nipper

The dealer is full of s**t . il'd almost like to see what he did for the orignal service that cost 900.00. It cost me 750 for a timing belt water pump all the seals, oil pump and a few other things. First rule of thumb, if you didnt complain about the problems they found to begin with, be very leary of any "new found problems" All subarus will leak with time. First thing i would do with the valve covers is just make sure they are tight. It only takes a little oil (like a drop) to make alot of smoke. Maybe somens car caught fir from an oil leak, but i serously doubt it. Also that price they gave you for the work you listed is a pure ripoff. If you are happy with firstone, i'ld stick with firestone and never ever return to that dealer. nipper

Fuse has no feedback to the ecu, nor to the transmission computer. The fwd light will be on anytime that circuit is energized. nipper

now do that at regular intervals and you will never have a problem with your tranny nippper

a scanner should tell you the outputs of the o2 sensors, but im not sure. You can also throw a multimeter on them and see what the reistance is. 02 sensors have a big part on MPG, especially once the car gets over 80K, they can start showing thier age. They can and usually do last longer, but its a good place to start. nipper

The fuse for AWD bypasses everything and energizes the solenoid directly. This deactivates the RWD. nipper

the rear wheel drive is DEACTIVATED. The fwd light on the dash is supposed to come on (unless its burned out). i bet the fuse is in there cause the car has torque bind. Look in the owners manual im sure it has a fwd light. nipper

you REALLY need to confirm which problem it is.. VSS is annoying... cooling fan function can equate to a over heated car, and a headgasket failure may not be that far behind. nipper

Just remeber how mailmen have to drive, repeatedly stop and go, so i dont think that will work for you. They may save gas from the initial iniertia of getting parts moving, but i seriously doubt that gain is true. You still have to move all the same parts. Only time you gain MPG in a 4wd vehical like that is if you can unlock the hubs and not srive the differnential and driveshaft. Alos compare your forester with real world gas milage on other SUVs. i rented a ford escape for 3 weeks, the best the thing did was 18mpg, the worst it did was 12. It was rated alot higher the that. If your going to drive around in 2wd, might as well sell it and get a 2wd car. nipper

driving hard on a cold day can bring along with it all sorts of broken suspension issues as stated earlier. There are other parts that need to warm up besides whats under the hood. Cold means the oil is thick and slow to pump and react to changes in demand. besides unless your ian emergency responder, waiting a few minutes isnt going to hurt anything .. unless its somone who just has to cut me off to get that one car length closer to thier destination. They can just go out and drive hard, and i hope thier car breaks nipper

or mice? nipper

From another thread ..... "The connector is just under the hood over the torque converter housing. There are two found in this area -its the one closest to the driver side. It is a 16 contact connector in a 4X4 configuration. To test solenoid C (AWD) electrically, place an ohmmeter between pins 4 and 11 on the connector half going to the transmission. Looking at the contact side of the connector and the locking tab facing up, the pin numbering will start 1 on the upper right corner going left and down. So 4 will be on the upper left corner and 11 will be the third row, second from the left. This should show 9-17 ohms if solenoid windings haven't burned or wire connection hasn't been severed. " so know we know where to poke around nipper

You know the more you mention things, the more trouble your going to cause *drool* paddle shifter where is said "guy" nipper

But eventually it piles up to be more then 2 feet of snow ..... nipper

cool so it only takes a few hours to R and R the solenoid? nipper

How many miles are on this car. Do you have any drivability issues When was the last time the car had a tuneup or a timing belt changed You can get a code reader off ebay and use that. They may scan for codes now when they do an emissions inspection, weather or not they use that information or not is up to the individual state. nipper nipper

get two .... might as well make sure they are replaced, instead of repeated trips to the junk yard for injectors.. nipper

Gee i would feel better if you had a roadworthy inspection. ild like to know the car coming up behind me at a red light has brakes. nipper

my 98 leagcy had 180 k on the origanal tranny before the car got totaled my OBW 97 has 182 K on the original tranny and its fine. Its not too often there is a post here about a bad tranny. Where do you get your information? nipper

well in 17 days its parked for 6 weeks .. if he wants to come and play. My driving is limited to 2 miles, and with the transit strike, hes prbbly alot closer to you then to me right now :-p nipper

The hydrocarbon test can miss a bad head gasket, but it never gives a false postitve. Besides you have bubbles in the radiator, so game over. I dont thnk anyone has ever gotten a vlave job at the same time as a head gasket unless they were burning oil. Yes to the water pump .. as long as hes there, otherwise its murphy's law. The dealer prices are high. nipper

Rear wiper, there is a relay buried behind the left rear panel that you have to hunt for. It may be dead. Rear Defroster, there is a relay on a panel under the dashboard on the left side panel. all i can tell is that is grouped tail light and main fan relay, somewhere near the fuse panel, or possibly on it. Also take a meter and check for continuity on both connectors of the grid. Its probably the relay or the switch nipper

SOMEONE LOAN THIS MAN AN AUTO SUBARU !!!!!!!!!!! nipper

Just one more, fan belts too nipper

oil in the radiator .... thats a headgasket. story over nipper

Damn at 228,000 miles, things wear out eventually. Thats a good long run on fuel injectors. Most other brands of cars dont even last that long. I would replace the other two injectors with whatever you feel comfortable with. Fuel injectors are like batteries, only a few places make them, even though they may have another name on them. Odds are your getting something that are OE supplier with another name on them. How much does subaru get for an injector (im afraid to ask). OE lasted 228K miles. How much longer do you thnk the car wil last, or hjow long you planning on keeping it. If its a substantial amount of time, may be better to go new then used. nipper