1 Lucky Texan

How long do till you can get a tire/tires. Then we may have an opinion for you. (great question dodge huh?)

What was the last year to get the spare under the hood?

yeah, likely the beveling/radiusing was done on a different day or by a different machinist or something. Neither of those surfaces are critical.

maybe somewhat off topic but - is the behavior of the center diff the same in reverse as - say - in first? That is, it is not 'locked' by selection of reverse and waits for slip to be detected before xferring torque? just wondering

You could try pulling some fuses to try to narrow down the circuit. I dunno.

please ignore

Reset the ECU immediately after filling up. Other wise it could take several drive cycles for the ECU to advance the timing for the higher octane fuel. fun idea

Lower the window and squish the outer mirror area against the black triangle (tweeter area if so equipped) on the inside together. Now, train yourself to close the door by pushing on the metal and avoid pushing the glass. Repeat as necessary.

I've posted the complaint about my '03 OBW's tranny. 99.9% of the time it's flawless. But, high speed (over 70, and the higher the worse) downshifting displays a horrible over rev/bang into gear problem. I will likely complain again ina few days when I take it in for some service (I hear a weird noise when the A/C compressor is on - like a low refrigerant condition) to a different dealership. fyi

If a car had 50/50 weight distribution, then the shape/size of the contact patch of identical tires with identical pressures would be the same. But our (and most) vehicles are front heavy and the front tires - for at least this reason, and maybe including braking, understeer,ect. - need MORE pressure than the rears to maintain a similar contact patch size. Admittedly, there may be reasons that, given the dynamic nature of cars, even having the same size contact patch would be detrimental. Personally, I approximate the 'door' specs plus around 10 percent. maintaining any difference front to rear. On the Outback when I knew I was preparing for a road trip with luggage and passengers, I ran the same pressures front to rear and about 20% higher than recommended. I dunno

That's what I thought til I saw his post. I think grosgary also said the ECU will detect the fuse position on startup - so some type of feedback is involved. If someone has a switch in the FWD circuit - will the FWD light be lit if the switch is flipped while running? Or only after startup? It DOES seem folks have confirmed the solenoid FUNCTION is controlled while running. Just seems weird how the ECU would detect this stuff differently. I doubt I'd need to ever do this mod. I just find it interesting.

I didn't realize that. I guess, instead of a constant 12v or ground applied to the duty solenoid C, the fuse position is perhaps just a signal to the ECU. hmmmm....

This is an excellent compromise. You get the clean filter PLUS a boost of - what - 1/2 quart or more of fresh oil/additives. good suggestion

Designed by Mel A. Noma I believe. (do I NEED to point out that convertible is spelled wrong in your reply?) lol! I keed I keed! hah!

you might enjoy these links; http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedincontents.shtml

Yeah, there's been a lot of advances in engine design and oil additives. But, I use Mobil 1 and still try to change it at 5-6K. A lot also depends on driving style, age/condition of vehicle, loading/towing etc. One mistake people (me when I was younger for instance) make that own old beaters is thinking they don't need to change the oil cause thery're putting in so much due to leaks or usage. But if the car has blowby, the oil is collecting combustion by producst, moisture and unburned fuel. It is just as important to maintain the change schedule (whatebevr you're comfortable with) on older vehicles. a fun site to do some reading is http://www.bobistheoilguy.com where folks discuss used oil analysis and stuff relatinge to engine oils.

