EVOthis

Good to hear your happy...There are tons of smart people on here and twice as much good info...best of luck!

you mentioned when it gets up to operating temperature the fans turn on...do they cycle off?

How many miles are on the vehicle? You could try a new o-ring or I'm sure a new/used dipstick isnt that expensive...is the trans fluid overfilled at all? I would find it pretty hard to believe it just keeps popping out...they have a pretty good tight fit partially because of the length of the dipstick...

NICE!..Thanks for sharing...

I have had this code get thrown before from low coolant level..first I would go out and check and make sure your overflow and radiator are both full...Replacement of the sensor isnt too bad just a tad of an awkward position to get your hand down there and get the threads started...If you do end up replacing it make sure the little washer is on the sensor before install...Ive seen people forget these and some of them leak a tad.....

+1^...Around these years the crank and cam sensor became such a problem subaru actually offered them as a kit to buy together...but yes from the sounds of it I would start by checking the crank/cam sensor...

+1^..What they said... Seen it many, many times...If you have access to a really good scanner (perhaps the only one that can read this is the select monitor, but others might be able to as well....) you can sit there and watch the position of the switch as you move the shifter in and out of neutral..

if you are getting power and ground at the connector things should be working..have you tried jumping the little pump motor to make sure the motor works...ones in salvage yards in my opinion aren't really the best to test with..obviously what cools the pump is the water/ washer fluid so who knows how long that thing has been sitting out there dry or who attempted to operate it with nothing in it...I vaguely remember $20 sticking in mind when i replaced mine with one from NAPA a couple years back in my 96 Legacy...

hmmm..How many miles are on the vehicle? You mentioned you didn't see anything during the visual? So the steering wheel wobbles like when your cruising at say 50 or 60mph? Does it shake when you apply the brake? Have you had any recent maintenance performed?

Great link man..I was always wondering exactly what had to be done..I figure it prob couldnt much harder than swapping a 6MT into a WRX...

Once you get up into the newer years like 05+ I know some of the mats dont fit properly ( example: If you try and put mats from an 06 Impreza in a 06 Legacy...)..As long as you keep it from the same model line I would think most of them would fit though...

Its not to bad of a job....The EZ30 has one of the exhaust pipes close to the pan which makes it a tad difficult to get to one of the bolts but as you mentioned you have the standard 2.5...They are correct though. No gasket. I usually use the red gasket sealer we have in our parts dept. There all 10mm bolts. If you do decide to do it yourself. Make sure you have ALL of the old gasket sealer material off the pan and the trans before you apply the new and put the pan back up...I usually use a wire wheel to get rid of all the crud. Also clean out the pan pretty well with some brakleen or the like and when you retighten the bolts make sure they are lined up perfectly and do not use power tools..these bolts break VERY EASILY if overtightened or crossthreaded...The job can def. be done by a shade tree mechanic...

Just as a side note to the OP...You could always pop a penny or two or 3 under the battery hold down...Ive heard that the copper will attract corrosion instead of the battery posts...Ive seen it before and It has seemed to work...Just and Idea..

Obviously as mentioned the first thing to do is inspect and see what if anything is bent or damaged..the camber adjustment..well you can loosen the strut bolts on the hub and move the hub a tad to give you a little more positive or negative camber....

I had this problem with my 96 Legacy, the 17mm front trans crossmember bolt...I just railed a monster size bolt in there with my 1/2" impact...Its held for the better part of two years and every time I check it its tight..I know sounds real professional.... I have heard of people cutting a hole through the floor board inside the car and locating the nut and repairing it that way...That sounds a bit extreme to me...If a Tap doesnt work I might try a heli coil...I do year you though they are a PITA to fix the right way...lol

+1 ^...WRX swap would be something to look into...Ive seen it done many times before...Add a few mods and a quality tune and you'll be in the neighborhood of 280 HP...Of course you could always just go buy an STI..

This happened to me on my 96' Legacy not to long ago..not to mention I've seen it multiple times on customers cars.....My bet is that your thermostat is stuck..sometimes this will throw the cooling fan rationality check code however on my car it did not...I personally would start off by making sure the system is full of coolant, than make sure there are no air pockets..if both of those check out I would be inclined to think the thermostat is stuck...especially if you have never done one on the car and you have owned the car for a good while...Also has the cooling system had any other recent maintenance besides your replacement of the CTS?...

+1^...year and model? My first thought was the fuel pump..as mentioned get the code (s) read first than we will go from there....

You mentionied your battery wasnt the best...now it doesnt start when cold...I would prob throw a new/good battery in there before you start any diagnosis fore I've seen weak batteries/charging systems do some very odd things...

+1..There was also a TSB for the o2/AF sensor this year....

My stereo cable is bigger..... How many miles are on the vehicle? Does the car turn over? Does it sound healthy when it turns over? I would throw a spark tester and a noid light on there first to make sure you at least have spark and and injector pulse... I dont believe there is a plug on the gas tank on these or if there is I have never seen one... Either way for $500 it looks like you got a pretty good deal..good luck with her....

I was thinking front o2/AF sensor...

As far as your headlight concern..Ive run into this multiple times on Subarus where the terminals back away from the prongs on the headlight bulb...what I usually do is buy a pigtail from NAPA and either solder it or butt connect it into the existing harness, along with this i always throw in a new bulb...Of course if you decide to do this check for corrosion in the wires when you cut them...I'm not saying this will fix your problem but everyone Ive encountered it fixed them... I cut off the muffler on my 96 Legacy as well and welded a straight pipe in..I love it also...

what year is your forester? the forester cabin air filters are by far the easiest to do...7 screws and the glove box should be out.... I dread doing CB air filters on some of the Tribecas...

It all depends his price range..Ive seen some pretty decent 100k+ mileage ones for around 5-6k dollars...Personally Im not a fan of the throttle by wire, or the "redesigned" looks of the 06-07 WRX's So I would stick with an 02-05....as mentioned I would do some research before purchasing...this site may be of some assistance... http://www.cars101.com