tirod

I picked up a clatter driving home 35 miles on the freeway, it's loud enough to sound like a bad rod bearing. First things first, tho, diagnosis. One potential cause is the balancer keyway being broached out, another the hydraulic cam tensioner. Checking both is the same process, take off the fans, belts, the crank pulley (check it) then the cam belt covers. Reinstall the pulley to help keep the belt on, start it up and pry the tensioner down with a long screwdriver to take out any slack. If so, replace. If not - two things checked instead of guessing. The top cam cover bolt behind another bolt dead center is hard to get to, and holding the crank still means either renting/fabricating a spanner or just using a long breaker bar on the 22mm against the "frame" under the battery and cranking it to loosen the bolt. If you have access to a good used tensioner compress it slowly to get the installation holes lined up (over an hour in a vice) then hold with a thin allen key to extract when installed. If it's not that and is another bad bearing, again, then setting it on fire and rolling it down a hill isn't out of the question. I've replaced the motor and then the trans 30 days later, hard work for an old man of 60. But that's another story. 99 Foruster S. No, it's not misspelled, it's ugly.

The guys coming in with off brand wheels using spacers break studs regularly. The offset and much larger tires are death on studs. Two sizes larger and more than a half inch outside displacement are enough to exceed the design limits. Add that the owner now thinks he has a race car and runs it much harder than normal, it's a studbreaker. When I worked at an auto center selling new rims we always torqued to spec and advised customers to check every 50 miles for the first 500 - five hundred - miles. And when they didn't we would fix everything right back up, eat the loss, and invite them to shop elsewhere in the future. And enforced it. It was a problem with chromed wheels in the '70's and '80s, and it's always been a problem with any wheel. When I rotate or service brakes, I torque back to spec, and once in a great while, despite the extra work, the wheel loosens. It's why I always carry a decent lug wrench rather than the emergency excuse the maker provides. Overtightening the stud will stretch it, it yields and relaxes, done repeatedly it will eventually break it. Don't overtorque, it's only accelerating failure. It's why two or three studs suddenly break off for "no reason." There IS a reason, the load exceeded their strength rating repeatedly and they fatigued, causing failure. When fasteners fail, it's not voluntary, it's either a lack of proper selection or correct maintenance. It has nothing to do with the part, it's all controlled by humans and they make errors. Some humans just refuse to admit it, tho.

Because of the dynamics of the combustion process, when the knock sensor "hears" the threshold vibration of knock, it signals the computer. The computer has to dial back the advance a whole lot more than we think - not two degrees, more like 15-18. That is the loss of power you sense. The computer goes back to it's routine of advancing it a few at a time until it finds a happy medium. It checks every now or then and if it bumps knock again it dials back, then starts advancing again. Knock goes to octane rating. The less octane, the less timing, the less power. I refuse to buy 87 octane fuel for my Subaru, and I can't afford 50c a gallon more, but I do select a slightly better grade. I'm getting 24mpg, which is so much better than the previous car's 16 that a dollar or two more a fillup isn't a major economic hardship. I'm already saving a tankful a month. When I do see it not running as well as I like, I bump up another grade, which usually restores the power and adds more - because higher octane allows more timing. More timing, more power. More power, less throttle if you drive the same. Funny, but a better grade of gas can actually give more mileage and helps pay its way. My experience with my Subaru is that it's more sensitive to gas octane than my previous car, which didn't seem to care whatsoever. Again, 16mpg. It was a hog. If you can find it, fill up with no alcohol premium and see if the problems disappear for a tank. Likely most of it will, and what is left will be engine related issues.

I tested a car one time, got 40/60/20/20 as the high numbers in an inline four. It started and ran, but the blowby was pushing out a quart every 100 miles. Bizarre is a matter of perspective. A car sitting for long periods these days usually has more problems with gasahol than oil. Nonetheless, simple atmospheric water will eventually enter the engine and will start cylinders rusting. The oil film is extremely thin when the rings scrape by, it's exactly their job to do that. It's why "fogging oil" is sold to lubricate cylinders on engines that will be stored for lengthy periods. I'd run some engine cleaner like Marvel Mystery oil in it for a tank of gas, then change the oil on the first or second fill up as the rust will be largely gone and suspended in the oil or more hopefully, trapped in the filter. There is a long list of things to do to properly store a car long term, most just park it and don't look back.That causes lots of issues on the next start up.

