hohieu

Will the pedal behave normally after the engine has cooled? Failure mode with the clutch hydraulics on Subarus happen usually when the engine is hot -- so just getting on the highway and into stop 'n' go traffic will result in a hot engine bay. The slaves usually wear out faster than the master, but I replaced the slave, and still had the mushy pedal until I replaced the master as well. Good luck.

Are you sure it's not coming from one of the outer CV joints at the front wheels? I've never heard a failing universal joint on the drive shaft make clicking noises. They usually vibrate and/or make low range noises associated with roughness in the joint. On automatics, a noticeable clunk can be heard after slipping the tranny into gear.

If they're correctly pressed into and good knuckle, the bearings could theoretically last forever. It's often a bad seal that leads to bearing failure. Certain things can accelerate seal failure such as stuck and overheating brake calipers and corroded polished surfaces of the outer half shaft joint. An under/over torqued axle nut or poor installation procedures can also damage a bearing. On my '99 Forester, there are three seals for rear wheel bearings -- 2 inners and 1 outer. The innermost seal merely acts as a dust shield. NTN Bearing Co. recommends a grease fill of 30% of the the free space inside the bearing (see the bottom of this link: http://www.ntnamerica.com/product-support-and-training/frequently-asked-questions#g4 Overfilling will cause the bearing to overheat.

It's really hit or miss with these things. I replaced my ball joints at 170K miles/12 years. On the driver's side, I hit it with PB Blaster, a torch, and an electric impact wrench until the bolt finally sheared in half. I had sprayed it for weeks beforehand. The other side came out with relatively little trouble. Another board member suggests pre-drilling the threaded end in order to allow for some torsional flex when you turn the bolt, and I would probably follow this route if I had to go up against another stubborn pinch bolt.

Loyale, I'm guessing you thought you were on the wrong forum, huh? Agreed, it's a pretty literal translation for the product. I should also say that all the other stuff I've tried has swelled the brake rubber and hardened over time. I'm sure there's an aftermarket equivalent out there somewhere, but since Akebono's caliper design is the only one I know of that uses the rubber bushing at the tip of the lock pin, I'd been looking for this JDM/OEM grease for a while.

I tried several different synthetic non-petroleum based caliper greases for the sliders and they've all let me down. Finally found this at Subaruparts.com for $12.60 + S&H. It comes in a 100g (~3.5 oz.) tube.

Ah, I see you already have an adjacent thread about the valve cover gaskets.

You'll be really be working your abs on this one so be prepared. You can also stick a screwdriver through the spark plug hole to confirm TDC. Intake valves tend to loosen up over time while exhaust valves tend to tighten due to higher rates of cam/rocker wear and valve seat wear, respectively. If you confirm this is indeed the case with your engine, adjust intake valves to the lowest specified limit and exhaust valves to the highest specified limit. Specified ranges should be on a sticker on the underside of your hood. Also order up a new set of valve cover gaskets and spark plug well seals. You can PM me and I'll send you a pdf. of the procedure from the FSM.

I feel like you do get a lot of car for the money, but I guess Subaru has to make up that difference somewhere: thin sheet metal body panels and the already mentioned chassis components. My oil pan is starting to rust around the dipstick tube. I'll spray some paint over it before they start salting the roads because it's not the easiest thing to replace.

NGK plug nomenclature: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/partnumberkey.pdf BKR6ES11 have a standard copper electrode BKR6E11 have a copper V-Groove electrode I've run both in addition to other copper plugs (Bosch 7557/FR8DCX and Champion 346/RC10YC4) and have not noticed any differences in performance or fuel efficiency. The only thing I've seen is that the BKR6E11 with the V-Groove seem to wear a bit faster. I'd stick with copper because I'd always want to pull them off every 30K miles to see their condition. In a pinch, you could even regap and reinstall them. Fancier plugs wear more slowly, but they don't perform as well as copper. Copper conducts both electricity and heat better than both platinum and iridium, but you just need to either replace or regap them more often. It's not unusual to see platinum plugs specified for cars, like the Phase I 2.5, on which it's a major chore to swap them out. So unless you live in Alaska or the Arizona desert, stick with a copper plug in the specified heat range.

I opened them both up, and besides the front casing, bearings, and brushes, they're actually quite different. The IC regulator, rectifier, and winding connections are all different. All the wear items still seemed fine on the '99 alt. so I'll just reassemble and bolt it back into the car. I'll see if I can get a 2-spade pigtail and put the '98 alt. in the spare tire well just in case...

It's part of the tensioner assembly for the AC belt on the left (driver's) side of the engine and is very easy to replace. I just opened my alternator up at 170K miles and all the wear items still looked fine. Brushes still had plenty of life left on them and the bearings were still smooth and tight. Don't over tighten the accessory belts, and the bearings (and belts) will last a long time.

