99obw

Carfax might also give you a decent idea based on rate of miles accumulated in the past and time since the last recorded mileage.

The outbacks do have a charcoal canister, but it's in the rear of the car. JUST finished a used 2.2 transplant in Pulloff's '99, everything including the charcoal canister hooked up properly, no MIL. Pulloff will most likely post the details. The engine must be from a '95 with automatic transmission (for the most trouble free swap possible).

Depends on the year. http://www.etools.org/files/public/generic-protocols-02-17-03.htm

What kind of upper engine cleaning did you do? It might be worth it to you to do something aggressive like a soak with LC20 . This stuff is amazing, it will dissolve all carbon in the CC and on the piston. I use it for that purpose in engines small and not-so-small. It's basically a solvent/oil type substance. Looks like light-colored engine oil, but the smell will knock you on your butt. This company also sells a product called FP60. Fuel Power is the only product I have found that eliminates the cold start rough idle in my Jeep. Very good products. Can you rent or borrow a borescope? It might be helpful to eliminate carbon deposits as the cause by actually looking in the cylinder. The only other suggestions I have are unlikely, but you have tried most of the normal stuff. Does it have EGR? Malfunctioning EGR can cause pinging due to increased combustion temps. Unlikely that you would have EGR troubles without a MIL. An IAT sensor that's out of spec can cause pinging due to incorrect mixture and timing. A malfunctioning MAP or MAF could cause mixture problems that might cause pinging. A manufacturing defect in one of the combustion chambers that causes a high spot or increased compression could cause pinging.

Oil viscosity is rated at 100°C, so at those higher temps your oil is thinner than its rated viscosity. I would use a 15w-40 or 20w-50. Lower spread multi-viscosity oils are more rugged than higher spread oils when exposed to high temps, and cold-start flow probably isn't much of a concern. Higher viscosity will raise oil temps due to friction in the oil. An oil cooler is an absolute necessity IMHO. Is the engine cowled? Air flow out of the cowl can be an issue as it restricts the air flowing in and through the radiator.

Exactly. The tires have very little to do with it. The arc has already traveled a relatively long distance, the last foot or so between the chassis and the ground is almost irrelevant. I have heard two schools of thought on lightning rods; the first is that they prevent the charge from building in the first place by draining it to earth ground, the second is that they direct the current from a strike to earth ground rather than through the house. I think the true answer combines a little of both.

Not always. They can travel both directions. They can also never touch the ground. It's a common misconception that the car is safe because of the tires, but that's not true, it's because of the metal shielding of the body.

If you want a good cleaner try http://www.auto-rx.net. There are cheaper products, but nothing cleans as gently and completely IMHO. I would drain that MMO ASAP, as when it's mixed 25% with a 30 weight you most likely have a 20 weight oil. Supertech filters at Walmart are actually fairly decent, much better than Fram. If you look at the internal construction of a Fram they are the worst on the market, bar none. I am currently using Mobil 1 on the Jeep and Purolator on the Subaru for 10k mile intervals. I am thinking about switching to Baldwin filters, but they are hard to find. Baldwin primarily makes filters for semis. Some good filter analysis... http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html#harddriver

Out the tailpipe. Not true, I have had cars that burned oil at about that rate and they only smoked on startup. Oil doesn't typically get into the coolant in the Phase I when the gaskets fail. The coolant looks dirty because of combustion byproducts.

I'll back up Shawn on this one. They can be reused once. A common practice is to mark the bolts with a bit of paint to let the next person in there know that they have been re-torqued. If they are marked with paint don't reuse them.

Given the neglect and abuse that most people subject them to, agreed. With decent maintenance and reasonable driving, the worst of cars can easily last 200k. Our suby has just shy of 60k on the current set of NGK double platinums. My wife has experienced a couple of really hard starts, so I plan on swapping the v-groves in when I get a chance. I'll swap the fuel filter too.

I chose to try the v-groves this time. $7 vs. $50. Hmmmm... Should be good for 30k.

Next best thing would be the big bottle of Techron Concentrate, available at Advance Auto Parts among others. You can get the seafoam there too.

I always like to start by looking at the inexpensive stuff, because I'm cheap. If you had some change in the symptoms by using a fuel injector cleaner I would start with that route. I would seafoam the engine, change the oil, add 12 oz of Fuel Power to the fuel tank, clear the code(s), and fill it up with gas, in that order. Fuel Power: http://www.lubecontrol.com/fuel.htm I have yet to find an over the counter fuel injector cleaner that compares to FP. If that doesn't fix it then I would run a compression test and try swapping a couple of injectors.

I have one of these... http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/TA-61800.html Just measure before removal and then you can put the new strut back in the same place. I last time I did it the alignment shop said it was too close to bother adjusting.

I think climate plays a huge role in the longevity of the Phase I EJ25 head gaskets. My limited knowledge of this engine suggests that the majority of head gaskets fail once they get past 100k in this region. People in other parts of the country seem to see much more reliable operation.

I can't think of a more expensive maintenance practice than periodic wife replacement.

Yep, approaching 180k miles and it loves a 40 weight. I don't think I could stand the racket if I put a thin 30 weight in it right now. Plus, I don't think I could keep the oil level up with a thin 30 weight, as my wife is certain that checking the oil in her daily driver is my job. Don't get me started on tire pressure. Cookie, I think you and I both have early Phase II blocks. I wonder if that may be a factor. Perhaps different revisions of block respond differently to oil viscosity. slo5oh presumably has a Phase I block in his car.

Thanks for the tip. I assume that will disable the injectors and spark? Great, now my oil changes will take even longer!!! I was only suggesting this procedure immediately following an oil change, not every day. I'm not that crazy!

Crazy!? :-\ I said basically the same thing in both threads!

Maybe they should look at the wiring between the IAC and the ECU. One way to check an IAC is to create a large vacuum leak with the engine idling. The ECU should adjust the leak out. The engine will rev at first then settle back down to where it should be. I know that to be true on MAP based systems at least, not sure on MAF based. I read that subaru has done some MAP based systems lately so I'm not sure what your car has. They should also be able to observe the IAC control signals with a scope when it does its thing. Most likely it's not the IAC. The first thing I would do if I had a nice scan tool like they do is watch the sensor voltages when the car idles normally and idles low. Have they done that? I think that might tell them where to start looking. They never should have replaced the cat$ without seeing if the cat code was the result of a bad O2 sensor first IMHO. It doesn't surprise me that it didn't fix it. It sounds more like an intermittent electrical problem. They should also have the proper pressure gauge to test if a cat is plugged or not. These guys sound like parts changers.

It may be related to the O2 sensor troubles you're having, as the cat is checked by the O2 sensor.

Are you thinking that the taxi's engine would never wear out if it didn't experience startup wear? Might be a very interesting test for the Amsoil device indeed.

All of the oil can't be drained from an engine, not possible. With that said, I use 4.5 quarts (including filling the new standard-sized filter) on our '99 EJ25 and it puts it just below full. I usually wait until it drinks it down to about half a quart low before adding more. I think 5 quarts is too much.

http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/amk.aspx IIRC the reason is more related to chemistry than oil starvation. I just mention post-change starvation because it's intuitive to me as a reason not to "over-change" one's oil. It would be nice if manufacturers equipped an oil change injector disable feature so crazy people like me could easily spin an engine until the oil pressure came up before actually starting it. When I used to be involved in small time dirt track racing our car had two switches related to starting. One for the coil and one for the starter. I don't remember for sure if fuel delivery was tied into the coil switch. The driver would always spin the engine a bit to pump some oil before starting. I suppose one could remove power to the fuel pump or the injectors on a modern car.