nipper

There is always someone who thinks the world is flat So endwrench, put out by subaru, is not enough documentation for you? http://rio.mightyautoparts.com/pdf/articles/tt116.pdf http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php?topic=41895.new (bottom) http://www.transmissiondigest.com/tech/TD200602/UpToStandards/Up%20To%20Stds%20HTML.htm http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/diffautoAWD_AWD.html The front and rear axles turning at differnt speeds cause drag inside the transmission. This drag over enough miles causes heat, and sheers the transmission fluid (or in a viscous coupling the silicon fluid). The viscous fluid heats up and expands. When it expands it applies the clutches to give you power transfer to the slower axle. Once the axles catch up to each other, the silicon cools down and the torque transfer is released. WHen you have a mismatched tire, the fluid never gets to cool down. (its the same thing as rifing a clutch)Even though the front and rear axles are spoinning at differnt speeds, something has to give. Friction creates heat, and the clutch plates end up being wiped out. This is the same as having mismatched tires on a LSD differnential (whic is essentially what it is). You wil cook the LSD unit in a few miles. On the automatic, they are designed (unlike the viscous) to tolerate some plate slippage for curves. This is why it takes them longer to be damaged. The plates are also bathed in tranny fluid, whic is cooled and circulated. Since the differnce is so small between front and rea axles, the TCU does not interceed. the TCU thinks you are going through twisting roads. Normally when this happens eventually everything reaches the same speed and the plates have time to cool down. With mismatched tires equilibrium is never reached. One axle is always traveleing at a differnt speed then the other. The clutches are not made for that kind of wear. The clutches will over heat and either lock up, or become glazed and never engage. Now weather or not you choose to beleive what almost every tire and AWD mfg state is your choice. Its a 1200-1500 gamble on a manual sooby, much more money on other makes. nipper

Actually AC works with the defroster. nipper

Same thing as nay sooby. Check tires, tight turns, check fluid etc. Listen to the engine. Some of these had tensioner issues. The tensioer will make a ticking noise. Otherwise just the usual stuff. nipper

Isnt white a new pope? A subaru is a great car to learn on as far as the brakes. Get yourself a good manual and sit down and read it. Hayens is best.Start with a tuneup (plugs cap wires rotor air fule filter). If you can find someone to do it with, let them teach you, while you do it yourself. nipper

huh? Unless something is bent, they should be able to adjust it to spec. A bent suspension part, or a bad strut will cause cupping. WHo did you take it too? This isnt rocket science, they should have been able to tell you why they cant adjust it. nipper

hehehe i wanted to see if anyone was paying attention. We all know its the red ones that squeek. nipper

See now I was in a moderate speed impact, where a car made a left trun on front of me (25-30 mph). The car did not have airbags, just the standard seatbelts. I had the same injury. I think your blaming an injury you would have had anyway on the airbag. nipper

Yes. Replace the pcv valve nipper

And a side note, you may find this interesting http://www.ilma.org/resources/impact_lowqualityoils.pdf Stumbled over this about synthetics http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/devices/r99001.pdf This is what a valid tests looks like (this is more emissions based, but thats still something that has to be taken into account. They also mention standard test methods and breaking in fresh engine oil in test conditions to get everything on the same level). http://me.engin.umich.edu/autolab/Publications/Adobe/P2002_03.PDF http://www.soslube.com/aquicklook.html Also where is consumers control group. Without a control group the tests is worthless. I am bowing out of this thread, as its safer to talk poltics or religon then oil. nipper

Well I am a certified ASE mechanic and i agree with me. You dont just leave out bad information form a report because the other cabs had some sort of failure. Also I know a lot of ceritified techs who make lousy engineers. Its a BS report, no real data, no real numbers. If They were managing my fleet of vehiclas and didnt at the very least have oil analysis done, I would fire them. The ones i DO beleive, is the oil testing done in long haul truckers. There the samples are much more consistant. But then again, I am just stating the facts of what oil does and how it does it and what it is expected to do. I applied for a job with consumer reports not too long ago. They dont Have automotive engnieers on staff, nor do they have ceritified techs. They have general engineers. Personally I wouldnt want a engineer that is reviewing a toaster telling me which car to buy, the same way I wouldnt tell him what toaster to buy. They love to ignore standard testing procedure and data collection to sell magazines. nipper

No you dont. I just went through an Alt on Blu, it was two months old and went bad. I got one from subaru instead. Volt meters move during the operation of the car. Is it bouncing around at 2000 rpm or higher? nipper

Nooooooooo What i meant was check and make sure you didnt knock off any vacum hoses nipper

Must be the idle air control valve. Are you sure you didnt miss any vacum hoses anywhere. The purpose of this valve is to control the idle speed. Its acting like there is a disconnected vac line someplace. nipper

