nipper

Well from what ive seen you dont cut the flywheels on Subarus, you replace them. I agree the next one is probably a cat issue. Turn signals, did you look at the slow side? maybe the slow side has a light out. or the fast side actually has a bad bulb or pigtail and you dont realize it. remove and install the bulbs and see what happens. i could recomend a few mechanics in trenton area but that wont help you. nipper

It could be as simple as the bulb is burned out. in 97 1/2 they redsigned the trany, and all the replacement assemblies have the fix also. A bad tcm may cause it to happen, but you would be getting transmission trouble codes from the tranny temp light. Take a volt meter to the fuse holder with the car running and see if there is power on one side of it. If there is it may be that the light is out, or it may be that your unit is farther down the road of damage them mine. Do you notice a diffenrce in behavior with the fuse in it? nipper

only if it is a really cool red button that glows .... hehehe DONT RESS THE RED BUTTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nipper

Well i can also be from taking very short trips an not letting the car warm up. If that is the case you have to switch to hotter spark plugs and a differnt oil, prbbly synthetic. nipper

I am voting for a seized or frozen cv joint. If past expeirience dictates anything, the problem may show what it is before this thread gets cold (as the cv joint strips). nipper

On some rotors it doesnt pay to turn them. in order to reduce unsprung weight and inertia, they tend to make them fairly light and thin. Also the more you turn them, the more likely you are to warp them again. If it happens again, I would go with upgraded aftermarket discs. nipper

Tie rod end ..... jack up car grab tire in the middle and shake. Watch the tie rod end there should be no play. Ball joint... jack up car using a 2x4 or pipe under the tire, pry up on the tire, watch the ball joint. There should be no play. Also pull the tire out from the bottom, again no play. If you need to replace tie rod ends, by new. they are not that expensive and your life may depend upon it. Same thing with ball joints. Rule of thumb anything with a busted boot of unknown duration you replace the joint while its convient to you, not when the car dictates it. nipper

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43737&highlight=tire+size The offical recomnedation from subaru nipper

SInce the pattern depends upon heat, I would recomend replacing both battery cables and claneing the electrical contact points. This wont break the bank (they are inexpensive), but this is a classic sign of a weak cable. Heat makes reistance go up in the cable. The resistance in a cable goes up with age. They do get tired with age. Then i would investigate the starter switch. nipper

There are a few ways to make differnt compression ratios. One way is the changing the swept volume using the piston stroke (shorter vs clonger connecting rods). Another is by milling the deck height of the cylinders, the third is by milling the the cylynder head decks. I dont know how which one subaru uses. TUrbo heads do breath a bit better then normal heads.

I think its alot easier just to swap the trannies. On the good news front. My car was doing the saem thing at low speed turns. I figured I would bite the bullit and take a chance on the trany fluid flush. While I was at said oil change place, I had them service the diffferntials too. Well After a 2 mile drive back home, the torque bind is gone . The transmission's hard 1-2 shift is gone too. The tranny fluid was dirty but not burnt. The front diff fluid was filthy, and the rear was fine. So hopefully for 170.00 i saved a huge repair. I still have a back injury so I was forced to pay somone to do it. With 180K on the tranny, you will all be the first to know if the tranny goes poof:banghead: . nipper

anything is possible, but it will handle like a dog. nipper

hehehe when it comes to a 1000.00 repair i remember these things. Its also on a TSB someplace. The valve seat is aluminum. I think what happens (and im guessing from working with hydraulic airplane parts) is that the valve gets some gum on the seat so it doesnt fully seal (hence why flushing sometimes works). After a while the force of the hot tranny fluid starts eroding the seat and or the seal so it no longer seals. I am not sure of the actual construction of the c duty solenoid seat, so its just a guess. The Stainless steel seat resolves this issue as not being an easy place for the gum to stick too. The issue seesm to disapear after 98. They actually fixed it 1/2 way through 97, but its much safer just to say it was 98. nipper

You lost a vacume line. The doors are driven by vaccume and what you are seeing is the default position. This is an easy fix. nippper

I would take it to a shop and have it profesionally cleand, as im am sure you will have junk in the fuel lines too. I know around here radiator shops als do fuel tank cleaning ... nipper

OK go back and search the site for torque bind. The posts will explain the problem, as im not going to rewrite it here . The tranny does not come out for the clutch pack to be replaced. I have a written estimate here on my desk for 987.00 (in NY) to replace the clutch pack/awd unit its a few hours labor and the rest is the part. The estimate is a week old. I am not making this up when i say i am in the same boat as you. Yes timing belt going bad on a 2.5 is not a good thing.

ooo you have tcs? hehe im not crazy about TCS, gives a false sense of security on bad roads, next thing you know you have all 4 wheels pointing in the wrong direction (cars should not get belly rubs). A subaru is slightly underpowered and has great traction so the TCS may never really come unless your on ice. The problem is the vlace seat for the duty solenoid inside the transmission is not made with steel, it is aluminum. You have a fairly agresive problem, where the clutch plates may be fried too. The std first level suggestion is to have the tranny flushed and see if that clears it up. Since you have front tire wear, im suspecting that you may be beyond this point. The repair is that the y can replace the clutchpack, with a new designed valve seat so you never have that issue again. The repair from what ive seen is 800-1000.00, and its done. Why not replace the entire transmission? Good question. I am balancing that myself righ now. I am going to guess a rebuilt sooby tranny at 2000.00 ( I may be very off on this, check around). I have the feeling that you might have to look at this since its affecting the front wheels, usually its mostly the rear wheels when it first starts. They corrected the problem in 98, so it may be possible to get a used tranny from a 98 and be done with it. Again thats what im thiking of. I have 180K on mine and am nervous about a fluid change, but winter is coming and i need the AWD. nipper

They are not aproved by the DOT (fed govt). Some states are more strict on non aproved hardware then others are. They are also slowly changing the laws so that its no longer an equipment violation, but pts on your license. nipper

Yes do share the logic behind that one to me too. I usually just tel people if its more then 5 years old and they have an odd problem spedn the 5.00 and replace the cap. The only real way i know of is to pressure check the cap. nipper

two words Torque bind Research the subject here lots and lots of threads on it. Install a fuse in the FWD fuse holder under the hood on the pass side near the windsheild wiper motor and it should go away. The front tire wear is from the tirres scrubbing due to teh AWD being locked up. nipper

hyper correcting? nipper

This is not a good thing. Best thing to do is avoid parking anywhere you need to back out. The high reving is sliiping and doing damage to the reverse clutch. Luckily it sounds like its the reverse clutch (band, as oppsoed to the second gear clutch pack, which is the other part of reverse). Maybe do a tranny fluid change, but i dont think it will help.. nipper

Brakes are SO easy to do on a subaru. DO it yourself and invest the money is upgraded brakes nipper

You will not have a head gasket issue at that point, wel within reason. Headgaskets can go at anytime on any car, but more likely as the mialge gets up there, especially if you are not religous on changing antifreeze every 2 years. You shouild have no problems .. heh just get in and drive it nipper

This is one of those time vs cost things. Get a price from a shop for the repair. The axle can be had from 79.00-99.00 rebuilt (get a price from subaru to). It not terrible hard if you have the space and time. What may take a shop an hour to do may take you a few if you never done it before and nothing cooperates. nipper