If it's a Duty C, it would be better to shortcut all the fluid changes and fix it - which involves a fluid drain anyway. As for some slight dirt getting into the trans, the pickup screen doesn't begin to filter it out, which also includes any metal or clutch fibers that shear off. It's all dependent on the screen size, as a fibrous filter element isn't used until after it's pumped to the spin on filter - which Subaru specs as a high bypass, anyway. What little dust or dirt the catch container and funnel might have in it from being diligently cleaned won't be as much an issue as what might still be trapped in the torque converter. I examined mine after removal from a major failure and it's ugly seeing flakes of bearing and clutch material shining back at you down the insides. I used the newer one provided with the trans as it was clear and clean. Goes to any funnel we use to pour in fluids - if road dust can get on them, we flush it right down the fill opening. I finally woke up and keep it in a plastic bag to keep things clean both ways. Time to mention that using RTV sealant on the pan isn't recommended. A gasket is the preferred item, as RTV is known to dissolve in the presence of ATF, which is 60% detergent additive. I spent an hour and a half cleaning it off my pan rails with a plastic scraper and plenty of paper shop towels to keep the tiny flakes out of the trans. Any one of them could get trapped inside the valve body and cause things to stick.

Here's the nitty gritty: I see why they are called coil overs, but in the big picture, they are just replacement struts. Very expensive replacement struts. Coilovers in the old school definition weren't part of the suspension locating structure, those used upper and lower A-arms to accomplish that. Which means the coilovers in question won't substantially change what is basically a strut suspension. That means on body roll, as the car leans over due to force, it carries the top strut mount to one side, and that directly affects the camber of the tire. With A-arms, body roll may move the upper A-arm mounts, but the spindle attachment follows a different curve that can compensate and you get a more desireable camber change. It can even reverse and lean the opposite direction. So, $2,400 dollars for coil overs won't substantially do anything to change the inherent setup, it will just allow ride height and valving changes in a easier manner. The incremental increase in performance isn't going to be 10X better because they cost 10X more than replacement struts. It will be much less, maybe another .3 G maximum. And that has a lot to do with tires, wheels, and driver expertise. If you are looking for a 1.5 G cornering monster with a Subaru drivetrain, the 818 from Factory 5 would be a much more cost effective answer. Subaru makes nice commuter cars, the WRX is ok for power, they aren't capable of track car performance on the street. It takes a track suspension, and that has been unequal length A-arms since the 1960's to get that level of performance. Struts are econocar back runners in the large scheme of things. The real issue with Subaru's is that the struts limit the size tires you can install. And tires are the make and break item to get to higher performance at the top tier.

If you are chasing a CEL, that is all it is, a code. Since it's moving, then something up the chain in the ignition could be at fault. If there is a misfire with a brand new set of plug wires, I leave that to the quality of the product. You get what you pay for. It does seem odd they would fail in just a few days. Were the plugs bright plated? If so, antiseize added to the threads can contribute to a loss of conductivity and the system will see them misfire. It's a point of controversy with countermen and corporate programs to sell more add on items to the ticket. Plated plugs don't need antiseize, but corporate sales mongers insist we push it. The customer then uses something that contributes to more problems - like those who smear "brake grease" on the pads because it's not real clear on the package where it goes. It just shows a brake pad. It's caliper pin grease, and marketing is at fault. Subaru has some programming inherent in their system that takes a code and makes things more difficult. I see it as a JDM response to things, force the repair early on because of a much lower tolerance to things being out of order. Misfire codes in other vehicles don't force it into limp mode nearly as quickly. As for belts, they do not stretch to the extent many believe. It's contrary to their construction to have the fibers continually relaxing and making it longer and longer. The number I have seen over the counter, and in conversations with industry reps, leads me to conclude they aren't stretching as much as getting thinner. In the older V belts, they lose width and drop down into the groove deeper, which is fixed by moving the pulley further out, and they drop down more, until they finally are bottomed out. They lose the frictional resistance of driving on the angled sides of the pulley when they are seated on the bottom of it. Same for serpentine belts, just the opposite direction, the belt finally bottoms on the top of the ribs and the multirib V's lose grip at that point. In either case, they aren't jammed into the V providing friction - they are sitting on a part of the pulley and lose grip. That doesn't mean that belts can't be made to stretch, the newer cars now use them to eliminate having an adjuster in the drive. You have to force them over the pulley to install them. It's a distinctly different kind of construction that does allow some stretch, as opposed to the 80 year trend to prevent it.

