1 Lucky Texan

Yeah, I'd expect reducing the NOx ,even in the presence of a catalyst, probably requires an elevated temperature or possibly the presence of one of the other compounds from the HC or CO reactions. I will try to locate an explanation I can get my braincell around. thanx

Check the tire pressure. I've read of other folks taking delivery of soobs that had greatly over inflated tires. That can worsen the ride feel. just a thought

MAN! that's cool! ( BoM - Bank of Mom - helped me out a coupla times in the past)

No clutch packs in a manual. The heated up silicone emersed discs/whatever cause a diff to lock. I dunno. maybe he's OK. The manual kinda indicates it should be very temporary with limited speed and distance.

Interesting on the cats - I was speaking from fairly old knowledge. so, shouldn't my cars be molten right now since there is 0 fuel going through them? That's about as lean as it gets. ;^) (any links to an explanation of the chemistry that goes on inside newer type converters?) I love learning new stuff.

It will likely last longer in PA in winter than in TX in summer. But every inch the car moves the center diff fluid will be heating up, just as if he were trying to drive on ice or through mud - temporary situations at lower speeds usually. And, if the center diff is locked, the drivetrain is also now being driven on pavement in a lot of strain. Obviously, the sooner he fixes this the better. But he may have alternatives, like borrowing a car or paying someone to carpool with - I dunno. It's not a black/white issue, but suppose he said he needed to drive this way for 6 months? He'd get a differnet response from us than if he said 6 days. I dunno.

Too much fuel reaching the cat. Either some kinda seriously bad missfire issues or bad injectors or something. Doesn't mean you couldn't suffer 2 or more problems at once or that one problem can create another.

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.