nipper

go on the net and see if you can get the owners manual for the alarm. SOme alarms do it via dip switches, some do it via extra relays. nipper

i've been seeing a possible pattern of timing belt tenisioners going bad, but admitedly its was 5 posts on differnt sites, all taken care of under warrenty. Just something to be aware of. Be interesting to see if it is "fix once" or an ongoing issue. i personally like the 6cyl nipper

Its a fan belt, more likely the p/s belt .i dont recall if AC comes on in the first 5 seconds when you start the car to lubricate everything, some do, so it can be that belt too. Since we have no idea of mileage on the car , i would recomend chaniging the belts. You can tighten them, but do it per the owners manuals specs. Not to pick on you, but ive been curious of late, seems more and more strange noises threads under the hood, yet no one seems to open the hood to try to determine where the noise is coming from. nipper

lots of miles ... with that extra info im going to say the solenoid failed or the valve is stuck. At that mileage may pay to replace the tranny with a used one then to take it apart replace the solenoid and just have it fail someplace else. What does the fluid look like in the tranny? nipper

does say something interesting about the transfer clutch pressure testing and throttle postions, which tells me the cycle is variable from 10% to 50% nipper

maybe a bunch of angry squrrels? Could be the ABS going through a self test. Easy way to find out is pop the hood and have somone else turn the key and listen nipper

first thing first, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr do we get to guess how many miles are on the car? Secondly what are the problems your having? we need details nipper

Thats where the oscilliscope would come in. One person will have to be the guimmy pig. Since we dont know how it owrks now, thats what we would have tofind out first. ice/snow/wet leaves on the front wheel, wet road ... read the scope and see what it does, then fiddle with it. First we need a baseline. nipper

this is one of the coolest threads in a while. its amazing what we can do when we brain storm nipper

could be a heat sheild, is it a tinny buzzy noise? nipper

i was always under the impression that it varies from 10/90 through to 50/50 depending upon the condisitons. Remeber awd is on even on dru ground, or rain slicked roads, so you wont be able to tell in those conditions. Would be cool to hook up a scope to it adn see ehat it does in the rain and other conditions. nipper

Subaru wheel bearings are heavy duty, they rumble , if you hear squeeling, its time for a tow truck. nipper

i did not know you could do this. so headlights from a 99 will fit my 97 OBW? Is there a big differnce in light pattern? and up to what year can you swap? nipper

This is not typical. Try slowing down with the car in neutral and see if the noise disapears. I'm thinking you may have a tranny issue, but not sure.IS the tranny fluid full and not burnt? nipper

You have a oil leak of some kind, either engine oil or power steering fluid. The desighn of the exhaust system is real good at getting oil on it. Yo dont say how many miles are on the car, and weather you are due for a timing belt change or not. It is most likely your cam seals, or main seal, or oil pump seals . Every subaru does this eventually. nipper

Did you check the center universal joint and carrier bearing for the driveshaft? If not check it then let us know.. i can give you advice on how to fix it. a raor at 40mph is usually tire realted or wind related. Also take a look at the electric cooling fans, are all the blades there. Turn on the ac and se if the fans come on, and do they look like they are in balance. Look for any loose body cladding or plastic wheelwell liners. Look under the hood and make sure the air intake system is all in one peice Is this a sedan ? Lets tell you what it is not Differentials, they would get louder with speed Tire wear since you said you replaced them (that was going to be my first guess) Transmission, same as differential. nipper

thats the ONE time i would stay home. In packed snow the snow tends to cushion thechains, and keeps them from self destructing. i think the only thing that really works with any durability in ice is studded snow tires. i could be wrong. Freezing rain/ice storm is the ony weather conditions i choose to stay home, anything else bring it on. Just beacuse you have 100% traction on ice doesnt mean they 30 cars about to hit do... nipper

i dont know about price vs milage, but they tend to run forever. You are in the years of 10-15% head gasket failure rate (i thnk). if the price compares with other subarus in your area, go for it, take 1500, put it in the bank as an insurance policy against headgasket failure, and your good to go. i have a 97 obw with 182, 000 on it well mainatined i paid 3800 for it (stole it off ebay) all original well maintaned single owner runs like a top. nipper

replace the temp switch that turns on the fans . Its a reeasonable to come up with. Your over thinking the problem. Also i would have the charging system checked again using one of those big metal boxes (battery load test) with the jumper cables. That will test the battery/starter/altenator. AT idle an altnator wont put out much power, if any, you have to rev the engine a bit to have it make power. If you notice in really heavy traffic on a summer day (read road closed traffic not moving for hrs) cars , newer cars with popped hoods. This is because they sat there ideling for hours never reving the engine every so often tocharge the battery. With all the gizmos in the new cars, they ran down the batteries. This is rare but ti takes a long time to do. Usually thses are higher end vehicals with all the widgets. nipper

thats not a hose thats an electrical cable, its for the ABS sensors nipper

You just answered your own question. Take the car back to them and tell them you want the system cheked for leas and bled, on thier dime. nipper

They all seem to say that the subaru is much easier to live with then the evo, so the subaru usually wins....unless its purely by numbers, then the evo wins. nipper

er um guess what i just found on the top shelf of my closet Digital Logic Circuits and Basic Semiconductor Circuits ... doesnt mean i understand it any better. I'm as AS in Automtive Engeneeirng Technology .... we never looked into playing with the electronics.... thats why we kept nerds around nipper

the other part of warming up, especially if it is bitter cold, is to drive gently for the first mile to let the suspension parts warm up by flexing, otherwise you can break something. nipper

sure ...be a show off with your fancy dual zone climate control .... while us peasants have to deal with one zone heheheehehe nipper