brus brother

Friend's 2000 chrysler concorde brake lines blew out last week while exiting a hwy on a turn. They are all rusted. This guy is no stranger to "older" cars since he owns 5 1968 vintage Subaru 360s. Any suggestions for best brake line material to use that is easy to flare/install? I recall a debate on the site but can't find the post. Don't want to do that job (or end up brakeless) more than once.

been reusing mine also for MANY years on oil and trans. no problems here.

show parts department the pic and he should be able to match up with their diagram.

Suggestion linked below but you might want to first visually inspect and fiddle with the wires (professional terminology).

Get the code(s) read at Autozone or some other chain that will do it for free if you don't have your own reader. No use in throwing your wallet at the car until you know what is wrong.

similar thing happened to me with warranty seat belt replacement but by the time I realized the mess, any chance of getting it resolved was nill. go get em NOW!

Start with any notes the previous owner left that might lead you to his dealer. Then check whether they used synthetic or dino ATF. If no notes, call Subaru of America and they can lead you in the right direction. For example, give them your vin and ask if they did the Tekata airbag recall and what dealer performed the recall. Your Forrester is high enough off the ground that you can get a piece of cardboard and slide yourself underneath to drain the fluid. You'll need a long neck funnel to reach the trany dipstick hole to refill. Buy a 5 pack of crush washers at the dealer though I have been using the same old one for years without leakage. I use genuine Subaru AT fluid. Cost is not that much more than generic. But others here may point you to another brand same as genuine packaged under another name. As others have suggested, after you compare overall cost and your time, decide whether you want to do it yourself. It is dirt simple and you will be done in less time than it will take to drive to the dealer. Oh and if you didn't know, stores like Autozone will take the old fluid to recycle. Don't dump it down the sewer grates. The alligators hate that stuff!

"NOT TERRIBLE"?? Is that a comforting diagnosis? Very few of us do the machine method where you change it all out i.e. running a pump and replacing the total volume in a closed loop. Doing the simple drain, yes you will leave some of the old ATF fluid in there but if done correctly, you will not be overfilling it since you will be only replacing as much as you take out, roughly 4+ quarts. Think of it this way, when you exhale, you do not completely empty your lungs of the "old" air and on the next breath, you only inhale as much as you exhaled. You don't over-inhale and explode (if done properly). Get it? The remaining "old" air over successive breaths gradually mixes with the new air and you keep on living. I have 200K on my 2005 and 140K on my 2008 Outbacks and do the simple maintenance like oil and transmission fluid changes myself. I've heard too many horror stories of fast service shops mistakenly draining the transmission and then overfilling the oil! Good thing is that, as you report, it has been dealer serviced so they likely had more done than what was needed to be done and the car is likely in good shape for now. I cringe when I sit at the dealer and listen to the hard sell to unsuspecting customers. You probably can get a history of the maintenance if you know the dealer used and go from there. All that being said, there are many here who are pros, some with real shops, and others like myself that would rather do the simple things and know they were done right instead of sitting at a dealer for hours on end waiting for them to change the blinker fluid and charge me through the nose for the privilege. Depending on where you live in Bklyn, you may not have the luxury of being able to work on your car but if you do, it isn't that difficult to do the simple stuff. Capeesh?

Do you have any idea of the maintenance that was done prior to your ownership? Did you check the fluid level? It should be done with the engine running and after having been warmed up and driven through the gears. How does the at fluid look/smell? It should be pinkish in color (not brown) and not have a burnt smell. It isn't all that difficult to change. Really not any more difficult than changing the oil if you are comfortable with that. Routine changes are important as the fluid does degrade over time and is meant to lubricate moving parts.

Does it by any chance happen while going uphill? The reason I ask is from reading posts on the message board where catalytic converter material had broken apart and under certain conditions where gravity would move the material it would obstruct the exhaust. In fact I was in a friend's Ford van where gradual loss of power got to the point where the car wouldn't even move. Disconnected the exhaust before the cat and it ran fine (albeit LOUD AS HELL) . BTW, the hills in this case were minimal. BTW what is the exact code you are getting?

have you tried vegetable oil? I know, seems too simple but it has worked for me many times removing adhesive residue. keep applying it and use gentle abrasion with a cloth to remove top layers and then continue deeper.

Common things occur commonly. That flex point in the rubber boot from the body to the hatch is a very common site for the wire to fatigue. The first time I looked, I overlooked it but at the urging of a Subie tech, I dove back in an tugged on each wire. This requires NO electrical expertise.

This is what I found on my 05 Outback. Didn't notice broken wires until I removed some tape and started tugging on wires.There were two complete breaks. d

So I guess it is best to start with finding the diagnostic code. The board issue I am referencing is in the overhead console. Two videos linked below discuss the same issue. Diagnosis Code 26 and then repair starts at 8:07 on this first video. and on this other video linked HERE another replaces the entire module $$$ but the comments below also reference refreshing ALL the solder joint even the LED. Chances are these boards flow through one solder station so all joints become suspect to the original manufacturer's faulty assembly. One comment also discusses a service to make the repair for $45 if you aren't comfortable with soldering.

wow you beat me to the common failure point. on my 05 outback it was a bad solder joint in the electrical board in the overhead console/map light Apparently a common failure, I replaced the console before I read about the cold solder joint :-/ you are sure the replacement is a working unit?

Are you in Somers NY or where in CT? I wouldn't trust Firestone to check my tire pressure. Aren't they the ones who "did" the oil change to begin with which raised your initial question? I know others more knowledgeable than myself have raised issues of plausible deniability but... What is the book value of the car right now?

My 05 OB has a sound similar to what you are describing in location but not related to turn signal. Mine is from the HVAC actuator for the blower door. Try different selections on the HVAC when the noise occurs and you may notice a difference. Mine comes and goes as well.

to be clear... you are referring to a two bottle oxy-propane system? not just the propane bottle from hardware aisle?

parking brake engaged?

is the clutch engaging and spinning with the pulley?

Gravity is inescapable. Going up a hill, loss of power might be a clogged cat converter? Pieces of medium shifting to restrict flow.

The clicking just may be unrelated to the window failure. Can you change the sound of the clicking by selecting different modes from the hvac system. My 05 OB has an intermittent clicking which I am told is the selector failing to actuate the blower door.

Just checked my numbers butane 1760 deg F mapp 2900 deg F atsa big difference I was very comfortable with the small size and ready availability of the micro torch.

the car came with a "wrench" to allow you to close the roof if the power sin't working but I'm not sure that would help in your circumstance. http://www.subarumanuals.org/subaru-2533.html in an emergency (heading towards a hurricane) I might suggest that you retract it then gently manually coax it along as you try to close it with the motor.