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One thing seems sure: AWD worked. If you had had FWD, one wheel would have probably spun like crazy and dug you a hole. In your case, since all four wheel got exactly the same traction, power sent was equal to each wheel and it overwhelmed the Hp the engine was able to put out at what was relatively low revs. You probably would have had to rev higher and slip the clutch more to get out of that situation. A little burnt smell would probably have been inevitable. My speculations as I sit confortably behind my desk:)

Just passing on advice I was given here : just find a socket that can hold the punch handle (a little tape might help) and stick that socket on the end of the proper lenght ratchet extension. Hopes that's not too late to help. Good luck!

It could be a number of things. But when a problem is heat related one of the first likely culprit is the coolant temp sensor. Tell that to the dealership and ask them to check it with their OBD monitor.

You should have around 3/8 of an inch of play at the fork lever and around 1/2 inch of play at the pedal.

In my case, city driving and higway driving are worlds apart. I made some calculations recently and pure highway is always around 30 miles per gallon (makes me think the engine is running OK) and pure city is almost half of that: around 17 miles per gallon. Conclusion: i walk, bicycle, and use public transport as often as I can in the city and use the subie mainly for out of town trips. As of yeserday, gas was 1.40 Can a liter. That's $4.24 USD a gallon.

1) Numerous testimonies here and on alt.auto.subaru of belts looking like new except where they are broken. So a good looking belt (no cracks, etc.) is not necessarily to be trusted. 2) The coolant pump is driven by the back of the belt. So maybe the pump is beginning to show some resistance and/or the belt tension is weakening and it's slipping at the pump... or the belt has been there quite a while. I would replace that belt and the pump, the crank and cam seals and reseal the oil pump. Also have a good look at idlers and at the tensionner. My 2 cents.

I would vote for a voltmeter first : easier to install than an ammeter and as usefull if correctly interpreted. It should give one, amongst other things, a little more advance warning that the alt is about to fail. I built myself one with Radio Shack parts that I pluged into the "cig lighter" receptacle. Then an oil pressure gauge. Got one of those also. Mechanical. With the price of fuel rocketing up, a vaccum gauge would help in being less lead footed and is also a very usefull indicator of all sorts of possible problems (vac leaks; faulty valves, rings; clogged cat, etc.) I will probably install one of those in the not so distant future. Finaly maybe a fuel pressure gauge. Maybe not a complicated cockpit one with separator etc, but a simple mechanical one spliced directly into a fuel line. I got a VDO miniature gauge that's installed just like that. Not expensive. Engine stops: open the hood and you can immediately know if it's a fuel prob or someting else. My two cents.

This should give you a hand figuring what are the marks you have to take into account. Not the arrows. Cambelt2-Motor.pdf

White dielectric grease is usually recommended on the wires boot to ease their future removal. Usually available in a small tube in auto parts stores. This grease can also be used on other kinds of electrical connections to protect them from water and corrosion.

You have to pull the axle out of the diff before you try pulling it out of the hub. To do that you have to have the knuckle move out a little by unfastening the ball joint or the control arm at some point.

That's the upper part of the range : between .039 and .044. I've always presumed that, since the gap widens as the plus is used, it was better to gap the plug (when it is possible and recommended to do : they advise against it on platinum and iridium plug packages) to the smaller part of the range. I even measured my last platinum as having a gap of .038 and installed them like that with no apparent ill effects. What is your experiences about that?

It can be seen just behind the cam belt cover (and sticking a little bit over it, thus easily seen) on the driver's side of the engine right next to the dipstick. Look for a connector on something small round and held verticaly by only one bolt). I presume it's not different than on my 2.2 L. It's inline with the driver's side cam shaft.

It is, as far as it's exactly what happened to me when I replaced my belt. Some members tried to figure out recently when (after how many rotations) the marks on the belt would line up again and, IIRC, they could not figure out the maths necessary to find the exact solution. FWIW.

The ECU sensor has two leads and has probably (if it's like on my 96 2.2L) a dark red connector. The gauge sender is, IIRC, just underneath (at leas very very close) and has only one wire going to it.

