idosubaru

check your driveshaft, the ujoints in particular. pull it off and make sure the u-joints all feel loose and not lumpy or even frozen.

looking to tow an XT6, anyone know if a tow bar will work on an XT6? or how i can find out before i go buy a tow bar. i've only used a tow dolly, so i don't know how they work or what they fasten too. i'm not looking for information about the transmission, i FWD, AWD, manual....i know how to address all of that. just wondering if a tow bar will bolt up to an XT6. (or an XT?)

always good to thoroughly check every sensor electrical connection under the hood. make sure none are corroded, dirty, exposed wires...etc. pull them off of each sensor and look to make sure you see nice shiney clean metal contacts. you don't even need to know what sensor it is...just start unclipping htem and having a look and cleaning htem up. or you can start the car...and wiggle all the connectors while it's idling. a bad connection will cause the idle to go all over the place. no engine codes?

bridgestone blizzacs. don't run them during the summer though, they will wear exceptionally fast. best to have 2 sets of tires/rims. i'm about to get a set, i dont know that i've ever heard as many good comments about a product as i have these tires. my parents just bought a set last week. i'm sure others that have them will post. check their reviews at www.tirerack.com

did you check fluids - trans and diff fluids? is it FWD, 4WD or AWD? if it's AWD i think you want to match the tires. if it's 4WD, makes sure it's not in 4WD. what work have you done to it already? what transmission? what car? what was wrong with it before that you need to repair it? how do you know it's the transmission and not the differential or wheel bearing or drive shaft (if it's 4WD or AWD)?

i live 2 miles from PA and i'm almost certain they do the gasoline switch in the winter.....i think MD does (where i live). this will decrease mileage some. check tire pressure of course. you don't have any extra weight in the car do you? gain some extra pounds at thanksgiving? did you switch jobs or routine...in other words your driving habits? i like doing tune ups all at once: fuel filter spark plugs ignition wires (i have magnecor so they never need replaced) distributor cap rotor (forester may not have these items, i don't know specifics of that year/model). air filter O2 sensor all this stuff is cheap and easy to do. pull the stored codes, it's possible the ECU might be seeing some degraded performance somewhere. probably not, but no harm to check.

rotate tires? takes more time driving it and dropping it off than it does just to do it yourself. they don't do anything special, this is almost the easiest task to perform. don't get any easier than that. front to back is fine. i have 206,000 miles on my daily driver XT6 and haven't had it aligned since i got the car at 101,000 miles. i drive off road and put this thing through some use. i rotate front to back every time and have excellent tire wire.

if the car runs fine and you have heat this is a non-issue. 1/4 up the peg is standard operating area for XT6's, so i wouldn't think twice about that. if you have heat inside, then the engine is obviously operating properly. if your engine were running significantly cooler than it should you would not have good heat.

looks like bogus numbers. since it's just dealer records, my guess is they'll say someone wrote them down wrong. it's not like this information is used for titling purposes or anything. start sane, but my guess is they'll give you the run around. i am admittedly untrusting of dealerships. try to stay inquisitive and confused before getting irate, particularly if you plan on dealing with them in the future. if you feel you're getting jerked around, tell them you want to know exactly where the discrepancy lies and that you're ready to call a lawyer (just say that, no need to actually do it) and also report them to the BBB (Better Business Bereau). but it will be easy for them to say "oh johnny ray in the back usually forgets the exact mileage between looking at the odometer and walking back to the computer". i'd track down the previous owner and see what she has to say about it. she may be able to verify when and if the car was taken in and the highest number of miles she recalls it having. get a carfax report on it. www.carfax.com i think. that will have some mileage numbers on it. i'd stop into a different subaru dealer and ask for the service records on your vehicle. they may be able to pull them up on their computer. and they may even be able to tell you the previous owners name. might show up on the sheet if they print out the service records before.

I AM A REAL BONIFIED FREAKING DAREDEVIL MANIAC....call the FBI cause this crazy freak changes his oil and DOES NOT fill the filter up with oil. i am one crazy mofo because i never have. i have a 206,000 mile XT6 that runs fat, has perfect compression all the way around and is likely to be around for awhile. and that's with the abuse i've thrown at it over the years. i've also had 2 other XT6's with 198,000 and 196,000. if i would have put oil on the frame rails maybe they wouldn't have rusted so bad i had to part them out. tell them to never buy certain year nissan maxima's and other cars where the oil filter FACES DOWN...OH MY FREAKING rump roast CHEEKS...they wouldn't be able to prefill their oil filters...AH!!!!! and don't give them word that the transmission fluid lines don't stay pressurized after shut down either.....i'd hate for them to get nervous about that....they could push the car down a hill, getting the wheels and trans pump turning which might pre circulate some fluid through the lines...after priming the motor of course. sorry it's late and i find this very funny.

i'd also be concerned about pieces of the JB weld or permasteel breaking off inside the transmission. i don't know what this hole looks like, but go pushing some of that compound up in there, some may break off and get sucked into the trans.

take a PCV hose inside and get whatever size hose it is, get a couple feet of it for a couple dollars and cut it to length. it won't have the nice curvy bends and look perfect.

