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Comments
Thanks a bunch! Great photos, as always!
I'm off to Pep Boys to buy some supplies!
Ken
You can get a special funnel from the parts store that screws onto the bottle. Then just tip the bottle up and pour it in. Some gear oils (M1 I think) come with a pointed bottle top so you might not need a funnel.
edit: You guys are fast. You'd think this was a chat.
Dennis
I doubt a funnel along will work, because you can't get above the fill hole (it's the upper hole, pretty far up there). You'll probably need tubing or a pump.
-juice
Dennis
BTW - Juice did you see the June issue of Sport Compact Car mag? 55 new tuner parts for the Miata.
bit
I was going to install the Kartboy shifter today so now I'll have something to do while the oil drains!
The one strange thing about the noise is that it only happens at part throttle. Is that consistent with a diffy noise?
Ken
Thanks!
Patti
She says that the car lurches? I guess when accelerating it doesn't engage right away? She shifts and then gives it gas, it seems underpowered and the revs don't go up, then it all of a sudden takes off? Almost like their is an injector problem?
Any ideas?
-mike
Patti: Thanks for the input. I completely agree that your way is the right way. I just thought that a quick oil change might save me the trouble of having to go to the dealer. As you might know, the closest dealer I trust (Santa Cruz) is far away from both work and home. Given that I couldn't open the plugs, I think I just may take it to a dealer.
BTW, did you mean to say that I should start a case in conjunction with visiting a dealer?
Ken
Sorry for the agg of having to travel to the dealer!
Patti
Service manager says its normal and that Subaru has no official statement on engine pinging. My limited knowledge about pre-ignition pinging is that its normal during hard acceleration or going up a "steep" hill. If its supposed to ping then I'm confused why it doesn't always ping and knock. Last night the pinging was more of a knock and it was occurring while holding a steady speed of 40 mph on level ground (no acceleration or hill climbing involved), A/C off and auto trans in 4th gear.
Last summer the dealer changed the knock sensor but it didn't help. I've tried switching brands of gas and that hasn't helped either. Running high octane gas does reduce the intensity of the pinging but that's an expensive fix.
I believe excessive pinging and knocking can damage the valves and lead to carbon buildup. Should I be concerned about this?
Anyone have any suggestions or advice?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Vince
Sean: I'd guess it's the tranny. Sounds to me like it starts in 2nd gear, kind of hesitating, and when you give it gas it shifts down to first and then surges forward.
It'll only get worse, so have it serviced ASAP, is my advice.
Patti: can we ask that dealers watch out for torque specs? It seems that every bolt I encounter is over-torqued as well. Aren't those air wrenches adjustable?
Vince: warm air is less dense, so I'm puzzled. When you compress cooler air it actually has a higher effective compression ratio.
Either way, does not sound normal to me at all.
-juice
This was a problem in some 5-speed '97 Subes. Mine has it and my former dealer blamed it on a loose vacuum hose. A week later, it started happening again. It always happens after every oil change so I just got used to re-setting the ECU regularly by disconnecting the battery for 30 min.
Otherwise, it might just need a tune-up.
Dennis
juice: I agree. I was trying everything possible to get those plugs open. I even tried gently pushing on my ratchet handle with my foot since I had little leverage under the Forester. Those things are welded shut!
Ken
while the warmer air is less dense it is probably also increasing the operating temperature of the engine enough to cause pre-ignition which in turn is causing the pinging and knocking.
vince
I've got a similar pinging problem that gets worse as the weather warms. Super unleaded seems to help, but it's expensive. I'm taking the district service rep. out on Monday so he can hear the problem. Unless they've redesigned the knock sensor (or mine is defective), I'm guessing that won't solve the problem. I'm wondering if a new computer might fix it? Any other suggestions to look at? I'm also having a problem with the new MAF sensor creating a shaking at idle. (Idle is smooth but the engine shakes.)
Eric
I'm leaving the car with the dealer next Wed and they can have it as long as needed to troubleshoot and correct the problem. One remote possibility is they changed a defective knock sensor with a new defective knock sensor.
Service manager indicated he wants to check a few items but wasn't specific.
Please post any info you receive. I'll post a response after I pick up my car in a week or so.
Vince
Dennis
The service manager at least made arrangements for a local repar shop near where I work to replace the latch. Two weeks later no word. I finally call and Subaru had had the part but no one called me on it. A friend who gets fridays off said he would take it in to have it fixed. However, we got hit with another snow storm and the highway was closed to due many rollovers and more! Studs came off a few days ago. Now I have to take more time off if my friend was not able to get the car in there before noon. He would have to sit there the rest of the day while the latch was being replaced.
So to add to those posts about low to no inventory of parts something needs to be done. We have one dealership for the entire South Central area of Alaska and one in Fairbanks (8 hours drive north). In addition, Subaru is closed on the weekends so people like me have to take time off from work, drive 2 hours and then sit for hours and hours. There really should be more flexibility especially when probably more than half of the Alaskan population drive subarus!
