heartless

most likely one or more of the sensors are bad or damaged if airing the tires to spec does not correct the issue. Not really sure how that system works, tbh, so how to fix? i dunno

22mm socket is easy to obtain.. can pick one of those up pretty much anywhere... I had a problem with that bolt on my old 89 GL many years ago.. it came loose while we were far from home on vacation... I bought a "cheap" Stanley socket set at walmart that had both SAE and Metric in one kit - best $25-30 i ever spent - and it had a large enough socket in the kit. the hardest part about this is locking the engine from rotation.. and even that is not that difficult with a large, heavy duty screwdriver in the flywheel inspection port - passenger side, at the junction of the motor & trans bellhousing. Remove the plug (if it is still there) and rotate the engine until you find a spot to shove the screwdriver in.. Make sure it is solidly placed - or have a helper hold it in place while you torque the bolt.. As already mentioned, you are not going to hurt that bolt, or the end of the crank it goes into.. Reef on that sucker.. use a length of pipe over the ratchet handle for more leverage - you run a greater risk of breaking a cheap ratchet over hurting the bolt/crank, LOL

wow, yeah, that would definitely explain the burning smell... just glad it was not any worse! glad you found it and sorted things out

gonna state the obvious here, but start with the bulbs themselves, and the connector at the housing. work back from there

would have to agree - even a higher 4 digit car... a $1500 car, probably not - would go with one of the free services (and did for my Forester) - one that is $7500 or higher.. i would pay for the real carfax report - but that is me.

there are also free services out there - but again, you get what you pay for.

pinched, or just fatigue from opening & closing? I know the wires suffer from that - just fixed the other half's hatch wiring last fall (at least it was still warm!) well done on finding it, tho

yeah.. i prefer to err on the side of caution myself - especially with an interference engine.. 80-100K

yeah, i would do the water pump & t-stat as well, just for peace of mind. just sitting here thinking about it.. My little Forester had 214K when I got her and I did a full timing job myself, just to make sure - PO could not remember when it was done last, so yeah.. but thinking about it just now.. only have about 20K to go before she is due again..

you can get a copy of the FSM here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ if you can do the timing on an EJ22, you can do it on an EJ25 - not really any significant differences. I went from a 95 Legacy with a non-interference EJ22 to a 2002 Forester with the EJ251 - pretty much the same as far as that job goes. Same "rules" apply - change all the pulleys, etc, all in one go and be done till the next time. I would do radiator hoses as well, and possibly vacuum lines - depending on condition.

have you checked the headlight bulb connectors? have come across a couple "melted" ones over the years.

ok, so going to get the damn thing pulled out this weekend and get a good look at it.. I have a wearable magnifier to get a good look at things, and a good solder station an know how to use them, LOL GD - thank you for the link, i will pass it along to the other half - his choice on this one.. I know he looked at doing that in the past - not sure why he didnt.

and just so there are no questions about which system he has.. these are the controls

ok, just tested this theory of the ambient temps being a major part of the problem here... was -9 this morning when no heat now 6 above - a difference of 15 degrees - and the heat is working fine. i did nothing other than start the car and let it warm up..

if this is what was happening, it would not be an intermittent thing, would it? this is a very intermittent situation here.. comes and goes, and seems to be ambient temperature related.

Any good alternator/starter rebuild place should be able to refurbish the old one and make it better than any off the shelf unit would be. Might be a little more costly, but in the long run well worth the added cost. yeah, you may need to get something in to hold you over temporarily, but i would have the stock one rebuilt and put it back in when done. did this with my old 95 Legacy and it was so worth it. Still have the aftermarket one up on a shelf, lol This is the kind of place you want to find.. https://www.generatorstartershop.com/

As far as I can tell, yes, everything is functioning as it is supposed to - temp readouts are fine, directional controls all seem to work correctly, fan functions as it is supposed to on all speeds - just no heat when heat is called for. I could probably go out right now, having touched absolutely nothing, and it would work fine - temp has come up to 6 above now. In fact, just to confirm, i may go do just that. No, Texan - there is NO heat at all when it does this - none - it blows COLD air, even when heat is being called for. All of this just reaffirms my belief that more electronics in cars is nothing but problems.

Update #2 - Feb 9, 2021 Well, we are back to no heat again - but this time coolant level is spot on and has been since he changed that radiator hose last time. Subzero temps the last few days... -9F currently as i type this. Yesterday (ever so slightly warmer) he had no heat initially, but after fiddling with it a bit he got it to work. Today, he has taken my car since the heat in his would not come back. So what are the chances that this is a problem with the control unit itself? Seems that the extreme cold exacerbates the issue (cold contracts) - thinking possibly bad solder joints somewhere?

Agree with the others.. if you are looking for reliability, turbo is not the route to go. I have been quite happy with my basic NA Subarus - Legacy and Forester. The Forester is quite peppy for a NA car.. EJ251 and fairly light.. it will get up and move pretty well.. is it a sports car? no, not even, but has plenty of umpf to get out of the way/pass when needed

did you replace the gaskets? if yes, then they should be fine for a long time. old, hardened gaskets will leak - new ones wont, if properly installed..

offhand, i am going to say no... the frankenmotor uses the 25 block, with the 22 heads & intake... ECU i believe needs to match the upper portion, ie all the sensors and such

check suspension components carefully... you have ruled out the immediate obvious stuff. bad strut, worn bushings, wheel bearing, possibly even an axle problem could all contribute to a shimmy quick & dirty test for a wheel bearing, check the hub temp after driving for a bit.. frequently a bad bearing will cause the hub to be significantly warmer than the rest

umm, seems to me that question has already been answered.. just getting the AP is not enough, you need to have it properly tuned as well. Perhaps you should reread GD's FIRST reply to you about this - lots of good info in it.

Agree with 1LT - we need more info on the car, and as much background info as possible need year, specific model, mileage, etc... any modifications to the car? how long have you had it? side note.. please update your profile with just city & state - not the street address.

not necessarily you can certainly pull the plug and check its condition, but misfires are more commonly caused by either plug wire or coil problems, sometimes by fouled plugs - you need to do a bit of investigation to learn more about what is causing the misfire.