Chef

I vote for a knocke off vacuum line. Can't see how this would otherwise happen.

This is good to know. This is why I've always used 5w30, quite worried about those initial startups. Can be hell on an engine. I had my soob parked for a week in Ottawa during X-mas at about -15 to -20, and trying to start my soob was a PITA. I was also having problems with my starter at the time, and an intermittent issue with starting that I think involves too much gas, but still... glad I had 5w30 in. Might never have started until it warmed up otherwise.

I have been experiencing torque lock for some time now, intermittently. It seems to be getting much worse now. I drive mostly highway and find the problem only occurs during short around town jaunts on the weekend. I get the flashing power light indicating the solenoid c failure. I need to test the ground for the solenoid, but not sure where it is. I'd hate to do something drastic to find the problem was a bad ground! Anyways, I am considering my options. My budget is low, and I've never attempted anything to do with a transmission before. 1 - remove the rear portion of the drive shaft. 2 - Open the extension housing and replace the solenoid 3 - Replace with a used tranny (sorry folks, 5spd swap is out of the question) I like the first option as a simple intermediate fix. I'm concerned though - If I do this, what happens at the rear differential? Does this leave the place where the driveshaft connects open and therefore leaking fluid? If so, is there a good way to block/cover this? Option 2 is probably ideal, but I'm definitely frightened to do this because I don't want to screw things up. PLus that damn solenoid is expensive new, and putting a used on in may not help much (if I can even find one). Option three is too expensive, and probably unecessary. My transmission (knock on wood) seems in good shape, and replacing with a used one might be a disaster. I'd appreciate all input. Thanks! Edit - Another thought Could the flashing power light indicate a different electronic problem - say a failing rear speed sensor? If the TCU thinks the rear wheels are spinning when they're not, it might then put too much power to them causing the bind too. Also this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38100&highlight=drive+shaft+rear+differential seems to indicate pulling the rear half of the drive shaft will not cause a leakage at the rear diff. But if I remove it is there anything else I should be aware of by chance? I would much prefer to maintain my AWD, otherwise the car is an overweight gas guzzling wagon. I love my soob, but without AWD it really runs like an inefficient version of an accord or camry. That, and the 91 passat wagon 5 spd with a new SS exhaust I saw advertised for $1600 looks really appealling right now instead of continually dishing out moola on this soob.

Many people claim problem free driving using the fuse for extended periods, but unless you have a desperate need to do so there is no benefit. You will not save gas, you will not get better performance, and you risk prematurely burning out the solenoid, leaving yourself in permanent 4wd mode. Not a good thing.

Yeah, the dino oil gets dirty rather quickly I find. I lose about a litre of oil between changes as is. Some leaking from gasket covers, but I think it must be burning for the most part as I never have stains under my car.

I've considered synth, but have heard that many people with older vehicles who have switched found they start leaking a bit of oil. Perhaps a coincidence for most, but it scared me off it. Buying synth would be nice too because I'd appreciate the longer change intervals considering I put on 3500 kilometers a month. Hey, another canuck around here. We seem a rare breed. I now live actually in Peterborough, but it's not much cooler here than in Toronto. Going down to -20°C tonight though! I usually run 10w30 during spring/summer/fall, and go with 5w30 winter. Mind you, I'm originally from Winnipeg, so it makes more sense there. I think I'm either switching to some 5w40 synthetic or at the least a 10w30. I need to do a bit more research on synths though. I think Crappy tire has mobil 1 on sale right now...

I've considered the tires, but I alreayd have them at 35 psi - max for these tires. They are long life Hankooks, and before I swapped out my air suspension never seems to give me the trouble I'm having now. I suspect the problem is indeed eitehr the struts and/or worn bushings of some kind. But for now I will tolerate it, just keep my speed below 120 km/h. most (not all) wobble seems to happen above 110 km/h, faster than I ought to be going I suppose regardless.