DO you mean the idle air control ? nipper

Subaru also have excellant devices for people with physical issues. http://www.cars101.com/subaru_for_disabled.html nipper

See if the dealer has a retrofit kit. nipper

Once again Consumer reports doe a half-rump roast job. The hardest time on an engine and oil is the cold start. By using taxi cabs, the oil always stayed warm and at its best. the oil never had to deal with acid producing conditions. I dont see anywhere that they did a true oil analysis between changes. Thats where you find out what metals are in the oil, and how much. This tells you the wear on the engine. Weighing bearings to look for wear means nothing ( I wonder where they get their "engineers" sometimes). What they should have done was check bearing clearances and tolerances of the engines after the test. I would like to see what failures knocked taxis out of the tests. Using taxis mean using multiple drivers, that have different driving styles. They also dont state what season it was. The "test" is basically useless for any good information. Keep in mind that they also are not fans of people holding on to thier cars past 100,000 miles. Almost everyone suggests that you change oil closer the heavy use figures for real world driving. Its best to start thinking about chaining oil at 5000 miles (tht means by the time you get to it its closer to the 7500 ). I really see no useful information anywhere in that report. The only thing that is correct is that oil viscosity tends to all become the same with time. The varnish buildup is just blown off, and actually thats very telling. Its one of the reasons you do oil changes. I truly doubt they had the budget to use as many rebuilt engines as one needed to even come close to accuratly do the test. Here are the REAL tests for engine oil http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com/lubricanttesting.htm I am not endorsing Amsol, just they have all the information in one spot. nipper

Sometimes you need to go out and buy that 500 watt power amp to fix the noise. You may just be hearings the gears meshing. If the car is shifting fine, noise levle fairly constant, I wouldnt worry about it. You may just want to change the fluid. nipper

I'll take a "n" please nipper

If your short, you need to have the bags deactivated. Yes they can kill someone if your too close to them when they go off. The way they work is that you are accelerating towards the steering wheel, and the bags are accelerating towards you. Your supposed to meet someplace in the middle of that distance. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070516/air-bag-injury-risk-linked-to-height http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.9bf1623441fb228891e67a1090008a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_viewID=detail_view&itemID=90a69134db1bff00VgnVCM1000002c567798RCRD&viewType=standard&detailViewURL=/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.9bf1623441fb228891e67a1090008a0c/;jsessionid=8mJkGpcC9h20y2mQWY2dD2RmVYGGTdNlG0QmJbLg1lJsGl2hpjTH!447926930!-61314767?javax.portlet.tpst=f2d14277f710b755fc08d51090008a0c_ws_MX#13 Its the same reaason children under 13? shouldnt sit in the front seat From the NHTSA website 14. At what height and weight is an individual considered at risk when driving an air bag equipped vehicle? There is no precise height and weight at which an individual is considered to be at risk. The primary determinant as to whether an individual will be injured by a deploying air bag is the distance from which the individual is seated from the air bag. 15. What is considered a safe distance to sit from the steering wheel in an air bag equipped vehicle? All drivers need to be properly belted and sit as far from the air bag as possible to allow the air bag to deploy. Short drivers should move the driver's seat rearward to allow space between the driver's chest and the steering wheel, and the seat back should be tilted back slightly. There is no precise distance known that will guarantee that no injuries will occur because all air bags are unique and deploy with different forces. However, the driver should refrain from leaning forward and, to the extent possible, the driver should hold the steering wheel from the side so that his/her arms aren't between the driver and the air bag. nipper

SO you dont want to hear that you get 2 for 2.50 from radioshack then... i wont tell you. nipper

You get to hear the same thing as everyone else :-p Get a mechanical gauge. Oil pressure being pegged for 15 minutes or less is normal. It takes 3x's longer for oil to warm up and thin out, as oppsed to how quickly coolant warms up. Depending upon the oil your running, this is probabaly normal. Don't use any cheapo or poor qaulity filters. nipper

Albie is a great guy to talk too. Granted Allied has some "odd" ways of dealing with the public, but they are on top of things once you get a hold of them. I needed a few extra peices from Albie, and we talked alot about soobies. I figured over the holiday weekend they were forgotten about, but just as i was going to call them, the parts showed up. You do need to remind them of thigs, because this is not their main business. Keep in mind they have a relaxed attitude. Would I do business with them again, in a heartbeat. You just need to be patient and keep in touch with them, thats all. nipper

I'm thinking its got something to do with the AC. Check the main pulley on the engine and make sure that it is tight and not wobbling. nipper

There are aftermarket kits out now i think that will let you upgrade. Subaru is not the only one to do this. nipper