john in KY

Subaru offered a hi-lo FWD only transmission?

Thing circled looks like a condenser. Old style distributors with points required them and I think they were also used to suppress radio static. Don't know if your Subaru came originally with a points distributor.

Steering shaft U-joint?

Have someone look at the rack itself. Chance the mounting bushings may be worn or the rack is just loose.

Just charge the battery and disconnect that main wire on the alternator and let it sit overnight. If the battery has a charge the next day than there's your problem. Don't believe you have a wire short anywhere. Every short I ever had caused the shorted wire to melt.

My money is on an alternator diode has failed.

Never looked inside an old Subaru distributor but guessing it has points and therefore a condenser. If the points don't open, no spark. If the condenser is bad, no spark. If the coil is bad, also no spark. If you manually open the points with the key in on, the coil will fire. This is just a test for the points.

Did you remember to plug in that igniter thingee on the firewall?

Easy way to test the coil is to pull the coil wire from the distributor and crank the engine. Hold the end of the coil wire from a metal ground and a spark should jump 12mm. A good coil will not fire if the points are not opening and closing and if the condenser inside the distributor is bad.

Check for spark with a timing light. Also check the quality of the spark. Should jump 6mm or more.

The XT6 control arm takes a larger bolt than the XT so that tells me the XT and XT6 do not share a common bushing.

Has spark and fuel and ran before you replaced the distributor. Appears to me you screwed up reinstalling the distributor. To use a timing light, connect the red lead to the positive side of the battery and the black to ground. The unused lead gets clamped around #1 spark plug wire.

Did some research on my own also. Transmission was removed from a 96 Impreza Outback with the 2.2. My research suggests the 96 should have the A4AB. The A3BA was used in the 95 Impreza so I'm guessing the 96 got a left -over 95 transmission. Guessing the A5BA is a 97 transmission. Thanks for all your help. John

What if the "2" is a "3"? Asking because the spare 4EAT I have has A3BA as the last four.

Don't know beans about a Subaru manual but once 40 years ago rebuilt a Muncie 4-speed. If you can't rotate the main shaft in neutral the only thing I can think of is the transmission is locked in 2 gears.

Been my experience that removing that beveled washer really helps in axle removal.

I have a good 4EAT I saved from an 89 XT6 I recently parted. John

http://louisville.craigslist.org/pts/1051023076.html Don't know if the seller still has it but if so, within a day's drive.

Brat Dog nailed the problem. Somehow you pulled a plug loose or pulled a wire loose from a plug. Bunch of wires behind the kick panel also.

I have an XT6 ignition sw/key if you decide to go that route.

Coil pack.

No pressure when the radiator cap was removed suggests the system either has a hole somewhere or the cap is junk. No pressure means the coolant will boil at a lower temperature. I'd replace the cap first.

Sounds a lot like the coil pack is beginning to fail. The next time the engine starts to miss, take a close look at the coil pack. Bet you see arcing to the intake manifold.

Still believe it is the control unit or just maybe the control unit has lost its main power supply. The control unit circuit I have to believe has to have a fuse somewhere in the circuit. May want to explore that. I have an extra control unit from an XT6, Have no idea if it is the same used in your model.

Has to be at the pump. When a strut is inflated, the air line between the strut and its solenoid is also pressurized. When the solenoid opens and the pump is not running, the pressurized air can only flow back to the pump where it is dumped. I'm assuming here both front struts went flat. Can't believe both struts or both front solenoids failed simultaneously. My guess is the problem is that control unit under the carpet.