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Our demographics are as follows: most of us are named Dave, own Macs and pets, bike or kayak, and now we should throw in the "incident".
-juice
Just in case someone doesn't know, Juice's tip about off roading applies to train tracks as well: always approach tracks at an angle and never ride on a track, especially not a wet one.
Mary
For my enjoyment, I have a cat. For her enjoyment, I just got two fish and I guess the snail is for the fish. The cat spends much of her day trying to get the fish and I know I'm sadistic because I encourage it. Every now and then, I'm gonna have to let her win.
Mary
I just dug up that 11/96 Consumer Reports gasoline article. It basically discussed the newly mandated "clean burning" fuels. They stated: "We weren't surprised when the premium and regular versions of the various fuels showed no significant differences in either acceleration or fuel economy. Our tests simply confirmed what we have been saying for the past 60 years: Stick with regular-grade gasoline unless your car's owner's manual advises otherwise, or unless your engine knocks..."
They also "sent questionnaires to 46 oil companies, and 29 failed to respond. Mobil and Kwik Fill said their additives differ from one grade to another, and the amounts vary. BP and Chevron said they use the same additives, but in different quantities... and... The following brands use the same quantity (of their additive packages) in all grades of gasoline, according to the companies: Beacon, Citgo, Conoco, Exxon, Gettyu, Gulf, Pennzoil, Phillips 66, Shell, Sunoco, SuperAmerica, Texaco and Ultramar."
I my humble opinion, it all comes down to advertising hype.
Anyway, on the gas, the main benefit of higher octane is that it slows down the combustion process, making it more of a fast burn than an explosion. This produces more power and improves efficiency of the engine cycle. Some cars run better on premium. I had a Honda Civic several years back, and it ran better and got better mileage with premium, making the price difference a wash in the end. Other cars run the same no matter what gas is used. It depends largely on the engine design, compression ratio, combustion chamber layout, etc. My advice before you discount premium is to try it and see how your engine runs and mileage varies. To me, it's not the detergents or additives (or the lack thereof) that matter, it's the octane.
Harvey -- re: rack noise of the Thule racks, try spiral wrapping a rope or bungie cord around the crossbars -- it should be long enough to make 5-10 turns around the bar from end to end. If you look closely at the antennas on some Chrysler and Ford products, you'll see the same thing -- they have a thin wire spiral wrapped around the main antenna pole.
The spiral wrap breaks up the periodic vortex shedding off of the "pole" shapes of rack crossbars and antennas, and this vortex shedding is what creates a harmonic howling or singing noise (it's the same effect that caused the famous Tacoma Narrows bridge to resonate in the wind). You should notice a big reduction, or even elimination, of rack noise with the spiral wrap.
Craig
You're on the right track but not quite there with octane. Higher octane actually delays the onset of combustion by requiring a higher combustion chamber temperature before it burns. Hopefully this is after the sparkplug lights the fuel mix and you have a nice, even flame propogation. Detonation is where the mix ignites too early creating a violent explosion (many times normal chamber pressure), and autoignition is about like regular combustion except it takes place without the presence of spark-- the fuel burns instead of exploding. Both are bad, but detonation is a lot worse.
Technically speaking higher octane fuel has slightly less chemical energy, but we're wasting so much of it as heat it doesn't matter much.
Today's cars have very aggressive timing maps and are tuned to run very lean in part throttle operation for fuel economy. If you hear something or the engine feels sluggish, time to try a higher octane fuel or another vendor's fuel. Start out with the mfg's recommendation though.
-Colin
For details of this I scanned in the page of the service manual for my 98. It's at:
http://member.dsl-only.net/~al/watertmp.jpg
The dealer has heard the noise and said it is coming from the transaxle or transmission. However, they couldn't get it to happen on the rack, so maybe this was wishful thinking on their part. I once had a Honda with bad CV joints, and the noises were similar, although they happened when moving forward. The dealer suggested I start by changing to a heavy duty transmission fluid, which I'm willing to do, but does this sound so simple? Has any other Legacy driver experienced it?
didn't seem like it sounded or smelled right when I drove it 10 miles home. We
checked the oil level and it appeared to be overfilled. We called Wards and
they said to bring it back and they would redo it. They seemed to be
working on it for a long time when we brought it back, and we asked if
there was a problem. They admitted that the first time we had brought in,
the mechanic had drained the transaxle fluid instead of the oil, then
added 4 more qts. of oil to the already full engine. They refilled the
transaxle fluid and changed the oil, and told us to take the car into the
dealer to have the transmission evaluated for damage. They say they will
pay for the evaluation and any further work necessary, but of course we hope
there is no damage. Of course we will not be taking the Subaru to Wards
anymore.
I would have the dealer check over the engine -- you can do a lot of damage by overfilling with oil, especially that much. It can seriously increase the oil pressure, to the point that you blow out seals and gaskets. In fact, I might be more worried about the engine than the transmission.
I'm really sorry to hear about this. It would break my heart if it happened to my Soob! Another reason enforcing why I will continue to do most of my own maintenance . . .
