uniberp

Are your sure your brakes are not dragging badly?

If he needs better wheels and better brakes on a brand new car it probably won't last long enough to make any difference anyhow.

If the 99 forester is Phase II EJ25D - SOHC it should drop right in to replace your EJ251 with no EGR or IAC issues. Maybe someone else can confirm...

New brakes since the first occurrence. Tires all new (<10k, rotated at 6k), aligned, since first occurence. I'm hoping it was the slight overfill of the front diff causing a backlash of some kind.

Wheel bearings are ok. No runout at all. It happened again coming home on the expressway, a vibration, and when I applied the brakes a rhythmic grinding timed to wheel rotation. This time it seemed to come from the left front, previously I thought it was right. Nothing loose with the axles, at all. I've done many axles on subarus and kinda know this stuff. As I was checking the right front wheel I noticed a little blue plastic cone cap sitting on the control arm edge. It was a cap to a gear oil squeeze bottle. I don't think I ever changed that, but I may have I checked the front diff and it seemed a little overfilled. 30k change recommended, so I did. The oil that came out was cleanish, I'm letting it settle overnight to see if sparkles settle. It scares me when the noise happens, I can feel the grind in the brake pedal, but it self-corrects every time.

I hear the rumbling occasionally still, and still it gets corrected with a few low speed tight turns. Kind of a pain when on the expressway. I pulled off this morning and smelled hot boot rubber. Not split or anything, but I noticed the driver's side shaft can wiggle a little along the axis. The passenger side does not. I guess I got a tight or seizing bearing in there, probably heated up. As long as the boot is intact it probably won't catch fire. Factory original axle with 80k miles. At some point it will need attention

Yes, anything but the dealer. I'd try to find a local independent transmission shop and call them. Too many stories about dealers trying to be everything to every car and messing up on the particulars.

Forester is an Impreza. I bought one because the Legacies were getting too big to be pushed (+200lbs) around by the ej25. The 4EAT is as durable a passenger car AWD as I know of, plus it has better AWD. I'd never advise a subaru belt cam engine for a performance nut unless they were ready to swap shortblocks on a regular basis. 4cyl Subarus have lots of underhood space to work. Up to 2010 or so they (all I know), they haven't designed them for ease of initial assembly instead, like so many cars where you are need to drop the subframe to change the starter and crazy things like that.

Drum brakes last a lot longer. They are less susceptible to corrosion, IMO. I've seen several legacy's with very corroded rear discs, partly because they get so much less pressure than the fronts. Myself, I don't need the slight additional braking power or precision of rear discs. My 08 Forester has rear drums.

Are your tires all the same size?

I'd say you have 2 choices, either install a cat and put the o2 sensor in or engineer/install an aftermarket injection and ignition system. You're probably wasting a quarter of your gas anyhow.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/145718-stuck-bolt-in-rear-suspension/?p=1224291

This isn't pretty, but it can be done. It's impossible to press out the bushing without a press. I cut the hardened bolt head off, it took a couple sawzall blades, found a washer big enough to brace against the rod, backed it up with an open end wrench, and pushed the bolt out with a ballljoint separator. Impact wrenches and hammering are just absorbed by the rubber.

Yes, it's an expensive part. Sorry.

Disconnect the battery first. It doesn't disable the airbag controller capacitor, but it makes you think about it. Because I'm usually working alone, I never get in the line of fire. I reach in sideways to remove the pad bolts. Store the removed pad away from things. I put it on top of a cabinet. It is an explosive device. The clock spring is an enclosed item as I remember, has a ribbon cable that I doubt can be repaired. Actual symptoms include cruise and horn malfunction.

Narrow tires are better in snow. A smaller contact patch is partly why. The frontal profile is another main reason. 14's give you both. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ekkoj/5425585813/in/photostream/

GET THE CODE SCANNED. Shaking is a relative term.

Did the car have its timing belt service done at 105 miles? I've heard of more than one timing belt tensioner failures, I think I caused one myself once, by compressing it too quickly. The knock may mean it has slipped its timing which can cause internal engine damage. If all this is greek to you, do not drive it until it has been properly diagnosed.

YMM? Check the filler tube for rust holes. Remove the cover, they get full of dirt. In cold dry weather gas fumes may be much more noticeable.

You can never tell how a car has been treated or stressed. A car with less than 10k miles likely will not show any abuse that was hurled at it. The stresses on bearings (wheel, main, rod) will not show any symptoms until much later in it's life, but that could be as low as 40k miles. Subarus are good cars, but only if you take care of them. I think they appeal to many DIYers because they are easily user serviceable. Unfortunately the thing that makes them attractive to technically able also makes them easy to patch up and turn over for a quick buck. For a commuter I liked my high mileage car, with new struts, brakes, tires solidly reliable at $4000. As it is, I baby the nice $16000 cross my fingers that nothing goes wrong car. But that's just me.

Add a can of Techron at 1/8 tank, change your plug wires. Plugs too but don't if you don't know aluminum thread torque behavior.

Bad negative ground cable. Double it up with a 24" double ended blade connector cable.

Is it possibly a shifter cable position adjustment issue?

There is one significant issue with the Avital on my 2008 (I think all are made by the same mfg, just rebadged.) The aftermarket remote and factory are un-compatible, and I've had it back to the installer a couple times. If I inadvertently press the lock on the door itself when I exit, and use the new remote to unlock it, the alarm goes off, and I have to use the factory remote to turn off the alarm. It was a pain until I developed the habit to never touch the door locks. Occasional passengers who are courteously assisting us by pressing the door lock when they exit are greeted by a screeching alarm when we return. I have to be the noodge-reminder-guy to "not touch the door lock." Other than that, it's great.

As understand k&N filters allow more air because they have bigger pores. Bigger pores mean bigger particles. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm