Fairtax4me

The factory service manuals for the cars contain instructions in the troubleshooting and diagnostics sections for navigating the SSM scanners. I dont know that they cover everything SSM is capable of, but they cover enough to give you the general idea of how to get to certain functions and read the data.

There are issues with the quill on these because the quill is aluminum. The problem is not due to expansion/heat, but due to wear from the TOB sliding on the soft aluminum. It wears a ridge in the quill which will cause the TOB to twist a bit as it engages the pressure plate which then causes uneven release pressure on the clutch disc. There are sleeve kits available with a new larger TOB to correct the issue but they're usually pretty pricey. Alot of the aftermarket clutch kits I see now have a sleeve kit included. A worn quill usually will cause clutch chatter at all times, hot or cold, but can get worse when the clutch is hot. If your new TOB was a fairly tight fit, the quill on your trans is probably not excessively worn. Another thing that causes clutch chatter is a warped flywheel. If you didn't get the flywheel machined, this is the most likely issue. Flywheel warpage becomes much more pronounced when the flywheel is hot, because the clutch disc is only engaging part of the flywheel rather than the whole thing. This causes higher heating of the surface where the disc does make contact.

Those are the usual culprits although the symptoms don't exactly match what I would expect from worn plugs. Typically worn/old plugs cause misfiring at low rpm under load or while accelerating like you said. You might look into the things that affect fuel delivery. Replace the fuel filter if its old. If the O2 sensors are old you could be getting a false rich reading causing the ECU to pull fuel. You should be able to see fuel trims with your app. Make sure trims aren't showing negative.

That sounds more like a misfire than a transmission issue. How old are the spark plugs and wires?

Not that I'm aware. The closest you'll find is the production label on the drivers strut tower with engine and trans ID numbers and the paint code. Is there some specific info you're looking for?

Have you tried just googling the Vin? Usually you get some mileage info that way.

The AC idler bearings fail often and can rattle some. The other main things in the area of the timing belt are the tensioner and the cogged idler. The tensioners fail often especially after a timing belt job. If that wasn't changed that could very well be the issue, though that is unlikely to cause the high idle problem.

I've watched fuel trims going up the east side but never when driving down. How much are they going to charge you for the core?

What year Foreser? The older ones didn't have much in the way of AC, but the newer ones are pretty good. Two things to avoid are dark paint, and a dark interior color. Also one of hose big reflector windsheild screens makes a huge difference for keeping heat out of the car when its parked. And the more heat you can keep out, the less the AC system has to cool when you start the car, and the sooner the car becomes comfortable. Window tint also has some effect on heat since it does block some sunlight.

The problem is in the doors. The wire connectors are getting wet or the speakers themselves may be getting wet. If the installer used the extension/adapter connectors they may have just dropped the wires back in the doors and the connectors are sitting at the bottom of the door where water collects when it rains. Another thig you'll want to make sure of is the drain ports in the bottom of the doors are clear of dirt/ leaves, broken glass.

Final drive ratio HAS TO MATCH THE REAR DIFF. No way around that. 1-5 ratios can be entirely different, final drive is the one that has to match. If you can't find a trans that matches your current FDR, get a trans and rear diff that match.

Are you sure its your car? Is it in your driveway/ garage, or in the parking lot at the mall? I tried for about 5 minutes once to get into a Toyota Camry because it was the exact same body style/ color/ trim as my mothers. Finally looked at the plates and it wasn't hers. Hers was another 3-4 rows over in the parking lot.

Removing material from the heads isn't the issue here. The 96 block is a "peek-a-boo" block. The pistons crest above the block deck at TDC. You need a thicker head gasket to keep the pistons from striking the head. I don't recall the thickness needed for that block but I know that's the major issue with using the 96-97 25D block.

Need to let it idle for about ten minutes at the minimum. It's better to wait until the radiator fans cycle once. Don't touch the throttle, let the ECU make its own adjustments. If it stalls just restart the engine and let it idle. After the fans cycle turn it off and let it cool for about an hour. Then start it and let it idle again for 3-5 minutes. Just long enough for it to come down from the high warm-up idle. Then take it for a drive about 15-30 minutes at varying speeds.

The lower idler likes to fall apart and let the belt jump. Unfortunately, jumped timing often means bent valves on that engine.

Check lug nuts.

