Fairtax4me

I had to use a 3 foot pipe on the handle of my breaker bar to get the fill plug loose on mine. And even then it still didn't want to come loose. The drive popped out of the plug twice.

Diffs will make more of a popping noise if the spider gears wear out. Those don't generally wear too much unless you're doing one wheel peel-outs. Is it any different on a very slight turn than it is on a tight turn like turning into a parking space? Any more pronounced or frequent?

On the car? No I think it's part of the MAF sensor on non turbo cars. Turbo cars might have one. What scanner are you using?

It's there. It's always there. You just have to look harder. If it were not sending data it would show up as a communication error. The communication protocol doesn't allow the ECU to "not send" the outputs from one sensor or another. Outputs from every sensor are embedded in a hexadecimal code that is transfered from the ECU to the scanner, deciphered by the scanner and displayed accordingly. More than likely it's just a setting on the scanner that needs to be changed.

Missed that part before. You should remove all of the screws that hold the back plate on the pump. Apply thread lock and reinstall them. They tend to back out and the backing plate will come loose bleeding out all of your oil pressure back into the crankcase. Oil pump bolt torque from 2000 fsm. I think you call that "Snug".

Now that's a proper looking Subaru! Sharp indeed.

That second part was meant as a reply to Plodders post. I could have made that a bit more clear.

Taking it to Jiffy lube for an oil/trans fluid change. The front differential shares fluid with the transmission on the MT. So if the diff fluid was low, the trans fluid was really low and you have much more to worry about than the diff. Rear differential hardly sees any load, so if it was low just drain and refill it some some good synthetic gear oil. Worse comes to worse you have to replace it, which isn't that hard, and you can usually get one from a U-pull for under $100. Now for the all important question: What symptoms lead you to believe that either differential is damaged?

An external head gasket leak isn't worth losing any sleep over. Follow what GG says.

Coolant temp sensor is bad or the fan relay is stuck. Fan relay is easy. Just smack it with the handle of a screwdriver when the fan seem to be "stuck on" and that should rattle it loose so the fan will turn off.

Don't need pistons, just get a really thick head gasket. There's more than one way to lose compression. You could play around with different lengths of rods, different crankshaft diameters. There are some nifty compression ratio calculators online. More than one was linked in the big Frankenmotor thread on NASIOC. Of course those guys were trying to get higher compression, so if you do the opposite of them you can probably get pretty darn low.

Really hard to see much there. I'd probably just replace the whole cross member to avoid alignment problems. Not sure how hard it will be to get it set properly. Might need some tweaking or cutting to get it where it needs to be. I'm really surprised the link didn't bend first. They're supposed to bend to prevent damage to the frame. You must have hit it just right to do that.

Cheap alternator maybe. Where did you get it? There is a plug on teh back of the alternator where a few wires plug into it. Make sure that is connected tight and the pins/sockets inside it are 100% clean.

Normal side to side movement of the shifter when in gear should be less than an inch. The bushings on the linkage wear out and fall apart when they get old. So instead of the normal 1/2" to 1" of movement, you get up to about 3"- 4" of movement. (that's no exaggeration either, mine had a full 3" of side to side movement before I replaced the linkage bushings. I actually measured it for kicks. ) Makes it a real pita to find gears sometimes. Search for shifter linkage bushings, or something like that, and you should be able to dig up a few threads about it here. There were a couple with pics somewhere.

RTV works, but it can dry into little bits that break off later and get stuck in the oil passages. Anaerobic sealer does not dry like a typical sealer. Any that gets squeezed out from between the sealing surfaces will not dry like RTV will (actually it won't dry at all, ever), so there is no risk of it plugging up oil passages. You can get it at most any auto parts store. Permatex packages theirs in a blue squeeze tube.

Great link Nipper. Gonna read some of that myself... tomorrow... zzz

No, there isn't any type of electrical diagnostic for the clutch. It's all mechanical and the ECU doesn't have any way to tell if it's borked. Not on a car that old anyway. A few sensors on the transmission might make it throw a code, but again I think your car is too old to have any of them. OBD1 cars are easy to get codes from. I know threre's a thread or ten around here about how to do it. Something about plugging together two black connectors under the dash IIRC. Turn the ignition to ON and count the flashes of the engine light.

This is Subaru's part number, so if you want to be picky you should match that up. Honestly though, I don't think it makes a difference. Match up what you have with the car you are getting the ECU from. Engine size, transmission type, and EGR or non-EGR. Those are about the only things that matter. And even at that, the transmission type is selected by a certain pin of the ECU being grounded or not, which is done in the wire harness in the car, so engine size and egr vs non-egr are basically it.

If the wheel got hit something is probably bent and has moved the rear wheels out of proper alignment. Alignment can cause all sorts of problems. The lateral links are designed to bend in a side collision (such as with a curb) in order to prevent damage to the frame. If there was major damage to the rear quarter panel the strut tower could have been shifted which would throw off the camber angle. The strut itself could be bent. I'd try to avoid driving it at all. Just because you don't "feel" something wrong on dry pavement doesn't mean the car is stable, and loss of control is imminent if you happen to hit a slick spot at higher speed.

What he said about he P0400. If fixing the exhaust leak doesn't cure the P0420 code, search "P0420" on the site here and read up on the spark plug anti fouler trick. Simple, cheap, and almost guaranteed effective.

nvm you got it... That is the access hole for removing and installing the piston wrist pins. You can just remove it and reseal it. Subaru sells a little round gasket that goes there if you're picky.

Good to hear! You still need a good MAF? I can get them for under $30 from the "local" U pull (hour away) Is it the AA160?

The little yellow icon at the top of the text box that has little mountains on it. Click that and enter the url of the image. OR click manage attachments and follow the links to upload images directly to the site. Might be the oil pump seal. You need a little $2 O ring from the dealer, and a tube of anaerobic sealer to reseal the pump. The pressure bypass valve has a round plug with an allen head cap on it. IIRC there is just a copper washer under that to seal it. But be careful removing that as there are some springs that may come flying out. Check out Beergarage.com for pics of the oil pump.

That's also part of the reason alot of makers got rid of temp gauges entirely. They have this type of circuitry on gas gauges too. People complain because the needle moves. IM OUT OF GAS!!! Haul around the corner to get to the gas station. "Oh nvm I got a half tank." Sputter cough die. Tow it to dealer. "Its out of gas". "But it said I had a half tank!"

They should be able to. As long as whoever does the actually knows what he/she is doing. The battery is typically under the most load during starting. Most places use a load tester that simulates the draw of the starter on the battery during cranking. Some of the new more advanced testers pull a smaller draw and measure voltage drop over time to determine if the battery is holding it's charge properly. Either one is just as effective. Alternator testers will measure voltage as well as amp output and make sure both are within range. If they know how to use the machine, they should test the diodes in the alternator as well. If it turns out you need one, 1stSubaruparts.com sells reman alternators for the 95 to 99 models for under $70. The part is the same except for the wire connector on the back of it. Snag a connector from a junkyard and splice it in and you're set for under $100 if you can wait for shipping.