Fairtax4me

If you don't like the chrome look, sand it down and spray it with etching primer. Once the primer dries give it a quick sand and hit it with your choice of color spray paint and let cure.

A bent frame, or severely out of spec camber. In my experience, bad bushings will allow the wheels to "walk around" under the car, when driven on grooved concrete/ steel deck bridges, but not move the whole car around as much, or no more than any other paved surface. Most of the time you just get a generally unstable feeling at higher speeds, and clunking /wobbling during acceleration or braking, or during harsh maneuvering. This is just in general. Obviously every car reacts differently to worn suspension parts. I tend to think the bushings on my 96 sedan are pretty worn out. It feels like it wants to float off the road at anything over 60, but it doesn't feel wobbly or drive any differently on cement than it does on asphalt.

Good old fashioned aftermarket PITA. I've found that the hassle of installing some aftermarket parts is not worth the cost savings, at all. And often times the ride quality suffers. The rear bushings are about $70 a side from a dealer if you order online. Some dealers will match online pricing to get a sale, which means you can often get the same price or close to it locally. Takes all of 5 minutes to change it and you're done. The front control arm bushings can be pushed out with a C frame press or a long bolt with some proper size sockets. Or you do it the redneck way and burn them out with a torch. If you haven't done so, I recommend replacing the bushings on the steering rack with poly bushings. I got a set of Whiteline bushings on Ebay for around $35 shipped. They take maybe 30 minutes to install and make a huge difference in the feel of the steering. No noticeable difference in NVH or ride quality. And the Poly is resistant to oil contamination which is what degrades the factory rubber parts so badly. Wandering on grooved cement is usually more of an issue with tires. It's commonly known as Tram-lining. It tends to be worse with higher performance tires, but plenty of other tire types are affected by this as well. It all comes down to tread design. You can search your tire brand and model on Tirerack and read some reviews by people with the same tires to see if others have the same trouble.

Coil sounds fine. When a coil fails you typically get no spark on one half of the engine (front or rear). You covered all of the basics. Try the Seafoam treatment. Run some through the intake by way of the idle control valve. Pour the rest in the gas tank to help clean the fuel system. You have a vacuum gauge, did you hook it up to the intake to see engine vacuum at idle?

Tape. Duct tape seems to work best, but any kind will do if you have enough of it.

I know some older cars had codes that would disappear when the light went off. Your 02 should store and save any code that gets set, so long as the ECU does not lose power.

What he said. Have AZ scan the codes for you, but post up the actual code here before you let them talk you into replacing parts.

Glad you got it figured out. Sorry no-one chipped in, this post must have been shuffled under the rug on a busy day or something. The TPS is adjustable so that the ECU sees a certain voltage reading (around 0.5 V ) from the sensor when the throttle plate is closed. The same sensors are used on a range of years, and several different engines. Because of differences in manufacturing, the base throttle plate setting on one engine may be slightly different than another, even if it's the same type of engine. Very small changes in the position of the sensor can make a big difference in what the ECU sees, as you've found out. So the sensor needs to be adjustable to account for those minor differences from one engine to another. There are also differences in manufacturing tolerances of the sensor. No two sensors will read exactly the same. It is much cheaper to produce an adjustable component that will fit many different applications, than to make individual components for each engine. The same sensors are also used on some Suzuki vehicles. Suzuki's engine management may look for a different voltage reading at base throttle position.

I Don't bother with "relieving fuel pressure". Take the gas cap off to let vapor pressure out of the tank, then pop the hoses off. Wrap a rag around the end to catch fuel that dribbles out. Last fuel hose I did I completely destroyed trying to twist it. I just cut it off and got a new hose. Sometimes that's just easier. Who uses a wrench for an oil filter? Long flat blade screw driver and a hammer will get any filter moving. If you think it leaks oil now, that Rotella T is gonna run through it like water.

Wish I could recommend someone. The only ones I know that are any good work at the dealer, mostly on newer cars, and they're probably some of the ones you're talking about. You could probably go up there and talk to Ray and ask if he knows of anyone. There isn't much in the way of old time Japanese car mechanics around here that I know of. Plenty of Saab, Volvo, BMW, Audi, etc. euro box car places though.

