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Converter ended up being the problem - just took a minute to warm up and relearn I guess, Runs perfect without the exhaust connected

You were right! Thanks man! Now...this newer 05-09 stuff has the curved catalytic converters right by the engine, they're going to be much harder to gut....

Cat converter - seems fine, disconnected exhaust and still runs just as bad. Fuel filter is in the tank, can't replace - i'll have to pressure test or pull the fuel line and see how well is sprays out Ill get a new oxygen sensor later.

2005-2009 doesn't have a fuel filter, or it's "in the fuel tank".

What year/model engine and did you have check engine lights in those cases? Max 4,000 RPM with no power for hills but otherwise drives without hiccup or stalling is oddly specific, I doubt your symptoms were identical. It would be drivable on flat land, but can't get up hills.

Could be a partially-clogged fuel filter. Put in a new one, and see if it makes any difference.

Doesn't seem to be the oxygen sensor. I'll try disconnecting the exhaust in the morning.

Oh wow my good sir, wasn't considering the exhaust at all. That would be awesome. Aye aye captain - I rammed one out of an XT6 20+ years ago. It's not drivable enough to accrue miles and calculate gas mileage. Yeah this is a new sensor but it's the style that comes with bare leads you splice the old connector onto - and I do'nt trust that it's wired properly. I'll check those.

I once had the same symptoms from a bad airflow sensor, and another time it was the pedal position sensor. There are lots of possibilities for those symptoms. It will run without the O2 sensor, but it does so in limp home mode which would be as you describe - I would start with a new O2 sensor. Rock Auto sells Denso Front O2 Sensor which is GTG. How is fuel mileage? If the A/F ratio is off the mileage will suffer.

Possibly clogged cat converter(s)? Broken bit's of the honeycomb will follow gravity and clog the exhaust when car is heading up hill. The noise will startle the neighbors but if you can disconnect the cat(s) and test drive, that will help in diagnosing this issue. Buddy had this issue and just emptied the broken bits and drove on.

Engine starts and idles fine, can't tell anything is wrong until you go to drive it. It's severely underpowered. Floor it and it very slowly accelerates, sometimes can get up to 40 mph on flat or downhill. It won't even make it up a steep mountain, so it's undrivable around here. New headgaskets, timing belt, and compression tested fine so I assume the timing marks are still good, but Ill check them tomorrow. Drove fine for 3-4 months after the HG then gradually got worse over a week before it became undrivable. The oil had significant coolant/water mixed in with the oil before I did the HG's - could the valve control solenoids be damaged by that? P0038 front O2 sensor code - car does the same thing with the sensor plugged in or unplugged. Will these run without a front O2 plugged in? Maybe the 02 sensor is bad. It has a 4 wire Bosch O2 sensor with the old plug spliced on - does anyone know how to verify the wires are correct? It had a cylinder 3 and multiple cylinder misfires - I replaced the plugs and wires with subaru issued goods, and the codes for those went away - but the CEL did flash last night on a test drive then quit...so maybe it's still doing it intermittently. Any suggestions.....

The stubby shaft out of the 00-04 trans pops right out, it's only held in by a circlip and readily pops out. Put the axle on it with roll pin and yank or use suitable tool to pull it out. Put the 00-04 stubby shaft into the 00-04 axle and you then have an axle with a stubby inner shaft. I'm not positive it fits into the later 05+ trans but I think they do and it should be really easy to check.

Plumbed a tee into the top line feeding the steering brake and put a bleeder on that, after bleeding that spot and the calipers a bit more it seems fine now. B replaced a front wheel bearing on his Forester which seemed to help his on/off throttle steering issue. I edited and posted two videos from our last trip to the UP, one long, one short:

The power locks use a switch in the driver door that tells the other locks when to lock or unlock. So the drivers door lock is manual and controls all the other locks with that master switch "actuator" (there's actually no motor in it). I opened the switch and checked the internal contacts. Everything is operating as it should. No cracked solder joints or excessive corrosion. It's nice to be able to open components. When I was looking in the FSM, allegedly there is a power lock actuator on the rear cargo door (the car is a wagon/estate). If so, it's never operated as a power lock in my ownership and doesn't trigger the door lock light. I've always used it as a manual lock. Perhaps the actuators are ran in series and when one goes bad, the rest don't work (like old school Christmas lights). The locks don't make any noise. They operate as manual locks and the 3 doors other than the driver door and rear cargo door trigger the door lock light.

Thanks! I just remembered that, being a DL, your ignition switch won't fit my GL, unless you have the optional tilt column.

Have you opened up the locking actuator to see what’s amiss? I’m guessing it’s a sealed unit now that I suggested opening it up… does it make any noise when being told to do something?

You can buy whatever bolt you want off of EBAY. Be sure and get grade 10.9 high strength bolts. The original OEM bolts are most likely OK so you don't need to get paranoid about replacing them. Just do not over torque them. Which is 47 ft lbs to 55 ft lbs. Fel pro gaskets go longest, and only blow out when the bolts loosen up due to water intrusion. About 100 ft lbs will break the bolt off at the face of the block.

'89 GL wagon Last winter we had a cold snap and some component of my power lock system froze. When I unlocked the car in the morning, I heard something break inside the door and my power locks stopped working since. The locks still work as manual locks. The door lock light on the dash recognizes every lock except the driver door. So I took all the driver door lock components out and nothing seems broken. The plastic pieces are intact and the mechanism functions smoothly. I replaced the door lock actuator (unknown condition of the actuator, I didn't pull the part myself) and nothing. No difference. *Edit: I just checked the terminals of the driver door actuator and it's operating as it should. Fuse is fine, I really don't think it's an electrical issue. Possibly electromechanical. Any ideas? :]

Sure I can agree with most of that. But I’ve also lived the vintage Subaru life for decades now and I’ve made that extra effort and was maybe lucky enough to find the older gentleman still working their last years who actually did help me. Yes, odds are drawing thin. The bigger issue as I’ve mentioned before is once you hit the 80s and SOA flexes muscle on dealers they’re all scared and scrap old inventory even breaking parts or making them unusable. Clean the old bolts super clean and chase the threads in the block blow them out, use solvent, blow them out, and try your bolts by hand before you even hang a head. Good luck.

I've learned not to waste my time trying the local dealer's parts counter. Once they realize you're not in there for a $500 oil change, they basically ignore you, then if you demand attention and get them to look up a part, they give you a price five times what anyone would pay, so you go away. I know someone who used to do a lot of work on those, and he always re-used the head bolts...

My daily driver has about the same amount of rust... the secret is mine is the dark metallic red, which hides it!

Partsouq is my go to, even just for part numbers. Sadly for me they don’t do VINs of the Brumby and L series eras.

What’s part no.11 - Head Plug ? p/n 11051AA010 Do I see three of those needed on the drivers (left) side only? That’s what I see in this FPC Been ages and also never had to bother doing headgaskets on an EA82 since I had a million of them cheap as dirt. It was a different world not that long ago.

scoobydube, you should have seen her in her prime! -82baru

bushytails, thanks for the response. I'll start pulling the parts you need this upcoming weekend and will contact you directly once I'm able to see what kind of shape the parts are in. -82baru