Rooster2

So could a bad exhaust valve cause it not to fire, then in turn cause the plug to get wet from gas and not fire? I don't think so. Pull plug wire off existing spark plug. Attach another spark plug to end of plug wire, then ground it out, and see if that plug fires with good spark. I am thinking your problem is spark, not fuel, or exhaust valve. Still, a good idea to run a compression test on that cylinder to learn if valves are okay.

Decal on hatch lid says 5 speed. This will be a good car on how to learn to drive a stick shift.

It is a rather easy job to drop the blower motor from inside the car. Like Nipper said, it is likely full of tree leaves and dirt. Clean and reassemble, and you should be good for another 100K miles.

Agree with your though, I wouldn't think that a bad wheel bearing would be intermittent. Doubt that brake rotors would be intermittent. In my experience, I have only noticed warped brake rotor shutter when applying the brakes. Take your foot off the brake, the shutter disappears. Any possibility that the half shaft that you have not replaced is the source of your problem? I once had an Audi that developed a bad half shaft. It would drive fine for a while, but after a lengthy drive, it would produce a bad shutter that would make the car undriveable. However, let it sit over night, then drive it, and it would drive perfectly.

Have the repair shops looked at the front suspension to see if the ball joints and tie rod ends are good? Also a thought, that a wheel bearing is bad. Suggest you limit this car to slow city driving only, until this problem is solved. It doesn't sound safe to drive this car, especially not at freeway speed.

Agree with others, your poor steering is a result of fluid loss. I would think first of the pump. It is easy to replace. I bought one from a wrecking yard for $35, that worked perfectly. Doubt that the rack is leaking, and the source of your problem.

Ditto..........same thought get new front axles.

With the motor warmed up, and your heater controls put on high, put your hands around the heater hoses near the firewall Do both hoses feel warm? If not, the small radiator (can't think of it's proper name) inside the firewall is partially plugged up, and not allowing proper flow of the coolant, so heat output is poor. You may have an air bubble in your cooling system after changing antifreeze. If so, you need to "burp" out the bubble to give proper coolant flow through the cooling system. This too, could cause poor heating.

Nice video, but would have liked it with more exhaust sound, and less noisy background music. Watching it run on a track would have been great too!

How did you fix it??

If it were me, i would drain and fill a couple of times, with some driving between changes, and add a can of Lucas product for trannies.

I suspect that your boat battery may not be good, because after charging, you say the door locks are weak to activate. When installed, how bright is your interior dome light or the head lights? Their brightness is a good visual indicator of how charged your battery is. I suggest you drop in a new battery, and I bet your problem will be solved. A second thought is to jump start the car, then have the battery tested at a car parts store like AutoZone, Advance, etc. They will test your charging system at no cost.

Well hopefully the window is in the "up" position! My guess is that it is the individual switch that controls that window. Prolly, the electrical contacts are dirty. Suggest you pull the door panel, then use a multimeter to verify that you have 12 v going to the motor when switch is activated. Also, you could move door driver door window wiring to another window switch. If another switch works okay, then it is definitely the driver's door window switch that is giving your trouble. Before tackling this job, I have gone to a wrecking yard, practiced removing the door panel, and bought a driver's door window switch in case I needed one. They don't cost much. Then, simply swapped out switches if needed. If it is cold where you live, going to a wrecking yard may not be too practical.

Up the millage to around 100k miles, maybe more before another plug change. Few years back I bought a 99 OBW with 148k miles on the odo, pretty sure they were the originals. Motor still ran pretty good. Plugs were super tight and hard to break loose. Plug wires seemed shrink wrapped to the tops of the plugs, because they had been on the car so long. I had to destroy the wires to remove from the plugs.

Change to synthetic ATF. Maybe that will solve your problem, but I don't know if it has a better flow rate when very cold.

I thought the same thing when I changed my plugs.......why not a hole in the frame rail to facilitate plug changing. I guess the engineers who design Subies, are not into user friendly maintenance......or maybe ?? has this been adopted to the latest Subies on the road??

Pics of same car have been posted here before. It doesn't look any better the second time around. Butt ugly front clip, wonder what was the logic in doing that?

Possibly, but you can find out for sure, if you go to any on line auto parts stores, compare their part numbers for alternator that fit a 97 and 02. If the same part number, then they will interchange.

Yea, when I did mine, I didn't cuss so much, as spend a lot of time figuring out which drive extension, or no extension, or swivel use, and which angle to approach with a drive or breaker bar. It was summer when I did mine, two plugs one night, two plugs the next night. Prolly put 3 hours + into the project. It was the most difficult plug swap I have ever done. Suggest using antisieze on the plug threads, and dialectic jelly on the plug wires at the plugs. Will make it easier to change plugs in the future, if I ever need to do so. I gave some thought to loosening up the motor mounts, then jacking up one side of the engine to gain work access, but never tried that, but maybe that would work.

Both my OB wagons have the 4 cylinder. They have plenty of power, even when passing on the freeway. You won't be disappointed in driving the 4 cylinder.

Good reviews on discounttire.com as well. I have been really impressed by Discount Tire with the quality of their work, and free tire repairs, and tire rotations.

Checked my AZ receipt from 2006, '98 Sub Outback alternator cost $119, plus core swap out. That is steep inflation over the course of 3 years!

sounds like torque bind, do search here to learn about it.

Saw the $75 special, also read the following on the same page: alternator, impreza 95-96 list $691.04 our price $580.48

Yes, I am running an Autozone Duralast alternator without problems. It is a rebuilt alternator, so only as good as the rebuilder. Keep your receipt. A life time guarantee comes with their alternator, and Autozone will swap it out for another rebuilt unit, no questions asked. At $153, their alternator isn't cheap, but a lot less money then one from a Subaru stealership, without a life time guarantee.