porcupine73

There was a post about it a week or two ago but I forget for the speedo on the flaky 99 clusters what it was, I thought someone said a cold solder joint or something with needing a better or additional ground wire something like that?

Yes it is a bit touchy when in the right position. I've found that wooden clothes pins are really handy to hold the belt in place whilst getting everything lined up. Of course it has to be bang on, there's no such thing a 'close', it's either right or it's off a tooth.

Hm it's an enigma. Maybe if it's an MT the mechanic is trying to turn the crank in gear for some reason? Sounds like mechanic is eager to replace the engine.

I would say go ahead and get or borrow the socket since you're going to need it anyway - either to get the pulley off if it's bad, or to tighten the bolt if it's loose. It really needs to be at least 1/2" drive with a good breaker bar and maybe a piece of pipe depending on how you go about it.

Welcome. Sorry to see your post about rear ending. I have a '96. I never looked at the radiator support stuff closely, I just thought those supports were all welded together and part of the car. Not sure what/how you replace those.

Hm just brainstorming a few things, I know I've seen posts in the past where people had issues say from '05 on with the vehicle just plain dying and all the dash lights coming on. Supposedly there were some ECU reflashes that were supposed to deal with it but I don't know if it actually helped. I did have what you describe happen a couple times to me but it was on a '96 Legacy, and it was the cam position sensor, and it did throw a code. Stopped at a traffic light a few times it died and wouldn't restart, but I kept trying then it did restart and ran ok. Hopefully the factory engineer can help, I'm guessing Subaru help line has gotten calls about this issue before, it's probably a matter of whether they know what the solution was and if it is the same problem on yours.

Sometimes the Advance Auto discounts are really nice. Autozone might from time to time offer good sales. Napa seems a bit different to me, maybe because they have some amount of independently owned stores or different lines of parts maybe. Pep Boys over the years to me seemed to turn into more of a flea market/dollar store/harbor freight type place than an auto parts store. Are you getting just one of the cv joints, or the whole axle/half shaft?

I'm not certain for this particular type of swap but what I've seen suggested for others is to keep the old engine's intake manifold. (Provided it will bolt up to the new engine of course). If the old engine was MAF based and the new is MAP/speed density based that might work. I don't know if those engines had EGR. If your emissions canister was under the hood on the existing car but is under the rear by the tank on the donor engine car keeping the old manifold might help with that too. If you are able to keep the old engine's intake manifold, it's possible the LH cam sprocket reluctor teeth things are different in which case you'd have to use the old engine's sprocket provided it would fit up.

A couple other possible things to check if that isn't it would be any vacuum leaks. Also on my '94 I have had trouble with the throttle not completely closing when the pedal is released but usually only when it is hot outside like above 85F. It seems like the throttle return spring isn't quite strong enough or is gummed up a bit for some reason. When that happens it doesn't make the engine race but it feels like you have your foot on the gas a bit even when stopped.

How do you know there's no damage if the new belt isn't on yet? (Maybe you mean it broke a previous time and was replaced and didn't do damage then, but hasn't yet broken this time?) For the water pump I think in the 90's there was a 'high velocity' water pump that I believe was for the turbos, that might have been the cast vs stamped impeller debate that came up from time to time back when.

Not sure about later models but on the 90's soobs that could be a sign of a bad alternator.

What brand sensor is it? Was it a 'generic' fit where you splice on the wires? Sometimes/once in a while people have issues with those i.e. the ECU not being entirely happy with what it is seeing. I can't remember where it screws in exactly, does it screw into the front cat? If so maybe the positioning in the new cat is slightly different. There are definitely lots of grades of cats but as the sensor is upstream of it I don't necessarily think it would be the quality of the cat (since the palladium, rhodium etc precious metals in it cost $ the cheaper cats don't have as much usually).

Hm how were the front strut mounts? (i.e. did you use new / were the old ones in good shape?) Since there is a bearing in the front strut mounts that has to be free to turn. A brainstorm idea might be since it does it stopped maybe see if it does it with the front end lifted off the ground, and if so, maybe with the wheels off you could have someone turning the wheel and try to pinpoint where the noise is coming from?

I do not believe those will interchange. 2000 Outback would be an early 4eat phase II (with the external spin on filter). I believe all '98 Outbacks had the 4eat phase I. Obviously if you do replace the trans the ratio has to match the existing trans ratio (or have to get the matching rear diff as well).

I don't know for sure but one thing people sometimes have to do when lifting is extend the steering coupler a bit. I don't know if it binds when it's turning maybe it makes a popping or knocking sound?

No I don't think it would cover that, the warranty wording differed from year to year but i.e. 2015 it basically says if the seat belts are functional then any cosmetic issues are not covered. (Also not all years had the lifetime seatbelt warranty).

How bad was the old wheel bearing before it was replaced? How many miles on the new bearing? If they go too long it can damage the hub, or if the hub was damaged or somewhat out of round that can cause the new bearing to fail early. Also who knows what brand/quality part was used and if it was put in properly.

Also could be a long shot but many years had a 'lifetime' seatbelt warranty. Granted it might not cover an eager pup chewing them but then again who knows.

Excellent question I just assumed auto. I just looked, the profile says it's an LL Bean which I think the H6 only available with an auto if that helps?

The reduction gear teeth can make a whine on the 4eat phase II, there was a Subaru bulletin out about that, but if it's getting that loud it sounds like some bearing or something is maybe wearing out. Would you describe it as more a gear tooth noise? The sound - does it correspond to wheel speed? Or to engine rpm? The front diff's on these 4eat phase II's well I have seen more than a couple posts about them getting eaten eventually, which is what happened to my '00obw at 195k miles. But it was a gear tooth type sound that over the course of about 30 miles became so bad it sounded like it was going to explode.

It looks like it would want the HP-ATF. So probably whatever fluid you would use to top off the trans if it needed it.

If you jiggle the shifter while pressing the brake does that make any difference? I had a sort of strange thing on mine where it wouldn't release the interlock but if I jiggled it, then it would, it turned out it didn't think it was in park, so therefore it didn't trigger the release solenoid thing. But if it worked fine before the remote starter ... and started acting up after ... then who knows, I mean it is entirely possible they tapped into or spliced into some wire related to that circuit/signal because obviously a remote starter wants to make sure the vehicle is in park before it tries to start it.

Is it getting spark? The ignitor fails from time to time.

Blasted ignitor. I keep a spare in the glove box now since it can strand. When mine went the engine would still start and run but was very rough and had misfire on two cylinders and had like no power.

Here's one I had in my files for a '94. Obviously it would have either the MT interlocks _or_ the inhibitor switch for the AT. On my '96 it was the inhibitor switch that acted up. It actually did something very odd where it was not applying full voltage to the starter and the starter was cranking but more slowly than usual, I imagine it wasn't pulling the solenoid all the way in or something.