nipper

YAY its a hatcback Boo its going upscale, meaning expensive. i hope subaru doesnt loose its roots. nipper

GRRR Year Model Mileage engine and tranny check your idle air control motor or your mass air sensor. (is there a run on these things?). the car is fine because it is in open loop when cold. Its running off pre determined values. When the car warms up, it goes into closed loop, which is when its reading all the sensors. the IAC is a slave, meaning it takes commands from the ecu. the Air Sensor gives the ecu data to make decisons. Another possability is a bad vaccum line. (electronics not my strong point without knowing codes, im good at multiple codes) We really need to know the other info before we start telling you ideas. nipper

check the air mix door, that regulates temp nipper

drive in D3 and kill your gas mileage is the other option. On the highway the car is tuned (remember it is only a 4 cylinder). It has limited amount of power. the other option is to get a turbo. Also you have the auto not the manual. I went from the 2.2L to the 2.5 and was very happy with the response. You may be expecting too much from the car. nipper

dirty Idle Air Control Motor or air mass sensor? nipper

you have tranny issues. The duty c solenoid is stuck open, closed, shorted or open. The duty b solenoid operates the lock up torque converter. You have an issue that needs to be investigated sooner then later. nipper

Sheesh cant i even go to a BBQ The subaru automatic trany awd is a simple system with a complicated puter. The front and rear axles turn at differnt speeds on curve. SInce there is this speed, there has to be some way of allowing it to happen. In the manual its done with a differnetial and a viscous coupling. With the automayic there is a clutch pakc, almost like whats in the trany to shift gears. Normally slippage is bad for the clutch pack, but the awd pack is designed to allow for some slippage (20% speed differnce between front and rear. The duty c solenoid controls the amount of torque split (along with a spool valve), from 10/90 to 50/50. Torque bind ocures when the clutches get fried or the solenoid fails. ALso having mis matched tires or uinder inflated tires can cause this to happen too. Once the clurches are fried, weather or not the solenoid is good, you have torque bind. Torque bind can be determined in less then 30 seconds, so in 20 minutes they were thourough and prbbly took tranny pressure readings. Torque bind is when this slip no longer happens. It can make the car dangerous on curves on slick roads. You can feel the bind on tight turns at low speed when it first starts happening. Usually if it just started a tranny flush will fix it. If it is due to a solenoid failure or mis matched tires, nothing will help. I just had my awd system rebuilt for 875.00 at the dealer. My Solenoid went, that plus 185,000 miles, it was time. nipper

i think that 30,000 miles is really conservative. i dont know of anyone who does it before the first brake job, or the first 100,000 miles. Personally i think doing this exposes the brake fluid to far more moisture then just leaving it be untill the next brake job. Normally i am fairly supportive of service intervals, but this is a sealed system, rairly if ever exposed to air and moisture. If you have a leak thats one thing, but in a sealed system, let it go. For instance ford f150 trucks say nothing about flushing brake fluid ever. They use the same brake fluid as soobies. Other mfg say 2-4 years reguardless of mileage. the spec is all over the place, thats why i doubt that it is a real spec, more of a money maker. Also the only special equipment you need is a freind with a working foot. nipper

replace the second o2 sensor. you need to chase down the running rich before attacking the cat problem. The first o2 sensor, was that an Oe sensor or generic. that one has to be OE, the second one can be geric. Running rich you can burn up the cat. Also check to make suree the ECU temp sensor is reading right. Soobies dont run rich, its rare so something is wrong someplace. A cat wont make the car run rich, but running rich can kill a cat. When you say the o2 sensors are active, what are they reading? Also are you sure your software is truly calibrated properly (ie non ebay software). Even when the car is stone cold it doesnt run rich. Dont replace the cats yet, we need to chase this down nipper

well usually if the ecu tmep sensor is throwing a code, its bad (no gray in that area). I would replace that and see how the other reacts. It can be a cause and effect thing, not sure. nipper

SUbaru doesnt change much over the years. My 1990 manual says code 20 is everything is normal. Is it? nipper

and replace the crank seal, cam seals, and re seal the oil pump. Replace the water pump. Pay for those out of pocket and its not that bad. This way the car will be golden for the next 100K Make sure hes replacing the tensioner. nipper

now i think subaru seats are fine. Only way to tell is to go drive one. Maintanece they are fine, you can do everything yourself . www.cars101.com has all the info you need. nipper

except its an automatic and he doesnt have a center diff, he has a clutch pack. nipper

what he said, go fater the two huge ones firts. Car is running poorly since its in limp home mode. Find out why BOTH vss sensors failed, thats the #1 thing to look into. nipper

nope, thats only if your getting a thumping under the floor. nipper

my car was like that too, and i have brand new tires. Mine was also worse in reverse then forward, others it the other way around. It just depends upon how things are wearing inside the tranny. nipper

hrmm like 6 of the same post. Like i said before, the snsors are made for a single use. They are designed to destruct, thats how they activate the bag. The sensors need to be replaced, otherwise the wir bag system wont work. You can drive the car like that, just no more sliding into things. nipper

sounds like low coolant and a leaky o ring someplace. nipper

i have the entire history on a 1997 obw. Flush the fluid, as that should help alot. If it doesn't, you can do the fuse thing untill the solenoid burns out, then there is an 875.00 repair (dealer price) behind that. I am betting the flush solves the problem, assuming all the tires match and are inflated equally. If they arent then damage is being done. nipper

it should be fairly easy. Its a bulb. Imerse the bulb in cold and hot and see if the vave moves. You may even be able to see if the valve is clogged. I am used to valves on RR cars, so they were huge and easy to see. If the valve is stuck open, you will have equal pressures, if it is stuck closed, you will have extreem differnces in pressures nipper

If your going to replace the filter. you need to evacuate the ssytem. As long as your doiung that pull the valve (i looked it up its not horrible to do) clean and test it. nipper

nope thats just the gas tank. Fuel injection is at a higher pressurre then a carb. At least subaru uses only one fuel pump. nipper

i was just wondering about the source of the clog. Replacing that valve can be a PITA nipper

how does your compressor sound? nipper