outback_97

Dallasdv: Have you tried resetting the TCU by disconnecting the battery and holding down the brake pedal? After reconnecting and restarting the car, let it run at idle until it warms up, then drive it more aggressively. As swc7916 mentioned, it will "learn" how you drive it. Might be worth a try if you haven't already. Also, if you press down quickly on the throttle as opposed to smoothly rolling on, it should downshift more quickly. Seems to work in both our 97 and 03, although I agree the 97 shifts more abruptly and seems to downshift more readily. I always attributed that to my wife's more conservative driving style that her 03 had "learned", but maybe it's also inherent in that year's tranny. Steve

Welcome! As I understand it, when you reset the ECU (car's "brain") by disconnecting the battery, upon reconnecting it and starting it, you should let it idle for ten minutes or so w/o touching the throttle. You want to let it get acclimated to your ambient conditions, type of fuel, etc. before you drive it. Maybe someone else can explain more eloquently, but that's my understanding. Also, by disconnecting the battery, you're resetting the transmission computer if it's an automatic. It will "learn" how you drive it and alter shift points somewhat in accordance with how you use it. If it's a manual tranny then disregard this last bit. FWIW we have used disconnecting the battery on a few occasions to reset the car after a bad tank of gas resulted in sluggish, weak performance. Steve

Welcome to the board! My 97's 4EAT is similar, abrupt shifts 1>2 and generally not the smoothest auto tranny. Autos in other cars I've driven always seem smoother, but sometimes seem really vague. Mine's always been kinda like that, is improved somewhat by changing the fluid though. Not unique to your vehicle, fortunately, and probably not a cause for concern. It's a bit of a Subie trait. Although our '03 seems much smoother, granted it's got 1/6 the miles Here's a relevant thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11628 And another one: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28409 Steve

UMPhil: That's an interesting one. I have never seen any document from SOA that even hints at a problem (on the Phase 1's), so I doubt you'll find that. The fact that anecdotally there are a lot of failures (not necessarily a high percentage, but a good number) and the fact that they revised the HG design at least a few times suggests they were and are aware of it. But I wouldn't count on anything in writing. I don't know if it necessarily behooves you to have anything from SOA indicating that the HG's are a problem, 'cause then JL can just say it was a coincidence, it would've gone anyway and just happened to occur after their coolant service. You're looking for something that links the improper coolant service to the HG failure and I've never seen anything, I wish you luck though. You might want to try looking through the failed HG "guestbook" via the link below to see if there's any connection. I have a 97 with the 2.5l Phase 1 at 113K miles and am frankly scared to change the coolant for this exact reason. I'm afraid that it could develop HG or overheating problems due to incomplete purging of air from the system. If it is of any help I have a little info page with some HG related links here: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html Steve

Wow. I have a stupid question: So, how much ATF did you drain out, and how much did you put back in? Exact same amount? Or do you think you may have overfilled it? Steve

This chart might be helpful: http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html What's the offset on the OEM Forester wheels? I don't know if this chart is accurate w/r/t that. It's mainly for Impreza wheels but the bolt pattern should be the same. Just keep an eye on offset. Steve

This link might be useful to you: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html Steve

So, I finally got an email back from this guy. He confirmed they're LT tires but can't find the DOT # I emailed him back with more instructions and a link. He sends me one back; the DOT # ends in 0403, which is great... fourth week of 2003, plenty new for my purposes. But, he goes on to say that they're LT 235/75/15 tires. WTH? Complete waste of my time. Very glad I didn't drive an hour to look at tires that wouldn't even come close to fitting. People are strange animals. So, the search for tires will continue. Steve

Would this work? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=36861 It's a different design, but there's a local HF store. Torque wrench would be a good idea, I do have the option of borrowing that from work though, pretty much anytime I want to. The Haynes manual lists torque specs, hopefully they're accurate. Side note: my order from Tirerack shipped yesterday evening, even though I just ordered it yesterday afternoon. I'm impressed so far with their service. Steve

