Rooster2

Don't let any high pressure salesman bother you with any high pressure tactics of urgency, like someone else wants to buy the car, or to get a lower price, you have to decide to buy NOW. Remember you are in control, because you have the money. He who has the money has the control. If he is bugging you, tell him so, and if he persists, tell him you want to deal with another sales person, not him, at the dealership. Also, tell him you have several more cars to look at, even if this isn't necessarily so. It is simply of matter of just stepping forward with authority to control the situation. I am an old industrial salesman, so I was the sales game years ago.

"When I came to complete stop engine oil light came on," and now you are hearing banging noise. I suspect a broken connecting rod, because the oil light came on. Yea, check for a bad tension-er, but I still suspect a bad rod, particularly if the engine is running rough at an idle, like firing on three cylinders.

My advise is that you may want to be looking at finding another daily driver. At 320,000 miles, I feel that you are pressing your luck with the daily 50 mile commute. One of these days, the car will suffer a major break down, and leave you stranded. The "knock" on start up indicates that oil pressure is low due to high millage engine wear. If it were me, I would start using 20W - 50W oil. The thicker oil will increase oil pressure, and oil leakage will be somewhat less. My feeling is when a car is that old, with that many miles, it reaches a point where it does not make economic sense to invest any sizable money into repairs. If it were me, I would buy myself a used Subaru to be my daily driver, and relegate the 92, as a back up car to use on local errand use. At 320K miles, the car is not something that you can sell for more than a couple hundred bucks, so like I said, just keep it to be your back up car.

Did the Clarion radio provide good AM reception when first installed, or are you the second owner, and the Forester already had the radio installed when you bought it. If you have noticed the AM reception degrade over time, then I would suspect problems with the antenna or antenna connection. If reception has always been bad, then I would suspect that the problem is with the radio. It might be defective, or if it is like other after market radios I have had, it is just a characteristic of the radio. Some radios that I have owned, have provided poor AM reception since day one. I suspect the manufacturer on my radios went cheap on the AM radio design, and put all their effort in making the FM radio portion perform well.

Agree on price way too high. I bought my 99 OBW in good condition 4 years ago with 148K on the odo for $4,400.

No, don't think that nut shells would cause the knock sensor to misbehave. My 98 OBW had the knock sensor go bad. CEL would come on, then turn itself off, then back on again a couple of days later. Don't be surprised if the CEL comes back on soon. If so, replace the knock sensor, and it should cure your problem. I bought my sensor at Auto Zone. They were nice enough to read the code at no charge, so I gave them my business. A dealer would have charged a diagnostic fee of about $80 to read the codes. There is a time when it is best to go to AZ, this was one of them.

Internal leak.

I agree with General Disorder's advise in that you might have lost half the coil pack. Spark plugs and spark plug wires don't wear out, or break instantaneously as you have described. Don't waste your money on replacing them right now, as the source of fixing your problem. Get a read out on the check engine light code. I am betting that the code will tell you exactly what is wrong.

The smaller tire will make your car lower to the ground, so you will have reduced ground clearance. Maybe loose one half, or close to an inch of ground clearance. The tire store should be able to tell you exactly how much.

+1 on don't swap to a 5 speed. With all the time and money, and down time on the swap out, you would be far better off to sell this car with the A/T, and buy a Subie with a 5 speed.

+1 on replacing the alternator. I am thinking that your new battery will survive. Replacing the alternator is an ez do it yourself project. All bolts, including tension-er bolts/nuts are easy to access. Just part of the beauty of owning a Subaru. Had this been a Honda, it would be a nasty cussing job to replace an alternator.

Your mechanic prolly does not know about the feasibility and practicality of swapping in a ej22 motor. It is just not public knowledge. Like said earlier, it is an easy swap, with the ej22 being a much better (reliable) motor then the current ej25 that came with the car. For my money, it is the best solution to your problem.

I seem to remember that the 2.2 motor takes 4.2 quarts. I experienced the same problem, when I had a 2.2 motor. Like someone said, add 4 quarts, and a bit more. Don't worry about being just slightly above full on the dip stick. Replacing oil is not rocket science. It does not need to be super precise. A little extra won't cause problems. Just don't go over board and dump in 5 quarts. That would be way too much.

A good looking ride! You sure have addressed the problem areas on the car. Do you have a grill to install? I would hate to hear that a rock got flipped into your radiator to cause a leak. The grill would prevent that.

Yes lots written in the archives on this forum about how to set the timing. Use the "search" feature on this forum to read up on the subject, and how to precisely set the timing. My last Subie was a 91 Legacy. It was a great running car. The 2.2 motor is built really tough, and will run many many miles. Yes, you are correct in that it is a non interference motor, so if the timing is off, the valves will not get damaged. Hope you get the motor to run. Keep us posted, we like to hear success stories! If you run into additional problems, we are here to assist you.

Perhaps you already know this, but I will still repeat. If you go to a car parts store, the counter guy will check out your charging system at no charge. It only takes a couple of minutes of time, and the guy will do it in their parking lot. I agree with the other guys, it sounds like your alternator is going south.

Same thought, thoroughly bleed all 4 wheel cylinders to fix the problem.

I don't have the answer you seek, however, having cleaned up broken window glass, the best way to do so is with a vacuum cleaner. Suggest using gloves to pick up pieces. A few years back, I neglected the gloves, and got a sliver of glass deep in my finger print. It hurt every time that I pushed a key on the keyboard. It took a hand surgeon to remove the sliver. I learned my lesson.

Congrats on the MC install. It is always satisfying when a do it yourself project is successful. Drive your Subie another 100K miles!

Yea, I bet there is one more rally left in that motor. Just be sure to fill it up with oil before the start of the rally, and make sure that the spark plugs are good and clean (oil free). Tell the rally promoter and any nearby farmers, that you will be happy to fog the course to keep down mosquitoes and crop eating pests!

I think you will need to replace the knock sensor. I can't see how soldering, taping, or whatever, will repair the knock sensor, as the correct electrical imput traveling through the wire is crucial. With a bad sensor, engine timing is so retarded that the car will run like a sick slug with poor power, and gas millage will be down.

When I bought a car at a Goodwill auction, the belt driving the A/C compressor was missing. I simply replaced the belt to see if the A/C would operate. It didn't, the compressor was locked up. Suggest you replace the belt to see if your compressor will work. Also, remove the cap to the low side port of the A/C. Depress the Schader valve a tiny bit to see if you can hear the hiss of refrigerant escaping from the system. This will instantly tell you if the system has any refrigerant remaining in the system. If no hissing sound, then you will know that all refrigerant has leaked out.

I am trying to figure out after watching the video, if the smoke was burned oil or steam, or a combination there of. How much oil or coolant is lost after you drive this beast for any distance?

You should be good for another 150K+ miles on your baby!

Thanks for the write up. Learn something new every day!