nipper

If you are having all that work done, have them put in new plugs and wires (zero extra labor charge and just the cost of parts, maybe even by them yourself). Also get a new PCV valve. The Auto trany light i can't explain, it may just be a fluke. If it comes back on again let us know. DO you do your own oil changes? If you do, you can do a tranny drain and fill every other oil change and never have to get the tranny flushed again. Ask the tech to show you the transmission lines to better understand what he is talking about. nipper

OBDII does not read the transmission codes, its just the engine/emissions codes. There is a procedure here to pull the codes, but it does sound like its TB. It is a bit touchy. But it sounds like you have TB, so I would just head right to the shop. You may luck out and the solenoid may have just gone south, but more likely you need the clutchpack rebuilt. I wouldnt even bother with changing the fluid with a flashing light and TB. If you just nad TB I would recomend the fluid, but I dont want to see anyone wasiting money. nipper

Go to www.endwrench.com and go to the archives, engine section. Look at the timing belts and read to see what you have to do. The seals are easy, once you get to them. You also need to do the water pump, idler tensioner reseal the oil pump and the main seal. It sounds scary but do all that and you dont have to touch them again, unless the car makes it to 287,000 miles

i think someone here will have pics of the connnectors here to show you. I can never get PDF files to post here . nipper

Are you willing to do a little diagnostics work yourself? Do you have an ohm meter?

It cam be the PS pump, it can be cam seals, oil pump or main seal. Clean the engine top and bottom then watch and see where it is coming from. nipper

Pass on it, it means that that the oil hasne been changed regularly or there is another mechanical problem. nipper

2.2L Have Champions listed one choice of sparkplug. They also list NGK and Nippeondenso. 2.5 are NGK's. And I do side with you. At one time Champions were great plugs, but as emission controls got tighter, they seemed to degrade in performance. Maybe they only work well runing in a rich enviorment. nipper

You are rtight on #1, he is right on #2, especially on subarus. Too hot a plug can cause ping. I cant even call that hotter plug as the car ages an old wives tale as i never heard of it before. SUbarus waste spark ignition requires balance and is desghned with a specific plug in mind. Alos its been proven over and over, fancy plugs dont so anything. Its all psychological, as all you need is one hot spark to fire the fuel air mix.

You would be surprised. Sometimes you can find rebuilt ones too. Just make sure it comes with a warrenty. nipper

Does the car ever reach road speed?

Hrmmm have you cheked the fluid hot with engine running? Have you tried all the other gear positions what happens if you feather the gas pedal. This really doesnt sound good, it sounds like your tranny may be shot. Do a Torqu Converter stall speed test (basically powerbrake the car) If you cant get the engine over 2000 rpm (i forget the exact spec) the TC is fine. If the engine revs freely the one way clutch in the TC may have let go. A clogged exhaust pipe would limit engine response. Do you have any CEL or Power lights on? ANother possability is the car is in limp mode, but that would just get it stuck in one gear and still give you throttle response up to 50. nipper

i always found it far more fun to take something apart that self destructed then to take something apart that just wore out.... so yes PICS!

That will do it.

Its a really long shot but maybe there is coolant in the cylinders? Taking out the plugs will let the coolant out so you can turn the engine. nipper

i'm just here to hear about the post mortum. i am cusrious I threw a rod in blu, along with a straight 6, was noisey as hell but the engine still ran. Maybe you wiped out some pistons? IS it completly locked up or is there very little motion and a hard stop with a wrench? Either way it does not sound pretty. nipper

i was not being condsending just statint a common error. Remeber that this is a one dimensional caht, so you can not tell inflection or read tone of comments. Don't assume that i was trying to be. I am a tech too and i do not tell people what i think is wrong with my car because it can steer them wrong. It has happened ion the past to me personally. Its human nature. I did not think i was lambasting you, and if thats how you took it, well i am sorry. i will make it much easiuer for you and just unsubscribe from this thread. Good luck. nipper

Let the shop dig into it a bit. All they need is an ohm meter and the car to find out whic solenoid has failed. Seems a shame to put all that money in the car and then give up. mechanics in my exp dont like to tell people to put money in a car with that many miles. nipper

Get yourself a vacume gauge. Put that on the car and tell us exaclty what it is doing. What happens when you manually shift the car? The seperator plate is they typical leak you read about. Would be interesting to put the car in a heated garage to see what happens. Can you get your hands on a code reader? I would like to see what temp the engine is running at. Can you actually get up to highway speed? Do you have heat? nipper

When you don't know alot about cars, just describe the symptons, not what you thik it is. Wait for them to diagnose it then you can discuss what you think it is. Otherwise they will focus on what you said. nipper

use short oil change intervals, and yes soak the car in oil. Rust will be a silent killer. nipper

In over 20 years the only time a heater core clogged on me from stopleak was because the heatercore was clogged. I swear by the stuff. Its what the sooby additive is, and a few others use it too. nipper

no. It just sends a signal, its not a user of energy. Its a magent that has a toothed gear that goes by it and makes an AC pulse.

Maybe you just ran out of blinker fluid? Near the fuse block on the drivers side, i am just not sure which one it is exactly. Haynes is vague and i never had to replace one before. nipper

And there is a bunch of wire and a few connectors between the two. Take it back and tell him he didnt fix it and your not paying for anymore work since there was nothing wrong with the first spedo. This is an easy thing to diagnose, so i dont know what the problem is. nipper