Rooster2

I would be reluctant to use a Leggie Outback to tow another Outback for 400 miles. That is asking a lot for a car that is not designed to tow much at all. It will be hard on your tow car's trany. Yea, I guess you could make it work, but if you try it, drive rather slowly, like max of 60 mph. Your tow Leggie doesn't have the brakes to stop two cars traveling fast. It would be a lot better to tow with something like a full size American truck.... something with a big motor, and full frame under it. Good luck on what you decide to do.

Try a product called "Goo be gone." It is a citrus based product. Great for taking adhesive sales labels off newly bought retail items. Might work well with your application.

something as simple as tires wearing out?

$92 seems like a good price to me. NAPA always has good quality, but their prices seem to be 20% higher then other parts stores across the board. We don't have Schuck's in Indiana, so don't know anything about them. There are two Japanese manufacturers of Subie starters. They interchange with one another, so there is no compatibility problem, but they do look slightly different from one another. Just don't be surprised if your replacement looks different from the one on the car.

I suspect your starter is going bad. Starter strange noises are never good. Good chance the solenoid is sticking, so like you think, the starter remains engaged beyond what it should. Yes, it is possible for the starter to damage the flywheel. If it were me, I would replace the starter. If you are mechanically handy, swapping out the starter is an easy job. Just a couple of bolts and an electrical connection. Suggest you go to Autozone, or Advance Auto Parts, or similar type store, where a counter man is willing to go out to the parking lot to listen to your starter. Starters are rather generic amongst cars, all cars with bad starters sound pretty much alike. The counter man should be able to give you an honest opinion regarding your starter. Remanufactured starters from AZ have worked well for me, though I have heard a number of stories where guys have bought junk from AZ. Regardless, AZ has a good warranty program, and has been good to me. If their reman part is bad, it is not a problem swapping out for another one.

Always glad to hear a success story. May you drive your car with pride and pleasure for many many more miles.

Nice looking ride. I really like the new alloys. Also, nice place you live, very pretty country side. What part of the country do you live in?

A few years back, I had a 91 Subie with the 2.2 that blew a head gasket. I had about 160K miles on the odo. I bought a 2.2 motor out of 92 Subie with 112K miles on the odo at a yard. I shop at that yard often, and knew the 92 was still running. I had a buddy do the swap, and that motor ran great for many more years. The only snag in the swap, is the wiring harness connectors were different on the 92 vs the 91. The key is to buy a motor from a car that is still running if that is possible, or from a car that has been wrecked with damage to the sides or rear, not the front.

Any special tools or special skill needed to replace the boots and piston seals? I have never done this, and would like to learn when I do the brakes on my Subie this Spring.

Instead of hanging the caliper from a wire, I find a small cardboard box lying around, and just lay the caliper on top of the box. The result is the same. You just don't want the caliper hanging by the rubber brake line.

Florescent dye can be added to your A/C system by your mechanic to detect exactly where the leak is located. A black light is then used to find the leak by seeing where the dye is seeping out. Yes, it could be just a bad "O" ring, or the line could be bad. Finding exactly where the leak is located can tell your mechanic what needs to be replace. IMO, I don't think that a new receiver/dryer is needed. That gets replaced when the compressor goes bad, sending metallic grit through the system.

Maybe this is too simple..........but has your car ever been tuned up with new spark plugs and spark plug wires? If so, when, and how miles were roughly on the odometer? The vibration when in gear, low gas millage, and poor acceleration suggest poor combustion. A tune up with new plugs and wires may fix this.

The dealer said it was a "single owner," but car fax says it has had 5 owners! Hmmmmmmmm........maybe the dealer was really saying that the previous owner was not married!

That's a good tip regarding loosing the bleeder screw to let off steam and pressure when driving with a bad HG. I will have to remember that should a case of the HGs hits my phase one motor. Sorry to hear that your $200 special didn't get you home. You don't seem too angry about it, but still you didn't need that aggravation.

