Rooster2

Looks like a lot of rust. Best to check all of under side for rust damage.

Wouldn't a bad plug/wire cause a misfire based CEL? Yes, very likely to cause a CEL, but still a possibility that previous owner went cheap with low cost plug wires and spark plugs. If so, the cheapies don't hold up well. Pull a spark plug, identify manufacturer, and part number to see if from a quality manufacturer. You don't want to see that the plugs are made by Champion or Autolight. They don't work well in a Subie. Best to see that NKG plugs are in use. Probably impossible to identify manufacturer of plug wires, however, does the wire set look robust with thick diameter wires?

No, the fuse changing to 2 wheel drive still does not permit towing with 2 wheels on the ground. Flat bed towing, or towing with car on a trailer with all wheels off the ground is still needed.

Original post said OBS, which is Outback Sport, which is an Impreza, not a Legacy Outback. So, I think both built on an Impreza chassis . So, lots is interchangeable.

suspect a suspension problem. Check ball joints, tie rods for any looseness.

problem 1.....how long since spark plugs and plug wires been installed? Bad wires in particular can be okay at park when revving the motor, but spark will break down under load of driving. Recently I had a wobble in steering that turned out to be fixed by replacing a half shaft that had a blown out outter rubber dust cover. Check your half shafts for that problem. Does howling noise sound like it is coming from the front or rear of the car? A bad wheel bearing will sound like an rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound, and will get louder if the bearing is bad at the front and stressed, like when exiting a freeway ramp on a sweeping turn.

fuel filter is located under the hood. Maybe bad coil pack??

Doubtful that you have an air pocket somewhere, unless coolant was drained and re-filled. A good way to get rid of an air pocket is to park on an incline, with the front part of the car higher then the rear end of the car.

maybe plugged up radiator??

Agree with above. With 236K miles on the clock, I would be very reluctant to rebuild an engine with that much wear. A 2.2 motor is a nice swap, but what works is something back in the mid to late 90's. It is now a stretch to find a 2.2 that is still good, and worth buying and installing.that is that old.

On my 99 OBW, it is 4 quarts plus one pint from drain to refill. However, remember, you are only draining about half of the ATF. The remainder is retained in the torque converter, and cannot be drained out.

thermostat definitely on lower hose. Good luck with the Blue Devil. I hope it works. Just my 2 cents worth........when my 99 Outback blew a head gasket, I did a lot of reading on the subject. The crux of the problem is that Subaru built the motor so that the top of the piston protrudes so very slightly out of the block at top dead center. Because of that, Subaru had to use extra thick head gaskets. The "extra thick" hasn't worked out real well. There have been several head gasket upgrades by Subaru to correct the problem. I think my 99 has the last upgrade. The chatter on this forum is that the latest head gasket is probably good for 100K miles, beyond that i need to keep my fingers crossed that the head gasket will hold.

My 98 OBW just threw a "ABS" dash idiot light last night. What should I look at first as a problem area that needs fixing?? I checked the archives on this forum, but couldn't find anything relevant. Thanx............Rooster2

ditto as written above. Pull out the spark plug on cyl 3, and see what it looks like. A good idea to have a new set of spark plugs on hand and available for installation.

Recently had a slight pull to the right on 98 OBW. It wasn't much so put up with it for a while. Finally, had tires rotated, ball joints replaced, and 4 wheel alignment. Slight pull still persisted. Then noticed the outer right side boot was blown out on the half shaft. I had the half shaft replaced, and that fixed the slight pull. Sometimes, very difficult to find the source to correct the problem. Fairtax4me, I can fully understand your frustration. Glad you got yours fixed.

maybe spark plugs and plug wires? Is what's on there old, maybe worn out??

I will offer you $900 for the Forester!! Nicely done.

Sounds like it is key slot only problem you really have. Key slot lube should fix the problem. If at some time you have rusty latch unit on your tailgate, the latch "grip" will bind and stick upon pulling on it with your fingers, and then won't spring retract as it should. If sticking, spray with PB blaster, and lube well with spray grease. That will work for a while, until rust reforms, and then it is time to buy a replacement latch unit.

Sounds like you should have lubed the cylinders in the key slot mechanism. There is key slot lube that comes in an aerosol can with a tiny wand to squirt into the key opening. Has the broken part of the key stayed inside the key way, and blocking a new key from entering the key slot? Subarus are made with one key that fits everything. There is no trunk or hatch key that is separate. With my 99 Leggie, I had trouble with the latch unit on the hatch. It was rusty, and would jam up. I finally installed a new latch unit to fix that problem. Is this perhaps your problem as well?

IMHO, I think you would be better off swapping in a OEM Subaru pump. Something seems to be wrong or defective with the deatchwerks dw200 fuel pump.

If you start the motor to keep warm at night, suggest you crack a window just a bit. Yea, I know you don't want the cold air to come in, but if you have an exhaust leak, even slight, you don't want to wake up dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

If there is anything left of the rounded off bolt, I have taken an old 3/8" drive socket that is just slightly smaller then the bolt head. It will be a socket that I don't care about, and I will then hammer down the socket over the bolt head. Often, this will remove the bolt or nut. However, what remains in the socket may be difficult to remove, so have thrown away the socket with rusted bolt or nut inside.

Salt is the real killer. Under coating isn't done anymore. It was really made for sound deadening, not rust proofing. Your dad had the right idea of using oil as a barrier method to prevent salt from getting into direct contact with steel to form rust. Just like how a condom works. Washing the salt from the car helps a lot, but not too practical in the dead of winter when the temp is below freezing level.

The performance will not be better, perhaps worse.

The problem is that the Impreza and Legacy are two different size cars, with the Legacy being longer then the Impreza. This makes it really difficult to do a swap. If you want used, go to a wrecking yard, any 96-99 Legacy wagon, or Legacy Outback system will work without modification. Suggest you check around for a muffler shop that does cut, bend, and weld muffler systems together. They are usually family owned muffler shops, and never any of the chain muffler shops like Midas, Car X, etc. If you can find a family owned shop, they will cut out and replace only what is bad, or at worse replace the system. Either way, the cost will be a lot less, more like max in the $200 range, or less if just certain parts of the exhaust system need replacement. I have kept my 2 old Outbacks going for years with just exhaust parts swapped in as needed. Did some internet research in your behalf, and found this company does cut, bend, weld exhaust work, along with towing. Don't know how close they are to where you live, but it is a start, if you want to look around on the internet, under "Dover NH, auto muffler shops" you may find more listings. Dave's Tri-City Towing LLC 50 Wakefield Street - Rochester, NH 03867 603.332.8700 - 603.332.7447 Call or Visit Us Today!