CNY_Dave

Presumably the TC on that trans is still seated- maybe. If it looks like it cou;dn't slide back more than 1/8 inch it's probably seated. Seating is fairly easy once you get the hang of picking up on the front of the converter just the right amount.

4EAT H6s without VDC have it, outbacks have it up to at least '04.

One way to try getting that plug out- piece of pipe the right size with some serrations in the end to 'match' the gouges, wedge the piper against the fenderwell, and turn... Unless- is this one of those where if you pull the valve cover the plugs become exposed? Pipe wrench might do it then!

Our 2005 forester has had a 'slightly tight' clutch pack for at least 50,000 miles, has never gotten worse. It groans a bit in a parking lot, doesn't shudder.

Engine running in P, lean on that brake pedal. If a line is not about to pop, you can apply all the force you can without hurting anything. If the pedal sinks, it's the MC or a leaky line or wheel cylinder (if it has drum rears). Could be a caliper leaking behind the boot, but I have never actually seen that. I'd pull the MC off the booster and push it forwards just enough to check for fluid, lines still connected. I don't suppose it could be the reservoir to MC seal, and it's just dripping on something hot enough all the leaked fluid is evaporating...

I have seen an extractor work exactly once. It was a 'newer' type from NAPA that looks like a deeply fluted torx bit. Looked similar to these: Using an extractor is usually like saying 'instead of having to drill this hard piece of bolt, I'd really like to deal with something that can't be drilled'. I have done both my ball joints in my sube, I know 100% if I did not have an acetylene/oxy torch, they would have broken, even though I cleaned them and doused them with freeing oil for weeks.

Just make sure the torque converter is really seated, after mating engine and trans there must be a gap showing between the converter and the flex plate!

Sounds like- ?

Talk about going overboard! Then again probably still cheaper than the stocker.

I had an axle from NAPA that kid you not would not line up in either of the 2 possible orientations. One orientation was alllllmost aligned, the other clearly not. Had to return it for another, which went right in. So, even with rotating there can be a gotcha now and then.

I see T70 mentioned for 04+. But, I think I used the same size for my '03 trans and my '04 trans for my '03 LL Bean. Got mine at autozone (or advance, can never keep 'em straight) If / when you do the rear, don't forget to make sure the fill plug turns before removing the drain plug...

A glasspack all the way at the end can make for some interesting sounds. Using a smallish one will add just a touch of back pressure but since it's short and straight through it flows a little better than stock. Buddy had a plymouth horizon manual, one of those little 2.2L boxes. When the exhaust fell apart he had me put a 90 elbow just after the cat and tun the pipe out just ahead of the drivers side rear wheel. Sounded nice, and not too loud when not flooring it, and was nicely waspish revving it up floored. ($$ was the only real driver on that one...)

Red silicone.

Watch the vid in post 6- sound like that?

Well, looks like that's what we all are indeed doing, obviously sparking a mixture in a tank is a low-probability event, but not forbidden in any way by physics or thermodynamics. So if you took a tank off, drained it, left it out so it was mostly dried, put it back on, then cranked it before remembering it had no fricken' gas in the tank, you could have an ignitable mixture and a dry sparking pump, so there must be some other mechanism that helps prevent this. Maybe the volume around the brushes is small and any flame gets quenched before it leaves the pump...

Well, when the fuel is low it's not submerged. Sounds risky to me. Might be able to guarantee a low-energy spark when it's new, but I'd hate to be banking on 'will never happen to have any air in the tank'.

I'm 100% sure the brushes are sealed from the gas, though. They spark!

My bad front pinion- the key to telling is a wheel bearing increases 1x the rate you speed up, the pinion 4x the rate (spins 4.11 or 4.44 times faster than the wheels)

You can isolate the wire that controls the solenoid valve that controls the AWD, and try hooking it to +12V and seeing if you get any AWD out of it. (2003 and younger, +12V disables the AWD, 2004+ no voltage disables it). Pain in the butt to do, when there's no symptoms other than loss of rear drive there's not a lot to check without opening it up. Are you sure it was FWD only?

Our 2005 2.5 forester had the head gaskets replaced under warranty by the dealer for the oil leak. New ones just kept on doing it...

If it had been sitting for a bit the plates in the clutch pack may have been stuck together a bit. Or maybe the E-brake was inadvertently on? Or was it started and idling? Or maybe that one day the rear limited slip decided to actually do something? But, not a symptom of any problem as far as I can tell.

If an auto and no rear limited slip the driveshaft should spin fairly easily with just one rear wheel off the ground even if in park, if a manual I'd expect a bit of drag even if in neutral since the center lockup mechanism would be trying to spin the fronts.

The new washer goes between the new tie rod end and the rack. The tabs engage the rack so the washer can't spin, then when the tie rod end is tight the washer is bent/hammered down over the tie rod end wrench flats so it can't turn and come loose. I measured the length of my old assembly, tricky as you can't just put a ruler on it. You might use a piece of string that can go to a mark on the outer tie rod end somewhere that can be bent the same way over the same things- boot's in the way, though. I didn't put gerease in the end of mine, and I reused the untorn boot.

Tie rod ends either have play, and need to be replaced, or have no play. I had a very small click when I grabbed one of my tires at 9 and 3 and wiggled, could not tell where it was coming from. I used tie straps from the steering wheel spokes to the door latches to hold the wheel very securely, it was then trivial to see it was an inner tie rod end. On these subes I think the car wanders and tries to pick it's own line long before they wear to the point they are any where near actually separating.

I'm just glad I read about that little quirk before changing my 1st subaru axle...