nipper

It shouldnt. It may pull less vaccum cause of high idle, but thats a a result of the engine temp not air density. You get into air density with altitude, not so much temperiture. Remeber this is an artic front, look at the barometer, you will se its reading high pressure, same as a summer day. nipper

hrmmmmmmmm When it shifts into third, do you have to be gentle on the gas, or if your hard on the gas does it slip? The red fluid is a good thing. Humor me and check your antifreeze condition. Is it contaminated. I am still leaning towards an internal tranny problem, The fact it went to third tells me its not an electrical issue nipper

ok two things to look at, the airflow meter and the temp sensor. Temp sensor wont always throw a code. Dont rely on the ECU to tell you exaclty whats wrong with the car, it wont. It is only a tool. You need to test the coolant temp sensor. The fact the car runs with the out the sir flow meter is because the car goes into limp mode with it absent. With it there it is giving the car the information that it is present, but giving the car the wrong information. nipper

Might have been on a yahoo list, im not my sharpest lately nipper

OK we need to back up. There are very few parts in a subaru that should come from subaru, the Thermostat (Tstat) is one of them. The others are the Head gasket, the front o2 sensor and the timing belt. First thing is to replace that Tstat. I get the air out the old fashiones way, by letting the car run with the cap off for 15 minutes, and constantly topping off the radiator, and in 5 subarus never had a problem. The way you should do it is by having the car on ramps to do the same thing. The knock sensor can affect performance, may even make the car run hot, but only one thing kills the heat, and thats air in the cooling system. That air can come from trapped air or a bad head gasket. Air in the cooling system from filling the cooling system wrong can blow a HG also. nipper

So you recently changed the t-stat. Did you get all the air out of the cooling system. Did you use a subaru T-stat. Have you changed the radiator cap. If yes, you need to take the cap off and let the car run. Can you see bubbles? If not wait for the t-stat to open, the car will burp and spit up a bit. Top off the raditor and look for bubbles. Since th car over heats with a loss of heat, have someone watch the temp gauge for you. If the temp gauge still spikes, or you have bubbles, you have a blown Head gasket. nipper

usually some spray silicon will quiet them for a while. nipper

Rotate your tires and see if it changes nipper

Youu can take it from the lighter, but i have a feeling you will need more power. Go to https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html and email Jamie and tell her you want the accesorry power kit for a 1997 outback (normally would give you 2 more power outlets in place of the ashtray). The kit is 12.00 or there abouts. Whats great is that it is a factory kit, with a harness, fuses and relays. This can carry alot more power, straight from the battery, then the Cig lighter can. the relay is controled by the cig lighter circuit. you can just ditch the outlets. Its well worth the price. nipper

Is this 2wd or AWD ? nipper

If you are running at full voltage, you probably have a sticky relay or solenoid. Cold brings out the problems in everything. Do you hear a click when you press the brake and the button? If not its a switch or relay issue. If you hear a click its a solenoid issue. Once a car starts showing rust thst not reparable, i start thinking twice about putting cash into it. On the other hand if your cashflow is tight, fix the car. Struts are a wear item and are reasonable to expect to need to replace. nipper

its minimal and wishful thinking. TCU issues are very clear cut, and always throw a code. Transmission is fairly easy to diagnose. Here is a thought , does it go into 3rd at all or stay in second gear (there may be hope yet). But also the tcu may be smart enough to know the last time it tried to shift into 3rd, the engine just reved, so it wont do that again. We really need to know the condition of the fluid. Transmission 101 http://www.familycar.com/Transmission.htm nipper

does it sound like .. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (car just having fun) nipper

Reverse works off 2nd gear. nipper

But it subarus blessing. It even came with the factory rust option (drive it and it will rust). nipper

How about the drive shaft universals and carrier bearing? they are usually the source of untraceable vibrations nipper

a heat sheild maybe? nipper

It may be something you have to live with. Winter makes cars squeek sometimes. The fix may not cure the problem. I would inspect the bushings and struts. It is probably a tired strut dust seal. Does it go away after the suspension warms up? it may not since in single difgits suspension doesnt really warm up much, it just gets more flexable (like us). nipper

This was just discussed. If you have ethanol in your gas its not needed. In fact if you go over the 10% mix you can hurt the fuel system. Now i use dry gas in my oil tank, which is outdoors and above ground. nipper

You can destroy any car with a LSD this way very quickly too. On a single axle drive car, you can over heat the differential, and it will give you an incorrect spedo reading. the Dif is a mechanical computer. It divides the input rpm by two when the wheels are going in a differnt speed on the same axle. (left 10 mph, right 5 mph, input 7mph) Also Now this is getting critical. With ABS and traction control reaind individual wheel speeds, mismatched tires can fool the computers into thinking the car needs assitance to stay undercontrol. This can cause breaks to drag or the throttle to be cut back. nipper

I dont think its hyd pressure, i think you have a fried transmission. Before you do anything what is the condition of the fluid. If it is brown or smells burnt, then you are done. If its red and smells fine, you can try the tranny fix in a can. When you shift manually the pressure to the clutches is higher then letting the car shift itself. nipper

But the question is, is it a couple of grams ? Thats what we need to findout. So anyone work in an store that sells half shafts? And in harmonics it really doesnt take much. nipper

They had one a while ago, it was the GL turbo in 1984 can you say "holy cowl shake batman" http://www.cars101.com/subaru/subaru_history.html Porsche and audi a4 have one, and there are AWD models in the price range of people who look down on our meger subarus. nipper

BAD BAD BAD! dont make me get out the rolled up newspaper You really need the front o2 senor to be OE. Aftermarkets dont respond as quickly as OE and have in the past caused problems. The one after the cat can be generic. nipper

i love my remote starter nipper