nipper

The driveshaft to the rear wheels is two shafts. Each shaft has a universal joint at each end of it. In the middle of the car is the carrier bearing that supports the middle of the driveshaft. The drive shaft is two shafts since that cuts down on driveline vibration. When you expierience a vague vibration in the driveline that seems to come from behind the transmission, this is what needs to be checked. What happened here is a worse case scenario failure. H'es very lucky he didnt get hurt or worse. There is potential for enough damage to total the car or worse. In a rar wheel drive car with no carrier bearing, its possible to rip the rear axle out of the car. This can happen when the front universal gives way. When the rear gives way it just drops (you may loose the driveshaft). Usually its the universal at the end of the 1st driveshaft that fails, so that should just drag. I am curious as to which universal failed, or if the carrier bearing totally failed. I am glad you didnt get hurt. nipper

a AAA gold card, a breaker bar for tire lugnuts, Jumper cables, flares, cheap Volt meter, spare fuses and bulbs, fix a flat, qt of oil. Modern cars there isnt a lot that can be done on the side of the road. Considering what kills a subaru, timing belt, cam or crank position sesnor, engine temp sensor, those sensors arent cheap enough to keep spares of. nipper

SUbaru sells a tap that goes into one of the oil journal plugs for the oil pressure gauge. If your not going to use the factory water temp gauge you can install it there, or get an old radiator inlet/outlet and expeiment with drilling and tapping there. nipper

I seriously doubt it. How did you test the cam and crank sesnor. How did you check for spark? How did you check for fuel flow? Can you hear the fuel injectors clicking? How about the temp sensor for the ECU? Also GRRRRRR how many miles on this, what transmission, and when was the last time the timing belt was changed? nipper

BE HEALED HEATHEN!!!!!!!!!! doth not speakith of thy evil nissan SUbaru is not nissan. Subaru specifically states that the tranny trouble light goes on if there was a previous failure (fault) the last time the vehical was operated. The endwrench will be very helpful. nipper

Its even more bizzare, the other driver drove away in his own car. I would bet there was a lot of damage under the front bumper skin, but none that was reported to any insurance company. You can't see it, but the entire car is twisted. The left rear corner took the brunt of the hit. The passenger copmpartment stayed in tact, amazingly so. The car was driveable for another three weeks, then the AWD started clunking. The nose was rebuilt in January from being hit while parked. The hood was no longer square, nor were the front fenders. There is less damage then one would expect because i took my foot off the brake pedal right before impact (i still have nightmares from seeing him coming at me). nipper

Stripped the old drum???? Well you need new shoes and brake hardware to start off with. It can be a tired spring, a shoe with a flat spot in it, a bad wheel bearing etc etc etc nipper

The light flashing is telling you that the last time the car was used started something was not right. There is more then just one solenoid in the car (meaning you may have more then one failure). You need to read the code on that flashing light. The light can read a limited amount of electromechanical faults. It can see if the solenoid is stuck open or closed due to a mechanical obstruction. nipper

Wrong. :-p you fixed the electrical failure that you had before. If the solenoid is dead, the FWD fuse will have no effect. Also when you said you inspected the AWD unit, how did you inspect it? You have another issue. you are pre 1997 1/2. After 1997 1/2 and all parts sold after that have been redesigned. Beofre that the seals and body would wear out and cause TB. It is very very possible that you need a new housing, even if your clutch pack looked fine. nipper

I thought about the liftgate, but didnt like the weight it would add to it. nipper

Its hard to diagnose the master cylinder sepretly from the slave cylinder for something like this. Also the hose can be tired. If this was a fault as the car got hotter usually its a slave cylinder fault. My best advice, is to replace the slave cylinder and see what happens. Usualy when one goes the other isnt far behind, but the slave is cheaper then the master. Or at least rebuild them. nipper

As the parachutest would say, its not the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop. There is a point where yes, you wont break any bones, your brain will survive, but the rest of th organs in your body arent as well protected. They can only take so much decelleration so fast. nipper

As per subaru, it will. When one fails the other takes over on the 4eat, nipper

I clicked on audis of the same year and found numbers to compare. This breaks it down into stars http://www.internetautoguide.com/index.html http://www.safecarguide.com/exp/archive/idx.htm That decpihpers them better. Newer then 1998 i think can be found on the NHTSA website Odd you didnt try the goverment website first, its right there http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/ nipper

Real World http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=932 That was stopped at a red light. Got hit in the rear by a a Dodge Stratus at 55 mph. I have back prblems (two surgeries maybe a third) but I am here and can walk. nipper

http://automallusa.net/01/subaru/ratings.html nipper

wht i would do is disconnect the front one (primary) and see if it goes away. nipper

Simple green or any other purpose made commercial engine cleaner. Use a garden hose squirter head. In over 20 years never had a problem with any method. If the car gives you a hard time starting after wards, change the plug wires. nipper

VSS= Vehical Speed Sensor There are two in an automatic, one front one rear. When one of these fails the car will drive normally but there would be no AWD. If the primary one fails, the secondary one will still operate the spedo etc. If both fail the car will go into limp mode. Limp mode as defined by subaru is engine rpm in gear limited to 5000 rpm, no torque converter lock up, and only 3rd gear in Drive. Manual. no spedo. AWD not affected. Revs limited to 5000 rpm and all the other wierdness as described. Reciever can be the dpedo head, though it does go through the tcu. nipper

You do of course realize i have lots and lots of time on my hands being on disability nipper

Put foot on gas, car wont go past Xrpm (i think its 5000). nipper (in drive)

Seals are more likly to get blown out by a bad pcv valve then an over fill. How many miles are on this car? nipper

You may want to keep the AWD goodies. Also you knw, since you can't make it any worse, you can always take it apart for fun and keep the VSS and the internal solenoids. nipper

You dont have it, dont worry about it. nipper

http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/bgbb/7/ecep/auto/f/f.htm not a torque converter. And on a subaru i would never even suspect a bad TC. nipper