Yeah, the ujoint(s) seems sturdy, and the wheels respond wiht no delay to turning the wheel. Well, I went out and got the alingment anyways. It definitely tracks MUCH better now. Turns out the FR wheel had a full degree of positive camber, and the other nearly 1 degree of negative camber. WTF!? He also adjusted toe front and rear, but the rear was pretty much fine. So the wheel now sits flush for the first time! Nice. I didn't even mention the wheel was out of alignment. to me, a good sign they did their job well. No more oversteer, more responsive, no pulling to the right anymore. But... It definitely has some issues still, and struts are most likely the main culprit. Still gets pushed around by crosswinds badly, but now it's easier to correct the problem. Long grooves on the road still pull at the wheels a bit, and still feels wobbly (if I move the wheel back and forth on the highway, the car wobbles like a jack in the box). I swear, those new rear struts are also being a pain. Hitting bumps seems overly harsh, even with the rear. I know those wagon springs are stiff, but yeesh. So I will save some bucks, get some GR-2s for the front, and swap when I get the chance. I have access to an electric impact wrench at work, so this should helps things. Hopefully I can maintain those camber settings...

I appreciate you clearing that up, I always thought it was from the exhaust. I suppose this makes much more sense though.

I think it's a good score, worst case scenario you need to invest a few bucks. You're getting an education out of it, and great hands on experience. PLus, most likely a nice rebuilt engine. I would love to do exactly what you're doing now if I had the space, time and money. Good luck!

So let me ask the crowd here then for a recommendation. I live in a climate where winters are sub-zero for the most part, although it's been unusually mild this year. Still, hitting -15 to -20 °C is not uncommon overnight. So 5W30 seems a good choice for winter. But, I also travel highway extensively (at least 2 hours daily). Does the 30 weight fall short of what I should use? Should I be using 10w40, or even 5w40 (if it exists)? I don't mind spending a couple of extra bucks to ensure I've got good protection in my EJ22.

Oh hell, I think it probably just is the front struts. I suppose the sign are consistent with this. If I get an alignment and find that it still behaves badly, I'll be pissed for spending the money. I just didn't want to wait to order struts and find time to install them (damn cold now, and no heated garage here). Sigh, I hate mucking around with this stuff. If I didn't have to drive so much every day I wouldn't care so much, but I need my car for work.

Here in Canada 5w30 is pretty much the standard in winter. I run it all winter long in any car I've owned, and I do a lot of highway travelling now. It is only a problem really in hot weather.

Well, while I have put on a couple of extra pounds recently, I don't think I'm anywhere near this being a problem. This is good advice Gary, but I have definitely noted cupping on the outside edge of my tires. I moved those to the back for now, but want to prevent further problems with that. I will check into replacing those bushings. Likely worn I'm sure! I swear this is so frustrating, because sometimes it seems to drive nearly perfectly fine, other times terribly. Especially with crosswinds, these knock me around like a plastic bag in the wind. I find pushing on the side of the car seems to make it wobble too. In comparison to my co-worker's honda civic, it was like a teeter-totter. I tried grabbing and pulling the wheels both while on the ground and otherwise, and it shakes the whole car in the same way, but there is no play on the wheels and/or any suspension parts. I dunno, maybe it is the front struts. I'll replace them eventually, but I need to put some serious money down on student loans and my university directly.

It is entirely useless at times, but overall a good resource. Check this thread for info and pics http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52053&highlight=sensor+manifold Good luck

Sounds like backfiring - A sign the engine is running rich. I'd maybe also change the engine coolant temperature sensor. Could be feeding it too much gas.

Yeah, roads get pretty snowy around here and it's nice to have it melt/blow off instead of accumulating (which it does anyways). Been a pretty warm winter here, so lots of wet snow and slush. Makes me glad to have the soob! I now live in a small city of ~75 000 (near to Toronto, going there tomorrow for work). There is a local shop here that is dedicated to alignments and wheel balancing, and the guys there seem pretty good. I'll ask them what they think thursday morning when I go. Thanks

Yikes, no kidding, eh. I'm always paranoid about my plugs, and take extra care not to over-torque them too. Make sure you check the gap with a feeler gauge - new plugs should come pre-gapped, but you never know. Then I'd recommend getting some anti-sieze compound to coat the threads. I put a deep socket onto a socket extension, put the plug into the socket, and feed that in by hand (taking care not to knock any crud into the chamber). ONce hand tightened (which usually isn't really tight because it's a bit of a pain) I put the socket wrench onto the extension, and tighten slowly until resistance begins. If it fed well by hand, this might happen immediately. Once I feel resistance, I give it another 1/4 turn. Do NOT over-torque, you will strip the aluminum threads and be #@$$#%ed. Good luck!

