FlyFlicker

I did it the easy way. Remove the fuse to keep the engine from starting. Take a long breaker bar and position it so that the socket is on the the nut and the end of the handle is on the drive way on the drivers side. Then bump the starter.

Lift up the cover either in the trunk or in back if you have a wagon. You will see a domed cover held on by 4 screws. Remove this cover to expose the fuel pump. Undo the electrical connection to the pump and crank the engine. This will relieve the pressure in the fuel line. After you change the filter reconnect the pump and replace cover.

I like your handle!

The "yeild" on a bolt means that you are stretching it beyond the point of elasticity. Once it has done this, it will never return to its original length. This presents to problems for re-using these bolts. The first is necking down of the bolt where stretching results in a narrowing of the bolt stem which results in weakness. Think of a piece of pulled taffy to picture this. The second issue is work hardening. Think of how you pull a tab off of a beer can or pop can - you repeatedly bend it back and forth until it snaps off. The repeated bending has hardened the stressed metal and made it brittle which resulted in it breaking off. The same thing happens to the bolt when you re-use it, it becomes harder and more brittle and is more prone to suffer catistrophic failure. If you are so inclined, here is an excellent article on engine fasteners; http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/ar20134.htm

In all of the stduies I have read, Fram tests out very poorly. I use Purolator as these test out consistently very near the top.

McQuire's and a couple of others make a plastic cleaner/polisher that works fairly well. I've found that rubbing compound works like a charm at removing oxidation and polishing the plastic. I use 3M's fine grit and apply it twice. The first is dry, just like you would on paint. The second is with a water soaked towel. Then apply a clearcoat prep to the lenses and buff. Do this two or three times a year to keep your lenses clear and prevent oxidative damage to the plastic.

As SX pointed out, it could be brake dust causing this. But it is also a symptom of glazing. Repeated, light braking can gloss the rotors and pads, and this results in brake squeal. Remove the rotors and pads and "rough" them up with sand paper. If the squeal goes away - that's your problem.

A friend of mine recently bought a '98 OBW with the 2.5. I'm doing some work on it to make sure that she has a reliable vehicle. But I have not been able to track down the this hesitation and stumble on acceleration from a stop. What its doing is that if you get on the gas fairly quickly it acts like it loads up, stumbles and chugs, and then catches after a second or two. I've cleaned the throtle body and the TPS, replaced the fuel filter, which was nearly clogged, and the air filter. I've checked for vacuum leaks and bad hoses and plan on running some injector cleaner through it tonight. Oh, and it isn't throwing any codes so I'm hoping that someone here can give me some ideas of what else I might want to check out to correct this. I'd prefer not to have to take it to a sub mechanic because she is a single mom and money is a little tight for her, so any help that can be offered will be greatly appreciated.

Craftsman bolt extractor set!

What oil are you running on? Chances are that you are right in thinking it's in the valve train. I would suggest that you start running Mobil 1 as I have seen it clear up this exact problem. Be patient though as it may take a couple of oil changes depending on how much gunk is built up!

You may have air trapped in the block. Do a search on how to burp the cooling system and make sure that you get all the air out.

I came out of church the other day and parked next to me was this "SUV". I wouldn't have paid any attention had I not noticed the Subaru badge. I don't know if I like it or not, but I suspect it might grow on me. But I didn't even know they were out yet, or maybe the "owner" works for Sube or something. Anybody here know if they're actually available yet?

Lets start with the simple stuff first. Are your terminals clean? I've seen subs act this way when there was a poor connection to the battery. Then the next step is to have the battery tested. If these two check out OK, then you can start messin' round with wiring/hardware.

Yup! http://www.cars.com/go/search/fs_search_results.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&sort=true&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=ascending&sortfield=YEAR+descending%2CPRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-%7CE-%7CM-_45_%7CD-_410_%7CN-N%7CR-100%7CI-1%7CP-YEAR+descending%2CPRICE+descending%7CQ-descending%7CZ-80214&aff=national

Did they get all of the air out of the system?

This has happened a couple of times on my '92. In the engine compartment you will find a fuse box which contains the relay. Remove the relay for a few minutes and plug it back in. This worked for me. I don't know if the thing gets hot or exactly why it wants to act up and I suppose that one of these days I should pick up a new relay, just haven't done it yet.

Does it look something like this; If so then it's normal. When the engine cools, moisture condenses in it. When you fire it up again an emulsion forms and and collects in coller locations like at the mouth of the fill tube. Jeep has a TSB out about for the Grand Cherokee which uses a baffle to minimize the collection of this emulsion.

Chances are that it just snow packed around the sensor as has already been pointed out. However, when you turn the car off do you hear a buzzing sound from the engine bay?

Yes I do mean the MAF, my bad. And I do not believe the the coolant temp sensor drives the guage. When it went out on my '92 it had the same symptoms as you describe but the guage worked fine. One difference is that when it happened to me it threw an occassional CEL

I don't know Linda, that's a tough one. I too hate making car payments but Sub's can go for a lot of miles. My '92 has 157,000 on it and I plan to use it as my commuter for several more years. But then I'm fairly handy with a wrench AND I have three Jeeps that I can use if I have to fix the sube. Now you have indicated that you are a widow, do you have kids? How often do you break down where you are without transportation for a day or more? Ask yourself the question "Is it going to cost me more to buy a new car or keep this one running?" and include your time in that, after all, a few hours at the mechanics is time you've lost doing something else. But also consider the types of probs you're having. Does it break down or does it have problems that allow you to still drive it without compromising safety? Also consider that a woman needs reliable transportation because you don't need to be stuck on the side of the road at night, or any time for that matter. So given that I would suggest that you visit your mechanic and ask how much is it going to cost to make sure that your car is reliable? And ask them if they think that you can realistically get a few more years out of the car. Given that you say you do routine maint. I would tend to think that you could. Then weigh that against your finances. And I'll go back to my principle concern - and that is making sure that you don't find yourself in a jeopardized position. Like I said, it's a tough choice and neither I nor any one here can make it for you. But the bottom line is in weighing the costs of keeping it vs. the cost of getting another car. And when you consider this don't just think about the actual cost but also add in the costs of your time and the potential risk to you and your family should you be stranded.

Could be either the MAP sensor or the Coolant temp sensor.

No, for semivols DFTPP is used and for VOA's we use BFB. I'll post the results when I get a chance to run some.

For all intents and purposes it is a collection of solvents with some lubricity. The naptha is a collection of compounds from distilling coal tar. The IPA is a pretty good polar solvent and probably also serves as a wetting agent. The Pale Oil is proprietary and from the MSDS characteristics is probably a blend of light to medium fraction petrolium distillates which may include some aromatic amines. I may have to do a GC/MS and an HPLC/MS work-up on the stuff when I get a chance just to get a better idea.

When I switch over to syn I usually do the first to oil changes at around 2k. I don't know if that is necessary but it's just a habit I've gotten into. Even with syn I still try to follow the schedule in the manual but have upon occasion pushed 5k. If you are still under warranty you will definately want to follow the manual.

I don't exactly consider 19,500 miles to be high mileage. And yes, you'll be just fine running syn. As a matter of fact I switched my GF's '92 Legacy over to Mobil 1 at 121,000 miles with out a problem. And stick with the 5W-30 and do not use Castoroil Syntec!