hohieu

If the oil is coming off the front of the engine, there could be several sources: - crank shaft seal - 2 cam shaft seals - the oil pump itself, which is glued onto the front of the short block with RTV Replacing these seals and resealing the oil pump are normally performed at every other timing belt service for your car, I believe. There are other things to check such as the idler pulleys and the screws on the back of the oil pump.

Well, in theory, the wheel bearing if properly lubricated should last the life of the vehicle, but it's the rubber seals that usually fail, resulting in bearing failure. Sometimes, drive shaft service will ruin an otherwise fine wheel bearing when undue force is applied to remove the drive shaft from the hub and/or if the axle nut is not properly tightened. Other times a seized caliper and resultant overheating can fry the seals, which again results in bearing failure. My thinking is that by preemptively replacing the wheel bearing seals while I'm doing the brakes, I should never have to replace the wheel bearing itself. I know the norm is to wait until they make noise and then replace everything as you suggested, which is what I did with a rear wheel bearing on my car, but it's my nutty proclivity for experimentation that drives my curiosity.

Well, it's true that these sealed bearings don't require routine maintenance, and like porcupine I replaced the inner seals when doing the drive shafts but used Mobil 1 grease on the lip. However, I have a Hub tamer so I could perform the overhaul on-car without messing with the alignment, and this is the only reason why I'm even considering replacing the seals and repacking the bearing as preventative maintenance.

After it warms up, I'll be doing the front brakes my 99 forester: - new pads & rotors - overhaul front calipers I'm also planning on replacing the front hub seals and repacking the front wheel bearings while I have things apart, reason being it's usually a faulty seal that allows the grease to leak out and/or water and other debris to enter thereby causing bearing failure. I have 131K miles on this car at the moment. Is this a task worth doing? At what mileage and age have you suffered front wheel bearing failure (the rear wheel bearings on these cars are an entirely different story)?

Interesting articles on endwrench, but it's always difficult to separate the marketing hype from the technical merit of the information, For example, I cite the section on brake fluid in the May06 pdf. on fluid maintenance: Genuine Subaru Brake Fluid (P/N SOA868V9220) is a special DOT3 formula, designed to maintain a high boiling point even in the most severe operation conditions. It offers superior protection against metal corrosion, has great high temperature stability and does not form harmful sedimentation. It meets all Subaru OEM specifications and must be used for warranty repairs. It's safe to say that all DOT3 brake fluids share the same chemical properties. I've been using Havoline Extended Life (read DexCool) in my Forester for the past 60K miles without any issues. It is true that its OAT composition will react to air as noted by Porcupine and another Endwrench article, though I am inclined to think that most members of this forum keep a keen eye on their coolant level. I just purchased some Peak Long Life coolant so this will be what I use the next time I replace the coolant in my Forester.

I don't know how much people are paying to have them serviced, but I ordered Koyo roller bearings and Beck/Arnley seals for both rear axles from RockAuto, though I replaced only the side that was making noise. The total came to $102.55 including shipping. OEM bearings are made by NTN. The first two sets of the caged ball bearings on this car last 30K miles each. The updated tapered roller bearings certainly lasted longer than the caged ball bearings on my car. The updated rear bearing is still fine after 70K miles. The faulty rear right bearing had been making increasingly more noise from the time I purchased the car until the time I repaced it 45K miles later. But it did not appear terribly flawed aside from heat marks on the hub-side (outboard) rollers into which the hub is pressed. I'm guessing that the contact surface of the outer race and/or the rollers must have been slightly deformed somehow during installation -- either by pressing the bearing into the knuckle by applying force to the inner race rather than the outer race or by tightening the axle nut with the wheels on the ground. The hubtamer installs the bearing with lower force than a convetional press, and is a part of the revised replacement procedure for these cars. The Koyo bearing I installed has been smooth and quiet during its first 15K miles of service.

Sorry, last try here. MSA8_Ignition Coil and Igniter Assembly Service.pdf

Ah, here it is.

Hopefully, the attachment shows up this time.

Here's a pdf that outlines the testing procedure for the updated coil/igniter assembly with 4 spades at the primary side.

Well, it's a bit premature to jump to conclusions. These Phase II 2.5 engines tend to leak externally. Are you noticing coolant loss from your overflow tank. Any puddling of coolant under the car? You may just have a simple coolant leak from any one of your hoses (radiator, heater,coolant overflow hose, bypass), radiator cap, radiator or water pump weep hole. Only the last two items would cost you much. It may be worth poking around a bit or getting a second opinion.

If that's the case, it would seem more prudent to desigin an accessory belt driven water pump.

Porcupine gave you a thorough rundown of things to do for this service. It might be wise to pop off the T-belt cover on the driver's side to check the condition of the belt. If it looks old, it's likely that the service was never performed. It's likely, that the water pump, and accessory belts will also be new(er), if the T-belt was replaced.

