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DirtRoadRunner

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About DirtRoadRunner

  • Birthday 06/27/1984

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  • Location
    STL
  • Interests
    Hiking, Cycling, Canoeing, Subarus
  • Occupation
    Engineer
  • Vehicles
    '00 Forester 5MT

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  1. I would also install a TSK-1 Transmission Quill Sleeve Kit: http://www.smart-service.com/store-tranquil-sleeve-kit.html The transmission quill (snout) was badly grooved on my 2000 Forester, well before 100k miles. Also put a good amount of lithium grease on your new throwout bearing. The difference between before and after the sleeve kit is AMAZING. The car felt like new with a properly functioning clutch and pedal feel was much, much better, along with smooth engagements and disengagements. I know they are $155, but I would never replace a clutch on a Subaru without adding one. Worth every penny. Also, it comes with a throwout bearing and a improved retainer clip. So don't bother buying the Subaru parts. Maybe just a new clutch fork. Also replace any seals that happen to be leaking. I replaced the O-ring on the #4 cylinder wrist pin access hole on the back of my block, which was seeping oil.
  2. I'm sure you could. But, my Saturn DID make it that far without major repairs while my Subaru DID NOT (it still only has 137k on it). From those two data points (one Subie and one Satty), the Satty wins hands-down on reliability and economy. The Subie wins big on practicality and fun-to-drive factor. Perhaps my Subie is a bit of a lemon while my Satty happened to be a particularly good one. I actually hope to buy another older Satty to function as an economical commuter (my old SL regularly got 37+ mpg on the highway) and just use my Subie as a second car for camping/bike hauling and wintry driving.
  3. My 1997 Saturn SL made it all the way to 200,8xx miles before it needed a new timing chain. It never needed a headgasket, clutch, stainless-steel transmission snout sleeve, and the dipstick readings were remarkably consistent. So at least compared to my cheap GM car, my Subie has some pretty big design flaws. Regarding the dipstick, I get varying readings form overfilled to nearly OFF the dipstick. Nearly impossible to tell how much oil is actually in the pain, and makes it easier to run it low on oil or overfill it. If Saturn/GM could design a reliable dipstick in the 90's, Subaru should have been able to also. Nevertheless, I love my Subaru for the boxer rumble, good on-road handling, surprising off-road capability (FUN on gravel), how easy it is to work on, and how great it hauls around my cycling/camping equipment. Also, the parts interchange on Subarus is awesome, they remind me of older GM vehicles.
  4. Even doing that, I seem to get wildly differing readings depending on slight differences in how flat my parking spot is. Even if it does stay in the same spot, sits overnight, etc, I'll get three different readings checking three times in a row. From now on I'll check it in the same spot after sitting. To make matters more complicated, my parking spot at home is on an incline so I'll probably just check it in my normal parking spot at work, which is flat. I love Subies, other than some of the very poor designs (head gaskets, aluminum manual transmission snouts, and dipsticks).
  5. Just changed the oil. ~3.75 quarts came out. I put ~4 quarts (from a 5 quart jug) in it ~1500 miles ago when I last changed it, the added the remaining ~1 quart on Friday. Assuming that ~0.25 quarts can be counted a spillage and oil remaining in the filter, I only burned 1 quart in 1500 miles, not 2 in 600. After the 600 mile trip a few days ago, the dipstick was nearly bone dry (despite being parked level, and checked cold). After adding the last ~1 quart from the 5 quart jug, it was just barely to the "L" hole on the dipstick (where I got the 2 quarts in 600 miles). Maybe most of my problem is fiction and can be blamed on the crappy Subaru dipstick. I also checked it this morning to find it nearly off the dipstick again (it wasn't quite parked level, the car was angled toward the PS), despite ~4 quarts of oil being in the car. How in the heck can you get a reliable, repeatable oil measurment on these cars? I always wipe it off, then slowly reinsert and remove it, and still get wildly varying readings. Also - it blew a LOT of smoke from the Seafoam treatment, almost as much as it did in May when it got its first-ever Seafoam with 130k on the clock. The smoke went away after ~10 min of driving.
