Fairtax4me

Yeah I would check fuel pressure and make sure that's building properly before starting, and then holding after starting. You can do a feeler check by turning the key On once or twice to prime the system before starting. Some other things; make sure the throttle body and plate are clean. Make sure the PCV valve is in good shape, replace it if its old. Check the hoses for the PCV for clogs. Just did the one on my grandmothers car because she was consuming oil. PCV valve looked fine, rattled, wasn't dirty at all. But after replacing, the oil consumption problem is gone. The engine does pull air through the PCV at all times, so it being clogged can affect idle A/F ratio. Pull the IAC and make sure the valve and the ports in the intake are clean. If you have a MAF sensor make sure that's clean.

That sheild is there to help keep heat away from the u- joints the carrier bearing and bushings on the driveshaft, the shift linkage, and the parking brake cables where they run through the tunnel. It's mostly to prevent long term effects of heat on those parts, but it does also help keep heat out of the cabin. I would keep it in place if you can, but if its damaged and causing a problem, take it off for the time being and replace it when you can.

A very small amount oflateral play is acceptable, but there should be springs on the rocker shaft to keep the rockers in position. Of you can move it side to side more than about 1mm there is a problem. Any glitter in the oil is a cause for concern. I would still cut the oil filter open and see what's in there.

What is idle speed when not in gear? Does idle change when put into gear?

You don't need feelers. If the lash is great enough to make a noticeabley loud tap the clearance will be HUGE! Turn the engine over and compare with the cylinder next to it.

Those heads do seem to have trouble with the dropping valve guides. If one of those has lossened it would hang the valve open and cause power loss. And would cause a tapping sound since there would be excessive clearance between the valve and rocker arm. If it hangs open far enough it could hit the piston. Pull the valve cover and check valve clearance.

Then its cable operated, and you should be able to watch the cable move on the diverter lever on the airbox while you turn the knob to the different positions. Pop the cable off of the diverter lever and see if the lever moves freely by hand. Then turn the knob and see if the cable moves the same distance as what the lever moved when you moved it by hand.

Could be the IAC in your case. Might check to see if fuel pressure is holding after start. How old are the spark plugs?

This is usually a problem with the diverter flap in the air box. On the electrically controlled ones there is a way to reset the motors that control the position of the flaps. They use what's called "stepper" motors. The motor moves in steps of about 1/4 turn at a time and the control unit keeps track of how many steps are commanded vs how many total steps it takes to move the flap all the way from end to end, to determine which position the flap is moved to. But if the flap is obstructed (leaves, loose insulation, dead mouse, etc.) the motor trys to turn and can not, but the control unit still counts each command, and the flap gets out of sync with where the control unit thinks it should be. First make sure the air box is clear of crud/leaves/ etc, if you can. These are not usually easy to get into being under the dash the way they are. Then try resetting the flap position. I think there are instructions in the owners manual to reset the flap positions. If not you will need to find a Service manual for your car and look there. Someone has a link to a site that has Factory service manuals for almost every Subaru, hopefully they will post it.

Just did the rears on my car a few months ago and all this is fresh in my mind. Open end definitely goes down. Don't worry about getting the top hats abaolutely perfect. Just get them in the general correct orientation within about 1/4" is fine. After you slide the strut up into the car and get the bolts in the top you can use a long 3/8" socket extension or big screwdriver through the lower bolt holes to twist the strut one way or the other. I haven't ever seen a front strut with the lower cushion, dunno if they all fall off or if they just didnt put them on at the factory. But If you live in the rust belt, you definitely want the lower cushion to prevent rust on the lower coil of the spring.

Unfortunately ethanol does not equate to octane. You will still need premium for the octane content. Though you may be able to get away with mid-grade if you don't drive with a lead foot. Most of the premium grade fuel around here is ethanol free as far as I know. Part of why its $0.45 per gallon more than regular. (Here in C-ville at least)

Noooooooooooo!! It's upside down!

Other way. The "open" end sits in that little lower corner on the strut. Once you put it on there and line it up it will look right and make sense. That corner is what aligns the spring properly to minimize the chance of breaking the lower coil, and it keeps the spring from moving on the strut perch.

It's probably knocked out of its tracks. Have to drop the headliner to get a good look at what's going on there.

Main bearings don't knock. You just get low oil pressure, which then leads to rod bearing damage, and that makes all the knocks. Loss of power and then lots of noise is either jumped timing or a rod bearing eating itself. Time to drain the oil and look for chunks and sparklies. Cut open the oil filter and look in there too.

