Rooster2

Was the brake drag occurring somewhat before the new rotors and pads? If so, do new pads make it worse? Suspect that you have a bad brake caliper that is not releasing the pad pressure when you take your foot off the brake. Thus, you are effectively driving around with one brake still partially applied. That is why the rotor and caliper are so hot. I would think that you can feel the car "pull" to the left (driver side) when driving down the street. I think if you replace the bad caliper your problem will be solved. You may also have to replace the brake pad that is prolly pretty well burned up as well.

I had the same problem on a 91 leggie a few years back. It was a bad HG. It was less hassle to find a good motor in a wrecking yard, then had a mechanic install it. The motor ran super for several more years until the trany tanked.

$3,000 seems somewhat high to me, by about $500 to $800 in myo. Red with a white hatch? The different colored hatch, implies that the hatch is not the original. Ask the seller what that is about. Gas millage with AWD will be max 30 mpg on freeway driving, prolly 25 max driving around town. Subtract another 2 mpg if it is automatic transmission. The 96 does have the desirable 2.2 motor with no head gasket issues.

Prolly not. The cars are two separate platforms, and not the same car length. Individual components like a cat converter or a muffler could be the same, but that is about it.

IMO, I would weigh "time" in the factor of when to do some maintenance work. If it were my car, I would replace the timing belt, pulley, tensioner, water pump, and front oil seal at the same time. The timing belt is the key item to replace, but since all the other replacebable parts are right at hand, it makes sense to replace them at the same time with minimal extra labor cost. This is what I did, when I bought my 99 OBW a few years back. I am unaware of airbag inspection. I have never heard of that before.

As far as I know, when Dextron is improved they give it a higher number. Dextron 3 is what is being sold right now. Dextron 3 will work in any application calling for Dextron ATF. Dextron 3 is what I use in my two Subies. If you are handy with a wrench, you can change the ATF yourself. There is a drain plug on the bottom of the tranny pan. Pull the plug, drain the ATF, but any drain only takes out about half of the fluid. So, the ATF needs to be drained and refilled three times to get a new fluid exchange. Drive a few miles between changes. Doing this requires a little work, but is a lot cheaper then having a power flush done. IMO, no need for any additives, including a friction modifier. Good clean ATF is all you need.

Don't know where to tell you to look, but I think there is a sensor somewhere in/on the cooling system that turns on the cooling fans. I think you can check to see if the fans are good by disconnecting the wiring connector, then "hot wiring" directly to 12V. I don't think it makes any difference which of the two wires is connected to positive to see if the fan s work. Connected one way, the fan blades turn clock wise, connected the other way the blades turn counter clock wise. If this car has an automatic trans, suggest you drain and replace the ATF. There is a drain plug that is exactly like the oil pan drain plug for draining the ATF on the bottom of the trany. Subaru makes it easy to change the ATF. Unfortunately, only about half of the ATF can be drained at one time, the remaining ATF will not drain from the torque converter. So the ATF need to be changed at least three times, and driven between changes, to finally get a good overall fluid change. Sounds like you are doing all the good maintenance on the car that it desperately needs. Hope your son is helping you with the work as well. It is a good opportunity for him to learn about car maintenance.

Sorry to say, but if you have to work that hard at bleeding and burping the cooling system, then the cooling system is prolly not the problem. You don't want to hear it, but I am afraid you have a bad head gasket.

Glad to hear that you escaped this adventure with very minimal damage. How thoughtful for Subie to have the safety link to stop major damage from reverse polarity. From your experience, I will be extra careful when installing a new battery in any car to make sure I connect the cables correctly.

I took the time to look in the Haynes Manual for you. In the car wiring section, it shows two fuse links in the wiring harness. From the drawings, I couldn't tell where the fuse links were located under the hood. Suggest you find a Haynes or other Subie manual for the wiring diagram. Hopefully, by now you have had a chance to look further into the wiring to see if additional wiring is burned up. You may get lucky and just have to replace some wiring, and maybe the ecu module. Since you didn't turn the ingnition key during cable reversing, your ignition system may not be damaged. Let us know how you are coming along on this, maybe we can help you some more.

ditto, best to use a Subaru OEM thermostat. After market brands are really cheaply made for a Subie, and don't work well.

changing the egr valve may help gas milage too

An oil catch can is something new to me. What is it? How does it work? Magnetic oil plugs have been around for years. I have always thought that the oil filter was meant to trap any metal particles. Changing the oil and filter on a regular basis should be all that is needed.

