nipper

it may make it in reverse but your not going fast enough to hear it. nipper

Im wondering if you have the beginings of wheel bearing failure. You really cant eye up driveline alingment well, you need to use a ruler of some kind and fixed points, like the drive belts vs the front bulkhead/radiator. Have you removed the rotors to check them front and back. Have you checked the brake pads and backing plates?? nipper

Sometimes it pays to go to the dealer. Let them look at it since this is an unusually early failure. Maybe subaru will work with you, or it may be something else. It's hard to diagnose sometimes over the net. Have the front end looked over, ball joints etc. Check the carrier bearing. Are you getting binding on tight uturns? nipper

And thats why Blu got a rebuilt engine at 191,000 miles

You wont get a code because the car never started. If you can get codes on cranking you will get a code for almost every sensor there is. Blu does this, and he does it only in the winter when the temp is between 35-45 degrees. he does not do it often. I beleive its a crank sensor, but he never does it so I can trace it. I will most likely replace the crank sensor just because it has 245,000 miles on it. He will not do it at any other time during the year. nipper

Hyd clutches have been around as long as hydrualic brakes. They are much simpler to design and install then cables. Mechanical clutches rely on leverage and moment arms to get the forces managable. Hyd clutches do it fairly easily by just varying piston size. They both last about the same time without needing service, though I would recomend a new cable on any car with over 100K on a clutch, since its not a great expense. nipper

If its bind usually just jacking up one wheel will release the bind and allow you to shift. If thats not it its a linkage issue. nipper

There are reasons cars are in junkyards, and we all know the tales of bad aftermarket axles. Sometimes it pays just to buy the new part and be done with it. As long as you dont have any frame rust and the wheel bearing is good there is no reason for the car to cause the axle failures. nipper

There is a major recall (no particular mfg) on tire valve stems not holding air. Granted your car is a bit old for the recall, but I never know how far in advance some suppliers buy thing. Spray each tire stem (with the covers off) with windex and see if they are leaking. There will be bubbles. Otherwise its just one of those teething pains with a new widget. nipper

So it sounds like this in a way?

The worst thing a 4 cyl pump is going to do is give you a full throttle issue. It should be able to deal with high speed cruise issues. and get you home. nipper

Depends upon how much damage was done, and how much the pistons were compromised. A dented piston surface can cause a hotspot that will cause ping and possibly future HG issues. It all depends upon the damage, nipper

yay you cant run it like that, but it would tell us if the press reg was good or not. nipper

mmmmmmmmmmmmm meat mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Look for a universal pump, it may be cheaper and they all flow about the same. Here is another idea. Find your fuel pressure regulator. It will have a vac line on one side a fuel line on the other, with a return to the tank. Choke off the return to the tank with a pair of sie grips and see if the car starts. nipper

Nothing is going to fall in the tank, or fall off, just DONT LOOSE THE TINY FASTENERS. They are really tiny. I doubt its a voltage issue, but one side would be hot, one would be ground. You can check which one is which when you open up the covers (I dont know off hand). Is your fuel pump noisey?

Youll need pliers. Everything comes out together. The fuel pump is on the apssenger side of the car. Remove the access plate (dont loose the fasteners). Below that is the fuel pump/sending unit plate. Again dont loose the fasteners. It takes a little gentle feness to wiggle it out of the tank. Would be helpful if you could get a fuel pump pressure gauge on this first. Have you tried removing the gas cap and starting the car? nipper

There isnt really all that much to the fuel delivery system. It can be your fuel pressure regulator is toats, or the fuel pump impeller is shot. nipper

If you keep your transmission yes.

Do NOT touch the rear seal, they rarely leak, and are a a PITA to get to sit right if you replace it. It is your seperator plate that is leaking. Also change your PCV valve, that may help slow down the leak. nipper

The axle issue isnt really a problem with balance. Its a matter of the tolerance being too tight and transmitting engine shake at idle while in drive. It isnt a issue i recall with manuals. There is nothing wrong at all with too much detail, its all data.

The very first thing to do is a compression test. We need to see the condition of the rings on the engine. Even with a bad HG we will get good numbers from the other side of the engine. Personally my cutoff for a sooby engine HG is 160,000 miles, i'll go higher if it is the original owner and well maintaned. The fear is blow by. You have rings that have a lot of miles on them. Doing a valve job and even the minor milling for the heads will restore compression to factory specs. The rings may not be able to seal well against this and you may get some oil burning. So the first thing is to see what the compression test numbers would be. nipper

I'm going with looking deeper into the axles. This is awfully early for a VC to go bad, especially if all the tires have always matched. I mean it is possible, but really unheard of. nipper

Didnt older soobies with a spedo cable have a split cable? the cables would join up with a VSS sensor for the cruise control? The VW / sooby people have a fix for this http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/subaruvanagon/files/Speed%20Sensors/ nipper

1997 is OBDII, its electronic no cable.