heartless

possibly an anti-corrosion coating? the other half has a 2006 Outback that was recently in for the brake line recall - not sure what they did, but supposedly it got some sort of coating put on to help prevent corrosion.

as already noted, if the timing belt were broken it wouldnt even attempt to fire. If you still arent convinced on that front, it is pretty easy to pull an outer belt cover to verify if the belt is intact & turning - three 10 mm bolts definitely need to check fuel pressure.

to clear codes, simply disconnect battery for 30 minutes or so - also make sure the test connectors are disconnected before reconnecting the battery. as for the tranny issues - I am not much help there - hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon I can say that the 4EAT will not shift to 3rd or 4th until certain temps are reached internally - one temp for 3rd, another for 4th - and the time needed to reach those temps will vary with how cold ambient air temps are. Have had both my 1990 and my 1995 Legacys need several miles to get warm enough to make those shifts in the dead of winter - one time it took nearly 6 miles for the final shift to happen.

have you checked to make sure fuel is reaching the engine? how much fuel is making it up there? (have you changed the fuel filter yet?) Are the injectors working properly?

which is why I suggested.. A ) get the charging system checked out, which Advance Auto, and others, will do for free. (I specify Advance because the OP asked about them checking voltages) B ) he pick up a cheap multimeter to check some voltages at specific locations, like at fuses and the headlight connectors, which Advance will not do.

A subaru is a bit of a different beast than your Mark VIII is - this much I do know. Had a Mark V for several years, pretty familiar with those - granted the VIII is a more complicated beast than the V was... Also on my 3rd personal Subaru - we have had 7 registered ones - from 1988 thru 2006 - and a crap load of parts cars go thru here... Every Subaru we have had that has had charging system issues has caused multiple dash lights to come on looong before the the voltage dropped enough to dim the headlights. I sincerely doubt that the charging system is the issue here. poor voltage at the headlight connector, on the other hand, is completely plausible, as are some of the other suggestions - misalignment, bad ground, bad fuse, old bulbs - or a combination of those. To the OP, if you have a Harbor Freight tools near you, go pick up one of thier cheap digital meters - this one should do just fine - to test voltage at the headlight connector. Advance Auto can do a free charging system check for you - put your mind at ease on that front if you like - but to check voltage at specific connectors - probably not...

For the hatch handle - use a good penetrating oil and work the handle back and forth repeatedly, re-spray with penetrating oil as needed - it may take some time to free it up, but it should eventually do so. My 95's hatch handle was getting so stiff it took a fair amount of effort to get it back to the closed position. Dont know if anyone else here has tried this product made by "Strong Arm" : http://www.buystrongarm.com/StrongArm-Fluid-Pints_p_8.html but it does work pretty well. it is thicker than standard penetrating oil, not really sure what is in the stuff, but it does work. We were having some problems with the tailgate latch on our pickup - used the Strongarm stuff on it, got it loosened up and havent had a problem with it since - more than 2 years later. Used it on my 95s hatch handle and it has been working very smoothly since - only been about a month now, but it has also gotten very cold recently - latch is still working very nicely.

pulling the motor is far easier than trying to drop the tranny. If you are doing tranny work anyway, then yeah, go that route, but if not... AC compressor bracket gets unbolted and compressor, with hoses still attached, gets laid off to the side. same basic procedure for the power steering unit Unplug the main wiring harness - 3 connectors disconnect the air box plumbing unhook the throttle cables and lay them off to the side disconnect the 3 fuel lines on drivers side - take note/mark of which one goes where! disconnect radiator and heater hoses. You can pull the radiator out to have more working space, but it isnt 100% necessary unbolt the 4 flex plate to torque convertor bolts thru the access port on top passenger side of bell housing. unbolt exhaust and motor mounts Unbolt tranny from motor (drivers side lower is the pain here) and pry apart - make sure the torque converter stays seated in the bell housing as you separate the two.

