99obw

The previous posters have given good advice. I would like to echo what BlueTrain said about not letting a shop replace things until they find the problem. A lot of your less skilled mechanics lack sufficient troubleshooting skills and are essentially only parts changers. Avoid this kind of shop or your walllet will ache. IMHO ether (starting fluid) is not good for gasoline engines, so use it sparingly.

Oxygen sensors do have a limited lifespan. We used to get about 25 mpg in mixed driving with our 99 obw and last week I checked it and it was 22.5 mpg. It has ~140k miles so I am just going to replace it. I just ordered the universal replacement for $45. The one website I went to had a check/replace interval of 100k miles for the 2.5l engine. If I were you I would replace it. A friend of mine at work was getting CELs and poor mileage in his '93 S-10. We pulled the codes and it said O2 sensor was bad. I lent him my O2 sensor socket and he replaced it in about 10 minutes. He hasn't measured the mileage yet but he thinks it has gone way up and his CEL is gone.

Does the phase II head use solid lifters?

Cold is relative. I used to have a great email about that. But anyway... In western NY I use 5w-30 full synthetic in the winter(november 1- april 1), and 10w-30 full synthetic in the "summer". It snowed here last week. It was in the 70s today.

I chose not to grind the valves when I did the headgaskets on our outback last spring. It had 118k miles on it. I don't think this car will last long enough for me to care at some point in the future about not having ground the valves. I am guessing that this engine should make it to 200k miles. I have taken lesser makes to 200k without ever doing anything. If I have more engine troubles after that I will probably replace the engine rather than fix it, or get rid of the car. The more head gasket posts I read the more I hate that 2.5L POS sitting in the driveway.

A compression test should be done at wide open throttle. It it isn't the numbers will be lower. Either that or they only removed the one spark plug the first time and they removed them all the second time, allowing the engine to spin faster. Just guesses.

I am using the amsoil SDF-20 now. Very pleased with the performance but ouch$$$.

I am sorry to hear of your extensive troubles. It seems to me that both the car is substandard and the repair shops have let you down. The overheating you describe in your letter does sound like head gasket failure. I don't think a compression test under ideal conditions is a reliable way to diagnose head gasket failure in these engines. Testing only one cylinder is inconclusive for sure. Insist that they test the coolant for combustion gasses. A leakdown test of the cylinder or cooling system may be useful as well. Well written letter. Good luck.

I have heard all kinds of noise from wheel bearings. From a hollow scrape to a low pitched grind to a squeak to a hiss. The bearing noise on my old toyota would come and go. No pattern emerged as to why it was intermittent. I replaced the bad bearing and of course the other side went 10k miles later. From now on I will do both sides. I am getting ready to do both rear bearings on the outback. I need to find out the seal part numbers. I almost have the tools I need amassed.

I started using Mobil 1 in our 99 outback at about 70k miles. The car leaks some oil but it hasn't increased since using synthetic. I think the oil is coming from the pan. The seals have never leaked. The engine used noticably more oil with Mobil 1 than the penzoil I was previously using. On the advice of my father-in-law I tried amsoil. The engine is quieter and uses less oil. I don't think amsoil is magical, just that Mobil 1 seems pretty thin. I remember thinking the stuff was water every time I drained it. When I replaced the head gaskets on this engine at 118k miles I was amazed at the cleanliness of the engine. I don't know if it is a fair comparison but this engine was certainly cleaner internally than anything I had ever worked on. The most important synthetic oil characteristic to me is cold start flow. I may even switch my junker over to a cheap synthetic to get this benefit. The increased oil flow at startup when it is near 0 F seems to quiet things considerably. The sound the 2.5 used to make with penzoil and a fram filter at those temperatures made me cringe.

Classic symptoms that a clogged filter exhibits at higher mileage. Something more serious may be wrong with yours. Have you ever changed the filter?

I replaced the one on our 99 outback. I don't know how similar it is. All I can do is explain it for the 99 outback. The nut that holds the wiper arm on the shaft was easy to remove, but getting the arm off required a battery terminal puller because of corrosion. The nut that holds the actual housing of the wiper motor from the outside(goes over the shaft) was severely corroded. Maybe I wouldn't have broken it if I had soaked it in penetrating oil for several days first. Disconnect the electrical connector. There are 3 bolts that hold a mounting plate to the rear hatch from the inside. Remove these bolts and take the motor off with the plate, then remove the motor from the plate by removing several screws. If your car has been exposed to much salt I would try and soak the nuts on the outside quite a bit (several days) with penetrating oil first. I bought a used motor on ebay or a junkyard should have one.

A friend of mine has two newer hyundais. He swears by them. I tell him he is better off spending the same money on used japanese cars, but he won't listen. He does nothing but talk about the warranty. Good thing the warranty is so good because the things are in the shop all the time. I recharged the A/C on the older one. What a POS. I have never seen such a cheaply made car. Even my 86 escort was more robustly constructed. If someone gave me a korean car I would sell it.

