nipper

You wanted an excuse to drain and clean the entire fuel system anyway. nipper

Do a search for HVAC lights or heater lights. There is a great set of directions on how to do it, and its a bit more complicated then what i can type here quickly. Also you buy the bulbs from radioshack and not subaru. If you have replaced xmass lights you can do these. nipper

If its anything like the legacy its really easy. Remove the trim peice around the dash ( some screws). THen remove the instrument cluster (more screws) and disconnect the wire harnesses (there is a small one dead center that is for the spedo, its not obvious). Then with it out i would replace all the illumination bulbs and be done with it. You may have to remove some switches (aka legacy) but they just unplug. nipper

NO Like i said, the FWD fuse tells the puter to HOLD OPEN the solenoid. In order for it to do that the solenoid must be operational. The solenoid is normaly closed when it is not powered (I have no idea why sooby did this). The default mode is full 50/50 torque splt. The car is not desighned to be operated for any length of time with the FWD fuse in place (though you can do it). Well you yourself have said this is two serious issues, and the AWD issue needs to be addressed first. nipper

Thats torque bind, and needs to be adressed. Its possible that vibration you are telling us about is a failed Duty C solenoid, (which is what the fuse tells the puter to hold open). First thing needed is a fluid change. nipper

Top hats are just the front. They have bearings in them to allow the wheels to turn. The other question.... lets see how can i put this gently.. HELL YES!!!!!!!!!!! Some things are just easier when someone is used to doing them all the time, and has the right tools. Let him build the struts, this saves you from having to make a sacrifice to the mechanic Gods, and chant in colorful languages to them. nipper

What he said, and check your universal joints and carrier bearing. If the issue is so bad you need the FWD in the car to drive it, you shouldnt be driving it. When was the last time the traany fluid was checked? Inspect the main pulley and the transmission mount. nipper

BOB IS ALIVE!!!! Bob i would suggest replacing the tophats while you are there. Unless you find any issues, i would just go with everything else as it is. Ball joints are cheap and easy enoug to replace, and if i was to do mine again, i would do them just because i have the front of the car mostly apart anyway. nipper

Never owned and OBDII car before? CEL = Check engine light. If you don not know what this is or where it is, i STRONGLY suggest you pull out the owners manual and read it cover to coever (should be mandatory anytime anyone buys a car). Vacume hose well is just what it says. Its a hose that carries a vacume to the various parts of the engine and other componenets that need engine vacume to operate. Cold rpm is hard to tell, depends upon what cold is? IS it 70 degrees, 50 degrees, -20 degrees. normal rpm isusually btween 600-800 rpm. Most cars are 650-750. Look around the air cleaner, especially under it. Look for any disconnected hoses. nipper

To really answer this question, how are you going to lift the roo? Soobies are really over engineered to begin with, thats how we can get oodles of miles out of them. nipper

I'm more impressed that they had replacement parts for a 360 then the hat.

i would check the grounds and the connectors at the pigtail for corrosion. Also have you tried swapping bulbs to see if it moves. I am assuming we are talking reduced output and not a fogged up lense. nipper

awwwww *blush* see i really am good for something

Nippendenso. Here is why aftermarket is not as good (I worked for an Autopart mfg at one point in my life). You have the parts that are supplied to OE, which have to fit very specific criteria on performance. OE sighns a contrac stating that they will meet that spec for as long as they sepcify that spec. That is a guarentted sale of X# of units to subaru. Out the front door, those units are not yet sold to anyone. So to svae costs they go through their catalog and prints to see what a given part has in common to other parts that are similar to it. When they find something that is fairlt close, they will combine it with others and make it a one size fit all (this was my job) to save cost. The parimeters can be response time, heat up time, range of response, looks, wire length, etc etc. The only people that know where they differ are the engineers that did the consolidation, or people on boards like this that can be a giant test lab. nipper PS i am surprised that bosh and ND are the same

Just plum it in in and get a small one. Thermostatic ones are for if your always pulling trailers (bigger cooler) and live in a artic state (ND SD MI etc etc).

My pain puter is sick, so i am on my laptop. I dont have the url, but there a subaru supplier that was getting rid of his spin-on filter kits as a close out (for the tranny). They will work with any transmission. I will see if i can find him again. He was almost giving them away. nipper

What i meant was that in 1990's transmissions on, its safe to change the fluid at any time. nipper

If you have auto climate control you can not change the head. If its a manual climate control there are kits out there for it. nipper

HAHAHAHAHA of course, you can't use that organic based hemp magic smoke nipper

The problem with the ransmission has nothing to do with air temp or age of the fluid. The transmssion sheds material off the lock up torque converter clutch. This material clogs the transmission and the small pathways of the internal tranny cooler. By adding an aftermarket cooler you have a larger tube to cool the tranny fluid. New fluid was a valid argument back in the 1970's, but not in the 1990's or newer. nipper

The band doesnt help the 3-4 shift, and usually thats where the doom and gloom starts. get a case of filters thats a 6 year supply nipper

Like old corroded fuseable links? nipper

And its very touchy. You dont do it right we end up with a new Pope.

If you just pop the tie rod end, you dont affect the steering geometry. nipper

If williston park/mineola is ok for you, and can ask my freind who his mechanic is. I know he's used the same one for many many many many years. He had a toyota camery, now he has a forester, and seems happy with them. nipper