When the mainshaft bearing goes bad the input shaft starts workig back and forth and causes he clutch hub to flex more than normal. The splines on the clutch allow some movement but the hub will not slide when the clutch is under load (accelerating or decelerating). This causes the hub to flex and crack. Which then causes the disc to wobble off center and break. The mainshaft bearing isn't difficult to replace, but you do need to catch it early before it starts popping out of gear. Once it starts kicking out of gear it starts wearing other parts, gear teeth, shift collars, synchro hubs. If it has only popped out of gear a few times you might not have any other damage, but its a gamble.

Could be gummed up oil control rings. This wouldn't really show up on a compression test. Could also be a clogged PCV hose or breather hoses. There's an O seal at the back of the oil pan that seals the PCV cavity in the block to a tube in the oil pan. If that seal goes bad it will cause high oil consumption.

Need to put a pressure guage on it ASAP. Flickering oil light means the oil pressure could be as low as 2-3 psi at idle.

I kind of feel these cars are safer without the ABS. The ABS really sucks when you really need to stop in the snow or in wet weather. You can get rid of it, but to do it properly you need to swap the Master cylinder to a non-ABS one, and run some new lines to it. The ABS MC has only two lines coming out, one front one rear. The left/right split is done at the ABS unit. If you don't have ABS, to be legal you have to have the 2 lines for the front (one for left one for right) coming direct from the MC. The rear can have one line that runs back and splits at the rear axle (how most trucks are done), But since the Subaru system isn't designed that way you'll have to run two lines for the rear. It's easier than it sounds though. The rear lines only have to run to the proportioning block on the passenger strut tower. For the front lines you just have to run one to the right, and one short one to the left.

The biggest worry wih modern engines is keeping fresh oil on the cylinder walls so the rings seat properly. Generally you want to run the engine at about 1,500 rpm for 15-20 minutes while keeping an eye on oil pressure and coolant temps. Then shut it off and let it cool. You can choose to change the oil and filter after the initial run, or wait until after the first drive. After the engine has cooled, start it, let it warm up again at a high idle, (3-5 minutes is fine) then go for an easy drive around the block a few times. Avoid idling (sitting in traffic) for long periods. Try to go about 5-10 miles at mixed speeds, just don't run the engine really hard, keep the RPMs under 3500. If you have trouble with the engine stalling, disconnect the battery for a few minutes and reconnect it while the engine is still warm. Then start the engine again and let it idle so the ECU learn its idle AF mixture. Don't touch the throttle for about 3-5 minutes. Then take it for a short drive. At this point you'll want to do an oil and filter change (a second if you did one already). After that you should be good to go, just drive easy for about 500 miles. Try not to use more than about 75% throttle. After 500 do another oil change, then you can drive it however you want.

Apple doesn't play well with others when it comes to Bluetooth. You may need to get a separate IPod running an older version of IOS to make it work correctly since the '15 model head unit was probably not designed with IOS8 compatibility in mind. I've been able to get around playlist issues with mine (IOS7) by setting up by making a separate playlist that includes all of the music on the phone. But I'm using aftermarket stereos, this may not work on the '15 factory stereo.

Check coolant level. Low coolant will cause temp variations. These engines are picky about thermostats so of the coolant level is correct you will probably want to pop the thermostat out and put a genuine Subaru stat in it. The knock could be several things. Very often the timing tensioners fail on those engines and will start bouncing up and down. A cold knock for just a few seconds could be due to a poor quality or incorrect oil filter. These engines are known to have piston slap which will make a deep knock sound until the engine is warm. ECU will set engine idle speed and that's not adjustable. As strange as it may sound, vibration when in gear at idle can be due to poor quality front axles. Possible the timing is off, but that would generally result in a steady misfire at low RPM, and would set a code and turn on the CEL. The engine would be very rough and very low on power until 2,500-3,000 rpm.

No RTV. Never put RTV on a gasket. RTV is only to be used INSTEAD of a gasket for certain parts. For the TB, just use the gasket. A very light smear of grease can be used to help hold the gasket in place, and to ease disassembly as Ivan said.

It's coming from the actual unit? Not leaking from one of the lines or fittings that thread into the unit? The best way would be to replace the unit with a used one, but there were a few different types used in those years (for disc or drum brakes, or with TCS) so you really need to check what you have, and make sure the car you get the unit from matches, to get the correct replacement.