nipper

what he said.

And this is why I hate transmission shops. They rank right up there with the Taliban in my book. There comes a time to go to the dealer, which is the first place you should have gone. Dealers don't want to sell transmissions, but they have the skills and expertise to properly diagnose a tranny. I am still not convinced that you have any real problems, especially for a 19998. Hard shifting at times is normal for 4eat's. Did anyone ever put pressure gauges on the car and take it for a test drive?

Did anyone test the thermo valves instead of just assuming they are bad? You should have vacum at the snoprkle motor when the car has warmed up. You can do a simple test. Just disconnect the door and plug the line and see if the issue goes away. nipper

Woooooooooooooooh why oh why was the transmission rebuilt? A dropping resistopr will not cause a transmission failure. In fact some people disconnect them because they want quicker shifts. Subarus shift hard sometimes, sometimes they don't. What exaclty was wrong with previous transmission? I know 99 has delayed engagement issues, but that is not caused by a resistor issue. nipper

If there is no knocking, play in the suspension when the car is boumced, wierd handling, or seperation of the bushing from the metal sleeve insert its fine. If any of those apply replace it.

Early ones, sooby was replacing them as they came into the shop. It seems like if you can get past the warrenty period you should be good. Of course there are those 100 odd bolts to deal with. nipper

hehe but i love to explain the sparklies

So i dont have to explain suck squish boom blow then

No bent valve. Sucking in of the air at the exhaust pipe is timing. Think about how an engine runs, it will make sense. If it was a bent valve it wouldnt do anything at the exhaust pipe. nipper

SUbaru Cylinders are 1-3 2-4. Your timing belt has jumped, hence the pull push at the exhaust pipe. nipper

Belden wires are junk, no matter what level they are. Get a set from OE so then we can have a clean and even place to start from. That knock thing thoug someone needs to listen to first. nipper

This is news to me, and probably everyone else on the board... or do you mean valve adjustment. nipper

What he said. nipper

Unless you have 2 98's you have only one PCV. Er um that light knock can be worrying. Air filter fuel filter come to mind.

Big question is is the noise front center or sides of the engine. nipper

I have been wrong before, but thats my best guess. nipper

yes.

Valve cover/bucket leaks will cause misfires like you are seeing. The oil attracts humidity and also breaks down the wire insulation.

What brand of wires? are the spark plug wire ends soaked in oil? What kind of plugs? Can you run the car at night, and with a spray bottle wet the ignition wires and look for sparks? nipper

Aside from accessory drive belt pully failure they seem to be fine. nipper

Rod knock is a very unique noise. Valves tick and sound like a sewing machine. Not many will admit rodknock tight up front, so i don't doubt it has it. I bet the engine was cooked. nipper

When there are faults on start, the computers dont pick them up, as the car has to be running to catch the errors. Its a catch 22. nipper

And thats why they were siezing engines. The 2nd costliest and 1st most complicated thing people buy are thier cars. They need to remember that, cars are actually exotic things in todays modern world. All cars have to meet the same emissions, have the same common denominators. People need to get re-educated. nipper

I hate telling someone to thorw parts at a problem, but since its an engine i am not familair with in a country i dont know and my arms don't reach ... If its cheap enough then I say we try it. Does this have an OBDII connector on it or a CEL on?

I would just risk throing a temp sensor at it and see if that works. I tried finding info on the net but having no luck. It really sounds like its either getting too much fuel or the timing is off. How mechanical are you?