Rooster2

No body parts are interchangeable. What will interchange is motor, tranny, suspension parts. My 99 OBW has a front suspension knuckle from a 99 Forester, that I got from a wrecking yard.

possible vacuum hose leak, or vac hose not connected somewhere??

Refrigerant leak??

If the ECTS is bad, it will throw a Check Engine Light. That is what happened on my 95, 2.2 motor. Very quickly, it went from CEL to not starting at all. The broader question is do you have a CEL??

I have used fiberglass woven mat and fiberglass sheets to repair rusted out metal areas, mostly on floor boards. Just use scissors to cut the mat or sheets to size. It is amazing the strength you can build up with layers of mat or sheet cut when layed down upon one another. Your rocker panels could be helped using this approach. You will need to use something like a cardboard box wedged under the rocker panel to keep gravity from pulling down the fiberglass after you have applied it. It is messy work working with fiberglass and resin, requiring lots of newspapers to catch resin drippings, gloves, and paint brushes to spread on the resin. Figure on have the car sit over night to make sure the resin is dry. I have found that the resin does a good job of stopping future metal rusting. Once dry, no moisture or air can get to the metal to cause rust.

Pull the tranny if you have the time. You should get a good buck for it, since you say it works great. A free listing on Craig's list should help sell it, and or, list it here on this forum in the sales section.

No, leaking ATF is never normal. Dropping the pan on a Subie always invites leaks. I found this out, wish I had never dropped the pan on my car. The blue paste is prolly Permetex sealer that is designed for sealing the pan. Best to take the car back to where the work was done, tell them the problem, and have them fix it. The shop should have removed all remnants of the old gasket, then used a new gasket, with just a little Permetex. Shame on the shop, if they tried using Permetex only, or reused the old gasket, instead of a new gasket. Ask the shop if a new gasket was used.

What stood out to me on your post is that the motor has 250K miles on it. I don't think I would want to spend much money on a high mile engine. I wouldn't think the thick oil with stop leak added would damage the engine. I have done similar with no problems with a '95, EJ22 engine I continue to run 3 years later. Yea, I think you can fix the snout without too much work. EJ22's are built bullet proof tough, and maybe some more miles left in this motor, suggest not throwing much money at it though.

Maybe a nice car, but it needs to be sorted out, how could it have a turbo, when 2003 was not a year that turbo was offered. Was motor swapped in, or is the car year wrong, or maybe there is no turbo, but seller thinks it has a turbo?? Let the truth be known.

All the above is true. I wrote on what it takes some time back, but can't find what I posted couple of years back. Some of the old posts may have been deleted over the years. Basically, you will need a 3/8" drive and a couple different size extensions, a swivel, along with a sparkplug socket. I may have also used vice grips on an extension, when there was no room to use the drive handle. I think I also used long handled, long needle nose pliers, bent at an angle to reach inside the spark plug openings to remove fully loosened old plugs that have slipped off the sparkplug socket. When installing new plugs, use a piece of rubber hose that can be slipped over the sparkplug, then insert the plug into the hole and hand tighten the plug into the head grasping the rubber hose to rotate the sparkplug. Or, you can hand tighten a new plug by grasping and turning the extension attached to the sparkplug socket. Don't try to thread in a new plug using the drive handle and socket. If you triy that, it is too easy to cross thread the plug into the head, and therefore ruin the threads in the head. Then the new plug won't tighten down properly in the head, and you have just created a mess for yourself. Be sure to use anti-seize on the sparkplug threads. It helps a lot to lube the plug threads upon insertion. I have heard of some people loosening the engine mounts on the side of the motor they are working on, then jacking up that side of the motor to give better access to the sparkplug to work on. I have never tried this, but I am sure others here on the forum can comment on this approach. Just take your time with this project. It takes patience to do this work with such minimal work space. Good luck, let us know your results, or ask more questions............be glad to advise...................Rooster 2

Either battery or alternator is bad. Neither are expensive. If it were me, I would get the car home. Then, recharge the battery, also checking to see if the battery is full of water. Once charged up, you should be able to start the car, and If the dash needles still go crazy, then I would suspect a dead cell in the battery. I had that happen in a VW years back with crazy guage readings. If you can limp the car into an auto parts store, they will come out to the parking lot and test your charging system for free. Then, you will know for sure if it is battery or alternator. Also, recently my daughter reported her BMW developed crazy dashboard readings. She replaced the battery, and all was fixed. If your battery is old, then maybe best to replace the battery, or at least remove the battery, take to a car parts store, where they will test the battery at no charge to see if it is good or bad. Btw, did you have any warning lights come on at the dashboard?

