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on the spot and really tough over the internet. If it was my car I would go to an auto parts place and get a circuit breaker as constantly changing fuses while working on a car drives me nuts. Then I would hook up a trickle charger as when working on electricals a flat battery is common. Then I would remove each circuit powered by that system till I stopped setting off the circuit breaker. If it is not easy to disconnect a wire I just cut it and solder it back and shrink wrap it when I am done. I have also had to disconnect circuits and drive down a bumpy road to find a problem like this. If it was a BMW it would most likely be the lighted shift knob wire as the shifter moves constantly and tends to short that wire. On a Subaru you got me. Dimmer switch stalks are another common problem and if this unplugs try that. I have plugged in a replacement and driven with it loose to test also.

that rubberized stuff could be rough to get off. When I did it to my Volvo it was on the lower quarter only and I knew it would take the rocks it would see in the Mexican desert better than paint alone. Sure enough it was very resitant to chipping and I had the car about five more years and it looked fine. I would hate to try to remove it though.

interval was 90,000 on my forester I believe. I have heard quite a bit of arguement on this as all the older cars were 60,000 and some folks think that is cheap insurance. I did mine at about 87,000 if I recall. Shortly after I bought it I had everything from the clutch to head gaskets and seals all done at once by the dealer. Got rid of tyhe water pump and tensioner and the stupid plastic oil slinger behind the flywheel all at once.

answered well. Years ago I bought into a body shop to learn the tricks of the trade. Washing with Tide and scotchbrite worked well to get wax off and prepare the paint. It was sometimes very tough to get rid of WD40 but I know they have silicon remover now since so many waxes have that.

that I used to go on a long Mexico trip. I fitted it with a new P1800S engine and an overdrive from a P1800S wired to a Ford two speed high low knob to give me eight forward gears. I doubled up a lot of the electricals and fitted it with tractor headlights for front aux lamps and rubberized the lower sections. I did that as part of the paint job and washed the car in Tide after doing the bodywork. Then I sprayed on the texture and after drying we painted the car in the stock white and then pin striped it in red. I think I got more compliments on that car over the next several years than I do on my M Roadster.

Ernie Oppiegard on door window shields (bug shields) will ya? Do they still sell those for Subies as old as his in Oz?

They used to sell a sort of ruberized paint that goes in the lower secions of certain cars. If I recall there were spray can versions and they would cover a lot of sins. They were often a dark or gray color. I have not done body work in a few years so I am not sure if it is still popular.

it would be to reduce noise by breaking up the pulse.

I think it might be a miracle if Subaru repainted for you. If they could do it with a $1.99 can of goop they might.

I would tend to fix and repaint myself, but I have seen good results with texture paint on the lowest section of the car.

But it could be a wheel bearing too. Jack it up and spin it and rock it for play. Then pull the wheel and inspect the brake pads. Should tell you right there.

Oz. I think they used to sell them there in accessory shops. Any Kiwis or Ozzies on duty to tell us today?

Check this at night and you might find the culprit. This is how we found them on trucks and busses.

I got my first electronics training courtesy of Fender. Always worked on cars and worked my way up from part time mechanic to shop manager, to being one of the guys that run Caltrain and SamTrans in the Bay area. I have about ten guitars and about the same with ukes. The guitar I pick up every night is a 1920 Koa Martin 00. But back to the knock sensor. If I had the problem of it picking up too much noise I would attempt to isolate it before removal. I like knock sensors more the older and deafer I get. As they say there are lots of ways to skin a cat and many things would work.

What I mean is the area left after you have inserted the bearing. Fill the hub halfway up with grease so that is has room for expansion when hot.

in NY to SF service so I assume it was OK. First training was on airplane inspection and packing and the same tecniques were used. By the way your English is better than mine, we are all part French from Maine. We used to clean the bearing with solvent and dry it thouroughly so that all grease was gone. do not blast it with shop air as you can cause chipping. Hold the bearing up to a light and turn it slowing looking for pitting on the races and any damaged sufaces on the rollers. Any serious marking rejects it. Place a handful of grease in one palm and force it through the bearing from the side that is open wider so that it coats the rollers and packs the interior surface. when it comes out the opposite side all the way around it is packed. Then go around the outside of the bearing with grease and set that one on a clean surface. Pack the rest and then prepare for the install. Clean the hub and axle and inspect seal surfaces. If you have a damaged surface that you cannot move the seal to correct replace the part with that surface or refinish it. There are seal surface repair kits for some things. Grease the seal after inserting it in the hub and fill the chamer half way with grease. Install. Cross fingers.

I had a Jag that lived in a damp climate and the leather seats went to heck. I now have a BMW with leather and here in SF it is fine. My Subaru has cloth. The Subaru might be a bit more comfy but is not wearing as well and God help me if I stain it. One other question might be is do you have dogs or kids?

and the one thing I have not noticed is head gasket sealant. You dealer owes you some if you don't have it, and when you register there you will be included in a 100,000 mile head gasket warranty. Do a search on this board on this.

baked it with spices.

Those seals may be cheap PM. On busses I used to fit better seals when I did the job and move them in and out to good surfaces with spacers. If you go to a large bearing wholesale warehouse you can learn a lot of interesting things about bearings and seals. Many bearings and seals are standard sizes on inner and outer bearing suface mounting areas. You can mix and match to achieve what you need for the job. You can even get sealed bearing that ride on thier own surfaces with the seals. These tend to be more expensive than a factory engineer would use, but great for rough service areas.

spec subarus are the problem. This is mostly the 2.5 engine for serious problem generation. My relatives in New Zealand have good luck with thier Subies but they were not saddled with the 2.5.

doing the pitting? Since this started with Forester wheel bearings I think there have even been failures here in CA and we don't have the salt. I suspect those Forester rears are likly to fail anywhere as they added a lot of weight with the Forester body and did not upgrade the wheel bearings. Anyone from a salt free state who has had to change wheel bearings out there?

my now over 100,000 mile Forester. I was trying to decide wether to change them for PM when I changed the brakes and struts recently. I don't hear any noise from them and there is no play yet so I left them. I suspect our CA roads and mild temps make wheel bearings last longer. My Mercedes lasted over 300,000 miles and had the original wheel bearings in it when I sold it. My Jeep was 24 years old and I had never serviced the wheel bearings in it either when I sold it. When I lived in Maine we used to change them every several years but the cold temps and frost heaves took a toll, not to mention salt.

Maybe you need a coke proof military spec stereo for those cars.

that would be one of the first things to check. I found a lot more mismatched two piece shafts in my years of mechanics though.