dklein90

hahaa oops 215/65/16

Will 215/65/16's fit on my 98 forester S. I need new tires and a friend has two sets that he will give to me. thanks -Dave

Thank you everyone So I am convinced that it is a head gasket. The car is now parked untill it will be repaired. I cant risk blowing the motor. Tom, thanks for the straight out answer, thats the best explanation of the problem that I have seen. Everyone having doubts should read that. Maine is doing well, nice ans sunny today and promising to be a good weekend. Thanks again -Dave

haha sorry 98 Forester S 2.5L automatic one more thing to add, I noticed the other day that the top Rad hose was warm, not hot. And the lower hose was cool to the touch. ive always known that to be a sign of a stuck thermostat.

A few weeks ago I asked about oil in the radiator and overflow. People gave me some good advice and now Im back for more. I had a friend pressure test the system to 15 lbs. The system held the pressuer without any problems. Ive been doing alot of dirt road driving over the last 5 months so we decided that the gunk in the radiator was dirt getting into the system. Over the last few weeks Ive made several long trips in the car and it held up fine. Temp gague never went above half. There have been no signs of water in the oil or being burnt. Recently Ive been noticing that the overflow has been staying full of water and the radiator is empty. Car still runs just as cool as ever. If there is a head gasket problem shouldnt the pressure test have shown a drop in pressure? what else could be causing the fluid to collect in the overflow. Stuck thermostat, or a bad radiator cap? Is there anything else that im not thinking of. Lastly, am I fooling myself and I just need to replace the headgasket. What test can I run to know for sure that the head gasket is bad. sorry its so long -Dave

Hey Peter, thanks for the insight on another potential cause. I wont give up on Subaru just yet. My mechanic friend said something about that being a potential cause. I just thought whatever crazy Toyota mechanic. So now that I hear it from a Suby owner Im a little more open to the idea. We will check it out. Can anyone tell me more about how that whole system works. Is it basicaly a trans. cooling line running to the radiator? What is causing the problem if that is that case. Thanks for all the great info -Dave

I have a old 200,000 mile Toyota Camery that Im begining to think will make the trip rather than the Forester. All I need to do is put it on my insurance. Your right about Murphys Law and right now it seems to be out to get me. Its funny, I bought the Forester to replace the Camery about 4 months ago. You gotta love the old reliable. Wasnt someone on this board just asking about the differance between Subaru and Toyota. Maybe Ive got a Forester I'll sell them for cheap. haHA -Dave

Fortunetly for me my best friend is a Toyota Mechanic, on Saterday we are going to flush the cooling system and maybe presurize the system to see what happens. Im a little concerned because I have to make a 300 mile trip into the middle on know where on Sunday. (bad place to break down) The underside of the oil cap is fine and the temp needle has never been above halfway. Average outside temp is below 50, I may even encounter snow. It sounds to me like I have some time still. But plans are in the works for the big repair job. Thanks for the advise everyone. -Dave

Well thanks for the good news. I suppose I expected so it isnt a big surprise. Just a couple of things however. I just happend to be changing the oil today (long overdue) and found this mess. So I have know idea how long this has been a problem but Im assuming it didnt happen this morning. My point is that Ive been driving around normally for sometime like this. The car hasnt heated up at all, and it dosnt seem to be blowing smoke. It does have a fair amount of piston slap but I understand that is normal. How long can I drive like this and what sign should I be looking for to help me decide when to stop driving this car. -Dave

The coolant in my 98 forester isnt the green that Im used to. Its more of a greeinsh brown. Sort of what I would think oil in coolant would look like. There is also a thick sludge that is the color of burnt oil on the walls of the top of the overflow reservoir. Is this a sign of the dreaded blown headgasket? If it is how long have I got, Im currently unemployed and stressed about finding a job. All I need is motor problems. Thanks -Dave

How are you going to put that good stuff into the trans. Id like to put in some higher quality fluids but I would hate to mix it with the old burnt up fluid. atf fluid change check out this forum for more info.

I just changed the ATF in my forester the other day. Its real easy to do yourself. Just take off the drain plug and let the old stuff flow out. Replace old plug and refill. I got out about 5 quarts and it holds 10 quarts. My plan is to drive it for a week then do the procedure again. Ive heard that these autos cant be flushed out completely. The best you can do is get a mixture of new fluid in with the old. Something is better than nothing.Next week when I finish the job I plan on replacing the filter at the same time. Im using Castrol Dexron III. Seems to work well and it was cheep. Im not so sure the expensive stuff makes a big diferance. If anyone knows Im wrong about this please let me know.

I think that I want fog lights rather than driving lights. The factory fog lights are like the "pushbar", mostly for looks. I live in Maine where Moose tend to be hit by cars alot, Im hoping that the fog lights will brighten the sides of the road and help me see what is lurking in the darkness. Should I wire it so they are on a switch of their own or should they be hooked to the lowbeam's like the factory lights? Should I buy PIAA or Hella? Thanks for all the help.

The push bar is useless I agree with you on that. In fact I would remove it but I sortof like how it looks. The bracket is a good idea, I really like using the mounts for the "pushbar" rather than drilling new holes. The Z bracket would let me do that and raise the bottom of the light above the top of the bar. Thanks for the help, I really like that idea. It might be a few weeks before I get it done but I'll take pictures and post the results.

part of my concern is that the lights will be beaming into the back of the push bar. Not sure if it will sit high enough or not. I was thinking about mounting them into the bolt holes for the push bar.