99obw

Make sure that you are using OEM parts and replacing the pad guides with new ones. Lubricate the new guides with the supplied lubricant. It sounds like you are lubricating the guide pins. I agree, it could be the wheel bearings.

Can you tell where it is coming from? Could be struts, strut mounts, and/or spring seats. It could also be any number of other things. How many miles? Our '99 with ~150k miles makes a noise from the front. The struts are still in pretty good shape but I think the strut mounts are going bad. I will be replacing the front struts, strut mounts, and spring seats some time this year. I did the rears a couple of months ago. If you aren't familiar with suspensions it's probably worth a trip to your favorite repair shop for diagnosis.

22663AA010 FILTER ASSY PRESS SEN $10.29 Their website only shows the most common parts. I often just mention what I need in the comments section of the order page and Jason will call me if he has any questions. If you give him the Subaru part number it's even easier. I haven't installed the filter yet so I can't tell you exactly where it goes. I can take a look sometime soon. FWIW the parts guy also said that a lot of times they just use a small lawn tractor type fuel filter. I couldn't bring myself to install one of those, so I paid the extra and bought the Subaru filter. Expensive little bugger.

99 Phase I 2.5, ~150k miles I switched to Mobil 1 5w-30 at about 70k miles. The piston slap was about the same as with pennzoil 5w-30 conventional. Oil consumption went up quite a bit. I switched to Amsoil 5w-30 at about 120k miles. Piston slap is MUCH quieter at startup and consumption is down to 1 quart in 7500 miles, from 1 quart in 3000 miles with M1. I am considering stopping use of 5w-30 and using Amsoil 10w-30 year round at 6 month (15k mile) drain intervals. I think some people have a bad experience with M1 and blame synthetics. M1 is like water compared to Amsoil IMO. Mobil 1 SS 10w-30 cSt @ 100º C = 10.0 Amsoil ASL 5w-30 cSt @ 100º C = 11.7 Amsoil ATM 10w-30 cSt @ 100º C = 11.9 That may not sound like much of a difference but the difference in the sound of the engine is remarcable. Don't get me wrong. Mobil 1 is a good oil. I have never seen an engine cleaner than our 2.5 when I had it apart after 50k miles of M1. Unfortunately the stuff is way too thin for me. The only M1 oil I would use is the 15w-50, which is great stuff BTW. I hate sounding like an Amsoil chearleader, but my experience with it has been nothing short of excellent. FWIW I may try AutoRX in a car soon, LOL. YMMV

That combination of oil and filter should be just fine. I would go to the dealer and listen to some other new H4's running when cold and decide if you think there is actually a problem. These engines do seem to develop piston slap over time. How many miles?

What engine do you have? What kind of oil filter are you using? What brand and viscosity of oil?

I would avoid castrol syntec or syntec blends. They aren't real synthetics at all, but group III imposters. Don't get me wrong, they are good oils, but not synthetics. I don't think there is much benefit to running a synthetic blend. I either run a good dino (I like pennzoil), or a real synthetic (group IV or better) like Mobil 1 or Amsoil.

I think advance auto carries NGK. IMHO for a daily driver the OEM paper filter offers the best mix of flow and filtration.

That should be fine. He was trying to sell you a new one.

I have been meaning to report back on this topic. Just about 3200 miles on the new speedo and NEVER a failure!!! Replacing the speedo head seems to have fixed it. YMMV

Don't put chains on an outback. Totally unnecessary and it may cause damage. The tires are pretty close to the spring cones on the struts. Get a good set of snow tires instead. Putting chains only on the front could also damage the transmission. 10w-30 sounds like the ideal oil for your climate. The vibration is probably normal, these H4 engines are not the smoothest.

I ended up going to the local dealer for the BPT. I installed it and the code is gone, at least for now. When I was at the dealer the parts guy said that they always add an inline filter when replacing a BPT. The car is not originally equipped with one. The filter part number is 22663AA010. It is the same small white device with dark grey foam around it that can be seen near the IAC air supply hose on the right side top of the engine. That filter protects the sensor on the right strut tower that the vacuum line goes to. Apparently adding one of these filters inline with the solenoid, BPT, and EGR valve will protect them from moisture. The BPT valve I replaced was full of water, spraying out the ports when I blew into it. I will be adding one of these filters.