11044AA610 went on my 99 Phase I

I like to wrap my swivel(u-joint) with electrical tape to make it less swively. It makes a nice short extension. I like to work from underneath with the mud guards removed.

I keep a spare gas can around so I can put low quality gasoline in it. Then in the winter I mix this gas with used motor oil to light the wood stove in my shop. I pour all of the gas out of the filter that I can get out of it. Twist and turn it around over a funnel until no more will come out. Then I put it in a plastic bag and throw it away. I use contractor grade garbage bags in my shop to try and keep leaking to a minimum.

I have found that the winter blades actually hold snow/ice/water INSIDE the protective cover and freeze up worse than regular blades. That is why I quit using them. At least with regular blades I can beat on them with the ice scraper and chip the ice out so they flex enough to clean the windshield. Plus, my cars stay in a heated garage, so the ice in the winter blades just melts so it can refreeze the next day on the way to work. BTW, I recently put a triple edge brand on the rear of our outback, and I don't think I have ever used a worse wiper blade.

I have read about some DIY techniques for flushing the tranny. I really need to quit being so lazy and learn how to do it. I guess I feel that what I am doing is good enough, but I am a perfectionist, good enough is a four letter word.

I have yet to find a blade that lasts longer than about a year. I really like Lexor. Bosch isn't bad either.

I find it virtually impossible that a different exhaust would actually damage the ECU. The only wear item is FLASH memory, which is capable of a limited number of writes. I doubt the FLASH is being written in the car as the settings are forgotten at power down. As far as the MAF goes, I would think the air intake used would have a greater effect, but others know more on that one.

Our engine got pretty hot and the heads were essentially perfectly straight as measured by a machinist. I can understand your desire for a new engine if your car is in decent shape. AFAIK 11044AA610 is the latest rev of the head gasket. That is what I used.

The former is a change, the latter a flush.

Admittedly a flush is better. I get 6 quarts out of 9.8 out, so that is 61%. So the first change will leave 39% of the original fluid. The percentage of the original fluid will then go to 15% and 5% at the next changes. Not perfect for sure, but I have such a hard time letting people touch my cars.

I have seen the results of not turning the drum/rotor and just throwing new pads/shoes on. No thanks, my time is too valuable to do a job twice. I will always either turn or replace drums/rotors. I don't know if your vehicle actually has drum brakes on the rear or if it has the strange disc/drum like our 99obw. I probably would strongly lean towards replacing the drums/rotors unless they are in pretty good shape. You see less salt in PA than we do here, so they may indeed be in turnable condition. I have done ours twice, and after using wearever rotors/drums with bendix pads I highly recommend using OEM brake components. Our parking brake shoes are worn down for some reason. Maybe my wife isn't telling me something. I am going to do those when I do the wheel bearings. (OT: I got a hub tamer ) This is how I do drum brakes, FWIW: Put on some safety glasses. I like to first take the master cylinder cap off and suck out some of the brake fluid with a turkey baster. Not too much or you will get air in the lines. NOTE: To get the drum off you may first have to adjust the brakes back away from the drum, which is a total PITA. There is a little plug on the back and the adjusting wheel is just inside. Take the drum off, put a pan under the brake components and clean it up really good with brake cleaner. You don't want to breath that dust, so clean it off first. I like to use vise grips for the springs. Only do one side at a time so you have an example of how it goes back together. I have always used needle nose pliers for the springs that hold the shoes on. Hold the pin from the back with one hand, grab the little slotted plate with the needle nose pliers and give it a push and twist, align the slot in the plate with the pin and remove. Check to make sure that the wheel cylinder is in good shape with no leaks. It used to be that you just pushed the fluid back towards the master cylinder, but I have heard that many people like to let it out the bleeder instead. Whatever you choose, push the wheel cylinder in. Take the adjuster apart, clean it up, and carefully lubricate it with lithium. Carefully lubricate the points on the backer plate where the shoes will ride with lithium. NOTE: I like to use new hardware when replacing drum brakes as the salt up here trashes the pins that hold the shoes on. Put it back together. Remove the adjusting plug from the back of the backer plate. I like to carefully spray down the pads with brake cleaner before putting the drum on. Spray down the drum as well. Put the drum on and adjust the shoes out until the brakes drag a little bit. Put the plug back in. Do the other side. Fill up the brake fluid. Adjust the parking brake. It's probably a good idea to bleed the brakes while you are at it.

I have been using Valvoline synthetic blend Dexron. I am pretty happy with it. It's pretty cheap, I can buy six quarts for about $20, and that is about all I can get out of the 4EAT. I change it every 30k and put on a new external filter. When I change it the drained fluid shows no signs of degradation. I just can't bring myself to spend $6-$8 a quart for full synthetic, though I am a synthetic convert for sure. I highly recommend changing the filter whether it be internal or external. A clogged filter can reduce system pressure which can cause erratic operation or premature wear.