nipper

There is a driveshaft that comes out of the tranny. The driveshaft is made up of two half shafts, and go through a carrier bearing in the center of the car. I would check that carrier bearing, and the Universal joint. If it is the universal joint, post it here, and ill tell you waht to do next. What ever yo do dont call the dealer for a price quote on the part, as we cant pick you up off the floor when you faint nipper

Actually at 2500 thats a good price, even with a weak tranny. I dont know what a used tranny goes for, but if my mechanic was to say the car was ok, i would snap it up. IS the synchro the 2-3 synchro? You can learn how to double clutch, and also if it gets bad you can alwways skip that gear on the upshift untill you can get a tranny. i would take the car since you know all its warts and seem comfortable with it. Who knows that synchro can stay like that for another 30K. I bought my 97 for 3800 with a full letaher interior ... hehehe if you dont want it ill buy it nipper

tis ok .. hehe we are talking cars here and not trucks. YOu know doing one head is going to come back and bite you in the you know what. i would demand the dealer do what subaru suggested. The head gasket design weakness is in both head gaskets, not just the one side. A word of advice, cars are made to be driven. Somme cars are better at sitting around then others. Your not driving the car enough and the seal has dried out. To have a 98 with only 58K on it is good, but rubber seals will dry out. i wouldnt falt the car, i would fault the lack of use. I hope you are doing oil changes based on the calender and not the milage of the car, as that would help. Seal do need to be lubricated, and the way they get lubricated is to be driven. Low milage and low use can sometimes kill a car faster then high milage. Remeber subarus are designed to last to 400k based on at least 12k milage a year or more. Babying a car sometimes can be a bad thing. i think you need to drive the cars more. nipper nipper

er um ... im not sure that is totally right. Drive 3 is to lock out 4th gear and the lockup torque converter. D3 is 1-2-3 upshifts, always has been. D1 is first gear only. D2 is second gear only. This applies only to subarus, not to other cars, as some of them can be odd ( i remeber a GM product being a 1-2 upshift only in d2 .. odd). Read your owners manual it will tell you. nipper

The primary circuit is the low voltage side of the ignition. the secondary circuit is the high side. http://abbysenior.com/mechanics/ignition.htm start off there nipper

just hot wire the starter using a jumper cable mypassing all the wiring and see if it cranks. Also wouldnt hurt to check all your cables to make sure they are clean and tight. You can als jump from the negative on the battery to a nice good spot on the engine and see if it starts. ONe way would dell you if its a hot side problem, the other a ground cable that you forgot. nipper

Have you checked the brake booster yet? Next time you have to drain off fluid, first disconnect the booster and see if that is applying the bearkes. Next try to drain the fluid at the master cylinder. It is possible that you got a bad mastercylinder. nipper

Sounds like maybe a short someplace in the primary circuit. i cant tell from your post what car this is, but thats where i would look first. nipper

er um it sounds like the unspeakable evil which we know it is nipper

on my OBW in very hilly roads at highway speeds i use d3 to keep the car in the power band and to reduce the tranny hunting for the right gear. Drive down steep hills, or up steep hills and you wil discover the wonders of engine braking or manual control using the manual gears. ALso starting off in d2 in snow or ice conditions you will never (hopefully) have wheel slip and get stuck. nipper

yes i have and on many cars. Whne you get a est of wires, it comes with (or should) a little thing of wire lubricant. It really makes a diference. nipper

Ok what year is your subaru and engine size. We cant help you if you dont give us that info. Also a radiator is an easy do it yourself job, and there are lots of places to buy radiators besides the dealer, i use www.raditor.com myself. nipper

I agree with the dealer, replace both and be done with it. Once its fixed its fixed. Now as far as depndability, im sorry but thats hogwash. I dare you to find any other car besides volvo that has so many models on the road after 200K miles or more. Look at the older generation of subarus and you will find quite a few from the 80's still on the road. Most cars fall apart at 140K, and I mean things like switch gear, interior parts, seats, the parts you touch every day. I can point to countless other car mfgs with recalls that would blow your mind. Subarus are great dependable cars, and no machne is 100% perfect. Your getting a great deal, so enjoy it. nipper

I'm impressed with how clean it is for being done in the car. Very healthy cylinder walls. Car will run for another 300K with ease. nipper

i always used a national chain and never had an issue. Its nice when they come to you and you loose no time. nipper

I would think that it is far easier to pull the trannny then the engine. Also from what ive read and heard, well on newer soobies, they really dont like having the flywheels turned, as the flywheels are light and think already, you just replace it. It will save you alot of issues later on. nipper

Well it sounds like you have a frozen brake caliper. The slider is dirty or rusted solid. You need to take the slder apart and clean it then lubricate it. If it is too far gone it will need to be replaced. (thats if i read the post right). nipper

well the bouncy spedo affects the odometer. I do belevie thie is an electronic sped, so it can either be the spedo head, the board behind the head, or the speed sensor. Winter fuel will reduce the mpg, and i think there is still alot of crap gas out there as per the EPA edict ... which if im correct should be ending soon. If the car has over 100K on it do the o2 sensor as it probalably needs it anyway, and has the biggest influance on mpg over anything else. Why did you get the injectors cleaned in the first place? nipper

Wont insurance cover this. I have always used a major chain that comes to me. nipper

I think the general feeling is NGK or nippendenso for plugs, and OE for wires, though for wires i have used Blus Streak (Standard auto parts top of the line). myself without issues. Dont use anything cheaper. Keep away from store brand or echlin wires. i used to test them in labs. nipper

The fuel tanks are split in two equal parts. Each 1/2 has its own sending unit. The fuel pump is on the passenger side of the car. The tank empties driver side first via siphoning, then the passenger side. A common problem is that the fuel sender, which is an open rheostat (best way to describe it) gest gummed up. The fule laamp swithc is a stand alone level switch that is always at a fixed level (yes ive analyzed this and taken it apart and STILL can't get mne to work right ). The senders are easily accessable under the floor. I suspect the passenger side one goes bad, dont know why. Since i cant drive far im not bothering with it right now. In the city i get 19-22 mpg, havent been on the highway yet for a long enough run to see what i get. nipper

This may be the only Car where its cool to own the wagon nipper

im not sure, but look all around the fascia for hidden screws .... there may be more. nipper

Somone else can answer here, as i dont know if the trannies have date codes or not. I would make sure the fluid isnt burnt. I am not sure what to do about checking it once its out of the car. I would think the tranny shop would know how to inspect the clutchpack, it may be a little more work for them, but they should be able to do it to make sure it doesnt happen again. I am sure the tranny shop is going to be as upset as you are about it. nipper

Was the transmission flushed or the fluid changed. HUGE differnence. If it was not flushed, then that can still be your problem. Actually its sort of rare to have TB in a 99 model. After 97 1/2 they changed the design to cure the duty c valve seat erosion and i think bearing failure. It sounds like you got a tranny from a model that had mismatched tires, and thats the fastest way to kill the clutch pack on ANY awd car, not just soobies. Hope there is some sort of warrenty on the tranny. nipper