I humbly stand corrected.

I am sorry you got laughed at. I feel your pain.

AFAIK the '00 Forester has a SOHC Phase II engine, so it doesn't have spark plug holes, the spark plugs are on "top" of the heads like a SOHC 2.2. If I am right it means that your leak is coming from the valve cover gasket.

The OEM paper filters do a great job of filtration at a reasonable cost. The high-flow aftermarket filters flow better, but may filter less effectively and may cause MAF problems if improperly used. The HP gains of a high flow filter are debatable. It was brought up on another board that almost every single OEM in the world uses a paper air filter. That is significant IMHO.

Your car does have a tranny cooler built into the radiator. If it didn't the tranny wouldn't last long. AFAIK the torque converter doesn't have a drain plug. If there is a filter in the pan it should be changed at least every 100k miles IMHO. I change the external one on the outback every 30-50k. I change the internal filter on my dodge every 20k, because the A604 tranny is such a POS. I usually do the same procedure, simply draining and replacing the fluid. One thing I have read about but never tried is to do a flush using the tranny cooler return line.

That is what I have been told. I know the outback climbs the 20% grade section of our driveway when snow covered in reverse just as well as in 1, and I think that is also 50:50. Even with snow tires my FWD car can't climb that section when snow covered without a full running start, and even then it is iffy.

I don't think they are clueless enough to inadvertantly drain the rear diff while doing an oil change.

Alex, what is 50:50?

I agree with Meeky Moose. The manual tranny engine has a timing belt guide above the crank sprocket, the auto tranny engine does not. This prevents the timing belt from jumping if the engine is rotated backwards via the manual tranny. Very important.

I have seen drums from the parts store be out of round when new. That could be the problem. Turning a POS drum probably won't yield good results. One thing that I have seen cause early failure is contamination of the pad and drum. Make sure the wheel cylinder isn't leaking. Clean everything spotless with brake cleaner. Make sure they are adjusted so they just barely drag when you put them together. With the salt I generally also install a hardware kit when I do drum brakes. I like to get them hot the first time out, 4 or 5 60-20 MPH slow downs without stopping, then drive about 15 miles without using the brakes to let them cool. Of course you have to be careful where you do this.

First of all, the '99 DOES have an EGR gasket, and the part number above is correct. The haynes manual instructs to observe the EGR valve position while quickly advancing the throttle from idle to 2000-3000 RPM. When doing this I noticed that the valve would open and then close. I don't know if this is normal, the manual doesn't give specifics. I pulled the EGR valve off. I did a leakdown and the diaphragm holds vacuum fine. There was a little condensation on the exhaust side of the needle. The passages look clean enough, I am going to leave them alone. I pulled the back pressure transducer (BPT). The BPT has four ports. Three small vacuum ports labeled P, Q, and R, and one larger port described as the exhaust pressure (in subaru document titled "Basic Emissions and Fuel Systems, Module 405"). The subaru document basically shows the BPT as being an exhaust pressure controlled valve. The control diaphragm is between P and the exhaust pressure, and the flow between R and Q is controlled by another diaphragm that is connected to the other diaphragm by a rod. The BPT seems totally hosed. When I blow in any of the four ports it comes out of the other three. 1stsubaruparts: BACK PRESSURE TRANSDUCER, All Models, 2.5L 96-99 $47.87 I will call and check stock tomorrow. Actually I am pretty happy, this may have been an easy fix. (fingers crossed)

It seems to me that the coolant may be getting boiled off somewhere. Perhaps either it's leaking somewhere onto something hot enough to boil it off, or it's getting into the combustion chamber. Has the oil level risen? Does the oil look milky or muddy? One way to pinpoint leaks is to park over a clean piece of cardboard.

That sounds about right, though I have never measured it.