jib

A one wire, as you know, is a three wire, without the heater. Depending on the weather and the location of the sensor, it may or may not remain hot enough to function correctly. I doubt there is a way to know for sure. My old Saab had a bad O2 sensor heater. I didn't know until I was driving in near zero degree weather. Whenever I stopped, the idle would hunt up and down, a pretty good sign that the O2 sensor is bad and yes, the heater circuit in the sensor was open (broken). Driving around in more normal temps 32F and above, I never experienced the idle speed hunting. Unless you have a free 1 wire sensor to use, and cost is a big factor, I'd get the heated sensor. Jack

Bon-Ami or Softscrub will work if mild chemicals fail. They are excellent on glass. It does sound like unrefreshed Rain-X residue. Jaack

Use a manifold vacuum gage. It will tell you how hard your engine is working. Jack

Do you believe buying the cam tool makes sense, if one has an impact wrench to remove the (nasty) bolt? Jack

Modelling clay will show you where it is hitting. Jack

Nope, we waited. Go ahead and picture an outback front end on a GT, which is 3 inches lower (in stock form) than the Outback. I might be dragging those big round fog lights. Jack

New Washer - For me it's not the cost, but remembering to buy them. I should just stock them llike I do filters, but never seem to remember. Magnetic plugs - I usually epoxy a small magnet on the drain plug, again, not because it's cheaper than buying a magnetic plug, but because I don't think about it until I have the hot plug in my hand. Having a magnetic plug is sort-of a good idea. It lets you know when you've trashed your engine because it catches ferrous metals and bearing are non-ferrous, so you won't find much on the plug, until the bearings are really shot. Having a magnetic plug in your tranny, on the other hand, is a great idea. I've been amazed at what kinds of swarf comes out on those plugs, yet the tranny seems fine and just keeps going. Jack

I have four Nokian Hakkapelitta 1's on my 01 Legacy GT and have never felt more comfotable in the snow. Unlike a dual rubber compound like the Blizzak, the hydroscopic rubber in the Hakka is full tread depth and it won't wear through this better material before the deep tread is gone. Tires - you will hear more opinions than you would like to. Listen, absorb, do your own research and take the plunge. It's hard to go terribly wrong, if you use your head. Jack

Longshot - Verify the fans are blowing in the right direction. They run when the A/C is on and being reversed would essentially stop the flow of air through the radiator when driving. I've seen this on other cars. I don't know how easy it is to swap the blower direction on a Subie though. I've never been in there. Jack

Yes, they are a stop gap solution for getting home or nursing a beater into it's grave. If it's a long term driver, you'll be best served by fixing the problem correctly. BTW - I've used them for years on one car, because I thought it was going to die, but just kept going, and going, and going. The was Barr's leak pellets and this is not an endorsement. I don't like using additives. Jack

I know it seems obvious, but make sure no one is near the front of the car when you are doing this. . . . . . . or buy and impact wrench. They will pay for themselves within a few jobs where you might have sheared a bolt head off by cranking with a ratchet. Jack

VIN’s don’t necessarily tell the story. My 01 Legacy GT was in for some bodywork and the front bumper for an Outback came in instead of the Legacy GT. My auto body guy told me that my VIN was for an Outback, not a Legacy GT. Weird! Jack

I check my oil first thing in the morning when it's cold. There is no need to wipe and reinsert, and the car is parked in virtually the same spot so the results are repeatable. Jack

The damage aspect is way overblown, at least in my experience. My recently totaled out 1988 Saab 9000S had a K&N for 200,000 of it’s 250,000 mile life and until it started leaking out of the rear main seal, used virtually no oil, had no blow-by, perfect looking plugs, etc. The subie has been on K&N for most of it’s life and will continue this way. If the K&N were going to cause a problem, it would have in the12-14 years it was on the Saab, with cleanings only every 2-4 years. Particulate size is a critically overlooked aspect. A filter is designed to take out the mid to large sized particles, as the really small ones can pass through the gap between the bearings with no issues. Jack

