Numbchux

A detent lever has a series of notches and has a spring that pushes against it. This is the "clunk" you feel as you move from one gear to the next. Here's a good picture of a GM lever: The notches on the left are where the detent spring/roller rides. The hole on the far right is for the linkage that puts it in park. And there's a roll pin through it that holds it to the shift shaft. This is all internal to the transmission, definitely requires removing the transmission pan, maybe valve body as well. On a subaru, I'm not sure if there's any mechanical linkage that selects the various gears, or just back to the park pawl. I'm extremely unclear on your symptoms of whether the transmission is damaged or not. And it sounds like you've already disassembled the transmission, so you can no longer test it. There are hundreds of ways to resize an image. Google it. Or upload to a different site (I use Flickr now, you can click the "share" icon on the picture, and then copy the BBCode and past it here and the picture will display).

And just as an anecdote. Here's how my '01 VDC came to me: 20190602_191605 by Numbchux, on Flickr Front ujoint broke at fairly low speed (20-30mph, according to the PO). Ripped the heat shield off, beat up the exhaust pretty bad, and mangled the rear oxygen sensor. I can absolutely see how with more speed, or just different luck, that shaft would have been kicked up into the shift cable and body-side linkage.

Answers in red In the US anyway, only the H6 VDC models have the VTD AWD, the other models (LL Bean, anniversary, etc.) have MTD, and those transmissions are identical to the 4-cylinder ones (might want to check the axle ratio, as I think H6s got 4.111s and H4 ATs got 4.444s). So, assuming this car doesn't have the VTD, the parts should be very easy to swap. The VTD and MPT transfers are mechanically interchangeable, but electronically not. The only case I saw of someone retrofitting a VTD transfer into an MPT car was not fully functional.

The lever on the side of the transmission has a roll pin that connects the inner linkage to the shaft (and therefore the outer linkage). I suspect when the driveshaft grabbed the shift cable, it yanked it back so hard that it sheared off that pin. So regardless of what you do with the external linkage, the trans is still in 1st. I think this pin is accessible/visible from the pan without removing anything else. When you move the linkage, do you feel the separate gear positions? Yes, all 00-04 Legacy and Outback Auto transmission driveshafts are the same, regardless of body style or engine (manual transmission uses a longer driveshaft), and in fact any Legacy/Outback AT shaft from 1990-2004 should work (I used a 2007 shaft in our 2004 temporarily, but it's a bit longer and I was worried it would bottom out in the transmission). Some sources say that the Outback center carrier is shaped differently to account for the small body lift in the rest of the drivetrain, in practice, I noticed no difference other than a small rubber bushing on the mounts that spaces it down by about 1/4". There's a chance that the yoke being stuck in the transmission means internal damage, but you can't get in there to address that without removing the yoke, so it's just a matter of applying enough force. Maybe a slide hammer? Considering that and the linkage damage, I'd probably be checking the local yards for a decent used transmission....

https://www.billsautofab.com/ and

You are going to have a hell of a time getting those to hold air. Shouldn't be hard to find another set to work on.

There's a way to put it in Valet mode (check your owner's manual), that will prevent the alarm from going off. You might need the remote, though. Also, when you get out of it, lock the car with the key, not with the button. This will not arm the security system and allow you to unlock it with the key normally. If the alarm is going off, put the key in the ignition, and quickly turn it from "off" to "on" (2 clicks) 3 times. This will turn off the alarm and allow you to start it. And yea, used fobs aren't hard or expensive to get a hold of, and you can program them yourself (instructions in the owner's manual).

I play it by ear. If I can't spin bolts in by hand, I generally run a tap in the hole and hit the bolt on a wire wheel. If it's greasy, I clean it. Engine internal parts shouldn't have any issue with either of those, but sometimes...

If you're talking about just the hub flange, definitely. If you're talking about the whole knuckle (with the wheel bearing and hub flange), probably, the only thing to look at would be the ABS sensor location.

Almost anything will work. The EJ22 had pretty mild fuel requirements. Just need something that'll handle fuel injection and inline mounting. I've used stock SPFI EA82 pumps, universal inline pumps, and once I used something for an '80s Ford Grand Squire wagon... Being able to put a 90 degree fitting off one end (pressure end in stock config, IIRC) makes putting it in the stock location easiest.

AFAIK, the only changes with the 5x100 EJ knuckles, is ABS sensor and bolt-on vs press-in bearings. And I remember years ago WJM using knuckles with bolt-in bearing housings in his RX, so there shouldn't be an inherent problem with them.

Hmmm...I suppose that is probably what they were quoting. Either way....something doesn't make sense, even with OEM parts and a healthy markup.

For a simple, slightly-more-powerful, reliable version of the car you already have. Late '90s EJ22 with an adapter plate to your current transmission. The OBDII requires a bit more wiring to get it to be happy, but completely worth it, IMO.

DCCD is very strong, but it's still no locker. No locker available for the front, and only automatic lockers available for r160 or r180 rear diffs. To get a manual locker in the rear, you'll have to swap out a different rear diff, which will have to be a perfect match for the front diff (best is 4.444, almost non-existant for a 6-speed, but available for the 5-speed). Then you'll need custom/hybrid front axles. Custom mounts, custom linkage. Hydraulic clutch pedal conversion. Not to mention an EJ engine. And you loose low range. All completely doable, but a serious amount of work if you really just want RWD instead of FWD.

