melvin-98

Alrighty! Got the old filter off and it was indeed loose. Did not need a filter wrench at all. No rock dings, but the seal was pretty hard. If it had just vibrated loose and the seal had lost its, uh, squish, then that might be the whole issue. I only had 3 qts of ATF, so I need to get more to top it off, but did not hear the gurgle when I turned it over and ran it through the gears a few times. It is hard to tell if it is not dripping because the funnel keeps running over, but it is sure not gushing any more. I will write back in after a few miles to hopefully give this chapter a close! Any time you can see a HUGE puddle of fluid under your car, and get it fixed for under $75 bucks, is nothing short of a miracle! Thanks to all for your assistance and support.

Alrighty! Borrowed a car and got the tranny filter in hand from the dealer ('twas $41 with tax, but our dealer here is a bit out of control on prices) and I am going to try it out this morning. I will let you know if it works! Fingers, toes and eyes crossed

BTW, I am pretty sure it is the filter now as it makes a high pitched gurggling sound around the filter when it starts pouring out when it turns over...

Sounds like a good place to start! I have been reading several other threads on this filer and it sounds like you have some real world experience, porcupine73. I am looking at a pretty penny to have it towed, so the potential of fixing it with an OEM filter sounds great. This is something where I could just belly up to the dealer and tell them what I need?

Thanks everyone for your help! I turned it over briefly to see what might happen, and it started gushing out around the filter, so maybe I can crawl up under there and just tighten it in. Without serious intervention I don't think I could add enough fluid to even drive it 3 blocks the way it is pouring out. I will start with the filter, and also check all of the lines while I am under there. I won't try and pull the pan and gasket--that sounds like a job for the shop, even if I have to have it towed. Great suggestions! Quite odd that it would just blow around the filter so suddenly... the only wheelin' I have done of late was down a mile of pretty tame Arkansas gravel road about 4 days ago. It is always parked on the concreate driveway, and I never saw a drop of ATF or anything before the great flood this morning.

Needing some good advice here! I walked out to my '03 Impreza outback wagon this morning and was at least quart of ATF on the driveway! The drip is coming from around the seal on the pan. I have not had any issues with this tranny at all, no lag, hard shifts or hesitation whatsoever. Digging around online I found a guy post a diagnostic for a Cadillac that said he had a sudden leak like this after his TCC solenoid locked shut. Just wondering if anyone out there has had a similar issue? I just have a feeling if I take it in without isolating the problem, they are going to say "total rebuild." Thanks for your help!

Hey thanks for the LED key offer! That would be nice to be "enlightened," but I have a feeling it is a different blank :-( Will do some more digging and post what I find. Thanks again for your help!

Nope. No numbers in the manual. I did see the line where the original owner could have written the numbers in though :-\ No worries. I was just wondering if there was a place to buy blanks, but it sounds like I just need to go in with the VIN. Thanks for your help, everyone!

Sorry to let my angst shine thorough. I know that many Subaru dealerships are honest business owners--sadly, that is just not the case with what I have locally. Did not mean to over simplify humanity! So that is my only option for keys then? the dealership?

I can't find another thread out here on this... so pardon me if this is out there already. I just ordered a set of key blanks for my '03 Impreza outback wag. The locksmith guy said, "these won't work, the are for a Nissan." We tried to cut one anyway, but no go. Looks very different. And won't work to boot. Smith said the only way to get a soob key blank was from the dealer. A used lot sold me the car with no master keys, only the valet key (looong story) The ebay auction said Impreza 2000-2003 blanks, but I am thinking they must have changed something as the nissan keys sound like the used to work interchangeably. There are a few posts on this. Is the smith right? DO I have to go to the stealership to do this? And, just for fun I looked myself out of the car at the grocery on Wednesday. As incentive! THANKS for the help!

Clever! I will do just that and let you know. Thanks for your help!

Anyone have any ideas if the compressor is still engaged even though the AC "button" is off? I know that sounds odd, but I can't think of any place else this sound is coming from!

So could I yank the AC fuse to get it to be "fully" off? Clutch was my first thought too, right up until we turned the AC off and it still sneezed...

Humm, that is an idea, but the sound is emanating more from under the car. When I have had just blower fan problems, the sound has been in the cabin on the right side. And there there is the issue of engine bog. It is VERY uniform. It is always the same sneeze, for the same duration. When you first turn the blower on it ALWAYS does it. It has that metallic quality of the runover can, not so leaf-rattle like. THANKS for your thoughts! I think I will start by looking for crud in the housing though, that is a good start!

Thanks for helping with my diagnostic! I just bought a '03 Impreza Outback Wagon last week with 106k and an auto tranny. Everything on the car is great (well one CV boot needs replaced, but hey, it's a subie ;-) Shifts well, cold AC, little rough on the idle, but not bad. Here is the issue. While driving around town with the AC on, 'bout every minute, there is a sound like a sneezing cat, Driver's side, just forward of the seat. UNDER THE CAR. The sound could also be described as running over a soda can with the left front tire that had already been run over (flattened). The first few times it happened I thought "hey, ran over a flattened can. Hey, ran over another flattened can. Hey...wait a sec..." It is a very quick "thrack" and then nothing for another minute or so. Happens regardless of torque, grade or speed. The car does seem to bog VERY slightly when ever this happens. A new discovery today was that the same effects happen without the AC on--while the blower fan in on w/o the AC engaged. Any thoughts and ideas welcome!