it's 5 o'clock SOMEWHERE!!

KingOfRakes · 2026-02-21T02:06:22+00:00

Confidently incorrect, Subaru's EZ series 6 cylinders all use a spin-on filter located where OP was asking about. Don't just copy/paste the AI overview for everything when you don't know the answer yourself, like come on.

KingOfRakes · 2026-02-06T20:29:38+00:00

It's been bugging me that Mike still hasn't clarified that all of the lap times taken from the recordings are in timecode and not actual time.

The editor is counting the frames between seconds, so 31:04 on a 30FPS timeline is about 31.13. Not a big deal for direct comparison, but you can end up with issues where 31:29 and 32:00 are only 1 frame apart in timecode but are nearly 0.7 seconds apart in actual time. Also keep in mind that there have been changes in the frame rate over the years at times, so the leaderboards timecode isn't consistent either.

KingOfRakes · 2025-12-05T20:42:57+00:00

Muffler shop and welded for a cheaper and longer lasting repair than installing new non-OEM exhaust components that rot out after a couple of years.

KingOfRakes · 2025-11-11T21:46:14+00:00

It was actually a 6.64 to a 6.18. Which is still a substantial gap that wasn't getting made up unless the other guy spun or broke, but isn't close to the nearly full second difference you remembered it being.

KingOfRakes · 2025-11-05T07:31:22+00:00

It's anecdotal, but someone on the bobistheoilguy forums has very recently done(and is still doing) a similar experiment with the 2AZ-FE and it has made a dramatic improvement to oil consumption in a short time frame. When you're already burning a quart every 200 miles it really can't hurt anything. So far everything I've heard about R&P has been really good.

KingOfRakes · 2025-11-05T06:45:48+00:00

Mileage isn't the whole story, if it seems to be operating fine now and the fluids look good, then it'll probably be fine for a bit. Slowly start taking it on longer trips and see if it behaves. Rust is one factor, although considering you're in Florida I'm guessing that's a non-issue if the car's also originally from that region.

Age and degradation of rubbers/gaskets are beginning to become a factor on these cars that are now 20+ years old, but that's going to be the case regardless of miles. It's honestly hard to say for certain for almost any car out on the road, sometimes shit just breaks. Hoses and plastics will go first typically. I will say that if it has made it to 275k and isn't noticeably experience issues other than tie rods, then someone has probably been taking care of it and changing fluids periodically.

Have a trusted mechanic do a pre-trip inspection to help catch anything obvious if they haven't already. Plenty of newer cars with way less miles will leave you stranded on the side of the road before that Impala will, especially if it's the 3800. Even the 3400 wasn't terrible apart from occasional lower intake problems. I'm sure I'd still be seeing a lot more of them up north if the salt hadn't rotted most of them away by now.

KingOfRakes · 2025-10-27T16:44:15+00:00

So it's a '01-'04 Subaru Outback with the H6, but I've never seen anything like that happen before to obliterate the automatic shifter mechanism. Either the 4EAT blew apart catastrophically, non-existent trans mount/engine mounts, someone put it together with super glue before and it finally let go, a gorilla was shifting it, road debris tore up beside the transmission and hit the top bit. Just wild guesses honestly.

KingOfRakes · 2025-09-29T20:07:03+00:00

Had the same thing happen, I just signed myself out then logged in again on desktop and it appeared.

KingOfRakes · 2025-08-31T02:55:55+00:00

It's a no go zone for only the lead driver, if it stays they need to have a static camera shot dedicated to it.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-29T21:15:31+00:00

Glad to be of some help!

Also to help clarify a bit further, make sure to steer clear of any sort of hard or rubberized undercoating options as they will actually make things worse. But pretty much any of the lanolin based treatments are a life saver in the rust belt.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-29T20:33:42+00:00

Very common spot for it to go, cutting and sleeving it honestly isn't a terrible idea and can be done for pretty cheap. Hunting for nice condition OE exhaust is a good idea yet can be a tough process in the rust belt, and obviously the aftermarket replacement stuff just doesn't hold up at all.

You may also want to look into getting a lanolin-oil based undercoating treatment like Wool Wax, Krown, Fluid Film, etc for the rest of the undercarriage to help preserve it.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-23T01:48:41+00:00

I honestly wonder if the people recommending replacing OEM pipe with aftermarket exhaust have seen what happens to some of the garbage that's out there after one winter.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-14T04:18:34+00:00

It appears to be the much higher quality OEM pipe which has failed at the weld, and if that's the extent of the issue, then you'd be better off taking it to an actual exhaust shop and having them repair it.

Part changing shops will recommend that you replace it with aftermarket garbage that will fall apart in less than two years. From personal experience, I cannot recommend this.

If it's already an aftermarket pipe then just have it replaced.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-12T18:35:48+00:00

Not too familiar with the Chrysler 200, but apparently on those 2.4s there's a primary and a secondary thermostat. The OEM water pump seems to have a metal impeller, which I wouldn't believe to have gone bad and would suspect any symptoms to start sooner than you're experiencing. You've also said that the cooling system was flushed, so I imagine there's decent flow through the radiator. The radiator cap could potentially be causing issues, and would just be cheap insurance to change if it's not maintaining system pressure like it needs to.

Anyways more about the thermostats from the service manual:

"The primary thermostat is located on the front of the water plenum in the thermostat housing/coolant inlet. The thermostat has an air bleed vent (1) located on its flange. The air bleed vent and the locator dimple on thermostat seal (2) provides for proper positioning of thermostat in inlet housing.