I hope SOA will help fix this problem if they can. If not then it is a major consideration in buying a vehicle. And again, like I said earlier, if the Subaru Forester can not handle a mile of non-pavement road then daily then they have a design problem. mich
Thanks, Dan
Will you hurt the car? Nah, not unless you hear detonation and keep on the gas. If you hear something that sounds like muffled firecrackers, get off the gas. If this happens repeatedly, your car definitely needs higher octane.
-Colin
The H6 was designed for premium. It will probably run on lower octane gas because of the knock sensor, but chances are it will run at lower performance.
Ken
Thanks!
Patti
I'm not sure about a "ping" being normal. If you need help, call us.
One thing that struck me was when you indicate it is in warm weather. Are you in an area where different fuel blends are used for summer and winter? I am aware that some summer blends can cause a ping. If your dealer is saying it's normal, can you ask if they mean normal for your area of the country?
Patti
automatic transmission when going from 2nd to 3rd. This only happens ONCE, and never repeats doing so (ie. after making my first 'stop' at the corner).
My Outback is only 1 month new with 2200 miles.
Questions:
1). What could be the cause(s)?
2). What is the fix?
3). Has anyonce else experienced this with their Outback?
4). Should I be overly concerned?
Since my nearest Subie Dealer is over 30+ miles away, I can not drive it there (even to leave it overnight -- a LONG walk back) to reproduce the situation?
My thanks in advance for all who can supply some help.
--
Mike
Plover, WI
Dan: Subaru says the H6 will even run on 87 octane. Just expect a little less pep, since it'll retard the timing as needed to prevent pinging. I read you lose about 4hp running 87 octane.
-juice
However, I went to change my oil on Saturday and to my surprise there is a hood cover that first needs to be removed! How? There are a number of screws but then there are two strange creatures that I am not sure how you remove them. So maybe you don't? If I knew changing the oil would be so difficult I would have had Subaru do it while fixing the rear door!
I read all the comments on the crush washer but do not recall any thing about a hood cover! help. mich
The bottom cover is held in place by 4 screws and two plastic buttons. The 4 screws are in pairs on the front and back of the cover, as you have found out. The 2 plastic buttons can be seen inside the front wheel well, one on each side. To remove these, you simply take a standard screwdriver and gently pry up the center piece. When that pops up, the button should come off fairly easily.
I think someone might have some pictures -- juice?
Ken
Look here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1400062&a=12183672&p=44301004&f=0
-juice
Don't forget your crush ring!
BTW your first oil change is free at the dealership.
only to inspect it. Anyone done this? Dealer wants $150.00 to drain and flush it, and says to wait until 80K to do the F/R diff fluids. Any thoughts?
-juice
I'm 50 miles north of Philly. Not sure if the gas in our area is changed for the summer. Also, "atmospherically" we're pretty close to sea level.
When the shop foreman indicated its fairly normal for the engine to ping I believe he was referring more to the car and not to the area of the country. He also said Subaru has not published any info specific to pinging if its normal or not.
Last summer the knock sensor was replaced. It could be possible, but highly unlikely, that the new one was also defective.
The pattern is fairly repeatable: drive for 10 to 15 minutes and turn the car off for a brief period. When its restarted it will usually ping. On occasion it will actually knock. It has also pinged and knocked when holding a steady speed on level ground. None of this happens when the air temperature is below approx 65-70 degrees.
If pinging (and occasionally knocking) is normal then it should do it all of the time but even if it did I would still be concerned.
On May 9 I'll be leaving the car with the Dealer (Becker Subaru in Wescosville, PA) for as long as they need it to diagnose the problem. I've asked the shop foreman to drive the car over several days so he can hear the engine under different circumstances.
Shop foreman indicated since they are pretty close to SOA hdqtrs and because they sell so many cars that they get real quick responses when calling in for tech help and they also receive frequent visits from area factory reps. I'll let you know what kind of progress they make.
Your offer for assistance is greatly appreciated.
Vince
Patti
If I would call in to Subaru's 800 number how will I get past the Customer Service Rep with this issue?
Vince
ps You either have insomnia or must really enjoy working with customers to be responding at 2:18 AM.
greg
Greg - I put synthetic Mobil 1 Gear oil (75w90) in the Miata's rear diffy and tranny. You can't feel a difference in the rear diffy, but the tranny is slightly easier to shift in the cold. Though that may have been the turret oil (which is unique to the Miata), which was previously empty.
-juice
When you call, let the C. S. Rep. start the case file. (I can be hard to track down). Let them know that I want to keep an eye on the case and ask them to let me know when you call.
I look forward to helping you get this resolved.
Thanks!
Patti
My question is to all Forester S owners: are your doors locked automatically when you start driving (assuming you left them unlocked)?
-mike
Haven't heard of that feature on the Forester alarm. If your 2001 has the same alarm system (which I think it does) I don't think that feature exists. The alarm is from Alpine and it's a pretty basic one.
Wind noise: You might want to check your window seals or even see if your roof rack cross bars are mounted in the right direction.
Ken
quite possibly not related, but I'm curious.
-Colin
Ken