nipper

i am looking for the part number for the multiple accessory outlet that goes in the blank for the ashtray (97obw). Everytime i didnt want it i would trip over it, now i want it i cant find it. nipper

82,000 miles and 900.00 thats not bad. Its not fair to critisize the car. You dont say what year it is, but it may have been due for everything anyway (with the exception of the radiator). It just sounds like a typical heavy maintanece, which is timing belt, drive belts, water pump, cam and main seal, t-stat. Il would say thats about right. Make SURE they do the cam, oil pump and main seal. nipper

Are your cooling fans coming on? Alos next time it happens turn on the ac, this forces the fans on and see what happenes. When you have a bad HG you usually dont have heat, you may still have an air bubble in the system or cooling fans, or even a clogged radiator, the car is old enough. the top and bottom hoses should be the close to the same temp if the top os colder then the bottom you have a restricted radiator. nipper nipper

DO the tests as posted just to confrim it. nipper but i thnk that is the porblem

There you go, i do beleive its telling you the duty c solenoid has failed for some reason. If that solenoid fails, you get 50/50 split all the time. The solenoid has to be energized to regulator/dump pressure from the AWD clutch pack. nipper

One VSS seinsor is in the tranny, in pre 95's the other is in the spedo head, 95 and older its in the rear of the tranny. Now i dont know if there is a differnece between signal pulses of a pre 95 and post 95. I dont think there is. If you loose a VSS for any reason, the AWD will not activate, and you will have FWD only, and some light on the dash throwing a hissey fit. Maybe this will help http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru_manual_scans/FSM_Scans/ nipper

That will just give us more information on possible causes. It is starting to sound like you may of had an airbubble in the cooling system and it cleared itself up. This is a common thing to happen after having the cooling system drained. nipper

Talk about a long shot. i never would have guessed that one. i am trying to visualize it. Always learn something new. nipper

OK so you had the coolant replaced. Lets start with the simple one first. Replace the radiator cap (its probably tired). you can get that at any autoparts store. Sonce the car was serviced i am going to bet on the "marketing ability" of the mechanic. If you needed hoses he would have told you. Next time (if) the car gets real hot again, turn the heat on full blast, and see if your getting hot or cold air. So did the overheat happen before or after all the work was done, and if after how long after? nipper

Sorry about not seeing some of those. Here is another question. Did the spedo cable fit into the same place as the original vss sensor? i'm curious about that one. nipper

I think you are going to hear Original Equipment plugs, which i think is NGK nipper

first thing first, i am assuming all the tires match and are inflated the same. When you put the awd fuse in does the prblem go away. Next make sure all the wires to the tranny or good, none are brken, and there is continuity across all plugs. If it doesnt go away i would look at everything going to the transmission. I am showing two differnt kind of connectors, one for an "early model" (pre 95) and one for after. One is a box, one is rectangle. If you adapted one to the other check the wiring, could be the car thinks its in low electrically. Manual gear selection is mechanical not electrical. gear selector switch is for the benefit of the computers and the neutral saftey switch (i think). Are the reverse lights on at anytime in a drive gear? The system basically uses 2 vss sensors, a wot switch, the gear selector, and the duty c solenoid. Were both trannies equiped with cable driven speedos? Can you get a hold of the TCU from the doaner car? Just for the hell of it, jack up one rear wheel of the car (car in neutral brake off wheel chocked) and see if you can turn the wheel. If not jack up both sides, the wheels should turn in opposit directions. What were the original symptons. i am concerned to it showing up on minor turns. this means the car is either locked in 50/50 split (no power to the duty solenoid) or a bad differential (very rare if its not lsd). Sooby regulates the awd up to 20% speed differnce between front and rear axles, then it will start manipualting the AWD. This is done to allow for speed differnce on turns. It sounds like you dont even have that. Other times the car is in 50/50 split, WOT, and when the car is in low. As i type this out i think you have wires crossed someplace. nipper

how long has it been xince the cooling system has been serviced. t-stat,flush, new coolant, upper and lower hoses, and cap? nipper

Headgaskets were in only about 15% of the cars. Anycar with over 100K can have a HG failure. Automatics are very robust, and ther AWD is more sophistcated and forgiving then the AWD in the manual tranny. Check the tranny fluid for discolortaion or burnt smell. Manuals try to start the car off from a dead stop in 3 or 4th, the car should stall. if it doesnt its a sign of a clutch problem. Take the car out in the parking lot and do tight figure 8's and make sure there is no torque bind. Make sure all 4 tires match. Look at the bottom of the engine for signs of leaks. If the car has seat heaters, turn them on and wait about 5-10 minutes. Make sure the seat bottoms and backs both heat up. Otherwise just make sure everything works. Take a freind to be a pair of eyes and ears that are not interested in the car and let him give you an honest opinion. nipper

AWD isnt just for snow, or for rain. Its great for manuvering too, especially making left hand turns. The car just pulls right through it, where other cars would squeel tires or spin a tire. There are lots of sooby dealers in NJ, and all it takes is one snow storm getting stuck in a 2wd car to wish you had AWD. Also some mechanics may find toyota of honda AWD systems a bit intimidating, where as both sooby systems are straight forward. nipper

yes only one heat range at a time, especially if the pinging seems to be affected by air temperiture. That means its very subtle. nipper

i think he got the 30 by coonnecting the diagnostic connector then checking the timing, which will give you weird readings. nipper

what he said nipper

that would place him 30 degrees off (150 + 30 = 180) It is a waste spark ignition, just like you said. Two wires fire at the same time on the same coil. nipper

now let me enjoy the meds .... the pretty colors, sweet dreams of 50mpg sooby hybrid deisels .... and world peace Dilaudid anyone? and thanks for the giggle i needed it today, tough week and its only wensday. nipper

In 1996, i seriously doubted anyone did. In my owners manual for my 97 it says nothing about synthetic vs dead dino's, but the mileage interval suggests dead dinos. Besides, how many people actually change thier differntial oil, let alone know what a differential is. We are just weird by doing it nipper

:-p nipper

i tripped over this on a mailing list i am on http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/forums/showthread.php?t=4433 nipper

I have no idea, but when i google it, i gets lots of scary information about the stuff. nipper

Neutral saftey switch, i think subaru calls it an inhibitor. nipper