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I had one for about a week in Portland as a rental. It was a pretty good driving car with not much abnormal about it. The only thing about the sport shift, the worst problem was me actually. I seemed to klutz it into sport mode and be surprised when it did not shift itself. I'm sure it would be easy to get used to, try a rental for a week if they have them there and you will know if it works for you.

I only kept the last one 17 years. I'm just a member of a consumer society.

Sometimes there is a joint before the rack that can give play.

have a friend take up the play while you watch it.

No sense rushing anything Gnu.

That's a real plus to me. If my Forester does not outlive me I wanted another Subaru without the goofy grille. if it keeps running the way it does I should be ready to trade within 10 years.

After the local Subaru dealer replaced my clutch and failed to do the pilot bearing (requiering engine removal the next year) I have never been back to the dealer. It really depends on who does the job as my BMW dealer was excellent for the four years of warranty work. It should not be necessary for you to have a car that runs worse after major work.

TC when I used to be a truck mechanic with the junior guys changing the oil once a month or so I used to see this a lot. As the shop manager it was my job to fix whatever somebody else screwed up. After I designed and made that tool it would take me 10 minutes to fix one of those, much easier than changing oil pans. Since I discovered the Fumoto this has all been much easier. I don't have a problem myself anyway but this is much easier. On my BMW it is about a grand if you strip the pan so why take a chance? Since you and Frag do your own work I'm not surprised you use a Fumoto.

Like most cars wheel bearing failure is common. I think on the rear of the Imprezza series a bit more as they used ball bearings. The hot ticket is to use the Legacy rear for replacement there. This is a bit more complicated than a Chevy front. You might do a search here as this has been mentioned many times. You either need a puller or bearing buddy as they have been called or to pull off the hub and have it pressed out and in by a machine shop.

Sounds much like the old British Waxoyle I it think it was called. The british swore by it.

If you do have to remove it yourself one way is to drill a hole in the center of the plug (not all the way through). Then you tap it for a bolt and use a good hard one. Then cut a section off two inch pipe short enough to allow room for a nut and large body washer. If you notch the pipe to take a box wrench that fit the drain plug you have built a drain plug puller. You tighten the nut on the bolt as you tun the wrench on the drain plug. After you have it out you use an oversize self threading plug.

that seperator plate may be a good idea and if you went in that far do the rear seal.

I don't have a duty soleniod and I've never taken one apart but I have heard from some folks that they run with the fuse in. I have to wonder if whether it works for an extended period with a fuse is it due to condition of the solenoid or quality? Some folks duty solenoids seem to burn out just from regular use. Maybe its like sensors, you can get a good one that lasts forever or a poor one that fails.

Wth synthetic oil it seems all you get is extended OCIs and more resistance to high temps. My BMW came with it as do Corvettes, an article I read years ago said they were able to avoid the need for an oil cooler by going synthetic. Since BMW gives you free maintence they love the extended OCIs. In fact if oil is a given weight whether synthetic or dino it is going to flow about the same. I have been using alloy castings for about 40 years and I have yet to see one soak up oil. I'm sure there are some poor quality castings out there but not likely in a modern engine by a major auto maker. But some of you guys know much more about oil than I do so we'll see what you say.

I understand that the hills of Kentucky can generate some strange tales. This has to be one of them. I suggest you contact Mythbusters with this one. I guess now my engine must be much heavier due to all the oil that has soaked into the aluminum. Also please post this on Bobisthe oil guy as I'm sure they will enjoy it.

The ones I've seen had such low mileage there was not much else you needed to replace.

Dang, I see you are in Colorado. I was thinking we could swap a couple parts off mine to see if we could locate the problem. I guess that's not an option.

Check Whiteline to see if they have one. The outbacks are famous for breaking them.

I suggest you guys go to the Stoptech website and read the brake white papers. Those guys are excellent and it may help. you.

And my 99 also threw that code at about the same mileage. New front ox sensor also solved it. About $60 and ten minutes to install.

Struts are usually pretty well gone by about 80,000 miles. They may still be good for trundling to the store but they are past thier sell by date for performance use. Where you would really notice it is on a dirt road at speed when wheel control is critical. A set of stuts is a few hundred dollars well spent and will make a bigger change to the handling than anything you can do on a dirt road. Tires are the next biggest change but unless they stay connected to the road they are fairly useless. A recent article in Grassroots Motorsports indicates that there is little to be gained from going to a larger wheel. If you were going to add brakes that you need the size for this would help. If you can come by Grassrots Motorsports check out the articles and see how to tune your car.

It really depends on what you want to do with the car. Outback struts and springs will raise it and make the handling worse. The swaybars might help bring it back. On a 95 if the struts are stock they would be wasted by now. If you want a good handling street car go with new KYB Gr2s which I am told are 15% stiffer than stock. A rear swaybay of decent diameter would help as well as stickier tires. If you go off road go for Outback struts. On my 99 Forester I got a set of the GR2s on advice from this board and installed an Ebay WRX rear swaybar. The car is now nicely balanced and drifts evenly.

Some folks test with a cooling agent.

I've always kind of wondered what tends to zap these things. A few times now I've heard fo somebody losing multiple sensors and I sort of wonder if it caomes from a high voltage event. Jumping the car, a bad alternator, or a lightnig stirke would probably do it.

But if it's not free I think my front sensor was about $60 and it is not that hard to change. My first move would be to change it because it is a consumeable and and a 2000 model should be about done anyway.