nipper

This has gotten so long, forgive me if i repeat someone. Have you done a compression test? If so what are the numbers again. nipper

Or its just nervous, remeber it was Andyjo's car nipper

I do it twice a year whether it needs it or not nipper

Lysol Spray lysol into the air intake under the hood by the wipers. Have the HVAC on frewsh air and run it thorugh all the modes, do it varying the temp too (cold warm hot). This should get rid of it. Make sure all the car windows are open nipper

Always use a subaru T stat. Aftermarket do not flow as well, and the sometimes dont have the bleed port. nipper

Older spedos are really quite simple. They are a spinning magnet is a bell shaped drum. The needle is attached to the drum and the faster the magnet spins, the higher it reads. What throws off a spedo (this much) is a worn cable, or mechanical malfunction. When the cable starts fraying, it will wind up and release, therefor showing a much higher speed then you are actually going. Inspect your cable. nipper

It's old school thining. Back in the day before emissions and fuel injection, 160-170 was considered a summer thermostat, and 180-190 a winter thermostat. If you lived in death valley, you used the cooler one, since the ability of the car to rid itself of excess heat is greatly reduced. It really doent apply anymore. nipper

Thats what i meant. The High and low feed back to the controller (pos/neg), as opposed to high - bulb- ground. Maybe i should call it an isolated sircuit instead. nipper

Its obvious, i think its the only relay looking module on the knee panel (the panel that unscrews under the dash to get to everything under and behind the dash). Check for shorts. I blew tow of these puppies up before i figured out what i was doing wrong. WHen did you remove the alarm system? Myalarm system is wired into that same circuit somehow, so its something to look at. nipper

Have you added any gauges or other lights. I have been through this, as it took two "illumination controllers" to understand why. Subarus are wired in series. If you tap into one of these lines and go to ground (like any sane man would do) you are shorting out the circuit, and the magical smoke escapes the controller. The controller is 100.00 new, 25.00 ish used. Its behind the knee panel on the driver side of the dash. nipper

There are posts here (not many) of vscous coupling (AWD 5sp) failing due to mismatched tires, or driving on a low tire. Its a mixed bag. The autos will warn you nefore they have damage, the manuals its a silent death. The automatics there are things you can do to remedy the situation, manuals its no warning. nipper

Yes for the same reasons you need to on a awd car. on manual 4wd (M4WD) if you have differnt tires on one axle, the car will want to turn towards the smaller tire. Now if you have size X on the right frt and rear, along with size Y frt and rear, everything will cancel out. M4WD should only be used on slick surfaces. That allows for some wheel slip, and keeps you from getting torque bind. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/four-wheel-drive.htm and to explain the differnt AWD systems http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/traction/tech_traction_4wd.htm

Yes. The filler neck was on the way out. When you filled it to the brim, that added weight opened up (what was going to happen sooner or later) the rusted out filler neck. You need a new filler neck. nipper

did you get (with the AC setting) blip blip blip blip blip blip ? cam shaft sensor should be blip blip blip blip blip blip blip The crankshaft is supposed to be 10 degrees before TDC. The crank controls spark. The cam controls fuel. What did you use as timing marks?

I dont remeber if the temp posted is full open or starts to open. I can tell you when its 20 degrees outside the engine temp is 175 and i have plenty of heat. I dont remeber the shift from open loop, to closed loop, but its less then 180 (now that i think about it). It may be 170. Now if you use a 170 temp T-stat, in cooler cold weather, or on the highway, you may dip below that threshold. http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/OBDSpring02.pdf The threshold for closed loop is 158 degrees. In cold weather you will not reach that threshold. nipper

NO. The engine is designed to run optimally at 180 degrees. You will never have an effeciently running engine at 170. Yes 10 degrees can make a big difference to the engine computer. If your going to race, and worried about temp, get an external engine oil cooler to help manage heat. ALso a fresh radiator will help tremendously. nipper

One thing that is never on any list, the Plastic seperator plate on the back of the engine. Replace it with a metal one if you are removing the engine. nipper

sputtering can be too rich a mixture. Check the O2 sensor and the engine temp sensor. DO you have a manual for this car? nipper

One big question, how many miles are on this engine? So far you havent really stated any reason thats valid for buying an unknown engine. Are you the original owner? nipper

6 cats? it just shows they dont know what the hell they are doing. Replace the O2 sensors and it should be done. nipper

A compression test has ruled that out. nipper

oh thats right, hes going to 4 wheel disc brakes, my bad. nipper

welll You need a valve in the system because of the gap between the shoes and the drum. Well instead of me explaining read this http://www.howstuffworks.com/master-brake.htm nipper

which is when the car runs the richest. Check all the fuel lines first and try to find out if the smell is front or rear of the car. Check the hoses under the acess plates behind the back seat. nipper

Different animal. Look on your warrenty, it is prbbly only covered if it fails before 106,000 miles/106 months and damages the engine. Anything that is a wear item is not covered. Anything past its service life is not covered. A timing belt is made much differntly then a accessory drive belt. nipper