hohieu

Driver's side inner (SFJ) boot split with 107K miles on my 99 forester. I just discovered it as I was checking the front brakes. The inner boot on the passenger side split at 90K miles when my wife had the car in vermont last summer -- she had a rebuilt one installed up there. I'm going to replace just the boots because I think the factory NTN half shafts are of much higher quality than the aftermarket units and because OEM ones are a bit pricey. I discovered the split boot before any damage was done -- very little grease leaked out -- so original joints should be fine. The FSM says to replace the boots on the car without removing the axle shaft. Ideally, I'd replace both boots, but I'm wondering if there's enough room to work on the outer joint (BJ side) without pulling it from the hub, especially getting all the old grease out of there and seating the new boot clamps? Has anyone tried doing it this way? If I can do only the the inner joint without pulling the halfshaft from the hub, how much longer could the outer boots last? Has anyone had front outer fail, and if so, after how many years and at what mileage? As side note, has anyone had any of their rear boots fail, and if so, after how many years and at what milegage? Thanks.

If it's never been changed, detergents in the new fluid may cause seals to leak and the wet clutch pack to slip -- just a thought. That said, I just changed the AT fluid in Jeep that had 195K miles on the odm. without any knowledge of its service history.

They're just drain channels for the oil pump -- allen plugs come out and allows oil to drain from the pump.

Cover the inside face of the condenser with cardboard in case your breaker bar slips. You don't want to have to repace that pricey part. Good luck.

A large vise works for motorcycle tires -- don't know if you have a vice large enough for auto application.

Here's the thread you're looking for: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52560&highlight=water+cavitation I installed a GMB pump with a stamped impeller when I did the t-belt at 105K miles and have not had any problems in 2K miles of service -- mostly highway. All the Hondas and Toyotas I've owned have also used stamped impellers on the OEM pumps. Pep Boys has new Bosch pumps with the cast impellers for your car if you decide this is necessary.

Does anyone know whay Subaru recommends tires to be rotated on the same side and not diagonally? Would Rotating them diagonally harm anything? My tires on the right side seem to uniformly wear more, perhaps due to road camber?

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. What you say makes total sense then.

Good question, johnceggleston. The rear plugs may be baked white because the rear two cylinders run hotter than the front cyinders (1&2), which get more air flow. A leaner fuel/air mixture will also cause the engine to run hotter. So long as the insulator is not fouled by oil or a rich fuel/air mixture (black soot), a slight yellowing (the color of a coffee stain) of the insulator is completely normal.

If it's the bottom gasket, it's probably just swelled a little from an oil leak. Mine was the same way. If yours is the same as mine, you line up the holes and loop the excess into what appears to be some type of drain hole next to left most hole of the cover - it's looks like a square cut-out right next to the hole. For ease of assembly, you can use some weatherstripping adhesive (or whatever gasketmaker/sealant you have on hand) to affix the the gasket to the cover. Line up all the holes, flip the cover upside down onto a clean, flat surface, and put a telephone book or your sevice manual on top of it to let it set up. Make sure you clean up the gasket and cover first so that mating surfaces are free of oil. I've never seen a new gaket so it's hard to say whether this is by design or just a result of oil contamination. It might be advisable to order a new bottom gasket for the next t-belt service.

I believe it has to do with the fuel air mixture. A slight yellowing of the insulator reflects an ideal fuel/air mixture, whereas a white (hot) insulator reflects a lean fuel/air mixture. Most cars these days are tuned to run pretty lean to meet EPA standards.

That's good to know. I think reading through all the problem threads can make a person extremely paranoid so it's a relief to read a thread like this one. When these sensors fall out of range, they do so gradually over time? I do a lot of long distance driving and would hate to get stranded.

I just did the 105K-mile mainteance on a 99 Forester 2.5 SOHC, would you consider replacing the coolant temperature sensor (or any of the other relatively inexpensive ones - knock, crank, or cam) as preventative maintenance?

GT is a turbo: are timing belt intervals shorter? I have the 2.5 SOHC in my Forester, and all my original belts lasted until the recommended 105K service.

I guess you should start with the easy maintenance items before moving on to more expensive stuff: Did you use OEM plug wires? How about your fuel filter?

You're getting good advice. The spark plug well seals also tend to leak -- 3 of the 4 on my engine (the same 2.5 SOHC that is in your car) were leaking a little bit of oil when I changed my spark plugs so I just tightened the valve covers down a bit. I'll swap the seals when I have time to adjust the valve clearance. If you decide to replace your valve cover gaskets, you may as well have the valve clearance checked and adjusted at the same time. They are the screw adjuster type and shouldn't take more than 2 hours of labor.

I second that.

You might to check that the seal fits squarely into the housing, that it's not snagged or deformed along the mating surfaces. You could also try cleaning the mating surfaces with skotchbrite pad. If that doesn't work, try installing the seal in the old orientation -- on top of the thermostat rather than around its circumference.

Do a search on this forum form "torque bind." There is plenty of info. available on the exact symptoms you describe.

If the fog light housing is not cracked or broken, you can replace just the bulb. Go to the index of your manual and look up "bulb chart." For my 99 Forester, it's bulb #9006. You should also be able to find instructions for doing it by looking up "fog light bulb replacement," again, in the index of your owner's manual. If you plan on doing it yourself, a screwdriver and some elbow grease is all that you should need. Avoid touching the bulb itself during the installation.

Hot glue gun melts the glue, which remains relatively flexible after it has cooled -- so in this case it is a hot application. Most types of epoxy become quite brittle and don't stand up to the hot and cold cycles of an engine bay so in this case I'm thinking that there is an epoxy for electrical applications that would be ideal. I've not seen the latter at any of the automotive supply chains, but maybe someone esle can chime in on this. By the way, these hot glue guns melt sticks of glue about the size of a stick of chalk, and they're available at almost any store like Kmart, Walmart, or Sears (I don't know what your Canadian equivalents would be). Maybe a neighbor has one you can borrow. Before you reseal, it may be a good idea to thoroughly clean the surfaces with a solvent like acetone or brake cleaner. Good luck with it.

rjames, You say the problem is exacerbated by humidity. It's possible that the epoxy in the coil has cracked. You could try unbolting the coil and resealing the epoxy on the underside with a hot glue gun or a hi temperature epoxy -- it can't hurt to give this cheap fix a try.

I just changed my air filter and spark plugs after 32K miles of service. The plugs were worn out of spec at .050" (1.27mm for our internationals). Specified gap is .039"-.043"(1-1.1 mm). Nonetheless, I didn't notice any driveablity issues or a dip in fuel mileage. Does anyone regap their plugs at 15k miles or so?

Cleaning it with gas or a carb cleaner will work fine -- so long as you can hear the internal piston slide freely back and forth when shaken.

Funny you should say that -- when i first noticed the roar from these tires (about 30K miles ago), I actually had to pull out the jack at a rest stop on the highway to make sure it wasn't a bad wheel bearing. Early Foresters had issues with the the rear wheel bearings, which already had me paranoid and uneasy. 30K miles later, I realize that the tapered bearings installed the second time around (yes -- two rear wheel bearing jobs at the dealer in 59K miles) should be okay for some time. Then I thought perhaps the wheels were out of balance and wasted another $50 to have all four done and even more money on an alignment because of radial pull -- never again with these troublemakers.