You're actually a bit low for MSRP on OEM brake parts. They're about $85 for a set of pads, and for each rotor. Still, that's only $510 in parts. I bet book rate is 1.5 hours or so per axle, even at a dealer labor rate, that's probably $900 or so with tax and shop supplies. Now, due to the number of times I've been on the other side of this situation, I will never condemn a shops estimate/work as a 3rd party. But something definitely doesn't add up. OE rotors are considerably better than aftermarket. $20 spent resurfacing a 6 year old rotor is much better than $20 spent on a cheap new rotor.

Anything is possible. But the transmission is not designed to not send power to the front wheels. It would take considerable custom machining and manufacturing to change that and keep the basic layout. Plenty of people have put a conventional truck (Nissan, usually) transfer case behind the stock transmission, and then an extra rear diff mounted under the transmission as a front diff. This requires a considerable lift and a lot of fabrication.

Yep, 2 vacuum solenoids by the LH strut tower in the engine bay. They're very simple solenoids that block vacuum normally, and open to allow vacuum past when power is put to them. I would start there, with a multimeter you can identify if power is making it there (I've seen switches and wiring fail). Then, make a visual inspection of the vacuum lines from those solenoids to the engine, and also from them down to the actuator on the side of the transmission. You can even pull these off and feel for vacuum with the engine running. Yes, there should be an indicator light on the dash for the diff lock. This is an entirely separate circuit with a switch on the transmission, and somewhat prone to failure, so don't take that as gospel. And yea, if your front diff and axles are intact, it would be fine to drive with the diff locked with a missing axle. Don't run it in gear with it unlocked, as your center and rear spider gears will be spinning like crazy (which they are not designed to do).

I bought an aftermarket, application-specific kit for our '04 Outback when I repaired it from crash damage. Almost nothing fit. Even though they're probably a couple dollars each, I'd just order them individually from the dealer and not worry about it. Not worth the risk of loosing $30 in refrigerant to save $5-10 on Orings, IMO.

Junkyard. Welcome to the life of EA Subaru ownership

As I think about it, I might have it backwards. I think we were trying to use COP heads on a non-COP car, and the tubes on the COP heads were shorter, as the regular plug wires didn't reach the plugs, and the older valve covers didn't seal on the newer tubes (I don't remember what was different that required the use of the older valve covers...). So unless you can find a longer boot for the stock plugs. But since the valve covers are different, you'll probably be making custom mounts anyway, so a different coil might be a better option anyway. The Audi R8 Coils (used on many other things, but that's the easy way to look them up) are powerful and reasonably priced, I see those being used a lot on 1UZ COP conversions. Otherwise it might make more sense to use 4 standalone coils (Chevy LS style), with a short plug wire. Lots of options.

The crucial question (which I do not know the answer to), is whether the EJ205 ECU can read the EJ251 cam sensor. If you have them, take a look at that sprocket and compare the tone wheels. The spark plug tubes in the later EJ253s (which had COP) are deeper than the older 251/253s. So no, those coils are not a direct fit. But the extra length on the boot could probably be dealt with with some sort of spacer/adapter/mounting bracket.

Yep, '05-'09 Leg/OBK wagons were somewhat prone to the hatch wires breaking where they are bent every time the hatch is opened and closed. When I worked at the dealership, we stocked all the versions of the hatch harness (there were like 4 different part numbers. IIRC about $80, which is waaaayyy cheaper than paying hourly to fix each individual break, only to have other wires still brittle).

I suspect genuine OE '90-'94 Legacy FWD axles are the shortest, but by a pretty small amount. And the aftermarket ones have been replaced with a single part number that splits the difference. Mine was an automatic. I suspect the only time that makes any difference is with '93-'94 Imprezas, where the MT got 23 spline inners and AT got 25.

That's fine, so buy an SVX. Don't pay a premium to import a pristine one just to drag it through the midwest winter road grime. I don't think the enthusiasm is fading, in general, but it's like many auto forums and shifting to Facebook. This is the only exception of the forums I frequent (because the Venn diagram of users of USMB and people who don't have Facebook has quite a bit of overlap) that hasn't seen a major reduction in activity. Anyway, there are lots of people that own them, but most swap for 4.444 transmissions, or manual. The '96-'97 transmissions hold up better, but they're pretty rare by then. Still can't get a new TPS for them. WTB: TPS posts on the SVX Facebook groups are almost weekly. Center and front diffs on Subarus are built into the transmission. Most 4EATs just have clutch packs, not a true differential. But MTs and VTDs do actually have a differential. The VTD is similar in function to the STi DCCD center diff, where it's mechanically an open diff, with an electronically-actuated LSD.

Have you tried a new bulb? Or just switch the bulbs from one side to the other? Generally speaking, a dim light is usually in the ground side of the circuit (far more likely to have resistance without a break on that side of the circuit). But if you ran a ground wire to the low-beam wire and it was still dim, that's not your issue. After the bulb, the thing to do is to put a Multimeter between the bulb power wire and battery negative, and check your voltage. That will confirm which side of the circuit is the problem.