nipper

Recomendation is three tanks of gas, but two will do (anything in engineering is done in at least a set of three). nipper

Dont be so cocky. :-p It will come back, and the same code. It comes and goes untill it stays on. You most likely need a front O2 sensor (which should be from subaru). Your car is at the right mileage for the O2 sensor to quit, or start getting lazy. They do wear out. nipper

I dont remember how this one works. I think its vacum motors move the doors in the hvac system to direct air. You may have a broken motor or linkage. nipper

He said no indictaion from "instruments" which i am assuming is the dash gauges. i can be wrong.

Your overthinking it. If you have voltage at the motor connection (one side goes to the switch, the other is hot), then you need a replacement motor. You cant really rebuild them. I think a universal replacement fits. nipper

Altenator light only comes on for an undercharge. Whay hasnt anyone stated the obvious:-p Take a 12.00 multimeter from radioshack and see what the battery voltage is while the car is running. Overcharging in a modern car isnt a good thing. Depending upon how high the voltage is, some of the electronics and the bulbs wont be happy. nipper

At 270,000 miles, its just tired. If it is engaging the hydraulics are ok. The slow engagement is the clutch plates slipping, just like in an automatic tranny when it starts slipping. I wouldnt recomend having the unit rebuilt at this mileage, I would look for a low mileage used tranny instead. nipper

Does the heat/defrost position work? nipper

Radioshack has been having problems last few years, so nothing to wonder about. All i see is overpriced junk and affordable lightbulbs. nipper

I'm confused here, you want heat in the max ac mode? nipper

Any shops that specialize in 4wd pickups or off road vehicals? They make custom driveshafts too. nipper

Your fans are always on? Normally the fans are governed by the engine temp, UNLESS the diagnostic plugs (green) under the dash are connected. Then the fans will run constantly, the cel will be on. I dont know about the VSS and spedo, since no one has really driven with this test connector connected. Look under the dash, i think near the gas pedal. Are these connected? (at least i think 05 still have them) nipper

Dealers dont sell you transmissions, they sell you repairs. Tranny shops sell you transmissions. They dont really care about reparing them. And of course they have to takth the entire things apart to diagnose it. nipper

Quick and dirty test of the worst case scenario.Go out and drive in a circle. The car should move in a smooth motion with very little or no gas. If you have to give it gas, or cant turn the wheel to lock, its a torque bind issues. If it fails the test put in the fwd fuse and see if it goes away. Thats one reason for the light, and one that costs the most money to fix. If it fails the fuse test, just get it to the dealer. DO NOT go to a tranny shop. nipper

Ah i thought we switched to one system. Maybe time to move upstate . We also get plugged into the big 'puter. nipper

In NY there are two tests. there is the standard dyno test. All AWD vehicals (with the EPA's blessing on which ones) are exempt from dyno testing here, so we get the sniffer at idle and again at 2500 rpm. They do the saftey test first, then emissions. There is a special sticker if the car passes saftey, and fails emissions when 400.00 will not repair the car. But that requires three attempts to solve the problem and a visit to the DMV. nipper

Windsheild glass is wierd. Its multilayerd and under a lot of stress. Its also not really a solid. New windsheilds on occasion crack for no reason. My 1987 GL cracked one day for no reason. You may want to check for chassis rot just in case. It happens. nipper

Lets face it, a lot of people are looking for cheaper wires then OE, and since chain stores tend not to carry high cost wires, they get poor wires. For the most part the are of lesser quality, with a few exceptions, like I said before. Wires may not fail immeditaly, but far enough down the raod where you can't get your money back. So in 1 year someone has purchased two sets of wires. penny wise and dollar foolish nipper

If its an automatic you have also lost your AWD. You lost a Vehical speed sensor (but have the codes read anyway). If its a manual, then you mau have only the one. Good idea to get it fixed before it snows, or before you get a speeding ticket.. nipper

OE wires are usually superior to aftermarket, with one or two exceptions. Considering that OE wires last over 100,000 miles, cost shouldnt be an issue. You can get them reasonably at on line OE supplier. Plugs should be what subaru recomends. Either one (if you do some hunting you will see can cause missfires and CEL's if not OE. Then your out the cost of the "new" plugs and wires you just had to replace, making OE wires reasonable. nipper

This has come up a lot on other subaru sites. New subarus being out of alignment. I suspect its a dealership issue (poor prep) as a 4 wheel alignment takes time, and time is money. nipper

You can get a good idea by wrapping a rope around the belts (that has a close dia to the v-belt) and then tying or taping the ends together to hold length. Some of the better gear head mom and pop auto stores will still have a belt sizer. This is used to measure belts length (between two fixed 1/2 moon pullies). nipper

My bet is its that cam seals oil pump seal main seal. Its at the right mileage nipper

They are not tech friendly. The most techy they get is a cell phone. This is not part of thier main business, so you have to watch for a sale. nipper

Not necassarily. The O2 sensor on my car was alwyas activly setting a fault, so if you tried to clear it the data would get all confused, and no code was set. Now if i read the code fist thing in the morning then i can read it. You need to use the code reader a few times a day, especially after a cold start, and you may be able to snag the code. Also a differnt brand code reader may do it. Snag the code right after you disconnect the battery for an hour. hopes that helps. I wouldnt be surprised if its the front O2 sensor. That can be tested with a multimeter if we still cant get a code off the ECU. nipper