i've visited and talked to Ron, they have an awesome operation.

might want to wait more than an hour. someone will reply, i promise. your oil temperature shouldn't be reaching excessive temperatures on a NA engine. why are you asking, more details may help. there is probably lots of oil, heat and breakdown information on the internet since that's not subaru specific if you're in a hurry.

a good machine shop will repair them. they use "stitch pins" to fix them. it's very common and not a big deal to repair them. the cracks can get too big and cause problems, but that is rare and they should be able to check that for you. the company that makes the stitch pins for repairing these cracks: Lock N Stitch 1800 736 8261 209-632-2345 These are the part numbers and sizes they use for Subaru EA82/ER27 heads: L4A Aluminum Stitch Pins 1/4" Threads. could try to weld and machine them, but i think these are a much better option. i'm generally hope my valve seats are cracked so i can have these pins installed. as typical as it is for them to crack i feel like if they aren't cracked now, they will be sometime after i reassemble the motor. seems to me the stitch pins may be a little stronger, but that's total speculation. i can hook you up with a very good aluminum head specialist probably if you can't find one locally to do this work. they mostly do lots of large volume work but have done stuff for me as well. PM me if interested.

i'm perpetually busy. why do you ask? as luck would have it i may be headed past there tonight and/or tomorrow. actually i will definety be headed towards that direction tonight. i'm guessing you want me to look at it? only problem is i probalby won't have time to look at it on the way up, but possibly on the way home...but that will be later this evening, around 8 or 9 pm, they'll likely be closed then. i'll PM you.

if there is coolant all over the engine, it doesn't seem like it should be that hard to find the leak. and normally a bad head gasket on a subaru won't get coolant "all over the engine". sounds like something ohter than a headgasket to me, but i can't see it obviously. get the car up to operating temperature. then watch the motor and get the engine up to 3,000 rpms and hold it there and keep your eye out for coolant. there are hoses and other minor gaskets that could be shot....or the water pump. check the oil, drain it and see if there is any coolant in the oil. that's a good sign of head gakset failure. open your oil cap - is there milky white foamy stuff up under the cap? another sign of possible head gakset problems.

dude, if that is definetly the problem just install a new rear oil seal for like 7 dollars. with the driveshaft removed the seal will be right there. without the axle in place a good amount of fluid will come out. i've seen a car running without any driveshaft in place and the fluid pressure didn't seem all that high, decent volume though. i think you could easily fabricate some kind of a cap to place over it. i think some heavy duty plastic/rubber wrapped around it with a hose clamp around the extension housing would probably suffice. (but i'd have a couple spares just in case!) i recommend a better set up, but i'd be comfortable getting that to work myself. i replaced a driveshaft a few years ago and the old seal just didn't seat well against the new driveshaft. it leaked, but i drove it for awhile like that. just keep checking and adding ATF. then i put in a new seal and problem was gone. if i lived a little closer i'd say PM me and i'd go replace the seal or look at it for you, but it's about an hour and i'm one busy freak.

i wouldn't be surprised if your lack of heat problem is not related to the thermostat. while you're messing with your cooling system, pull the hoses to your heater core and blow it out. lots of older cars have plugged up heater cores. i've seen all sorts of nasty black stuff come out of those things. remove both hoses and run water through one hose...and watch lots of nasty stuff come out the other hose. parents van needs this right now, has no heat and it was like 0 degrees today. good luck finding running water in these temps. i'm thinking the local car wash.

if it's gear oil and cracked by the differential, it's definetly not pressurized fluid so it shouldn't take much to hold. i would drain all the oil and clean the area up good. wire brush the crap out of it then spray it down with electrical contact cleaner or some other non-residue leaving cleaner to make it perfectly clean. then weld it shut dude. you're done, never worry about it again. soobs last forever, if you fix them right. JB weld will work for a limited time, but i wouldn't consider that a permanent solution, particularly if you plan on any wheelin. and if you're like me you don't necessarily plan for all the wheelin you do. being right on the bottom, who knows what will hit or jar any JB weld loose. that stuff does work very well, but welding is THE solution and very easy to do. if you can't weld or known anyone who does, any muffler shop or machine shop would probably weld a small hole like that for next to nothing...maybe even nothing if they're nice. for that matter if it is the differential, some high quality oil resistant high temperature sealant squished up into the crack or hole would probably work (since it's low pressure) if you clean it really good. i think i could make that work, but i also think it's a terrible idea.

exactly what i needed, thanks dude. i'm looking at a 96 OBW just like you have.

conductive pen, that is cool at shat. good info.

i'm trying to figure out how to determine if a 1996 Legacy is a wagon or a coupe based on the VIN. anyone with a FSM help me out? i've found 98-99 and 80-89 and other years...but can't find info on the 96 models.

a 3.90 LSD is hard to come by. 3.7's are much easier which is why people convert. you can also buy brand new units for around 800.00. hey phil, whats up dude! i didn't know you came *over here*.

i'm trying to view that decoder information but it comes up way to small to see. am i missing a trick to make it bigger? i did get it to work by using "File - save as" and saving it to my computer as a bitmap (BMP) file. then i opened it up and could read it fine. any decoders for newer subarus?