charm

I had those instructions. My compressor had 3 rivets instead of 3 screws. Mine was decidedly NOT rebuildable. Believe me, I tried. I bought a pulley removal tool kit. I tried the single bolt. I tried everything! What eventually worked for me was buying a used one, having the mechanic discharge the system, then I installed the used one and had the mechanic recharge the system. The method gave me the best balance of environmental care and affordability I could find.

It seems the 'please rear end me' sign on my car has finally fallen off and I'd like to fix my bumper. I'd prefer to prep it for the body shop and just let them shoot it...assuming I can find a place to do the prep. The sanding the paint isn't the issue, I've done that kind of work before. But there are a couple of dividers oddly the size of the screws used to hold on front license plate that I need to fill. How the heck do you fill holes in a plastic bumper? If possible, I'd prefer to not take the bumper off the car. But, if I gotta, I gotta.

I had the opposite experience of Suzam! I went from the Bridgestone to the Michellin (same model tires) and am much happier with the Michellins. I found the Michellin's to be quieter and smoother. I didn't like the wet and snow handling on Bridgestones from day 1, although were acceptable in the dry, but only acceptable. I haven't had the Michellins in the snow yet, but in the PNW wet weather and our very dry summer, they've been great. I would also look at the Goodyear Triple Tread, the sportier one. I have read great reviews of that one and friends with it have really liked it. I would have bought those too, but Costco was having a sale on the Michellins.

I've seen the great results of using Plastidip to recoat the metal trim around the windows and plan to do that. That one's a simple proejct that involves going to Lowe's or Home Depot and getting a spray can, masking, spraying, and unmasking while the stuff is still well. Like I said, the results I've seen from people who have never touched the product before are pretty incredible. But that's not what I'm asking about. My OBW, 2000, 225k miles, white body over the gold lower, seems to have magnetic bumpers. I get rear ended once every couple months stopped at a stop light waiting for the light to change! I also always seem to park downtown between cars that park by braille, so my bumpers are UGLY! Plastidip makes a gold that might match pretty well. The stuff is supposed to be easy to touch up which is good since I don't see people suddenly not running into my bumpers. It's a matte finish, but I think they make a clear coat as well. The stuff is affordable, removable, and, allegedley easy to use. Has anybody tried it? How close is the gold? How easy to use? How messy? How much overspray? I assume the stuff is much heavier then paint so it probably doesn't float real far like paint. I'd just like to hear others experiences before I do this...not that I have anyplace to do this so it isn't happening next week or anything. I'm just kinda plotting.

There seems to be a lot of 2000 only problems. I really enjoyed it when my front sway bar exploded! I've been using it almost daily, but that isn't as much as playing with it at every stop light. It does sound pretty easy to get to. They're readily available on eBay for cheap, so perhaps I'll just buy to have handy.

With my schedule, my only option was to fix the car. So, it's fixed. This time, hopefully, it's fixed correctly. Exhaust leaks certainly affect the P0420 code. I've had to deal with that very thing. I finally found a good exhaust shop who ended up charging me very little to spend almost an hour under the car seeking out little pinhole exhaust leaks from the first POS exhaust shop that did the work on my car. I figured out the exhaust leak thing when running some injecter cleaner, I forget the name, through the car. The smoke that would normally only bellow through the exhaust pipe was also bellowing from under the car! Made finding the leaks pretty easy. Anyway, now that I've spent stupid money on this car, now I can look forward to replacing a transmission. Not because there's anything wrong with it right now, but because that's just the way it's going with this car. But, before that happens, I'm going to enjoy, and I really do mean that, fixing the little nuasance issues, like CC, and my non-dimming auto dimming mirror. Maybe a few dash lights. Stuff like that...fun stuff. But, my mechanic did a great job. They did a ton of work. They were careful not to replace stuff that didn't NEED to be replaced that could be easily replaced later...the splash pan is a great example. It needs to be replaced at some point, but it's not dire and easy to do later. Maybe I'll find one at a bone yard at some point.

