Rooster2

+1 on wheel bearing trouble!

Hope you got names and contact info on witnesses to give testimony that you got rear ended.

Please, just calm down. Subies are great cars! When you over heated the brakes, the rotors were over heated as well, and warped. The wobble results from over heated rotors. Replace or have the existing rotors "trued", and your problems are solved.

I learned the above info after I had already bled out my brakes last summer. I didn't know better, so I did the left side, then the right side. Used a "one man" bleeder system that worked just fine. Old brake fluid looked like iced tea. I just kept pumping and adding fresh DOT 3, until the bled fluid became clear in color. No issue with the brakes afterwords. Car has ABS, didn't seem any different then changing fluid with non ABS.

I am surprised that the parts store computer doesn't show specifically which pump part number fits an n/a motor vs turbo motor. Call and ask, maybe counter guy was new, and doesn't know fully how to operate the computer.

Yea, your caliper sounds bad............ IMO, you don't need to buy a reman caliper directly from a dealer. I have had no problem buying one from a regular parts store like Autozone or Advance. Also, any web based car parts biz should be able to get you one

Same thought, good chance it is a bad half shaft. Check the rubber boots at both ends of the half shafts for tears in the rubber part. When that happens, over time dirt gets in the bearing to cause wear, resulting in the noise that you are hearing. When wear gets really bad, the joint will completely break down.

Suggest you remove the top (fill) bolt first, before the bottom bolt. Nothing worse then draining the lube, but can't get the top bolt loose to refill the dif.

Any brand of tooth paste will work! No need to remove the lens from the car. Easier to clean if you sit down in front of the lens assembly on something like a step stool, or the like. Yea, I can see why your "sister" rides everywhere with you. The way she dresses, she can't leave your car without drawing a large crowd of gawkers!

To change the turn signal bulb, open the hood, I think there is one screw holding the plastic corner of the turn signal unit in place. Then, then use the palm of your hand to slide the corner unit forward. There are plastic slide channels on the back of the plastic corner that will glide forward. Reassemble in reverse order. There are kits available at car parts store to polish the clear plastic lens of the head light units. However, first you may want to try polishing using a wet paper towel and tooth paste as the polishing agent. Have a bucket of water at your side to wash off the tooth past to see how clear your light lens is becoming. I have found this works pretty well.

Okay, so MMO is Marvel Mystery Oil. Yea, I am aware of it. That product has been around for a long time. I have never heard anything negative about it, so if you have been happy with it, then I don't see any problem adding it to the Forester.

What is MMO??

A few years back, I replaced the pump on a 91 Leggie. Cost from a wrecking yard was $35. Replacement worked perfectly. It was easy to swap out.

The noise sounds like your starter or battery is not working. Suggest jump starting the car, then go to a chain auto parts store that will have a counter guy come out to the parking lot, hook up their diagnostic equipment, and tell you if the starter or battery have gone bad. The parts store will not charge you for this work. It is their service in hopes you will buy replacement part(s) from them. If you are half way mechanically handy, replacing either the battery or starter is pretty easy to do.

The Subaru stop leak additive is made for the phase 2 motors, your 98 has the phase 1 motor, so the additive won't help. I simply use Wal-Mart's house brand of antifreeze. The label says good for all cars. So far, no issues. The flush is a good idea. Also suggest a new rad cap, and changing the thermostat if it is old.

A Subaru mechanic who knows his stuff, can look at the corners of the head gasket, where they protrude out, and tell you if it is the newer style of head gasket or not. Also, suggest you drive this car at speed on a highway for about 10 miles to see if there is any over heating, because of a bad head gasket. Simply driving around town at lower speeds may not induce over heating, if it is an issue. Does the car lot have a 30 day warranty on cars they sell?

Tons written here about your model Subaru developing bad head gaskets. Subaru has a reputation of bad head gaskets. It won't present itself as coolant getting mixed with the oil. It is exhaust gas pouring into the coolant that causes the over heating.

+1 on that, maybe do a good soak down with PB Blaster too. I failed to do that on my OBW, and sheared off one of the bolts that attaches the caliper. Then, the fun began.

I have two OBWs, a 98 and 99, but don't remember ever seeing a sensor plugged into a radiator. Sensors usually screw into the block. Suggest you visually look at both sides of your radiator, and inside along the bottom edge for a sensor on your radiator. I doubt that you will find one. If so, it will have an electrical wire connected to it.

I always considered NAPA parts better than most, with about a 20% price higher than the other chain auto parts store. A lot of Chinese parts are okay, but some is junk. NAPA must be falling on hard times, if they now want are willing to sell junk. Guess they are no better now then the AZ stores, but I bet are still selling at 20% higher.

+1, I wouldn't tighten it any more. Should work just fine with snug tightening.

How many miles on plugs and plug wires? If old, I would replace them. Add a can of injector cleaner, the good stuff costing about $6/bottle, as in Chevron Techron. The cheap cleaner does little, just wastes your money.

The tires are pretty new; less than 5,000 miles. They all match. The rims are original to the car, and yeah, they're porous. After a while, the bead lets go a little bit, and they start a slow-leak process that lasts until the tires either get remounted or replaced. From what I understand, steel rims don't have this problem. My response to above quote: I have both a 98 and a 99 Oubacks with alloys. Yes, I get tire air leaks that I attribute to the wheels. Not so much that the alloys have porous metal, but I think it is more likely that corrosion (aluminum oxide) builds up at the tire bead, and that corrosion material causes small air leaks. In the past, I have gone to a tire shop, had the shop dismount the tire, grind around the rim bead area with a wire brush on the end of a power drill. Then have the tire remounted. That has fixed the problem. My own recent solution, has been to add about 1/4 to 1/3 can of the fix a flat to a tire that I have reduced the air pressure to about 15 to 20 pounds, then reinflate the tire, and drive on it immediately a mile or so. The immediate driving is necessary to fling the fix a flat to coat the inside of the tire and tire bead. Not driving the car immediately, may cause the fix a flat to puddle permanently in one spot on the inside of the tire, and that is not good. So far this has sealed up every leak, and with the minimal amount of fix a flat added to the tire, the wheel remains balanced. The above advise is prolly not going to sit well with a good many people, who don't like fix a flat to begin with, but like I say, this solution has worked for me.

Welcome to this forum. A lot of good knowledgeable Subie people are here and very willing to help answer your questions. In my opinion, what is critical on the 99 OBW is to know if, and when, the head gaskets were replaced. With 200K+ on the odo, I am sure that the hg have been replaced on the car. If not, then you have to know that the motor is a sure bet candidate for hg replacement in the amount of about $1,500. The head gasket is a common major issue that ultimately affects all Subarus, with the 2.5 motor, and that includes the 99 you are looking at. Ask when the timing belt, tension-er pully, have been replaced. This is important, because should the timing belt break, then the intake and exhaust valves clash with the pistons to cause some serious damage. $3-4,000 seems a bit high for the age and mileage on this car. My guess, is that $2-2,500 is more realistic, and that is with the knowledge that the head gaskets, and timing belt were replaced within the past couple of years. You may even want to offer less because of the clutch issue, exhaust issue, and brakes for the rear. Check to "torque bind," related to all wheel drive. Read about this phenomena in the search area on this forum.