Thanks Fairtax!

i can add to those "horror stories" - bought one for $500 - have no idea how long it had been sitting, had to drive 3-1/2 hours to go get it - had 30 day warranty... by the time it was installed in the car and test driven all of about 3 miles before catastrophic failure it was 31 days out... I tired to get warranty on it, but they kept insisting the shop had to have done something wrong - so no warranty refund there. the less time it has been sitting around the better, but short of that, get it installed and test driven thoroughly well within the warranty period.

any stored codes will repeat in sequence until you turn the key off, so no real need to do multiple times, but if it makes you feel better, go for it - always good to practice! As Texan said, there are a multitude of things that could be causing your problem - codes, if any, would help point us in the right direction to solving the problem

huh must be...wouldnt surprise me at all if they are - the car has well over 200K on it. will have to check into that. Thanks for the verification!

yeah, that filter kit is kind of an "obsolete" thing these days since it was meant for the first gen Legacys and they are now 20 plus years on - my 1990 has one... That someone has come up with a viable alternative to that filter kit is great! Only problem I see with the location is: if you have a car with ABS, it isnt gonna work in that spot.

Cooper CS series touring tires - I think they are currently CS5 - I have had CS4s and they were very good tires Mastercraft Avenger - made by Cooper Tires. Excellent all season tire with good tread life rating - a cheaper alternative to the Cooper CS series. I have a set of these on my 95 Legacy right now, and we just got hit with our first winter storm - they have performed quite nicely. The other half is running a set on his 2006 Outback, too.

BEFORE you start the car to head home - open the radiator cap - with engine stone cold - and verify that it is full. coolant should be all the way up into the filler neck - if it is not, you need to add some until it is, probably wont take much, but make sure it is full. you dont have to worry about "adding" air by opening the cap.

considering it is supposed to look like this: I would say there is physical damage. . .

you should be fine.

an after market faulty thermostat could cause strange readings, but an OEM T-stat has a bypass, and probably wouldnt be the culprit stuff like barrs leak is seriously NOT recommended for these cars - too many small passages that can potentially be plugged up by the stuff. there is a Subaru specific coolant conditioner meant to help with the headgasket issues, but even that isnt a permanent fix if there are problems.

not really sure about the cause of that P0440 code - but I have a leak in my tank - replaced the filler neck and that isnt the problem - mine is in the actual tank and I have NEVER seen the P0440 code on my 95...

the cruise and rear defrost switches on my 95 do not "light up" with headlights on, there is an indicator light to tell when the item is turned on however.

knowing what year and engine would help a great deal, but your description of the temp going up and down kind of points to air in the cooling system - the big question is how is it getting there? head gasket issues commonly cause air bubbles in the overflow bottle at idle from exhaust gasses being forced into the cooling system - perhaps check for that?

wow - cant say I have ever seen one look that bad, and I live in Wisconsin! that looks like physical damage to me, not just rust...

look good to me and I have done several. pull the tensioner pin and fire it up.

i purchased my 95 Legacy wagon with 206,000 on it a bit more than a year ago, and it just keeps going and going. these cars have been known to hit 350 to 400K with good care. I plan on at least 300K on this one.

as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words... not the best quality of picture, but I think it will help you figure out where things are...the oil pressure switch sits kind of in between the alternator and the power steering pump, back just a little from the front edge of the block, has a single wire hooked to it, very basic spade connection. the oil pressure switch is a very common leak point, and they can really pump out the oil making a big mess. the good news is they are cheap (under $10 at Advance Auto) and very easy to replace. and while I didnt mark it, yes, cam sensor is on the drivers side. If you have any experience at all working on cars, you will find a Subaru to be ridiculously easy to work on - most things are very easy to get to, you dont need to be a contortionist to access a part, nor do you need to remove half a motor to gain access to a part. it is all right there in plain view, it is simply a matter of learning where things are. you didnt mention how many miles are on the car?