Keep us posted.
Craig
I did not know that overfilling the oil could have damaged the engine, now I am just crossing my fingers that it's okay until we can get it to the dealer tomorrow and have it checked out. For now I only want the dealer or my DH to work on this car.
The new Foresters have the in-glass antennae, so no periodic vortex for you guys. Ha ha.
I'm with Colin on the octane debate. Octane measures resistance to pre-ignition, so premium fuel means it would take more compression to ignite the mix.
Funny story - Brazilian cars ran on Ethanol for a long period during the '80s. The octane was rated at the equivalent of 105! So they made more power from similar displacement (10% more or so), but like Colin hinted, there is less energy so efficiency was way down (about 30%).
Popularity crashed for various reasons (poor cold starts, less range, economic conditions). But they were fun to drive while they lasted, my brothers both had alcohol cars.
Alan: I believe that under pressure, the coolant does has a much higher boiling point. Chemists?
Walter - did they check the brakes? Ouch. Did you ever have your service done at Wards?
Wards: you guys never seen a boxer engine? JEEZ! The oil pan is right there, smack in the center!
Here are oil change instructions for DIYs on the fence.
-juice
There's another possibility that there is a separate reservoir for the front diff/transaxle, and again, I'm not totally familiar with what Subaru has up there (I have yet to crawl under my new OB wagon, and anyway, it's a 5-spd). I know of other AWD vehicles with separate fluid reservoirs for the transmission and front diff. So, who knows, maybe they drained something else, and not the transmission. Auto transmission fluid smells and looks so much different than oil that there should be no mistaking the two (it's really like hydraulic fluid). On the other hand, manual transmissions, gearboxes, and most diffs use straight SAE 30 or 40 oil, which is like motor oil.
Craig
Titled 4EAT Trans. binding in turns.
I have seen this problem at our dealership many times. It will require replacing the housing, seals, and clutches in the transfer case. Most of the ones we repaired were under warranty. If you need a faxed copy of the above, let me know via e-mail.
Darlene
-juice
who have never seen a boxer engine. They said there is a possibility of leaks, but if there are no strange noises when driving, it should be okay.
We shall see.
Nancy
Actually I was just talking about the small difference in chemical energy for standard and premium grades fuels without oxygenates like ethanol. Ethanol should be avoided at all costs-- it might burn cleaner but it doesn't burn well. It will cost you HP and MPG.
Here in Kansas we don't have required oxygenates but some locations sell 10% ethanol gas for the environmentally conscious, or the stupid in my opinion. The only thing good about ethanol is that it's not remotely as toxic as the other popular oxygenate, methy-tetrabutyl ethane (MTBE). MTBE doesn't burn worth a damn either.
-Colin
We get oxygenated gas year round. It used to be seasonal (winter only), and I'd notice a dip in fuel economy right about when it'd arrive.
My guess is that filter wouldn't even fit.
-juice
Fouled plugs? What do they look like?
It's probably not pinging if the octane boost didn't help.
-juice
There was also an occasional strong burning smell, mostly while climbing hills.
That would most likely be ATF. After you smell that, get to the side of the road as soon as possible (without causing an emergency) and pull the tranny dipstick. It will probably smell burnt.
Solution: have the dealer change the ATF and inspect the transmission. It is probably fine but a bit low on fluid. I would not consider this routine maintenance on such a new vehicle, so IMO it should be under warranty and totally free of charge.
-Colin
ps-- if you've been towing, especially over the vehicle's rated capacity, get a bigger transmission cooler. you can fit a universal one available from Summit Racing, large autoparts chains, etc. don't admit here or to you dealer if you "think" you might have been towing something pretty heavy, trust me.
-Bryan (Mechanical Engineer)
I'm having some trouble with my 2000 RS 4DR's paint. It is chipping at an extremely fast rate-after just 17000 kilometers the paint on the hood and doors look WAY WORSE than my 97 Ford Escort (after 75KM'S).
Even the rear spoiler has a penny sized chip on the underside-very odd. Quite dissapointed with this problem-anyone else having trouble?
Scott
But I've heard plenty of RS owners complain about thin paint. Yours in particular sounds bad-- chipping on the UNDERSIDE of the wing?
I'd take it to a dealer for evaluation. If they disagree that the paint is defective, try another dealer after you call Subaru (of Canada I presume).
Good luck!
-Colin
Let's hope the new Impreza improves on paint quality.
-juice
I don't know whether the AutoFom made all difference, or paint was such a high quality to begin with.
I don't see AutoFom (produced by BlueCoral) in stores anymore. There is another sealant (from Prolong) that you can buy for $14.99 at Target or autostores, but I did not try that yet.
Either I've gotten used to them or the 'force' is gone, but I hardly notice new ones anymore.
My former car, an Escort, looked pretty comical from certain angles. There were so many dings you couldn't tell what shape the sheetmetal was supposed to take.
The wife's car doesn't look much better. Any opinions on paintless dent removal?
