Fairtax4me

Check engine light is probably a starter switch circuit code. The ECU gets a signal from the ignition switch when it is turned to tell it that the starter has been engaged. If the switch is bypassed, the ECU wont get that signal. Fixing this may cure the cruise issue as well. Search through this thread and see if you can find a "Vacation" pic for your year. (you'll get it when you read the thread) http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/wants-see-my-vacation-pixi-6216p15.html?highlight=vacation Most of the links in the beginning of the thread are dead, but the stuff towards the end is more recent. There are tons of them for all different years.

Most cars just have a bunch of plastic clips holding it on. A few tugs in the right places should pop it off.

Is the other wheel still on the ground? You want both front wheels of the ground and disconnect the sway bar from the control arm. Pry the control arm down and pull the strut out away from the car to get the lower bolt in then you can pry the knuckle back towards the car to get the upper in.

If nothing else get that 2.2! Rust gets to cars pretty bad around here, especially if they sit for a long time. Even if the body doesn't have much potential, I bet the engine is still worth keeping.

See I know there are transmissions these days that have electronic actuators. I drive them almost every day. BMW, Mercedes, but Subaru doesn't have anything even similar to those as far as I know. And at that, I'm pretty sure they just use a solenoid to move the shift selector on the outside of the transmission. Which is what the cable from the shift handle inside the car does. Toyota uses a different type of setup in their hybrids, but that's much more complicated since there isn't really a "transmission" on those. There's still a parking pawl, and it's operated electronically, but it's nothing like what goes on inside a 4EAT.

That's what I was talking about. The "Sure" was for the bump stops. Probably don't even need those at all to be honest, but they can be helpful in some extreme situations.

How many miles are on the car? What kind of fuel mileage are you getting? Got a vacuum gauge?

Valve clearance adjustment should be fairly easy. That engine is SOHC (right?) so should have the solid lash adjusters on the rocker arms. That procedure should be in the FSM. Fuel pressure sounds about right. Maybe a hair high at 36psi? I thought it was supposed to be like 32. But we now know the gauge you used isn't entirely accurate.

MY2000 Legacy FSM. http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/ Not your exact year so some wire colors may be different in some circuit diagrams, but the setup is the same from 00 - 04.

I'm not 100% sure, on the OBW but the evap canister was in the back on the 96. Maybe the OB is different. Mine is under the right rear quarter. (96 L Sedan) No evap canister could cause some issues though. If it's missing you basically get a big vacuum leak there when the evap purge valve opens. And if the lines are loose/split/broken, same problem. It's a vacuum leak.

That has me confused too. Isn't the parking pawl actuated mechanically by the selector shaft? I know the shifter lock mechanism frequently causes problems getting out of park, never heard of that preventing it from going into park though. And that isn't even on the transmission. Cable adjustment might be an issue?

Sure. What do you mean leave the top hats in place? You have to remove them from the car to swap to the new struts. Well maybe you don't HAVE to but it's a lot easier to use a spring compressor when the assembly is off the car.

It might be due to your bad brake light bulb. Dual filament bulbs can cause backfeeds when one filament burns out and shorts against the other one.

You're on the right track. The noise is probably just due to wear. Check the boot for cracks. If all the grease has been flung out you might just have to replace the axle. Usually a relube and reboot will get you by for a while though.

Probably cavitation. Usually means the fluid level is incorrect. But it's probably normal if everything is still working properly. For your vibration issue, try cleaning the Intake manifold with a Seafoam treatment. That's best done on old plugs since it can foul them.

Awesome!

It might not have it. I know they got rid of it on later models. Not sure which year it was though. Might have been when they switched to the hydraulic clutch system.

The MAF is 100% necessary. You can't remove that without major driveability problems. You have to buy an adapter to mount a filter to the MAF sensor if you want a cone style filter. A drop in filter is simple and gives better performance than a cone style with no extra work necessary. However, there are tons of cases where oil type filters cause problems because of the oil. It gets all over the MAF sensor and screws it up. Usually cleaning fixes it, but in some cases it completely ruins the sensor. Gotta learn somewhere, at least you're asking questions before tearing something apart and possibly destroying it.

That was the problem. Bose doesn't like people messing with their stuff. Actually I don't know but the experience I've had with Bose factory systems, theres almost no way to utilize the factory amp with an aftermarket head unit. However, most systems are not that complicated and you can hook up any head unit you want with no major problems. There are always variations in sound quality from one manufacturer to another though, so no system is going to sound exactly the same as what you have now.

Is it a burned gas/exhaust smell, or is it like fresh out of the pump straight up raw gasoline?

Sounds like a World War 2 fighter plane! Usually not a big fan of 4 cylinder exhaust noise of any kind, but Turbo whine makes everything better.

Maybe that's because people who want them don't know about all the problems? Our Subaru store continues to have record high sales volume as well. The effects of current problems will be seen 1-2 years from now, when/if current new owners throw Subaru under the bus for whatever reason. What is the "Shaker" problem? That's a new one on me.

That's exactly what I tried to explain in reply #5. That's an interesting thought. I'm not sure it would have much effect in a warm climate. Although the heater circuit of the cooling system doesn't transfer much heat away from the engine, it does serve a purpose of acting as a bypass to maintain proper cooling system temperature. The heater hoses route coolant from the crossover pipe under the intake, through the heater core, then back through the bypass pipe to the back side of the thermostat housing on the water pump. It keeps hot water moving through the system to the thermostat, so it's less likely to close in cooler weather due to cold coolant (a lower temp than is required to keep the thermostat open) flowing in from the radiator. Thus it prevents the engine from essentially overheating in cold weather or in scenarios where a constant flow of air across the radiator sufficiently lowers the temperature of the coolant moving through it. On the US models at least, the first O2 sensor is on top of the first cat in a pretty well hidden spot. You can see it from above if you look under the passenger side half axle, it is directly underneath the inner cv joint. As said before the rear O2 sensor has no effect on fuel economy, it is only for checking efficiency of the catalytic converter. As for the voltage even with the sensor unplugged. It seems to be common for after market scanners to show a stepped up voltage reading for one or both O2 sensors. Something about the way the ECM output is translated by the scanner.

Check that off the list of possibles. A kind of odd one, that I've seen cause problems in cars that live on dirt/gravel roads or park under trees, the drain holes in the bottoms of the doors can plug up, and water will fill up and spill over the inner panel of the door and run down the kick panel into the carpet. And they're easy to check, just stick a straw or something into the drains to dislodge anything that might be in the way.

Get out the hose. (No, not those kinda hoes. The water hose. ) Open it up on the windshield for about 5 minutes then crawl under the dash and see if you can see water dripping or running anywhere. The cowl area under the wipers often gets clogged up with leaves and doesn't drain properly. You can try cleaning that out and see if it makes a difference.