RallyKeith

Well, you didn't ask it but simply made a statement about the old 4x140 wheels and technically it is a bit wrong. They made a change in the 5 spoke wagon wheels that made the earlier wheels not fit the later year cars. It had to do with the curve of the spokes. The early ones had a nice even curve and the later ones had a straight section and then a tight curve. The older wheels don't fit over the brakes on the newer GL/Loyale models. (Sorry, about that. This is the best place to learn useless/useful info like that) As for the other questions... No, yes, and yes. All the 5 lug patterns are the same. Any Legacy/Impreza Wheel will fit any Legacy/Impreza as long as it is the same size or larger than the factory wheel. (IE you can't put 14" wheels on an RS since they came with 15" wheels. The wheel would hit the brakes.) So, you can put any Subaru wheel that is 5 lug on your car. Lots of us have 95+ Legacys with the 16" WRX wheels on them since they can be found pretty cheap. Keith

So by intake side what do you mean? Technically I would say the intake side of the air filter would be the side the air first hits when traveling through it. If you mean on the engine side then it could be a bad PCV Valve (Positive Crank Ventilation) which prevents pressure from building up in the engine block. It is basically connected between the engine and the intake just after the filter. If that goes bad you can get oil residue on the engine side of the air filter. Keith

I'm surprised to hear that people think Castrol Quality has gone down. I just thought I'd mention that new Subarus come with the ability to extend engine warrenty if you use and document that you use Castrol oils at factory intervals. I think MY STi engine will be warrentied to 200,000 miles for using Castrol Syntec. Keith

Replace the rear Main oil Seal on the engine. Only like $20 or so and worth every penny since you can only get to it with the trans and flywheel off. Other than that I think you're ok. Keith

Um, your post, my original quote, claimed that Amsoil was also not API rated. I was responding to that. I've used Asmoil in some of my cars and never had problems. I honestly know nothing about redline other than it's supposed to be as good as the rest. Keith

Used to be a Volvo family before we found Subaru. My first cars were 240s, and my step mother now has an 850 Turbo. Subarus hold up just as good if not better than Volvos. I hope that one day soon I can pick up a late 142 to have as a summer fun car. I even have a friend that runs a Volvo restoration shop in West Virginia. I think Subaru and Volvo are a good fit. Both are car companies that have a principal and have stuck to it despite what the rest of the world thinks, and on top of that they are both companies that take engineering and design first and then figure out how to sell it. Keith

Call Advance and ask them if they can pull the codes. Most of them can pull the codes for free. Keith

Uhh, yes it does. I thought every bottle I've ever bought did and these images from the amsoil website show it. http://www.amsoil.com/products/prodpics/2004/xlo_qt_600pxh.jpg http://www.amsoil.com/products/prodpics/2003/amo_qt_600pxh.jpg http://www.amsoil.com/products/prodpics/2003/asl_qt_600pxh.jpg Unless that seal on the front label isn't Legit? Keith

The first thing you need to check is load rating. In PA tire dealers are forced to put on a tire that has the same of higher load rating as the factory tire. (You can thank Bridgestone and Ford for that) Other than that the next rule is rim width vs tire width. That small of a change is no problem, they will fit the rims just fine. Then it comes to performance, and that's where staying with the stock size for a winter only tires will give you worse snow/ice performance than going skinnier. Going to a skinnier tire gives you more PSI on the contact patch and allows the tire to Bite through the loose surface to the packed or hard surface below. This will give you better traction and better performance in the snow and ice. When given a choice I'd go smaller. While the differences in lost dry performance and gained snow/ice performance are minimal, most people don't drive on the limits of their tires in the dry and routinely over drive their tires in the snow. That means having every extra bit of traction helps. Keith

Can you say $50 for extra keys for any car with this, and they have to be ordered from the dealer. I guess it's worth the money though when you consider what it does. Keith

If you've got thoughts feel free to PM me with them. I'm the Blue Mountain Region SCCA Rally director, and I'm trying to get in touch with people at National level to try and get working on a REAL set of rallycross rules for next year. Keith

It's intersting that you say that. Technically you can't actually do that, and that's the biggest problem with the current Rallycross rules. (I'm working on trying to solve that) Since there are strict things that you can and can't do with a car for each class it becomes imposible for you to really follow the classes. Example, I don't think anybody running a turbo car is willing to put a restrictor on the turbo to match the rules. Lots of stuff like that that become to ambiguous unless you set all these defenitions for the classes in your sups, and then you're not really using those classes anyway. Just as a point certain trucks and SUVs are already covered in a truck class that is a subset of the PGT rules. I'm not saying that it's wrong, or not correct or anything. I'm just sharing that with you to explain why we on the east coast have decided to do a much simpler approach and devide into basic stock vs. modified classes. Keith Keith

Yup SCCA run, fully sanctioned and meets all the rules and requirements. The basic rules are slow speeds, nothing solid to hit within x feet of the course, and everything can be viewed from one spot. The course does change from morning to afternoon, and it is a little different each time it's run. It is a series of corners and connecting "roads" that are used, but everything is wide enough that cones are used to change the driven corner each event. Even some of the "straight" sections get cones to change how corners are approached or corners are exited. The course is run in one direction in the morning, and then reversed in the afternoon. More info can be found at http://www.dcrally.com Keith