Could be a bad ECT sensor. You can check the temp reading with a scanner when its cold and compare to outside temp. There was a TSB about fuel injectors on 95 and early 96 Legacy, Impreza, and SVX models where the tip of the injector would ice up in cold weather. They redesigned the injectors with a new tip in mid 96 model year to correct the problem. Unfortunately I can't find pics of the injector tips that had the problem. The tops of the new injectors are Red, I don't know if the old injectors were the same or a different color. You might try adding a bottle of Heet to the tank to see if it helps. Pulling the injector to check isn't easy since they are side-feed and all the fuel in the rails dumps into the port around the injector if you pull it loose. Injectors are usually pretty cheap at a U-pull yard. If you want to try a different set make sure you get them from a 97-99 engine.

I've seen those seats. Those were generally in Outback models. 96-99 years with the grey interior. You may be able to find them in a Legacy L wagon occasionally, but mostly Outbacks from what ive seen. They had a similar seat that was a darker grey as well, but those I don't see very often. You can find them in junkyard cars easy, so don't let the lack on those seats prevent you from buying a car. Usually $15-20 each at a U-pull yard.

I've always done it with my 8" C clamp. Makes it easy to feel the tension as its being compressed so you don't over-do it. Then I use a small nail or hey key to hold the pin in once its compressed.

97 could have two different styles of tensioner depending on the build date. You generally have to pull the left (driver side) timing cover off and take a peek inside with a flashlight to see which kind you have. The better style is a cylindrical tensioner about 4 inches long with a separate idler. That style is robust enough to be re-used as long as care is taken during compressing the pin so the valving inside isn't damaged. If you have the style like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/360393841664 the whole tensioner assembly should be replaced with the idler. Those are not as forgiving when being re-compressed, and generally fail on their own anyway. Order a timing kit that comes with the correct style tensioner for your car. The rest is the same, but its much cheaper to buy a whole kit with everything you need than to peice things together. eBay has good prices on whole kits. Anywhere from $150-$200 depending on which kit you need. Be sure to get the water pump with the kit as well. If it comes with a paper gasket, toss the paper one and get a water pump gasket from the dealer. Only a few dollars and will not blow out like the paper gaskets will.

Outback struts are a direct bolt in and give an inch of lift. They are almost exactly an inch longer than stock legacy struts. In the rear you probably want to replace the springs as well. The springs wear out with age/mileage and will cause premature strut wear. Check the front springs for rust, if there is any chipping or bubbling under the paint coating on the springs you should replace those as well since they have a tendancy to break.

Removing that shield doesn't really pose a fire hazard per-se, but it does help keep a lot of heat out of the car. It also helps keep heat away from the driveshaft u-joints and carrier bearing. I've been through plenty of deep snow with mine, dragging the bottom and getting high centered plenty of times and having to rock back and forth to get free. I've never had snow /ice get stuck in the heat shield covering the driveshaft.

That's where they join the layers of the belting together during manufacturing. Ive seen that on many a timing belt. Not a big deal. If you look close at any kind of rubber belt, even a regular serpentine belt, you will see a funny spot where the layers join. That's basically the start of the first layer of rubber where they wrapped it around the drum they use to form the belt.

Parts like this are generally used by several car makers on several different engines. The manufacturer of the sprocket just makes one that will fit several of them to keep manufacturing costs down. The slot is probably used for alignment in a different application, but Subaru uses the pins. They're all like that, nothing to worry about.

There are some bushings in the shifter linkage that wear out with age and cause it to flop around. They also tend to make it difficult to find the gears because it makes the shifter so sloppy. That could be causing some of the stiffness going into gear. There used to be a few write-up with pictures on how to replace the bushings, but it seems that most of them have disappeared or the pictures in them no longer work. If you crawl under the car and find the shift linkage at the back of the trans, reach up and wiggle the shift rod around and you will see the play in the joint where the bushings are supposed to be. Some of these you can disassemble the joint and replace the bushings, others the joint is rivited together and just has to be replaced. Generally, difficult to get into gear is indicative of worn synchronizers in the transmission, of which 1st and 2nd gear cause the most trouble, or a problem with the clutch not releasing all the way. Knowing that you have the sloppy shifter problem though, I would start with replacing the bushings and to from there. Another thing that can affect shift quality is gear oil level in the trans. Make sure it is at the proper level, and if it hasn't been changed in the last couple years it would be a good idea to change it.

Glas to hear it was the connectors! Sorry you had to wait three years with the light blinking in your face to find that out!