1 Lucky Texan

ok - I don't know your tolerance for or ability to do some troubleshooting of your own, but one test that comes to mind, based on Josh's reply, would be to construct your own parallel wiring circuit for the 'c' solenoid. Complete from the cpu to the tranny, bypassing as much Soob stuff as possible AND making your own good clean ground if required.. If you don't get the voltage drops or binding you know it's the wiring (or a ground). If you do then go for the comtroller or a solenoid I guess? thanx for reporting btw.

that's what trains do. It'll work.

Bad ECU, or bad info (speed sensor opening up when hot or after vibration?) to the ECU. just guessing

You are so brave - all those parts SCARE me! How long did it take? Where's you get the new injectors? Congrats and thanx for the pics.

If you feel like putting out some effort, either tellthem you want both sides to get the newest revision gaskets OR a free extended warranty. Say;" You'd want the same if it was your car wouldn't you?" good luck

Try moving the 'new' tire to the rear.(is it on the front?) 'MOST' (I know, but really usually is) of this type problem is bad tires. Sometimes even a 'bulge or bubble or tread sep.' that isn't obvious unless the tire is off the ground. Might be worth jacking the car up and spinning them. Plus, as has been mentioned, that wheel could have put undue stress on the tie rod ends and the rack. I also think any brake issue is secondary - fix the tires/steering first.

what car? mileage? ever wrecked? suspension,steering work? how old and what kind of tires? "throw us a bone!"

Setright, might be worth doing a search over at the forums at http://www.nasioc.com

Hey buddy, I know you read as much stuff here as I do and I always enjoy your posts - just chiming in to remind you of the whole TB tensioner vs. piston slap controversy. Seems like the consensus is the tensioner is a real problem, the piston slap isn't. May not apply to this engine. Anyone? Oh and another reminder, make sure it looks like the coolant level is normal, no bubbles in the coolant, no chocolate mousse on the oil filler or dipstick, etc. enjoy your new ride, I know you've been considering it for some time.

maybe move some gear to the roof to distribute some weight to the front? get a small trailer? UPS some gear ahead 'hold for pickup'? other than that, unless they make 'load leveler' struts I'd guess you're looking at installing heavier springs.

If this car had crank angle and cam angle sensors, they are used in tandem. one as a check against the other, if your cel was on because one was bad, AND THEN the other one goes, that might cause this symptom. Do subies have a 'run resistor' that is bypassed during satrting? maybe it finally burned up - though the symptom is more like 'cranks - fires - dies when key released' kinda thing. physicusman...if you don't give us more info. I'm sending snotty over to rip off your TB covers!

try http://www.autotrader.com

If you can give us a little more on the cars history it might help. Mainly, the timing belt changes and fuel filter maintainence plus any wrecks or recent work done to the vehicle. Starting with fuel, spark is never a bad idea but your symptom could be a lot of things! Including a TB jumped a tooth or two.

In what year did the Impreza Outback Sport wagon get rear disc brakes? tia

Perhaps there is more than one type of tensioner, but recently there has been a lot of complaints about it. If Emily says you could have another bad one installed you have to respect her. They know a lot about these engones. I wonder if the tensioners are just a dice toss or if there is a newer version available - could be the dealership just grabbed an old style of their shelf - voila! same problem. All the piston slap issues do get reprted as going away after warmup. So do some reports of tensioer noise - maybe folks not equipped with stethoscopes (or decent service personnel) are getting the noises confused.

Seems possible to me the dealer scr@wed up the tensioner/belt change and the oil is a side issue. How much overfilled was it -probably need more than a quart too much to hurt something - others may know. Did you get noise when you picked the car up after the work? Usually, the vehicle with bad tensioers exhibit noise on cold starts that goes away after a few minutes. Evidently the tensioer doesn't pump up fast enough and the belt slaps the inside of the covers causing the sound.(I'm not an expert - just read a lot of stuff here on these great forums). I do think the stealership is responsible and if the overfill is the way to get them to 'step up' then by all means pursue it. I think you should either push to have them absorb all the costs or buy you an extended warranty - blame the oil overfill (basically, if oil is up too far the crank can beat it into a foam - foam is compressible and the oil pump can't move it well - leads to poor oil delivery) tell them 'If you were in my position, how can you be sure this didn't greatly decrease the lifespan of the engine?" - kinda stuff.whatever. good luck

Please disregard this post - I admit to getting confused - the mod I remembered concerns DRLs - not foglamps. MY BAD! sorry for any confusion -XXXXDo a search using the terms fog lights and hand brake. There was a mod someone posted that involved moving/defeating the handbrake switch to force the fog lights on IIRC.XXXXX-

Folks seem to have lost their locations but I think I recall legacy777 is in Houston? Up here in Ft.Worth we have a shop called DAPE (Discount Auto Parts Exchange or the APE) and, though I have done 3-4 cv joints in a drivvewat now I take 'em to DAPE and they replace the entire axle with rebuilt inner and outer joints for abot $150 bucks with a lifetime warranty. I think they own a bunch of wrecking yards and have most parts on the shelf. If not they rebuild yours. maybe they have some shops elsewhere in Texas or the US?

Septemebr of THIS year huh? Was that done at a Subaru dealership? Did you have the problem before that? maybe they underfilled it or something? have you checked the fluid level? I hope someone else chimes in but it may be that you will need to insist hat the dealership keep the car overnight as long as they need to, hook you up with a loaner and apply your wasted $200 dollars to the the REAL repair. Sounds like a clean vehicle with a careful owner. I don't suppose you ever drove it a lengthy time with the donut spare on? or a flat tire? That can be rough on Subies.

Found the link to the SAE paper; http://home.attbi.com/~c.moe/subaruengines.pdf enjoy

You didn't mention several things that MAY assist folks in at least pointing to some good possibilties. '98 is old enough to have a history - what is it? mileage, maintainence, how many owners before you, typical driving, towing, etc. Also, do you get any warning lights when this occurs?

Well, now that the site is back up of course I'm at home again and the document is at work. It's a SAE technical paper, number 890-somethin and it seems the text and drawing on page 6 indicate oil coling nozzles are on the turbo only. They are timed with the journal holes to reduce big fluctuations in oil pressure. sorry for any confusion.

I'm glad it worked out OK. btw - the 'original' Dexron (dexron 1 we'd call it now I suppose) contained about 2% WHALE OIL! BTW- is there a 'synthetic' or other 'high tech' version of ATF fluids?

I'm such a noob that when I signed on to the forum one question I asked was about general engine layou/design info/exploded drawings. The site I was sent ot had a PDF download of some FHI technical 'bragging' that included a lot of drawings and design philosophy stuff. It does show the piston cooling jets. This document was from '89 and refered mostly to the 1.8,2.0 turbo and 2.2l (I think that's right - don't have it here) and mentions the DOHC and SOHC engines as well. Quite possible the drawing I saw was not generic and only one engine has the jets, but they were there back then.

I have no experience but have read here that folks like the midnight moose site for lighting. Do a forum search maybe?