nipper

you said it yourself. CHEAP headgaskets. Subaru HG should be bought from Subaru. It takes time for engineering changes to get to aftermarket suppliers. Also Aftermarket suplliers will not pull off unsold stock to replace it with a redesigned part. Also you have baked the engine oil. If you keep driving it like this you will need an entire engine since youll spin a connectiing rod bearing. nipper

Flush the fuid and see what happens, then we atke it from there. nipper

actually a busted duty c solenoid, if it throws a code, will cause torque bind, as the default mode for a filaed solenoid is a 50/50 split (fully closed solenoid, full pressure to clutches) Why they do this i dont know, personally i would have designed it the other way around. Otherwise your correct now lets all sigh together, then go over to the gas mileage thread and sigh there one two three SIGH nipper

Ive heard this too. The best i can think of is is this. The VC has plates with holes in them. Since the majority of driving is done forward, any build up of junk will happen in one direction, on one side of the holes in the plates. By driving in reverse you are reversing the flow of fluid, possibly breaking loose and fluid that has become glue. How long does this work, i have no idea. Will it always work, i have no idea. Should you start saving money just in case, yes. nipper

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61454 makes perfect sense for a tired clutch pack. Try this, next time it happens put the car in low. That should force the AWD into 50/50 split. The clutchpack has no grip. When in a straight line the awd unit is cycling. It sesse the differnce in frt/r axle speeds, and cycles on off. When you cut the wheel its even worse. With a good lcutchpack, the system never is turly disconnected since it can vary between 10-50% split. Now if your clutches are worn, when it gets to a 30% split, there may not be enough grab in the clutches to do anything, so no power gets to the rear wheels. nipper

sigh. Torque bind in its purest defanition is when there is no speed differnce between the front and rea axles on turns. The front axle turns at a differnt speed then the rear axle on turns, and there has to be some way to compenstate this. on automtics its a clutch pack. The clutch pack is designed to allow for slippage on turns, but wont tolerate alot of slippage. A failed duty c solenoid or welded clutches can cause torque bind. No response to the rear wheels is the reverse problem. This is just like a slipping automatic tranny. The AWD unit is working fine, except your clutches are glazed/worn/wiped. There is no more clutch material on the discs, so like any clutch, its slipping. Installing a switch forces the awd curcuit to go to max pressure (putting the car in low will do the same thing). This will work, but only for so long. In the meeantime you have lost the sfatey of AWD traction in all conditions. The AWD works not just in the snow, but it works extreemly well on dry surfaces as well as rain. There is a reason you cant get a sooby to spin tires when the front wheel is cut hard. nipper

i live on Long Island (NY), i am three miles form the ocean, Long Beach. Long beach has limited parking, but there is this one block called the "superblock". It had been site of many attempted super size construction products. The block is also dirt and sand, and people are allowed to park there at thier own risk. With my 97 OBW i never have to worry about finding a parking space. i just pop the car in low to force the AWD and go off on my way. i can always find a parking space. Also ive gone to many events where parking in a feild is all thats left, and ive never questioned any open parking space with any subaru ive had. nipper

On a subaru, dont beleive anything that "will last the life of the car". These claims are made as a generic statement, for all cars, not subaru specific. We all know subarus will go well into the 200,000 mile range where othe cars go 120-160,000 miles. Also lifetime warrenties on parts. The marketing models for that is almost 80% of people who buy these parts either sell the car, junk it, or loose the receipt when the part fails. Most times there is no differnce between the std part and the "lifetime" part. Also any part that is deisgned to wear (brakepads) are never lifetime parts. If they didnt wear they wouldnt work. nipper

unfortunitly thats the replacement freons. Its a very common complaint. Have the system checked, but i dont think there is much you can do about it. The industry is fully aware of this probelm and working on it. nipper

So you have fell for the marketing. Notice how they only state the highway mileage, and never say its on the highway (x car gets up to 32mpg..). No one quotes the city mileage. number anymore in advertising. New cars are New, that how. They are lighter, they are geared differntly, some of them highspeed is just barely off idle. If you want mileage that high, you have to make comproises. you wont find any 4wd car getting as high a mileage as subaru. Go to 2wd you drop a few 100 lbs of gear, and a few more 100 in the unibody since it doesnt have to be as strong.Also the smaller and lighter the car, the less likely its going to lst well into the 200,000 mile range. nipper

your close. In 1997 and 1/2 the internal housing was re designed. Aparently the seal would erode and allow pressure to bypass it and cause TB (was also told the hydraulic control valve seat would erode). There is the mechanical valve and the duty c solenoid. Having to goose the gas to get the car to move is more then a little torquebind. Remebr just because thats the only time its paparent to you, doesnt mean its not there the rest of the time. Damage is slowly being done all the time. nipper

Its rare that a differnetial just snaps (unless you have 500 hp). The failure mode for a differential is a roar, which varies with speed, and gets louder as you go faster. You have a mis matched axle, it almost sounds like you have the wrong axle/s in the car. That would result in what your hearing. Transmission failures are jumping out of gear, grinding, or loosing a gear. The VC failure would result in Torque bind. nipper

no put it in and drive the car on the ground. Floor it on a slick wet, or if it will spin tires on dry durface, do that. next put the fuse in and repeat. nipper

not necassarily. Put the FWD fuse in the holder, and see what the difference is nipper

lets go back to the very begining. WHy do you feel its not working

sigh, the dealer has no idea what hes doing SUbarus the front wheels are always connected to the driveline. The rear wheels are the controled wheels. Of course the front wheels will sopin if you raise the parking brake. The dealer was an idiot. He didnt do a damn thing. nipper

OUCH a year ago? Change the fluid. After a year i dont know if it is going to go away with a flush it is Torquebind that he has though. nipper

where is the parking brake on a 1990, front or rear? i dont know if you can pull awd function codes of this year anyone or do i have to go read manuals nipper

if ever there was a question that should have an autoreply nipper

you use the ohm meter to check the switch. Unplug the switch and see if you get an open or a short (open = no pressure short = pressure). If you test the switch while its plugged in and power is going to it, the meter MAY show it as a closed switch if you go across the terminals. Now if you go from terminla to ground one side should be hot, the other not (for no pressure). Depends how you use the meter. nipper

if there is no pressure in the system the compressor wont get power nipper

where in hell are you people getting these deals? nipper

get a SVX? nipper

the only differnce is aturb? thats the understatement of the year.. thats like saying the only differnce between a justy and a ferrari is few more cylinders. A turbo gets more air into the cylinder then a normally aspirated engine does. By doing this it raises the compression pressures. Knock is when you get auto ignition without the spark plug, due to high compression. This is a bad thing. Higher octane fuel can deal with higher combustion pressures without auto igniting. In a turbo, premium may be recmonded, but it is really mandatory. In a non turbo where premium is recomnded, you can experimnet to see if you can get away with it. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turbo.htm nipper

didnt you get the memeo, its Adanac and yout the 53rd state nipper