Fairtax4me

So it doesn't make any noise when the engine is idling in drive, or when it's just sitting in park? Suppose I should ask, is it an automagic or manual transmission? Does it make the noise if you quickly rev the engine in neutral? $1300 a year is a lot of money for such low mileage, but the age of the car is why all of these things are having to be repaired. A car that sees only a few thousand miles a year in 11-12 years will show its age just as a car that is driven a lot of miles would in the same time period, but for different reasons. Sitting in traffic, making short trips every day, are much harder on an engine than driving 30-40 miles one way on the highway to work every day. You're overdue for a timing belt on the time schedule, and you could have an idler bearing or belt tensioner failing. Other knocks related to oil level would be a rod bearing, but I would blame that failure more on the overheating it experienced before the head gaskets were replaced. When an engine overheats to the point that it nearly shuts off, there is serious damage being done due to the expansion of the components and thinning of the oil due to heat.

Unless you want a destroyed axle and chewed up stub, DO NOT drive without the axle pin. You can't make it happen by hand, but the car does produce enough force to make the axle slide off of the stub far enough to bind and break itself. It's a 3,000lb car, and when its rolling there is a lot of momentum that will fling a 30lb axle around like a wet noodle. Yes, the axles only fit one way, if the pin won't go in, it's possible the axle is 180 degrees off. Another possibility is the pin you have is a hardware store roll pin which is the wrong size. I pulled CRACKED pins out of my friends forester that were cheap, poor fitting, hardware store replacements. If the pins don't have the serrated split down the side, they're not original, and they will give you problems. New pins are only a few dollars at a dealer, always in stock, and you get the right part that actually fits.

If the pressure light came on, yes, ramifications. Maybe not right away but there was bearing damage done by running that low on oil. Yes, a stuck PCV valve can allow several quarts of oil to burn away in only a few thousand miles, especially doing a lot of highway driving, where high rpms (3000 or more) are sustained for extended periods of time. Most Subarus tend to use about 1/2 quart or a little more in the 3,000 miles between oil changes anyway.

You have a lot of air in the system if you're getting gurgling all the time. I've had it do it on the first startup in the morning and later found a very small leak. Topped off the radiator and reservoir and in two days it was gone. Have you filled the radiator with the bleed nipple open? I suppose some might not have that. Keep that open while filling the radiator until coolant fills the hole. Squeeze the upper hose once or twice to purge any bubbles out and fill again if needed. Start the engine and let it run to operating temp so the thermostat wil open. Bring rpms up to 1500-2000 to force air bubbles out of the core, when gurgling stops shut off the engine. Check and top off with bleeder open after it it cools. The only thing that will get more air out than that process is using a vacu-fill machine.

I can't figure why he had it unhooked in the first place. There is plenty of room to pull these engines without taking the radiator out, especially with the automagic trans. I'd take it back and make him put a new trans in it. But then, what else would he screw up? If it ran out of fluid once, that's not as bad as slipping for days or weeks at a time. But it still doesn't help the lifespan of your clutches. I'm wondering if something electrical got left unhooked or loose. Does the check engine light work during the bulb test? Does the AT temp light work?

You can certainly jack the other side up, but the sway bar may still hold the rear suspension in a position that will make it difficult to remove the strut. The sway bar tries to hold the suspension on each side in the same place relative to the opposite side. If you disconnect the link, you'll get another 3-5" of room or more by pushing down on the knuckle.

Did you actually test fuel pressure or just pinch the line? Have you checked the timing belt?

I just noticed that your MC doesn't have the ports on the bottom like the others I've seen. I hate to say it but I think your only option for a new replacement might be the dealer. So to avoid spending $$$ on a new one I'd stop by and see if they can get a rebuild kit for it. Opposedforces.com lists two different sizes for rebuild kits, two different diameters of the main bore. Probably the difference between ABS and non-ABS MCs. The most common place on these for a leak is between the rear crossmember and the floor pan where the brake lines come out just before/above the fuel tank. Leaks can be hard to see and hard to find there. If the pedal is sinking, and the fluid level in the reservoir hasn't gone low, probably a good bet its the master. Just to be sure though, start the engine, push the pedal as hard as you can and just let it sink. Do that about 5-10 times and then look all around under the car for any wet spots. You could also make a mark on the MC where the fluid level is beforehand, and see if it has gone down any afterwards.

Haven't you heard of Murphy's Law? Joking aside, that's exactly why it broke. It was old, and you've probably never serviced it. The liner of the brake shoe probably fell off and jammed everything else up. Or the pins that hold the shoes rusted and broke. Much more common than you probably think. Either way, the chunks of brake shoe and the tone ring cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Something has to give, and the tone ring and sensor took the brunt.

That's a very slow leak at most. I'd consider it normal seepage. Thats not even something I would bother with trying to correct at this point. The cooler lines are further forward of that area, and if they were leaking there would be oil forward of that point on the housing.

Is the bottom of the trans pan dented, possibly in the shape of a jack head? Too many codes to be unrelated. All sounds like wiring issues to me, which can often come from someone putting a jack under the trans pan and pinching wires between the pan and valve body. If the pan is not dented unplug the harness from the side of the trans (not the selector switch plug, the plug that actually goes into the side of the trans) and check it for corrosion and poor connection. FWD light not coming on could just be the bulb. The duty C is not electrically connected to the light at all, nor to the FWD fuse. The TCU commands the light on through a circuit separate of the duty C or fuse. So a bad TCU is still possible, but it seems like there would be other problems (shift problems) if the TCU is bad.

