nipper

ALl you need to "flush" the system is a turkey baster. Just drain the fluid in the pump and refill it. If the belt is old replace it, that sounds like the issue. Belts get loose when cold and tighten up when hot.

Front windsheild has some grids at the base to keep the wipers from freezing to the windsheild and to keep slush from freezing there. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1875303 thats how you put one in. Those are not cheap windshields.

Check that they are subaru headgaskets and the newest version. Always get headgaskets from the dealer so you can be sure that it is the newest version. Bubbles are never a good thing.

Try www.mcmastercarr.com or www.grainger.com

Your lucky. Otherwise it coulfd have been "Subaru burning over an open fire, Tow trucks waiting at the shell"

i meant at the ECU and its fuse. The coil gets fired by being switched by the ECU to ground. One of three things will keep this from happening. A bad crank sensor or a dead ECU. or a power/wiring issue (unless i am forgetting something).

Ok Check to make sure there is a power feed through the fuse boxes.

Lest check fuses first. Someone will chime in with the pin callout otherwise I will look it up later this evening.

If you have no driveability issues, reset the codes and go for a drive. Check them again in a week or so and lets see what happens. If you are having drivability issues start here http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/pdf/transmission/4eat.pdf

And as in all things in life, sometimes too much power is a bad thing too. Stock is not wolrse, it is correct, after is too bright.

Almost sounds like a harness/plug issue.

Save us a little work please and post what they codes mean. Can be as simple as a connnector not fully plugged in, especially if they were not there before.

Have you stripped the heads yet? Have you sprayed it with nut buster and let it soak? Special spanner? you mean the wrncehs that look almost closed called brake line or hydraulic line wrenches?

The CEL ONLY is related to emissions, it could really care less about anything else. Subarus will backfeed power in wierd ways when the ALt starts to fail or has failed. The Brake light on the dash is one way, so is the abs. The atf is new to me but hey like i said it is weird. I doubt it is the battery as that is used for starting and to assist at low alt output and high load. At speed (over 1800 rpm) the alt is putting out enough power to run everything and charge the battery. Once the battery is happy it just runs the car. Your car is old enough to need a battery but do not replace it yet. I dont normally recomend things like this (IE gimmick) but they used to make a voltage indicator that plugged into the ciggy lighter/power recepticle. I want you to find one of these (JC Whitney maybe). When the car coughs, look at the voltage reading. Since this is so far an intemittant issues, it will be hard to chase down. It can be a bad voltage regulator, but I cant see that bing a once then fine thing, I would see it more as a happening when hot, fine when cold thing. May be as simple as a belt going bad. Start with the cheap one, a belt. hrmmmm if this has a belt tensioner on it (blame the vicodin for my not knowing right now) check that too. It may be starting to fail.

They are available, they will function, but may not work. LEDs are very directional in how they throw light, and are brightest when looked at directly. Unless the tailoight is made for this (hrrrm sounds like a project) plugginf them into a a standard refelctor will not throw enough light properly. They may look OK in normal darkness (as opposed to abby-normal.. wait thats something different), but in fowl weather may not. Also if the reflector is designed to throw the light as well to the side as rear they will not throw enough light at all.

If it is possible can you put that back with a high strength bolt? the closer you can get a tow point to the "frame" of the car the better off you are.

You have no recovery hooks in the rear?

I don't want to steal the thread, but I was not denying the issue, that age is more of a factor on a 12 yo car for a blown HG (on any car) then anything else. And yes sadly, our beloved cars are getting more "Mature". So We shall drop the debate as I think I fairly well covered what to look for. I just do not think it is prudent unless the car is a steal to buy a car with a blown HG unless you are planning on an engine swap. And remember coal is cheap Mr Gary

The tow strap range should be the highest you can afford, at least triple the load. Trailer hitch is not the best place to yank from depending upon how stuck you are. Lost traction it is fine. In a hole not the best point. The hitch is rated (lets say) 2000 lb. the car is 3200-3500 ish (I forget). In a hole it may take more then that to get it moving. I have seen hitches ripped out of frames because of this. On a D shackle the strap goes around the pin if possible. the load being pulled should be centered on the shackle. Using the pin side will cock the shackle and possibly damage the pin. http://www.yotatech.com/wiki/index.php/Recovery_Gear_Proper_Use_Of http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/4x4-off-road-tech/102363-proper-use-d-shackle-recovery-strap.html Look at the vehical and the bottom of the page http://www.okoffroad.com/stuff-shackles.htm He has his D rings mounted properly, since he can center the lad on the pins. in a strap situation, the strap centers the load on the pin. The retaining pin or pin threads are not made to hold up to a side load,

Then you need to take off the terminals and do a REAL cleaning to them. There has been extensive talk on CarTalk about this and no one knows why it works. Usually it is baking soda and water. Either way clean the terminals with a terminal brush.