here's an excerpt from the link;http://www.angelfire.com/ia2/vmax/coolantnotes.htm >>>Can DEXCOOL organic acid antifreeze be mixed with ethylene glycol antifreeze? DexCool is an ethylene glycol based antifreeze! The concern with mixing comes from the fact that there are very different chemical inhibitor packages in use. Most leading technologies will work very well when used as intended, typically at 50% in good quality water. If the coolants become mixed with DexCoolL, however, one study showed a possible aluminum corrosion problem in certain situations. The other question is a concern for dilution of the protection packages. At what mix is the there too little of either inhibitor to protect the engine? As a precaution, both GM and Caterpillar instruct that contaminated systems must be maintained as if they contained only conventional coolant.<<< this seems to be a motorcycle cooling system discussion. The 'clumping'/gel problem MAY be a myth or MAY be due to an reaction with air - I dunno. But the 2 coolants DO have somewhat incompatible additive packages. From some brief reading I can't see any reason to use Dexcool or other propylene glycol coolants in our soobs. If Subaru were to switch at some time in the future - then of course I'd try to stay with the factory style coolant. But retro-filling with PG coolant is either unhelpful or potentially damaging. Doa good flush and refill and start diagnosing again. It may just be an airlock situation or bad rad cap.

Have you spoken with a glass or mirror shop about drilling a hole? maybe you could snag a coupla normal rear windows from the wrecking yard - or even practice on some non-soob window first - and use a diamond bit to drill a hole. If there is a custom aquarium builder or a Gem & Mineral club in the area, they may have some ideas for you too. Before cheap diamond was availble, folk would use copper tubing and silicon carbide grit (say - 60-90 grit), adapt the tubing to be chucked in a drill press, build a 'well' with modeling clay around the intended hole area, use water and grit slurry and the copper tubing would eneventually grind through the glass. 'Rockhounds' make clocks this way in slabs of pertrified wood and agate - much harder than glass. If you drilled 2 or 3, you could probably sell the xtras to pay for everything such that your window was free! (except maybe for the labor) http://www.cyberrockhound.com/lapidary_diamond_drills.htm just a thought.

Maybe someone can post a diagram, but I think it's gonna be behind the intake manifold on the passenger side (left when looking into the engine bay from the front). Likely not related to installation of K&N panel filter. But, if you got a CAI of some type - that could mean some hoses were installed wrong I guess. edit, try here; http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16&highlight=pcv+location

The Positive Crankcase Ventilation system is supposed to allow excess pressure from the crankcase (think oil pan, valve covers and area behind the pistons) to be relieved and the vapors sent to the intake to be combusted by the engine. In the 'old days' those vapors would've been released to the air through a breather cap. If the crankcase were over filled with oil, its POSSIBLE the PCV system sucked some up and, instead of vapors being drawn into the cylinders, liquid oil escaped to drip down somewhere. It would be easy and inexpensive to have your mechanic inspect this system for operation,cleanliness - maybe even spot some evidence that it IS the source of the oil - and maybe solve the mystery.

I'm using 65 '/lbs on my cars. '03 OBW with stock wheels/nuts '06 WRXwgn with aftermarket wheels/nuts. Be sure to check the torque after a coupla days and then again maybe a few weeks later. (note self, you need to check yours since its been several weeks now) ;^) edit, found this link that might help; http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=107

point taken. Though the 'tree huggers' are just as likely as the 'nazis' to decide I shouldn't drive my car!

possibly PCV hose?

Hmmm...that does seem like air/fuel problem. or TPS. I don't know at what rpm the IAC becomes inactive - maybe someone can tell us. yeah, intermittent problems are the worst!

Is it more consistently associated with cold conditions (not operating temps)? I don't remeber if the front O2 sensor was changed. Does this car have MAP or MAF - ever run a K&N style filter? maybe crap/oil on the MAF filiament. I dunno. Once you get to the point where everything has been replaced, its time to wonder about the replacement components. maybe the Techron is a fluke and this is an intermittent crank or cam sensor? just thinking out loud. maybe if you could manage to stop the car sometime when it starts misbehaving and look at a plug to see if its wet with fuel? Sometimes a vacuum gauge can show sticking valves or intermittent vacuum leaks - mabe a hose is cracked or something? maybe attach a vacuum gauge and drive around for a while? Or maybe the alternator diodes are marginal and you've got ripple on the 12 volts confusing some electronics? Might be worth just going through and cleaning up some ground connections - dude, I got nothing