Advice for newbie changing coolant and ebrake adjustment

[Sean486]

I was thinking of changing out the coolant this weekend, I have never done it before but I am guessing it is not to hard. Does anyone have any recommendations or tips that might help me out?

Also I would like tighten up the emergency brake. The instructions are "Remove adjusting hole cover from back plate (rubber plug), Turn adjusting screw using a flat screwdriver ", but where exactly is this back plate located?

[wantafastsvx]

Jack up rear of car from rear diff and support on jackstands. Looking from underneath the car at the back of the rear wheels you will see a little oblong rubber grommet on the drum of the rear brake assembly. Remove this plug, stick flatblade screwdriver in there and turn the star wheel. It should onle turn one way and make a clicking sound while doing so. Do this a little at a time, adjust spin wheel, adjust spin wheel etc. etc. Do this till there is just a little drag then switch sides. However i thought on the e-brake that the cable had adjustment on it like on other vehicles to keep the throw of the handle down. I'll check when i get mine up in the air to do the same thing.

[Hondasucks]

There is an arrow on the backing plate that indicates which direction to turn the starwheel. IT WILL TURN BOTH WAYS! Turn it in the direction of the arrow until the wheel locks, then back it off four teeth. Do a search for parking brake adjustment, I posted a PDF from the factory service manual on how to do it.

If it drags a little after backing off the adjuster, set and release the parking brake to center the shoes.

If it doesn't adjust, the shoes may be worn out. You can remove the caliper and bracket (two 14mm bolts) and remove the rotor, and then you can check the thickness of the parking brake shoes. If they are thinner than 1mm you should replace them, you will have to get them from the dealer, and they aren't very cheap as far as drum brake shoes go, but you shouldn't ever have to replace them again, since they really don't wear out unless the car is driven with the brake on, or if the hand brake is used to slow the car.

As for the coolant, if you really want to be thorough, remove the plugs on the bottom of the engine and drain the coolant from the block. I'd only do it if the coolant is really nasty, otherwise just drain the radiator and refill with genuine Subaru coolant. If you can get the block plugs out (will probably need a 17mm hex socket and an impact gun) and completely drain the coolant out, and pour in clean water until ALL the green is out, you can use the super long life Subaru coolant, it is good for 100,000 miles I think (Might be 60,000 I can't remember...) but if you go that route DO NOT ADD WATER, the long life coolant is pre-mixed.
Make sure you get it to the proper mix if you use the regular coolant, I usually mix 75/25 (75% coolant), if you drain the radiator completely (There is a drain plug at the bottom) pour in the bottle of coolant, and add water until it's full. A spill proof funnel that attaches in place of the radiator cap really helps, since you can pour it in and run the engine with the funnel on with coolant in it, until you get all the bubbles out, (idle the engine until the fans come on and shut off again) Let me know if you have any more questions :)

[Hondasucks]

whoops......