-juice
I've seen "ding doctors" do some pretty amazing work on dents I figured only an "exorcist" could get out. They charge about $50 per dent, but it's worth it if you want to get a dent out with a minimum of fuss.
Craig
-juice
PS Love my door edge guards more and more!
My 2000 ob (auto trans) was also pinging under "no load" driving and primarily in 2nd and 3rd gear. 89 octane didn't correct the problem.
Dealer changed the knock sensor earlier today. Too soon to tell if the problem has been corrected since the pinging didn't occur all the time.
My transmission also makes a single clicking noise when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. For now I've been ignoring it.
Vince
My dad's (and at the time, my) neighbor had a car that was somewhat shielded from the hail based on the direction the hail traveled. It needed a whole new hood and one front fender, but had more minor damage on other panels that were fixed with paintless repair.
Most of them stayed gone, but after 3-4 years, some of them had "reverted" enough to be noticeable in daylight.
IMO this anecdotal evidence isn't scientific enough to say whether you should avoid paintless repair, but I would definitely ensure there was some kind of warranty.
-Colin
engine this weekend. i've just received a rebuilt engine from colorado component rebuilders. ?
Nancy
Nancy: a whole new tranny, wow! At least you can have your piece of mind back.
-juice
PS Colin: thanks for the tip, I didn't feel like sinking any money into the (older) 626 anyway
nlmurph, I actually have experience there. not me personally, but the person who I bought my '88 z28 from (in '94). precision tune did a 42 point guaranteed checkup but forgot to check the oil level in the transmission, which was low (probably VERY low). One or two days after the checkup the transmission seized and after a post-mortem inspection at a dealer, they concluded the transmission was could not have been full when precision tune's checkup said it was. (oops!)
it took 6 months and a lawsuit to resolve the issue. PT settled out of court and paid for the new Borg-Warner T5 and I bought it 3 months later with less than 2000 miles on the transmission! I got all the paper documentation.
-Colin
Do it yourself or have a dealer or qualified service provider do the maintenance.
-Colin
Any tips? I'll probably wait a while to do it, since I'm at 28.5k.
-juice
named Dave, own Macs and pets, bike or kayak, and
now we should throw in the "incident".<<
Well of course I'm a Dave, we have 3 cats, and I bike frequently. Also, strangely enough, when I was a kid, the front wheel came off my bike as I was crossing some train tracks, I hit my head and had amnesia for about an hour. It was in New Jersey though, not Europe. However I've never used a Mac, it's always been PCs for me. Of course I drove Chryslers for many years too...
Dave #274
They looks like c-clamps. Simply crimp the fuel lines going to the filter so no fuel leaks out. Remove old filter, install new filter and uncrimp the lines.
Subaru's manuals alway's make it seem harder than it really is.
Darlene
I'll improvise some kind of crimp. A friend of mine is a nurse and they have simple plastic crimps, I may try one of those.
I changed one on my Escort, and remember that a little gas spilled. When it started up, there was a hiccup, probably some air in the fuel lines, but it did no harm.
My guess is the pressure is lower once it's been off for a while.
As usual, I'll keep you all posted. It may be a few weeks, though.
-juice
An update on my woes of the Airbag light not shutting off. The computer told the dealer it was a specific air bag controller that needed replacing. Which they did free of charge, even though I'm over my warranty. As I waited I could see there was trouble...much scratching of heads by the mechanic. After they replaced the bad controller, the AB light still wouldn't shutoff. So I was given a rental (a lovely Kia Sephia (ugh!)) while they figured it all out. They actually had to call SOA tech support where they finally talked to someone who knew what was wrong. It is some sort of steering column thing that shorts out and tells the computer that the controller is bad, over and over again...
Now there's a request out for four of these parts. There aren't ANY in the United States. So because my car is off the road (it's just sitting in the dealer's garage, all lonely) they're "picking" one of these parts off the assembly line in Japan. I'm very happy with the fact that SOA is paying for all of this, but I really miss my car. It's going to be almost two weeks! But I'll be safe and I'm praying that when they finally put this new part in, the Airbag light actually shuts off!
Yeah, the Impreza is indeed made in Japan, and most parts are sourced from suppliers also in Japan. Uncommon parts can take time.
Glad to hear they covered it.
-juice
PS A Kia? Why not a newer Soob to entice you to trade up?
The funny thing is, it's only got just over 3000 miles on it, and the check engine light just came on. I think I'm a curse for idiot lights!!
Doh!
Let's hope they can resolve this once and for all. Mine's been trouble-free (knock on wood!) and I'm sure yours will be from now on.
-juice
PS Maybe the dealer chose Kia to make yours not seem bad
when shifting from 2nd to 3rd." I've noticed the same thing with my 2K Legacy Wagon - maybe about a third of the time under slow to moderate speeds. We're at 7500 miles and only noticed the sound about 2000 miles ago. The dealer has not acknowledged that it is even happening. I've speculated about whether it has something to do with the AWD system and what others have written about elsewhere: first and second gears operate at a 50/50 power split and with the shift to third the AWD system goes to a 90/10 split. Has anybody else noticed this?