valvestem

You're welcome. But don't you mean "snow flaps"?

The body of the car is temporarily and heavily modified with stick-ons and such to camoflage the true body lines. Common practice among all motor vehicle manaufacturers, motorcycles included. They do not want anyone stealing their thunder before a public release.

It's worth a try, until a proper remedy is found. Don't use the car without windows down because of the Carbon Monoxide issue, from a possible leak. IMO the answer given where you find a cut and weld shop sounds good as well. Maybe they can just weld in a new flange and reconnect to to the original piping, without replacing all the way back.

A welder should be able to make the repair you need if you can afford him. And he may not do it on the car, because of combustible issues.

I was not offered any so-called enviromental spray, that sounds like a load of crap to me. Is it sap or not? Sap can be removed, but it should be taken care of ASAP.

I'm guessing a bad ground, indicative by just a glowing light. Check for broken or disconnected wires as well.

Congrats on the new catch. Stay in touch.

What year? I know there was a TSB about a driver's seat bolt somewhereabout. Or you could use a rethread kit, such as this: http://www.automedia.com/Stripped_Bolt_and_Screw_Repair/res20050401th/1 Google "Heli-Coil" as well.

Here's a link to help I hope, I gues it depends on model/year on the exhaust manifold: http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f85/block-heater-27749/ scroll down for the message with the PDF's attached.

That's out of my league, I do not know. Maybe a quick call to a good service department describing the symptoms will give an answer as to which solenoid it may be, as there are many, but only a few from what I can find out that may cause the symptioms you describe. I know auto transmissions are a mystery world unto themselves when it comes to repair, but maybe someone can be found who is honest. As far as the location of the solenoid, there are a few, some are located externally with wires attached for plugging in to a harness, I am sure other maybe located internally. I've attached a kink to a Wiki page, (I know, not the best info), that may help explain a little. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_control_unit

Good news that you diagnosed and repaired the problem. Good job.

Auto Trans? If so, it may be a solenoid in the trans not allowing the trans to downshift quickly enough to keep up with the braking, thereby causing a stall-speed situation. Sort of like not pushing in the clutch pedal when braking with a manual transmission.

I don't know exactly how the panel comes out, but, it probably is a snap fit. Hopefully someone else will see this post and chime in. Just be careful not to mar the edges of the panel or dash with the extraction tool.

Since no one replied, I'll tell you what I know, look for a single screw centered underneath the dash hood over the gauge window, I think if this is removed, the pod can be wiggled out from the top. I only learned this recently while looking at a ScanGauge installation, but I don't know what model year or body style the Subaru was.

IMO you'd be better off to let a automotive machine shop handle this chore. They are well equipped for this job, and will coat the parts to prevent rust after. It should not be too expensive, make a few phone calls.

Great, glad you found the problem, and were able to care care of it.

Yes, it's a bad design, but the only one available I think. BTW, just the other day a Cadillac came into our shop with the driver door control pod switches not working for the window control, guess what, broken wire in the rubber accordian from the body to the door, fix time-10 minutes. Our mechanic knows where to look.

Plus One.

Yup, I'd look for a broken wire in the bundle going into the hatch from the car body where it flexes all the time. If there is one of those rubber accordians, it might be inside there.

Congrats on your recent milestone, and may you go another 100k without any issues.

The work was done as a "Goodwill Gesture" paid for by SOA because the car had so few miles on it despite it's age. It was done by Pape Subaru, a well established/good rep Subaru dealer. Believe it or not, we did take it back, and guess what, it did not make the noise for the techs. I was incredulous when they told me that, and lo and behold when I when out and started the car up, it was quiet. But the next day late afternoon when the wife left for work, the tapping was back. Only they know if the oil pump screws and such were checked, I would hope so. Maybe it's possible they added something to the oil to get the tapping to go away temporarily, and thus got us "out the door". The car was at the shop for all day on a Thursday and picked up late Friday afternoon to demonstrate they at least had adequate time to effect a proper repair. Also for the record, no tapping was present before the repair.

Armed with a tread depth gauge, maybe you could find a used tire with the same wear as the other three. I know this was already suggested, but I remembered the tread depth gauge idea. I'd start with auto scrapyards first. Also, the gauges measure in 32's of an inch, so it would be pretty accurate.

I can only speak from my personal experience. My wife's 2003 OB Sport's left front tire was found to have multiple pieces of steel imbedded in the tread and could not be repaired. Result - 4 new tires at a cost of $600, why? Good old Big Brother and their speed ratings. Luckily? We were able to have the tire people find these "cheaper" $800 tires for us, as the OEM's were the Bridgestone Potenzas that came in at around $1000.

Keep us posted on the ticking, my wife's Outback had a HG replaced this past summer, and now it "taps" on startup, worse on a cooler day. When it warms up, it lessens but does not go away completely. I am glad I saw this thread, I never thought of MMO, even though I used it successfully years ago on a 76AMC Pacer with a sticky "tapping" lifter.

So you are saying that it is now part of the axle by being welded to it? What makes you think it is plug welded? Have you cleaned off any more rust to get a better look. Just thinking.