Sigh headgaskeheadgasketheadgasket. I am tired of that mantra myself. At this age (12 years old) it can blow a HG just to age. Hell any car at that age can blow a HG, so lets stop blaming a car that is more "senior" for a fault that happened ages ago. That said, I own a 98 LTD and unless they are green red or blue they all suck HEHEHEHEHE Seriously folks; depending upon mileage there can be the higher end of wear and tear to watch out for. The timing belt and all its associated widgets (every 105K or months). Oil leaks from anywhere under the engine. Timing belt leaks in that area are easily resolved (timing belt and widgets), same with valve cover. Rear seperator plate leaks are drop tranny or pull engine to resolve. Check (if an auto) transmission fluid condition. Dirty is acceptable, burnt is not. Make sure all the tires are equally worn and match. Tranny leaks are rare on subarus and a well maintaned auto will last the life of the car. Take the car for a drive and turn a tight 360 degree circle. The car should power through it without touching the gas, or at worse just a little bit of help to get started. You may feel a slight thud or a little jerk, as that is the puter realizing it is going in a circle. If the steering wheel fights you or the car can not move without a lot of help it has toque bind - 800.00 auto repair. On a manual same things except no jerk or thud. A AWD unit on a manual can run more. The AWD unit on an auto hangs off the rear of the tranny so can be easily repaired without tearing down the tranny. I am not familiar with the manual one besides cost (1200 ish) as I only remember one person doing this himself. (Yes i know it is cheaper blahblahblah but this is a sales transaction not the time to discount because you can do it yourself). FWD light lit or the FWD fuse (Passenger side under hood firewall) in place means there is Torque bind. The fuse disables the AWD and should illuminate the FWD light on the dash. Flashing ATF light on startup means a electrical tranny issue(s). Shut car off after the test drive and restart it. If there was an issue it will flash (as it may have been reset by the PO not that anyone is sneaky). Look at the condition of the fluid in the radiator as opposed to the tank. Rarely are the tanks cleaned so the fluid may not be prestine, but there should not be any floating gook. Look in the radiator. If the cap is new it may have been replaced from wear and tear, or from trying to deal with an overheting issue. Make sure the car has plenty of heat when fully warmed. If the temp gauge does not reaach 1/2 way up, again be suspicous of a HG issue. Torque bind can be chaulked up to wear and tear on an auto and not a deal killer. A suspicous HG on an engine this old would be a deal killer since you would not know the history of the engine unless you want to do a 2.2 swap (2,5's are a bit hard to come by). If you are willing to do a HG, then I would keep the mileage under 140,000 miles. Struts are wear and tear so that's up to you. Brakes are straight forward on the blue red and green ones Rust comes up at the rear wheel quarter panels about the size of a quarter. For some odd reason there is a rust spot top dead center of the windsheild. All those spots are fixable. Inspect CV boots. Over 180K wear and tear can be wheel bearings, drive shaft universals (rarely as they usually go beyond 200K or more). Ac should be cold when cold and heat hot when hot. Defroster should kick on the AC. Drivers side heated seat not working is typical from the 1000's of times it flexes. HVAC lights, dash and switch lights out pay no attention to, common issue easily resolved no need to mention. Sticky hatch release is a typical issue 35.00 in parts fixed. They rust and seize and I feel not worth mentioning unless you want to. There should be no blow-by or blue smoke as subarus do not do that if maintained. If You find one that does walk away. That should cover everything going from the 88 4wd to 98 AWD. I did that myself.

When you pry, look for the points where the engine is bolted to the car. Watch them to see they seperate at all. Another thing I would check out would be the exhuast system banging on the car. If you can , have someone reve the engine while you have the hood open. Have them rev the engine and look for any unusual movement or noises. I have come across some posts on the passeneger side motor mount going bad for this car but I can't pin down on a when.

too much turkey, i read that as mistress under load. It can cause those plus exhuast smells under the hood. it is amazing what a little PCV valve can do post 1990 cars

Bad battery (no electrons for a bad battery) bad cable/s bad grounds dirty terminals All of the above. There was probably nothing really wrong with the starter as that is usually just the contacts.

Step 1 - remove engine. Seriously. it will mae everything so much easier for you. Basically you are going to reseal the engine. You will replace all seals and the separator plate, and the plugs. This job goes much quicker ans with far less bloodshed with the engine out of the car. Everything sounds logical, just one word of advice. DO NOT MESS WITH THE REAR MAIN SEAL! if it is not leaking leave it be. Playing with it is like waking Godzilla from a long hibernation, no one is ever happy when that happens.