PRE NOTE: my 2003 wrx is the first car i have done my own work on. i may have the wrong idea about some of this stuff... so ahh... feel free to correct me :)

well yesterday i went about the task of changing some of the fluids in my 03 wrx (figured its a good idea to change my fluids after a new england winter).... i only got through oil, tranny and cooling.... i wanted to change to ceramic brake pads/fluid, plugs/wires... but im a broke mofo ;)

** oil was easy... i did lots of research on bob is the oil guy dot com website, here, other various car forums to find the main idea... all lappens had for oil filters were fram... so i flipped thru the book and found three or four product ids for different models.. i got the 'fram tough guard' for the 'flush' 5w30 oil filter (which will be changed after 3 days) and the 'fram double guard' for the new clean 0w40 mobil 1.... my car will never see a winter again so...

it was draining and you could hardly tell it was synthetic... this is after 7k mi... so my new routine is every late 3k miles... the difference in the entire engine operation changed with the new oil... sound, idle, acceleration.. all of it. beautiful....
i wanted to flush the oil system somehow.. to get out any possible grit or grime... and i cant find anything on it other than, id assume.... dismantling the engine, cleaning, and rebuilding....
so for the summer/heat im going to run mobil 1 0w40, but i also decided to sort of 'flush' the oil system... so i figured i would load up the engine with some new clean mobil1 (5w40) and a heavy duty fram oil filter (the XtendedGuard) to catch anything that didnt happen to drain out... then im going to do is drive around easy for a week or so and then change the oil and filter out with the new mobil1 0w40 syn for the next 4k mi.... ( when i drive my wrx... its driven hard ;)

as for the coolant flush... it was the first time i had done this.... my radiator fins on the lower part of the radiator are dinged up from some nice road debris... i try and straighten some out with a small flat head but thats enough work to drive someone nuts... so i want to put some sort of screen on the inside of the front fender to catch the bigger stuff... i already did this for the TMIC and ive shreaded lots of bugs ;) i found a few threads about how air bubbles can get trapped in the cooling system so i made sure to fill slowly, as well as pull the main top hose from the radiator and pour coolant in til its almost full... i was overly cautious so i shook away at the engine and made sure there wasnt any air... this turned out wonderfully thanks to patience.... i ended up with a coolant mixture slightly higher in water content than anti-freeze content but as i said earlier i dont have to worry about temps below 40f .....
i also have done some mods that will cause the car to run lean... (typhoon intane, decatted up, down, stock muffler) and im getting a UTEC at the beginning of august.. ive read up on turboXS and they seem like the way to go.. if you have a turboxs engine manangement please let me know your experience *GOOD OR BAD* i read the KnN short ram typhoon intake held the same dimentions as the stock intake pipe... therefore *possibly reducing* running lean.... is there any way i can clean out anything caused from running lean after i get my new ecu?

err.. anyway ill **** now.... :) the car runs beautifully now, and i will definitly change my oil/filter every 4k and my MT probably every 10k... i used 80w90 for the trans... i read on bob is the oil guy, there is special trans fluid with moly in it, supposed to "fill-in" small imperfections./flaws on gears.....

ok.... now its time to show me the error of my ways..... :-D

....forget 'flushing' the oil system....yer just pouring good oil down the drain......and just leave the 5w40 oil in it....THAT oil is likely the best choice possible for M1 oil for your car....better than the 0w40----leave that for winter use....

OMG my head hurts. Sentences, capitalization, punctuation, paragraphs: look up what these things are and use them.

what? thats it? anyway... does adding moly to your tranny fluid really help that much... how much does it cost to get your transmission looked at to see if it has any problems... my MT fluid was still golden in color but there were some small metal shavings on the plug magnet.. not even pieces more like metal dust... is this normal wear and tear? i dont jam into gears or that kinda thing... my 4th gear loves to make that nice light grinding sound when i shift into it..
didnt think so... so even with my mods, should i take it to a suby dealership and ask them to just look at the trans or should i find a good trans repair shop in the area...
or should i just start saving up for a nice 6spd new trans?

what? thats it? anyway... does adding moly to your tranny fluid really help that much... how much does it cost to get your transmission looked at to see if it has any problems... my MT fluid was still golden in color but there were some small metal shavings on the plug magnet.. not even pieces more like metal dust... is this normal wear and tear? i dont jam into gears or that kinda thing... my 4th gear loves to make that nice light grinding sound when i shift into it..
didnt think so... so even with my mods, should i take it to a suby dealership and ask them to just look at the trans or should i find a good trans repair shop in the area...
or should i just start saving up for a nice 6spd new trans?



...search for uncle scotty's tranny 'cocktail' and no more 4th gear 'grunch' ;)

all lappens had for oil filters were fram.
Ditch the crappy Fram oil filters and stick with OEM Subaru filters. They are very high quality and aren't that expensive when you purchase 6-12 of them from an online Subaru parts vendor.