nipper

I always wonder about battery life and recharge time.

Yes like whathisface said . We would take a differnt tact if you already owned this. Always best to walk away when in doubt.

Hrmm its a start. You only need to unplug the ECU for a few minutes for a reset, and in all honesty its not necessary unless you have codes. I wonder... If you let the car idle for 15 minutes to warm up and you drive off does it stil bog down? Has anyone put a vacuum gauge on this car?

I think we have our culprit. I wont suggest a spray bottle to a running engine of water unless it is above freezing there. But that in the early evening would be how you check for sparklies (high voltage leaks) normally.

Just replace them as you cant tell the condition of the silicon insulator. Also you would need a meg meter to do it right. How does this do on damp mornings? What is the condition of the spark plug boots?

Up to you buet here are my feelings. When buying used expect the worst Fuel lines dont just pop off (fuel pressure regulator?). No coolant in resivoir means at the very least it is not loved, and has a l;eak someplace. That leak could be anything at this mileage (hose radiator or head gasket). Rear wiper working, that is so minor and an easy fix ill just skip it for now. Vlunk in the rear could be a rear diff, vibration could be the driveshaft (along with clunk, mileage is correct for this). Its winter in chicagoland. If the car is perfect, you have a place to work on it, you dont need the car to be a daily driver right now and you can beat the price down it is up to you. I never expect the heated drivers seat to work on any car at that mileage so i am only disappointed half the time. Get a mechanic to look at it since it is winter, very winter.

It is a fine engine. It is a fine drive train. Just the engine is a bit heavy for the front brake rotors and wheel bearings so they tend to wear out sooner then usual, but not a deal breaker.

Subaru transmissions are hard shifters. I would first check to see if the shift resistor is still in good shape. The solenoid wont do much with shift quality as it either opens or closes, If anything it would make a slower shift. There are usually accumulators and delay valves that have more to do with it then the solenoids, and on a subaru the solenoids are fairly robust. Lets look at this a little diffrently, how are the transmission mounts?

Does this have a ignition amplifier and a pickup under the cap (I forget what subaru calls them). They can fail in this method and drive you nuts.

A differential is basically a mechanical computer. It divides the speed of the drive shaft equally between the two wheels. Subarus have awd. Subaru AWD has a center diff that is controlled either by a clutch pack, or a viscous coupling. When you have a front driven axle and a rear driven axle on a car all four wheels (and input shafts of the diffs) turn at the same speed if all tires are of equal size. If you put two new tires on one axle, you will have one diff input shaft spinning faster the the other (like it does when the car turns). Subarus with AWD can tolerate this for short times, like turning a corner, parking etc. If they have this condition constantly the limited slip center diff will over heat from the friction. The link will explain the AWD/4wd systems. I hope that is clear as Moms been in the hospital making for a very tired nipper. http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/traction/tech_traction_4wd_2.htm

I think if anyone watched thier mileage in winter on short trips (less then a few miles) would be alarmed. My lowest for a subaru was 13 when i was driving less then a mile to the gym every day and we were locked into single digits for a week.

The multi tank average is best. Right now, Mom has been in the hospital 2 miles away for a week, and now she is in rehab about 3 miles away. Multiple short trips a day in winter with lots and lots of traffic control devices, i am getting 17 mpg or less if it gets in single digits. This doesnt bother me as i think any car would be low at this duty cycle. Multi tank also is mopre typical for a season, otherwise that one or two days of extreem weather change can easily make a tankfull look scary.

Ok knock sensor then. They are cheap enough to be "oh what the hell lets change it" part and screw up any diagnostics.

Does it do that in all gears? How worn is your shifter linkage. It sounds sort of like the car isnt fully in gear and synchros are engaged.

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/15509-acc-flashing-information-display.html We havent had that much of an issue here with this, but on the Outback board there are a few of them.

Do you have the owners manaual as i think they cover this in there.

How did you wire it?

Sometimes on radiators with plastic tanks, the seem will open up a bit when hot and you would loose coolant (under heat and pressure). When you just sat and idled the car or did a leak down test, you will never find the leak. What can do is a dye test, as that would leave a trail of the coolant even after things cooled down.

Nope even the single zone is completely different. I have the dual zone in the 2005, and i find myself fiddling with it as much as i did the manual system.

Lets start with a basic, where do you live, how cold has it been. After that look for a vacume leak or the timing belt off a tooth (common even to the pros). How is the idle?

If it is very cold outside and your doing short trips, that is a great number. I would love that number in winter on short trips. The usual check your tire pressures, but 20 for a 1995 AWD car assuming it is around town is pretty good. When was the last time a tuneup was done on the car?

I'm going with a physically cracked knock sensor in this one. The sensors can crack and not throw a code. Also a new set of plugs will help. I am assuming we have done the air filter, pcv change thing.

Pkus also if it is a new car, pay for a lifetime alignment, you will surely make that money back over the years.

MATH! Draw a chaulkline on the tire perpendicular to the ground. drive exactly one tire rotation. Measure that distance, then do the math to see how many of those rotations make a mile. You can also use a measured mile to time the car. This is not unusual actually. Reading slower then GPS is better then reading faster (shortens the clock on the warranty). Since subaru is a small mfg they may use the same TCU and transmission on cars with slightly different tire sizes hence the difference. It is also possible your GPS is slightly off.

Do they pay in Head Gaskets?