Setright

Well, the hatch marks are visible and that's positive, but that doesn't mean the cylinders aren't gonna seal. The hatches won't be very deep, even though they are visible. And yes, the rings have a soft nickel or similar coating to provide a sealing surface.

Lighter wheels will improve the wheel control and relieve the dampers a bit. Ride quality should improve and "float" over long undulations will be reduced. No passive rear steer AFAIK.

It's not full of bits that cause blocking. It has just expanded/swelled the rubber it has contacted. The leaks were minor, not the sort an older engine would be making. That would require new seals.

I like to replace the bolts with stainless steel items. Of course I am a bit weird and also like to swap my sport muffler and standard muffler around every now and then. Well, only when I go for long journeys where the loud one would be a pain. The other gaskets, like between center and muffler are available from Subaru in aluminium, which doesn't distort the flanges like the soft gaskets do.

Yes, perhaps I am a bit of stickler, I don't know I am often the only person who tries to tame the modding folk - especially on imprezasport.net - because I feel someone needs to be the voice not only of reason, but also for good handling. I strongly suggest that you fit the lowering springs alone, to begin with. H&R and Whiteline should be good for some inch lowering without being too hard. You can always tweak the handling with sway bars later. The old Impreza's had bump steer, but the newer models do not, and that adds a potentail for a loose tail. Bump steer means that the front suspension produces toe-out on compression. This means that if you brake in a turn, the wheel moves "up" into the wheel well and turns slightly outward. This counters the oversteer effect of braking. It also makes the steering feel slighty slow. That's why the new cars don't have bump steer, to gain a more precise and alert steering feel.

Zero! At least for AWD models. If you're in a FWD, I think you need a tiny amound of rear toe-in. Camber is 0.0 front, but adjusting it to 0.25 will improve your handling massively. Rear camber is -1.0, but it's not adjustable.

You could try a coolant flush additive. One of those that you mix with water and idling in the engine for 15 minutes. The flush two or three times. I have seen this kind of stuff clear an old rusted and gunged up radiator. Make sure you use a weak solution (weaker than recommended on the bottle) and flush it thouroughly. Brand names that come to mind: Lynns, Holts...

Well, no it's not, but that's what the oil filter is for I use new washers, copper or alumiunium rings.

Ok, didna know about SLX's fate down under. On the Motul 300V: Make sure you get the stuff for car engines. The bike stuff has EP additives to deal with wet clutches.

Mobil 1, 5W-50 or 5W-40. You can elect to use 5W-30 as your handbook probably suggests, but that stuff is thin and has a tendency to burn off - therefore the need to check the level often. They factory fill modern cars with this watery oil to reduce fuel consumption... Other oils I wouldn't mind using: Castrol RS in 0W-40 weight, Castrol Magnatec 5W-40. I bet the present oil in there is Castrol SLX 5W-30 "Longlife"

Mobil 1, 5W-50 or 5W-40. You can elect to use 5W-30 as your handbook probably suggests, but that stuff is thin and has a tendency to burn off - therefore the need to check the level often. They factory fill modern cars with this watery oil to reduce fuel consumption... Other oils I wouldn't mind using: Castrol RS in 0W-40 weight, Castrol Magnatec 5W-40. I bet the present oil in there is Castrol SLX 0W-30

Yes Tobers, we're all here silently cheering for you mwatt, I wish I had made that fuel pressure suggestion. In fact, every morning I turn the key to on and wait for the sound of a busy fuel pump to stop before I crank. Well, okay I admit it, I always pause at the "on" position, kinda like to let the ECU wake and smell the sensors before I ask for cranking.

Well, it most a bundle, but that's Danish prices - think it was the equivalent of $1200! You can still drive it, but it won't get any better. The "risk" is mainly a bearing dropping a ball into the cogs and blocking the rotation. Could lead to locked wheels and a skid. But that is far out and there will be plenty noise! You could probably find a salvaged gearbox somewhere to swap in, instead of an expensive repair. I didn't do that because there are two few Subes over here and I couldn't find a used one.

Soobskier, how big a lump and how big were the particles? A lump the size of the plug itself (composed of 2mm long shavings) was what I decided spelt doom for my old transmission: I had the bearings replaced. Listen for abnormal noises during idle at standstill. With the clutch pedal down, they should dissappear. Abnormal means more than the standard "whrrrr". Worn bearings whrrr louder and also unevenly. If you get a consistent whrrr as you let the clutch up, you're probably OK for now. Mine was going whrrrrhrhrhrhrhrhrhhhrrrrrr along with a rumble. Oh, did I mention we found nearly EIGHT millimeters of slack in the main input bearing?

