AlanG

If you read what i wrote earlier, forget it , for some stoopid reason i was thinking of the rad for the aircon. Sorreee

Check the fluid level for the power steering and if okay, check the belt tension. Should just be able to turn belt 90 degrees on the longest section of the belt

I used Cometic in mine.

If you've no boost at all Frank, your wastegate is open all the time. Check the actuator linkage. Probably the circlip has pinged off and the arm's came off the actuator. This would also give that drone you mentioned from the exhaust

what you doing to stop them going again?

Just a small pointer Boris if it's of any help. You *might* find the 406 brakes better cause it's got more servo assistance than the scoob, so you need to use less effort in braking with the 406. Alternatively, it might just be the scoob itself. On mine ('99), my brakes stopped me, but the pedal feel was a bit *dead*, so gave the impression the brakes weren't any good. This was on the std Subaru braking system. I got a better brake and pedal feel by removing the bias valve which is situated next to the brake master cylinder. Removing this didn't affect the rear brakes in any way such as locking up under heavy braking or anything like that which might be seen as contrary to what you would *think* it should do, but it did give a better pedal *feel* and more confidence in the brakes. I'm not 100% sure, but pretty certain i noticed more *wear* on the rear discs/pads over time than expected, so would suggest that with the bias valve removed, the rear brakes were giving more of an input and hence more braking ability. Just a thought..

knock is detonation within the engine and is detected by a sensor on top of the engine. This then tells the ecu to retard the ignition timing to alleviate detonation. *Most likely* it's not the sensor itself but *probably* the connector to the sensor. Have a look there first before buying another sensor and check the resistance of the sensor to see if it is faulty.

As said in other posts, for the majority you won't go far wrong with the DS2500's. They are not bad in terms of brake dust, they last well and do a good job. Personally, I didn't like the Mintex 1155's i had with the 4 pots. They were alright for road, but woeful on track which surprised me, as over the years i had always preferred Mintex stuff over Ferodo. As an aside, imo, i wouldn't bother with the back of the car. At all. At 600 odd bhp, i still ran std discs and pads on the back. No issues. So unless you've got disposable income and in need of retail therapy to make you feel good and you want to "match up" the back to the front or you want bigger discs/pads in the belief of better braking, then go ahead. You may well have "better" braking, but in terms of cost/benefit, it will be minimal compared to the front. Save the pennies and spend on something more useful.

I would think what brakes to go for really depends on what use you're going to put the car through and what sort of power you've got or are aiming for. AP 6 pots, Alcons, Willwoods etc are all very well, but i'd ask if you *really* needed them. In my case I had the AP 304mm 4 pots, but brakes faded badly on a track day after 2 laps. In hindsight, it should have been the pads i looked at, but instead opted for the expensive AP 6 pots. I don't regret the 6 pots, they were stunning brakes, but expensive when i could probably have saved a load of dosh by looking into pads for the 4 pot AP's. The thing is though, I *wanted* the 6 pots. A few reasons. They were the bees knees when they came out and looked stunning. They worked brilliantly. They gave me retail therapy.... feature creep if you like. To answer the two chaps on here, ask yourself what you intend to do. If you don't have shedloads of power and only use it for road, i'd look at pads and keep to std discs assuming you've got the std Subaru 4 pots on the car. If not, get some secondhand. On track? I still think pad material is more important than fancy discs, but depending on power and number of laps at a time, it's probably worthwhile going for some bigger discs to dissipate the heat better. On the classics, they're 290 odd mm diameter, so make it worth your while, buy going up to 330mm (if you've got 17's) Oh, and about the dealer thing with getting odd bits and pieces. As you've seen this can be expensive. I see you're in EK, so not a million miles away from Paisley. I'd be inclined to go down to the Subaru breakers in Neilston Road for that kind of stuff. They're very helpful.

I wonder how many RB5's have registrations beginning T 5** ***.... Only mentioning cause this thread has this picture in it! Is it the same one?

Need to fix the link Al

My take on it is once you have surpassed the 4 years for an ordinary speeding fine, then you have paid your penance, and should be wiped forever more, yet i see it that insurance companies use carefully worded questions to be used in their *fine* print of the insurance agreement when you have to make a claim. Back in the 80's i had a question from one company when trying to insure a Sierra Cosworth which asked "will the car be garaged when not in use?" Go figure.. As always the best policy is honesty. The saving of a few pounds on a premium just isn't worth it, if the claim becomes null and void, through being economical with the truth at renewal time. Well.. even these days there's no need to find cars that are untaxed on the road or uninsured. Any car passing a police vehicle with the right equipment will draw attention to themselves without the officer in charge having to do anything about it. A good thing imo.

The problem though is that *some* insurance companies/brokers ask if you have had *any* convictions which contradicts the no need to declare after 5 years.

When you go on boost you are creating a positive pressure within the cylinders. If the head gaskets gone, the boost will apply pressure to the coolant and hence force it out of the header tank to the overflow bottle.

Just goes to show you don't always get what you pay for, but if you want a (termed loosely) *bargain*....

The light being on doesn't mean you have dodgy brakes, it only means you don't have the benefit of the safety feature of ABS. The issue is what is causing it though. May be a simple fix, may be an expensive one.

Look for a car with cruise control.... :thumbup:

And you thought intercoolers were straightforward to. This'll keep you busy on a cold wet Friday night Frank. Bet you wish you'd never asked!

Au contraire... a few years back i had heard of people getting 5 or 6 points and £150-200 fine for doing between 70 and 75mph on both that road and the M8 just before the Kingston Bridge, so wouldn't say that was setting an example. However, this isn't the point. The OP has put his hands up and admitted what was wrong was wrong and taken the consequences placed upon him. The only good thing to come out of it is at least the stress of worrying about it is now gone.

In a 50mph limit dave? I think you done well!

I would tend to go with intercoolers who's cores have the turbulator (sp) fins inside. IIRC 8mm cores are pretty good but don't quote me on it.

Google your own question and this is what comes up on search results.

My take on it is if the ign is switched on and light goes off after a couple of seconds, this would indicate that all sensor connections are sound. If the ABS light then came on when moving, this would indicate that a sensor is faulty as it is not giving feedback to the ecu i.e. counting the abs ring on the hub. As for handbrake light coming on occasionally this could be something simple as low fluid in the reservoir or low pad material if the pads have wear sensors.

Does the light come on then go out after you put ignition on, then start the car and come back on when you start driving?

My reasoning behind fitting the rear strut brace Frank was to retain the rigidity in the shell, because the shell was getting older and also because the increase in power puts stress on it, but as such, it isn't a *necessary* item for ordinary road use. In your situation and the use your car gets, i'd be inclined to save my money, but i get the feeling you want some retail therapy!