Using a 5x8 utility trailer should be well within the cars capability. I do with my 99 Forester, it will haul 1/2 ton. That is easily handled by the 1 1/4" receiver hitch. Beat me to the link, a good resource. Going taller on the tires means just that, not wider, as the standard wheel offset is already too close to the strut. Correcting the speedometer signals will be needed to get it right, and in some cases the fuel injection, etc may require it. Using subframe kits is a two edged sword - you get the body further into the air, but the engine, trans, CV's, and differential aren't any further away from the ground, so no real ground clearance is gained. It's a lot of work and effort just to keep the CV's straight, which is the disadvantage of them all around. The real answer to lift is portal hubs, which are exotic and expensive. If someone would offer them factory besides HMMV's, I'd be in line at that dealer almost regardless of make. Otherwise it's about $1,200 a wheel to get them.

"Autocraft ATF" indicates it's likely a Chrysler spec fluid. Subaru uses Dexron III. The wrong spec fluid won't have the correct viscosity or friction modifiers and it will act wrong.

Pull the codes. If it's a flashing AT TEMP light, there are codes for the trans. If the Check Engine light is on, more codes. What exactly is it doing, or not? When I installed mine, I eventually discovered that the entire problem was a cracked solenoid located directly above the magnet detent. As said, it's a Zero Tolerance fit, any pressure or flex on the pan cracks the solenoid and it goes into limp mode. If you are getting a code that suggests that the solenoid damping resistor is bad, then don't buy another, just pull the pan off and check the solenoid under the magnet. It's usually the culprit. I installed a good one from the old trans and it fixed the problem. In limp mode, it won't shift into high gear, and you get horrible mileage running over 3,500 rpms at 50 and above. Describe your limp mode driving and what codes you pulled, it will become clearer.

That is pretty common. Those of us who worked at filling stations 40 years ago discovered this just happens with some cars. After thousands of cars it finally made sense why one would do fine and the next didn't. Fuel nozzles tend to foam up the flow so that the bubbles rise up the flller pipe ahead of the liquid fuel to shut off the nozzle. It keeps liquid fuel from spilling out the tube. I learned to retract the filler nozzle from fully inserted back an inch or so, and it eliminates the kick off. My Forester does just fine, the wife's van has to be back an inch and shooting fuel at the side of the fill pipe to defoam the flow filling the tank. It's an artistry of finesse as you discover the right tilt to get full flow. What has contributed to the problem now is anti-theft designs with obtuse turns or baffles to prevent siphoning. There is also the variance between pump pressures from station to station, and even the different nozzles on the same pump. No two seem to be identical, but they all foam the flow to get the nozzle to shut off.

Unfortunately, working mechanics don't hang around on forums after work answering questions. They usually have other hobbies far removed from the stress of what they do for a living. To get their opinion, you have to take the car to them and pay. Any car with 200,000 miles is about 3/4ths or more used up and has the salvage yard in sight. While any of us can check numerous things, regular maintenance actually covers up things like having dark burnt fluid, fines on the magnet, or contaminants trapped in the filter. Even if the pan is pulled, you can't see the state of the clutch packs or gears. And driving it may not reveal any concerns. I say that because I bought a Forester with 220,000 miles on it and it ran very well, no codes, no obvious problems. Until one day the engine lost the #2 bearing. Replaced it, and three weeks later, the transmission failed. Replaced it. I wasn't prepared to spend another $1,900 dollars on a car I had owned less than six months and do all the work, but I did. The answer I needed to pay attention to was right there on the odometer. I don't wish all that work on another owner, but it's possible, and even the opinion of a professional wouldn't have forseen it. it's a matter of knowing that the law of averages says cars with over 200,000 miles - these days - aren't going to go for years longer without major repairs. The majority won't go 300,000, so the odds are really that you can and will be in for a lot of work and expense in the near future. And that is why they are priced cheap. There is no expectation of another 100,000 miles, so they are not valued as highly as one with just 100,000 miles. They are valued much less. It becomes a simple matter of you get what you pay for. It's not the opinion of a professional mechanic, it's just a matter of having owned cars for over 40 years.

