nipper

I was just going to argue with you, but am i the only one to notice all the 4eat and tranny stuff is off the endwrench site? nipper

At 160,000 miles, a HG is a risk on any used car. Lets start with the simple stuff. 1- Replace the radiator cap and clean the neck of the radiator. 2- Remove and clean the overflow tank. 3- Change the t-stat and flush the cooling system. Use a premix to refill. Refill slowly with the engine running and the bleed valve on the radiator open. Wait for the t-stat to open, then slowly fill up some more after the colling system burps. Close bleed valve.Drive the car around the block, let it cool off, and repeat. That should get the air out. The tell us if anything has changed. nipper

read the stickers under the hood. http://www.cars101.com is another source. Thermostat spring goes towards the engine. nipper

There are quite a few cars missing from this test. nipper

http://www.endwrench.com archives 4eat nipper

Now your confusing me, and i'm the automotive engineer . you may be over thinking and confusing terms. A differnential is a mechanical computer. the input shaft turns twice, the two output shafts turn twice. Make a left turn, left will turn once, right will turn three times. It basically averages the rotation of the outputs to match the drive shaft. Avg of three plus 1 divded by two (axles) is two. There is no gear reduction in the clutch pack, this would self desturct the viscous coupling, same as driving on a flat. It can not handle a constant speed differential. Manual tranny. All 4 wheels get torque (lets not use the term power anymore since people take it to mean HP, torque or both equally) on dry ground thorugh three differntials. The front axle turns at a differnt speed then the rear axle due to curves, sterring corrections, etc. This is why you need a center diff in AWD. When there is a specific differnce in speed between front and rear for a specific amount of time (hence the lag for a vc to hook up) the fluid heats up from internal friction. Usually this friction is caused by altenating plates with holes in them. they sheer the fluid, it hetas up, expands, and engages a clutch. Now you have a mechanical 50/50 split since one axle is spinning much faster then the other one. On dry ground for the most part the front rear speed differential is not so great as to kick in the VC in normal driving (normal is not power slides or autocross). It is no differnt then an LSD differntial http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm nipper

Your not reading correctly. 4eats are variable torque split at all times 10/90 11/89 12/88 (you get the idea) 15/85 20/80 25/75 30/70 35/65 40/60 45/55 50/50 The newer 4eats may be at 60/40 to bias the cars towards front wheel drive, with all the new widgest they have, 50/50 may not be necassary anymore (traction control etc etc etc). When there is no demand for the AWD as the TCU determins, its 10/90 split. This is the default, everything is right in the world, going straight at 40 mph setting. The TCU uses a very complicated algorytem to determine when more is needed. The TCU is over ridden if the car is in low, at full throttle, or in reverse, then its the maximum split. www.endwrench.com in the archives has some techy peices to explain in detail. http://www.cars101.com is also another source of information Be cautious about calling anyone or anything a liar untill you are fully informed, just some advice . There is more then enough information here and explinations ad nausim to explain how the 4eat works (so don't flame me please). nipper

Subarus are FWD by default. Yes the rear clutch pack can be considered a straight through connection for arguments sake. The clutchs are designed to tolerate some slippage, in conjunction with the Duty c operation and the pressure variation of the spool valve. Any Duty solenoid is called that because it cycles on and off very quickly. It is not designed to stay constitnly on, though some tolerate it better then others. The center diff, lets go to a rear diff. Power is split 50/50 between both wheels as long as they both have traction. Once one looses traction, all the power goes to that wheel. A LSD type mechanisim (generally speaking) will transmit torque to the non spinning wheel through a set of clutches. Now with the same set up as the senter differential, the same thing happens front and rear. ANY AWD or 4WD vehical is in essence 2wd (one front one rear) with open diffs. If it is a really cheap AWD system (no center viscous coupling) it can easily be one wheel drive (with the one wheel getting all the torque if its slipping). THis may or may not help http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/traction/tech_traction_4wd_2.htm nipper

The new systems are no differential, but a center clutch pack, or an electronically controlled viscous coupling and center diff, or just a viscous coupling with a center diff. nipper

Time for another test. with the car off pump the brake pedal 10-20 times. Put your foot on the brake pedal, hold the brakes, and start the car (do this with the car warm so its not the check valve). When the car starts the brake pedal should move towards the floor. If it doesnt, then you have a leaking brake booster. I think you may have two issues, not just one. Your idle shouldnt be affected if everything is ok. nipper

