Setright

Yeah, keep the wells clean by kicking/scraping whenever you park. AND, be glad you have AWD, imagine a FWD with that much snow in the rear wheel wells. Sudden lock up like pulling the e-brake could lead to a spin.

It's a true boxer. Piston pairs opposing eachother. Lesser brands, like Ferrari , have V engines with 180 degrees in the V. The BB512 engine is NOT a boxer. It may be a flat-12, but the balance isn't right. And what's it doing on top of the gearbox???

Ermmm, the fuel filter is supposed to be replaced at 30k and 60k. I think either they didn't replace it and "cleaning the lines" freed up enough gunk to clog the filter, or during the install someone overlooked something. Gunk could in theory also have killed the fuel pressure regulator. Both these items should be serviced/replaced before the fuel pump!!

Cobalt, sounds like the wipers. Try tapping them up, so the wind won't whistle through them. Temporarily of course, just to locate the noise. Attached picture is of the allen mentioned above.

Okay, new tack! Get under the passenger side of the dash, the fan housing is the round bit secured with three or four screws. Undo these, lower the fan and clean out any debris. Check the fan for broken blades, too. Re-install, and you should be good to go (All the Subes I have driven have a very slight background clicking, especially in fan speed 2. Road noise drowns it out though.)

Defroster turns on the A/C to dry the air. Is the clicking happening once every few minutes? That could be normal, the A/C relay could be clicking. Try manually switching off the A/C in defrost mode (windscreen Symbol), the clicking might go away

Sweet, we get DR on the 2.0 's here too! Dude, my Jap built 2.5XT has a full size spare. Alloy 17 incher! Already had to use it - 5mm allen key killed a tyre

Bleeding: Park car on slight uphill incline. Front wheels on a curb would be enough. Let the engine cool, open the radiator cap, idle the engine until the radiator fans come on, top off the coolant in the radiator, re-install cap, adjust coolant level in expansion tank to the FULL mark. Done! (Run the cabin heat if you like, but it will only delay the fans. No valve in the cabin heater to worry about.)

As you can see above, next to my name, I like that badge

Texan! Loving that picture, good to see you aren't babying your new car! Feels good on the track doesn't it?

Breathe easy! The third gear cog wheels are not in constant mesh like the rest, and that means the noise is the sound of strong cog teeth skipping over eachother. Sounds terrible, and while it does produce metal particles in the oil, the amount is too small to worry about. Most of the metal bits in gear oil are from the differential "hypoid" cogs. And you have no influence on these. Obviously, grinding reverse at forward speeds on a daily basis will upset the transmission in the long run, but a few missed shifts aren't gonna break anything.

I had a busted heated seat in a old Legacy. Took the seat out, removed the cloth cover (held on by copper clips) soldered the broken bit in the element, and presto!

Valvoline Synpower 75W-90 has served me very well. It has surpassed my otherwise much beloved Castrol Syntorq. Valvoline cured a third gear grind that Castrol couldn't.

Oh my Lord! What was I drinking???? Sorry, I must have read it wrong to begin with, and then the blindness set in. Pardon me

nipper, the EJ engines do have offset pins. My source is Subaru's own tech material. In fact, I can't think of any engine that doesn't have offset pins. Almost any skirt design will slap if the pins are centered. Similarly, pistons aren't round when they're cold. These are basic "musts" of a piston engine, I doubt very much any engine is without them. But still, the later EJ's slap when cold. Piston length and wrist pin height within the piston are the cause. I am leaning very much toward Dr.Outback's view on this. If you're engine doesn't slap when warm, relax and enjoy the drive.

Ok, Blitz, I know I was quoting directly, but I still cannot see how you can increase stroke without changing the crank? Moving the wrist pin won't alter the stroke length. On that wheel: The Citroen Xantia Hydractive suspension uses the front wheel movement to "read" the road surface and adjust the rear suspension settings - both spring and damper. The "Activa" which also has added features such as anti-roll and anti-dive/squat has the most amazing ride quality I have ever experienced. Not only does the car remain flat in crazy cornering, but it really does iron out road irregularities. Of course, that car does have 11 of those not entirely reliable nitrogen gas spheres to make it all happen. And the ride is TERRIBLE when they fail.

Ah yes, good call Clark

MJJ, I have a two week old Forester 2.5XT that I use for work. Only 700 miles on it so far. Feel free to bring on the questions

Ermm. Blitz, I like the idea, and the moly coating thing is SO true. However, moving the gugeon/wrist pin "sideways" won't increase the stroke?????? The crank needs alteration to change the stroke length.

My old EJ22 - 1990 - never slapped. Most newer EJ's slap to some extent. I think the EJ25 are the worst, because of the bore to piston height ratio. The sound is similar to a Diesel engine. Clack--clack.

Genunine filters are very good. Some of the specialist filters may be slightly better, but you won't go wrong with a Subaru filter - and they don't cost too much.

I love it! Subaru's are so much better than people think

I do have one or two suggestions: Fit some Mintex pads. I have had good experience with these, and no amount of heat will cause pad deposits on the discs - aka "warping". Next up: Do these vehicles have automatic transmissions? If so, try bumping the gearstick into "N" when you intend to stand still - like traffic lights - and pulling the handbrake if you're on an incline. The stick moves freely from "N" to "D" without any need for pressing the lock button. This way you don't press the front brake pads onto the discs during stops.

Dickensheets is on the money. Either idle a "hot" turbo for a minute, or take it easy on the last stretch of road. The place to keep the idling in mind is highway gas stations: Cruising at high speed and pulling up for fuel...wait a minute please!

That kind of consumption is nothing to worry about. You can experiment a little to find the brand and weight of oil that reduces consumption to minimum. Shell 10W-40? The only "danger" involved is forgetting to top off the oil level.