Scottbaru

The tire rack site is very helpful. The best way I've found to compare tires is to use the "Search for tires by size" (or "view all" once you get your size by selecting the model car). Once you have your size in, select the categories you like (or all), and leave the brands unchecked to select all brands. At the results to that search, select all the check boxes on every tire, usually several pages. Then select "Compare selected tires". This should give you a ton of tires. You can sort the list by clicking on the categories on the far left of the screen. I sort by snow traction first, which the Goodyear Triple Tred wins. Several other tires are close for less money, but I'll get the Triple Treds this fall.

Theoretically, but only in very fine fog is it a real advantage. Mist, rain, and snow I see is larger than 1/2 wavelength of yellow, so it refracts most visible light. Fine fog is small enough it doesn't refract yellow, so there is some advantage in fine fog. I prefer white fogs, yellow is just something else to get used to in bad weather.

Fixed! I found the hose clamp that holds the intake plumbing to the throttle body loose, vacuum leak. Interestingly, the A4 turbo quattro also came up with a CEL, we found some vacuum lines deteriorating, that was the problem.

Long wavelength (amber to red) light penetrates haze better and returns more accurately to the eye, short wavelength (blue) light scatters more easily. That even applies within the eye, blue dazzles a bit, especially older drivers. Blue is bad for headlights, and tinted wannabe headlights are embarrassing.

Thanks, that's very helpful info. I normally change all fluids and filters when I buy a car, but I broke my leg just before buying it, and I'm just now getting caught up on house and car stuff. I guess it's time to give it some attention.

No dice, an hour without power and only the radio has lost memory. Maybe it's time to pull injectors.

Thanks for the response. Will that work for an OBDII? I'll give it a try anyway, the EFI fuse I assume?

Possibly a dirty injector? Do these codes clear themselves eventually if the problem goes away? The guy at Autozone said they're not allowed to clear them. I didn't press the issue, I think these codes clear themselves. First step I'm running Techron injector cleaner. 77k on this '99 ej22, no service history, recent new clutch.

I think SUS means Sport Utility Sedan. Usually that's the Outback version, 2.5 liter with hydraulic clutch. My '99 has the 2.2l and cable clutch. It came with a new clutch this winter, hopefully I'll remain blissfully ignorant of tranny work.

Be sure you loosen the fill plug first. I've read many posts where the lube is drained and the fill plug is stuck. Bummer.

I'm also not an engineer at Subaru. I am an automotive engineer, and I design and build industrial machinery (and I love it, and I've been doing it for a long time). Most of what I've read here is useless, all that matters is what speed the mechanism in question has to turn, and how hot that makes it. I've heard enough about chalk marks and pi. You've got the numbers, you're not doing the math. Do the math for your wheel size, figure out the difference in rpms the axle diff and center diff have to accomodate for different wheel sizes. It only matters for the max speed you expect to maintain. Viscous fluids and clutch plates aren't your everyday mechanisms, so it's hard for most of us to guess from experience what speeds will generate how much heat. I did the math on a previous post, I think 1/4" difference in circumference is very conservative. I agree the lawyers and bean counters probably had something to do with the specs. I don't think any of us will be able to come closer to setting safe specs with what we have to work with.

I have a variety of manual and hydraulic presses available at the shop, but I hammered my bearing races out and in on my Landcruiser rather than drive across town to press them in. It's perfectly acceptable, just not as easy. You normally only press the races in, not the bearing assembly, that should be a slip fit. I used a 3/4-drive socket that fit the race face well, and a big hammer. I'll probably do another set this weekend.

My (smallish) tires are 24.3"dia, 76.34" circumference. At 60mph they turn at approx 830 rpm. If one tire were .25" smaller in circumference (slightly over 1/32" tread depth), it'd turn at 832.7 rpm. The 2.7 rpm difference would have to be taken up by the axle differential, while the center diff would take up half that speed. Those are pretty slow speeds, I don't think much heat will be generated. I don't know how the clutch packs or viscous fluid shed heat, so I can't even guess how much would be too much. I'm on my eighth AWD vehicle, and have always spent a little extra on tires. I like traction.

Are his brushes replaceable?

Now that's a good idea, if you're really careful. On a lot of industrial machines teflon tape on hydraulic/pneumatic fittings voids the warranty (including the machines I design and build). That tape can wreak havoc on valves and actuators if a bit of it comes off and clogs something. I used to use Teflon tape a lot as a maintenance guy, but it became a no-no.

Yeah, I have to undo the innertube a couple times to replenish. I have trouble with air leaking around the bleed screw threads with suction or check valve systems. I've tried greasing the screw threads, no luck. Do you take into account the volume of the caliper cavity and ABS? Really you never get all that old stuff out unless you pull and clean out the caliper body. Of course I'm used to larger brakes, 4-piston calipers are stock on my other cars. I've heard you don't want to push stuff backward in the brake system, probably the stuff at the calipers is the ugliest.

I've used the mity-vac with limited success. I made a bladder out of an old mountiain-bike innertube, hole clamped one end to the brake reservoir and inflated it. That allowed me to just open the bleed screw and let the fluid flow 'till it came out clear. Last couple times I bled I enlisted a family member to pump the brake pedal. I always use clear poly-tubing on the bleed screw into a container.

I've never had much luck with aftermarket brake pads on any of my cars, they usually squeal. Semi-metallics are hard on the rotors, I'd rather replace pads than rotors. If you go with anti-squeal goo, make sure you use it on the ends of the pads where they contact the caliper, not just the backs of the pads.

Looking at the picture, I see the airbag door is up against the windshield, and the airbag is caught in a crack in the windshield. Big chunks of glass are outside the windshield, and the hole lines up with where the airbag should've deployed. No mention of holes or burns inside the car. It looks to me like the airbag cracked the windshield, not the lightning. I suspect even a near miss could cause airbag deployment.

Lightning is the result of a buildup of electrons big enough to jump the gap from the surface they're on, to a surface sufficiently lacking electrons. Small charges can jump small gaps, etc. Electons build up on non-conductive materials better than conductive. Conductive materials allow them to travel quickly through the material to a point where they dissapate gradually. That's how lightning rods work: electrons travel quickly up to the sharpened tip, build up quickly on the small tip surface to critical levels, and stream off with little fanfare. When lightning hits a conductive box like a car, it much prefers traveling through the conductive shell material, rather than jumping the airgap inside the box, so people in cars are pretty safe.

So do you think the windshield was broken primarily by the airbag? That makes sense...

I had to look up that bushing in my Haynes myself, I'm used to two guide pins on brakes. Is the bushing full of grease? A good moly grease seems like a good idea there, it would help damp vibrations a bit. Is it brass or steel? Could the lock pin be worn? I've seen a lot of worn guide pins, never noticed vibrations from them, sometimes I turn them to wear in a new spot.

As long as the cams are turning in synch with the crank, the pistons shouldn't hit and damage the valves.

There are a few brands of taper bearings, some people prefer Koyo over Timken, but they're not much different. More likely you need to check and re-torque your wheel nuts occasionally with harder use. Slightly loose wheel nuts can trash bearings pretty quick. Use a good synthetic grease (not moly), replace the bearings and races together.

I've not heard of a factory rack coming loose in reasonable use. I have seen the feet flex enough to wear through the paint and start rust. I've also seen the holes for the rivnuts rust pretty bad, possibly from flexing in the holes, and the rivnuts spin loose when trying to remove the rack. I won't use my rack hard, so the factory rails will be good enough, but my cross pieces are pretty flimsy.