Setright

Where exactly did your pour the oil in? Around the vent or actually into it? Did the grime come into the cabin?

I base the width thing on the fact that the minimum wheel width is 70% of the tyre. 85-90% is the sweet spot. Resist the tempation to fit wider tyres, it will not improve the handling.

205/50R16 is the correct size. A 7 inch wide rim will be the ideal fit for this tyre width. Make sure the offset is correct too, 48-50mm. And the car will look COOL!

Decisions, decisions.....I only I were in a position to choose between these two cars. SVX, no doubt. Design still looks stunning, engine is smooth and creamy, and your dog can lie on a carpet in the so-called back seat. SVX is the business.

Oh, and AWD does not eat tyres. What baloney!

40psi does sound high, but it all depends on the tyre size. A 205/50R16 tyre would work well at that pressure, although I would probably go for 38psi. I run my 195/60R15 Potenzas at 35 front, 31 rear. Door sticker says 31/29. I think 25k miles from a set of tyres is okay, as long they have given you good grip in the process. 30k would be optimal. There are tyres that will last 40k and above, but often this is at the expense of handling - and safety! In terms of alignment, the recommend toe-in is ZERO on all four wheels.

It is in the same place, roughly anyway. The trunk carpet has to come out, which means the three plastic things on the lower part of the seatbacks need to come off. There are two access holes (on AWD), you want the one on the passenger side. They are screwn down lids.

Boot=trunk :-)

Stick four brand new tyres in the boot. Gives a very good impression of "new car smell". Dealers do this. You could flush a bucket of car soap and water into these areas, leave for a little while and flush with pure water.

Please read my statement again.

Good news indeed!

Colorado, the cat is the first expansion. The second thing is a resonator designed to boost torque by sending pressure pulses back along the system. The idea is for the pulse to encourage the exhaust gases to leave the the combustion chamber. The final thing is the actual silencer. At least it was like that on my 1990 BC7.

I first off need to second Adnans motion. Clutch parts dont end up in the transmission. Indeed, according to the symptoms, I have held on the gearbox being the culprit all the time - in a previous post. Soobnut is onto something!

...and I was just parked! One person banged into my bumper, scratched it and smashed an indicator. The other, tried to squeeze a mobile lift into the space in front of me and rammed the lift/part into my bonnet! At least the second guy left a note.

Cats tend quell any snarl and "barp" noises. More of these is a GOOD thing! Please make a good recording for us all to hear :-)

I can answer one question. The blocks are not the same. The STi block has an extra brace between the cylinders.

The standard system isn't that bad a size, the only restrictions are the catalyst and the rear silencer. For a normally aspirated 2.2, 60mm pipes should be plenty. Larger sizes are best reserved for turbocharged engines. When buying a new rear silencer try to find something with dual pipes exiting the system. Two smaller pipes will flow as much as one larger one, but the big one will produce a low frequency drone on cruise....

nate, pad and rotor wear do not influence pedal travel, the slack is taken up by the brake fluid. Bizcomm, your problem is probably that the stock pads are pathetic. Get new rotors and pads. I would recommend Mintex standard pads - aka "Red Box", but the new boxes are black!

Maybe the wear indicator on the brake pads? Or is that what you have ruled out? Axles don't squeak, so it could be suspension related.

13psi is the old cap pressure. To me thats 0.9 Bar, new ones are 1.1 Bar, which is close to 16psi. STi rad caps are 1.3 Bar, but that might be taking chances with the standard coolant hoses... TeamPanic, I know how you feel. Whenever I hear just the slightest odd sound from my car I immediately go into panic and assume the absolute worst. It's very stressful, wish I could convince myself to stop! For the record, my Impreza was bubbling in the coolant expansion tank until I recently drained/flushed/refilled the system. Only replaced the upper and lower hoses, same old rad cap. Search for "coolant replacement" if you want to read my version of how to do it right :-)

Coming on and off the gas in third or fourth gear and the car engine/trans will shake. Jerking passengers heads, not violently, but enough to make the driver look like a beginner.

Still working on the solution to this on my Imp. Some suggestions relate to engine mounts.

Hold your horses! What is a slight oily film? The glycol that makes up most of the antifreeze is slimely stuff, and after a few thousand miles in a normal engine, some of it tends to collect, along with corrosion particles and form a thin film on top the coolant. Engine oil in the coolant will form small globules first, and form a thicker layer as it builds up. A few bubbles coming through is normal. Especially if the coolant is gettting old. I say: Drain it fully, flush it with pure water, and refill with a good 50/50 anti-freeze, and then keep an eye on the levels.

That is an obscene amount of oil. Are you certain that you are reading the level accurately? It can be tricky on these flat engines. If yes, you have a serious problem, and I am surprised that you can't find a leak or see smoke.

I understand the situation. If you had gotten out the car and asked for Wendy's to drain the lake right there and then, you would probably have had to face a number of angry drivers from behind. So, I would try to get the money for the entire repair bill, but be quick to "bargain" with the manager and accept money for the radiator only. If they say no, you are probably out of luck. "Which I admit is both bogus and sad." as Wayne said :-)