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Comments
Also, if the calipers are not removed from brackets, how do you ensure pads clear the ridge of rust built up on the outer edge of the rotor? Or will this not be an issue?
1x a year? Wow in the USDM books there is no mention of lubing the sliders ever.
As for the ridge of the rotor, I dunno, that's a good question, all the ones I've done I could slide it off w/o too much trouble, nothing a hammer can't help out with.
-mike
Hammer?...got plenty of those..having built 3 of my own homes in the last 8 years. Come to think of it, I'm replacing rotors anyway, so a few gentle taps to knock rust off old rotors shouldn't hurt.
Thanks.
Jay.
Am I missing something or misunderstanding the question?
Jim
-juice
I had a customer a few weeks ago that we broke 3 lug-studs on his car on one side and none on the other, it was the side that got hit with road salt....
-mike
Larry
-juice
Away for a week..... Nice write-up and summary of everyones input. A few answers:
1) Re-establishing parking brake shoe clearance. This is a bit tricky on an AWD vehicle. With my previous FWD Toyota cars (same basic rear brake mechanicals), you could spin the wheel by hand and easily feel the brake drag. Tighten the shoes until you feel it drag, then back off the star gear a tooth or two. It is not so easy when you have all of the AWD shafts to turn as well. Assuming your parking brake was working well maybe count the star turns & redial them in?
2) If you go the route of removal of the caliper first, you do not need to worry about the rust ridge. Pulling the caliper towards you slightly will compress the piston a bit, allowing you to pull the caliper straight off, leaving the pads still in the carrier. Then just slip them out individually.
3) As Colin said, you can probably get away with not doing a caliper rebuild for a round or two as long as the fluid stays clean. Water in the system pits the bore, creating leaks when you compress the piston back in. Clean fluid = rust free interior.
jres
It's hard to imagine what could break through a thick sway bar like that, do you ever recall hitting anything? It's pretty well tucked in.
-juice
Seems rather bizarre that it would break. There must have been a hair line crack there to begin with.
-juice
Took it to the dealer...not sure if there was a recall or TSB but it was fixed.........for free. We were very happy as we hadn't bought the car at the dealer we had it serviced. I'd check with the dealer first -think it just rusted out which is a bit unusual as the car is only 4 now and it was replaced some time ago.
These are from the '99 Forester shop manual, so yours might vary some depending on the year/model, but they can serve as a guide:
Caliper bolts: 27.5 +/- 4 ft-lbs
Carrier to hub bolts: 58 +/- 7 ft-lbs
Steve
Larry
Mike, not sure. Dealer did not specify which side was seized, but your logic seems to make sense. Although, the thought of broken bolts is scaring me a little.....
Steve, thanks for the clarification, and for the e-mail pointing me to the write up with pics. Your e-mail prompted me to take a second look. Turns out I had missed one thread which was rather comprehensive.
Glad they covered it. There you go, that dealer set a precedent so ask for the same treatment.
-juice
Brought it to dealer who said radiator is bad, needs replacing and said that it is imporatant that the thermostat be a subaru part particularly for winter time when the heat is being used. I'm a novice here - isn't kind of early for radiator replacement? Any thoughts on the thermostat comment. Dropping close to $600 for the radiator
work - am I being taken pricewise - Appreciate your help
Radiators are cheap.
-juice
The common test for radiator plugging is to plug off the lower port (cork or hand), fill it with water, and then open the lower port. The water should come gushing out and drain the radiator within 10 seconds.
John
It was Jim who sent me the e-mail. Sorry about that Jim. Again thanks.
Anyway, a dealer can do the work for you but I would suggest going to a radiator shop (or any place that's cheaper) and getting an aftermarket radiator. I would recommend a genuine Subaru thermostat though. You can buy the thermo for under $20 (at the most) from your dealer. Honestly, radiator replacement is fairly easy. If you are adventurous, you can probably do it yourself in a couple hours. Otherwise ANY shop can do the work for you. Bring them your Subaru thermostat to install also. The radiator shouldn't take a shop more than an hour of labor to do ($100) not sure about the labor on the thermo - likely not much either.
52K miles DOES sound early for a radiator to be replaced... But if you weren't having the regular drain/flush/refill done during the scheduled intervals, it could lead to premature aging. Also, overheating itself can exacerbate the problem by damaging radiator parts. If your coolant mixture wasn't proper to ensure adequate protection then that would also lead to premature aging....
Personally, I could do the job myself over a weekend for under $150. But if you aren't that brave, you can probably get by for $250 if you shop around for best parts and labor prices. It's an easy job - you don't need to go to the dealer.
Lastly - check the radiator fluid level and overflow reservoir level - could be your overheating is just caused by inadequate fluids?
