Fairtax4me

It fills the cracks by coating the entire cooling system with sludge. Testing in a shop is nothing like driving in the real world. The engine is turning, but it has no load on it. Even when just cruising down the highway there is plenty of load on the engine. Gravity, friction, drive line resistance, wind resistance, all play a major part in how hard the engine works to move the car. The engine is under its heaviest load during acceleration, that is when the most heat is created, and the most stress is put on the cooling system right after that. I'm not sure how your coolant analyzer works, but most will detect exhaust gases based on chemical contamination of the coolant, not by air/exhaust physically moving through it. If there were any evidence of exhaust gases in the coolant the analysis would have showed that whether the engine was running or not. If you haven't done so, change the coolant. Don't do a flush, just drain and refill with Subaru approved antifreeze and distilled water. Put a new thermostat on, and a new radiator cap. Follow the procedure for properly bleeding the cooling system and make absolutely sure that you get all of the air out of the system.

Just to make sure that I'm understanding correctly, the noise is coming from the engine compartment? There are more than a few sources of noise near the AC compressor. Take the belt off and spin each pulley by hand to see if any have play or feel rough.

Should just pop out with a plastic trim tool or similar. I have a small curved pick tool that works great for this kinda stuff. Just nudge it in, turn it 90° and give it a tug.

How long have these new pads been in use on the car?

They couldn't just steal the radio they had to cut half the wiring in the dash out with it didn't they? I can picture the thought process... "Lets cut all these wires so we can get away faster!" Yet it only takes a second to press in the clip and unplug the harness the right way. I don't see why it would be so hard to use the same color wires for the whole circuit. I know they want it to be obvious that its an airbag circuit (thus the yellow, caution) but it makes it really difficult to test for shorts or breaks when you don't know what wire is which because they're different colors a each end. Glad you figured it out.

Struts and springs will have no effect on a vibration that occurs even if the car is sitting still. Your vibration is engine or transmission related, and that is as far as you need to look. You mentioned play in the crankshaft pulley. The crank pulley as previously stated is a harmonic balancer. It has two sections separated by a layer of rubber. If the harmonic balancer goes bad, it will create a vibration. Get some white out, and make a line across the face of the crankshaft pulley. Let it dry, then start the engine. If the harmonic balancer is bad, it will be obvious very shortly because the line will break at the rubber layer. The two sections will be spinning with each other, but not as the same speed. The outer section will spin slower because it has added drag from the belts and accessories.

Just replace the compressor is the easiest way. If you really want to do it, you'll need an AC clutch puller tool, and an AC clutch installer tool. I think you can rent them from Napa for a small refundable fee. Google it and start reading. Each compressor is just a bit different, though they work essentially the same way.

It's hard to see if a switch is good just by looking at it. About the only thing you can do is make sure the plug is connected tight. Further testing with a VOM would be needed to determine if the switch is bad. If you have a VOM test for continuity across the switch when it is actuated. You can also feed 12v to the switch and check for voltage when actuated. If you don't have a VOM, get a short section of wire or even a large paper clip might work, and jump the two pins on the switch and see if the lights come on.

Huh? You sure you're not thinking about Saab or Saturn?

Is the coolant kinda opaque milky looking? Coolant can overflow for plenty of reasons. Hopefully it's not the dreaded head gasket.

You definitely want to change the trans fluid. If the car is in good shape then it has probably been carefully driven and there won't be any risk with changing the fluid for good measure. Timing belt, idler pulleys, water pump, crank and cam seals, maybe reseal the oil pump for good measure. Then the usual plugs, wires, fuel filter, pcv valve, air filter, oil change. Run a half can of Seafoam in the intake and a half can in the tank and you'll be good to go.

Are they not color coded? I'm pretty sure it's a resistance type circuit. The only hang up would be if there was a diode to prevent reverse polarity. The module tests each circuit when it's powered on. Unplug the drivers airbag connector and probe it with a meter to see what a safe voltage is for testing.

This is a nice write up. I'll need this if I ever get around to pulling the trans out of mine. That front seal is leaking like a sieve and so is the seal around the shift selector shaft.

This is a nice write up. I'll need this if I ever get around to pulling the trans out of mine. That front seal is leaking like a sieve and so is the seal around the shift selector shaft.

Why are you punching the gas when the engine is cold? You're gonna eat up the rings doing that. Did you ever check the Fuel pressure regulators vacuum hose for gas? What else did you replace besides the coil?

That's fine with me. Actually I would prefer that. I tend to load up my trunk with tools and a ton of other crap on a fairly regular basis. There are tons of wagons in the yards too.