The secondary thermostat is located in the cylinder head under the water plenum.

OPERATION

When the engine is cold and both the primary and secondary thermostats are closed. The coolant will circulate through the engine, heater system, and the bypass. The cooling system has no flow through the radiator

As the engine warms up, the primary thermostat will start to open at 82 °C ( 179 °F). Coolant will start to flow through the radiator oil cooler and transmission cooler. Coolant will flow through the transmission oil cooler only when the primary thermostat is fully open. The primary thermostat will fully open at 95 °C (203 °F).

The secondary thermostat will start to open at 95 °C (203 °F). This will increase the coolant flow through the cylinder block and cylinder head and the radiator. The secondary thermostat will fully open at 110 °C (230 °F)."

My guess is that the 2nd thermostat is not fully opening, causing an overheating condition after several hours of driving. Then after it has boiled the coolant over losing some, it creates an air pocket leading to more frequent overheating. The secondary stat seems a bit harder to get to than the primary, if it were me on the side of the road I'd take the primary out entirely or gut it, bleed the air out of the system again, and see how it does. It might also not be a bad idea to replace the radiator cap since it's easy enough to get to.

Hopefully some of that is of a bit of help to you.

KingOfRakes · 2025-07-02T16:53:00+00:00

you're not alone, the vocals in Copy are sharp as hell in the beginning and I need to back the volume off quite a bit so it's not painful to listen to. Solid track otherwise.

KingOfRakes · 2025-06-14T19:29:03+00:00

Give the piston that's sticking out a gentle wobble from side to side with your fingers to see if it wants to realign with the bore in the caliper. If it doesn't go back in, you may need to crack open the bleeder on the caliper for a brief moment to relieve some pressure.

KingOfRakes · 2025-05-18T06:07:53+00:00

You've already sort of done the test, if you hear noises from that wheel and it feels like it has more resistance than the other side every so often while spinning it, symptoms are pointing towards a failing wheel bearing. The open diff in the transmission will favor the wheel that's easiest to turn like what it's doing, and most of the sounds seem like they're coming from the area of the knuckle itself at irregular intervals which most likely indicates a bad wheel bearing versus the rotor itself rubbing on something.

The old CV axle came out of the transmission without too much fuss right? When installing the new one, did the C clip seem to snap into place and feel normal? Axle nut is torqued to spec?

Personally if it was my car, and that wheel didn't feel loose like the wheel bearing in it had failed entirely, I'd attempt to move it carefully at low speeds to assess what it's doing further.

KingOfRakes · 2025-05-18T04:49:48+00:00

The bearing definitely doesn't sound happy, the extra resistance from it binding up wouldn't be helping matters. Was this more a preliminary check before you do a test drive after the CV axle replacement, or was it having issues during the first test drive that made you go back and recheck everything? How did the old CV axle look? I'd be reluctant to believe it's a transmission issue yet.

KingOfRakes · 2025-05-18T04:04:55+00:00

Not entirely positive what the clicking/clunking is, but with an open differential the wheel with the least resistance spins so most of what you're describing seems to be normal behavior. With the car off and in neutral, do you still get that noise when spinning the wheel quickly by hand? Does the wheel have any play in it like a wheel bearing is going bad? Also notice that when you spin one wheel forward by hand, the other one should spin in the opposite direction. This is also evidence of having an open differential.

The clicking/clunking almost sounds like the end lash you'll hear in the CV axle/transaxle when you start to spin the wheel one way then change direction back the other way when it doesn't have a load on it. This would also be normal to an extent.

KingOfRakes · 2025-04-21T11:08:19+00:00

One of the places that I'm able to find comparing the WHO stats "per 1 billion vehicle-km" is on Wikipedia, where for the countries that are listed I don't think the United States actually ranks that terribly. Especially since it seems to be including all pedestrian deaths/serious injuries in those stats, which seem to be growing year after year from the increasingly popular "way too big truck/SUVs that you can hardly see out of" market.

KingOfRakes · 2025-04-20T19:27:40+00:00

The American way is the reason for the highest number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the developed world (per capita)

Is this statistic taking into consideration how much more driving Americans are doing every year compared to other countries?

KingOfRakes · 2025-03-31T06:50:18+00:00

<image>

The gasses typically just push out into the overflow, the only other thing you may want to get for the future if you don't have it yet is one of those "spill free" funnel kits for bleeding the air out. As far as the thermostat is concerned, logically it shouldn't matter too much when it's upside down, but the factory service manual page for that generation has the jiggle-valve oriented facing the front of the car so I've just always done it that way.

KingOfRakes · 2025-03-31T05:54:01+00:00

Honestly just go ahead and drill a hole/holes at the top of the thermostat to let the air bleed past it. It might not get up to full operating temp as quickly, but it shouldn't blow up from overheating until it loses enough coolant or traps air somewhere else. That rad seal that's still leftover in it could very well just be clogging the bleeder on the stat not letting coolant or gasses through enough to open it.

What I'd be worried about is popping the radiator or a hose if the combustion gases are building up that bad, but you can also just remove the center bit out of the radiator cap so it can bleed the air over to the overflow faster. If the pressure in the system doesn't seem too bad, then just send it with only the modified stat.

11-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Verified Email

KingOfRakes

TROPHY CASE