Now that the car is up and running the way it should be (2000 OBW, 222k miles, auto), I'm getting back to dealing with the quirky things in a high mileage car. This one is, over time, the cruise control arm has gotten sticky, or stiff, or is gummed up with something. I feel like this has caused the reaction time of some accl or coast funtion to slow or not work at all sometimes. Thoughts on a fix? Contact cleaner? Buy one on eBay and replace it? How the heck do you get to it!?! The turn signal replacement was WAY easier than everybody said it would be, this looks tougher because I don't see the route to get to it (no screws and such). Or, I could just deal with it, but I really do like my CC. Also looking for a new, or at least functional auto dimming mirror. Mine hasn't dimmed for 100k miles. Someday I'll need to send the car to the upholstery shop to do the seats. The drivers seat is just barely starting to crack and it sure would be nice to have some softer foam under my butt and behind my back! Then there's the bumper covers, which I probably won't do anything about since people will just bump me while parrallel parking. And I'm sure there's a ton of other stuff! But for now, how do I fix that cruise control?

The fuel mileage has been slowly declining for awhile. Strangely, it recently got really good! I have no idea what that means. The mechanic ran the full diagnostics including fuel trim levels. For all I know, he took the temp of the cats. That might be how he knows they're not running hot enough. He might also know that because the CEL turns off when I drive in the city or over mountain passes but comes back on when I drive 50 mph on country roads with CC set where the engine just doesn't get as warm. I'm seriously debating ditching this car! With most of the worst case scenario items (warped block not included) the estimate is $4600! That includes cats, O2 sensors, every engine gasket and the full Monty timing belt service. Heck, it even includes the replacement for my splash pan! With a transmission that may not see too many more miles, it's tough to put that kind of money into the car. Other than all this, it's working great and if I was pretty sure I wou;dn't have to do this again for 200k miles, I wouldn't hesitate.

Thanks Brus, I'm going to need to read your post a few more times. I come from a background of old cars and I'm still working on learning the car computer language. A couple more years and I might get it! Woods, the car has the spacer. The cats aren't getting hot enough so all the crude sent to them doesn't burn up as it should. As a result, clogged cats. The mechanic seems to think, contrary to what I've read here, that the feedback the rear O2 sensor sends to the computer DOES adjust the mixture and creates a richer A/F mix. Running too rich, over time, would certainly damage the cats if they're not getting hot enough. The head gaskets are showing an external leak, so far, no signs of an internal leak. We're talking a half quart of oil between oil changes. I know people that burn more oil then that between oil changes and aren't leaking anything. This does bring up a good reminder for me...I need to get a second opinion. If the oil leak is coming from the seperator plate, the engine still needs to be mostly removed, but the heads can stay on the block. The leak is reportedly coming from the rear of the head so I'd want somebody else to peek at the car and tell me where it's coming from. I don't think there's a big cost difference between head gaskets and rear seperator plate service so I'm not sure I care that much. The Six Star brand head gaskets, although not installed by the dealer, have done a much better job of providing a long term fix for the head gasket issues then the Subaru ones. Living in a state where Subaru's represent a large percentage of the cars on the road, Subaru mechanics are abundant. As of early 2008, most had gone to the Six Stars away from the Subaru ones...except my former mechanic, Smart Service. They switched a year or so later. While Subaru is still recomending the Subaru gaskets, people are having much better long term results with the Six Stars. If they were in my car, there's a good chance that I too would be having better results.

Bonus! I'm due for emissions in August. This is going to have to happen in the next 5 or 6 weeks before my registration expires. So, basically, I'm thinking I'll write the check to have it all done or sell the car and take my chances with the reliability of something else. If I keep it, I keep a known quantity. If I do the work correctly this time, with the Six Star headgaskets and Subaru cats, and a shop that will use both of those, this money should be better spent. I wish I had my garage back so I had a place to do this myself.

