Fairtax4me

Wait... Now how do you go all halfassery on something on a project you've been working on for 3 damn years?!

I know most newer vehicles have pinch protection mechanisms in the windows and sunroofs to keep fingers and other body parts from getting injured if accidentally in the way while the window is closed. Its possible the sunroof track is dirty, and is causing enough resistance to closing that it's engaging the pinch protection. Open the sunroof all the way and try wiping any dirt/crud out of the tracks. Be sure to cover your interior with an old sheet or something, because there could be some nasty greasy stuff in there that will stain your seats and carpet. Once clean, lubricate the tracks with some white lithium grease. This is all that a dealer would do and they'll happily charge you $100 for it.

Somebody here put an H6 alternator in a same gen outback or legacy a while back with only minor modification. Seems to me it was a 140 amp unit.

Great to hear everyone is well! Congrats!

Is the flywheel a lightweight? Those can cause stumble/roughness when engaging the clutch due to the loss of momentum. If you have Romraider start logging some data. O2 / AF sensors, injector pulse, spark timing, knock correction, etc.

EGR is only used when cursing to prevent light throttle lean mixture detonation. Its never open at idle, acceleration, or during snap throttle. Who tuned it? Or what are you using to tune with? What kind of plugs are in it? If it's tuned to run a little more rich, it may need hotter plugs to prevent fuel fouling.

Because of the way the center diff works in the manual trans, the car has to have the rear driveshaft connected in order for the car to move. Replace the driveshaft and you should be OK.

Too hard to say if the toe is wrong by looking at a picture. Most digital cameras create some amount of distortion in the image, especially cell-phone cameras. Kneel down about 6-10 feet behind the wheel and eyeball the outer edge of the tire. If you line up the front and rear, and can still see just a sliver of the front tire, the toe is probably fine. If you see a lot of the front tire, the wheel is toed in. If you see none of the front tire, its toed out. How far depends on how much you have to move your head in order to see the edge of the front tire.

If it's just a cat-back system that's only half of the system, and it's the half that doesn't really matter. If the header/y-pipe and cats were also replaced then they could be the cause for the code. Aftermarket y-pipes don't have heat sheilding which means the exhaust gas loses more heat before it gets to the converters, them there isn't enough heat left to get the converter up to working temp. Wrapping the y-pipe with header wrap will fix that.

Catalytic converters don't work at all until they're above 500°F. By about 600° a cat is only working at about 50% capacity. Most cats need to be around 900°F to be fully operational. Some newer designs need to be around 1,400 to 1,600°F.

Rear O2 sensor voltage should be fairly steady around 0.45 v. It can vary, depending on engine load, but if it follows the front sensor voltage exactly that shows that the converter is not working. There are other things to look at on a scanner to determine if the converter is actually bad or if its not working because the AF ratio is too far out to allow proper operation of the catalyst.

You may just be hearing the radiator fans turn on, which is what they should do when the AC is On. But that doesn't mean the compressor is turning. If there is a cover over the compressor, remove it so you can see the hub and be sure that the compressor is actually turning when the AC is switched on. If the compressor is running, the charge is probably just low. Try hooking up the can again, but be sure the quick connect engages the fitting all the way. They can be tricky sometimes and not seat all the way.

Is the compressor hub turning? It may not take any refrigerant if the compressor isn't running. If the compressor is turning, quickly touch the lines coming off the top of the compressor. One will be very hot, the other should be cold. If it's humid out you should see condensation forming on the outside of the cold line. If both are hot, there is likely a charge issue. If the line is cold like its supposed to be, the problem may be with the blend door actuator or the control head in the dash.

Gates kits are good quality. I've used their water pumps on many vehicles and had no problems with them. More than likely you have the integrated type tensioner. The best way to see it is to remove the drivers end timing cover and look in from that side. You'll be able to see the end of the tensioner.

You need to replace those front control arms. Post here in the classified section and im sure someone can ship you a set of much less rusty or rust free used arms for less than buying two new cheapos.

Can you be specific on which part of the exhaust?

Both great options, neither of which is well received!

Battery sits pretty much directly on the frame rail, so you'll probably need to go in from the wheel well. A handful of push clips and screws, then pull the liner back and you should be able to get to what you need. If you need more access, the bumper usually isn't too difficult to remove. There are two large bolts on top of the frame rails that go into the bumper beam. Remove those and all of the screws and pop clips that run along the bottom. There may be screws in the corners that go up into the fenders. Get those and then the whole bumper pulls off as an assembly.

Anything that affects the air/fuel ratio, or the burning of the air/fuel mixture in the engine will cause a P0420 code. Any exhaust leaks between the engine and the rear-most oxygen sensor can also cause the code. Poor battery and ground connections have also caused this code. The best place to start is usually with a good tune-up if it hasn't had one recently.

I've personally used Blue Devil twice. Both times it "worked". On Fords. It made them stop smoking, and one which was mixing coolant and oil (at such rate that I drained 4 gallons of milkshake from the crankcase) stopped mixing. How long did they last?! No clue. Both ended up being sold shortly after. (Not my vehicles) One of them I still see on the road occasionally. The other I assumed to have bearing damage based on the volume of sludge that drained out of it. I can get head gaskets and actually fix a Subaru for less money than a bottle of the smurf goo, so for me personally there's no advantage to even considering it. For a customers car, if they're dead set on not spending $500 to put gaskets in, it's an option... I guess.

Not if its stuck open or clogged. Did you replace the 2 wire temp sensor?

You must have bought Upnorthguy's car. I've bought rebuilt calipers from advance auto on several occasions and they seem to hold up OK. The only thing I make sure of with those is the slide pin dust boots are often very poor quality, and don't actually seal to the caliper bracket. I just swap the old dust boot from the old caliper onto the new one. Good chance the brake fluid is in need of a flush if the caliper is locked up. You should check each bleeder screw to make sure they will all crack loose. The one-man bleeder kits at advance work fairly well. I typically just use some clear plastic tubing stuck in a clear 20oz bottle. Then you get to see just how nasty the old fluid is. I'm in Cville so you can give me a shout if you need help. Welcome to the board!

Garage? I keep a part bottle of every fluid my car needs in the trunk. Engine oil, gear oil, antifreeze, ps fluid, and a gallon of water just in case. I also keep a timing kit (no covers, and non-interference engine) and a half dozen different sensors and a couple spare plugs and wires, and assorted sized vacuum hoses, because you just never know. [/thread-jack] Doubtful anyone would notice the difference, but knowing these cars usually need a half quart or so to be added to the engine between oil changes, its good to have that extra quart around.

Lateral control arm. Yes, that can cause an alignment problem. That will cause the that wheel to be toe'd out. (Pointed to the right) If the toe is too far out, it will cause the inner tread of the tire to wear. If you notice the tread wearing unevenly, replace that arm. If the tread isn't wearing and you don't notice any kind of pull or drifting to the left, don't worry about it. The trailing arms run front-back. They're the ones with the bolt at the lowest point of the knuckle, with the parking brake cables are attached via those bolt on brackets.

Could be a stuck brake caliper making the brakes drag on one wheel. Drive it until the problem happens, pull over in a parking lot and hold your hand near the center of each wheel to see if any are significantly hotter than the others. An infrared thermometer is very helpful for this, but not necessary. If one of the brakes is dragging enough to cause this problem, the wheel that's dragging will be very obviously hotter.