Tiny Clark

You'd have oil on your lips. Sorry, couldn't help it, just in one of them moods. Usually it will do what Jim said, smoke at startup for a few seconds. If it keeps smoking, it's usually the rings.

Maybe a small vacuum leak, maybe in the brake booster?

3 words can sum this up... You lucky bastage! If everthing works I doubt there's any damage. Go buy a lotto ticket!

At first I thought this was someone from a Ford forum asking us a trick question... But Nomad, Nipper and Snowman are correct. 99.9% surity of a belt problem. Go buy a new one and install it. If you don't know how, find a friend who can do it for you.

There is a rubber bellows attached to the cap of the brake fluid rez. Make sure it is not extended out. It should be up against the cap. I don't know why they pop out sometimes, but it do happen. Also, the brake light was one of the first indications I had when my alternator failed.

I have a 96 Legacy with a 2.2, not sure if the outback had the 2.2 or not. Basically the same car, but the Outback sets higher for more ground clearance.

I don't have the proper wiring diagrams to look at, so this is just a best guess. If a fuse is blown for the switch lights, you'd notice other lights not being on. The heaters are most probably turned on with a relay, becuase small switch contacts can't handle the amperage the heaters draw. It is possible the indicator lights are tied to the relay contacts as well, and won't light if the relay doesn't energize.

Most of the fasteners around the door are just plastic expansion lugs. You can get new ones a the Subie dealer, or maybe they sell them at places like autozone. A bigger problem could be that the fiberboard door panel where the fastener is attached had been damaged. My Legacy has two screws at the upper foward edge of the door panel fitted with trim buttons. If the panel is damaged elsewhere, maybe you could get a couple of these form the dealer to match your interior color and install the screws.

It's running? I guess I need to get my hearing checked.

You carefully pull the connector off of the injector, and put the meter leads on the pins of the injector. There are two of them, and it doesn't matter which way you hook them up. Compare that reading to another one of the injectors. If it's the same, then maybe the ECU is not working properly.

Uh, I don't get it; unless there's nothing to get, then I get it...

If you were to change it in the morning, all the oil would be in the pan, but it would be thick and stick to the sides of the pan. If it's warm, the oil is thin, but there will still be oil in the engine that hasn't made its way to the pan. Ever pour a new bottle of oil in a car, set it set upside down for a minute or so to drain in, then set it off to the side for a day? You'll see a fairly decent layer of oil in the bottom of the container. It's a lose-lose situation... Maybe if you heated the oil pan up with a good heat source in the morning, you'd get a majority of the old oil out. The win-win situation is to change your oil regularly, and not worry about yourself about such a little problem. Worry about beer and wine taxes instead, if you must!

Do you use the handbrake when you start the car going uphill?

Damn, and I just throw gas and oil into the wife's Subie and leave the handling to my Beemer. It's a good thing that she can't tell the diff!!

Under normal circumstances, I don't think you have too much to worry about. I wouldn't run an oil mesh type filter off-road, I'd use paper. Just my two Euro-cents worth. I have a K&N.

What, no BobIsTheOilGuy advertissments? The first number in multi-visc oil is the viscosity when cold, the second, when hot. Does it slap more when cold? The go with a 15W-40 and check the results.

On my '96, the tube from the green connector side (closest to engine) goes to the windshield, and the purple connector side goes into the left fender, which I would guess takes the Greek road.

I don't know that much about new trannies, but doesn't mechanical shifting override the solenoid operation? Beats the heck outta me.

Isn't there a possibility that the computer output that controls that solenoid is bad? I don't have the experience to know which one is more likely to go bad. With that many miles, you could always just drive it that way, maybe just learn to shift it manually.

Make sure the rubber bellows that is attached to the brake fluid cap is not extended outwards. If so, it will push the float down to energize the fluid level switch even tho plenty of fluid is in there. It should be pushed back against the cap.

Too bad the auto makers can't set cars up with a DC motor to move the car in traffic jams with the engine off.

The only diagram I have shows a chassis ground on pin 2 of the Turn Signal and Hazard Module. There should be 12 volts on Pin 1, coming from the Hazard switch. If you have those, and all the turn signal lamps are good, then I would change the Module.

When I bought my Subie in Anchorage, spring of 2000, it had a set of studded BF Goodrich Winter Slaloms on it. The studs were the stubby variety with the little zit in the middle of them. She used them for one winter there and never lost a stud. I know, 'cause me and the wife pulled out every one of them when we got to Germany. We've used them here every year for about 5 months at a stretch, and they still have LOTS of tread on them. They have a nice footprint, with maybe 40 percent of the tread open.

I use 18's on both sides.

PCV valve removes exhaust blow by and pressure from the crankcase. It has a ball in it to prevent any possible backfire in the intake system from reaching the gases in the crankcase. It should rattle when shaken. Use to be, there was no PCV, and the oil cap was open to allow venting. Of course, this blew all that crap into the air, which isn't real good, so they came up with the PCV system to suck it back in and burn it. If it only does it at startup and doesn't smoke all the time, it could be a bad valve seal.