Good point! I was in the same boat. Mine was a first delivery shipment STi that was only 29 days old when it got rear-ended. It took a little time to get the parts and fix it right. I had the dealer do it and they did a flawless job. Keith

That shouldn't actually matter. Since it wasn't her fault the other persons insurance would cover it. When I got hit in my Roo I didn't initially take the rental, but when I realized it wasn't my insurance that was going to pay it I got it. Other than that just keep on the insurance company and the adjuster. They go by the Adjuster's initial assesment on whether to fix the car or total it, but at the same time the adjust usually won't even get on his knees and look under the car to see what damage is there. They give you the excuse that once it's in the shop the shop will call to get appoval on any damage not reported in the initial assesment. So keep that in mind if you plan on just getting a check and fixing it yourself. Keith

I'll be there, but as "management." Not that I don't want to run, but they need a little help on some things so I'm lending my expertise on timing/scoring. Attached is a picture of me from the last time. It's a fun course with a good packed surface. Last report was that the surface is a little slick from the rain, but after a few runs by the setup crew and the parade lap, things should be perfect. Subarubrat, You bringing the STi? I'm guessing you don't have that stage 4 kit on and tuned yet but who knows. Last time I was putting down times in my stock STi that were only a touch slower than the Modified class, and in the afternoon I think with penalties I actually had the fastest single run time. The STi does VERY well if you know how. I'm actually not bringing my STi this time. I'm bringing my Legacy Wagon so I have something to sleep in and work out of with out care of it getting dirty inside. Also, are you coming out sunday morning or saturday night? Keith PS- I have a better picture at home that I'll upload later tonight.

I know this in the NEW Gen forum, but to be safe I want to clarify that the Later year XTs and the RXs came with a Dual Range AWD Trans. I believe that you can bolt the early EJ series motors directly up to them, but if not I'd be willing to bet someone makes a kit to do it. Keith

Yeah, honestly, we race our 96 Impreza and don't have a problem with it. If I was going to do it I'd make my own. Spending $70 on something that can be lived without would be a waste to me. Good job on taking the initiative to do it yourself! Keith

Well, I won't punish you for your mistake, I've been there where it was an emergency and I did work on the Scissor Jack out of nessecity. Anyhow, if it landed on the rotor then there is a good chance that it not only bent the backer in against the rotor, but it also probably damaged the rotor in more ways than one. You may want to keep an eye on it. Taking an impact like that might not show up immediately, but after a few heat cycles things may show up like cracks. Keith

Did you try flipping the switch on the top of the steering Column! That switch does exactly that. Since the lights go off with the key, Subaru needed a way for someone to safely leave a car parked without the keys in, but still have the parking lights left on. They did that by putting in the square switch on the top of the steering column, between the steering wheel and the dashboard. Give it a flip and your lights should go off. This is a common thing for new/newer Subaru owners. Keith

Well, I think part of the answer to your first question is in your post. You asked about the SCHOCK sensor but you were rocking your car. Trying doing things like kicking the tires (Steel toed boot recommended ) or pulling the wiper blades up and letting them flop against the windsheild really hard. Both of those things will cause the factory alarm in my STi to honk at me. I'm not sure if rocking the car will do set it off. As for the parts, I don't know what to tell you. In theroy the wiring is already there at the factory keyless entry module to add a stand alone alarm. Personally I'd go back to the dealer and aske them where that parts on the invoice goes. Better yet, stop at the parts counter and talk to them first, but don't tell them you just had it "installed." Just asked them for a price on that part number and where it lives on the car. You could probably do it over the phone. Keith

Does this happen right away when everything is cold, or only once the car gets warmed up? Dealer service manager told me once that there is an o-ring on the pump maybe, not sure all of the sudden, that starts to go and once the trans is warmed up it will start to lose some pressure and it will slip between shifts. I alos think he said that seal was accesable by pulling the pan on the tranny. Keith

Typically I've had problems with the lower sliders binding and not the top, so the lowers were all checked and lubed. Also, the caliper swiveled freely up to look at pads. Only after prying back the seal on the upper slider did I realize that in reality I was threading and unthreading the pin and it was in no way sliding. Also, the brake pads looked very new on both sides of the car, so I made the mistake of assmuing the car had been recently serviced in that manner and things like that wouldn't be an issue. (the car was bought 2 months ago from a reputible small dealership dealing mostly in Subarus) It wasn't like I blindly posted without having already looked at mostly everything, I just missed this.

WOW! Were both cats visiably bad? How did you know to replace them? Also, did you HAVE to replace them both? I'm thinking about replacing the two in my 95 with just one. I know for the Loyales the they had two cats because they weren't three way cats. Keith

Well, First off I lied. The car didn't pull when doing low speed stops. I got the car up to about 70mph today and slammed on the brakes and it did pull a bit to the left. Armed with that and what the dealer and you guys told me I went to work. Jacked up the front of the car and puilled off tghe right wheel. Behold! The upped slide pin for the caliper was seized. Would not budge, even when I heated the caliper in that area and hit on it with a sledga hammer. So I swapped out the entire caliper assembly, bled that circuit with my same little vaccum bleeder and pedal is where it belongs. Car still pulls to the left under heavy braking, so I think I may have to look at the other side, and possibly put new pads on. Anyhow, I guess I'd have to say that the dealer's suggestion was actually more correct and more helpful, since I honestly looked for something sticking first. Keith