  6. BTW - tearing the engine down is a last resort. Not until I get a place with a garage and a second car to drive to work (hopefully both of those things will be coming soon!). So I will just live with it for at least the next few months. The bottom end of the car is stock. I just replaced the HG, I haven't touched the pistons or anything else.
  7. They off for one week (I did the HG change over two consecutive weekends). The bock was sitting on my engine stand during that time in a shop, so it is conceivable something got gummed up. Just finished dumping half a can of seafoam in through the PCV valve. Also got a jug of Valvoline Max Life 5W30 to try out. I'll use the rest of the seafoam before my next oil change (I'll do it at 3,000 miles this time). Also, I inspected the PCV system. Everything is connected properly and nothing is plugged. However, I noticed oily residue in every hose except the one from the DS valve cover to airbox. Also, I found oily residue inside the air box where both the hose from the PS valve cover and from the crankcase enters. I would expect it where the hose from the crankcase enters, but not from the PS valve cover (the FSM shows that flow should only go into the engine from these hoses....). I cleaned off the residue inside the airbox and will inspect it again at the next oil change. With the engine idling, I pulled off all of the PCV hoses one at a time. There was positive flow from every hose at idle, but it went away if I revved the engine. Not sure if that is normal or not. Now, back out to finish my Seafoam treatment by driving the car, and I'll change the oil afterward.
  8. I've been changing it every 3-4k miles as long as I've had it (about 54,000 miles), with normal Valvoline 5w30. I have all maintenance records from before I bought the car and it has NEVER had infrequent oil changes. However, the oil has always been black when I drained the pan. That could be due to driving conditions though, I drive a lot of dusty gravel roads and like having off-road fun in my Subaru. I Seafoamed the car back in May, but will go ahead and try it again along with an oil change to high-mileage synthetic oil. When I replaced the HG's, the engine was fairly clean but did have carbon buildup on the pistons. I soaked all of them in Seafoam and brake cleaner for a few days and scraped off what I could. When I got the car running, it smoked under heavy throttle for the first half hour or so. I think it was burning off all of the crap loosened by the Seafoam. Maybe a piece of loosened gunk is clogging something.
  9. I did the test this morning. It was about 30 degrees out, and I let the car warm up for about 10 minutes. I live around El. 550 ft above sea level. Coolant temp gauge was up a few ticks, but not all the way up to where it normally sits. I would say it was warm, but not "normal operating temperature". I put a fair amount of oil in the cylinders for the wet tests, about 2.5 squirts from my tin oil can. It smoked like mad when I started it up after the compression test. The gauge was a $30 O'Reilly tool, definitely not the highest quality. The engine was cranked for 5-7 revs or so for each test. Oil change history is good. I bought the car from my uncle, who is very particular about regular maintenance and he bought it new. The oil consumption issue came about quickly and suddenly. I am not sure how much material the machine shop took off when the heads were milled, however it is a highly regarded shop so I would assume they would have told me if they took off a lot. Remember it burned NO oil for the first few thousand miles after the HG change. I replaced the TB during the HG change and got it spot-on. Unless it somehow jumped time since then, it should be spot on. Besides the oil consumption, the car runs great, has plenty of power, and gets 24-27 mpg in mixed highway/city driving. I have noticed NO smoke, other than one time when I noticed a puff when shifting from 2nd to 3rd at WOT. The tailpipe, however, is sooty so the oil is getting burned somehow. So, how would I properly diagnose a stuck oil control ring? I'll triple-check the PCV hose routing tomorrow vs. my FSM. The last thing I want to do is tear the engine apart for no reason.
