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I use the four way flashers a lot waiting for my wife in SF. It always affects the rest of the lights. Normal for one of these. By the way we should establish a sell by date for these alternators. How long do they usually last?

and we assume you have an automatic? They are 90% front 10% rear most of the time anyway. Different story on a five speed.

If it were me I would want it torn down to inspect it. It might be that the mechanic has seen several cracked blocks in similar circumstances and has made up his mind this is the case. This is why doctors reccomend second opinions. Get one.

And just to remind us about fuel mileage my last tank before the plugs and wires gave me 22.2 mpg. I knew it was time for plugs and wires but I was putting it off because of time around xmas. Today I filled up and the car gave me 26.7 mpg.

You are not the only one. I'll pop one out in a couple of weeks and take a look. the Color was good on the old plugs and on the oxegen sensor I replaced a bit ago. No pinging or any symptom that indicates running hotter at the moment. Perhaps CB or Richie will read this and comment to tell us what the pros are doing.

yep, the cheapest fix may be the one my friend did. He has it figured now how far he can go and just fills up then. Good luck and thank Koga for me.

Sorry, I didn't think one that early was hydraulic. I'm glad you are near Richie and I sure he'll do well by you.

Spray the whole area with silicon spray.

Senors all tend to go when they get old. Yet some live forever.

I struggled with that Blitz. Some plugs require it and some don't. It could cause early plug failure if its not needed, and plug thread failure if it is. I could not find any definitive information on it so I erred on the side of cheap. If it causes plug failure I have to spend $8.08 plus shipping and pick up the garbage. Wait, that was Arlo Guthrie so I have to spend another hour putting in a set of plugs and clean the threads. If I don't put it on and it removes the threads I have to pull the heads. I did coat the plugs very lightly, and I do wish I knew for sure wether it was necessary. By the way I changed the fuel filter today and it was not too bad. I looked for a marked fuse or relay and did not find one for the fuel pump. I let it sit for a few hours to bleed down and wrapped it with a rag. It had no pressure so I took the input line off and freed the filter. Then I was able to drain it into a container. It took twisting and muscleing the lines off with the usual pair of pliars. It was a prettty clean operation on a 99 without being under the car with fuel in your face like my BMW.

I'm glad CB told you not me.

This is one time when OEM parts may not be best. Try one from your local parts store. Subaru may have underspeced or gotten a bad batch.

This has been a tendency of Japanese equipment for a long time. Do a google on Koga's Zero. Seriously this is probably a pick up problem and some times the end can rust off a pick up tube leaving you unable to get the fuel in the bottom of the tank. These are odd tanks too, one guy had that problem and it turned out his fuel gauge was off. He ran out of fuel right in front of my house while we were testing reading a hald tank. He is too broke to fix the gauge but now he knows how to use his odometer.

If it is a drift to the right do you have crowned roads? Most snow states do, and a good alignment person should be able to compensate for that if you explain it to them.

If you are broke adjust it. Don't drive the car until that is done. It might save you for a while.

After reading about the agonies phase 1 guys go through I thought it might be a bear. It was almost a relief. Tomorrow I plan to change my fuel filter and that looks easy on this car, it's on the fender on the driver's side.

It would be more unusual if you had a 2001 that did not slap until warm. Most of them do including my own phase 2. I was able to cut it down a bit with Mobil 1 15-50 which might not be a winener in cold climates. Most manufacturers are having piston slap problems from shortening the skirts to meet EPA regulations. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger out there. A friend's Honda makes mine look quiet. Knock sensors are fairly cheap and extemely common failure points. Not just on Subies either, I just changed one on a BMW. It gives you the code for a reason, the car is asking for a knock sensor so be a kind owner and give it one.

Well yes, if you have an expert Subaru shop to help you. There have been several threads on this and I suggest you do a search. It is not plug and play but the experts know what to swap.

A key point here is automatic or manual. An automatic behaves mosty like a front wheel drive-90% front after all. Sure it is going to have a bit of torque steer. A manual really should not. I am sometimes amazed that shops have great difficulty with tire and basic alignement issures. I have had a car to three shops with the same complaint until someone found a tire cord seperating on a new tire.

colorblind posted a bit ago how his garage checks wheel bearings. You might look for that thread.

I just changed the plugs and wires on my 1999 phase 2. It really was not that bad, no Chevy six, but not bad. I am sure the pros have found better ways but I took out the two 10 mm bolt that hold the washer tank and held it to the side mirror by a bungee. That gave plenty of room on the driver's side. On the passenger side I popped the top off the air cleaner and removed the hose clamp and tucked that back. I then removed the two 12 mm bolts from the bottom of the air cleaner and pulled that out of the car. This gave all kinds of room on that side. It took me longer to find plug gap (owner's manual), check it, put anti sieze on the plugs and silicon dielectric on the wires than to do the job.

But boy is there ever a difference between Burlington VT and so CA. I am from Maine originally and live in northern Ca. Yep in so CA a Forester does not make a lot of sense. Mine sees more mud than snow but it is a handy little vehicle. If you want more room don't get a Forester. It was designed to be a short SUV type and gets about 25mpg but will haul a heck of a lot for its size. I am at 122,000+ and happier with it all the time. There is a head gasket issue and Subaru covers them for 100,000 miles if you allow them to add some goop to prevent leaks. There have been far less issues with the 2003 and later than the earlier ones. Like any car condition and maintence history are paramount. These cars have less problems than many but they are four wheel drive and there is always a bit more to maintain on a four wheel drive.

I'm only 5 ' 8'' but I suppose arm length could matter as well as I used to be a bus mechanic so I am somewhat used to a heavy load on a stretch.

Me too, but I've never actually checked. I thought they stayed till they were cleared. I have only ever had two codes and I cleared them after reading so I am not sure.

I have a Chilton's and it is very good for holding down paper in the garage when the wind blows. It seems to be packed with wrong information. For example it says all late Subarus engines all have hydraulic lifters. Wrong. There is a downloadable manual that I am sure one of the folks here can tell you how to get.