Thanks, looking forward to expanding the short list of things I have fixed on our cars (assuming all goes well). I'm gonna try this out, local dealership will have four boots in stock Thursday (about thirty bucks for the one I need), and I just ordered two Brembo rotors and new brake pads from tirerack.com for about the cost of two OEM rotors. I have the Haynes manual and there's some writeups on Scoobymods, Ravensblade, and Nasioc. Have the book learnin' now just need the real world good stuff. The sad thing is I'm already plotting how to spend the money I will save from doing it myself if this goes smoothly. D'oh! I'll be sure to post how it goes. Once again USMB earns a ! Steve

Hope this doesn't complicate things, but you might also consider doing the oil pump o-ring while you're in there. Mine was leaking at around 70K miles and I understand it's a common problem on the 2.5's. I have seen other people here report it as well. Here's a photo showing how the oil pump leak was pooling at the bottom of the timing belt cover and seeping out the tb cover gasket. I had my t belt replaced at that time as has been suggested here. Steve

Usually I defer things like brakes and steering to a shop, with the reasoning that these are "mission critical" items, whereas things like stereo equipment (which I typically do myself) won't get me or others killed if they fail. But it really does sound pretty simple, I'm considering doing this one, and the rotors, myself. Of course I would check it out in a safe area before blasting down the freeway, and in the case of the rotors follow the "break-in" procedure. Thanks for the detailed info, yohy. This might be a dumb question, but here goes: should I turn the steering wheel one way or the other to make this job any easier, or should it just be in the center (wheels straight) position when doing the boot replacement? And is there a specific grease or lubricant recommended? Thanks again. Steve

Thanks for the advice! I do need to take care of it pretty soon. No noises yet though. I called a local shop and they suggested pretty much the same thing... they called it a "dust boot" and said that's pretty much what it's there for. $30 part and $80 labor to remove the old one and replace with new. Then of course an alignment. I also need new front rotors as they are pulsing / vibrating pretty noticeably now. I'm considering a DIY on that although I haven't done it before. Doesn't look to complicated, I'm just worried about things being corroded tight. Thanks again for the info. Steve

BigJ: That was on there when I bought the speaker, these are 2-ways so I'm guessing it's for that. No idea of the rating though, sorry. Maybe you could open the box of one at the store and check it out? Re: spare tire subwoofer... actually a number of people have fabricated fiberglass / MDF speaker enclosures that fit into the rim of a spare tire. You don't even have to remove the spare! Google "fiberglass spare tire subwoofer" or something to that effect for more. Typically you need an 8" or small enclosure 10" sub for this... the interior volume ends up being pretty small, but it works well. Also, there's at least a few threads on Nasioc about it. I've definitely thought about doing it. Steve

I was checking under the car this weekend, and I noticed that the boot on my tie rod, aka steering gear boot, was torn. No idea how long this has been like that, haven't crawled around under the car for a while. Does this need to be repaired immediately? Will my steering be ruined if not? I have noticed no adverse effects from this. I ask because I'd like to get new rotors (they're getting too warped and have already been turned once IIRC) and I'd like to combine the jobs. Also, is there a replacement boot that one could use that doesn't require removal of the tie rod end? Or is that a bad idea? Thanks for any advice you can give. Steve

I was gonna say the same thing as Olnick But seriously, a second vote for possible heat shield. A common thing for Subies, mine sometimes buzzes or rattles at specific RPM's, our old GL did too. Steve

On most Subie auto transmissions, if you press down the gas quickly, it will downshift quickly and hold gears longer to maximize acceleration. Maybe that's what you're thinking of? You could try resetting the computer by disconnecting the battery, then reconnecting, letting it idle ten minutes w/o touching the gas,then drive it "aggressively" since the tranny learns from how you drive it. Apologies if that doesn't apply to the SVX auto tranny. As far as being slower when you switched to 17's... what's the weight difference in the tires and rims? And are they exactly the same diameter? If they're a lot heavier (most 17" rims and tires are relative to 16's) then that could slow you down. And if they're a little bigger you lose some gearing and that could slow you down as well. 18's would be even worse in most cases. Not sure what else to say. Steve