And whatever you do - DO NOT CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE CAR WHEN IT'S OVERHEATING. When you see the temp gauge go anywhere near the Red/H - pull over! It's not worth a $50 tow to incur $1500 head gasket replacement or worse yet, an entire cylinder head if you overheat and crack/warp those components. Trust me! You'll have to let the car cool with hood propped for at least 20 minutes before driving again. For the first 15 minutes, engines actually go through what's called "heat soak" where they actually get HOTTER after you shut them down due to lack of air flow. So don't think 5 minutes will cool then engine down enough to drive it again.
Good luck.
elissa
My dealer estimated $90 for parts and $90 for labour (diagnostic + install), and with tax it's a $200 bill. So my question is if it's a reasonable price? What if I do not fix this problem? The car runs fine other than the check engine light.
Thanks,
Nigel
The fluid levels were always fine and the flushing was done as scheduled. I did proceed with the radiator replacement as well as going with a subaru themostat. Dealer said head gaskets were fine, I was concerned this was related to a previous service bulletin and had them check. Anyhow, went with the dealer as having 2 young kids and a need for the car prevented me from delaying any futher. Thx again
In the old days, I would only consider replacing a radiator if the core fins were severly rotted out, allowing the core lines to flex with pressure. Invariably, core lines crack and leaks occur when missing or weak fins allow too much free play.
Anything short of that kind of failure, I would pull the radiator, and have a local shop boil it out (in caustic solution to remove all calcium or other deposits). Even better was to remove one of the end tanks (left or right on crossflow units, top or bottom on vertical flow radiators), and 'rod' out the lines. Some shops could even do a 'recore', using your ends and tranny cooler. Now I realize that todays units use crimp seals on plastic ends, rather than soldered metal (and yes, I even resoldered one myself once...). But isn't there some way to cleanse/repair a modern unit, or are we into pure throw-away time??? I just find it hard to believe that a non-leaking 5 year old car needs a radiator, and that it could not be resolved more economically.
Or am I way off base here???
Steve
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
Wanna trade bills? ;-)
-juice
Go figure--plastic is generally a poor heat conductor compared to copper and aluminum, but I will hazard to guess this is a much cheaper way to make radiators.
John
Thanks,
vetmats
A couple of years ago prices seemed lower, then again I guess we have to account for inflation.
-juice
Nigel
John
4 yr. / 60,000 mi. - list $800, selling price $500
5 yr. / 60,000 mi. - list $900, selling price $550
6 yr. / 80,000 mi. - list $1580, selling price $890
5 yr. / 100k mi. - list $1990, selling price $1295
This is for non-turbo. There's a surcharge for turbo.
DaveM
Jim
Tonight I looked closely at the turbocharger air intake in the hood of my new Legacy GT. Just in front of the air intake is a series of very fine scratches in the paint running parallel to the air flow. They extend all the way across the air intake. Has anyone else seen this? Is this a known problem? What is the cause?
Regards,
Dan.
p.s., Using a medium polish, I was able to get most of them out there, but many still remain.
BTW, Juice, you probably need to get off the fence soon with your '98, are you thinking Legacy GT?
John
-mike
Elissa
Keep in mind you get roadside assistance the whole way, plus resale. If you were buying a 5 year old Subie with 60k miles, wouldn't a year and 20k miles left on the warranty ease any concerns you had?
I staple-gunned my shorts to The Fence since we bought a small beach condo this year. No budget for a new car right now. Maybe in a year or two.
-juice
Thanks again,
vetmats
Remember, the warranty is a product/service of Subaru or America. The dealer you are talking to is not an exclusive reseller, and you can shop around.
See an online competitor's pricing. I have no affiliation with this vendor. I'm just passing on the advertised info FWIW.
So I am sure you can negotiate your price lower, how much lower? I wish you luck. What works is being prepared, hopefully the above info will serve the purpose. As for the need for getting extended warranty - for FXT it was a no-brainer, for a cheaper model you have to make your judgement. Turbos are more expensive to repair, they tend generally to fail more frequently, and I am not going to baby the car which goes 0-60 in about 6 secs.
Specifically at www.fitzmall.com they offer some kind of local owner plan, which covers loaner during service, however I think that duplicates Subaru Gold warranty, didnt get into the whole issue, sorry. So there you go, good luck. Get the best deal and make us jealous.
My guess is that the dealer might have made some kind of error when they removed the plastic sheet that covers the hood during shipping.
I hope some polish can remove them.
Ken
~c
I noticed consistently that when I got above 60mph, there is a whining / humming sound, kind of like a high pitched whistle. The sound stayed at speeds above 60mph, I didn't go any faster than 70mph. If I took my foot off the gas, the sound would stop, and would resume if I pressed the gas pedal again. Any thoughts, has anyone run into this before?
I also found that it makes (sometimes) a dreadful sound when you turn the steering wheel all the way (such as pulling out of a parking spot). Didn't happen consistently, but the couple of times it happened, there was a loud noise from the back, not the typical straining of the power steering pump that I'm used to on other cars. Is this something I need to be concerned with?