bulwnkl

I wonder whether the Baja U/P is also the same? The reports are that the Baja has a catalyst in the U/P, though I've never looked...

Your stock U/P does not have a catalyst in it, correct?

Those are some expensive extra welds!

We recently acquired an OBD II scanner/logger and it would not work on my '05 Baja. Updated the firmware through the included utility and now it works fine. That was an Innova, IIRC.

Sorry about that, man. No, I haven't tried it. We don't have a publicly accessible source here. I'd have thought that for optimal operation you'd need a different fuel mapping in the ECU, but it might run OK on a gasoline map. Maybe the stock maps have enough latitude in them to compensate based on O2 senson feedback? If you end up trying it I'd be interested to hear your experience.

You seem to be suggesting that Venus was once inhabited by people who destroyed their entire planet by using one type of solar energy vs. another. That's just ludicrous. You CANNOT show that burning bio-based fuels extracted from under the ground instead of on top of it are causing a greater degree of climate change than would be effected by the other. You can only show that climate changes. The Earth's climate has changed significantly in BOTH directions multiple times both before and after people were even here. Who was responsible for burning all those sub-surface fuels and destroying themselves then, the dinosaurs? Open your eyes to the whole picture.

15W40 all-fleet/diesel oil is an excellent choice, as are the 10W30 all-fleet/diesel oils. I'd use either of them over a 20W50. Plus, with your usage conditions, change your air filter VERY often.

If the lucas doesn't work, I've had astoundingly good results with Auto-RX. Add a dot-com and look them up. I've used it in Subarus and other vehicles.

There are also perpetual motion machines everywhere, so long as you don't count the input energy needed to keep them going. How can the Earth NOT be carbon neutral? No carbon (no significant carbon, anyway) is coming to Earth from outer space, so then by definition ALL fuels except some varieties of fusion that would create it are carbon neutral. If that changes such that there IS significant carbon coming to Earth from outer space, then the foolishness of the concept of carbon neutrality would be further obviated. It's just a question of your perspective. I'm always amused by the concept that climate change is abnormal. Trying to lock the Earth to the climate, technology, and norms of 1746 or any other arbitrary date (except where that's not convenient to those wanting to do it) is just foolishness. One does the best one can with what one has and doesn't ignore all the bad side effects of surface-glamour alternatives just for the sake of advancing an arbitrary choice.

edrach, I agree with your crown sensitive comment. And, a little cross-caster would cause the drift your friend/acquaintance is experiencing. At the same time, a bad tire will do that. When we took our '02 Legacy GT Limited home brand new from the dealer, it pulled to one side. It wasn't really bad, but enough that we had to steer the car to keep it on the road. Returning to the dealer, they checked alignment, rotated tires, and fiddled around. They said that the issue seemed to follow one tire and so they rotated it to the rear and the issue was fixed. A couple or few weeks later, my wife had a tire blow driving down the highway. It was the tire which had caused the pulling. We went to the Bridgestone dealer and they were surprised but when I explained what the dealer had said and done, they replaced the tire at no charge under warranty citing an internal belt separation.

The thing is that his "concern" is tied directly to the quantity of money, power, influence, and/or votes for him involved. EDIT: That may be slightly unfair. He may have actually had some concern of his own at least at one point. Trouble is that he's been overcome by the ludicrous short-sightedness and non-thinking that plagues so many of the granolas.

I don't doubt your engineering, Nipper, though I may assert (I don't right now, but I may ) that your ties to engineering cause you to underestimate marketing. Frankly, 720 million dollars on marketing is cheap money well spent if it gets you the customers. The simple fact of the matter is that a CVT is technically superior to a conventional A/T for all the reasons cited in this thread. If customers don't like them that's a marketing issue (gimmick may not be the optimum term for this specific issue), not a technical one. In point of fact, marketing drives engineering as I'm sure you know. The 2-speed A/Ts common in the '50s and '60s were excellent units (well, I only have experience with the GM units and they were excellent). Similarly, the 3-speed automatics common on small cars until fairly recently were also excellent and, just like 14" wheels (and even 13") in those applications, were demonstrated by their manufacturers to be superior technically to the 4-speeds (and 15 and 16" wheels) which replaced them. They were replaced almost entirely because of marketing factors. Just as sales have demonstrated time and time again that bigger=better (in terms of sales), they have also demonstrated that more=better (in terms of sales). 6- and 8-speed A/Ts are no different. So as you said, you can disagree, but that's the (marketing) reason for it.

OK, I'm going to go out on a small limb here and say that your Haynes manual is correct about the adjustability of the rear camber. However, even if Fuji didn't built it that way, a good alignment shop (which the dealer normally is not) can adjust the camber. If you have no other symptoms of strut problems of any kind at all, I'd suggest leaving that shop and going elsewhere. You should be able to get 'camber bolts' that'll let you adjust the camber to where you need it on the Baja, as well as any strut-suspension car. They're an eccentric bolt and the front of your Baja at least should already have them for 1 of the 2 bolts that holds the strut to the lateral link (lower control arm). If that adjustment is not enough to fix the issue, you can put an eccentric in the lower hole as well, or just get a 'more eccentric' eccentric bolt. Again, a good alignment shop will be much more help than a dealer IME. An alternative is that the structure of the truck is bent and it needs to be put on a frame machine. That's super-expensive (they used to cost $10,000/month to lease/buy and that was almost 15 years ago) and may or may not be the problem. Another alternative is that your Baja was just built with the holes a little out of spec such that you have the alignment options/adjustment that you have. Either way, get away from the dealer. I am dubious as to their troubleshooting skills based both on experience and your description of events thus far. If you need help finding a good alignment shop, try to find a local autocross or racing club (local SCCA club?) and ask members of it for recommendations. You should get a consensus right away about who knows what about alignment in your area.

