Rooster2

I had something similar with my 99, with 2.5 motor. I suspected a small amount of water in the fuel tank. I added 1 gallon of E-85 fuel, then finished refueling with unleaded 87 gasoline on a near empty tank.. I figured the ethanol would absorb the water, and it did.

bad half shaft??

I assume the P/S fluid is full in your reservoir?? I would agree with you that it may be a pump problem.

Jiffy Lube would not have been my choice to buy a battery. They are good at changing oil, as that is their specialty. If you go to Snopes.com, there is an article that Jiffy Lube has a reputation of charging customers for work not done. I question their trustworthyness.

Suggest you shop for a Subie on Craig's list. You are better off buying directly from seller then through a dealer. You will get a better price, and hopefully the owner has kept maintenance repair receipts to show the car has been well maintained.

If you can find one in good shape, a 95 Leggie wagon should fill your needs. It has the 95-99 body style, and with a 2.2 motor, the engine is easy to work on, and very reliable. If you break its timing belt, there is no engine damage. Just replace the belt, and drive on. I have a 95 2.2 motor transplanted in to my wife's 98 Outback. Love that 2.2 motor.

I certainly don't wish to contest advisement against towing from Subaru Master, but was consideration given to a manual tranny? Would be interested in learning more... I stand corrected. Thanks. I did read the link that with a standard tranny that the car can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground.

To pull a Baja behind an RV, you would need to be trailoring it. A Baja needs all 4 wheels off the ground to be trailored, otherwise, the all wheel drive system will be damaged.

Guess a jump start, and simply driving the Forester has the battery charged up to be like new??

Ask, if when the head gaskets were replaced. If it fires just a little, that is an indication that the timing belt is not broken

I have never had any long term success with flex pipe. IMO the metal in the pipe is too thin, and not very good quality metal at that. I tried it twice, but both times the pipe rusted through and broke. I am with you, I don;t like doughnut gaskets either. Really a PITA. I have just cut them off when broken, then cut a piece of pipe to proper length (one size either larger or smaller in diameter,) and slide over or in the pipes at each end. Fasten down with horse shoe exhaust clamps, and job is done. Any more, I now have this type of work done at a family owned muffler shop, that torches off bad pipe, cut and bend new pipe to fit, and weld in the new piece of pipe to finish the job. Usually, I am out the door with cost of about $50. The large chain muffler shops won't do this type of work, but small shops will.

+1 on soldering, then you know it is going to last.

I am guessing that spedo is more prominently displayed in Km/Hr, and odo is in Kilometers in the Canadian models.

Hope the replacement alternator holds up. Enjoy your Subie!!

+1 on suspected alternator trouble. Since you bought the alternator back in 8/13, you should have a warranty with the sale. If bought from a car parts store, a counter person will come out to the parking lot with test equipment to test your charging system at no cost. You can easily learn if battery or alternator, or both are bad. The nice thing, is that swapping in an alternator in a Subie is easy work.

The oil pan could leak, but then unlikely the oil would be able to leak from there onto the exhaust system. It is the heat from the exhaust that is causing the leaking oil to smoke. Much more likely that the oil is leaking from the valve covers up on the engine, or an oil seal on the motor, then dripping down onto the exhaust to become smoke. My Outback with same engine as yours leaks oil, and I can smell it, when stopped at an intersection. I add an additive to the oil, at oil change time to curb the oil leak. Several products at auto parts store are sold for this purpose. The additive swells the seals to reduce the oil leakage. I have been doing this for years as a cheap fix. As posted earlier, be sure to keep adding oil to your car, while it is leaking oil. It is easy to forget this, and then you let your motor run out of oil. If that happens, your engine will be ruined. You must be vigilant.

Sounds like a good find. Yea, prolly wheel bearings or half shaft problems. All very fixable. Prolly needs a new timing belt, but since it is 96 w/ 2.2 motor, it is a non interference motor. If the T/B breaks, there will not be any valve or piston damage. Motor will just stop. Just replace the timing belt, and you would be good to go again.

I would not be concerned about the different size canister on the oil filters. I have encountered this many times. Different brands have different diameters.The Bosch filter should screw on properly, and work just fine. It will just take a different size filter wrench, or an adjustable type wrench to put it on. Not surprised about plug numbers being different, After 10+ years numbers change, but I don't know if correct. There is a very good chance that drum brakes for a 99 will fit a 00. I would bet they would work.

Looking again at the photo of the door, if the door handle doesn't work, it may result from bent mechanism inside the dented door. A new door handle won't fix this. Does the door open using either the outside door handle or inside door release lever?? The door looks structurally sound, so I too, don't see a safety issue for anyone riding in the back seat. I suspect the window will not go down because of the door dent. I wouldn't attempt to lower the window, it may not rise up and close again. $3900 is a good deal from the insurance company. You would have been hard pressed to get that much money for the car, had you been selling it before the accident. As others have said, recommend you buy a door from a wrecking yard. Have them load the door into the cargo area. Then take to a repair garage, or a collision repair shop for installation, or have anyone handy with tools to unbolt and bolt new door in place. If your local High School has a course in car repair, the teacher there, and students will replace the door at minimal cost. Total cost of door and installation will be under $300.

You could put a fuse in the fuse holder slot near the firewall, and drive in 2 wheel drive. Tire size won't matter when driven in 2 wheel drive.

Yes, congrats on the home purchase......I hope that goes a lot better then working on the shock problem. You may have already gotten that bottom bolt out. Like others have said..........use a bottle jack to take the weight off the bolt, also wedge in a piece or two of wood, if you are wanting to keep the shock from moving, when you hammer at the bolt. I always keep several small pieces of a 2 X 4 around to either use as a "stop" to keep the shock from moving, or stack the pieces of wood to raise the needed heighth reach for the bottle jack to rest on. Upon reassembly, I use the bottle jack to "push up" the bottom of the shock to the proper height and angle, so I can easily insert the bolt through the shock mount tube for an easy bolt up. It is so much easier then trying to push the shock upward by hand for bolting. You may also consider wrapping the spring with a lot of old rags and towels real tight, so the spring has little space to move side to side, should that spring break free. The less the spring can move, the less it can snap out and hurt you. Some how, some way, you will conquer this project. Once apart, reassembly with good parts should be easy. Keep us posted on how you come out.

He states it is a Baja in one of his posts.

# 2.........answer.........if you break the timing belt on a 99 Leggie, you are guaranteed to have valve damage, as the 2.5 motor is an "interference" motor. Lets go back to basics..........What Subaru year and model are you specifically wanting answers about??

I got lucky by going to Craig's list in my city, went to cars & trucks for sale, narrowed search to Subaru only by owner. I do this periodically to see what is for sale. I was surprised to see a mechanic with Subaru experience wanting to do " moon light" work on Subies at his house. Turned out he had been a tech at a dealership a few years back. I had him replaced the HGs on my 99 on the cheap. He does great work. Suggest you go on Craig's list at the Subaru car section, and ask if anyone does mechanical work on Subies. Who knows, you may find someone.

IIMHO, it may be easier, and better at this junction to replace the tranny with a good used one from a w-yard. They aren't that expensive, and installation isn't that difficult. Broken Subie automatics aren't worth repairing.