CNY_Dave

How this didn't end in mayhem I don't know... NAPA 2.25 ton floorjack, always been a great workhorse, just wandering around the garage stretching and for no reason decided to step on the lifting puck... and it sank about a half-inch, and stopped with a 'clunk'. A step on it a few times looking at various bits and I see the solid metal box at the rear that forms the tank and takes all the force from the bottom of the bottle jack cylinder 'pops out' from behind the welded metal plate that actually transmits the force to the side plates. Thought it was welded together, turns out there is a big bolt that's loose, completly invisible from above as it's tucked under the top if the caster mount. It let the side plate move away from the tank, allowing the tank to pop out from behind the backstop. I've had this jack up on the bench to fix the little gear that operates the valve, have never even seen this bolt before. Easy fix, but had that bolt backed out sufficiently, a jacking operation down the line would have been far too interesting. Just had the engine cross member 3 feet in the air a month ago with this jack...

Well, you could put a potentiometer on a length of wire that connects to the gas pedal connector...

OK, so my previous guess was correct, the center part external threads are reverse (left-hand) threads.

One lug-nut brazed/welded to the end of a piece of all-thread would sure work.

One old nut welded/brazed into the end of a piece of pipe that's welded/brazed on the the end of a bolt/threaded rod? Or would 'one nut' worth of threads just pull out? Still don't see clearly how the snap-on tool works, once the center piece is threaded to the stud, how do you then 'thread' the center-piece relative to the external piece?

Chase all the grounds first, if they aren't right then nothing else will be right.

Looking at the snap-on tool, how the heck does it work? It threads to the stud, but then also threads into the outer cup with reverse threads (maining the ball-joint stud has to spin with the central piece)?

The snap-on works juist like the homemade one's listed, single-screw with m,ale and female threads? Here's a great set of pics of a homemade tool: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1989958 With a MIG welder (or stick) you could easily weld the ball joint so it couldn't spin, but the hardest part of the homemade tool is only finding the right tap.

Still hoping for a pic.

Recently changed a rear wheel bearing, got sick of driving with ear-plugs. Outer was fine, inner had blackened balls and black grease.

Bypass the trans cooler with a piece of hose and see what happens.

Does the 98 use the magic sequence to pull trans codes? Drive, stop in 1, engine off, key on, 1-2-1-2-3-d or something like that?

I would say it almost can't, and if it were you'd be getting antifreeze in the transmission, which I have to imagine would show on the dipstick. The pressure in the radiator is higher than that of the trans lines, and the trans line pressure would go to go to zero after shutdown, while the radiator was pressurized. So you saw red oil in the coolant?

Could be the chisel is not really wedging into the crack, and not really spreading the pinch open. A (or maybe a pair) screwdriver might work better.

There is no question it is different, verified via a few routes. What I need to figure out is, is just the solenoid different and the valve is the same, or are both different? Even just if I find out that the '04 solenoid is open with no power and closed with power applied (opposite before '04), that would tell me what I need to know.

2 different browsers, can't get there. No idea why. The service manuals don't show any difference, but given the level of detail they show it could be different.

I need a pic, any pic, of the AWD transfer valve that the Transfer Solenoid/Duty C solenoid bolts into. Ideally pics of both sides of the valve and the channels under the valve, but even a pic of the valve with just the rear section of the trans removed would be very helpful. I can find lots of pics, but all are of 2003 or older. By year/model this is what I'm looking for (any one will work): Baja 2004-2006 Forester 2004 Impreza 2005 Legacy 2004 Outback 2004 subarupartsforyou is throwing me off the trail because regardless of year the only pic they show is this one: Does that match anyone's valve? Even if someone has seen theirs and can tell me how similar it looks to my '03:

Year 2003 was 2nd generation, gen1, gen2, gen3, etc etc. Just convenient groupings of mopdel years that were mostly similar. The low beams are on when the headlights are on either low-beam or high-beam. Having the low-beams on when it's on high-beam sucks because the low-beams brightly illuminate the area just in front of the car, and the bright area near the car washes out the dimmer light from distant objects.

My '03 (gen 2) leaves the lowbeams on when switching on the highbeams. The near wash of light really sucks. It would be good news to hear this is not supposed to be the case.

So the U-joint failed and it tore apart the tail section of the trans? What are the chances there is not further damage?

I believe the part I colored green is the moving part of the valve, and it has a spring on the left side pushing it to the right.

You can see the pinion from the dipstick, if anyone has one of those home-depot borescopes you could probably see what's stamped on the ring gear!

I am investigating how they brought the change into effect, as I may be able to swap in parts from my '03 trans. I think what did NOT change was that the MPT clutch (MPTC for short) locks up when fluid pressure is applied, and slips when it is not. Changing that would require a lot of changes to the hydraulic system. in '03 and in '04 the solenoid has a built-in little valve that manipulates pressure in a pilot line, that pressure then controls a larger valve which connects the MPTC to full line pressure or do a dump port. I know in both cases the solenoid is given bursts of current. For '03 the current is mostly on, with short little pulses of the current off (connected to +12V or ground). Constant +12V releases the MPTC, constant 0V fully engages the MPTC. For '04 the current is mostly off, with short little pulses of the current on. Constant 0V fully releases the MPTC, constant +12V fully engages the MPTC. I assume the hydraulic valve sits in one position for a given signal to the solenoid, but that's an assumption. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=7458 Now, I think in '03 +12v to the solenoid dumps pressure from the line to the main valve, allowing the main valve to move to the right and connect the MPTC to the dump port (labeled 'X'). This means in '03 the solenoid valve is closed by default, and opened by power. In '04 they could just have made the solenoid normally 'open' and +12V closes it, then I'd just have to change the solenoid. Or maybe the solenoid is the same but the valve is different. or maybe both are different. If I can find a 2004 manual with the schematic page, I'll be pretty much golden on figuring it out.

If the bearing were to actually move inwards, the brake rotor would quickly drag on the caliper bracket and you would have plenty of warning something was amiss. As long as it needed a good bit of force to install it, I vote don't sweat the circlip.

The flange on my cat completely disintegrated, not even anough for a split-flange to grab. I have a spring on each side of the exhaust pipe flange that just goes forwards and hooks to a hole in the body. My system is to figure if you spend $100 on parts/reapairs for a months driving, you are deep into the positive side of the investment.