99obw

For off brand brake parts I prefer Bendix from Advance Auto. With that said I won't put anything but OEM on our outback. The OEM brake pads come with the shims, guides, and lubricant that are necessary to do a proper job.

Yep, anytime I have a connector apart I put some dielectric grease in it before I put it back together. The salt situation in PA is much better than NY. I am not sure they even use salt in the northern portions of the state that I visit.

Use a 22mm wrench. I have to disagree on the cold engine, running the engine to get the exhaust hot before you try to remove it expands the exhuast and makes the sensor easier to remove. Be careful with the hot exhaust. Correction: 4. screw in NEW one

RF, LR, LF, RR

Sounds like a bad coolant temp sensor. The ECU uses the temp reading from the coolant temp sensor to determine when to turn the fan on. It sounds like the ECU thinks the engine is really warm when it is actually cold. That would explain any hard starting you may be experiencing. I would pop the connector off of the ECT with the engine cold, take a measurement, and compare it to the chart I posted.

Yes. You can replace it with an OEM part, or buy an aftermarket replacement for slightly less, or buy a universal replacement for even less and splice the wires.

You don't want to use grease, the FSM recommends using tire lube.

You can get a rough idea without removing it if you can get the meter wires connected successfully. It is probably easier to just take it out. If you want to test it in the car: Let the car sit long enough to cool completely. Overnight would be best. Measure the ambient temperature. Take a resistance measurement of the sensor. Reconnect the sensor and warm the car up until the both radiator hoses are warm along their entire length. That should put your temp fairly close to the thermostat temperature. Shut it off and take another reading. From Haynes: Temp*F Ohms------------------------------------ 212 176 194 240 176 332 158 458 140 668 122 972 112 1182 104 1458 95 1800 86 2238 76 2795 68 3520 58 4450 50 5670 40 7280 32 9420

Only the one before the cat. The other one just verifies the cat is working.

Yes.

When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced? It does sound like a coolant temp sensor.

Getting the old bushings out is no problem with a large C-clamp or a ball joint press. Getting the new ones in however requres a special tool to compress the bushing before it enters the lateral link end. Think shoehorn. I didn't have the proper tool when I replaced the left lateral link bushings on the outback, so the bushings got screwed up and they need to be redone. I have had no luck with either my regular parts supplier nor the manufacturer of subaru special service tools obtaining one of these tools. I am going to take measurements from the lateral link and new bushing and have a guy at work turn the tool for me on an engine lathe. I think taking them off yourself and having the shop press in the new bushings is good advice.

I disagree with the first part. PCV valves are cheap. Replacing them once a year ensures that the vapors in the engine are properly removed, keeping the engine as clean as possible internally and maximizing oil longevity. PCV valves are just one of the many things that I don't test, I replace them instead. I agree that only OEM Subaru PCV valves should be used.

I have seen the curb side wear faster on several cars. I think this may be due to more salt, dirt, and gravel on the curb side. Perhaps the abrasive effects of these contaminants wear the pad faster. We had a similar failure on the LF of the outback recently. The pad had worn to the metal backing plate, but it never made a sound until the pad material was completely gone. I get the impression that the wear indicators are worthless. From now on I will keep a better eye on the pad thickness.

IMHO the sealer will do nothing for a Phase I. I explained why in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12410 The biggest thing is to make sure the block and the head are perfectly straight and clean.

Northguy, I was trying to sneak this one under the radar, and you gave it away!!! Really this thread is about how everyone's subarus perform in adverse weather conditions. If this was in OT it would have degraded into an argument about whose region got more snow by now.

IMHO there has never been an engine design produced in any significant quantities, drivent significant miles, where 0 head gasket failures have been seen.

I honestly don't know, I have never used one. I just know that is how it's done. http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/OTC-7215.html

When I changed mine I did the struts, strut mounts, springs, lower spring seats, and dust boots. The strut mounts frankly did not need to be changed, but I had the parts and had it apart so I did them anyway. If I were you I would probably buy them just in case and return them if you don't end up needing them. The springs were pretty tired at 140k miles. We have hauled a lot of stuff and the used springs were 1/2" shorter than the new springs I put in. The lower spring seats go between the spring and the strut. These tend to deteriorate and get pounded down over time. The dust boots had some holes in them. There is also an upper spring seat, but they were like new on our car so I did not replace them. There is also a bump stop but those don't seem to wear. Be sure to buy new copper washers for the brake caliper, as the brake hose must be disconnected from the caliper in order to get the struts out. You can cut the bracket on the strut instead of removing the brake hose if you want to. I can provide part numbers if anyone is interested.

I think the 2.2s after '97 are interference. It looks to me like he is charging every aspect of the job as if he is only doing that part. The accessory belts for example have to be removed anyway to do the tbelt, so there shouldn't be any additional labor for changing them. The labor for the radiator hoses should be about ten minutes. The parts and labor for the t-belt part of it sounds about right IF he is also doing the cam seals, main seal, and resealing the oil pump. You definately want a new tstat and tstat gasket. It won't hurt to get some other quotes.

$150 for the part is high, but not too crazy. $150 for labor is more than two hours!!!!! If they can't do this in 15 minutes they need to hand over their wrenches! The minimum labor might be one hour. What a ripoff. My advice is DIY, it's really easy. It has been discussed many times, do a search.

How do you know the oil pressure is ok? The idiot light on the dash? You really need to connect a pressure guage to the engine to check the oil pressure. The 2.2 is known for clogged oil passages. A cleaner may work. AutoRX is supposed to be good. I don't think any cleaner that stays in the engine for only a few minutes or miles is going to do much good. The other cleaners mentioned may be worth a try too. Mobil 1 is a really thin oil, unless you use the 15w-50, so I doubt it would quiet things down, it may even make it louder. Fram filters are known for making engines make funny noises.

I think if your cat was plugged the opposite behaviour would be seen, i.e. power loss when giving it a lot of gas, not when going slow. You can test for a plugged cat by screwing a pressure gauge into where the O2 sensor goes and running the engine.

The official tally in 14517 was 18".