99obw

I don't have nearly the knowledge about these systems that Blitz and some others have, so I have to start with the simple stuff. Using Techron is dirt cheap. If I were you I would run Techron in two consecutive tanks of gas just for giggles. I carpool to work with a guy that has a newer dodge truck with a 3.8. I know, apples and oranges, BUT, this truck periodically develops similar symptoms and Techron cleans it up every time. You said that the engine still detonates on 92 octane, in my limited experience this makes no sense to me. To me either you have mega carbon that is causing preignition, or your knock sensor is totally hosed. If this happened to me it would probably be the excuse I would need to buy a scan tool for my palm pilot and start monitoring things like the knock sensor and ignition timing while driving the car. Blitz, may I ask where you learn this detailed information about the operation of the ECU? I would love to learn more.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=114820&postcount=10 I think the Phase II was '99 for the forester, '00 for the outback, and sometime later for the impreza. AFAIK all '99 outbacks came with either Phase II block and Phase I heads or possibly some with all Phase II.

I talked to a friend of mine today that owns a car with the EZ30, and he seems to think that a firmware revision is available to make the EZ30 tolerate 87 octane fuel at the expense of 20 HP. EDIT: He has been running 89.

AFAIK Subaru recommends front to back tire rotation. What I do is lift the front of one side with the scissor jack and the rear of the same side with my floor jack using the lift points on the rocker panel. I made a small wood piece to sit on the saddle of the floor jack that has a small groove in it that the rocker panel seam sits in.

Have you tried a carbon removing cleaner such as Techron or Seafoam?

I would love to believe that the EZ30 can run on 87, but I wouldn't believe it coming from someone trying to sell a 10.5:1 CR car in these times of rising gas prices.

While you are checking check to see if the pads are wearing evenly. If they aren't it's a sign of the caliper and pads not moving freely, which will reduce mileage and brake life.

My guess is you didn't get it back on correctly if it didn't wobble before you removed it.

I have been using the 1 quart squeeze bottles to put it in. I just keep filling up the same bottle to keep it as full as possible, and sqeeeeze.

The last tank was 31 MPG. The one before was 28 MPG. Both about 80/20 highway/city. We have been getting 24 MPG consistently all winter with plenty of idling. This is the best mileage we have ever seen out of this car, and it is happenning at ~153k miles. I guess my complaining about AWD fuel economy in another thread was poorly timed! I don't trust the readings yet, I am going to keep records for a while to see what it actually is. I would love to credit the sythetic lubricants I am using throughout, but I don't think that is the only reason as I have been using those for a while. The most obvious change was mounting the summer tires, Yokohama Avid Touring radials, and increasing the tire pressure to 35 PSI front and 34 PSI rear. I have no experience running pressures above the manufacturers recommendations, so I hope the wear will be even. I have been running Blizzaks since November 29 PSI front and 28 PSI rear, at those pressures the centers wear only slightly faster than the outside. Of course the summer gas change happens around this time of year, if such a change still happens in NY. I don't know for sure why the outback is sipping gas but it is and I like it!!!

Welcome to the USMB.

My first choice is Subaru, my second choice is Bendix.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/SP-96800.html http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/LIS-38220.html

Some friends of mine really enjoy going there, so I tag along for lunch once in a while. The wings suck, but growing up in WNY my wing standards are pretty high. Their hottest wing isn't even equal to a mild wing at one of the local places. One of my friends knows a waitress really well, so we always get her and she gives up excellent service. The problem is, lunch at hooters always involves several pitchers of beer, then lunch at hooters turns into after lunch drinks at the strip club down the street. Their food is much better and the scenery is more interesting too.

I always coat the outside of the plug with never sieze after I am done, never have any troubles getting them out. I don't coat the threads of the plug before assembly because I am worried about contamination of the gear lube. Be sure to clean off the old never sieze before removing the plugs. Always remove the fill plug first. Synthetic gear lube is awesome, so much better than conventional. I used the Valvoline for a while. It isn't bad, but I think Mobil 1, Amsoil, and Redline are much, much better. The Valvoline would discolor significantly in a year of use. The Mobil 1 looks brand new when I drain it. I am going to give the Amsoil 75w-90 a try sometime soon.

You can probably get away with doing that but it makes me cringe when I think about it. A chain wrench works really well if you cut a piece of the old timing belt and use it to protect the pulley. Be careful with the timing covers. The proper tool is only $25 so if you have time that would be the best bet. A strap wrench may work if it is a really good one, the craftsman one I have is really springy and probably wouldn't work.

Run away from dex-cool (aka death cool). It has caused nothing but problems for GM owners. Do a google and you will see mostly complaint and class action lawsuit pages. It works well in the lab but in the real world it is a problem waiting to happen. No snake oil coolant additive is going to prevent head gasket failures. The design of the engine and the gasket is flawed. The subaru additive doesn't prevent failures, it just plugs the leaks as they develop. IMHO following the advice of Subaru is usually the best path for a Subaru owner. That includes using Subaru coolant or similar and the Subaru additive when required.

You might need a hub remover to press the axle out of the hub.

This is the first I have read that Subaru recommends repacking the bearings. It contradicts what is said in other Endwrench articles. http://endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/FtAdditionalTipsF99.pdf It also mentions not using air tools to remove or install axle nuts, another thing we were discussing.

On the front camber is adjusted where the strut meets the knuckle. Your wear sounds very excessive. I haven't been as good with tire rotation as I should have been, and all I have seen is excessive wear in the front two tires, but the wear has still been very even. Our car has 153k miles on it and has never been aligned.

Does he have a specific reason for suggesting engine replacement? If not, I think you would be better off with your engine with the latest revision of head gasket rather than a used engine with the original gasket. 80k is pretty young, it should have a lot of life left in it.

Frag recently posted about his axle replacement: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13172

Those rust marks are definately a direct result of a person using an impact wrench on your lug nuts and damaging the paint. I hate impact wrenches on lug nuts. They are totally unnecessary with the proper tools and never sieze. I conceed they are faster, but haste makes waste sometimes too. Special impact sockets with plastic bushings to protect the rims are available. If I was a tire shop I would have some, because of customers like me. Was the factory responsible?The steels will rust no matter what you do. I have learned the hard way that winter tires and rims are the way to go if you value your nice set of rims.

Our '99 outback has Phase I heads, Phase II block. It has ~153k miles on it. Slaps pretty loudly some mornings, quiet other mornings. Slapping started somewhere around 60k-70k miles IIRC. I have found that a good, relatively thick 5w-30 synthetic quiets it down significantly in the winter, as opposed to the pennzoil I used when the car was new. Mobil 1 made it sound like a bucket of bolts and drained looking like water. I am currently contemplating my oil choice for this summer. I love the oil range the manual allows for. The slapping encourages me to warm the engine up fully before moving in the winter. My wife is the primary driver and I can't get her to wait 15 seconds most of the time. The sound to me is like fingernails on a chalkboard. In the summer the slapping seems much less severe. It may be the tensioner, I really have no proof either way. I have read that the tensioner rattle can be engine temperature dependent. At 200k miles I am going to probably pull the engine and do a bunch of stuff, including a new tensioner. EDIT: Regarding BITOG, a great site for sure. Probably more myth and misinformation that any other forum I have frequented, but a lot to be learned if you can stand digging.

I thought the three wire didn't have a ground, and the four wire did.One wire is the sensor signal, two wires are for the heater, and the fourth wire would be ground