Rooster2

I agree that a used tranny is the way to go to fix this problem. It is just very expensive to have your existing tranny repaired, and time consuming. I checked into all these options when my last Leggie lost its tranny. A used tranny from a wrecking yard is my advise.

If you are a "do it yourself er," I would change the AT fluid 3 times, with min 5 minute between changes. Reason for this, is draining and refilling the tranny only replaces about half of the fluid per the change. The other half of the fluid stays in the torque converter, and won't drain out. I don't trust anything that Midas people say or do. I have never heard that changing Subie tranny fluid ever causes the tranny to quit working.

Nothing like driving a known unsafe car at 80 mph, and possibly causing a wreck. Your life, and life of your family members are at stake. Do the right thing and get the bearing fixed as soon as possible.

Fuel filter is under the hood, not aware that there may be another one. Don't recommend going to Midas Muffler. Their solution is always to sell you the most they can, at the highest price, even if you don't need it. So, of course Midas will tell you that you need a new cat............as well as an entire new muffler system. For what it is worth......I had a blocked cat on a car. A piece of the cat material broke loose inside the cat, and partially blocked the exhaust gas flow through the system. The result was that the engine would not rev much above 2,000 rpm. Suggest you add a can of Techron fuel injector cleaner. Don't waste your money on cheap injector cleaner, as they don't work well. Change your air filter, if it has been in the car more then 2 years. A very dirty air filter can cause the problems you are having.

oops, missed that in original write up. When was the last time a basic tune up was done?..............like changing the spark plugs and plug wires?

Do you have a check engine light warning on your instrument panel?? If so, a code reader will tell you what needs to be corrected.

I wouldn't be surprised if the car leaks more oil then it burns. Look for oil spots on the pavement, where you park over night.

Yep, you are on top of things. Very normal to develop a slow leak on an old car. I replaced an A/C clutch years back on a VW. It wasn't a bad job. I can't believe a clutch on a Subie is any different. Every couple of years, I top off refrigerant on my 98 OBW to get it working great again. I just use a small 134a shaving size can for that job.

Welcome to USMB. No oil, or just low on oil?? Does the motor run? If running, keep an eye on the temp gauge that the motor isn't over heating. There is no idiot light warning of over heating, just the gauge. The motor in your Leggie has a reputation of blowing head gaskets and over heating. I hope your car isn't suffering from this problem. Post your questions here. Lots of people willing to help you with good advise. Regards, Rooster2

before a flush, look first to see if your radiator is low on coolant. If so, top off with just pure water, and look for a leak at a bad rad hose or radiator itself. You might get lucky and find the leak. If so, fix the leak, then do the flush and add new coolant to fix the problem.

There will be a little oil in the JY compressor. In my past experience, I swapped in a JY compressor, pulled a vacuum, then added 134a to proper level. Listen to the JY compressor in operation. If it sounds a little rough in operation, then add some oil. Pretty sure it uses PAG oil. Someone on this forum should verify that PAG is used. It is readily available at a car parts store. A small can can be easily added through the low port, where 134a is added to the system. You could also just pour in a small amount of PAG oil into the compressor before installing.

If me, I would buy one from a wrecking yard. It is not often that a Subie compressor goes bad, Not something that you could really rebuild yoursef.

You could add some PAG or Ester oil to the system (whichever is in the system) to see if that helps, but I don't think your compressor is going to last very long. I am thinking PAG is in the system right now. The two oils are not interchangeable.

Same thought...........you need to find a door from a 90-94 Leggie.

Like the looks of your OBW. Gotta be fun in the snow. Without a full frame like in a Jeep Wrangler, the Subie in stock trim is not up to doing off roading. It was never designed to do that. With enough rework you can create enough strength to keep the suspension together. Have fun !!

Blower motors seldom break. Hard to believe you have gone through 2, looking for a third. If you didn't have bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all.

I have both a 98 and 99 OBWagons. Yes, I know they have slightly different transmissions, though the motors are the same. 99 and 00 trannys are known for their problem with "delayed forward engagement," so you may want to avoid a tranny from those years. Like grossgary said, there must be a number of years, that you can find a tranny to replace on a 99 model. Others here on this forum should be able to verify qualifying years.

I think your blower motor has been the problem all along.

Agree with others, $1700 is too high. Should be more like around $1,000 at best.

For what it is worth, I have learned a lot about working on projects like you are involved in with your hatch. I have gone to wrecking yards, where they let you remove parts. There, I have removed what I have wanted to buy, and in so doing, I learn in advance of what and how, I need to do, to disassemble the broken "whatever" that I am working to repair on my car. Sort of a "on the job" training program provided by the wrecking yard.

Yea, I was thinking the same thing, if you get the hatch to open, then you are not likely to get it to close again. I replaced the latch on my 99 OBW a few years back, but can't remember much. I do remember removing the plastic inner panel with the hatch up in the air. I think to remove the panel with the hatch closed will probably destroy it, but you may not have a choice to gain access. In all likely hood, your hatch is bent and sprung, so you will need to replace it. Wrecking yard is best, then repaint. I feel your pain and anguish about someone damaging your car, then driving off. I have had that happen a couple of times, and it really made me mad. Gotta be a special place reserved in hell for the bums who do hit and run.

Don't know how similar the Forester HVAC controls are to my 98 OBW. I gotta think similar. I had similar trouble, so I replaced the dash board control unit. That solved my problem.

I would suspect a bad half shaft. Any clicking noise from the front end? I had a car that was like what you described. Drive it for a while, and the half shafts would act up. Like Mikaleda, get the car up on a lift, and look at the half shaft boots, and suspension components for any "play." Good to hear that your car is going strong at 300K+miles.

For what it is worth.........in the past, I have removed a bad speaker, taken it to Radio Shack, and found replacement speaker of the same size. I always bought their best ones with the largest magnets, and got good results at a reasonable price. In my opinion, OEM speakers are not that great, unless you are pulling a speaker from a Bose, or similar, high end radio from a wrecking yard.

Dropping the pan to look for shavings, and replacing the filter is not likely to solve the problem. I did that only once, and it was a complete waste of time. The only filter is a piece of mesh screen, that isn't really much of a filter at all. I found very minimal metal particles on my screen, which is normal. Reinstalling the pan was a real PITA. Just a real tough job removing the hardened gasket pieces from the pan and tranny facing. Others have said the same thing in postings there, that replacing the screen filter is a waste of time. My problem was that my tranny stopped shifting into high gear. I traded the car to solve my problem. Others have posted that the best solution in this situation, is to install a used tranny from a wrecking yard. They are cheap. Popular belief is that it is not worth the time and money to rebuild your existing tranny, if it comes to that.