nipper

Chains are supposed to last the life of the car. Old chains used to start giving up around 160,180,000 miles, so i am interested in seeing when/if they start giving up. Generaly if your buying a used car with over 100,000 miles dont be shocked that it may need a few grand put into it the first year (tires brakes wear and tear). Usually i expect to put that much in any car i buy over 80,000 miles in the first year. Sometimes i dont sometimes i do, just something to keep in mind. nipper

You have my attention now... nipper

You can do all the AWD work with the tranny in the car. nipper

Well the thing is if you do proper double clutching your not going to hurt anything. Your transmission has synchronized gears, which is what did away with the need to learn double clutching. Now if you get a trannny with tired synchros then it will help. Unfortunitly you sort of need a transmission that has no or tired synchros (or a truck with a stick) to know your doing it right. Now clutchless shifting on the other hand is trickey and a talent, and should be practiced on someone elses car nipper

I think then its time for an AWD rebuild. Sounds like you tried everything. nipper

How many miles? Spray the acc drive belt with some water and see if the noise goes away. if it does it can be the alt/ps/idler on that belt. When was the last time the timing belt was done and what was changed with it? nipper

TB seems to be in season right now. There are three people asking questions about it. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=83921&highlight=read+transmission+codes nipper

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=83921&highlight=read+transmission+codes read that first. i had mine fixed at the dealership. I actually found the price to be quite reasonable, as i do not trust transmission shops. nipper

Damn inflation, that used to be two cents.

i never heard of the procedure listed here, The proper procedure involves grounding out a pin on a harness. Do a search on Transmission codes and the procedure will show up.

nipper PS is basically just turn the key and drive . Normal maint and AWD test drive warnings do apply.

Replace the knock sensor. nipper

SEE! Soft mush landyacht suspension is a good thing. http://jalopnik.com/cars/retro/screw-your-ipod-chryslers-in+car-phonograph-237401.php But it also only worked with columbia records. nipper

Start with a new radiator cap. Usually with your symptons and history thats what it is.

Its not that simple. We also look at how often in a cars life the part is going to be serviced, how the engine is packaged etc etc etc. The timing belt gets changed once every 105 months, so its not necassary for it to be easily accessable. Now plugs there arent much we can do about. There is the always the BMW way of thinking, which is basically waiting for the day they can ommit the hood release and force you to take it to the dealer for everything nipper

yes they can, and 90% of the time they can go through the block. Inspect the top of the engine especially on the passenger side. Can also be a dropped valve. nipper

How many miles on it. Can you describe the noise better? This is not a electronic issue but a mechanical issue. Electronic issues dont make horrible noises. How old is the water pump? Pup the hood and inspect the underside of the engine, the belts, the vibration damper. I'm thinking a sieved water pumo, failed TB tensioner, or things deeper in the engine. nipper

That was my very first subaru, where it all began. nipper

you beat me to it nipper

i'm tempted to say its a bad coolant temp sensor.

You left out the most critical part you got to put your left foot in you got to put your left foot out you got to shake it all about..

i'm all ears It's a standard, so its just a multiplexed system. Basically how hard can it be

The ignition key is netowrked as part of the anyt-theft stuff to the ECU. SO that means you need the switch also, or some work around. nipper

Un fortunitly that may be neerly impossible. The people on the subaru/vanagon list are asking the same thing. It turns out thier ECU is CAN bus type. In plain english it means it is mulitplexed with the rest of the car. It is a digital system, not an analog, so its very hard to fake things out. Also one may need the entrie car to do the first conversion, as who-knows what talks to what to make it run. So it would be a challange, but hey, someone will be crazy enough, er um, daring to take the lead. nipper

You could, but since modern cars are so quiet, when you run with an open pipe they are so incredibly noisey in comparison. A vac gauge is a much better tool for this. nipper