nipper

Rather have that then an engine leak. Replacing the rack is easy

Actually i didnt think of that. i will do it once we get our winter thaw. nipper

i've been saying that for years but no one listens. And with the autos giving the same MPG or within 1mpg differnce as manuals the old stalwart of lost power doesnt really apply. The clutch is a wear part, the longer you keep a manual the more you have to replace it. With an auto just change that fluid on time and it will keep going. When an auto goes bad it is usally clutch plates, no hard parts. When a manual goes bad, it is synchros and bearings. nipper

1997 OBW 257000 miles (60 K new engine). It is between 15 and 25 degrees F outside. Blu aparently doesnt like being cold as his idle speed in this weather is 1500 RPM. He starts fine, so I am ruling out a bad coolant temp sensor. I am leaning towards a sticking or frozen Idle Air Control Valve. IOn the last year the IAC has been sticking (cycling the AC on and off usually cleared it but it wont now). I dont have a garage so I am not going to spend alot of time on this. I am a firm believer in heated indoor areas in this weather Happy new year. nipper

236K is a god run for a AWD clutchpack. I wouldnt begrudge it growing tired. Search Torque Bind here lots of info on the fixes (even though you have the no bind problem same repair). nipper

If there was an electrical failure you would have the AT temp light flashing. Soobies are fairly reliable in that aspect of self diagnostics. You dont mention the mileage on the car, what is it. My bet is that the clutch pack was on its way out anyway, and the flat tire just accelerated it. What condition is the fluid in? My bet is that your clutchpack is slipping. nipper

You can used a KNOWN good tail section from a subaru, but using the old solenoid is taking a chance at best. The fuse is just used as a switch. It sends a signal to the TCU to hold the Duty C wide open and dump all the pressure. The FWD fuse light may be as simple as a poorly fitting fuse or electrical connector.

Replace the wires with OE, they are long over due. After 100K you can call replacing the O2 sensor a aint item like spark plugs. In soobies they last well over 100K (which is what you are at) so it won't be a waste of money. ANother posability is the KNock sensor, but lets do the wires first. None of these may throw a CEL. nipper

Original O2 sensor? How old are the spark plug wires? nipper

One word. Purchasing. They get inbetween Engineering and Manufacturing and think they know better. Been there many times. Lots of GM products got destroyed by accountants (amoung other car mfg's). nipper

So i guess all those headgaskets that were replaced under extended warrenty was just a mass halucination on our part?

Because in 99.9% of the cases they are not needed. They are available but at a much higher cost. I dont know if they exist for subarus. nipper

My last word on the subject. For those who want to disconnect the abs. Pull the fuse, find a parking lot (big) Forget straight line manuvers. Get some cones and set up a course where you would quickly STEER (yes remeber thats the other way to avoid hitting something) around it while braking and see how well it works. In winter driving you have to try to always leave yourself a way out. ABS may suck for some reason or another (we know how i feel about this) but if you STEER along with braking the car will go where you want to go. The only thing you hurt by hitting an object is your ego. You hurt alot more when you hit the car in front of you. And that is my last word on this. And i am SURE everyone who disconnects his ABS tells his insurance company about it. nipper

And for the idle speed comment, that means nothing, unless your engine is off. You are in gear. Gears are multiplying speeds. See how fats your car will go to with your foot off the gas and brake, it is still a good clip to do damage to a car, or god forbid a person. nipper

My drivers ed car in the 70's didnt have abs either. Thats how i was taught. My father was a professional driver and he taught me how to drive WITH abs as well as without. As far as that "defeat" switch, i suggest that you READ the manuals for those cars. Some dont fully turn them off, and some tun them back on after a specific threashold is reached. Also Upper sclae mfgs know that the owner of the car is NOT going to take his ferrari, lambo, SLK in a foot of snow. nipper

Cars are made to be driven. I also suspect that you are not driving the car far enough to clean the rotors and pads of rust before you get to the repair shop. I would however make sure all the sliders are lubed once a year (learn how to do it) as that will help if the car spends alot of time parked. nipper

I think its just people expecting too much out of what the car can do and ignoring physics. I would bet they are all over driving the car without realizing it. Sadly since everyplace on the planet is super hyper about cleaning every spec of snor off a paved surface we cant make our own skidpads to train ourselves on how to use abs, or even properly drive in snow conditions. Remember where there is snow, there is ice. People tend to forget that. Then add in underinflated tires (like 90% of the driving public has), and thinking just cause a car can go anywhere it can stop anywhere attitude, ABS gets blamed. It is simple. Slow down, break a hell of a lot sooner (most people brake too late for dry ground as it is normally) and everything would be fine. Ok i am off my soapbox, but there is only one reason for rearending someone, and that is following too closely (and too fats) for the conditions at hand. Everything else is just a failure to accept personal responsability (but your insurance compoany will take care of that). Gee can you tell I've gotten rear ended by people overdriving thier cars 12 times, once almost fatally? Just slow down in the snow, it wont kill you, but not slowing down may . nipper

SO you replaced just the tail section, and nothing else. That would rule out any issues with the front and rear diff. The light flashing 16 times measn there was an electrical fault the last time the car was operated in the transmission. Is this a new tail section, or a used tail section?. Was the solenoid replaced with a new solenoid? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=72486&highlight=pull+trans+code

www.cars101.com has the instructions. You set off the factory car alarm thingy i think. It needs to be reset. welcome. nipper

Limited Slip Differential. Always spell out LSD once in a poste to keep the feds, er um, the search engines happy. The search engine cant do a three letter search.That goes for anything that uses a three letter nick. nipper

Are all these shops ion brooklyn? That would be my 1st worry. Have you looked at these items yourself? What do you see? nipper

On the ground at the exhaust pipe. Been there done that.

Its actually not that hard to fiddle with the mileage digits to get it to match yours (if it is mechanical). You need a new spedo head, as 99's had a bad batch. You can try to repair it by taking it apart and cleaning the electrical contacts. nipper

I havent used FS but have used water to clean out carbon. It will stop smoking as soon as it stops burning the fluid. Drive out someplace where your neighbours wont be too pissed off at you nipper

It may. Just one way to find out. Also do a real tuneup, that will help.