Setright

Meeky! You can't trust the fuel gauge for that! If you can, my Legacy gets about 50miles to ZERO gallons, the next ten 10 miles suddenly drink 1/5 of tank... Brim the tank, drive for at least 60 miles, brim the tank again, and use the gas station pump as a measure of how many gallons. This is still not the last word in accuracy, but you cannot trust the dashboard fuel gauge.

It should be possible to get some M1 5W-50. There is also a 0W-40, which is well suited for winter. xW-30 is too thin, it will evaporate off the cylinder walls and cause oil high consumption.

Could be an external head gasket leak. Stick a pump on the radiator instead of a rad cap and presurise the system, while cold. Look for the drip...

Hmm, if you wanna drive fast, head south from Frankfurt. There's a four lane stretch that is arrow straight for 24km. They even post signs to let you know this!! I have seen 170mph in a Porsche 993 Carrera 2, on this road. From the passenger seat Owner let me rip it up on some A-roads later...WOOHOO!!

You must have a different problem, ie. air stopping the flow. A closed thermostat won't prevent cabin heat.

There is good access if you remove the black shrouding in the centre console. That means radio out - not sure what install you have - ashtray out, three screws to loosen the "roof" of the ashtray slot, and two screws to get the black plastic loosened. These two are "hidden" under the clock. The shroud is also clicked into place, so pull it out carefully. Check the fuse first, as Legacy777 says

I just bled my brakes, at each wheel. Haynes is a bit vague on the MC. Any pointers?? (I do not have air in the system, though)

What do you use the car for? If it needs to run daily, reliably, you should stick with EJ22. It will fit for sure, and all the sub-systems are designed for that engine. EJ20T or EJ22T would probably spring a few surprises during the install and maybe pose a few problems later along the way. I would of course, fully understand a swap to a turbocharged engine! I might also be a little bit jealous

You pour oil into the big hole in the middle of the filter and let it soak through the element. A little bit at a time, takes maybe five minutes in warm weather. I start by pouring as much oil in as possible, and then start loosening the old filter. Once that's done, pop back to the new filter and pour some more in there...loosen the oil-pan drain plug...back to the new filter... The bypass-valve works in the opposite direction btw. OE Sube filters for EJ engines don't have or need anti drain-back. (Please don't anyone argue me on that last point. Trust me, or read the EJ launch material yourself ) Speed limits: French "Autoroutes" have a general 80mph limit. As far as I know, there are no de-restricted zones. Your friends took a chance, the French traffic police don't like foreigners abusing their motorways. In fact, they don't like foreigners at all German "Autobahns" also have a general 80mph limit. Some stretches are signposted to lower limits. The good bits are the few stretches left where the signs let you know that there is no limit! Stray more than 20pmh above a signposted speed limit and you are taking a bus home, the German police will confiscate your car, and maybe your license on-the-spot. Again, if your friends were breaking the limits in Germany, they were taking a BIG risk. Three hours? I would suspect some bending of the truth. And perhaps it was from near Paris, to near Berlin. 4 hours would seem less like a load of baloney. 5 hours perfectly feasible - but you'd still need a fast car, ie. 140mph plus top speed.

Living in Denmark, and driving in Germany fairly often, I can offer this advice having spent hours on end at 4500rpm and 90mph: Mobil1 5W-50. This oil will not burn off the cylinder walls. I change oil and filter every 10,000km, ca. 6200miles. My engine has over 186k miles on it, and uses about a litre between changes. Most of it seems to go when I start revving it past 5000rpm, otherwise there is no oil loss. Stick with Sube oil filters, they are not the last word in filtration and flow, but they are not bad at all and swapping every 6k is well within their capacity. If you change oil yourself, "prime" the new filter before you screw on it on, ie. fill it with fresh oil. At your mileage I would replace the PCV valve, and make sure all the related hoses are not clogged. This has a profound effect on oil longevity. To begin with, keep an eye on your oil level, say every 600 miles, just to get picture of how the engine's doing. Oh, and be aware that oil can hide in many places in these boxer engines, so take a few readings before adding more - prevents overfilling. Other than that? Enjoy the possibility of letting your car stretch it's legs...LEGALLY! Nothing like a 130mph fix every now and then....which brings me to advice on simple upgrades for your brakes. Let me know if you want to hear more

CRIKEY! With the engine on and full vacuum assistance on the brake the fluid must shoot out at the bleeders. I have never heard it done this way. Maybe that's your trouble? It sounds like baloney that the master cylinder should be damaged. It's designed to work with the engine stalled. You dont' want to lose braking because the engine goes out!