Economic feasibility is a current favorite of mine. Transmission price + labor to install plus buying price should not be more than the current low owner pricing on the market in your area. If the total drifts up to dealer lot asking price you are over your head financially. If you plan to cut the labor by doing it yourself, include the costs of tools and equipment you have to buy if you can't borrow them. That would include four tall jackstands, not the little ones most have, because the bellhousing won't fit under a car easily and certainly not on the transmission jack you will definitely need. If it's an automatic you must be extremely careful and not depress the pan so much the pan magnet crushes the solenoid they deliberately placed it under. Also check carefully that the front CV shaft seals can be pulled out directly, unscrewing the differential preload plates to get to them is chancy. If you have someone else do it, those are all checkpoints to cover to see if they are knowledgeable enough to prevent damaging things and making it worse. There is also the assumed diagnosis of "it needs a transmission." BTW - the Forester's first year of production was 97 in Japan only, 98 for the US. Was this transmission imported? They can be found in local salvage yards for $500, I recently finished putting one in my 99. Comparing the TZ numbers is important to ensure you get compatible features.

Flood damaged cars are cheap - after the owner finds out what his problems are and can't hide the grim facts. You can recycle the hard parts, which is what salvage yards do. Most 25+ year old cars getting restored, tho, the first thing stripping the car down to the frame is junking the harness. Auto wiring is unplated, and will wick condensation between the strands every time it forms. That will eventually cause corrosion, and after a decade of it, the public notices. Things like door locks stop working, headlights burn out sooner, turnsignals get dim and nearly can't be seen. The sensors trying to send .1 volt signals fight .5 volt resistance and the computer can't compensate. While one person may not be having much difficulty in the off road rig, someone with the full power and air luxury car on the road gets pretty miffed when a significant number of accessories go belly up. It's flat rate work at the shop to discover it - and shops are charging in excess of $120 an hour. Which is why used cars over ten years old with a lot of electrical faults get junked, and much sooner if they have been submerged in a toxic soup of flood waters. They put waterproof harnesses on military ground vehicles for a reason - if standard wiring would do the job, why bother going overboard? No, it fails, and having a fleet of 5 ton trucks in the motor pool needing electrical faults sorted out tends to keep an army from sending troops where they need to in a pinch. Since military wheeled vehicles are built to ford water up to the drivers eyes, they are required to have waterproof harnesses. And since Jeeps don't, there are plenty of pics and stories of them going dead in the water, snorkels and all, to soak until the owners pull them out days later. In every post I've read of it, the fluid change was the easy part. The difficulty was getting them to finally start and run, then run correctly. If it was an unmodified Jeep, the owner began learning why the military uses a $150 set of waterproof plug wires, and has all those bulky screwed together O-ring connectors in the harness and on the back of switches. They HAVE to cross water obstacles no matter what, and having vehicles fail doing it is unacceptable. "Most of it works" isn't a real good sales pitch when you get tired of the funky upholstery smell and lack of amenties in what was once a nice car. "Flood damaged junker" is the more accurate description.

