Log1call

I'd tend to suspect the fuel supply still. You could check the flow rate and the pressure of the fuel. To do it properly you need a pressure gauge but you might get some idea about the pressure by squeezing a fuel hose as someone turns the key on. You should be able to feel the hose bulge slightly. Perhaps you could compare it with another car if there is one handy? To test the flow take a hose off the fuel filter's outlet and fit another piece going into a bottle, now get someone to turn the key on and the fuel should come out as a full diameter squirt with no bubbles or dribbling. If the fuel seems to be in good supply and too have a good pressure(fourty pounds or so), then I'd suspect an electronic component playing up. You should check for trouble codes.

The ABS is great in bad conditions like gravel roads or ice. No matter how carefully we apply the pressure, there is no way for us to ease off the wheel that is starting to slide without letting off all the brakes... ABS can apply optimom pressure to each wheel under all conditions. I drive on winding gravel roads all the time. On gravel roads, my ABS subaru out brakes my non ABS subaru in safety, with no fuss, in less distance. When you see that school bus coming around the corner and theres no where to go and your wheel are only inches from the drop off into the river, it's nice that the wheels dont skid!

Have you tried a new fuel filter? It's under the bonnet.

Hi, it's easy to connect to older cars these days, check out a bit of software called Evoscan or Hiscan. O2 sensors range several times a minute, even an analouge gauge can keep up.

These days you can get digital gauges that can do all those measurements you mentioned, and a lot more dependably too probably. Even better you could connect a laptop to the ecu and log all the data for reviewing later and as you compare other readings to it like time or temp or speed.... or everything your ecu reads or sends out as it runs. What ocilliscopes are really good for though is reading really high and really fast voltages... like spark plugs, which most gauges wont do(unless you spend a fortune).. That's what I'd use it for.

Thermal efficiency increases because there is a proportionaly smaller surface area in the combustion chamber to absorb the heat. Horsepower is not guaranteed from an increase in compression ratio. The change in compression ratio tends to narrow the power band. The narrow power band means you can have either more torque or more horsepower at peak reading. The increased peak power(or torque), is over a narrower, and probably higher, rev range than before. To utilise the increased compression ratio to it's best advantage, and get more horsepower, we need to retune other things like intake, cam, exhaust. It is possible to increase the compression ratio and get neither more horsepower nor more torque.

Does the noise happen in all gears the same? Does the noise get noisier as you put more load on it, say by going up a hill and giving it more throttle, would the noise get louder? Harsher? Does it get noisier as speed increases, once the fifty threshhold is passed that is? Does the noise get louder as you corner? Does it sound louder the harder you corner? How would you describe the frequency of this noise... at engine speed? Wheel speed? Somewhere between? We can probably narrow down the likely places then it will take a careful examination and perhaps a bit of experiance to spot what is causing the noise. I suppose you have checked tyre pressures and wheel alignment?

I suspect that bottle is catching oil out of your front diff... not the transmission. It is caused as your mechanic said by a seal leaking between the transmission and the diff. The job is quite complicated and not worth doing by itself, it's best done at overhaul time. The oil in the diff is meant to be very thick, the transmission fluid it has been getting in there is very thin. Since the bottle modification has been done, I would suspect this problem has existed for a while and your thick diff oil will now be far to runny to lubricate the diff. I would suspect that your diff might be damaged by now and simply fixing the seal might not end the story. if you are going to buy the car I would negotiate on the basis the whole transmission and diff needs an overhaul. I'd also budget for a rather dear overhaul rather than a minimum one. You may end up needing a whole new diff... which is above and beyond the normal cost of overhauling a trans.

I have to agree with BD, too much grease is a bad thing. It's well documented that bearings last better with the correct amount of grease in them. In the case of wheel bearings, due to their heat and speed, they should be about half fill at most. A lot of modern front wheel drive cars have sealed bearings. GD's logic is also correct... they last so long, you are more likely to cause wear by disturbing them, the seals are made to keep grease in.... Just live with the designers recommendations and your car will run economicaly for years. Modern cars with sealed bearings and ball joints out-last old car ball-joints and bearings by literely years.

Hi guys, if the noise is only when under a load, then surely we can rule out the lifters? I'd check the ignition timing myself. It sounds like pinking/pinging to me. Cheers.

Put your foot on the pedal once and take note of the height of the pedal. If you give the pedal three or four quick pumps the pedal should only pump up about one-half inch, if it pumps up much more than that then you have either air in the system or the pads arent sitting close enough to the discs for some reason... perhaps the plates behind the pads are warped, misplaced etc. Next test is to take your foot off the pedal and then slowly, very slowly, push the pedal down, if it keeps going down with a slow push but builds up pressure with a slightly quicker press then your master cylinder has worn seals inside it. If it passes these two tests, and it's already passed the booster test, then the problem is a mechanical one not a hydraulic one. Perhaps the pads need bedding in, perhaps the pads are a hard material. The light problem is a bad earth in the rear lights. The power goes down to the brake filiment, can't get to earth so goes back through the taillight filiment, out through some other park/driving/dash light's filiment and so to earth.

That vibration sounds like a worn or loose inner C.V. joint.

It might be a good idea to check all the multi-pin plugs are tight, there are some on the computers under the dash and several connecting the gearbox and engine.

I agree with the above. The only other trick is that ocassionaly the outer can rust in, then if the bearing is in bits anyway you can run an arc weld around the inside of the outer bearing race which shrinks it and it pretty near falls out.

One small correction about the manual button... when in third manual it stays in third manual even if you come to a stop... it takes off in third manual and will only ever change up if you get near six and a half thousand revs and it doesn't change down at all. If you are in second manual then it starts in second and stays there unless you get to the rev limit again when it will change up a gear to prevent engine damage.

recomended procedure is to remove rear mount and swing box to the side. The bands don't get out of adjustment in one day's driving though. Perhaps the band broke... which used to happen sometimes thirty years ago...

Yup, they are ripping you off. I've been a mechanic for thirty-three years and that's our standard ploy... when we stuff up we never admit it but charge the customer more to fix our damage and tell them they should be gratefull we found the problem so quickly. Get a new mechanic. Find a mechanic that works for himself and takes some pride in his reputation.

the brake band is the first thing you should check. If it's too tight or too loose it gives different problems, sometimes changes from first to second, sometimes from second to third and if it's really badly adjusted it can shift straight into top gear. Get it adjusted by someone who knows what they are doing!

Oops, try this then... http://www.main.experiencetherave.com - /subaru_manual_scans/

Have a look here... http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru_manual_scans/

If the check engine light on the dash isn't flashing at you then it's probably a mechanical component rather than an electrical one that is failing. It would be a good idea to change the fuel filter and check the air filter isn't filthy.

If the smell only started since you spilt the oil on the exhaust then it's probably going to stop in a day or two. You might like to check the inner C.V. joint boots aren't split and flicking grease onto the exhaust though because that can smell a lot like grease when it burns.

it sure sounds like it's moisture related. I'd do as the otherrs suggest and dose it with water. Maybe the coils are faulty, you could wet them too, or the connectors somewhere on the motor but most likely around the ignition.

those are strange symtoms and not really interconnected by anything except perhaps a bad connection on a main power or earth wire. Try wriggling all the wires you can find on the motor while it's idling.

sounds like wheel bearings to me.