bulwnkl

Yes, there should be control arm motion longitudinally. The bushings are supposed to flex for ride and damage prevention. Factory alignment settings (are supposed to) take into account the flex and also the countering force of engine power. Remember that axle torque to the drive wheels will try to flex those arms forward as the wheels pull the car along. So, you have offsetting forces at work against each other. Don't flex the arms to do an alignment, just put it on the rack (or drive it into the garage if you do home alignments) and set the alignment.

I wasn't even the one asking the question and I found that answer helpful. Thanks, f-f-f!

I agree; just pull the heads, check them & do as needed, replace the gaskets, and go.

Sounds like you got your answer, though IMO a diff fluid change in the first 5 - 10,000 miles of its life is very wise and helps achieve 'lifetime' fluid fill. I'll often change every 30,000 miles but it depends a bunch on my usage in the vehicle in question.

I haven't hardly even been inside a NAPA in a year or 3. A poster up the thread a ways claimed NAPA's house brand was now Chevron/Havoline; that was the basis for my statement of 'used to be.' I have no clue but it wouldn't surprise me if Ashland was still the supplier, nor even to find that they have different suppliers in different parts of the country.

Amazingly enough, yes, there is a difference between the huge-name brands and the no-name brands. Not 50%, though. The difference is mostly advertizing, but the house brand will buy from the cheapest supplier to meet their specs (which is probably just 'it's gotta have the starburst on the front'), and that supplier will change. NAPA is an excellent example because for years and years theirs was made by Ashland (Valvoline's parent). Anyway, if it meets the specs, it meets the specs, so use with confidence. You only need care if you spend a bunch of money on analyses and tweaking to absolutely optimize the smallest details of your engine's operation.

Nipper, if it was a 50/50 torque split, then you could lift the front axle off the ground in gear and use the engine to spin the front wheels freely without particular danger of the rear axle propelling the vehicle over the 2x2 blocks you were chocking the rear wheels with, just like would happen if the center divider was an open differential, which is a 50/50 torque split. That doesn't happen, which is the layman's way to know the torque is being redistributed unequally to the other axle. Another simplified explanation is at the website you posted a couple posts up. I'm sure you can go through the calculations for yourself if you don't prefer the layman's method.

Interesting idea. Can't remember what the roof rack crossbar capacity is, but the Baja is rated to carry ~1,000 lbs. in the bed, and ~600 lbs on the tailgate alone, so the overall weight's no problem. Personally I prefer the ones where the ramp is also a short extension off the end of the tailgate, but this idea's much more compact and there shouldn't be much actual weight up high. I like it!

No, it's absolutely not a 50/50 torque split, but I'm not going to go through this with you again.

Thought it was all of them. I used the ' marks around the term lock-up because I was trying to not get overly precise and confuse folks. I agree that because it's a pulsed action to release torque bind, it's not locked in the sense of two steel shafts welded together. However, I'm not comfortable with the term "50/50 split" either because that always makes me think of torque (don't know why), and it's most definitely not a 50/50 torque split. Is this term meant more along the lines of a 50/50 power split? There again, so many folks get confused by a lack of understanding of torque vs. power...

Does selecting 1st on the A/T lever not force center 'lock-up' on all the 4EAT trannies? I know it did on the '02 Legacy we had, but maybe that was only for a few years or something?

Hehehe. You're really on this week aren't you, Nipper?

Affirm that Bajas were only available with the 2.5; either turbo'd or not. Never the 2.0

Nevermind. sorry.

This may sound silly, but tires and weight provide traction, not number of wheels driven. Rarely indeed do people find themselves in trouble for only having 1 or 2 wheels under power rather than 2 - 4 under power. Most always folks find themselves in trouble for entering a corner too fast, braking too late, and so forth. AWD does zip for that. I do like AWD or 4WD for off-roading, but again almost no one does that, and even then FWD can achieve a great deal of what AWD can.

Any of the 'universal' ATFs will normally run just fine as a Dex-III replacement. Shift quality may feel a little different. If you don't like it, switch back. Give it a couple weeks at least, though, to give the computer time to learn the new fluid. Either way, there won't be any damage or wear troubles.

I agree with you on the layout, Nipper. That's why I don't think they'll do it: they'd have to redesign the powertrain. I'm very, very skeptical that they'd make an RWD/AWD vehicle rather than a FWD/AWD vehicle without an attempt to move upmarket. Not necessarily BMW 6 series, but up from Subaru's norm. I might be interested if they didn't try to price up, though.