Ah yes grasshopper, but try to take the stone from my hand.... See this is the old thinking. Come to new thinking. WHy go through the expense and complication of mechanical systems, when everything else is already existing on the car. You have Traction control, ABS, and more importantly ABS with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) . This is where the magic happens. The brake system is the LSD. When the system sensses a wheel spinning, and no forward motion, it can apply the brakes to the spinning wheel. Th brake application is usually light engough to stop the spinning wheel, but not lock it up (unless it deems it needed). This is how the car can actually stop three wheels and have all the torque go to just one. This is not a new idea, as Baja Beetles had individual parking brake handles to do the same thing. It uses the simplicity and design of an open diff to its advantage. nipper

Can you hear me now nipper

You get a 50/50 split at full throttle, reverse, and low gear. You get a 10-50/90-50 split depending on line pressure (internal tranny pressure) and the difference in speed between the front and rear speed sensors. Line pressure is basically the pressure from the front pump, which is directly connected to the engine. This is how the older system determens engine RPM. This is a mechanical spool valve, which works in conjunction with the Duty C. There is a mysterious sensor in the center of the car, the G sensor. I can not find anywhere, nor can determine (ie dont want to screw with it) to see if it operates with the TCU, ABS, SRS. That may be another input. Newer systems use individual wheel speed sensors, steering angle sensor, G sensor, brake input, Throttle, engine torque, moon and tide charts to determine where to send power when. hope that helps. nipper

Think about this question. Any clutch's ability to transmit torque is limited by the condition of the clutch. If the clutch is tired, glazed, slipping, it's not going to transfer all the power it can. Same goes for an engine, if its tired it wont make all the power its designed for. If your clutchpack is dead, or tired, no matter wht you do to the solenoid, its still going to have any problem you had before installing the switch. nipper

Nothing lasts for ever. At 250,000 miles i would not be at all surprised if the clutch pack is dead. Check for a fuse in the FWD holder, change the tranny fluid, but my money is on a tired or dead clutchpack. nipper

93 doesnt usually have this issue, the 95-99 do. The first thing to do is clean the check valve in the brake booster vacum line. Usually thats the simple fix. That valve gets frozen. Next time its that cold, start the car and let it idle for 15 minutes. If you get brakes back, its the check valve. A master cylinder that old would be flaky all the time if it was failing. nipper

I know its not the new gen forum Nickname comes from when I had a motorcycle. Sick puppy was the other choice but it wasnt available in NY nipper

Better check your blinker fluid. your going to have to keep your left turn signal on at all times. Don't forget to get Tommy a hat and a cigar for driving in florida Have fun safe trip happy holidays. nipper

As long as you were part of the onverstaion, and not a third party. your fine. Besides we arent talking to sending one to jail here, this would be a civil case, which allows for such things. There is a much lower standard to meet. nipper

http://subarujusty.proboards20.com/index.cgi they are either FWD or manual 4wd. Oil pumps are a little weak. The cars are not that bad to work on or repair. nipper

Get an altenator form one of the online dealers, not from anyone else. I went through two altenators in one year, because they kept using an imprezza altenator for a legacy. Also when I bought the alt from the online dealer it was 3 times cheaper then the one they had put into the car. This is a common "error" that autopart stores do. I dont know if it is a catalog error, or someone trying to sell the more expensive alt, that looks exactly like the cheaper one. Sooby dealers will tell you this is not an uncommon "error" nipper

Thats why on the second timing belt change, everything should be replaced. Lets hope there is no real damage. FYI - cam sensor is fuel injectors Crank sensor is spark. good luck nipper

It's normal. You may want to change it a little more often if you are finding them especially gunked up. 60K is a long time for a pcv valve. nipper

I worked for an autoparts mfg so I can tell you exactly what they do. Not Much. If they are an aftermarket supplier, they will buy the parts from the same people who make it for 100's of other suppliers on spec. They may physically compare OE and the aftermarket. If they actually make the waterpump, they may test the first ten or twenty, then sign off on the design. From there they never get tested unless they suddenly have a high failure rate or a lot of returns. They may get tested again if OE makes a engineering change, and they get informed about the change. They don't look for engineering changes. This is why its best to buy OE sometimes. Aftermarket doesnt have the resources to watch all the differnt waterpumps out in the market. nipper

Told ya it wasnt the pump nipper