Crikey! Well, first off listen to this: http://www.geocities.com/vik2r/Sube/mp3/warmstart.mp3 That's my previous Subaru, a 1990 Legacy with the famous EJ22 engine. The engine is already warm, so the cranking is quite short, but you can still make it out. This rather whiny sound is the sound any newer Subaru makes when starting. When cold, it'll last a max of two seconds. But that's when it's freezing, and bear in mind that even "just" a single second seems like ages when you are waiting for the engine to fire. Is your car making a different noise? I will hunt for tech docs and maybe make a recording of my present car starting cold.

Yes, that's it! I always use a cloth and it ends up running EVERYWHERE! Top class idea, next change will involve the foil ;-)

Indeed. I guess there is just some substance that swells the rubber seals. The question is how long it stays in there? Carl: Diesel fuel and brake fluid can do the same trick, but if I pour either of those in my engine I would only idle it for a few minutes and then drain the oil

Well, based on information I obtained directly from the API, I wouldn't worry about using a GL4 oil in my transmission. As it happens, the Valvoline Synpower that I am running spans the GL scale from 3 to 5. In full accordance with the API who specifically state: "These designations also recognize the possibility that lubricants may be developed for more than one service classification and may be so designated." I understand that challenging the engineers who chose the GL5 requirement for the Sube gearbox seems a bit obnoxious, but consider that it's probably the same engineers who after 30 years(!) still can't fit a big enough synchro cone on third gear.... We wouldn't be having this discussion if 2nd to 3rd wasn't accompanied by a kerrrUNCH!

Welcome to the club! Start by removing the dipstick - to let air get in as the oil drains. Bottom of the gearbox, just ahead of the exhaust pipe there is a drain plug. I think it's a 22mm. It points straight down and it will SPLASH oil onto the exhaust when you drain it. Make sure you wipe off as much as possible, or it will STINK and smoke when the exhaust gets hot. The plug has a magnet in it to catch metal bits, a thin layer is normal. A big lump of metal shavings means bad bearings. Fit a new copper or alumiunium washer and tighten to 40Nm/ 32ftlbs. For filling, I like to run a two foot length of hose into the dipstick hole and then add a funnel at the other end. This means you don't have to crawl into the engine room to refill. It will take patience, gear oil is thick and it'll burb the air out as you go. Add three liters, drive let it cool for at least four hours and top-off if needed.

Try running some Mobil1 "Hi Mileage" oil, it stop some minor leaks on my engine, could work for you too.

Hi all, quick commercial break: My EJ20 was beginning to leak past some of the rubber seals, in particular the spark plug o-rings. At an oil change I decided to try Mobil1 Hi Mileage 0W-40 instead of my usual 5W-50. Apparently the Hi Mileage oil contains extra seal conditioners to prevent leaks. 6000 miles later and I can say that it really, really works! I have switched back to the 5W-50 again, I hope the HiMileage has a lasting effect. I don't want to run it constantly, because my spark plugs had some ash deposits on them, and they are usually clean. I think the extra additives in the Hi Mileage stuff is responsible.

I beg to differ. The GL rating doesn't exclude hypoid gears. GL4 is perfectly suited for heavily loaded hypoid drives.

Valvoline Synpower 75W-90 should also be easy to get a hold of - and it's at least as good as Syntorq. Synth GL5 is good for me. Yes, the funnel and tube will come in handy on the transmission. Slide the tube into the filler hole and pour slowly down the funnel. It'll swallow about 3.5 liters, but I prefer to fill 3.0 and then top it off after a drive and four hour cool down. The rear diff is tricky to fill unless the oil bottle itself has a tube spout. There is room - just - to lift the bottle up underneath the fuel tank and squeeze oil in. Otherwise a very long tube can be used to fill from above the car. Insert in the diff and get it out around the rear left wheel...

Had in look in Gregorys "Automotive Mechanics" book. TDC is only the top dead center, they specifically state "on the compression stroke" if that's what they mean :-)

I would like to add to the confusion, simply because I also believe that it is important for us to speak the same language and use the same terms for the the same things: Top Dead Center refers to a CRANKSHAFT position. Pistons only recipcrocate. TDC only gives meaning in conjunction with a rotational motion Yes, of course this affects piston position, but it would only be called "Top" if it were the piston itself we were referring to!