Also, make sure to press against the outer race when installing the new bearing. You can use the old outer race to seat the new bearing. The previous owner had two sets of rear bearings installed by two different dealerships, with the revised bearings installed the second time at 59Km miles. 70K miles later the rear left bearing is still fine. The right rear side, however, had been making noise since I purchased the car at around 72K miles. My old bearing showed no visible damage with the old grease still in decent shape, but the rollers on the outboard (hub side) row of rollers had heat discoloration, while the inboard rollers appeared perfect. I am guessing that they must have pressed on the inner race when the installing the problem bearing, which caused some slight deformation of the contact surfaces.

I had three sets go bad on my 99 Forester over the span of 117,000 miles. The Hub Tamer is a simple tool that works well. I picked a set up on ebay for $190. As you're in the rust belt, the most difficult part will be removing the lateral link bolt, which tends to get corrosion welded to the bushing collars. I had to ultimately cut the bolt off and replace the lateral link bushings. I installed Beck/Arnley seals and Koyo bearings from RockAuto and used Mobil 1 Red Grease. Cost was around $115 inlcuding shipping for all seals and bearings for both rear wheels. I would recommend Koyo bearings as an alternative to OEM, which are made by NTN. 10K miles of trouble free service on the new bearing to this point, and the last time I checked, the newer bearing, not surprisingly, felt smoother than the other three corners.

This is second had info. from my wife, who was the last to use the car. Perhpaps the car door was ajar and the dome light was the culprit.

@

Yes, I connected the tester filament in series with the negative/ground battery cable and the negative battery terminal -- glad I had this part right. Great info., Skip. I'm glad to know that I don't have to go poking around in the fuse box. Additionally, I'd be curious to know why I get only a flash. Is it the capacitor shutting off after it's fully charged? I wonder why I hadn't thought of this, but thanks to you, I didn't have to. Nope, I went through that 4 years ago when we first acquired the Forester. Thanks again.

After two weeks of being parked, the car battery drained all the way down. The alternator is good, and the battery is only a year old. The glove compartment may have been left ajar, and I'm wondering if the little light in there could have drained the battery. After recharging the battery, I went out with a test light to see if I could find a short. With the negative/ground cable detached from, the test light will come on for a second or two and then go off when I touch the battery cable (or any other grounded part on the car) and the negative terminal on the battery. When I remove both test leads and then reconnect, it will again light up for just one or two seconds and then go out. The tester light is working fine: when I touch the positive and negative terminals of the battery, I get a steady light. So does this mean that I do or don't have a short somewhere?

The grease seal is simply a rubber coated metal disc with a rubber lip around the outer circumference, which seats into a groove around the outer race. The rubber lip around the inner circumference rotates around the inner race, which is why I didn't want to puncture it with a grease needle. I had regreased a couple of idlers when I did my timing belt but didn't take pictures. These are photos of an idler pulley I just regreased on my Jeep -- same idea. I should start by saying that I heard a high pitched pulley wine coming from the engine and took off the serpentine belt to check all the accessory bearings and the idler pulley. Regreasing is a simple procedure: -Gently pry the seal up by inserting a small screw driver between the outer circumference of the seal and the outer race. -Clean things up with degreaser. I used kerosene and a tooth brush, and finished with non-chorinated brake cleaner and blew things dry with compressed air. -Fill approximately 1/3 of bearing space with choice of bearing grease. -If you happen to bend the seal slightly during removal, just use an appropriately sized socket to flatten it out. -After reseating the seal with a socket of the appropriate size, I sealed things up with some RTV around the outer circumference of the seal. (Alternatively, it's also prossible to work the seal back into the groove with a screwdriver. You may need only add grease to your bearing as was the the case with the timing belt idlers on my Forester. But as you can see, the grease in this bearing had seen better days...

Could be a dead bulb or a problem with the in-tank sensor or related circuits. I had the same issue and replaced the bulb, but the light still still fails to illuminate, even after I'd taken it down until over 15 gallons was needed to refill the tank.

Ok, here you go. All the clearance and torque specs. are in the pdf.

I bought Koyo bearings and Beck/Arnley seals for both rear wheels from RockAuto for $102.66 shipped to my door. Hubtamer for $190 off ebay, and with some of my own time, it's more than paid off. It's a pretty simple job... but with the right tools, most things are.

Indeed, very interesting, even if my my intuition would say the exact opposite. There have been a couple of interesting threads about this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62477&highlight=cavitation http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52560&highlight=water+cavitation So is a97obw's pops wrong? More importantly, is the stamped impeller pump "high velocity," but not "higher" than the cast impeller pump? Weird.

ah, ok. The Frontier will fit 5-6 pairs of skis and will fit onto your factory roofrack without any modiifications.