If fresh water was a guarantee, then boats wouldn't need a water resistant harness. And Jeepers who mud their rigs wouldn't have a rat's nest of rewiring under the dash, hood, lights, etc. Wet wire harnesses in cars make them toast, and some states ban them from resale. If the harness develops voltage drop, then sensors sending .1VDC signals to the ECU have to overcome losses of .5VDC or more to get the signal there. It's why cars will slowly lose the ability to operate the door locks, window motors, or even drive. I had a '90 Cherokee and it was a constant battle to keep the electrics running - and I never drove it more than hub deep. Drive a vehicle that the owners notoriously submerge for fun, visit their forums, and you discover things like military grade waterproof wiring, which is required on all wheeled tactical offroad vehicles. Or simply using hairspray on the ignition to keep it running and not conking out in fender deep water. I seriously doubt it will be "fine," the owner has already noted that "most" of the systems are still working. Not all. It's already started, and those who have dealt with flood damaged cars here in the Midwest are well versed in it. It's a total already, it's a dead car running.

Cold fresh water isn't very corrosive. Once the car was out, tho, then things start to oxidize. Note it was said that most of the electrics were working. Mechanically, sure, change the fluids and it should start up. Jeeps do it all the time. What cars in contact with water don't do is tolerate water being drawn into the harness by capillary action. It can travel inches per hour under the insulation, and cars rank dead last for having decent wiring in the transportation industry. The average bass boat has better wiring because it can and will get wet constantly. You can't have the boat quit on you in the middle of the lake. It may be running now, the track record of Katrina and Hurricane Sandy is that in six months the wiring will make it a pariah. Since it's prohibitively expensive to rewire a car, it will likely be at the salvage yard in a year getting the mechanicals sold off.

As for the gas mileage, we now see you are driving it in the mountains with long uphill grades under power. 21 mpg in those conditions is actually pretty good. Steep grades will upset the mileage. The knock sensor potentially being defective means the ECU won't advance the timing fully, and that cuts power to prevent detonation. It would quickly eat a hole thru a piston or two, and they program it to default with less. It affects mileage by simply not having full power, which forces us to open the throttles more and waste gas. The code causing problems are fairly easy to fix, the slipping clutches much less so. Assuming it's an automatic, the fix is to replace the transmission. First option is a clean used one, and the installer will need a transmission jack. They will also need to be aware to not compress the pan at all, or the solenoid under the magnet dimple will be cracked and require replacement. A rebuilt transmission will be costly - nearly the price of the car. That is probably why the previous owner had it up for sale. We buy cars because we buy the seller. He couldn't be trusted, as said, and it was likely because he knew it had a major symptom of an expensive repair and got rid of it. Slipping clutches are expensive and only get worse. It's apparent he replaced a lot of fluid, and may have used a conditioner to get them to grab more, but the final result is he sold the car. I got no warning, it just went bang on a long uphill grade and went to limp mode in third with no reverse. Damage was that extensive. I got home, and spent three weeks taking it out and installing a used one in my spare time. It was just a month after I had installed a used motor. Sore subject at home. My advice - get the codes repaired enough to go away, detail it. flip it.

Skid plates under the engine oil pan, and transmission oil pan if auto. They need protection, the tranny more so as there is a solenoid directly under the pan magnet which eliminates clearance. Cracked solenoids are common. Steel rims and high aspect ratio tires - alloys are known to be damaged easily on rocks and curbs, low profile tires have less sidewall and impacts distort the tires over more of the short sidewall causing even more damage. You can often beat out a steel rim, but a cracked alloy is toast. Mud and snow rated treads for more traction, if an all terrain is chosen, read up on the ratings on Tire Rack for the best recommendation for the dollar. Things have changed and the old school treads from ten years ago are sliding to the bottom of the list. If you do change the overall diameter of the mounted tire and rim expect that the speedo will be off, there are electronic correctors to get it back. They are necessary because the ECU does read that when choosing the fuel injection map. Tie down or eliminate anything loose in the car, as the 4WD guys have learned. They might deliberately flip theirs over on the roll bars, but regardless of whether you meant to or not, things like toolboxes, Thermos jugs, and you don't mix well when for some reason the car is tumbling downhill out of control. No, we don't intend to do that. Yes, it happens on bad back roads all the time.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358638 Post #6 Chain drive camshafts, not belt drive self destructers. When my 2.5 lost a rod bearing I could find good 3.0's easily (and should have) - they are much more durable and haven't suffered the ignominy of an interference motor with cam belts having two strikes against it. The 3.0 H6 is a lot more available to find used in America, and the 2.5 SOHC was already limited because it was US only. And they crippled it with bad gaskets and belts. Two more cylinders, another 50+ hp, high reliability chain drive cams, what's not to like? Plenty of tuners are installing them as a N/A upgrade if hassling a turbo install isn't their cup of tea. As in all things, YMMV - it doesn't get the same mileage, about 2-3 less. If the car's decent it looks like the one my wife reminds me I should have bought instead of the 2.5 I had to replace in 6 months of ownership.