Talk to your favorite tire guy. I suspect he can take care of this for you. Jack

There has to be a way to seal those rims from the inside. The air is going the right way to seal from the inside. Have you considered painting the inside with something like a latex material, epoxy, etc.? When I needed a set of winter wheels, I looked for the WRX guys going to +1 or +2 rims and bought used. Does this other manufacturer have forum boards where you could find similar deals with others upgrading? Jack

I thought about pulling the Mig out and welding, but I always worry about the ECU and will not weld on a car with the ECU still connected, but yes, that's the best way. Jack

My personal opinion of a chirping is that it is a failing TO bearing. The failing bearing chirps. The constant chirping means that the bearing is spinning. The bearing should stop spinning when the clutch is out (your foot is off the clutch). While this in itself is not horrible, since most of these bearings are pretty large and mounted so that they shed heat pretty well, the clutch slippage is a good reason to go in there and resolve all the issues. FYI - I’ve run chirping TO bearings for over 20,000 miles without failure. At least one sounded horrible, like marbles in a can, for many miles, but I didn’t have the time to do it, or the money to have someone else do it. It waited for me and the bearing didn’t look bad, although it didn’t roll particularly smoothly after I cleaned it. That was a 1972 Chevy Vega GT, so I suspect the Subie TO bearing would take even more abuse before detonating. Then again, it could let go tomorrow – nobody knows for sure. If this were my car, I’d be looking at finding a good time in the near future for getting it done. No rush, just do it yourself or find a good place you trust. If the clutch really is starting to slip, why wait? At best, you put off the inevitable. At worse, you could get stranded or overheat and warp the pressure plate, so it can’t be refaced. Jack

Hopefully, you mean fiberglass heat tape. . . . . In either case, header wrap tape will lead to premature failure of the pipes due to accelerated corrosion. You may want to reconsider this decision. I tightened up many of the crimped joints with a vice grip and got the rattle down to a minimum. It only acts up now in cold weather and only for 30 seonds or so. Jack

The WR is an awesome All weather tire. MY local dealer is actually trying to talk me out of a buying a second set of rims, with dedicated Nokian hakka snow tires, and into the WR on our stock rims for all season. This would be a huge cost impact to his business, but he and many of the techs at his shop really like the all weather performance of this tire. Try this to locate a dealer: http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite/map.cfm I've bought mail order from both of these guys; both know Nokian tires very well: GREER ENTERPRISES 1909 S. 74th Street West Allis, WI 53219 Phone: (414) 545-2296 G&G Service 4073 Hubertus Road Hubertus, WI 53033 414-628-1716 Jack

Can you get a piece of hanger wire into the petcock to see if only it is clogged? I've seen petcocks clog up because they are at the lowest point in the cooling system and frequently they are in a low flow area. Some sediments can gel or solidify up and a simple swabbing out will clean them. Also, is the petcock removable? Jack

Use a copper washer. All you need to do is heat it with a propane torch (hanging from a thin wire so it can get uniformly hot) until it glows cherry red and drop it into water while still glowing. Unlike steel, this softens the copper and it'll work great for many oil changes. Jack

Been there, done that, with a Saab. It went on for over 7 years without being noticed, until the windshield was replaced again. The tech called me out to see the damage. Since it was already a 12 year old car, we elected to incapsulate the entire rusty area in urethane and call it a day, but what a mess. Be careful of who replaces your glass. Jack

That's good to hear, since I live in the Kent area and Tacoma isn't too far. Do we know of any other top notch Subie mechanics in or around Kent? So far I have not yet run into anything I can't handle myself yet, but that time will come eventually. Jack

Check the mechanical parts of the system before spending big $$$'s on an ECU. As mentioned above, check the pedal switches. Also, check the mechanism that pulls the throttle in. On a non-subie car, I had the chain that pulled the throttle disconnect itself. Jack