DaveT

Stripped hub won't stop 4wd from working. Not sure the loose wheel would cause the hub to strip... unless it was loose also. But the 4wd should have moved the car. Bigger than stock od tires will put higher stress on the driveline, if you are inclined to apply power.

I have an 09 forester with that feature. Like mentioned above, I don't think it will let you kill the transmission. My older loyales, I drive all the time using the 1 2 D selector to get the shift points where I want them. Doing it for decades, no trouble. Even those won't let you do anything fatal, although 2 to 1 is harsh. I just don't do that often. The 09 is smooth for all I've tried so far.

Ok. Some have a lever, some a switch. I was thinking lever. I know the 3AT transmissions best.

If the clutch still feels like it did before the pops, and still starts and stops the other noise now, it probably is working. Was it in a place that you could let it roll even a little while trying to get it into 4wd?

In cars with electric fuel pumps, there is some sort of tie in to prevent the pump from running endlessly if the engine dies.

new / good idler bearings are quiet and have a bit of drag due to seals and grease. If they free spin for seconds, they are dry. If they are hard to turn, they are bad. If they feel "gritty" or rough, they are bad. If they make a sound, they are dry & bad.

That cool. Let me know what you find.

I had wondered if there was a way to clean, inspect, etc. Why the stick, or don't lift. Hmmm..

@ subarudean - yes, that describes typical headgasket failure. It usually slowly gets worse. More overheats accelerates it.

I've never done anything but put them back in. Clatter for a few until oil gets back in, etc.

The 2 big ones at the top of the strut mount? Those are pretty big bolts. Oil them. Work them slowly. Loosen til sticking, screw back in. Loosen again til sticking, screw back in. Takes a good long time, and they will be hot when they come out. The advancing of the angle will be small for a while. If you use an air tool, the risk of snapping is higher. Re install with anti seize.

Here is a mark up. Roughly the area in the square. Before cutting, or even fully removing the fender - remove the lowest bolt, in the flange at the bottom. I think the hole is barely visible in the picture. Remove the bolt above that, hole is visible behind the door. With the door fully open, a 3/8 drive 10mm socket can get it. Remove the bolt near the top, that is hidden by the door. 10mm combination wrench with the door fully open, if you don't want to bugger up the paint on the edge of the door. At this point, you may be able to move the fender away enough to see if the underlying frame is still there, since that is the part I'm needing. The mud flap mounting screws may have to be removed if things are still intact. The outer layer is the hardest to re create. the inner pieces, if they become too difficult to cut out, I can fab from sheet metal. But it might be just as easy to cut the section out, since they are spot welded along that flange on the bottom.

Ill try marking up a picture and posting it. My retired car is rotted out about as bad in that area. It was rusty as heck when I got it, I considered it a beater, and ran it a lot longer than I expected. This red one, is still mostly rust free, except in that fender rust making pocket. I have not opened up the passenger side, but I'm thinking it may be pretty bad also.

Yeah, it's not a bolt on part. Angle grinder with a cutoff disc, or sawsall would be my first choices. I'll weld it back together. I'll be driving my 93 while repairing this one.

If it's a small hole. Get a thread forming screw a little bigger than the hole. Nor a self tapping screw. Goop it up with a good sealant, screw it in. Sheet metal is too thin to tap. Other idea, use a finger , or a wire to hold a nut in place, screw in a screw with sealant from the outside.

hmmm, Not sure then. Maybe some other odd variant that I've not seen?

If it's a fel pro kit, they include all of the gaskets for the different similar engines. I have several sets of MPFI and other odd gaskets for engines I don't have laying around also.

Decided it was time to investigate the rust bubble on the lower left bottom of the fender in the mud flap area. Too late. I have to check my parts car, but I'll be surprised if this area is intact. Anyone have a wreck with this area rust free? Or only lightly rusted? And have a way to cut off a section and ship it? It sucks that the design of the plastic, mud flap and metal is so effective at trapping water and dirt so well. Part of this repair will be changing that.

Timing belts and front seal? Do it in the car. Headgaskets, I do on a spare engine on a stand, then swap.

The various ones I have show varying degrees of wear. None are to the point where the shearing off looks imminent. It does seem to me that they gradually wear away. They all have had a change or 2 at least of atf. Nothing unusual in the color.

Block heater to drive moisture out of the engine is good idea. Lots of idling is not good. It would be better to drive an extra mile. Good to get the transmission and the rest of the driveline warmed up too, for the sAmerican reason, drive out moisture. Another thing short trip is tough on is the exhaust system - if it doesn't get hot enough to dry out the moisture released during combustion.

On the throttle body, front, the cylindrical solenoid, rectangular valve body, big hose comes up and turns to the left [passenger side]

When cold, the system is running in a different mode. I had an idle air control valve fail. The car would just stop running if allowed to idle when warm.

If there is some failure mode that causes hammering ro occur, it wasn't noticeable while driving. The shaft is well under 1/2" diameter, so the force required to cause damage would be pretty small compared to those involved with moving the car.

Yes, I know about the magnetic drain plug. The pieces could not have moved far, if they came off at the time of failure, since the pump stopped turning at that time. There isn't really anywhere for the pieces to go if they did shear off intact -