nipper

As of yesterday (sept 1) gas was bp at 280, exxon at 360 (thats regular...floating around 4 for premium). The county and the state is talking about capping taxes at the 2.00 per gallon point (as the max tax that can be collected). nipper

3.20? hehe here in NY preimum is corssing the 4.00 mark nipper

Foresters are available with them now. It was designed to fit in the same engine bay as a 4 cyl of the same years. Premium becuse its higher compression then a regular engine. nipper

That is incrediblly early to start leaking oil. Go to the dealer and let him fix it asap. nipper

From what I have heard and read, it really depends on what your requirements are. The six sylinder makes the nose heavy, but has plenty of instant power. The alternative is the 4 cylinder turbo, which is much lighter for better handling, but has some turbo lag. Unless there is a design flaw, the engine should last as long as the 4 cylinder, but will be more thirsty. The only thing i did read was that there was a huge amount of bolts on the engine to replace the timing chain. The water pump does run off the timing chain, and is supposed to last the life of the car. So i would imagine that it is goinf to bem more costlier to maintaine then a normally aspirated 4 cyl, but I dont know how that compares to the turbo. Here is some propaganda: "Subaru (2000) developed the compact EZ30 six-cylinder engine with almost the same length as a four-cylinder engine, and installed it in the Outback H6-3.0. It was the first installation of a Horizontally-Opposed six-cylinder Engine in a production vehicle since the SVX with its EG33 engine. The EZ30 offered not only the basic features of superior rotational balance, low centre of gravity, and compact size of a Horizontally-Opposed Engine, but also had the smooth rotational acceleration and engine sound of a six-cylinder engine, and the robust torque of a large displacement engine. This new-generation power unit even offered environmental considerations such as lower emissions of harmful substances in the exhaust. In reducing the size and only increasing the total length of the engine by 20 mm in comparison to the EJ series installed in previous Subaru models, the engineers were able to maintain interchangeably in vehicle bodies designed for four-cylinder engines, and enabled the installation of 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine." So really its just a matter of taste. nipper

Any engine will leak with time. AT the next Maintanenece, do a heavy Maint ...meaning replace timing belts, water pump, and the cam/main seals, and the oil pump. That would hold you for the next 120K. I had that all done, was pricey, but solved all the oil leaks, and gave me peice of mind. nipper

My mechanic just welded the heat sheilds also. He didnt charge me as he was doing other stuff on the car at the time too. He calls it his free service to prefered customers (personally i think he likes playing with fire hehehe). nipper

Thats about right, though my axle cost 99.00. The one red heering in this is the hub itself. I think when we did the wheel bearing (it felll apart as it was taken off the car) the hub was shot too. That was i think 100.00 from subaru. I would recomend having all the front wheel bearings done at once if you can afford it. nipper

Yes the harnesses do make life much easier. Right now I'm 80% of the way thorugh an omnifi installation, may have to take it all back out again to reverse the order of the equipment. Glad it all worked out. nipper

Ok i just did this literally 5 minutes ago. Open the center console storage lid, there are two screws. Remove those two screws. Apply the parking brake. The trim around the parking brake comes out. Newt turn the car on (if you have a brake interlock) and put the car in low. Make sure the brake holds or block a wheel. The black trim peoice around the grear selector will pop out, gently, Work from the sides toward the top with a thin flathead screwdriver. Remove that peice, now the rest of the panle around the gear selector will pup out. Next get a vaccum and clean out there (heheheh ...i found a 1.25 ). Its just a big jigsaw puzzle=, re assembly is the reverse.

There are two philips head screws where the ashtray (or smaller storage pocket) is. I have always taken the console out to do this which is very easy. I think you have to do this to get the rest of the panel out. nipper

I vote for air, its a common thing unfortunitly. nipper

Just want to remind people, if you get rear ended, DO go to a doctor the next day no matter how your feeling. Since mine got rear ended on july 1st, some things got better, some got worse. Today found out I have a herniated disc form the accident. When I first got hit, I felt fine, then 36 hrs later I was in the ER. My sprained knee and ankle were not healing right, so off th=o the MRU we went. I underestimated the forsce of the collision, as the car did not look that bad. Aparently it was a 50mph plus hit. So please never underestimate the power of a collision on your body. Better safe then sorry. nipper

Blus smoke on accelertaion is rings, deceleration is valves. Only true way of telling is a wet/dry compression test. I doubt its a head gasket, as when a head gasket goes bad enough to show smoke at the tailpipe, its all the time, not the ocasional puff. SOunds like valve guides. nipper

Stand your ground but it is going to be tough. Have you spoken with a lawyer yet? How are you feeling? Remeber take care of you first the car second. nipper

Well i know where part of my ins settlement money will go SuBrat84 are you running windows IE ? If you are, a bar should appear asking you if you want to disable the popupstopper for that one session. Click on the stopper bar when you see it and follow the instructions. The American dealer had it for 795.00 nipper

http://www.scorpionsubaru.com/photos.htm lookie

yes do share

hehe yes the engine on the impala is bullit proof, but its all the bits attached to the engine that will send you back to the dealer (like the rest of the car) nipper

Never reuse head bolts. They are undr a lot of stress, many miles of heating and cooling. For the small cost of using nnew ones as opposed to not too, replace them. nipper

Try aluminum. nipper

Outbacks get worse gas mialage then a car, because they are heavier, the awd system is always on, and fatter tires. That said outbacks should be compared to small suvs. When that comaprison is done they get beter milage. I had a ford escape for 3 weeks, no matter what i did i got 13mpgaround town. my 97 outback with 178k on it (original tranny and engine and cyl head gaskets) gets 20 in stop and go with the ac on. I personally found that all my subarus get better highway milage then what they are rated for (that may be me, and I do have a lead foot). Subarus in general are the most bought vehical with high milage on them used. They have a great reputation as a total car to last for ever. The only annoying thing is the stupid little switch bulbs burn out, otherwise everything seems to work on them right to the very end. One thing I have noticed on this board, is very few AC failures, and thats always been a bane for GM. Also SUbarys have more head room and better visability. GM's in general have very poor resale value. If you look at the numbers, GM America, if it wsnt for all of GM's businesses, would have gone belly up this year. Gm blames Health insurance costs, but thats only a small part of it. Mostly they sell junk, that is bland an uninspired. SUbaru sells everything they make without being forced to gimmicks. Right there that should say something. Good Luck nipper

Subaru vs GM (not including the saabaru) go for the Subaru. They hold thier value better, are far more dependable, and far more crash worthy. nipper

Take the raditor cap off the car when its cold. Let the car run and se if there are any bubbles in the coolant. If there is you have a blown headgasket or worse cracked block. I would vote for headgasket. nipper

The struts are filled with oil, and have tiny pports and seals in them and all that good stuff. Sounds like your strut went bad. Either its out of oil or it blew something internally. Try the bounce test. Bounce really hard ont eh corner of the car, it shouldnt bounce more then once. If it does you have a bad strut. nipper