  10. I've been having oil consumption issues with my 2000 Forster 5MT for a couple of months. A few days ago it burned though 2 quarts over a 600 mile highway trip. Here is the background on the car: -136k miles -Replaced the headgaskets and had the cylinder heads rebuilt in early September, due to external oil leakage -Car runs great, smooth, has plenty of power, typically gets 24-27 mpg in mixed city/highway driving -All of the bores appeared smooth when I tore down the engine for the headgasket change -After the headgasket change, the engine consumed no oil for about 2,000 miles, then rapidly burned through an entire pan til the oil light came on (while turning into my driveway) within a few hundred miles of highway driving -I replaced the PCV at that point, refilled the oil (4 quarts), and the problem seemed solved. I could not blow through the old PCV valve (an aftermarket) so I think it was clogged. -It happened again, about a monthl later, though not as quickly (refilled it before it got really low), so I put in a genuine Subaru PCV valve which seemed to fix it again, and changed the oil, also adding a can of Restore. -That seemed to fix it until the last trip, when it burned about 2 quarts -It seems that when it isn't burning oil, I get the P0420 code every couple of days and I have spark knock under light-throttle acceleration. When it starts burning oil, both of those problems go away. -Oil is Valvoline 5W30, which I've used on the car for the past 3+ years with no consumption issues, only leakage before replacing the headgaskets -The underside of the car and engine is bone dry. I do not believe I have any oil leaks. -All four spark plugs look normal and none are oily or smell oily. -Oil does not appear to be entering the coolant, the coolant appears clean and not oily. -I did a compression test today, and here are the results (cylinder: wet (dry)) 1: 182 (210) 3: 184 (230) 2: 182 (225) 4: 195 (230) I'm stumped. I've also asked this question on Subarforester.org. A leakdown test was recommended next. Since my compression appeared good, I'm not sure if it would tell me anything but I may try one anyway. Could some other problem, possibly in my PCV system, cause this? The valve is clear right now, I pulled off the hose with the engine idling and it was pulling in vacuum. All of the hoses appear OK but are 13+ years old.
  11. I rigged a clutch fork return spring this evening. Used a 1-1/4" U-bolt to attach a metal mending strap to the clutch fork, then bolted another mending strap to one of the bolts on the throttle body. Hooked the two together with two 9-lb springs. Total cost was $12 at Home Depot for parts. Seems to work pretty well so far. It is keeping the TOB off the pressure plate fingers while the clutch is engaged and the TOB is silent (it was squealing and whining bad today on my commute). However, I had to readjust the clutch pedal (inside the cabin) so the total travel is far, far less than it was before. Otherwise the first 1.5" or so of pedal travel did nothing to engage the clutch. I have the pedal sitting rather low right now to compensate. I plan to revisit the adjustment this weekend and see if I can't figure out something that works a little better.
  12. I replaced the slave cylinder last June, along with the hydraulic hose. I can physically push the pushrod between the slave cylinder and clutch fork in, after which the throwout bearing no longer contacts the pressure plate. However, as soon as I take my finger off the clutch fork, the slave cylinder pushes the clutch fork right back out, allowing the throwout bearing to spin. Looking at the exploded diagrams of the clutch fork assembly, I can't seem to find a return spring anywhere. Was there one installed from the factory? Pedal free play is adjusted nearly all the way out. Also, I pulled off the pushrod between the master cylinder and pedal (inside the cabin of the car) and at the current settings the master cylinder is not being engaged at all with the clutch pedal all of the way out. How can I troubleshoot this any further? I'd rather not troubleshoot by replacing parts only. I'm trying to avoid taking it to a Subie shop, but will as a last resort.
  13. Background: I bought a 2000 Forester 5MT about 16 months ago. The throwout bearing constantly chirped (squeak-squeak-squeak) with the clutch engaged (pedal all the way up) if the car was in neutral. I ignored it for a year, then replaced it as the sound got worse and worse to the point where I could often hear it with the car in gear while driving around. I replaced the bearing 4 months ago. The sound has resurfaced. I removed the dust boot on around the clutch fork for some investigation, and realized that the outer part of the throwout bearing is constantly in contact with the pressure plate and always spinning as long as the engine is running. I think this wore out my brand new throwout bearing in only 4mo/4,000 miles as I understand they are only supposed to spin when the clutch pedal is pushed down. My question is, why is this happening? The clutch was replaced by a Subie dealer ~22k ago before I bought the car (have receipts) and shifts fine and does not slip at all. Short of installing some sort of spring to keep the clutch fork away, how can I fix this? The noise drives me crazy and I don't want to put in another bearing only to have it last only another 4 months. I'm getting very frustrated with the car at this point.
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