Probably your alignment is out. Get it checked, and they'll let you know if there are other suspension problems too.

Are you referring to the plug wire boots? They just pull off. Grab the base of the boot though, not the wire itself.

I did replace the balljoints just two weeks ago, helped a lot, but still minor but persistant issues. I know I need an alignment - I have one booked later this week. I just wanted to clear my bases first to make sure there is nothing else before I drop $75+ tax for a 4 wheel alignment. I know the mixing of struts is not a great idea, but I have little choice. I plan to replace them eventually, but they seem to be fine for now. Far as I know the rear camber is not really adjustable, and if out, is probably a sign of worn/damaged parts (e.g. trailing arm, control arm). Nothing looks damaged to me there. Which brings me to my other question. What alignment settings should I get? I travel largely on the highway, usually at mostly legal speeds. I like it to corner well, but not such that affects straight line driveability. I was thinking: front: -0.25 to -0.5° camber, 1/8 toe in Rear: 0 toe Or will this be too aggressive?

Nice, although I'd check it out ASAP - we take our wipers for granted, and they can potentially be the most important part on the car at times! I replaced all my wipers recently with the ridiculously expensive "reflex" ones, that are a thin unibody piece with a blade across them that bows in an arc. This gives much better coverage at those pesky edges, plus minimizes lift on highways. However my rear arm is old and weak, and wasn't quite planting it down well, so the edges were clearing but not the centre so well (couldn't find a replacement, and I drive a lot on highways daily). So I got some clips for a ridiculous fee to hold them tightly down. Now it's almost too tight, and my aging wiper motor is slowing them down I think. But, it works well now!

Excellent news. Quite sad that it required your input to have them do this, but better this than nothign I suppose.

I am tired of my ongoing handling issues. I had the air suspension and swapped in used springs and new struts in the rear. Somewhat used struts in front. Seem to have lots of dampening left when hitting bumps and whatnot. Before swap ride was crap but solid (more or less). Afterwards, problems (listed below). Replacing my balljoints tightened up my steering and helped stabilise things a lot, and I know I need an alignment pronto, but I can't help but think there might be something else. Symptoms: Oversteer! Feels like I'm diving into turn WAY too much, and corrections on the highway seem to over-correct. I accidently caught the edge of the road today (snow over everything!) and when I pulled back to the left it way over compensated and I nealry ended up in the next lane. Pulling back to the right offered the same response. A bit scary. Difficulty tracking straight. Seems to want to wander slightly, and the oversteer makes corrections annoying. Now this alone I'd chock up to bad alignment. But two things. One is that as far as I can tell, it would be mostly a toe issue. But my tie-rods have not been adjusted since I've owned the car. Would replacing the air with the regular suspension change the way the toe moves in? Secondly, front-end wobble - when moving the wheel back and forth quickly while driving at highway speeds, the front end seems to wobble back and forth afterwards for a second. The wobble seems to indicate something it not quite tight or is worn. Checked tie-rods - no excessive play. OUters may be a little flexible, but no play in them. inners tight. Wheel bearings - seem fine, no drone, pulling out on the wheel shows no play. Springs seems strong, cannot twist them with weight on them. If I grad a couple of loops with my hand, I can just slightly pinch them together, but it doesn't loosen the spring. CV shafts (front) new. No problems there. Sway bar tight. Nothing seems bent or out of shape. I want to get an alignment, but feel there is little point if I need to fix something else first. Lifetime alignments are not available here. On a fixed budget. Suggestions? If it is just the alignment, then what would be the issue most likely? I just don't trust any mechanic I've ever met. Thanks folks!

I've got 243 000 km on mine, I suppose about 152 000 miles. Put on almost 26 000 km since last year already. Engine runs great, tranny starting to show some intermittent torque bind (solenoid c prob), replaced the ghastly air suspension, balljoints, some exhaust work in the works. Belt started squealing tonight. Great. New wipers all around (reflex type, expensive!). Recent rotors and brakes. New rear struts. Body in fair condition, some rust. Not suprising here though. I love her. She has problems. But I love her.