nipper

Those gauges on those cans are pure junk and shouldnt even be sold with them (for all the good they do). You need a real set of gauges and a thermometer to tell us how cold it is blowing, along with letting us know ambiant air temp. All those things factor into what the answer would be. nipper

Gte the kit from subaru. The valve cover gaskets from Felpro are fine, but your also going to replace the spark plug bucket gromits at the same time (thats not an option here, you will do it ), and aftermarket for those have been lousy, they do not last. You can easily do it in your driveway. Thaink about chaning the plug wires and plugs as long as you are there too. Make sure no one under 16 is within earshot. nipper

I had a key made last year, I just showed them the reggy to the car (for the vin number) and they made the key. I dont know if they would do it if you just walked in with a scrap of paper or the vin memorized nipper

That is one of the risks you take whne you bring your own parts to a shop. It can be a altenator, a washer machine part, or a OE dealer part that you pay someone else to install. nipper

I was on one of my infamous "i hate life i am running away from people" road trips. Blu threw a rod in a rather spectacular way in CA. I was so relaxed I really didnt care (thats what Mastercard is for). I had a choice of getting towed back to Ca or Reno. I chose CA. I was in such a centered place in my Id, I told them if I was going to do it I did not want to open my hood untill the next timing belt change (aside from fluid changes). Blu had 191,000 miles on him. I probably got some things I did not need, or could have gone till later, but I was one with the universe. I would have to look at the bill but it was a hair under 7,000 including towing and 10 day rental. I also had to pay for a new block as my old one had a rather spectacular hole in it. I got reinbursed on towing and rental, but i felt it was a fair bill. When the connecting rod went it spread shrapmetal through the radiator and oil runied the altenator. The dealer said that Blu was in excellant shape, so he flet it was a good investment to put a engine in him, as opposed to selling me a new car. See there are honest dealers. Yes I could have gone the independent shop route, but since I was someplace in the middle of nowhere, I decided to trust subaru and pay for the peace of mind. Also the dealer was located at the bottom of a long pass and siad he usually rebuilds 6-8 engines a year that blow on that pass (so he knew what he was doing). The tow truck said that he gets 2-3 vehicals a month that blow engines on that pass of various makes. I now have 50,000 miles on the sooby engine. Aside from a battery I have had zero issues with the Factory rebuild. It could have been done for about 5-5500 bucks or less if done in my own neighboorhood. nipper

Only if it is the one from the square state with a lot of big pointy mountains.... I have seen only three issues with them over the years, and each time they rectified the problem. You can't really ask for anything more. My best freind used a Nationwide rebuilder for a non-subaru vehical, and he got screwed. I used subaru for my rebuilt engine and never had a problem. I think you are in good hands. nipper

It shouldnt. rebuilt engines are assembled by hand. It happens. Thats why there are warrentes and why you should only buy these things from reputable companies. nipper

i like frameless windows. Europe is starting to buy more Automatics every year as their traffic gets worse. Sorry but living someplace with heavy traffic anyplace in the world makes an automatic a requirement. Not all of us are lazy some of us just cant dirve a stick anymore due to physical issues. Germany has just as many big guzzlers as the us (look under the hood of a Mercedes lately or jag? For the mosyt part american V-8s do not do badly compared to some of thier european counterparts. Also We have a much differnent country with much farther distances then any given country in europe. Some of the scleanest cars running today are much bigger engines then subarus. The lack of a temp gauge is actually important. It disapeared once and it came back, and will come back again. Rants are just useless and not very constructive, especially when you make the argument that we are lazy then knock us for because we want a freaking temp gauge. It has nothing to do with weather we are warm or not, but what the engine is doing and can we head off a major engine failure before it happens. There is precident for this in subarus and any other number of cars with a shady HG issue in its past. End counter rant. nipper

Remove all the drive belts and see if the noise goes away. 200,000 miles is a lot of mileage for a water pump on any car, but usually they leak first. I would suspect the ALT bearing or any idler/tensioner bearings on the drive belts (if any). nipper

If that is truly an oil leak, I would find it unexceptable. New engines do not leak, period. You may want to wash the engine, be anal retentive about filling the car with liruids, and see what happens in another 1000 miles. Also tripe check to make sure your PS pump is not the source of the leak. Also it is Easter weekend so I wouldnt be upset about not getting a call back. Use the car in the meantime. No need to be without a car for the weekend. nipper

It is an electronic parking brake. All new cars have some sort of MPG gauge, and i do like the analog ones better. Supposedly the engine temp, voltage is built into the center of the gauges "information center" nipper

i actually like it. Yes it was a big announcement yesterday, looks like it is based on the exiga. Toyo has been using cvt's so i dont expect any major issues with it. i'll see it next week at the autoshow. nipper

Bumper skin really bothers me ( scratches, eh they happen. And the wheel bearing has to be done by the end of may. nipper

Blu paid the price for it. So anyone with a spare rear bumper skin? And a wheel bearing. nipper

The way some go offroading here in NJ some sort of floatation device may be in order too nipper

U joints or carrier bearing. nipper

I'm tellin !

Does it change in volume with a decrease in speed?

Ac is way more complicated then that. Please if you do not know what you are doing, take it to a shop. Its one of the few places under the hood where you can seriously hurt yourself (and not in a "here hold my beer" way). You need to take a low pressure and a high pressure reading with the PROPER gauges. It sounds like your low on refrigerant. You can build up pressure till the volume of gas you have goes through the expansion valve, then there is no more coolant to supply the compressor. You most likely have a leaking O ring too. nipper

Check the ABS pump. Use a screwdriver as a stethascope and see if you can find the hum. nipper

religon is a much safer subject to discuss. nipper

Lest start with a tuneup. Plugs (factory recomended type) wires (OE) PCV valve, fuel and air filter. Then we have a baseline. Also can you spray the coil pack and ignition wires with water in the evening and look for sparklies? Before you do anything, remove the wires from the plugs and see if they are soekd in oil. No need to put new wires in soaked oil buckets. If they are wet, then you need valve cover gaskets and bucket gromits (OE). nipper

Blu has a Pioneer Supertuner and a rear power antenna. Reception sucks. His Supertuner before this one sucked. I tried a antenaa amo and it still sucked. I dont know why, as its not my area of expertiese, it could be the poor lead they use. nipper

Get the codes read. There are some simple possabilities, but lets read the codes first.

i like this one.