nipper

Yes thats one place, the other is when the engine shuts off, vecume pressure goes to atmospheric, then as the temp drops you get condensation and a frozen check valve. Remember, that generally the colder it is outside, the longer it will talke for things to warm up and respond as they should. It doesnt mean there ia anything wrong with the car. Power windows may be frozen , as well as power mirrors. Lubricate door lock cylinders now with graphite and hinges and lock mechanisims/latches with white lithium grease. Lubricate the power antenna if so eqipped. Electrically heated mirrors can be used at any temp (i found above 80 they dont do much) to get moisture off them. Keep a can of deicer NOT in the car, but at home and at the office (doesnt do a lot of good frozen in the car). Dont use the wipers to clear off the ice and snow from a parked car, you may strip the wiper arms. And dont forget the winter blinker fluid. nipper

PS, check to make sure you car wasnt covered under the recall for bad master cylinders. i forget what years that was. nipper

This is just a PSA for all the recent outback owners. In the bitter cold on the first start after a few hours, you may find that you have no brakes when you first try to stop the car. You have plenty of brakes, but the check valve for the power brake booster is frozen by the minute amount of water vapor in the system. The car WILL stop, but it will take a lot more force to do it. What you can do: If you use a remote starter, you will not have this probelem, as engine heat will melt the ice. Pump your brake pedal (hard) a few times in the driveway before you pull away. Try stopping a few times when you first move the car (one foot or so) try it three times. DO NOT PANIC if it happens to you, just press the pedal really hard. The car will stop and then the ice will be broken after the second application usually. Clean the check valve. Replace the check valve. Personally i either use the remote starter (below 25) or just test the brakes as i back out of the driveway (below 30). Once you break the ice in the line, it wont come back again untill the car sits for hours in the cold not running. I just wanted to post this as winter comes upon us there are usually quite a few posts on this. There was a recall for Master Cylinders with poor stopping in the cold, but by now i think they should have all been fixed. nipper

Brake lines. They are probably old and expanding when you hit the brake pedal, delaying braking forces. Nipper

Thats about it. Air filter too if you are due. Wires should be from subaru. nipper

yup missing not having a dog. But lookin at getting one in spring for Mom.

When the car starts if there is an electrical failure in the last operation cycle in the tranny, the ATF light will blink 16 times. With your symptons, we can sit here and tell you how to pull the codes, or we go with the obvious. I am going with the obvious. You have a duty C solenoid that has developed an open, and therefor not working. The FWD fuse acts like a switch. It tells the TCU to hold open the C solenoid (powering it) to dump all the pressure to the AWD clutch pack. If that solenoid (like yours) has failed, it wont have any effect. It's like telling a dead dog to fetch. The order has been given, the stick has been thrown, but the dog ain't going to get it. There are several ways the AWD can fail. This is one. The second is it gets all gummed up and sticks. The next is the clutches get tired and then you have no AWD. The final is that you have mismatched tires and overheat the clutches and they get fused. You can try chainging the fluid and hoping that the C is stuck, and the TCU is not seeing that signal response, but usually the FWD fuse and driving the car can dislodge the stuck valve. You need to get this fixed. It can make the car handle in a rather unwelcomed exciting way on wet surfaces. Also you are putting a lot of stress on the transmission mount, universal joints diffs and tires. nipper

Start out cheap. Replace the T-stat with a factory one and replace the cap. Usually Tstat are not lazy at both ends of the temp scale. Usually its stuck closed or stuck open, or lazy to open, but i havent heard of one lazy to open and close. nipper

DO NOT START THE CAR while drining out tranny fluid unless you want to buy a new transmission. You will wipe out the front pump, and unless you have fresh fluid to push out the old, it wont just come out. The front pump is not designed to pump air. The process is to drain fill drive the car around the block and repeat. Do this 4 times and you will get 90% of the fluid out. Hydraulic fluid gets refreshed by adding fresh fluid (when you add enough of it), so that last 10% doesnt mean a thing. nipper

Blus temp gauge sits dead in the middle once it is warmed up, even when the scangauge may be showing a swing of 180-210 degrees. But the one time it did have an airbubble in it, the gauge did climb fast. I would suspect the gauge if it went to max hot and stayed there, even with the car in ON but not running. If it has to be running to do that i would suspect the sending unit. nipper

Yes sounds like the engine was cooked enough to ruin the rings. But an answer either way is better then not knowing. Sounds like it will still turn out to be a good deal. nipper

It may or not meant to be there. Yes these bulbs are standard autoparts store fodder. If its like the legacy, the trim panel around the spedo needs to be removed, any switches in said trim need to be unplugged, then the dash itself comes out with a few screws and prbblu 4 big plugs and one little one in the center of the back of the cluster. Inspect all the bulbs and replace any that look old. I replaced all of mine actually when i had a bulb out and it made a huge differnce. nipper

Tranny fluid - I just used whatever the Auto parts store had (this was a mom and pop not a chain so i could trust them). ANy name brand is good. nipper

So original poster, where are we? nipper

If it cranks its not the alarm. When it cranks, does it crank evenly, or does it sound like whne it gets to a spot it cranks faster then slows down? nipper

Explain "pegged" nipper

Does it shift with the engine off? nipper

Clutch based fron LSD's can be very grabby. Usually they are torsen or viscous. But now im thinking maybe LSD on front and rear. Dear Santa.

OK so we can rule out it being stuck in two gears. Of course its possible it is stuck in two gears AND it has a busted internal transfer gear or something (i think the exact term is thingy). nipper

Its a viscous coupling. Wet clutch types have been around since the 1940's and clutch material is not an issue. Thats why one should change thier diff fluid every so often. nipper

Could you push the car? I am guessing the inkage is broken or jammed. nipper

Compression or leak down will do. But since soobys dont normally not run with a blown HG (and most engines for that matter) i wonder if the cooked the rings. nipper

Does it run at all? If she over heated the engine and you got a deal, get a used engine and put your mind at ease. Cooking a aluminum engine can cause the cylinder liner to shift, and will be almost impossible to reseal the heads ever again. Still need a compression test to get an idea on what shape the other three cylinders are in. nipper

Whenever you overheat an engine, you should change the oil as a margin of saftey. Oil is not only a lubricant but a coolant. It takes longer for it to overheat then water, but it also breaks down quickly once it gets to that point. nipper

Which brings us bact to the laboratory...... We really need to disect a few of these axles. Back to our original issue, by how much does the axle miss the stub Nipper