1 Lucky Texan

when the dash lights are tested when the key goes to ON, does the batt light illuminate?

ah - good ID on that from a pro. guess it's small enough to get washed down a passage into the pan?

there are spring washers shaped like that, wavy-ish dunno why it would be in an oil pan unless, at some time past, the drain plug was lain on the ground or a bench and that stuck to it and the plug was inserted with that on it unobserved.

varies with region,in some areas, maybe Subarus are on the most-stolen list...I dunno in Texas, trucks are near the top of most lists; 1 - 2006 Ford F-150 crew cab 2 - 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew cab 3 - 2004 Dodge 1500 crew cab 4 - 1996 Honda Accord 5 - 2000 Honda Civic

you might consider finding a local rebuilder to go through your alt. if it's bad. Might take a few days but, you'd have a better unit than typical rebuilts. or, get a used one from car-part.com .

I know you confirmed it, but, but, what about a triple check for slipped timing - do a tooth count to be certain? 'backfire' thru TB seems odd, but not surprising with starter fluids.....? if you decide to drop the ex. mani., look for 'dropped' valve guides too.

hmmmm....early DBWs sometimes had wonky pedal assemblies....... and, they have a 'zero' position routine too IIRC?

oh, I see he has 132 posts so, likely no confusion

stupid question but, If this were Outback SPORT, would that alter the underhood arrangement?

scan for pending codes?

does an 04 still have that IACV hose going to the intake tubing? could be loose

WANT!

look for fuel wetness in the vacuum hose on the FPR - maybe flooding the system ? triple check PCV and breather hose routing.

did it 'throw' the rod?, any new cam pulleys? any broken teethe on the back of the crank pulley? 3 - 4 cheap/easy ideas; triple check the IACV hose do a tooth count on the timing (you can find the tooth count online, yours 'looks' OK, just a cheap/easy suggestion) I know you said it looked like you had good fuel, but you could try feeding some starter fluid or even propane into the intake when starting, if it gets worse, yeah plenty of fuel, if it gets better - fuel starved? scan again for pending codes?

Joe, what are you expecting to see? most subarus would look the same as yours in the same test - indeed, many would only spin a single front and a single rear wheel.

find the tooth count for you engine on line, pull the covers and check timing as mentioned - align the pulley marks and do a tooth count - belt marks will not be aligned.

I'm not certain I follow everything in you post but, our cars have open differentials in the front and, most, have an open differential at the rear. So, you won't see power at all 4 at the same time. This is not to say there may not be a problem with a broken axle or bad differential, but what you observed seems normal. with all wheels in the air, no parking brake applied and the trans in neutral, if you turn one front wheel, the other side should turn the opposite direction. If the car has a VLSD in the rear, turning a wheel will cause its mate to turn the same direction. If the rear is also an open diff, the other side will turn backwards.

search youtube, probably more than one axle rebooting video - there's even one that shows it being done on the car!

future external coolant weeping might be cured with Subaru Coolant Conditioner.

some say the carrier bearing can really howl - I could imagine it might possibly vibrate as well.

possible timing belt tensioner noise. mechanics stethoscope could help narrow-down the issue. Look for youtube video of subaru tensioner noise. oil analysis with high aluminum would confirm piston slap I think. high iron would be rod knock.

I'd give them a chance to fix the issue I think. If there's more to the story than just the flipped tires and you want to avoid PepBoys,, take your car to a Discount Tire. Great folks. They might get a chuckle out of 'one-upping' the competition.

interior detailing guy hit it - same thing has happened a coupla times on wife's outback.

check your front axles. if those trans have magnets on the drain plugs, maybe look for 'chunks' instead of just a little sludge?

I still check the newsgroup occasionally! alt.autos.subaru