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you could idle the car when it's behaving normally, then, use a plant mister bottle to spray the plug wires and coil - monitor for roughness. you could pull the plug wire boots to check for oil. but yeah, waste spark means coil failure will always be 1 & 2, OR 3& 4

I bought a new used Subaru. The car might be the deal of the year! Will keep my '96 for now, maybe keep it as a winter car since the new one is nice, 100% rust free. I ended up getting a 2003 Legacy L wagon, 149.9K miles in light green that had some extras - the snowflake wheels, dual sunroof, leather steering wheel/shift knob. I had a saved search on craigslist and was checking it every day, so I jumped on the deal and was persistent in trying to contact the seller, since I was guessing there was a line of people calling about it (there was). It was a good condition looking Legacy, passed CA smog, claimed to run great, for $2100. I was shopping from Alaska for a California car, so I took a calculated bet to buy it sight unseen (influence of having watched too much Hoovie's Garage on Youtube). The seller said he wasn't the original owner and didn't know much about the car, though he claimed it had a bunch of receipts/paperwork. I asked to see the certificate of title before paying, and it turned out to be from the original owner, signed by the original owner a couple weeks earlier. The seller was just flipping it. When I picked it up a few days ago, it had a unsteady idle (jumping in the 750-1000 range), but otherwise seemed like a good car. Interior was super clean. I dug into the receipts, and it looked to covered every single maintenance it ever had up to 149K, with good care as you'd expect from most original owners. The car had been a lifetime San Jose car (less than 5 miles from my folk's place) that sometime went to Tahoe (ice scraper, set of four new cable chains in the spare tire well, a Tahoe receipt). The head gaskets had been replaced/heads machined/valve job at 140K, the car had a lot of spark plug changes, coolant changes, trans/diff oil changed once, etc. Reading the records, I also had notes that indicated problems that I might have to address too. The main two were front CV axles first noted as needed 9K ago, and less than 1K ago, a slipping clutch. I hadn't noticed the clutch slipping on the first drive, so I thorough tested it, and it's definitely good. The CV axles are also good. My guess is that the original owner decided it was time to move on rather than pay for a new clutch and CV axles, and the seller is probably a mechanic that got it cheap from him, replaced the clutch and axles, and then flipped the car. The seller could tell that I really wanted the car, but didn't understand why someone would like an old car like this, LOL California people - this is a desirable car in AK and the Pacific NW. I just fixed the idle. It turned out to be a loose air box to throttle body hose clamp. I did an idle relearn as I'm writing this. Outstanding issues include needing new struts, and there's a dent on the RR corner under the taillight that is a good candidate for paintless dent repair. The car was lifetime sit in the sun car (it's parked in front of the original owner's house in the driveway and street on streetviews), so the paint is gone from the back of the mirrors and front door molding, so I'll probably get those repainted. Plus the headlamps are super cloudy and need some love. The rear bumper cover was replaced (have the receipt for that too!), and the color doesn't quite match the body, but probably not worth trying to get that to match at this point (unless I get a cheap estimate). Overall, I can't imagine a better car for $2100, so I'm really lucky .

Hey all. Thought I would share a new to me discovery about Subaru Ignition lock cylinder replacement. I had a customer who's 04 Forester Ignition lock failed. Seized up, wouldn't return to "off" position so was draining battery in ACC. So, I call dealership, talk to them about ordering a new lock cylinder. Now, I've done this I think 3 times in the past. Always purchased a new cylinder and customers then just used 2 keys, 1 for doors, 1 for Ignition. Not a big deal as all those cars had keyless entry, so they didn't really need the "door" key ever. Now, for this Forester, the customer does not use keyless entry, and wanted all keys the same. So I inquired from dealer this time, is there a kit available to replace all 3 lock cyls (Ig., Drivers door, glovebox) in the car with matching keys? Well sure enough, AFTER I ASKED, they tell me "oh, yes, there is a whole car kit" It's $60 dollars cheaper than just the Ig. cylinder. DOH! Why the HELL don't they volunteer that info! Anyhow here's the kit for a Manual trans, 04 Forester. I imagine kits for other models are available too, but I haven't confirmed how many. Comes with Master key (top), Sub-master (middle w/code tag) and Valet (does not operate glove box) IMG_0101 by Dans Subaru, on Flickr

You got pet mice up there too? Cheers Bennie

coilovers could be an option - search for those.

I sympathize with the OP. It would be better for posters who is going to ignore the OP's request to start off with "Its impossible to find a quick strut for older subarus" which is really what the OP wants to know. Then it would be instructive if the poster would talk specifically about their own experience. Such as, " I live in Dayton and I had to go to 15 auto shops before I could find one who would assemble my strut. The one I found is on 15th st, etc" So many people recommend a "reputable shop" but don't give any details, I wonder if any of those shops actually exist anymore.

same here - i've seen one as well. it was running, driving, and slapping and i replaced it with no damage. it was at least loud enough most people aren't going to wait long to address it! i'm sure that can't be expected every time but at least it's rare and not always ominous. I usually replace it all - but as a rule I only work for free, so my "customers" gladly pay for the parts. If it's a rusty swiss cheese car and/or they're not financially stable, I'll do the belt and lower cogged idler only.

Sandwiches fit into that strap nicely. My favorite: Peanut-butter and banana, on whole-wheat bread.

I love how I specifically request no recommendations to compress the springs myself or bring it to a mechanic's shop for them to do yet rather for people to recommend quick struts or a shock conversion kit.....yet they repeatedly recommend what I specifically asked them not to. Oh internet!

Yeah, I get it. It put's me on the hook for a warranty claim. That's Ok. Worst case I buy one of my nice customers a free valve job and headgasket change ! lol. It just makes the difference between a ~$400 service, and a ~$600 one. In the customer's mind, that's a 50% higher cost for the customer for ONE part that seldom fails. That $200 difference can put someone off of even doing any Timing Service, or at least delay it and that's a worse risk than the tensioner. And with a known new belt if it does start to fail it should make noise but hold until customer brings it back. Only had it happen once, and the car made it back to my shop with the tensioner slapping, and I replaced the tensioner under warranty.

2 on the left, 2 on the right. Dead center of the Valve covers, under the Coil packs on each plug. If you can't find them, you probably should have someone else change them.

Rust free CO 99 Outback with a 2.2 engine swap. Sweet!

Let's start with the basics. Have you tried hitting the up or down arrow buttons on the bottom left hand side of the steering wheel? Those cycle through different menus where the digital speedo is. They're not on the face of the wheel. Theyre recessed a bit.