There is also a 91-98 (that's the one I use) one that would be at least a bit more relevant. I suspect the one you have might be weighted more toward the EA engines than towards the EJ ones. Even new, they're not very expensive.

On my car, when that "doughnut" began to leak it was because the spring bolts and flange holding it were rusted beyond repair. I had to have a used second cat welded in. Your case maybe different but expect the worst.

Be careful with the fush : dont neglect to read the small type on the can. I have one can (dont remember the name, it's in the car right now) that specifies not to let it more than 10 minutes in an aluminum rad. Dont know the kind of damage it could do, but I wont try to find out when I use it . Good luck with the rad!

Nice going DAlgie. You're now entering into grounds totaly unknown to me (rear diff insides). There's certainly some rear diff expert here that will chime in and hopefully give you a hand. Good luck!

On my rad (96 Brighton), if you keep opening the petcock (unscrewing it) it removes competely from the rad. You might try that and see better what's happening.

It's my experience that these suspension components bolts are often almost rust welded and that it's very frustrating to try unfastening them. Penetrating oil, heat and lots of arm's oil is the only way I think. Sure thing though, you have to "spread out" the hub-knuckle-wheel assembly to remove the axle from the diff. If you wait long enough maybe someone that's already done this will chime in. Meanwhile, and again if your car's rear suspension is not too different from a 90-98 Legacy, Haynes requires to unfasten both control arms (on each side of the axle) where they connect to the rear knuckle to be able to push out the knuckle and slide the axle out of the diff. Not sure what you mean exactly by "rear toe link off the upright outboard". EDit: Off course, you could also try unfastening the control arms at the other end. Good luck!

Just to be sure, do you mean side to side or up and down play (rare I think) or, like it is the case usually, radial play (you turn the steering left or right and it moves a bit before the front wheels move) ? If it's the latter problem, one too often overlooked part of the steering system is the universal joint (in fact there are two, one on top of the other) at the end of the steering column (on the engine's side of the fire wall) just above where it connects to the steering rack (it can be accessed from over the driver's side fender). I had the radial play problem with my current Legacy and it turned out to be that one of the universal joint connexion was loose. I remember giving the same answer to a poster a couple of years ago (?) and that was exactly his problem. He was looking at replacing the steering rack and a turn of the ratchet solved his problem. A possiblity to look into. Hope that helps. P.-S.: In both cases it was the lower joint that was the culprit (harder to spot at first glance, cause it's partly hidden by the upper one.

Be charitable if this ever happen to be a stupid question (I have no idea what your mechanical experience is), but how is the rest of the half axle? Is it still in one piece and is the outer end still bolted to the rear hub and knuckle?

How about a little icing on that cake for good measure ? :-p

If that can be of any help, rear axles (without spring pins) removal procedure on a Legacy up to 96 (according to Haynes) is to just pry them off using a pry bar and using the diff bearing bolt heads as a fulcrum so not to risk damaging the bearings or bearings housing. Might be the same on your car. FWIW.

Here's what I think is happening mwatt. 1) The residual pressure is probably lost either at the injectors, at the fuel pressure regulator or at the pump's check valve OR a little bit at some or at everyone of these places. I dont think that at anyone of these places an absolutely tight seal is made. 2) So there's no pressure in the morning. Can't argue with the gauge on this. 3) On a sound system (no leaking hoses, etc.), I think it's reasonnable to think that fuel stops to leak (at any of the points mentioned) when the pressure reaches zero. If the seals are not absolutely tight, they're tight enough to hold fuel at zero pressure. 4) So if the fuel lines are still full of fuel (even at zero pressure) when one starts in the morning, the fuel system can return almost intantly to normal pressure the moment the pump starts. The fact is that with zero pressure in the system, and at the same engine temperature there is no difference in the time my engine takes to start between turning the ignition to "start" immediately or waiting a few seconds at "ON". That's with my car (every reason to believe it's standard), YMMV. I hope this can contribute to clarify things on that subject.