99obw

If you're doing it right and using good parts that should never happen.

That is so cool!!! I am going to print out the complete bulb listing for both of our cars! Thanks!

My experience has been that if exposed to salt, after 3-5 years they don't work very well any more, regardless of how much pad material is left. I have done a lot of rear brake jobs where I get it apart only to find that the pads seem fine. So I guess my answer is, I don't really know how long they could last in Texas. I can't remember the last time I saw a rear shoe worn out. It could very well be that many miles.

Nope, that is the Phase II, he has a Phase I, prone to HG failures between the combustion chamber and cooling jacket. Has the level in the overflow tank ever risen unexpectedly?

The owners manual for our 99 states that 5w-30 is the preferred oil for temps under 40*C. It never gets that hot here. 10w-30 or 10w-40 can be used above -20*C. It also states that for towing or desert use 30, 40, 10w-50, 20w-40, or 20w-50 can be used. 5w oil is not just for the arctic folks. It seems to go below -10*F here every winter, and there are colder places in the continental US. I have heard the 10w is good to about 0*F. I know plenty of people that use 10w around here in the winter though. My understanding of the high VI oils is that you need to spend some money to get one that doesn't shear out of grade in a short time. The Amsoil 0w-30 is an example of a great high VI oil, but at $8.35 a quart it better be. The synthetic 5w-30 Amsoil is more than sufficient for this area and costs $5.85 a quart.

Most likely you have one leak and it is running along the exhaust and dripping in multiple places.

I have been checking the oil at the gas station. The concrete pad at the Mobil nearby is pretty level. I shut off the car, fill the gas tank, fill the washer fluid, then check the oil. Works really well. I need to take a torpedo level with me to find a place on the car that I can use for a level reference, then find a level enough place in my driveway, which is far from flat. My shop floor is significantly sloped for drainage, so that doesn't work very well either. The suby is the most sensitive car I have ever seen in this regard. One trick is to only check the oil when it is either stone cold or fully warmed up. In between and it takes forever for the reading to stabilize.

I think that oil usage is fine for that many miles. Pretty cool to see a 2.2l go that far. I wonder how far we will see an EJ25 go. The Amsoil 0w-30 is a great oil, but very expensive. If you are changing it twice a year you could probably save quite a bit by using the 5w-30 in the winter and the 10w-30 in the summer. That's what I do. Change the oil nov 1st and may 1st. I really like to see at least a 10w-30 in these engines in the summer. Everything I have read about the diesel oils suggests that they are fine to run, but combustion chamber deposits will be higher due to higher ash content.

I have decided to pull the EGR valve off and give it a good cleaning. I will also clean the pipe that runs from the left head to the EGR valve. Anything else I should clean or inspect while I have it apart? Any tips? I was thinking of hooking my mityvac to the vacuum port on the EGR and doing a leakdown test. The haynes manual actually has some decent information for the EGR that I am going to follow. I will look in the FSM too. I went to the dealer today to get a new EGR valve gasket. The guy told me that the '99 doesn't show a gasket, but the previous years do. I bought the gasket just in case. It's a 14719KA000.

I see your point, but the H4 has to be about the best engine configuration regarding the draining of the oil from the galleries, with most engines being worse in this regard. A V engine or inline engine has a much greater verticle drop from the top of the engine to the oil pan. With that in mind I would think that all oil filters would have ADBV's, but they don't. It would be interesting to know how the volume of oil in the galleries compares with the volume of oil in the filter. I was just trying to explain the possible lack of an ADBV on the H4 filter. I have always used filters with ADBV's. Not intentionally, but it has turned out that way.

I would wait until the Phase II failures become better understood and a reliable fix is available before buying a Phase II. If I buy another subaru it will have a 2.2l or a 3.0l. No 2.5l unless I find a really good deal on a used one.

Well, the MIL is back on tonight. The saga begins....

FWIW, I use an Amsoil SDF-20 filter. It is a really good filter. I looked on BITOG and supposedly the SDF-36 is 1/3 longer. Too bad I have about 6 SDF-20's in the shop. IIRC another filter that I have used on the Phase I 2.5 is the 3593a. Here they talk about oversized alternatives for that filter.

AFAIK the H6's filter mounts horizontally, so it would need a ADBV. The H4's filter mounts vertically, so it doesn't necessarily need one.

I wonder what sugar looks like when it is added to gasoline. I have never seen the results myself. It does sound like some foreign substance was added.

Well, I didn't make it any more complicated than need be. And yes, not that I am a rocket scientist, but it certainly isn't rocket science.

I like to use white lithium.

I should have qualified that statement a little more. I feel that (in the salt belt) turning rotors (for people that don't ride the brakes and wear brakes out quickly) is a waste of time and money. In my experience (in WNY) the rotors aren't worth turning by the time the brake pads are worn out. That is based on brake life in the 50-90k range when using top shelf parts. The better pads wear the rotors significantly, and often there isn't enough metal left to turn. The rust on the rotor can eventually cause the rotor to split in two, so pushing a rotor to 2 brake jobs (100-180k miles) isn't a good idea for me. I have seen that with cheap pads the rotors can be in pretty good shape when the pads wear out. In that case I might turn the rotors.

Yep, we have firestone. They are on my s*** list. You get what you pay for. IMHO you won't get a good brake job done for less than $200 an axle. Good brake parts tend to run at least $125 an axle, OEM or not. I feel that turning rotors is a waste of time and money.

I have always been able to hear that relay on our car. It has always been quite loud. I don't know of any correlation between relay noise and impending failure.

I am currently running bridgestone blizzaks nov-apr and yokohama avid touring the rest of the year. In this area I think a snow tire is essential. I also think it is a waste of money to buy an AWD vehicle and then run all seasons in the snow. I really hate the way any car handles in the snow with all seasons.

IIRC I paid about $160 for the OEM front pads and rotors from 1stsubaruparts last time I ordered them. The bendix pads and rotors lasted about 50k, got 90k out of the original OEM brakes. OEM for me!

If it were my car I would strongly discourage the use of the conditioner and insist on a gasket replacement. I am glad to hear that SOA is at least replacing gaskets on some cars.

It depends. If topping off the coolant use the appropriate mix of distilled water and anti-freeze. When changing the coolant, after flushing the system with distilled water, empty out as much of the water as possible, close the drain, then add anti-freeze to make the desired mixture based on the system capacity, then top off with distilled water. For example, if your system capacity is 4 gallons you would add 2 gallons of anti-freeze and then top off with distilled water to make a 50:50 mix. Sometimes removing the lower radiator hose is necessary to get enough water out after flushing to add the necessary amount of anti-freeze.

I have heard rumors of an improved Phase II gasket. I know the Phase I gasket has been through many revisions. glee29, do you know if they used an improved gasket the first time?