heartless

good luck with that... if it gets driven on the roads in the winter, it WILL rust. Insidious stuff... not to dissuade you from coming here, but i would budget in a cheap rump roast winter beater for those snowy months. that would imply you had something worth spraying to begin with.. not something easily come by locally. Importing something rust free is also not easily done when on a very limited income.

similar situation here in WI - not a lot from the 80s, or before, survives here, and the ones that are still around have collector plates on them and only get driven in the summer months. Heck, not a lot from the 90s still on the road around here.

if it is anything like my 02 Forester was, the colder it gets, the worse it will sound, but as ido said, pretty benign, just sounds terrible. in the summer months, mine barely made any noise at all, but in the dead of winter it sounded like it was going to blow any second.. once it was fully warmed up it was as quiet as a church mouse..

only ever had to replace one set on a Subaru, and I think i used Strongarm brand. I personally did not have any fitting issues, but it is kind of a pain in the backside job to get done. LOL if they are shot anyway, take one off so you can take it into your local parts store to match it up, paying special attention to the mounting ends. on the subject of RockAuto, i cant say I have ever had a problem with them, either.. other than them not having a specific part i might want, lol, but that has little to do with them in general. some parts are just not easily available.

i thought they had resolved the piston slap thing by 2008 heck, even my 2004 doesn't slap like the 02 did.. that one sounded like it was going to blow itself apart on a cold start in the winter until it warmed up... and for the record, the 04 has the same engine family as the 02 did - EJ251

pressure tester would be a good idea and could help you pinpoint any small leaks. and yeah, i am referring to those lines, but one in particular... if you look here: http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g11/type_2/cooling_system/water_pipe_1/ the one i am specifically referring to is shown at the bottom of that image, and has a small offshoot that goes to the throttle body (the small hose at the top right is the one that connects to the throttle body).. that junction is often a failure point - have run into this twice over the years, once with a 2.2 Legacy and once with a 2.5 forester... If you follow the hoses from the firewall back to the engine, one will connect to the upper, large aluminum crossover, the other, slightly lower, will connect to the tube in question here. you could have a small leak that is not bad, yet, but will get worse over time - IF this is the source of your problem. a small leak will cook off lost antifreeze fairly quickly, but it will pool more as it gets worse... look for any signs of dampness on the top of the block in the region of that small offshoot line. So yes, checking while running is not a bad idea. that particular pipe is listed with the water pump in the diagrams (for part numbers) - seen here: http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g11/type_2/cooling_system/water_pump/ It is also possible that the wrong radiator cap was the primary source of your problem and the system is simply working out air bubbles now (temporary loss of heat).

you thoroughly checked the top of the block - on the drivers side? there is a tube that runs from front to back along the drivers side - inboard of the head, but hidden by the intake - that is often a culprit in situations like this... not usually all that obvious unless you have a clue what you are looking for.

those two, not so much.. the 5w30 is pretty common tho

on pretty much all my older Subes I ran 10w30 in the winter - Yes, it can get damned cold here in WI, too.. -15 to -20F is pretty common through Jan & Feb, and lower than that happens regularly during that same period. Coupled with high winds, yeah.. not fun. ran 10w40 in the summers when heat was a factor... never started running anything else until this most recent Forester that specs 5w30...

take a good hard look at how the old cable is set up.. that will tell you all you need to know.

probably not the terminals, but the cable itself.. best option is to replace the entire cable - that changes the terminals as well

since things went from bad to worse with the battery changes, I would also suspect bad cables... every time you changed the battery, the cables were moved, making any weak connections worse.

oil brand does not make that much difference these days... I use cheap oil (Fleet Farm brand - regional chain) but good filters.. Wix or Purolator - Fram filters are garbage. obviously, a synthetic would be better (even in an off brand), but if you are changing frequently or it is using oil, then it is more costly as well.. my old 2002 Forester had 285K on it when I sold it, and was still going strong.. fwiw, i also used the slightly larger Legacy filter (Purolator # 14460. Wix # 51334) fits perfectly, no leaks, no issues.

lol, already gave him that site (first reply)

i am betting they would fit fine.. might have a tiny bit of rubbing at steering lock, but minimal.

they might fit the car... will definitely fit the wheels.. the sticking point is going to be clearance on the front strut spring perches. like i said, punch the numbers into the tire comparison tool.. check the overall height - narrower width to the bigger side wall ratio.. 65% of 215 vs 60% of 225 wouldnt think there would be that much of a difference in overall height - but use the tool to make sure.

go here: https://tiresize.com/calculator/ Input the stock size on top, and the size you want to mount on bottom it will tell you size difference, what affect it will have on your speedometer, etc.. without knowing what your current/stock tire size is, cant really say much about the snow tires, altho.. a 215/65 is not really a good aspect ratio for snows - in general... i would be looking for a taller side wall (the 65) to be honest - 70 or 75... just my 0.02 cents

hopefully not with FedEx again, LOL

wow... that is totally not acceptable. Friggin FedEx.. i hate having to get stuff through them.. they have really gone downhill

valid... and because of the failed readings across the specified terminals, it does suggest the coil needs replacing. personally, i would try going the used route before i would spend the money on an aftermarket unit... they dont fail so often that a used one would not be worth while... if you have any yards near you with available parts, you could take your meter with you and test on the spot - keeping in mind the +/- 10% range of that 73 ohms... (would be something between 66 & 80 on the correct terminals) Not sure about other compatible years but you may have options there.. as long as the specs are correct and the bolt holes line up.. I put a 1990 coil on a 1995 Legacy.. worked perfectly.

um, terminal 3 is not specified in that image... and not having the whole thing in front of me, wondering why you are using terminal 3? terminals 1 & 2 and 2 & 4 should be 73 ohm, +/- 10% (80 would be just within that 10% range) - says nothing about terminal 3... if you arent getting readings on the specified terminals, then yeah, i would swap out the coil pack,

dont discount it just yet.. it could very well be just the leaky radiator. It wont suck coolant back in, because the system is not sealed properly - and it could be pushing it out for the same reason. get the new rad installed and see how she behaves before going down the "needs head gaskets/engine replaced" route.

and when all else fails, and you end up rounding off the heads, I can confirm that these do work... https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set but as ido said.. make SURE you are on nice and square..

good used would be an appropriate choice here.. car-part.com coils dont fail that often to preclude the used option. and yes, you can have a failure on just one cylinder

not to my knowledge, but I bookmark useful sites like that for my own future reference. I also have the Opposed Forces catalog for parts searching.. and several useful parts websites.