At Parts America dot com, Subie OB generic Bosch 02 for $62, exact Bosch OEM replacement for $98 with one day delivery. Yea, guess that is closer to a $40 price differential, but less than the "well over $100" someone quoted you. I have had good performance from Bosch O2 sensors, spark plugs, and plug wires in my two Subies. How are you splicing the wires to the generic to get long term succcess? I would like to know and learn how.

I had a 92 Lggie that the pump went bad, made some grinding noises, and the steering was real stiff because of no power boost, so replaced it with one from a wrecking yard. Replacement worked perfectly. Suggest replacing pump first before considering replacing the rack, as I don't think that Subie racks wear out that often.

Man, I feel for you. Such an ez misstake to make. I don't know how many time I have nearly jumped started a car only to realize that I was in the process of reversing the cables. since the alternator was smoking, you can figure that it will need to be replaced. Suggest check source of smoke at the fuse box. Something there got hot enough to smoke, prolly burnt wire insulation. I think the fuse block unbolts from it's mount, so unbolt it, and look for melted wires underneath. There are prolly other fuseable links elsewhere, that need to be looked at for possible replacement. Maybe others here can tell you where to look these fuseable links. I hope you did not try to start the car with the backwards wiring. If not, then you ignition system may be okay.

In my opinion it is still far better to buy an O2 sensor that is designed specifically for your model Subie. My experience in using a generic sensor, is that no matter how hard I tried to attach the OEM connector to a generic sensor, it has usually failed in about a year or so. This is experience in applying a generic to a number of makes of cars. I finally came to the conclusion that spending the extra $20 or so is money well spent, in not having to do the job a second or third time.

I wouldn't worry about your oil leak starting a fire, even if it drips on the exhaust system. Motor oil is just not volatile, and won't burn without an open flame. It will just smoke some, but won't flame up. I don't see you mention any driveability problems, so if it is just some drip and smoke, I would just keep driving the car as is. Just don't let the motor run low on motor oil. Check the oil level often, and carry a couple cans (well oil used to be sold in cans) of oil, and fill up as needed. I drove an old VW a good ten years with minor oil leaks. I just kept the oil level up, and the motor just kept on going.

Sorry "Bruz Brothers" I posted the same thing that you did. Guess that will teach me to read new posts before posting something new. Well anyway the article was an attention getter if true. There are plenty of Outbacks here in Indy, and I never see one pulled over. Does anyone here get pulled over a lot, or get significant parking tickets/

Today, according to US News and World Report, the Outback is one of the top 10 most cop ticketed cars..........The following is an exerpt from the magazine: Subaru Outback Subarus have a reputation of being yuppie grocery getters, but the Outback manages to prove that stereotype wrong by being one of the top ten most ticketed cars. Apparently, the Outback is the car of choice for people who need to get to Whole Foods in a hurry, and maybe park illegally once they're there.

8% more people realized that Subaru makes some really nice vehicles.

Sava is unknown in the U.S. I went to the Sava website to see what they offer. It is a rather complete line of tires. Company is in the Ukraine. They don't direct sell off their website to the United States.

I agree that you are smart in walking away from a car with some issues. IMO, $1,300 is too high, even if the car had no issues. The car is 18 year old, if in decent shape with no issues, cost should be about $800.

That is a slick idea. I will have to remember this!

No fresh (cheap) ideas on how to fix this. Since you added the thickener, (maybe something like STP or the like?) and now the warning light now comes only after the motor has warmed up and the thick oil is now flowing more freely, only under scores my feeling that your connecting rod bearings are bad. Reving up the engine is increasing oil pressure to lube the worn bearing tolerances. Letting engine idle back to 800 rpm or so, reduces the oil pressure, and you are back to poor lubrication, and the warning light back on. There are a lot of people out there smarter than me, but in my opinion, I am thinking that you need to replace the rod bearings, or it may be easier and cheaper to drop in another engine. With bad bearings in your motor, it is very possible that a connecting rod to break (throw a rod). If that happens the broken rod usually punches a hole in the side of the engine block, and that is the absolute death of that engine. I had that happen years back when driving an old Chevy. When that happens, you know it is absolutely time to call a tow truck.