It looks good, it's diesel, I want one. I don't even care if the wheel is on the wrong side. Hell it can't be that hard to make a diesel pass US emissions laws. Mercedes did it, and theirs even passed CA laws!

Buy a bucket of parts dip http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/accessories/accProductDetails.jsp?categoryDisplayName=Chemicals&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=139313_0_0_&productId=139313&sortType=&parentId=17-10&filterByKeyWord=parts+cleaner&categoryNValue=100017&navValue=100903&fromWhere=&itemId=903-10&displayName=Carburetor+Cleaner&store=970&skuDisplayName=1+gal.+B-9+carburetor+and+parts+cleaner+with+basket&brandName=Berryman (or 3), and let them soak in that. Just pour it into an empty 5 gallon bucket or something. You'll have to scrub them with a brush of some sort to get the really heavy grit off. Unless you happen to have an ultrasonic cleaner (lucky you if you do). Then spray the parts down with brake cleaner before doing the machine work. Clean them in a WELL ventilated area.

Nothing happened today. Drove out to the gun club after work to take out some aggression on a paper person, and never had any trouble out of it. Not like its a long distance there, but it's further than the 3 mile drive to work. I do have one more idea, that maybe this could be cut or damaged wiring in the main power harness that runs inside the drivers fender. This car was wrecked in the front back in 2002 IIRC. There is some slight damage to the frame on the drivers side. I know the hood has been replaced, and the front bumper, I'm wondering if the fender got replaced as well. I'm going to pull the wheel well liner and see if I can see the harness, if not the fender is coming off. I used these. I've used them several times before with no trouble. If it's anything related to the battery it's the cables, which I may just replace anyway for gits and shiggles. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/accessories/accProductDetails.jsp?categoryDisplayName=Starting+and+Charging&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=95964_0_0_&productId=95964&sortType=&parentId=5-10&filterByKeyWord=battery+terminal&categoryNValue=100005&navValue=100427&fromWhere=&itemId=427-10&displayName=Battery+Terminal+End+and+Adapter&store=970&skuDisplayName=2+pcs.+epoxy+top+post+battery+terminal&brandName=Lynx

So they're the same across the board except for the Outback? I don't think I've ever seen an outback in either of the yards I go to. Oh well, whatever I get can't be worse than the ones that are on there. Thanks for the info.

Mine are shot. The back end sags and wallows around like a pig in... shtuff. Every Legacy I see that is of the same body style as mine (96) is sagging in the back. So I figure my chances of finding a set of struts in a junkyard that don't sag are gonna be pretty low. But what if I grab a set off a wagon? First of all would they even fit? Are the wagon springs stiffer? I searched and didn't find anything. If this has been done before, could someone give me a link?

The whole point of a hydraulic lifter is to regulate valve lash so that it doesn't require constant adjustment to keep it from ticking. Being over-filled will cause the valve to hang open slightly, resulting in low to no compression. That doesn't answer the question of why they are bleeding off and beginning to tick. It doesn't appear to be an issue of pressure, but it could be an issue of volume.

I had just replaced the terminals because they were all corroded, because I wanted to avoid electrical/starting problems later down the road. Look how far it got me!

Probably pretty reasonable. Toyota (and many other car makers) has really tried to cut the prices on their vehicles lately in an effort to bring buyers back into the market.

Year is still the same as listed in the first post. :-p 168k Alternator test. Running voltage is 14.3v, Max output @ ~2000 rpm is 103 amps, according to the tester. I did remove the main fuse/relay panel earlier today, and checked to make sure the power lead from the battery was tight. Even took the whole thing apart and made sure the distribution board inside it was OK. No problems there that I could see. Had no trouble out of it today until just a few minutes ago on the way home from dinner. It stalled as I pulled into the driveway, all the lights went dim. Turning the key caused all of the lights to go out. No clicks from the starter solenoid, nothing. Opened the door and the dome light was dim, hit the brake pedal and it went out completely, along with everything else. Got out of the car and popped the hood, as I was walking to the front of the car the door shut (was parked on an incline) and the headlights came back on. Opened the hood and started wiggling wires, smacked all of the relays in the main panel, no dice, couldn't get the lights to go back out. Started the car no problem, drove around the block no problems. Now it won't do it again til tomorrow probably. I'm pretty sure that this is in the body wiring. I was coasting in neutral when it cut off. There's a gravel parking lot at a school about a quarter mile from the house. I'm gonna take it up there and ride around and see what happens.