I knew that the updated alternators were more expensive, but that's incredible, . I wonder if it's simply a supply issue or whether the updated alternator is that much better. According to the adjacent thread by Ravenwoods, they're still failing. I may just take the old one out and inspect/replace the wear items: bearings, rotor, and brushes.

Thanks for the info., Fairtax. The '98 alternator is a spare that came off of a jdm engine so I don't have an extra pigtail. If I did, I'd probably just stick both in the car as a spare. Even though the '98 alternator tested just fine, I worry that it may also have the old regulator/brush holder assembly that was problematic. I'm guessing that newer style '99 alternator has an updated regulator and, thus, the different 3-spade plug. So has anyone on here rebuilt these alternators?

'99 Forester with 170K miles, original alternator So I guess I'm in it for the long haul: just replaced the clutch and ball joints and will be doing the struts after the winter. I'll be doing some long road trips for the holidays and was thinking about taking apart the alternator and perhaps swapping in some parts from a donor low-mileage unit off a '98 forester. They're not interchangeable. The 98' DOHC alt. has a 2 spade rectangular plug while the '99 SOHC alt. has a 3-spade oval plug. I suppose I could also splice in another pigtail to accommodate the '98 alternator. In any case, the bearings and rotor are easy enough to replace, but some soldering is required to remove and test the regulator and rectifier and to replace the brush. Are there any parts that are more prone to failure? I'd rather not have to disassemble the whole thing. I'd appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks.

It's not at all difficult, but I would hold off on doing the valve cover gaskets until you're also ready to check your valve clearances. Chances are, they haven't been done because they haven't moved that much, even at 136K miles, to make noise. But if you're already popping off the covers, it makes sense to inspect/adjust them. As mentioned by ShawnW, you'll also want to get the spark plug well seals (# 10966AA000), which I think are included if you go with an aftermarket kit.

Ok, then they were probably not the organics, which tend to wear much faster.

Do you remember which Wagner pads you used? I bought a set of semi-metallic Thermoquiets for my F150, which uses Akebono calipers like our Subarus, and they came with the caliper hardware. But I saw that Wagner's Thermoquiet line for Subarus uses organic friction material for the front pads which may be why they didn't perform so well. I am currently running Akebono ProAct ceramic pads, front & rear, on my '99 Forester. They don't seem any better or worse than OEM pads, which I think are ceramic. Dusting and noise seem about the same as well. I'll probably go back to semi-metallic pads on the Subaru for better heat dissipation.

There are 3 seals on my Forester: 2 inner and 1 outer. But it could be different on your Legacy. If you can, I would go with Koyo or NSK bearings. The latter is the OEM supplier to Subaru. For aftermarket seals, you could go with Beck & Arnley. I've had issues with the fitment of Timken seals on my Subaru. To remove the hub, you could use a slide hammer attached to a hub removal attachment -- neither of these things are Subaru specific tools. I managed to tap mine out from the inboard side. Shoot me a PM with your email , and I'll send you a PDF. using hubtamer type tools. That lateral link bolt can be the most time consuming part of the job. You may also need to destroy the lateral link bushings to remove that beast so confirm that your local dealer has the bolt and a couple of those bushings in stock before you dig into things. What happens is that the bolt seizes inside the bushing collars. After I got it out of the car, I tried beating on the bolt with a 3-lb. hammer on top of a vise, and the sucker still wouldn't budge.

Right, if you can feel play, you're nearing the point of catastrophic failure. With one hand on the spring coil, rotate the wheel. Any roughness in the bearing will be transmitted to the coil. Mine was making noise that way for 40K miles, and there was not any play in the bearing during that time.

The new Denso starters look like they went with the sealed solenoid as well. While it's possible to rebuild the solenoid, it's not as easy as with the older Denso starter/solenoid assemblies. It seems like most suppliers only sell parts to electrical parts rebuilders, but there's a guy on ebay, probably a rebuilder himself, who sells the solenoids. Check out my post in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127583&page=2

I've purchased alternator and starter parts from this guy: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitsubishi-Starter-Starter-Solenoid-New-/230634151169?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item35b2dddd01 Just email with your Mitsubishi starter part # (M000T84481 or M001T84481)to make sure that this is the right solenoid for you car. If those don't work, you can try to get part numbers from another auto parts site.

Yes, it's the solenoid. They're rebuildable, but not as easily as the Denso starters used on older Legacies. You could replace just the solenoid or the whole starter assembly.

So it will crank but not start?

Thanks WoodsWagon, that really clears it up for me. My old clips appeared to be in pretty decent shape, but I guess you can't really see fatigue. On the other hand, the clutch fork retainer spring was pretty worn where it contacts the pivot ball. I'd probably consider replacing it the next time I'm in there.