idosubaru

i believe you're right on with the bushings. you have some bad (or non existant) bushings back there most likely. at least one side is good, should be able to compare the two if it doesn't smack you in the face when you first take a look.

i'm not sure what they're referring too either, but i'm skeptical that it's applicable for this thread in anyway. there are no "resistance sensors" that i'm aware of on subaru's.

get a left handed drill bit and use it in reverse in a drill. a couple dollars and they'll come right out in no time. then replace them. or cut a notch across the top of them and use a flat bladed screwdriver to reinstall them. if you have room you can also cut a notch in them to remove them with a larger flat blade screwdriver. but i'd use the drill, they'll bust right out with that. if you don't have a left handed drill bit, you can try using a right handed drill bit in reverse. i tilt the bit at a severe angle and it will often catch enough to break the bolt loose. and on these dinky pan bolts, i can't imagine they'll take much to get out. as long as it takes for you to get an extension cord and slide the drill under the car and you'll be done. i'd have a left handed bit handy though so you're not trying again, although i think i could get a standard bit to work unless the bolts are REALLY rounded out bad.

haven't seen it myself yet so i shouldn't assume, but what if that light stays on a second or two longer than the others? that's the impression i'm getting from the fiance about it. thanks.

definitely not standard to replace those bearings you speak of. i'm not sure of your car but on older subaru's replacing even the seal on the front diff is tricky as it affects some internals of the diff itself. is this still a 4EAT transmission, that's what mine are so some things may still be similar. i'm sure others that actually know your car will speak up.

not at all familiar with the new OBS i got yet. my fiance said the Oil AT Temp light comes on just for a second or two when she first starts the car up, but it didn't do that before. everything appears normal and the car drives great. any ideas? is this normal? i just got it and haven't had a chance to install a trans cooler and flush the fluid, but that is coming soon. 68,000 miles automatic transmission

if you're mechanically inclined at all, definitely rebuild the calipers. i got rebuild kits online for like 7.35 (that includes BOTH sides) and it was very simple. for your first time, just tear one caliper down at a time, so you can look at the other one to see how the boot and seal sets in there. great deal, two rebuilt calipers for under 8 dollars. very easy job, there's a piston seal and dust boot and not much else to it. clean everything up real good and put it back together. the only tricky part is screwing the piston back in if it's on a threaded spindle (like the XT6 front calipers). but with the right tools, it goes right in, they are tough to turn by hand without a good brake caliper piston tool and the finely threaded spindle takes forever to get anywhere. just keep turning and turnning. i spent a ton of time screwing the pistons back in my first time, but with the right tool this job is super easy. don't forget to grease the seal and boot as you install them. (the rebuild kit came with grease).

if your stock wires fall outside that range, something is electrically compromised in that wire, that's why they provide those numbers. those numbers are not applicable to other type/manufacture of wire and are not meant to apply to all wires ever made. the FSM doesn't say "the motor needs wires in this resistance range", it just tells you the spec's of the stock wires so you can determine if something is wrong with them. the engine does not care what resistance the wires are, so long as the air-fuel mixture is combusting properly. the resistance of the wires is transparent to the motor, only thing it may affect is the life span of the plugs due to different loads being applied to them. and i say this liberally, as i can't imagine it would actually be a quantitative difference that's even measurable without a scanning electron microscope. go with the NAPA, i use www.magnecor.com . they have extensive information (as unbiased as you'll find from a manufacturer) about wires there.

200,000 miles isn't much to chear about. lots of foreign cars make 200,000. lots of subaru's make 200,000. i've had 2 make it to 200,000 (actually 196,000 and 198,000) on all the original gaskets before one was totalled and the other was parted out due to rust. go read boards about any cars, that's where people go with their problems. you're going to hear lots of problems on a forum of this type no matter the manufacturer. it's the nature of the board - free help. well, at no cost to you anyway.

all in all exhaust doesn't seem to make enormous differences in my (NA) cars so i wouldn't worry about it too much. if you want to be picky, i think kevin might have some good dyno numbers and posts comparing 2", 2.25" and 2.5" exhaust diameters on an XT6. being NA maybe that's useless. going from 2.5" to 2" is a 36% decrease in cross sectional area. i think 2.5" or larger (and kevin i think agrees) is too big for an otherwise stock XT6, a noticeable difference from 2" and 2.25" exhaust. again this is NA, but we could notice the difference, not a very big difference but something. i'm a turbovirgin but that seems significant from what i've read about turbo's. in the end it probably moves the power band more than actually making the highest values that much different. that's what i don't like about the larger exhaust sizes on the XT6, loose too much low end for what i want.

my guess is this is paul or someone picked up his project. i don't see paul "looking for ideas" though.

shawn, did you retorque when you reused the bolts or not?

how can you find out if they are torque to yield or not? i've called the dealer about EA82 and ER27 motors and they had no idea.

if you do this, you probably want to try installing the Duty Solenoid C switch so that you can manually *lock* the transfer clutch. i did it with mine and i don't know any percentages but the car bucks and binds just like the manual when i flip the switch. just splice one wire and you're done.