Isn't the SUS just a jacked up sedan? I'd figure the wagon vs sedan stuff would be different regardless of trim.

Two bad fuel pumps chances are pretty slim. Chance is there, but slim. Move on to the next possibility. (I hate to have you toss parts at it, I really thought it would be fuel pump related) Temp sensor, hook up a multi meter to it and check the resistance reading when the engine is running. ( especially when it starts running stupid) If you're not sure I don't believe it's too difficult to swap on the older engines that don't have the giant wire harness in the way. Unplugging it should set the ECU to open? loop mode, which will tell it to ignore certain inputs and run on default settings. Might also try unplugging the O2 sensor to see if that clears it up.

Sounds about right. Hopefully they won't burn it.

Other way around. A stuck open EGR valve will cause a massive vacuum leak and will suck excessive amount of exhaust into the engine creating poor or no combustion. I don't think 98 has a MAF sensor but if it does check the tube between the sensor and the throttle body. Make sure it is tightly clamped at each end. And none of the breather hoses or idle control motor hose (if it has it) have fallen off.

The gas lights on these are notoriously inaccurate. I've had mine come on with close to 1/4 tank still showing on the gauge. Other times I can peg the needle against the stop and not get a light at all. I tend to fill up when the gauge gets to the E line. Usually around 12.5 gallons. About 240 - 250 miles in my 96 2.2 5 speed sedan.

Evap purge control solenoid. That broken hose would cause a small vacuum leak, which may make it idle a bit funny, but would not be intermittent. You're that much closer to getting it running right though. Metal shavings on the pump... It is magnetic, so steel/iron will be attracted to it. Any metal shavings that fell off of the screws during removal of the plate would have floated right over to the pump body on the way down. On the other hand, it could very well be bits from inside the pump that have made their way through the fuel system back to the tank where they would then get stuck to the side of the pump.

Manual transmission Subarus are so common it's just easier to buy a car with all the stuff already there. You really need a complete donor car anyway.

X2 Don't take it the wrong way, but you have to pay attention to the dates of the threads you reply to. Mmmmkay? BTW since John asked, the "Window Regulator" is just the name for the mechanism that lifts and lowers the window.

I always have the best luck with Ultra grey when making gaskets out of RTV. The red stuff never works for me for some reason. Anaerobic is not the best choice for a stamped steel pan gasket as there will be different sized gaps between the bolt holes, especially if the pan bolts have been overtorqued. The gap distance may be insufficient to allow the sealer to dry. Anaerobic is best suited for machined aluminum/steel mating surfaces, where the gap between surfaces is within a few thousands of an inch, and mostly uniform the entire way around.

2.25" is a nice gain. Might even be too much just from springs. How much do the struts compress when the car is on the ground?

I'm not too familiar with the forester, is there not a key cylinder on the hatch to put the car key into to unlock the hatch?

I take it that means someone else (shop) did the work? Dig through your service records and see if you can find out which, if any, other parts were replaced along with the belt and water pump. Another common issue on these, but generally shows up much sooner, is the bolt on the crankshaft pulley is not tightened properly after a timing belt change. This allows the bolt to loosen up and the crankshaft pulley to start wobbling around making a knocking noise similar to a bad rod bearing. If this is the problem you will be able to watch the pulley wobble as the engine runs.

Timing belt tensioners on those engines will knock around when they get old. Did you replace the tensioner when you did the timing belt?

No starter relay. There is a main relay that controls power to many of the cars electrical systems and ECU. Probably what you hear clicking. Intermittent starting can be a sign of worn contacts in the starter solenoid. There are quite a few threads here detailing how to replace the contacts and save some $$ vs buying a rebuilt starter. Could also be a poor connection in the neutral start switch (manual trans), Inhibitor switch (Auto trans), or ignition switch. The clicking under the dash could indicate the ignition switch is bad.

A good flare nut wrench should get that loose. I bought a $35 Matco flare nut wrench just for that fitting on my wagon after I rounded off two sides with a crescent wrench. Cleaned it up with a file and slid the flare wrench on, quick tap with a 3lb hammer and it cracked loose immediately.