porcupine73

Maybe the clutches kind of cold welded from sitting. Maybe what I did could work for you too: my used '96 TB had torque bind for a while even after I changed the ATF to amsoil syn atf. It went away entirely after I went out hill climbing one hot summer day and got the ATF up to about 210 deg. F for a couple times for about 10 minutes. The next day I was surprised to find the TB gone.

Yes it's nice to work on a car where it appears service was actually taken into consideration in the design (gasp!) Man I've had other domestic vehicles before and everything was so crammed in and buried it was unbelievable; some newer vehicles you'd be hard pressed to even find the battery.

drive shaft u joints maybe?

My '96 and '00 's both have some sort of connector on the pump, which I believe is a pressure switch of some sort, I believe it is used for the ECU to bump up the idle if required when turning the wheel at a stop or near stop. If that's the case, and you don't hook it up, then depending on whether the switch is normally open or normally closed, then the ECU would think the steering pressure is always up and maybe try to keep the idle up, or it will never sense any steering pressure and when turning the wheel at idle/stop it might stumble a little.

I have an '00obw too and yep the coolant conditioner is recommended to prevent the external leaks. It's only like $2 maybe for a bottle but some dealers mark it up like crazy. It's actually holts radweld from the UK, but I've never seen holts products in the U.S.

The ignitor takes the signal from the ECU and drives the coil pack. I have a '96 legacy also; on mine the ignitor is a little maybe 2.5x2.5" or so electronic package with a connector on it located near the firewall kind of inline with the throttle cable. Maybe even shaking these connectors or something would reveal if there is an intermittent connection in there.

Hi hsracing and welcome! How about the ignitor or possibly coil pack?

Dude I think you have the wrong connector.

Probably yes, but it probably isn't really needed; I mean it's not a ton of pressure there or anything and the hoses themselves are somewhat rigid. If you look at the 'pop in' types (rather than screw in) they just slip into this rubber/plastic holder and do alright that way.

tru dat, not all filter medias are the same. I wonder what the bypass pressure differential is in the newer filters.

Price seems a little bit high but the mileage isn't too bad. I'm pretty sure this 2.5L would be one of the ones with the potential head gasket failure issues so that might be something to keep in mind.

Another good alternative could be Wix (also Napa Gold); I think the OE Subaru oil filters don't have an ADBV (anti drain back valve) which many of the aftermarkets have, but it might explain why there is a Purolator without the ADBV if they make the Subaru filters. I avoid fram like the black plague.

Hi, not 100% sure about an '03, but here's where it is on my '96 and '00; it's a screw/thread in type, not just a 'pop in' like a lot of domestics.

Oh heck if you just want it to last 3 months then do nothing; there's people who put 50,000 miles on them with ripped boots, sure they start clicking a bit, but the inner one doesn't have to handle the sharp bends in turns or anything. You can probably find a half/split boot I would guess at any chain parts store or maybe at rockauto.

Hm, well I could be misunderstanding how the heat shields rattle. I just figured a hose clamp snugged up around the loose area might keep it from shaking around. Anyway I should probably look at the FAQ for better ideas, though they only rattle at a certain low rpm so I haven't been overly motivated to try to fix it yet.

I haven't actually looked at mine to see where they're rattling at so I don't know if I can get a hose clamp on there, but if it's possible I'd probably just undo it and open it up, slip it around or whatever and then reassemble and draw 'er down.

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, that would be a great place to get a cheap multimeter, and their vehicle fuse kits are half price right now too.

I'm planning to put some huge stainless steel clamps around mine; will have to check out that FAQ for more/better ideas.

Yah replacing the half shafts with rebuilt units is probably the way to go. Only if you know for a fact it hasn't been torn too long and didn't get any grit etc up in there can the boots just be replaced. The half-boots aren't very reliable from what I've seen. Anyway, if you go with rebuilt half shafts, I've heard MWE does a nice job. The chain store rebuilts might come with a lifetime warranty but it's still your labor to R&R the things if they fail once a year.

Hi skip, it's the Scan Gauge, you can get it here $165; (I think they're the manufacturer but I can't remember; maybe it's less elsewhere). If you look on eBay you might find it, just verify which model it is as I think there is an older one and this newer one. I really love it and you can display four parameters at once in 'gauge' mode, like intake air temp, water temp, MAF or MAP, voltage, rpm, speed, ignition advance, throttle position, engine load %, and I"m sure I'm forgetting a few. You set it up with your engine size, etc., and it computes mpg (fairly accurately) while driving and gives trip/day/tank averages, etc. Nipper has the newer model; I have the older model. Just one note about it for Subaru's (in case you get one) - certain model Subaru's you have to set this option in there for 'supported' parameters instead of 'all' parameters or it won't display any values.

Hi Tiny, I've never tried it, but may electronics cleaner wouldn't be a bad thing to try if possible before springing for that $200 one at autozone. Ja das is zu viel geld. Was fur ein probleme?

Just spring for an alldatadiy subscription. That is the cheapest legal way to get OE Suby repair info.

Yes the Suby's last a long time don't they! I mean I have 10 months to see if this issue recurs every few weeks or whatever and try a few things to stop it or at least hope it doesn't pop right before the inspection. It hasn't come back yet. If I had to go for inspection next week I'd be more worried since I'd have to time to work with it.

Do you hear any relay clicking sound when pressing the horn button? Checking any related fuses wouldn't be a bad idea as well. Do you notice anything else electrical that doesn't work?

Oh boy. Did the horn not work previously or is this a recent thing? I don't know earlier models, does this have a fuse box under the hood and under the dash? Maybe you can try jiggling/shaking some wiring harnesses in the areas to see if that makes a difference? All problems have the potential to be expensive.