A RWD coupe means going up-market in price. I prefer RWD to FWD, but it's far less efficient for packaging, meaning the interior is less spacious, the car is a little heavier, etc. So, you have to make it a luxury or 'premium' vehicle. That's pronounced: Higher price for largely the same content but slicker brochures, advertizing, warranty and maybe or maybe not slightly better fit/finish. That I'm not interested in. I would be interested in a RWD Subie just because they could then move the engine rearward and front wheels forward in the chassis, making it much better balanced. Plus, it could get better mpg. However, that would most likely mean no AWD/4WD option unless they went to a front-mid-engine design, which I think is completely unlikely. Too bad...

I agree. Plus, it's absolutely ridiculous to have 2 different emissions standards (like the Euros do) for gasoline and diesel cars. If a certain standard is desirable, that should be the standard. Doesn't matter how you meet it, just have to meet it.

I might consider it, but then by that time fuel might be back down at $1.50/gallon. In any event, if diesel engines somehow do end up flooding the US market, diesel fuel will double in price or more because the USA has no more capacity to refine it. We need more refineries in the USA no matter what, but if folks want diesel, we need different types of refineries (hydrocrackers, not solvent refiners). Did you know that Europe exports gasoline to us because even with diesel-biased refineries, they have too much gasoline? In any case, I'll consider the diesel Subie IF they ever bring it here, but I'm not holding my breath...

It actually looks like this: APRIL 4, 2008 IMMEDIATE STOP SALE ORDER ALL SUBARU DEALERS We regret to inform you that we must place an immediate stop sale order on all of the 2008/2009 Subaru Impreza and Forester vehicles equipped with a 2.5L Turbo Engine produced with the beginning chassis number and later as shown below. Model Starting Chassis Number Production Date Forester 701045 2008/01/08 Impreza 523363 ( SEDAN )/825183 (HATCH)2008/01/08 The reason for this immediate Quality Assurance action is that there have been several reports of “Engine Knocking Noise” from other markets on vehicles produced after the production dates listed. Initial investigation confirms an internal wear issue on the failed units. In the interest of preventing any possibility of failures for our customers, we have chosen to isolate any potentially affected vehicles by ceasing sales of the potentially affected units until the root cause and correction can be identified. All the other displacement engines and the 2.5L Natural Aspirated Engine are excluded from this action. Your region/distributor will be contacting you with a detailed list of affected vehicles assigned to your dealership. However, dealer trades cannot be tracked so please be aware of the affected VIN range. If you have a vehicle in inventory that falls into the affected vehicle range, please ensure that your sales and service staff are immediately notified that the unit is un-saleable until further notice from SOA or your region/distributor. If any of those vehicles has an unusual engine noise, please notify the SOA Technical Helpline immediately with all of the details and submit an E-QMR. Should a customer bring an affected vehicle into your service department for an unusual engine noise, please immediately arrange that they are given the use of a clean SSLP vehicle and notify the Technical Helpline and submit an E-QMR. You will be contacted shortly thereafter on how to proceed. We are still investigating whether any of the SIA produced Legacy Outback turbo vehicles are affected. If any action is needed on the SIA vehicles, you will be notified early next week.

Nah, HEET's just alcohol (NOT drinkable for anyone out there with more dollars than sense). That's a funny picture! My nevermind was just OT so I deleted it. BTW, I can still run ~0.07 MPa boost (according to factory gauge; may or may not be close to accurate and equates to ~10 psi) on 88 octane w/o any issues at all. The ECU will just pull timing if it was to start to knock; don't worry too much about it.

Nearly all automotive turbos these days are water cooled (struggling to think of one that isn't...). Still, I think it more likely a HG than a turbo issue for the reason mdjdc mentions about white smoke pouring out the exhaust. Good luck!

///nevermind///

Most of the new ATFs (including the Universals) are at least partially 'synthetic.' I use the quasi-quote there because the term synthetic is a marketing one these days and does not particularly tell you about the quality of the finished fluid. In any event, you can use about any of the universal fluids, including the Wolf's Head one, with confidence. Your transmission will last just as well on those as on Subaru's branded fluid. As I said before, you may experience a slight difference in shift feel after changing the fluid. Depending upon your present fluid condition, the change itself may be what's responsible for the shift feel difference, and the computer should adjust to the new fluid pretty quickly. If it doesn't become 'normal,' you can always try a different fluid. Still, no harm is being done with the slightly different initial feel.