Some reading material for you: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html This talks about the differences in internal / external and DOHC / SOHC a bit. Steve

It's a JDM Legacy badge, isn't it? (and probably used in other countries, too, not just Japan) I've seen them before on Nasioc. Steve

Still haven't bought them yet, but I may go check them out tonight. Found a few reviews of these, mostly on trucks (of course) but they seemed pretty positive. Found some specs, the LT ones weigh around 4# more per tire than the P's, 30# vs. 26#'s, IIRC. I think they are ultimately made by Goodyear, but it's hard to track down who makes what for whom. I am awaiting the guy's response as to whether they're LT's and what the DOT date code is (that tells one when they're made). Even though the tread depth is good, if they're real old tires and have been sitting around a long time I'll probably pass. Steve

Langdon: Welcome aboard! To get a good look at the speakers, you'll probably have to take the door panel off to the point where you might as well upgrade them. Seems the consensus is that even the "upgraded" speakers aren't that impressive. You can expect improved sound by going with decent aftermarket speakers, even with the stock HU. That's been my experience. And of course an aftermarket HU with aftermarket speakers will improve it yet again. FWIW, here's a photo of the stock (not upgraded) speakers vs. the ones I replaced them with in my wife's Impreza: Note the rather large difference. Steve

That's good to hear, thanks! Well, I looked at the ones at Les Schwab, and they looked real good. I'm pretty tempted by this, hope they fit! Feeling around the stock tire it seems like I've got room for the extra 10 mm (or actually 5 mm on each side) width-wise, and diameter is only <2" bigger than stock. So they should fit. The kid at the tire store (I know, I know) said the 16" ones on his mom's v8 Grand Cherokee are great in the snow. Seller is going to verify that they're the LT ones. Steve

Hey off-road folks! There's a guy somewhat local to me selling some tires / rims for $100: I'm interested in tires only, of course, but figured maybe I could sell the rims to some Jeep owner for a few bucks. Any feedback on these? I think they're sold through Les Schab tire, I might stop by one of those to look at the tires since this guy is a good 40 minute drive away. Sounds like a really good deal if they're ok. Pretty sure they'd fit my stock OB, which has 205/70/15. I'd be losing 5% gearing and speedometer. I'm looking to make my OB more off-pavement worthy, and my 4 or 5 year old Michelins are starting to get a bit tired, plus they have developed cuts from rocks and gravel roads as lately I've been using the car more for what I actually bought it for: camping trips and forays out into the boonies. But, reality check: It's the daily driver, and most all of the miles are going to be around the boring paved suburbs. Also, it has to get me through the snow to the ski resort. When I searched the only mention I saw of these was not very positive... but I only found one comment, it was for a different size and maybe different tire... not sure. Here's the quote: Hmmm... EDIT: FWIW, called Les Schwab tire and the LT's (as opposed to P's) were $485 for four, mounted, balanced, stems, tax, etc. out the door. I'm assuming what we're dealing with here are LT's, but I guess I'll have to verify w/ the guy selling them. Steve

I considered mine dead when I went out one morning and couldn't start my car I was lucky to get 8 years out of it. I went with the Sears brand because I'd heard they were decent, the price was reasonable, and they were open on Sunday morning and a mile away. Living where you do, I'd probably get a new one in the near future (like before November or so)... they're more fun to change when it's 65 degrees than when it's -20. Steve (born and raised in MN, knows how cold it gets there, has worked on cars at below zero temps)

My OEM one lasted 8 years, then when it finally died I got a Sears Die Hard Silver. So far so good. Steve