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Jon
Jon
DaveM
-juice
-juice
-Colin
Ralph
-Dave
Rookie mistake of the day : while I was pondering how to get the oil from the quart into the rear differential, I accidentally dropped the little blue Mobil1 cap into the filler hole. Yikes! Spent a good 15 very tense minutes trying to fish it out (using chopsticks and a long tweezer). I knew those chopsticks would come in handy one day :-)
Hopefully plugs, fuel filter, and PCV valve this weekend. I'm leaving coolant, brake fluid and, if needed, tranny drain and fill, to the experts (I'll be calling you soon, Paisan).
Jon
I'm gonna do mine, front and rear, at 60k, that'll be next summer at my current mileage pace. Good to hear your plug was not virtually welded on like some are.
-juice
Glad to know I'm not the only one who gets into pickles like this. It's good to have a sense of humor when working on a car!
My best experience was when I was in high school, working on my first car (a FWD Dodge Colt). I had a wrench on the crankshaft pulley in order to turn the distributor rotor to properly set the points (you old timers know what I mean). I asked my brother to come over and "crank it" while I had my face a couple of inches away from the rotor, so I could get the little cam lined up right and gap the points. The dufus reached in the car, and turned the key!! He thought I said "crank it over", as in start the engine. I can only imagine the look on my face when I ralized what was happening. Of course, the wrench came off the crank and went flying about 50 feet. Luckily nobody was hurt!
Craig
bit
My biggest flop was when I put a new oil filter on our 626 without removing the rubber gasket from the old one. Got about 2 miles and the oil light went on. Left a trail of oil drips all the way, limping home.
-juice
cylinder head--
installing Cobb Tuning street cams in my '99 RS, first production batch. they'd had one-offs for a little while, but this was definitely very early in the game... sept 2001. the camshaft cap--a plate that keeps the SOHC in place-- requires a funky Torx Plus bit. This is like a torx bit except it has squared-off points instead of tapered. Regular torx bits definitely do not work... but anyway, even with the right bit, I partially stripped a few.
Once partially stripped I had two options: put the others back in and call the whole thing off, send the cams back... or pull the cylinder heads and have a lot more room to work on the partially stripped one.
__
oil filter--
some fool put an oil filter on my '88 Camaro Z28 a bit more than just hand-snug. filter wrench... nada. strap-type wrench, nope. screwdriver-through-the-filter, no dice. finally I cut the filter away completely with tin snips and cobbled together something to twist via the filter inlet holes.
24 hour oil change.
-Colin
John
Craig
Sounds too familiar...
Jim
Thanks to anyone out there still around for the long weekend!
Jon
I think I'll skip the gym today, as I got a pretty good workout pulling those boots off!
Today it's the fuel filter and, if I can figure out my PCV situation (see previous post), I'll finish that up too.
Jon
Ken
I got out the flashlight and popped the hood on my '03 Outback H-4. What you removed behind the coil (passenger side) is also brass on mine. I bet the PCV valve is the "fitting" screwed into the block at the other end of the hose. Let us know what you find out.
DaveM
Joe
Thanks for taking a look and posting, as I was hoping to find out it was not some sort of weird anamoly with my car!
Jon
Went out the next morning & voila, no more CEL! Did I trip a code that somehow timed-out, or do I have a sensor somewhere starting to go intermittent?
Cheers!
Paul
-Colin
Know anyone with a code reader near you? I'd hook 'er up to my laptop, but you're not nearby.
-Brian
Functionally, the car exhibited absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. Hummed along as usual, 27 mpg @ a steady 75mph.
Cheers!
Paul
Jim
-mike
bit
Cheers!
Paul
On August 21 while driving, I lost all control of my vehicle on a roadway and was unable to steer. Grey smoke was billowing from the right wheel well. When I got the car stopped and got out, I saw that the right front wheel was crazily tilted at a 45 degree angle and smoke coming from the right wheel well. Luckily, I chose at the last minute to take an alternate route home instead of driving on a 6 lane, heavily congested highway. Had I taken that route I have no doubt I would have been involved in a collision, causing serious injury or death to myself and possibly others as well.
The vehicle was towed to their business and the service manager, said that the mechanics neglected to torque the knuckle bolts that hold the strut and the bottom one was gone causing the wheel to loosen against the strut. The smoke came from the friction of the tire spinning against other material. They fixed the problem at no additional cost to me, but did not replace the tire, which they said had only "rub marks" on the inside of it.
I have it in black and white on their service invoice, quote, "Towed in, check front suspension, found right front lower knuckle bolt gone (upper bolt still in place) Replaced bolt and torqued all suspension bolts and aligned." This clearly admits their fault and negligence to perform this service correctly and placed my life at risk, not to mention the time and inconvenience this caused. I lost a day's work over this.
I said I wanted my credit card refunded for all the work that was done on the front of my Forester and the tire replaced. My tires were pretty new and in excellent shape. I don't believe that any tire that rubbed and caused tons of smoke to billow out from the wheel well has the same integrity as the rest of my tires. He checked with his mgr. and all he was willing to do was credit me back $100, which I told him was insulting coming from a business that's supposed to pride itself on "Customer Satisfaction in Action."
