much still, but it cools decent and no black death or compressor noise so far. I don't think all of the oil stays in the compressor, so adding the total system amount to the new compressor would probably result in too much oil in the system. The only way I know to get the oil out so you can start with a clean slate is to flush the entire system with solvent. Water in the system can freeze up, causing intermittent operation. If you replaced the receiver/dryer the new dessicant should absorb any moisture, especially considering the fact that you had it vacuumed. When I put the compressor on the outback I did everything wrong, I didn't have a vacuum pump so it wasn't vacuumed, and I didn't put a new receiver/dryer on it. It is cooling pretty good now so I am going to leave it alone until it gives me problems. I am in a much cooler climate so the A/C can be less than perfect. You probably require full cooling capacity in Texas. Needless to say I know just enough to be dangerous with this A/C stuff.

I just replaced the knock sensor on the outback after getting a P0325 code. The car was very sluggish and fuel economy was poor while the MIL was on. Replacing the sensor was easy. Removed the airbox behind the throttle body per the FSM to gain access and torqued the new sensor to 207 in-lb. Cleared the code and the MIL hasn't come back on in ~50 miles. Running much better.

I really don't know. I don't know the origin of the ESM, is it Subaru? 60k seems like a short interval. They tend to get tighter, though some will probably loosen. Tighter lifters cause the valves to run hotter, perhaps eventually burning out the exhaust valves. Yep, shim under bucket. PITA. The screw adjusters should be much easier, though probably less precise. If you are going to do them yourself, I see no reason not to do them at 60k if you want to.

I think 60k is a little early for the belts. I think I replaced them when I did the timing belt at 105k. The valve adjustment topic has been discussed at length, do a search.

Tiny gave good advice. Divide and conquer.

Divide and conquer. You will need a meter. 1. Power to the bulb socket? Yes, goto step 2, no goto step 3. 2. Ground to the bulb socket? Yes, replace bulb, no, fix ground to bulb socket. 3. Power to the switch? Yes, check switch and wire from switch to bulb, no, fix problem causing no power to switch.

I have had a compression tester on #1 to find TDC. It's not too bad. I prefer to do anything relating to the plugs from underneath with the car on ramps. #4 might be a pain.I don't think a compression test will tell you much. The slapping is because of the (lack of) skirts, and the compression rings are at the other end of the piston.

Well, I don't have any scientific data, only opinion and anecdotal evidence. In general gearboxes and differentials don't have a filter. Any metal (minus what the magnet can hold) or other contamination is going to stay in the lubricant until the lubricant is changed. The metal particles tend to be large and I think as a result that they are very abrasive. I live on a dirt road, and drive in heavily salted western NY, so contamination from dirt and salt is a concern for me as well. I have drained gearboxes and diffs after 50k or so to find a lot of metal, more than the magnet could hold. I often find a lot of metal suspended in the lubricant in gearboxes, giving it a metal flake paint appearance. I think periodic fluid changes are relatively inexpensive based on the small capacity, and good insurance based on the contamination I have seen. Plus it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling knowing my gears are bathing in a fresh bath of the finest synthetic.

My $0.02 I have been using Mobil 1 75w-90 changed every year, which is every 30k miles. My experience in the past was that conventional gear lube severely discolored by 30k, so I use synthetic, which darkens very little. I know, I know, color doesn't mean anything, but I prefer the synthetic. I don't believe any of the BS about synthetic gear lubes being good for 100k or the life of the vehicle. My experience has been that sealant isn't needed if the plugs are properly torqued. YMMV

I changed the odometer to read the actual mileage before the speedo head change ~138k + the actual mileage on the new speedo head ~13k so now it says ~151k. It was pretty easy to do. I talked to the service manager at the dealer near where I work. I asked him if I could get the actual vehicle mileage out using the select monitor, and he said "Subaru isn't quite there yet". I find this really hard to believe, as the body control modules I worked on at Motorola in 1998 had the odometer in them, and I could read ( and write ) it relatively easily, and those modules only controlled things like daytime running lights, turn signals, etc. Granted, I was using proprietary hardware and software I wrote, but the tools available to the service tech must be able to at least read this kind of stuff. I am certain the mileage must be in a computer on the car somewhere, and it must be readable. Oh well, I will leave it like it is, knowing the mileage is higher. Hopefully the DMV doesn't know more about reading this information than the Subaru dealers do.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=123912&postcount=7