Didn't see the age of the first post. Thanks for clearing up what generations use what, it points out again how much misinformation exists in some sources and why we need to be specific about make year model. They obviously aren't all the same. It also goes to asking why Subaru made this such an obtuse service procedure. Could it be their view that the average Japanese owner would never see the need to replace them? The JDM market junks cars at half the mileage we do.

Yes. The 98-00 versions seem to be the focus of the head gasket issue. The later versions got it better. Because there were so many 2.5's with issues, they have become less abundant on the market and it has been easier to find good 2.2's to replace them. The 2.5 SOHC wasn't sold in the JDM, so that has exerted an addition restriction to the number of good used motors, too. Here, we drive them over 200,000 miles, there, they see half that, then they are traded in. Their economic rebuilt point in their culture is much more restrictive, in part due to emissions, and also lifestyle. Costing out a rebuild on a 2.5, if it needs extensive machine work beyond a valve grind and rebore, buying a clean used motor becomes the cheaper alternative. Most Americans don't put 300,000 miles on their cars because of it. They won't pay to install another $3,000 motor when the car is worth $2400. Installing a used $1,400 motor is often viewed as pouring money down a hole because it would be worth more than buying another. Often they get scrapped out at that point, just the same as a Japanese owner scrapping his with 75,000 on it because he's forced to do a rebuild under his laws. Each situation is unique, the motor has to be torn down and assessed on it's own, the costs added up, and the potential options weighed in light of seeing the numbers side by side.

Yes, for those with a fob, that is the correct procedure. Some of this is detailed in depth in the Owner's Manual. Often, a used car doesn't get the fob or book. If you have a choice, get the book FIRST and worry about the alarm function later. Salvage yards or ebay sell the owners manuals and you get a ton of info that even Chiltons gets wrong or won't tell you. Downloads from the internet are also available. By all means get a copy and read thru it, many questions will be answered even before you thought you needed to know it. It took me two weeks to realize that the high beams push forward, pulling back only flashed them. In terms of Detroit car experience, I thought it was broken. A coworker was accused of it with another Japanese make just a week ago by a driver who had borrowed a car. Neither were familiar with it. Things work different and an owners manual is your friend.

If the lines are leaking at the hose connections it's time for new hoses. Water coolant line rubber isn't oil resistant and breaks down when coated with oil. The resulting mess looks cross contaminated.

Manual or automatic? Auto seals are inserted on the back side of the differential preload plates that screw in. Manuals are inserted into the OUTSIDE of the plates, Chilton and Haynes are very poor at pointing out the difference and WILL misdirect you. A general surf online will find posts and how - to's for each and the difference will become very clear. I have an auto, it's very clear that the seals cannot be installed from the outside - just hold up the seal to the opening, it's bigger and apparent it's been installed on the back of the plate. It was NOT like my Chilton's explained in it's vague reference to the paragraph on it in the manual section. On the internet, I found plenty of pics of owners pulling out manual seals and installing them without loosening the preload plates. And auto owners cursing their finished job when the diff began howling a week later due to changes in the preload. Another bright idea from Subaru. Anyway, since mine weren't leaking before, I let them be until they prove different. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Outside seals http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1097344 Inside seals http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1602465

If the cast in place cam journals are scored that head is toast. It could be remachined, the few shops I could find in December were $400+ for both heads plus shipping at least 500 miles from SW MO. Add the price of the cams, a SOHC was $200+ for reground. You need to pull the journal girdle and actually see things before making a decision. That, and if pieces of the "exploded" cam circulated thru the oil pump, then the other head got the journals scored, too. It gets real ugly with cast in place journals and no cam bearings. Cheaper for them, and guarantees a non economic rebuild.