Pull the timing cover and line up the crank and compare marks. You don't have to take a ton of stuff off to do that. Accessory belts, AC tensioner, and crank pulley and you can remove the center cover.

Booster would not cause a low pedal. A failed booster would leak vacuum causing a stiff pedal. I agree with Gary, start looking for leaks. Especially around the rear cross-member and where the lines run above the fuel tank.

Sway bar will hold the suspension up on the side that's raised. Put a jack under the knuckle and lift it up a bit until you can get the link bolt out of the sway bar.

It turns over, it just doesn't fire. Probably bad ignition switch if all the instrument lights are stuck on. But could be a back feed through a short somewhere. See any evidence of mice chewing on things under the dash?

Ignition timing or cam timing? Sounds like you're asking about ignition timing, which would be due to a faulty knock sensor. Easy replacement and the eBay cheapies are reliable enough. If cam timing is off that needs to be addressed first and foremost.

That's what the PCV valve does anyway.

Vibration in gear is often caused by low quality aftermarket replacement front axles. Sounds weird, but there is documented proof here and on other boards that OE axles stop the vibration. Obviously, checking over all the hoses and making sure it has good plugs and wires, fresh filters, etc, should be done first. But when all else fails, if the cups on the front axles aren't green, they're probably the problem.

Pushrods are removable. I don't think I've ever recieved a replacement pushrod with a new or rebuilt MC. Just give it a firm tug and it will release from the ball cup and pop out. The pictures that match the MC you have pictured only seem to be listed for non-ABS models. I suppose its possible the previous owner installed the wrong MC, but that seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through, bending brake lines and all, to install an MC which seems to be the least common style. Spongy brakes doesn't usually mean the MC is bad. If there is air trapped in the ABS module it can be difficult to bleed out and will cause sponginess. Spongy brakes can so be caused by a failing brake hose "ballooning" under braking pressure.

I would kind of assume that the fan is OK if it works at all. The ECU has no way to directly monitor fan operation. There is no sensor that tells the ECU the fan is spinning, nor an ammeter circuit to detect current draw to tell if the fan is spinning as it should. So the ECU only has the ECT sensor to rely on to tell if the fans are actually cooling the system. As a result, other cooling system problems could cause this code to set. Low coolant level, a thermostat not opening all the way, a partially clogged radiator, poor coolant circulation due to a worn water pump impeller, all possible causes. Intermittent fan operation could be a possibility. A bad relay might not engage the low or high speed setting when commanded.

FSM isn't very useful on this one. I'm thinkin the ECU is expecting to see a certain amount of drop (over a certain time) in coolant temp when the fans turn on, and if it doesn't drop fast enough it sets this code. I would definitely check to see that both fans are working properly. That both speeds engage if your car has the two speed fans. Two speed fans will have 3 wires in the connector, easy to check by sticking your head under the radiator and looking at the fan plugs on the bottom of the fans. Also make sure the radiator and AC condenser are clear of debris, dead bugs, dust, leaves, etc. Green connectors should be close-by each other. They are only one wire each and fairly long leads though so someone may have wrapped the other end over top of some other harness under the dash.

X2 on alternator voltage check. If the entrire electrical system is under 12v then you need to address that first. Like cougar said, if system voltage is normal and injecorr voltage is low its probably a power supply issue to the injectors. The large 16 pin grey connector on the bellhousing has the power supply and ground (ECU) wires for the injector harness. Definitely pull that one apart and check for corrosion/ poor connection.

An odd one for sure. I know the fans are two speed fans, its possible the low speed is working and the high speed is not, or vice versa. Plug in the two green connectors under the dash and turn the key to On. This will cause the fans to cycle and all of the relays and solenoids under the hood to click in roughly 1/2 - 1 second intervals. You should hear two distinct speeds of the fans, a low speed, then a click and the high speed should come on. If you only hear the one speed then you'll have to look into why. You can unplug each fan one at a time to isolate which fan is not working as it should. Ill check what the FSM has to say about this code when I get a chance.

The fuse does not do anything directly with the Duty C solenoid, nor the FED light. The fuse merely grounds a pin for the auto trans control module, which then commands the duty C to the fully open (or closed, I forget exactly which) position which prevents line pressure from reaching the transfer clutch packs. If the light did not come on right away that could be a poor connection at the bulb or poor connection elsewhere between the TCU and cluster, but is in now way an indicator of Duty C solenoid operation. And since the torque bind goes away with the fuse installed, that would show that the duty C solenoid IS working, or at least enough to unlock the clutch packs when told to. Trans codes can not be read via the OBD2 diagnostic port, you have to do the secret handshake and count blinks of the AT temp light to get TCU codes.

What exactly are the codes you're getting? The code number, P0xxx, not the definition. Ground problem is certainly possible, check the main engine ground by the starter, and the ECU ground on top of the intake manifold. I'd also suggest unplugging the 3 connectors on the passenger side of the bellhousing to look for corrosion. I forget which one has the wiring for the injectors, its possibly just loose from where someone had it unplugged previously and didnt plug it back in correctly.