If you're interested, US Plastics sells the Type 2 HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene) bottles with the dispensing chamber on top. You can see them at this page. I bought a couple from them for exactly this use. They're very inexpensive, but I'd agree with you that if the CA-40 guys are going to sell their product at such a price and by the quart, one of these bottles should be included with a long dispensing neck/cap. Good luck!

OUCH! That's expensive! I'm not sure which aspect of the product you're interested in, but there's a product that I expect is similar in intent that's reasonably local to you (at least it's a midwest/plains states product) from RenewableLube(.com) that I know from experience and analysis is not harmful. I can't claim much in terms of mpg except that when using the product my mpg does not drop in either car when running gasohol vs. regular gasoline. It's also a whole bunch less expensive. If you do try the CA-40, let us know how it works for you!

Never heard of it until now, but it seems about like most additives in that the numbers show pretty well for diesel engines, but gasoline either has few or no hard numbers or the numbers don't change hardly at all (as is the case here). Personally, I expect that the differences in hp listed for the only gasoline test the published are within margin of error for the dyno and/or attributable to the engine and especially the oil coming to full temperature. One thing that really wigs me out is this table: {YIKES! Table deleted because the formatting gets destroyed in translation} The table I'm talking about is on this page. If there are absolutely no unburned hydrocarbons when using the additive AND carbon monoxide is reduced, how in the world do you get less carbon dioxide and more oxygen? Could this possibly be attributed to the additive simply being an oxygenate? Like alcohol or various other things that are often put into fuel and almost universally despised by consumers?

I also find a very large difference between indicated level when cold (overnight) vs. warm (even just driving a few blocks or sitting for an hour or so). Much larger than on any non-Subaru vehicle I have owned. The oil really shouldn't expand any more in a Subaru than anything else, so I'm thinking the post about angle of the dipstick is the main contributor. Either way, I wish their oil level indication method was more repeatable across a wider range of conditions.

You know, I've often wondered about that. It seems to me that it could not be a factor because: There is no way to disconnect the rear hubs or driveshaft. That means that you're turning all that mass all the time no matter what. When the center clutch mechanism engages, you're driving it from the transmission through to the road, and when it disengages, you're driving it from the road through to the transmission. So, it seems like it should be the same energy needed and therefore the same mpg either way?

I disagree. 6 and 8-speed automatics are primarily marketing motivated. The torque convertor essentially eliminates the need for such foolishness, and a CVT is better at keeping the engine at torque peak and is MUCH lighter weight. The reason automatic transmission vehicles have equal or better highway ratings (when they do) is entirely from gearing. On the highway, the torque convertor clutch is locked so the only difference between an A/T and an M/T in terms of mpg is engine rpm. In city driving, it is my belief that Subaru's recommended shift points in their M/Ts combined with engine output characteristics are such that the A/Ts keep rpms lower, again raising mpg. If it was not for that, the A/T wouldn't have a prayer because of the energy loss through the fluid coupling.

I agree that for convenience or other related reasons you should take it to a shop and have them flush it. For $ or DIY satisfaction reasons do it yourself with drain and fill or cooler lines (if you have one). If you want to get gunk out SAFELY without any possibility of clogging things up, put some Auto-RX in first and follow the directions. I've done this on the A/T in our Baja with oustanding results.

I've seen a couple white Bajas for sale before, but I couldn't possibly tell the difference between the 2 model years' colors (I didn't even know they had different names). There aren't any easy visual tipoffs that I know of to tell the difference between the '04 and '05. It is kind of a pretty color though, no? I still like the yellow best, though.

I know some folks have had results with Seafoam. I've not tried that particular thing. One thing I have used and fixed compression troubles with on my XT-6 is Auto-RX. If the troubles have anything to do with deposits, carbon, or 'dirt,' it will clean it SAFELY and thoroughly. I'm with nipper on checking idlers, etc. Still, I suppose it could be carbon deposit build-up in the cc? If you could determine that, it'd be something I'd throw Fuel Power or Renewable Lube's injector cleaner at for an extended period, or possibly Redline's SI-1.

Your first 3 responses were the best ones (along with another further down). I've towed our ~1750 - 1850 lb. boat with our '05 Baja over a thousand miles without issue EXCEPTING that it does want to overheat going up longer grades (we have some REALLY long and steep grades in this part of the country). I didn't have my infrared thermometer with me on the trip with all the mountains, so I don't know what was driving the issue: A/T, motor oil, or engine coolant since they all utilize the same radiator out front for cooling. Before that I towed that boat with our '00 Plymouth Neon. That car wouldn't pull it as fast, obviously, but there were still no issues with towing it so long as you listen to the advice given early in this thread. I have a whole lot of towing experience with things much heavier than these so maybe I have a confidence-from-experience advantage?

Another victory for the USMB members! Glad you found it X35.

So, one of the two knobs that release my rear seat back cushion to fold down is broken. This is on an '05 Baja, but I'm hoping this mechanism is common to the Legacy so that folks will know how to repair it. The passenger side knob still works, fortunately! But, I'd really like to get it fixed because you never know when the other one will break. Anyone know how to fix it? Pics would sure be great, but even just text and a little Q&A support here should get me through. Thanks!