i bought a subaru XT6 a couple years ago from the original owner and i independently contacted Subaru of Annapolis Maryland (because that's where they told me they had all the service done) and they provided me with all the service records for the vehicle.

also like to hear about a related topic - to retorque the heads bolts or not?

i would definitely install it, i install used cv axles if i got em.

sent my fuel injectors off to RC engineering for all that they do. total was 154.97 including shipping: here are the BEFORE and AFTER flow rates (cc/min) and PATTERS for my 6 injectors: BEFORE/AFTER/PATTERN BEFORE CLEANING: 185/187 dripping 146/185 fair 140/184 fair 170/186 good 169/185 dripping 150/184 dripping all spray patterns were EXCELLENT after cleaning/rebuild. these injectors had 196,000 miles on them.

ben, i don't think that will affect the diff at all. i know you can run the 4EAT's just fine in FWD with the rear axle removed. the rear output shaft turns just fine, it's just not driving anything. no worries about different tire sizes or binding. i think the front diff will be the same. seems to me that you can probably crack the front diff open and gut it out, but talk to someone who knows about that. that would get rid of the *bad noises* you're having up there and your trans might be fine. tony in charlotte swapped front diffs in his 4EAT, so you should be able to tackle that. i always wondered if the axles provided any lateral rigidity for the suspension, but i guess not because i've never heard anyone mention that before. if it did affect that at all, then gutting the diff out might be something to think about. remove whatever gear drives that front stub axle in the diff so that the axle is there for rigidity but not actually being driven and putting any additional stress on the front diff or trans.

there is room to drop the diff and wiggle one end free, then the other. the rear diff stubs come out fairly easily i think. do they just pop out like the front differential stubs? if so, you may be able to pop them free with a pry bar and just use your stub from the diff you currently have. i've never had to do it on the rear stubs but datsun guys do it all the time and i know they aren't too bad to remove on the front diff. just yank the snot out of the axle and it will pull the stub out. anyone know if the rear is the same? a pry bar between axle and diff would pop it right out if so.

from what i've read, the actual pertroleum may not break down but the products they use in combination with the oil to create different weight ranges and properties do break down. oils with larger weight ranges say 10w-40 require more of these products than 10w-30 to create that wider range. therefore it is best to stick to oils with less weight range because it is actually more oil and less other stuff. i'm sure the differences are very minute, so it's really not important and i'm not by any means saying 10w30 is better than 10w40. if you're coming up with a one-size-fits-all approach (which none of us would believe that 3,000 miles is a necessity because at 3,500 the motor doesn't blow up), then you're going to debate all day because it isn't meant to be a perfect fit for everyone and everbody. some of it is attributable to advertising and marketing. a quantitative way to change oil is to have it chemically analyzed and tested every 1,000 miles or so and once it reaches some predetermined saturation level (again, some number someone had to come up with) then it's time to change. do this testing through a couple oil changes and average it out to 2,345 or 4,562 or 7,432 or whatever your oil change requirement is for your vehicle, geography, driving style..etc. but who wants to do all that?

i know you're running MS, how does that deal with knock? speaking of MS - if you drive up in the mountains or different times of year/climate do the maps or variables need to be changed or will the car run fine? MAF should take care of that right? *hijack finishedd*

it is very possible that the leaking air suspension could just be old, leaky orings that cost about 7 cents each. and properly taken care of the struts will last a long time. sand the rust down on the metal bottom part like mentioned earlier. the rust wears the crap out of the bags, they will last a very long time if you keep the rust off. paint it with a few coats of black enamel and then put some silicone over it. you could also try some rubber compounds or something on the air bag to protect them, haven't really needed to do that yet but i'd like to. i know a guy that owned an XT6 (that i now own) who was an aircraft mechanic. he used some kind of aircraft grade sealant to coat the entire air bag with that would work on very small leaks. and yes i've heard of people using tire sealant before as well. last resort, who care, tear it up. be sure to replace those orings first, this might be a much easier fix than you think. bad air suspension does not mean bad air bags at all. it might, but there are plenty of others things that can go wrong as well.

the cv joint could be in bad shape. turn the wheel by hand back and forth and see if you can notice any play in the cv axle shaft. friend had similar problems you're talking about on his jeep cherokee just last week. noise finally got really loud and he crawled under there this weekend. the cv axle just pulled right out of the joint! wasn't even connected anymore. he had had problems with that axle before. his was particularly loud and created vibrations around turns, which sounds similar to yours. i guess being AWD the car was still able to drive *fairly normal*, minus the noise and vibrations even with a broken axle. bad ujoint in your driveshaft can cause the symptoms you are referring to as well. driveshaft is very easy to remove and check the ujoints. you can check them on the car if you know what yo'ure doing, but if you've never done it before best to just pull it off seeing how easy it is to do.

i think you have an interference motor. i was told the 97 and up model 2.2 liters were interference motors. but pre-97 motors were not interference. i'd like to clarify that as well since i just bought a 97 OBS with 68,000! could be the original belt for both of us.