They're argument? I wasn't injured. That's like saying pointing a gun at somebody is okay and not a crime as long as you don't pull the trigger. It just as easily could have gone the other way. The Service Mgr. admitted they probably didn't torque the bolts enough.
Am I being unreasonable asking this dealership to do the right thing and refund me for this substandard, sloppy service?
I've contacted Subaru of America which in turn contacted my dealership on Friday. Got a call late Fri. afternoon from the general mgr. who said they'd be willing to replace tires, but not refund my money. I'm told to expect a call from the OWNER of the dealership tomorrow. Any advice or insights would be most appreciated. Does my safety and satisfaction mean this little to Subaru? Any legal eagles out there who know if this is worth pursuing beyond this?
You should look to SoA as an ally to get the result you seek from the Dealership. I trust, like you, that SoA is not tolerant to neglect(s), in your case, where your safety has been compromised.
Anyway, glad to hear that you're all right... your guardian angel was watching over you
-Dave
Today, I decided to check the oil. It has been 1,700 miles since the new engine. I can't see any oil on the dipstick!!! I checked it cold, I drove it for about 1/2 hour and let it set for about an hour and checked it and I also drove it for a 1/2 hour and checked it after 15 minutes and I still can't see any oil on the dipstick!!!
My questions are: Is this a normal amount of oil consumption? SHouldn't I be able to see oil on the dipstick? How low on oil is it if I can't see any on the dipstick? What could be making it consume oil? And while I am at it, the lemon law for NYS says there has to be four or more attempts to fix the problem. WOuld that include the attempts made while owned by the first owner?
Kim
The engines in general are notorious for being hard to get a good measure on the stick. Make sure the car is as level as possible. Check it cold. Pull the stick out, wipe it and let it set for a few minutes bfore measuring.
Then make a measurement. If you're sure its reasonably level and you can't see anything on the stick, add a pint of oil. Then wait a few minutes, and repeat the check steps again. Keep close watch on how much you add, being careful not to overfill.
Once you've got it set, drive for the day, then if possible park in exactly the same place, same angle, etc. Then repeat the next morning. You should now have a baseline time and location for checking the oil. As Subaru is very wide on their tolerence, a little one way or the other won't matter.
Keep a paper record of when you check it and how much you add and how many miles - don't be afraid to buy a cheap measuring cup for an exact reference of ounces added.
Now if you see the oil drop, you can document:
1) the amount you added
2) the miles driven between adding oil
This will allow you to have the facts at your command when you go to the dealer. If your dealer actually listens, it may make a difference.
HTH
Larry
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/p1b6d683997799fc8a7a9- 78d2886e1174/fdcfaeac.jpg
That's it, old and new next to each other. At least on my Phase I (though I think it's still in the same place).
-juice
That's a tough one, to be honest. The dealer did change the CV joint, that's the expensive part. I can see why they don't want to refund you for stuff they replaced; they have to reimburse Subaru for all the parts used.
They should be reprimanded by Subaru for their sloppy work, though. The tire should definitely be replaced at their cost. I'm not sure, but maybe 800-SUBARU3 would offer you something as a gesture of good will. Maybe at least extend the warranty on affected suspension components to give you peice of mind.
Call them and keep us posted, please?
Kim: I bet it's the head gaskets, or the O-ring that seals the oil pump. Ask your brother to check the bottom of the block for the gaskets, and the front of the engine, near the belts, for the O-ring, to trace the leak. Also look for oil in the coolant, that's a dead give-away.
Let the dealer look at it and fix it, it's under warranty until 5/60. If it can be fixed and you like it, it's worth it.
-juice
Once again, I'm sorry!
Patti
If you aren't satisfied once you contact the dealer, please call us at 1-800-SUBARU3. One of our Representatives will be glad to start a case for you and assist.
Thanks! I hope everything is resolved to your satisfaction!
Patti
Today the knocking or rocking while stopped in drive seemed worse. Any one have any ideas what could cause that? If feels the way I imagine a big suped up race car would sitting at an idle and just rumbling away. This sensation only occurs when the car is in drive at a stop. If I shift into park ( and the load is off the engine) it goes away. Doesn't matter if the air is on or off. Sometimes it is worse than others. This morning it was minimal, this afternoon (after I put gas in the car) it was much worse. This evening on a short trip through town it was almost non existent again????
Thank you to all who have offered help. This board is awesome!
Kim
Is it like the car goes into convulsion? Rough vibrations.
I had this off and on with my '98 OB and the '99 OBS; none on the '03 WRX. The vibrations I've gotten is like when you're playing the clutch, letting it off just at the point where you need to give some gas. Goes away in Park or Neutral.
-Dave
p/s The Franken L does it too.
Mike k
Chuck
Juice, Chuck: As I said above, Subaru must have changed the setup a little on recent models because that fitting is not an actual valve. The valve seems to be moved to the other end, down on the crankcase. Anybody else with an 02 or later (Fibber-Steve?) care to take a look and see if theirs is the same?
Jon
Steve
It only occurs when the car is in drive stopped at a stop light or stop sign. It stops when I shift into park or neutral.
This morning it was non existent. I will take it out at lunch time and see what is does then.
NJSwamplands...If you are still around I noticed you had a post back in august about a problem like this. Did you get it resolved? What was the problem?
Kim
Steve