nipper

What happens you got full left or full right? Are there no rocks in the tires? nipper

Both long lasting cars, but subaru will be much cheaper in the long run as far as parts and labor. nipper

When was the last time the fluid was changed?

OK its time to stop being a backyard mechanic. Did you know that if i see you releasing the gas into the atmosphere, and report you to the EPA, i am the one that gets your money, not the epa. That fine can be as much as 27,000.00 US (usually runs in the 5000-17000.00 range). I know because I have an EPA refrigerant license. You need to take the car to a A/C specialist. He recovers the gas. Let him work on the car. There are times when you have to pay someone. nipper

Break in is 1000 miles, but the rings can take several thousand miles to seat properly. Thats why you dont put synthetic oil in untill 7500 miles. nipper

What agency did you buy it from?

are you using instantanous mpg reading or per tank. If your using instant (the only way to see 35mpg) your using the wrong setting. nipper

Over charged is just as baed as under charged. You need to get the pressure in spec before you assume anything else is wrong with the car. nipper

Gas mileage by the computer is accurate for that place and time, not over the entire tank. If i dirve 1.5 miles to the gym, i get 11 mpg. If I drive to my best freinds house, 22 miles away, i get 28 mpg, and to my other freinds I'll get 19. Also It takes a while for your engine to get broken in. Fuel mileage will come up. Do the math manually over a few tanks. And yes your right foot has a lot to do with it. If you want gas mileage drive like there is an egg under your right foot, if you want fun, break the egg. nipper

Running a tank down that low regularly is not good for the pump. The gasoline helps cool the pump, and you can cut the pump life by doing it. Especially an older pump. nipper

well if you switch to synthetic, your children will grow up to be gypsies, and youll grow two more heads. Urbane myths always have a grain of truth in them. In this case the synthetic oil does good a cleaning the residual dirt and grime from your oil system (it wasnt hurting anything, and dino was just doing its job). The grain of truth part is that some of that dirt was cloging small pores in seals. Remove that dirt, and a seal that was going to leak eventually anyway, starts leaking earlier. Otherwise no harm is done. Change your PCV valve, use a high quality filter, and pop your hood at least once a month to check on everything. nipper

If your is like my 1997 you have a little black box that controls the dash lights. Look to see if you have any aftermarket aguges or radio in the car. If you do disconnect the lighting from the rest of the car. SUbarus are wired in loops for the dash lights. By tapping into this loop and going to ground through a bulb, it makes a short. This short blows out the illumination controller, which in turn will blow out any fuses (been there done that). That illumination controller isnt cheap, so make sure there are no improper lights in your system. nipper

Maybe because its a better car, has a better reputation for not falling apart as it grows older, and isnt a photocopy of everyone elses, not to mention real AWD.

Yes smog is stupid, but emissions inspection isn't. Have you made any progress? nipper

Maybe your out of gas? 3 gallons aint much on short around town drives, you can burn that up fast. Also change your fuel filter. nipper

Subarus are amazingly easy for this Front of engine Pass side 1-2 Driver side Pass side 3-4 Driver Side Or easy way to remeber, the oddballs are always in the passenger seat.

For the life of me i will never understand the one sided HG job, its just wrong in my opinion. nipper

If you want some peace of mind, get an extented warrenty (yes its the only time i'll suggest one). The rental quality is only as good as the base car. I would tell you to go running away from kia's, and other tin cans that only college students can afford. As you start getting higher up in range (and rental cost) they don't get as beat on as much. Do service all the fluids when you get it just to get a baseline. nipper

My suggestion, get an eingine. nipper

So now you have a brand new brat nipper

And remeber, no one show him the secret handshake till he buys one. nipper

I just like the 2.5L, and i am trying to save him some cash if he keeps the car. Also why swap to a 2.5L of the only thing wrong with them is a weak head gasket that gets replaced once (also on a cost basis it works out the same, i have yet to see benefit to swapping engines ecnomically unless you cooked the engine). And this is an engine with over 200,000 miles on it, the rings are already tired. Over heating in this case had nothing to do with it, its sort like saying someone died of a massive stroke at 98. Well at 98 something is going to get them, same with a car at over 200,000 miles. Thats a long long good life for an engine. Now if this car had 25,000 miles on it and the engine was baked, odds are the rings would still hold up, but the piston liners would have shifted. The key to this sitaution is the mileage on the engine. Sure it may have gone another 10 years if it didnt thorw a HG, but it did, and it ruined the balance of the forces in the engine (that all aged gracefully together). The shop screwed up on this one. nipper

19.00 at an autparts store, dont over spend on this. A cheap one is as good as an expensive one. http://www.classictruckshop.com/clubs/earlyburbs/projects/vac/uum.htm nipper PS if your leaking water into the manifold, yes the vacume will pull it in, but the water is technically sealing up the leak (as long as there is more water behind it). nipper

Only if the pistons point upside down. Oil will spread out as it is squeezed and expanded with forces of compression. Wet/dry compression tests have been done for years in flat engines. It just requires a few more data points to get it all evenly spread out. Also if your already starting with a 140 lb compression dry, the point is moot. All it does is rule out the valves vs. the rings. No such thing as too much data, but you really need to have as much as possible on ahigh mileage engine. On anyone elses engine, I would draw the line in the sand at 140,000 miles. On boxers, I have to judge on a case by case basis, but the closer you get to 200,000 miles, the more likely its money better spent on a replacement engine. nipper

A vacume gauge will show if its a head leak (it will affect compression) as opposed to an intake. A comporession gauge may not show a typical subaru leak, as the cylinder head is not under stress when its just cranking. A vac gauge will have a vibrating needle as the engine is running, and the head is under the stress of combustion. nipper