Rooster2

If you bought the car at a Subaru dealership, you may want to ask the service department if they did the maintenance on the car. Talk to the service manager, with VIN # in hand, ask them if they can find the car in their computer. If so, they may tell you the name of the previous owner. I did that when I purchased my 99 used. I talked with previous owner to learn what maintenance had been done. If you can't learn anything, then assume the belt was never changed, and have it done, along with pulleys. Prolly a good idea to pull the cover to see if the timing belt looks old, and has cracks. I wouldn't be surprised if the spark plugs and plug wires are the originals, and prolly need replaced. Old plugs may be the cause as to why motor runs rough on start up.

Suggest you test drive a new 10 Subie that you are interested in. Put your foot "in the gas" to see if the acceleration performance meets your needs. Chances are you will be pleasantly surprised what power Subaru offers in their standard engine. It will have some get up and go.

Very good advise, suggest you put the car up on a lift, and have mechanic check front end suspension, ball joints, and tie rods for "play." Any worn suspension parts can cause vibration. However, I still think your tires are the cause of your problem.

I love Discount Tire, they do excellent work I have found. Spin balance is exactly that. The tire/wheel is spun at fairly high speed. Sensors pick up info out of balance situation, that will show the tech guy where to add a lead weight(s) to the wheel to regain balance. So by definition, it is more of a wheel balance then a tire balance. If in deed you have a tire with a broken belt, the tech guy doing the balancing, should be able to see tire wobble as the tire spins. Next time at Discount Tire, ask if you can watch a wheel being balanced. They will prolly let you back in the shop to watch it being done.

When weather warms up, you may want to see how much brake pad remains on your front brakes. When pads wear down, the caliper piston is further extended, so additional brake fluid takes up the former caliper space. This is what causes brake fluid level to go down in the reservoir, unless of course, their is a fluid leak somewhere in the system.

Yes, I think a tire could balance good, even with a bad belt. A bad belt certainly could cause the vibration that you have described. I am thinking a new set of tires will solve your problem. Prolly, still recommend a 4 wheel alignment even if you are not getting a "pull." My guess is that it has been a long time, and a lot of miles since you have had a wheel alignment. Once done, you will know that your tires are running good and straight, and true, and that you will be getting your best tire wear in the future. I keep my tires pumped up, and check them once a month making sure that all four tires are pumped to 35 psi on my OBW. I have one of those cheap 12v cig lighter powered air pumps. It does a good job of pumping up my tires on the driveway.

I am thinking you may need a 4 wheel alignment, because out of alignment can cause abnormal tire wear, even while the tire is still balanced. Does your car steering "pull" to one side or the other while driving? If so, that is one sign of a bad wheel alignment. Since you are down to the tire wear bars, you prolly need to buy a new set of tires. I know.........not what you want to hear with 35K miles on 80K mile rated tires.

lots written about this, suggest you do a "search" into the archives on this forum. You will learn answers fast!

bad bearing in drive line u joint?

Suggest you really trace down any additional oil leak, before thinking of pulling the engine. The baffle plate oil/separator may not be the problem. All other advise written above is solid advise.

I am guessing that the ATF level is full in the P/S reservoir. Front what I have read, Subie racks don't often break, so I assume it is prolly your P/S pump, if your steering wheel is hard to turn. If so, it is an easy swap to replace. Several years back, I swapped in one on my 91 Subie. It was an easy job. Got one from a wrecking yard that worked just fine. Cost was about $35 from the yard.

+1............I agree it is a loose heat shield shroud around the exhaust system. It doesn't cause trouble, just becomes an annoying noise. A lot written about this, and how to fix it. Do a search in our achieves to read what others have written

I bought a knock sensor from Autozone last summer. Cost about $75, so I have to think that most parts stores can get you one. It takes a wobbler on the end of a 3/8" drive to get to the awkward bolt that hold it in place on the block. It is a pretty ez job to do yourself, but it takes some patience to swap out. Just don't tighten new unit very tight, or you will break the plastic collar around the fastening bolt.

Yes, that's what happens when you start doing internal repairs on an engine. One fix leads to another, then to another fix, and then to another fix, and the next thing you know, you have spent a lot of time and money rebuilding the motor. I agree with your thinking, that buying a rebuilt long block, or a used good running engine is a good practical solution.

By any chance have you filled up your gas tank just before the problem started? My brother once bought a bad tank of gas, that was contaminated with water. Has it rained hard lately where you live? His car would idle and rev fine when stopped, but would stumble and stall under load. He added "dry gas" additive to his next several tanks of gas to fix the problem.

From what you described, it doesn't sound like you have a trany problem. I can't imagine that there was enough water remaining from the wash down to create white-ish smoke or steam. Suspect you have an engine problem. Have you checked oil and radiator levels? Do they look normal? If it is problem caused by the wet engine, suggest starting the motor and letting it idle for 15 to 20 minutes to heat up the motor and evaporate any moisture. Stay near the running car, in case anything abnormal develops. Keep us posted on what's going on.

I have decided not to have the dealer inspect the air bags. My dash light comes on with a turn of ignition key, then goes out upon starting the car, so I think all is well with my air bags. Like someone said, the seat belts are still the best defense, if involved in an auto accident.

Thanks guys, I was thinking it was a CYA thing with the manufacturer passed it on to the dealers. Now I know to just blow off the inspection, and check to see if the warning light comes on, and goes out as it should.

Recently read in car manual about returning car to Sub dealer to inspect air bags once car is 10 years old. Has anyone on this forum ever done this? Why the inspection? Does dealer charge for this? (Maybe dumb question....dealers charge for everything.)

If replacing the thermostat and rad cap don't fix the problem, then I would suspect a bad head gasket. A bad HG doesn't usually occur on a 2.2 motor like yours, but it can and does happen. I had a 91 Leggie with the 2.2 that developed a bad HG, so I have seen it happen.

Could well be a bad cell in the battery. I had that once. Car would start, but gauges gave crazy read outs, and warning lights kept going off, and the car ran poorly. All because of low battery voltage. Alternator should have an output of 14V, not a paltry 12.6V. Suggest getting both alternator and battery checked out. Maybe find a smarter guy at AZ, who knows that a12.6V read out is not good.

Please report back on what you bought, what size, and how happy you are with the performance of the new tires.

I have an Outback that does that, but I am not concerned about it. I don't think it is valves or bearing knock, prolly most likely some "piston slap," which doesn't cause problems.

At a U Pull yard, I would be inclined to pull a motor from a car that has been wrecked on the sides or rear, but not the front. To have been in a wreck, is a good, but not positive, indicator that the motor was running at the time of the accident.

I am thinking that the Bosch Plats are not gap-able. They are just plug and play, never need gaping.