Snotrocket: Changing the conrod length will not alter the average piston speed. The stroke has to be changed to do that, and that is determined by the crankshaft. Yes, I understand you reckon that at some points the piston speed will be different, but it's a minimal gain. Plus, a longer rod is likely to flex more. More revs needs stronger valve springs - as mentioned above somewhere. AND balanced conrods and pistons. No more than one tenth of gram difference please Of course really high revs will require lighter pistons to ease the stress on rods...which ideally would be made of titantium if you plan on 10,000rpm on a daily basis. Pistons spend most of their time standing still, it's the getting from TDC to BDC that's stressing them :-p

A full flush, Setright style, requires one liter of brake fluid. I would try this first, before re-doing the banjo bolts.

Yes, I too have heard that switching from Mineral to Synthetic oil can destroy your engine. Not to mention render you impotent and make long lost relatives call you up and ask "WHY did you do it??" Mobil 1 is a very good oil. Not the absolute top notch maybe, but it has so many benefits above any mineral oil. I wish you guys Stateside could get the 5W-50 we get in the rest of the world. No cold start problems and no excessive vapor loss.

The right offset will depend on the rim width, and the tyre outer diameter. Subes have a vey high offset, 55-50mm on standard rims. Many aftermarket rims will therefore reach too far out and foul the fender. "Team Dynamics" make a fairly wide range of rims with Sube friendly offsets.

Not sure what is broken, or missing. It'll be a while before I actually dismantle everyhting and have a look. Will post then, but don't hold you breath

Does the car have a lamda sond/O2 sensor? If so, it's either disconnected or defective. The ECU won't take readings from the sond until the engine is at operating temp. That's why the light didn't come on until then.

Top notch test! Of course, the best solution, the one that avoids risking a bad ADV is the way EJ oil filters are mounted - open end up. True, the oil galleries reach higher than the filter mounting surface, and would therefore encourage a bit of drain back. The clever design of the oil pump inlet and outlet should stop a total drain back though. Both are sited low down, meaning that the oil has to flow up through the outlet and up into the pump before it can drain down through the inlet. How much resistance does a ADV put on oil flow?

As far as I know: We had a 2.0 litre turbo over here which delivered 199bhp. The first 2.2 litre turbos in the US were only giving 160bhp. The JDM 2.0 litre turbo boasted 220bhp. The 260bhp version must be rare.

What are the odds? The inner linning of the trunk was rubbing on the inside of the rear body panel....I have dropped a rag down there for now, and it appears to have silenced things a quite a bit. I will remove the whole thing and make a permanent fix as soon as temperatures get over freezing - and this damn sleet stops coming down! Thanks for the suggestions. My next step was to remove the rear seat and check the top strut mount...

Sorry, asuman, I realize that description was a little vague. Fill the NEW FILTER with fresh oil. Of course you drain the old oil first and remove the old filter! obw has cleared that up anyway..

If you have a dealer in the vicinity, I recommend going for Subaru filters. They are made by Purulator, by the way. They may not the absolute best of the best, but they are way ahead of some the aftermarket filters. The filter screws on from below, so do your engine a favor and prime it - ie. fill it with fresh oil before you install it. The oil debate is long and not ended yet. I have trusted Mobil 1 5W-50 for many years and many miles.

"Okay, maybe this is only true of EJ-series engines"

The left rear of my 1990 Legacy AWD is making some odd and ANNOYING noises. There's a clonk, a scratch, and a squeak. I just can't track them down. Driving at lower speeds, up to 30mph, on slightly uneven surfaces all three noises will occur, seemingly at random. If I get out of the car, and push down on that corner of the car, in small oscillations, similar to those while driving. No noise. If start really bouncing it up and down, the clonk and squeak will make guest appearances. Huh? (E-brake off btw) So, I get back into the car and drive at 30 mph on a smooth surface and rip the steering wheel from side-to-side and slalom my way down the road. No noise. Huh? What's up with that?? Obviously, bouncing the car at standstill is not the same as cruising over uneven surfaces. There is no torque on the drive axle, no pull/push on the trailing arm and wishbone. Anyone experienced similar? And fixed it? Related facts: I replaced the rear discs 12k miles ago, and had an authorised dealer replace the bearing 6k miles ago. I have been under the car and checked for loose components, but found none. Fuel filler neck is not loose. I have tried pulling the E-brake while the noise is occuring but there is no change. Same goes for the foot brake.

Skip, there is no rubber valve under the inlet holes in the Sube filters I install. For sure. Oil runs out from these holes when I prime it to the brim. The Subaru tech info on the EJ series says the oil pump is designed to hold oil, so that it's always primed, even after not running for a long time. I would suggest that in conjuction with the filter orientation, that function negates the need for the ADV. Furthermore the oil galleries that serve the Hydraulic Lash Adjusters are formed to separate air bubbles before they enter the HLA.