It is a difficult job..........just so little room to work. It took me 2 nights to replace the 4 spark plugs. Do a search here.........much written in the archives on how to replace with less cussing and frustration. Still, it is a nasty job. Suggest using anti-seize lube on the plug threads. It helps lubeing the threads for an easier thread in, and prevents future gauling.

Yea, you have read correctly. The 95 is gen 1, while the 2000 is gen 2, so it is a concompatible match. Do a search here. I have read what gen 2 model years will fit your car's wiring harness on posts here.

The Outback is a little larger and longer car then the Forrester SUV, so the Outback rides imho a little smoother and has a less choppy ride of the two cars. If you are tall, you will notice that the OB has more front seat leg room then the Forrester. Just my 2 cents worth.

I have the same problem..........how do you replace the rack boots?? Any links that describe the procedure?? Thanks, Rooster2

Suggest you start a new thread, as your problem sounds somewhat different.

Do you know for certain that the muffler is bad, or you taking the word of a muffler shop or dealer that the muffler is bad? Subie mufflers are super well built, and seldom wear out. The mufflers on my 98 & 99 OBWs show no rust, and still perform well. However, I have had trouble with both exhaust systems developing a rust out leak at the resonator. If your muffler is truly bad, how exactly has it gone bad?

+1 on above. My best thoughts too.

When I order something of value.........greater then $50, I will order from Advance Auto on line. I always do a google search for Advance Auto coupons. Usually there is a buch of coupons listed with their discount code numbers. There is always an active coupon of 20% to as much as 40% off the price, then I try to do a "store pick-up." You can really save some money with their coupons.

Chain parts stores like Autozone and Advance Auto Parts are store that I buy parts for my Subies. It is better to buy their high end priced parts, and stay away from their "cheapie" priced parts. Quality is better that way. If you need Subaru OEM parts only, then the Subaru On-Line parts websites are the way to go.

Yes, a pint of ATF should work as a cleaner for the engine, and perhaps eliminate the tick sound. As Fairtax stated, I wouldn't drive more then 100-200 miles with the ATF mixed into the oil. Suggest you check your oil dip stick often, as the ATF will thin out the oil resulting in some burn off loss. Also, the cleaning effect will dislodge gunk from your motor. If the oil starts looking really black from engine dirt/gunk, I would change again even if earlier then the 100-200 mile range.

I would advise removing the fan motor unit. I had an earlier Subie with same problem. Turned out crud from the louvers just outside the windshiled, and before the hood had allowed tree leaves and dirt to accumulate to the point of binding up the motor. Once I cleaned out the crud, the motor worked perfectly again. Search this forum. There is quite a bit written about this subject, and how to clean out the crud. Pictures there too, I think.

Well, this is an update on a 2005 original posting, Thirteen years later the info still rings true. Replacing rotors and pads is really an easy job. Just remember to grease the slide pins, as part of the job. The original post of the car being AWD, has no impact on doing a brake job. Don't know why anyone would say that.

I would remove the lower hose from the block to take a look at it. Have a new Subaru brand replacement T-stat at hand. Compare what comes out, with the new one to put in. Odds are, you will install the new T-stat.

Regarding the engine ticking sound...........would recommend adding a can of Marvel Mystery Oil, when changing the oil. It has done a great job of curing ticking problems in cars that I have worked on. Regarding the bad bolster on the driver's seat.............If the seat fabric is still good, then suggest buying the passenger seat out of a Subie from a wrecking yard. Passenger seats are always in better shape then a driver's seat. Swap the foam padding from seat to your driver's seat. Secure seat covering with cable ties upon reassembly, instead of the hog rings as used by the factory. Diver's seat needs to be removed to do this, however, it is only removal of 5 bolts, then fold the seat back over, and pull seat out of the door opening. It is much better driving a Subie with a good seat under your butt.