It's a 2000 OBW, 219k miles. There's a bit of saga here. I bought the car with blown headgaskets and the associated clogged cats at 125k. Replaced the cats with aftermarket cats from a pretty crappy exhaust shop. They were bad enough that, 6 months later, when the 420 code came back, I decided it was preferable to spend money then to allow them to touch my car again. So, on went the 2nd set of cats in 6 months. The second set, I believe were Walkers...so I would recomend against them. Use Subaru or don't bother. The O2 sensors were replaced at that time. They are both Subaru sensors, but they do have a few miles on them. So, these cats lasted me a few years and about 75k miles, give or take. The O2 sensor is, to quote the mechanic, "lazy." In other news, the car also has the 2nd set of bad headgaskets since I bought it. The shop that was supposed to be the best in the Seattle area also appears to have been the last one to jump on the Six Star band wagon. That left me with a very expensive headgasket job with single layer head gaskets. I have since switched away from Smart Service as a result. All Wheel Drive auto, like all businesses, wants my money. However, they clearly want my money over time and if they don't feel I need something, they may tell me it's coming, but will suggest putting it off. They are also suggesting clumping things together. It saves me labor money, for example, to do the headgaskets and timing belt together...and exhaust stuff. I'm going to take the car to a stealership and get a second opinion on the headgaskets. If they don't feel the headgaskets are dribbling (it may just be the rear plate), I'll find another shop, again. If the headgaskets are having issues, I may very well be stretching the ability of the cats to clean up what I'm throwing at them depending on what the gaskets look like internally. If that's the case, the cats would be on their way to be clogged as suggested. The mechanic mentioned that they weren't getting hot enough, although I have no clue how exactly that gets tested. This is all deja vu for me. It feels like 2008 all over again! That's why I was asking about a work around. I'll spend the money if I can get another 5 or so years out of the car, but otherwise, I'm done with it. This is getting stupid.

So, I've decided I'm not a fan of the spacer 'fix'...it appears to only put off the inevitable. My cats, aftermarket ones, aren't getting hot enough and are clogging. The mechanic feels this is due to having a rear O2 sensor telling the front O2 sensor that everything is fine even when it's not. Here's my idea for a more permanent fix and what I want to know is, is it less expensive than buying new Subaru cats. I live in a part of WA State that requires emissions testing, but my in-laws don't. Re-registering my car at their address will be easy. It's from this point that the meat of question comes. First, I'd pull the bad cats and swap them with a straight pipe. Where can I get such a thing? Next, and this is my own OCD, I NEED the CEL to not always be on. Is there a way to program the computer to deal with the lack of cats? Is this less expensive then replacing the cats? I have a funny feeling that even without the cats, the car would pass a tailpipe test at the emissions place, but they'd never hook it up! Thoughts on my plan, other than my ridiculous need to not have the CEL always on?

I love my mechanic! We had a good chat where he calmed me down about everything, although, sadly, his crystal ball is broken. -Transmission: He said, 'wait until it fails.' Transmissions can be failing for years. The issues I'm experiencing make the driving experience a little less enjoyable, but no less reliable. Until there's a need to replace the transmission, we'll go on a wait and see timeline. -Head gaskets: It's barely a dribble. There's no hydrocarbons in the coolant. As long as I watch the oil levels, it's not likely to be a problem for a long time...although it could be a problem tomorrow. -Timing belt: With the above postponed until failure, might as well put off the timing belt until it's actually due, in about 10k miles. -A/C: He'll evacuate the system tomorrow, and refill it (and charge me for everything at the refill visit) and I'll replace some o-rings and the compressor inbetween. All for $125. Hopefully that will fix the problem! His one suggestion for the needed now list was tires. Despite my best efforts at keeping up with tire rotations, the front and rears have worn differently. I'd like to get another 10k out of them, but, the transmission would be well served by replacing the tires sooner rather than later. With a new job starting next week, and a long commute to get there, I'll replace the tires later this week. Any suggestions? I was thinking about the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus.

I was just at the mechanic's and they'll evacuate the system and recharge it for me for $125 total for the 2 visits. Inbetween, I'll swap the compressors and replace the o-rings. With the mechanic charging the system, is there anything else I should do whilst I'm in there?

I'll chat with the mechanic today. My concern is the economy of scale with these repairs. The timing belt is do in about 10k, because, well, it's been almost 100k since it was done. It's basic maintenance and I'm fine paying for that job. But, you're in there that far removing and replacing things you'd have to remove for the headgasket replacement so why not go to that next step while you're in there and save a few bucks? If the mechanic thinks I can get away with 30k miles on the headgaskets, I'll consider putting it off. But, if you're doing the transmission, and it won't go another 30k, why not do the headgaskets while you're opening up that end of the engine? I'll chat with him about replacing the transmission with one I supply. I know he won't guarantee it, and I'm not real sure how to find one that will be reliable without having a tranny shop look it over, at which point you might as well have them rebuild the thing and then you're into it for almost $3k.... I'll look up buying a used tranny in the search. The AC stuff, well, with all this work I'm having them do, maybe they'll give me a discount!?!