I drove my car up on small ramps, left it run at idle, crawled under the car, and with a hammer pounded in (wedged) good size bolts where I could detect shroud vibration. Worked like a charm.

I would disconnect the positive side battery cable for about 15 to 20 minutes, then reconnect, and hopefully the reboot will solve the problem.

So, did the yard pump solve your problem??

HERE IS WHAT IS HAPPENING: If the dust boot is torn or worn, rain water gets past the bad boot. Once inside the caliper, rust forms on the caliper bore. When the brake is applied, the piston pushes out, but take your foot off the brake, and the rust deposit prevents the piston from retracting, so the piston pressure stays on the brake pad. It is not worth trying to repair your caliper, buy a new one to solve your problem. BTDT

Was the brake drag occurring somewhat before the new rotors and pads? If so, do new pads make it worse? Suspect that you have a bad brake caliper that is not releasing the pad pressure when you take your foot off the brake. Thus, you are effectively driving around with one brake still partially applied. That is why the rotor and caliper are so hot. I would think that you can feel the car "pull" to the left (driver side) when driving down the street. I think if you replace the bad caliper your problem will be solved. You may also have to replace the brake pad that is prolly pretty well burned up as well.

I had the same problem on a 91 leggie a few years back. It was a bad HG. It was less hassle to find a good motor in a wrecking yard, then had a mechanic install it. The motor ran super for several more years until the trany tanked.

$3,000 seems somewhat high to me, by about $500 to $800 in myo. Red with a white hatch? The different colored hatch, implies that the hatch is not the original. Ask the seller what that is about. Gas millage with AWD will be max 30 mpg on freeway driving, prolly 25 max driving around town. Subtract another 2 mpg if it is automatic transmission. The 96 does have the desirable 2.2 motor with no head gasket issues.

Prolly not. The cars are two separate platforms, and not the same car length. Individual components like a cat converter or a muffler could be the same, but that is about it.

IMO, I would weigh "time" in the factor of when to do some maintenance work. If it were my car, I would replace the timing belt, pulley, tensioner, water pump, and front oil seal at the same time. The timing belt is the key item to replace, but since all the other replacebable parts are right at hand, it makes sense to replace them at the same time with minimal extra labor cost. This is what I did, when I bought my 99 OBW a few years back. I am unaware of airbag inspection. I have never heard of that before.

As far as I know, when Dextron is improved they give it a higher number. Dextron 3 is what is being sold right now. Dextron 3 will work in any application calling for Dextron ATF. Dextron 3 is what I use in my two Subies. If you are handy with a wrench, you can change the ATF yourself. There is a drain plug on the bottom of the tranny pan. Pull the plug, drain the ATF, but any drain only takes out about half of the fluid. So, the ATF needs to be drained and refilled three times to get a new fluid exchange. Drive a few miles between changes. Doing this requires a little work, but is a lot cheaper then having a power flush done. IMO, no need for any additives, including a friction modifier. Good clean ATF is all you need.

Don't know where to tell you to look, but I think there is a sensor somewhere in/on the cooling system that turns on the cooling fans. I think you can check to see if the fans are good by disconnecting the wiring connector, then "hot wiring" directly to 12V. I don't think it makes any difference which of the two wires is connected to positive to see if the fan s work. Connected one way, the fan blades turn clock wise, connected the other way the blades turn counter clock wise. If this car has an automatic trans, suggest you drain and replace the ATF. There is a drain plug that is exactly like the oil pan drain plug for draining the ATF on the bottom of the trany. Subaru makes it easy to change the ATF. Unfortunately, only about half of the ATF can be drained at one time, the remaining ATF will not drain from the torque converter. So the ATF need to be changed at least three times, and driven between changes, to finally get a good overall fluid change. Sounds like you are doing all the good maintenance on the car that it desperately needs. Hope your son is helping you with the work as well. It is a good opportunity for him to learn about car maintenance.