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So it turns out I was looking at the wrong dipstick. In my defense it was dark and cold. I realized this today right when I opened the hood. Still, there is this issue with the vibration. Any tips on that would be appreciated. I've done plugs and wires and checked the coil pack. At only 80k miles it should have plenty of compression. The vibration is quite noticeable when the a/c compressor kicks in.

I notice that too, and just turn the filter so the dirty side is at the other end.

So my mother has a 96 2.2 impreza. I noticed it was vibrating at idle as if there was a misfire. There was a CEL (#1 misfire) a few weeks ago and she took it to a mechanic and they seemed to resolve the code. I checked the coil pack, replaced the plugs which were pretty worn, and replaced the wires after ripping one of the contacts out :-\. While the idle seemed smoother the vibration was still there. Seems to be more noticeable when the car has totally warmed up. So when I get back I check the transmission fluid and hear this crazy noise coming out of the dipstick hole I have no idea what it could be. It's like a rattly gurgly noise and I don't like it. I'm going to have her get it flushed and hopefully it will go away or at least mitigate the underlying issue. The noise is inaudible when the dipstick is in. It's driving alright and runs well otherwise. What could this be?

One day I started my car and it sputtered to a start, just barely loping along. It drove fine afterwards, but I noticed a lot of white smoke from the back, presumably extra fuel. It smelled really gassy. I got to a schucks later and read the ecu ccode for a bad coolant temp sensor, replaced it and all was well. That was months ago, and today it did the same thing. It does this just in the few seconds when it's firing up. It seems to run fine afterwards. So now I'm wondering what sensors controlled the air/fuel mixture on a cold start? I think it may have slight head gasket leak, as I have to fill the coolant reserve every year or so.

I did take out well over 4 quarts, but I had myself put in well over 4 quarts previously, again, possibly due to the funky dipstick. My contentions are: It shifts late with more that 4 quarts in there. It shifts harder with more than 4 quarts in there. The manual says about 4 quarts after filter change. The dipstick gives erratic measurements, after the clogged filter change. At idle there was a lot of vibration, when I had 4 quarts in there the idle was nice and smooth. I have been living with this rough idle and hard shifts for some time, so suddenly when they go away after I put in 4 quarts, and return when I add about 2 more quarts I'm lead to believe the dipstick is wrong.

It shifted almost perfectly right after I added only 4 quarts. But the dipstick had no fluid on it. Now that there are 5+ quarts in there it shifts kinda hard and late, like it did before I checked the filter when I had too much fluid in there. The last time I checked it, it was parked on a flat surface and the engine was cold. Didn't shift through any gears, just when cold. I did check it hot once after driving it around, and it was still not even showing up on the dipstick. After adding 5+ quarts I know I should be seeing at least SOMETHING on the dipstick.

So the haynes manuals says you will get about 4 quarts of fluid out in a filter change, yet I check the level using the dipstick when it's cold and it doesn't even reach the low mark. I've put in over 5 quarts, and have taken out more fluid than I put in during the change. It drove and shifted nicely when it only had 4 quarts in there after I did the change. I know the total capacity is 8.8 quarts, but it's shifting hard and late with what I have in there. I'd like to take a quart out, because then it would shift nicely. I think the dipstick is wrong, what should I do? This tranny had a clogged filter a few years ago. I apparently put in too much fluid after I fixed that, and it would shift late, hard, and the dipstick wouldn't tell you the right level...

I notice pulling the shifter out of P is harder when i'm on an incline. Is that normal? There also seems to be some very slight noise associated with being in P on a hill, as if the tranny wasn't fully disengaged. Can't tell if the noise is the engine or tranny or just my imagination though.

20MPG sucks. That doesn't make sense on the highway. Maybe you need a tune up or something... Check tires... O2 sensor.. I don't know, look at me.

what?? I have a sedan though. the light comes on after ~11g and the dial goes past E after that. OMG-http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/spec_engines.aspx?modelid=2629&trimid=-1&src=VIP&tab=2&sub=1 I had no idea... 15.9 gallons??? I'm getting horrible mileage. 18 MPG city. I probably should have looked it up before taking it up with the gas station attendant.

I gassed up yesterday. $37. 15 gallons. How big is the gas tank in a 96 2.2l subaru legacy L sedan?

Start the engine cold and with the radiator cap off add coolant. Bubbles should come out that way.

are the CV joints bad to do? Mine seems to be clicking. I've never done CVs before, I'm guessing it will suck in an AWD subaru.

Thanks for the great tips. Wish the weather was good enough to do stuff outside. Yesterday it snowed.

Holy cow. there's another tranny filter??? Because if the other one was clogged to the point that the car wasn't driveable... I have the haynes for it and I don't think I saw any mention of the other filter. I'll have to look at the throttle cable what with the cold weather. I've fixed the check engine light, it was the coolant temp sensor. I tried a computer scanner from schucks and it wouldn't give me info on the O2 sensor. I know that the square nut is for changing shift behavior-that's why I mentioned it. I asked a few people at schucks and they said it'd be one thing to consider. Isn't the TPS just a simple mechanical variable switch? I'll look at it but I doubt it's bad, I know on my nissan the adjustment can be off and it's easy to fix, but the unit doesn't ever fail.