Leaderboard

22mm 1/2" drive socket on bolt with end of 3-foot breaker bar on driver's side ground (if left hand drive) then bump starter. Make sure to pull the coil wire FIRST!

So the group's considered opinion is Dexron III or Dexron VI? Any further confirmation or dissent?

Have to look at the '98 schematic. Something like that draws so little power that there's little sense (from a design standpoint) in dedicating a fuse to it alone. So it's likely that it's on a fused supply rail that also powers other stuff. Better to track down and disconnect the module itself.

You have the car in 4th and the motor is turning, is the car moving? You might need to adjust the brakes or get some chocks. You can also try "impacting" it by rocking the car with the bar+pipe against the ground. Just make sure the car can't roll away once its free. I sent a breaker bar though a rad like that once!

how many miles? how old are the struts? Is it bouncy or do you want flatter cornering? Has it been regularly heavily loaded?

Standard Dexron (used to be frequently labeled as Dexron/Mercon) used in Subarus for about 50 years. It is confusing - some labels downplay the 50 year standard Dex/Merc labeling standardized by the entire industry and owners manuals. I see “Asian Fluid”, “Foreign Vehicle”, “Compatible with…” and trademarked brands where you have to read the small print to find out it’s just the same old Dexron. Lame sauce. Subaru has good fluid too and it can be cross referenced to Idimetsu

They do have great purchase value. 80% of good priced subarus I see are manual trans. In my searches MT Subarus 15-20 years ago weren’t so differently priced. Extra annoying when they needed a new clutch shortly after purchase which wasn’t hard to have happen. Good point ! You’ve convinced me to teach some folks. what’s the easiest Subaru to do a clutch on? Might be fun to teach a bunch of folks on the same vehicle!