jarey

If you're like me and are planning a head unit install but just can't find the motivation, pick up a cheap bluetooth radio transmitter to tide you over until the time that you get that head unit. Grab a small one off Amazon, tune it to an empty FM band and leave it plugged into the 12v socket in the center console 24/7 to keep it out of sight. Works a treat, and lets you charge your phone too if you're ok with an unsecured cable.

Update: doesn't seem like there's anything to adjust with the pedal, had trouble actually getting at the clevis on the master cylinder pushrod. Opted to instead detach the master cylinder from the firewall and pull on it, while my assistant held the clutch pedal, in an attempt to see if there was any more travel in the piston (did not seem like there was). Tried bleeding again to no avail, but the pedal is fine somehow. Looks like that bench bleed is in order

Fingers crossed adjusting the pedal solves my woes, I kept the fluid level topped up save for when I initially sucked the old fluid out of the reservoir with a turkey baster. Guess that could’ve done it

Update: picked up a pressure bleeder to pull fluid via vacuum on the bleed screws (both on slave and master cylinder), to no success. Luckily just resetting everything and then letting the car sit seems to fix everything. Was even able to drive normally, though the pedal isn't the stiffest. I have a running theory, will test this out tomorrow. I'm thinking that the clutch master cylinder piston is not retracting far enough to allow fluid from the reservoir to flow into the rest of the system, hence why the level doesn't change initially upon bleeding, and why the pedal goes limp (since the missing transfer of fluid means there is a vacuum in the post-master line and slave cylinder, I think). The fix I have in mind is to adjust the clevis on the clutch pedal to make the pushrod a little shorter, thus pulling the master cylinder piston back far enough to allow reservoir fluid in. Found a couple threads on different forms with the same issue as me, this seemed the most promising: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/im-screwed-bleeding-my-subarus-clutch.2112814/ Can't find the original post though lol. Will report on my findings!

Another note, just squeezed the fork+slave cylinder (as pictured), and the fluid level shot up in the master cylinder reservoir. It however did not shoot back down when I released the slave cylinder, and the pedal is limp again. Looks like somehow fluid is either not easily flowing to the slave cylinder, or the slave cylinder is worn in some way that prevents it from returning after the piston is compressed. Still stumped

Hi all, I’m in the process of bleeding by clutch fluid (saw that it was dark and dirty in the reservoir, everything worked fine before otherwise). I’m doing everything per the service manual guidelines, with the help of an assistant. The clutch pedal is pumped and then pressed to the floor, at which point I crack the bleed screw on the slave cylinder and some fluid shoots out, with minimal bubbles (if any). I then re-tighten the screw and lo and behold, the pedal is stuck to the floor. The pedal will spring back up from the return spring if pulled a little bit, but snaps back to the floor when pressed. No amount of pumping seems to rebuild pressure in the system. Oddly enough, after 5 minutes of letting the cad sit with the pedal up, pressure has magically returned to the pedal. The level of fluid in the master cylinder reservoir does not move when pumping the limp pedal but does slowly get sucked into the system over time. This sounds like a non issue, but it makes me suspicious whether or not the pedal is as stiff as it should be, or if there is impending clutch doom on my horizon when something gives. Perhaps a clogged line or issue with the slave cylinder? Thanks for any advice!

Dang, sounds like a trip to Pick-n-Pull is in order. Thanks though!

I have no issues with engine temps while on the move, but if I park/drive up a steep hill the engine temp creeps up, at which point (around 3/4 up the gauge) only the passenger side radiator fan turns on. I've found that I can pop the hood and poke the driver's side fan to get it spinning, but it's not exactly a long term solution. Since the main fan still gets power but just needs a little help to get going, I'm at a loss for what the cause could be (additional resistance in the circuit, bad ground somewhere, etc.). Besides throwing a new fan motor at, any ideas? This is on a 2006 2.5i wagon w/ 5MT, for reference. Thanks!

To jump on this thread, I've also got a 2006 wagon (MT) that just gave me a nice P0171 as I was idling in a parking lot today. Any chance that an exhaust install would cause the code to pop up? Swapped out the old, rusty exhaust with aftermarket fart cans for a generally non-rusty stock catback from a 2008 sedan just the day before, though I didn't get the CEL until now. No noticeable difference in driving or idling otherwise, though it's not the smoothest ever (it never really was). Percussive maintenance occurred, so it's possible something just gave way, but I can't shake the feeling that somehow this return to stockness has awoken something in my car...

I think you're right, upon googling pics of that it looks like this is just an outside air temperature sensor that isn't attached to the bracket behind it. Ty!

I've been tooling around, doing my research and trying to figure out why my fog lights don't work, when I discovered a mystery wire at the base of my radiator inside my front bumper ('06 5MT Wagon, 2.5i). I've attached pics below (apologies, it was dark out when I took them). It looks like there's some sort of severed connector attached to the wire (which looks stock and is connected to a bracket beneath the radiator), and some plastic slides/clips attached to the front bumper that I can only imagine housed (at one point) some sort of aftermarket device. Any ideas what this could be for, and if it's at all related to my fog light woes? Thanks!

I forgot to take a picture, but I checked while changing my oil and I didn't see any oil hitting the transmission drain plug. I suppose this is something to keep an eye on, will likely be jacking the car up again soon so I'll take a pic then. I also ran a block test and didn't find any combustion gases in my coolant vapors, so the leak is indeed external, which is some nice peace of mind. Now all I have to worry about is a coolant drain/flush of some sort because when I first got the car I topped off the coolant with Peak asian 50/50 and recently discovered that the stuff in the radiator is significantly less green than the peak stuff in my reservoir (radiator stuff is sort of a greenish/bluish/teal). Hopefully won't gum my engine up, hence my upcoming switch to long life coolant. Any advice on whether or not a coolant system flush with distilled water will negatively affect the head gaskets/other cooling system bits? Or should I just stick with a drain and fill? Thanks again!

I'll take a look when I get a chance! Sad to hear that it's probably the head gaskets, previous owner didn't get them done and there's nothing in the maintenance history to suggest they were. Sad that they didn't have them done along with their cam seals and whatnot. I did have to completely top off the oil because the dipstick was reading below the low mark which isn't a great sign of careful ownership by the previous owner, but that's on me for not noticing earlier. I'm thinking of borrowing a block tester from autozone/advance, thinking that may be a good way to determine how serious the leak is and/or if it's leaking internally. Hopefully its ok to drive on for a while since I don't really have the budget to have a shop replace the head gaskets/resurface the heads. With enough effort I might be able to do it myself but I don't think I could do it quickly enough for it to be feasible.

Coming to add on to this thread years later! Recently purchased a 2006 Subaru Legacy 2.5i wagon with a manual, and had it inspected + had a wheel bearing/hub assembly replaced. While the issues the inspection turned up were minor (brakes are worn, tires are worn, power steering has a minor leak), today I took the time to personally poke around the car myself better than I was able to before. I noticed some wetness (oily/grimy) around the bottom of the engine, and on the subframe and took some pics. The source seems to be above and around the oil filter (sadly it looks to be a fram filter, going to be replacing this and changing the oil shortly). Either this is the same issue you guys discussed so long ago in this thread, or it's something else (hopefully not HG). The timing belt/cam seals/pulleys were done at 86k, car is now at 124.5k. I've added some pics below, let me know what you guys think it is (I haven't a lick of experience on the matter). Thanks! Edit: sorry my images are so big, I don't know what to do about that This is my first post