Fairtax4me

Couldn't do anything with it... except take the bushings. Getting that roll pin out was a lot of fun. It's been a week and my neck is still sore. I tried everything I could at home, then gave in and took the car up to a friends place with an air compressor and an air hammer set. One hit with the air hammer knocked it loose. I made it so I don't have to remove the boss from the selector shaft next time. And I put a bolt in it instead of a new roll pin just in case I ever do.

There may be a cover on dash to the left of the steering column that says "diagnostic connector" or "OBD" on it. Checking vacuum is best done with a gauge but you can usually find a leak by ear if you know what to listen for. It could also be possible that the throttle plate is stuck or binding, or the throttle cable is binding, or the gas pedal is stuck or jammed under the floor mat.

Junkyard. Look in the phone book under Auto Salvage or Auto Recycler.

I guess it's big enough now they can actually classify it as an SUV. I still think they're ugly.

I think it's the throttle position sensor or a stuck idle control valve. Did you just buy this car? How many miles on it? What transmission?

You weren't the one tying up traffic on E264 in the rain last Saturday were you? I'm just kidding, but there was an Impreza sedan on the side of the road with the hood up. Seems kinda strange that the crank bolt would stay put for 7+ years and then just work it's way loose randomly. (but knowing the way the roads are there, it could be possible) :-p Did you have it in for service any time recently? (any kind of service)

96 Legacy awd I snagged an entire shift linkage with good bushings from the junkyard this past weekend. Today I was ready to put it in. Got under the car to disconnect mine then realized... Mine was different. The bracket that attaches the linkage rod to the selector shaft on the transmission is the only difference I think. But then I also realized, I remember the one in the junkyard being a lot easier to get to. Then it occurred to me that the car I got it from was a Fwd, not AWD. The lack of a drive shaft coming out of the back of the transmission wasn't apparent until I got a good look at mine. I'm now trying to figure out of I can modify the bracket one the "new" one to work on mine. I'd take pics, but it's raining out.

A decent muffler shop should be able to fix that. Don't worry about Carbon monoxide. I had a Chevy caprice that the exhaust system fell off of (including the cat) just past the Y pipe. Rode with it like that for 6 months and I'm fine.... I think...

They did, although the file idea took about 20 minutes to get decent results. Quite right. [ / British accent] :-p It's one thing to use grease on a light bulb connector, but on the battery post it does more harm than good because of the amount of current that needs to be able to move through that connection.

Can't say I've ever done that but I have used a pocket knife, a flat head screwdriver, channel lock pliers, even a finger nail file (the flip out kind on the back of the clippers) to clean posts in a pinch.

A post cleaner... like this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SL0LFU

Well I got a week out of it with no trouble... now it's back... with a vengeance! Got a call from a friend that he needed a jump. Hopped in the car and turned the key, all the lights went out, nothing. Had to take the backup car (my Lincoln) and leave diagnosis of the soob for when I got back. Turned the key in the on position and I could hear a relay clicking and the key in ignition chime was making a gurgling kinda noise. Very carefully I opened the hood so as not to upset the interruption so I could take some readings with the VOM. 13.5v at the battery post. 4.2v at the fusible link in the main relay box. Reached up under the relay box and managed to get the probe on the bolt for the power wire from the battery, same voltage. Bolt that holds the cable on the starter, same voltage. Checked at the terminal it went up to 4.3v. Checked the post again 13.5V. Touched the terminal with my finger and found it was warm. Grabbed a wrench out of the tool box and smacked the positive terminal one time good... And the Lord said "let there be light"... and everything turned back on, lights, radio, chime, HVAC fan... Removed the terminal to find what looked like concrete all over the post, and some really deep pit marks in the cone of the terminal. The stuff was gray, and hard as a rock. Now I know this stuff wasn't there when I put these new terminals on because I cleaned the posts after I removed the old terminals. Only thing I can figure is that some kind of protectant was put on the terminal when it was made, and whenever I started the car it would cook because of the current trying to flow through it. And what it turned into didn't conduct electricity at all, so compounding the generation of heat from cranking the car and eventually leading to a bunch of arcing inside the terminal, pitting the post and the terminal and leaving, essentially, burned lead. Sound theory? Cleaned the posts (for the second time) and the new terminals and now its all peachy again... for now.

The tensioner pulley is the one that puts tension on the belt so it doesn't slip. If you go look at your engine, it's the one directly under the compressor. The idler pulley is number 1 in the picture.

You use a seal puller to remove the seal. No the cam does not come out to replace the seal. You will get better info if you give the year and engine size.

Listen with a mechanics stethoscope, or the screwdriver method. Or you can remove the belt and spin the pulleys by hand (engine off) and listen for noise and check for play or wobble in the pulley. Yes, it is the bearing that makes the noise, not the pulley itself, but unless you have a press it's easier/cheaper to replace the whole thing as an assembly. The AC clutch pulley will need some special tools to replace. The idler/tensioner pulley is one bolt, very simple.

Have you checked resistance through the wiring between the TCM and the sensor?

Reading through some threads about timing belts it seems that some people are able to get their cars to run at idle but will stall when given throttle if the belt is of by one tooth. So forget what I said earlier, jumped timing shouldn't be ruled out just yet.

Tried swapping the relays?

Maybe this will help...

Different belt. You ought to find a U-pull-it yard. Much cheaper than a dealer.

The oil is delivered through the rocker shafts. That's the easiest place to check first for blockage. Another member is dealing with a similar issue except on the intake side. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104137

From what I understand the mark for installing the timing belt puts the crank at about mid stroke. It sounds like the timing could be off a tooth.

The "uneven" cranking could be because it is trying to fire on some cylinders but not on others. Since it does run I doubt that it is timing related. The FPR is a pretty simple check, pull the vacuum hose off and see if gas drips out. Stalling on throttle input could be due to a bad TPS. It could be a stuck or sticking idle control valve, could be a large vacuum leak. If you have a vacuum gauge hook it up and see what it reads at idle.

Well the bolt is only what holds the pulley on. If the pulley is indeed loose, then it is probably damaged now. There should be no "play" in the crankshaft pulley though. I can envision something that looks like it has been beat with a sledge hammer under neath of that pulley. The alternator belt shaking would indicate that it is loose, or that something is causing it to become loose at that certain speed. Have you ever tried removing the belts entirely and seeing how/if that affects the vibration?

If it still makes the noise when the compressor is engaged then the compressor is also bad. The pulley rides on it's own bearing separate from the actual clutch. When the clutch is engaged the pulley is locked to the shaft of the compressor. The bearing on the pulley is no longer spinning at that point. Therefore, the noise should stop if that bearing is the source of the noise. I would suspect, since it's in the same area, the tensioner pulley for the AC drive belt. The tensioner pulley spins on its own bearing at all times when the engine is running, and is placed under higher load when the compressor is engaged. It's also a hell of a lot easier to replace.