nipper

Damn .. that hurt to read. OK torque bind is caused by fluid leaking past the duty solenoid (if i read it correctly). I am going to assume this car is an automatic. Have you looked under the hood to see if you have a fuse holder marked FWD. If you do, throw a fuse in it and see if the problem goes away. I have been driving my OBW for 2 months with the fuse in it and no isues. I just dont have the cash to get it fixed. Seems like you can drive as long as you want like this. I havent seen a single post of anyone actually hurting thier car buy doing this. I think once you have torque bind, the damage is done, and you cant make it any worse by driving like this. The clutch pack starts getting chewed up by torque bind. In theory anyone can do anything themselves with the right tools and a place to wrok, just depends upon your skill level. I too wondered if the clutch pack was something one could buy and install, but from what I have seen in prior posts, its a fast repair for a dealership to do, and runs about 800.00. Transmission power flush. I think as long as they dont use a chemical flush at the same time its ok. When you drain an auto tranny there is still a large volume of old fluid in the torque converter, so the only way really to get it out is with a good flush. Check your tranny fluid. If it isnt burnt, and a nice red color, it should be safe to flush. If its brown and burnt, I would be hesitant to do it. Hope this helps. My tranny has 180K on it and has nice fluid, but im still afraid to flush it. Joe

The airbag module sits directly over the transmission, under the radio, in front of the gear shift. It doesnt sit on the floor, if I recall correctly, but on a bracket. I wonder if that bracket has a broken weld. Look for the simple stuff first. Joe

If you want some dry reading: http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Air/air-37.cfm some less dry reading http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3012/is_5_183/ai_101939315 http://www.swri.edu/3pubs/IRD2003/Synopses/039281.htm Europe does not worry about NOx, they worry about CO2. NOx is what the US worries about. SO you really cant compare emission standards, though there has been an attempt to unify Asia, EU and North America emissions (we cant even unify them in all 50 states). Particulate filters are desighned to either clean themselves or be serviced at pre determined intervals. The ones that are self cleaning will run hotter and burn themselves out faster due to the shorter cycles (remeber when catalytic converters first came out). Clogged filters lead to poor performance, which in turn can lead to engine damage, and complaints about performance, The diesel industry is still hurting from the GM fiasco (again thank you gm) from the first passenger car diesels, so they are very cautous about entering the US market again until they are perfect. I hope that answered some questions, otherwise i have to dig into my SAE database... if you really want to see some dry reading... Joe

You should remove the cap to releive the pressure. That could keep the caliper from fully retracting and make it very hard to install the pads, and that in turn would make it hard for the caliper to slide back into place (been there done that). That may have been just enough binding to freeze the caliper. Joe

I think you need a new dealer. These are not impossible problems. Find somone who wants your business. Next youll go in with a CEL or flat tire and hell say he never heard of that problem. Joe

Did you remove the cover from the master cylinder resevoir before you compressed the calpiers? Did you make sure the caliper slid smoothly on the pin before you reassembled the caliper? I'm not sure about the pin sticking out, I want to say it shouldnt be, but I am not 100% postive. Best thing to do is look at the good side and see if it is flush or not. Joe

Some people dont stop to look at how much things like tires cost to replace on a vehical. I had one freind that neerly choked when he heard his SUV tires were 180 a pop not including balancing etc. Joe

You should just by a calpier, it is far easier then rebuilding the caliper. Joe

Sounds like you have a frozen caliper. Did you clean and lubricate the pins. It sounds like you need either a new caliper or pin, and I would check the rotor to make sure it is still flat. What condition were the pads that you removed in? Joe

Try again ... President Bush signed tougher deisel emissions into law in his first term. They affect trucks, busses and construction equipment. It forces the refiners to make low sulfur deisel fuel to have the engines meet the new tough standards ( I checked its by 2010). The automakers in this country have engines that will PASS CA NY and other state standards, its just the refiners that are slow for whatever reason to make the fuel. NY also has had tougher emissions standards for deisels, along with a few other east coast states. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/the_biodiesel_h.php The direct injection deisels can not run on our deisel fuel here in the states. The engines foul, as do the emission controls. Also over seas they have a much higher pollution issue from particulates then we do here. Europe does not get a free ride on emissions from deisels either. Joe

Yes all hybrids should be deisel, but they have to clean up the deisel fuel first, which I dont think is expected to be done till 2007. Joe

Diesel would be great here, now if the refineries would just clean up the fuel so it would happen. The floodgates are ready to open with deisels from all the auto mfg, just with todays fuel they can't pass emissions. I get excited thinking all that torques being available in anything subaru with a dual range. *drool* Joe

Or just wait for GM to be so hard up for money they sell thier 20% share back to subaru. One can only hope. Joe

The module is located under the cneter of the dash on the floor. iI am going to really advise you DO NOT TOY WITH IT unless you know how to disarm it. Once that is said, and done .... I would check the connectors. I do beleive all the SRS waires have yellow tape on them. Joe

I looked at my freinds 2005 OBW today. The plate is mounted on the front bumper with self tapping screws. It looks more and more like GM mentality is sneaking into the subaru structure Joe

I think this is just for the home market, in Japan. At least that is what the second link said. Joe

In one case, the car sat in the driveway for 3 weeks, and when I started it after the hot spell, the airbag light was on. In one case, after being on for several months, it went out for a few weeks in the winter before coming back on. In one case, while I was driving it on a very hot day, the airbag light when on while while traveling on a bumpy road. Ok so what i would figure out from the details above, you have a bad connection some place. The one common denominator to all the above failures is movement. Hot weather, cold weather and vibration can all make a poor connection worse. They can all cause a poor connection to become open and (not knowing much about the SRS puter) cause a failure. Now since the failures go away for a while after the units is unpluged then re pluged in (assuming they arent playing with any of the other sensors) they first place I would look at is the harness and connector feeding into the computer. Next time it happens, also try just unplugging the unit, then plugging it back in. Are there any trouble codes that can be read off the SRS puter? Joe

Sounds like there may be either a short someplace back feeding the circuit, or the light controller or amplifier (it must have something like that) is bad. The little wires in the stalk cant carry all the current to control the lights, so it feeds some little black box, which actually control the lights. Joe

I thought that too. The Edsel was supposed to reflect the airplanes of that time period also, just as the new nose is supposed to. I think a bra may help Looks like at least in the cars you may have half a chance at upgrading the radio at least.

I'll take a look at my freinds 2005 OBW tomorrow and see how they did it. nipper

Ceramic brakes are hard on the rotors. Also they work best when hot, this is very disconcerting the first time you step on the brake pedal, especially in colder climates. The Ceramic Brake Pads tend to overheat and warp factory rotors. Most Sites i have seen on this subject have stated that they work well with beefier aftermarket rotors, but tend to warp the factory rotors. Personally i would just use semi-metalic as i wouldnt want to risk warping the rotors. Food for thought http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brakecomments_all.jsp?make=EBC&model=Greenstuff+brake+pads&group=null and http://naioa.com/impalabb/viewtopic.php?t=210&sid=25b4803f83a6b08d9ba2833a5c824c25 and http://www.carbibles.com/brake_bible.html Also make sure you are buying TRUE ceramic brake pads

Every reveiw ive seen has had an issue with its looks, some calling it ugly, some saying "its a face only a mother could love, if she was blind" and everything inbetween. Subarus were always a ltille odd looking, but now they have gone beyond odd. nipper

Say did anyone ever find out the answer to the original question?

I have one parked in the driveway, though i thought it was called Sydney blue. Its a 97 OBW Ltd. nipper

MY EYES MY EYES IM BLIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww nipper