nipper

Does it idle fine otherwise? can you see the blue exhaust, is it on acceleration or decleration. i think accelertaion is valves, and deceleration is rings. Also loss of power is rings. Oil past the valves are valve seals and guides. nipper

hehe sorry the ultracet is kicking in. Check all the body gaps, make sure they are still even. Look closly at the hood and c pillar chaeck for buckling. Look under the bumper skins, there is prbbly alot of damage there. Depending upon if you were stoped or rolling, there could be alot of force transmitted to the driveline. Check the exhaust system and engine mounts. Look at your radiator hoses and see if they look odd. Make sure the hatch seals and operates. Take a hose to the doors and hatch and see if they leak at all, assuming they didnt before. Make sure everything stilll works in the car. Go to a GOOD bodyshop. They will also check alignment and the cahssis to make sure its still straight. And dont forget about the Dr thing ... trust me thats the reason i have the ultracet right now. Damage from a car accident. How fast was he going when he hit you, any idea? nipper

Yes.... YOU! go to a doctor tomorrow just to make sure your ok. What is the make model and year of the car. nipper

comes up as a dead link nipper

Really? i must have missed that part. Lets start with a blank slate hrmmmm, Well if all your compression numbers are over 100 psi and even, lets assume thigs are ok. That leaves valve stem seals or valve guides. How much oil do you burn? What kind of power issues are you having? nipper

Depends upon the car and how long I was planning on keeping it. With some ext warrenties you have untill the warrenty is up to buy one. If it was a gm ford or chrysler-benz yes. Others no, unless they proved to be problematic. I would buy one if the car had alot of gizmos on it, only after i was sure the gizmos were covered. nipper

Sounds like we got a good raod trip planned.. a bunchg of soobys going to alaska nipper

I agree, find another mechanic. nipper

I think it was of all the 2.5L produced in the affected years. I would hunt for the post, but since its a popular subject here, would take me all day... hehehe im bored but not that bored What puzzles me is that Subaru was never subject to a recall, but when ford escorts had a related issue ( I dont rember if it was the head gasket or cylinder head), they did a recall. Granted it took a long time for ford to fess up. I had an escort at the time (this was before I discovereed the wonders of all things subaru) and they replaced the head. nipper

Even with manually selected 4wd, the other drive system is still turning, so its still wearing. The error that alot of people make, is that they only need AWD in winter. you get the best emergency handling on a car, and performance, when you treat all four wheels equally. I have felt the AWD kick in on dry ground during an emergency manuver. From what i know with freinds with "real SUVs", the subaru is relativly maintanence free in the AWD system. In fact in 3 4wd/awd subarus, the only maint i had to do to the system was replace a universal joint Good luck on your new car

Well the other way is to jack up the rear of the car, turn one wheel, if the other wheel turns in the same direction its a LSD (I think actually its a Viscous LSD from doing a quick scan of the posts). If the other wheel turns in the opposite direction, its not. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential10.htm nipper PS there are other posts on this.

I found this http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JCA/is_9_11/ai_98565519#continue http://www.themilepost.com/faq/hwy_drivingfacts.shtml I know from driving in anchoarge and the surrounding areas in winter (read about 70 miles out), consider your windsheild toast even before you leave your house. Pack tea candles (its amazing how a tea candle can keep the inside of the car warm. A space blanket is easier to deal with then a sleeping bag. ) I'm thinking of doing this from NY to alaska and back once I get my case settled from my car accident (assuming we can fix my back) Also put tires on the car that are a common brand and size. This is incase you need to replace a tire or two, it will be easy to match them up. Also a block heater and a battery heater are strongly recomended depending where in AK you are planning on going. Anchorage was "warm" in decmeber (almost the same as NY), but was informed around mid Jan is when it starts getting rough. Also get a cheap compass. My internal compass was so screwed up since there was never a real sunrise or sunset, as the sun never got high enough to give you an east/west reference. nipper

I am on my 4th SUbaru. My first one was 81 Gl 2wd. After that i was hooked. My next one was a 1988 Hatch which i loved to death. My next one was a 1998 legacy, and now I have a 97 Outback. Ive found the cars trouble free, depdnedable. Its the only car I would take on a cross country trip with 200,000 miles on the clock. Its the only used car I would buy with over 100K on it. Gas mileage for me runs from 19 in NYC traffic, 23 in suburbia, and 29 on the highway. The best way i can tell how dependable in foul weather my car is? When i go out with freinds, they want me to pcik them up, because hey know my car cant be beat in rain snow or slush. The only thing I'm dispaointed with is that my car has the winter package, but no heated windsheild wipers. Maybe you want to look at 1 or 2 year old outback instead of a new legacy? nipper

One way to find out is get under the car and look at the little metal tag on the cover, i think it says LSD on it. I know there is a post kicking around on how to identify an LSD via the tag. nipper

I think the number quoted was it involved 12% of the 2.5L (saw it qouted on here some place) . Seems like more, but it just seems that way because its a very expensive fix, and its annoying to do. I'm on another outback list, and i did quick search and there arent that many posts concerened with over heating. For the record, 12% is a high number. nipper

My 97 OBW has 180K on the original head gaskets. In comparsion hindas tend to blow them around 140K, and like anything else that ages, sometimes they will last forever, other times they wont. A head gasket failure past 100K i wouldnt blame on design, I would balme on age, one of those things, or poor maint from the previous owner. nipper

Way cool, i was wondering about the chain velocity. Gears depending upon thier cut can be just as noisy. There is a posting here on a 66 VW conversion, and somone suggested using the automaitc as its easier (on paper) to change the rotation of the output drive. I thought the steering nuckle was brilliant nipper

SO basically your speeding along, then you get in a deep puddle. you push thru the puddle, then for a minute the lifter noise is loud then goes away. Does it do the same Thing on a steep climb? I'm thinking if it is truly a lifter tick, Is there any other time it may do it? It can be something like a tired lifter, when the engine rpm suddenly drops under load, and the conditions are right, it just doesnt pump up like it should. Do you have a oil pressure gauge on the car? thats where I would start, and make sure its not an oil system issue. nipper

Odd.. just checking Haynes and Chiltons .. its says to do it without turning the rods. Best thing i can think of is to have a buddy hold them while you tighten them, it also says to check side play clearance with a feeler gauge.nipper

Condenstaion - white smoke when first starting is considered normal. Now if it doesnt go away, then i would worry. Also antifreeze always smells when burned , no matter how old. nipper

DO a wet and dry compression test. I am assuimng you already did the dry one. Take all the plugs out and squirt some oil in the cylinders. Crank the engine and if the compression goes up you have bad rings. If it doesnt you have bad valves. Sounds like you can have bad rings or worn valve guides. This should help http://automotive.mytelus.com/automotive/tips/view.spy?artid=593 nipper

Usually they are done with the pistons in the cylinders to keep that from happening. If you havent taken the piston off the wrist pins yet ild do it like that. nipper

HAHAHA Does that thing even have a roof? nipper

how about just renting a 19.95 a day in town u hauls? nipper

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43489 dig through that thread, there are a couple of sources on it, dont know if that will help .. nipper