Fairtax4me

The play in the driveshaft there is normal and nothing to worry about and is noticable when driving. It will not cause the car to jerk as it comes to a stop. Jerking is either a downshift, or the torque converter clutch is not unlocking at the proper time. The play that allows that movement is actually in the rear differential ring and pinion. There is nothing in the transmission that locks the rear driveshaft when the trans is in Park. If you were to disconnect the rear section of the driveshaft from the rear differential, you could spin the driveshaft as much as you want.

Remove the glove box and the liner behind it, and you should be able to wiggle it out. If not there are one or two bolts in the lower corner of the dash, and one bolt on the side behind the D shaped cover. Remove those and you can pull the lower corner of the dash out an inch or so and that should give enough room to drop the blower out.

Yes, You effectively have a final drive ratio change because of the tires. Similar to changing from a 4.11 FDR to a 3.90 FDR. Somewhere online I saw a calculator that showed the difference in power put down by the wheels with different size tires. That was several years ago though, it may not be around anymore. Look into a set of Delta torque grind cams. Under $200 and makes a big difference in bottom end power, especially with the auto trans.

Just find an older pump. Should bolt on no problem. You may have to get customs lines made, but Napa can make them with any ends you need for a good price.

Looked like there were holes in the fenders, but now I see those are where the turn signal/side marker lamps should be. (Why are they removed?) I'm weary of any car that has been modified because you just have no idea what the owner or previous owners have done to it.

That fuse feeds other circuits, so it may not be a problem wih the pump causing the trouble. I don't have a service manual for a 97 Impreza so I can't be specific to which other components that fuse powers. Hopefully someone else here does. There is a link floating around here somewhere with downloadable service manuals for almost every Subaru. See if you can find it or the wiring diagram specific for your car.

Could be a linkage issue or electrical problem. Make sure the fuses are all good. Make sure the linkage on the trans operates with the shifter. Also make sure the trans pan isn't dented. If the pan is crushed there could be valve body damage or the filter could be blocked and the pump can pull fluid up to create line pressure. To check trans codes there is a plug under the dash that is used to make the trans temp light flash codes on older cars, not sure if its there on 03 model but I can look it up. Do you have 4 cyl or 6 cyl engine? CEL has to be checked with a code scanner. Does not need to be Subaru diagnostic, can be a generic OBD2 scanner. Parts stores will read codes for free, but hard to get it there if trans doesn't work. You could try pulling the battery negative for about 10 minutes to reset the computers.

Don't walk, RUN away. Salvage title! "stocked" engine?!? Aftermarket fenders, front bumper, wheels, spray painted hood scoop. That screams Impreza wagon with aftermarket body panels to make it look like a WRX. They couldn't even be bothered to park it in an empty parking lot to take the pictures.

Mainshaft bearing will start to make slight noise with little other signs of trouble for 15-30k miles before the trans starts popping out of gear. Open your door with engine running and trans in Nuetral press the clutch pedal down. When you release the clutch pedal listen for a whirring sound from under the car. Pressing the pedal down again should make it go away. This is the sound of a worn mainshaft bearing. Spider gears in the center diff can be excessively worn, and cause clunking or clicking. The problem with the 99 center diffs was a retaining ring that held the back part of the diff housing together can fall off and let the diff come apart. This creates excessive clearance between the spider gears in the diff and can lead to clunking when turning. The only time the spider gears in the center diff move is when turning. If just the center diff is bad then its worth replacing just the diff, and that's easily done. If the mainshaft bearing is worn its not worth replacing the center diff. The mainshaft bearing will start causing problems shortly after replacing the diff. Best to go with a whole used transmission in that case. CV axle is still entirely possible, but with a replacement axle installed and the exact same noise still present, seems kind of unlikely. Ask the shop if thy have a "chassis ear" kit. They can put sound sensors on various parts under the car, including the transmission case, and drive the car to confirm the source of the noise.

My experience of the three comes from selling/installing them and seeing which ones come back with problems. The dealer I worked for stopped selling Fuzion because they were too problematic. Wouldn't balance properly, wouldn't wear properly. Brand new tires would be cupped and/or feathered in 3 months on cars with perfect alignment. The sumitomos were never problematic, but didnt last very long. 20-30k miles was kind of the norm with those. Kumhos would last longer for the most part. I've owned a few sets of Kumhos and have had good luck with them overall. Had one blow out (tread separated) about 10-12 years ago, but those were the cheapest cheap tires I could get my hands on at the time. Less than $200 for 4 tires installed. (Old 12"wheels) The last really cheap tires I bought for my 96 3-4 years ago I got around 30k miles out of. Under $250 for all 4 installed w/tax, stock size for a 96 L legacy. I don't remember the name, same as one of those cheap cigarette brands.

Don't waste your money on Fuzions, they're just plain awful. Sumitomo is one of those "surprise" brands where you could get something great or they could blow out on you in 6 months. Kind of in the same realm as Kumho. Decent tires, decent price, but I wouldn't expect more than 30-40k miles out of either of them. Of the three, id say Kumho has the best compromise of price/ tread wear/ overall performance. Kinda like good, fast, cheap. You only get to pick two.

The VIN on your engine is the same as the VIN on your car. The cars VIN is stamped on the engine block when it is installed in the car at the factory. But, you don't need it, as said earlier. Any 00-04 engine will bolt right in. Put a timing kit on it before putting it in the car, and pay attention to the notches on the back edge of the crank and cam sprockets. If they're different, swap them. The only other thing you will need to do is swap the flexplate and the bolts.

Black sparkly gear oil in the trans usually means there is pretty severe wear of something. But it would not be the differential ring and pinion gears without making a serious howling noise at speed. It's a very distinct sound. Wear of the spider gears (the spider gears would cause clunking) in the front differential is not common. The mainshaft bearing is the common wear item in these transmissions, and leaves a ton of shine in the oil. This tends to cause a kind of whirly grinding noise when accalerating. 99 transmissions have problems with the center diff coming apart and damaging the transfer gears in the back end of the trans. This could also leave a lot of shine in the oil and could cause the center differential to clunk when turning. Try to get a 2001 or newer trans to avoid repeat problems with the center diff. Taz, you probably just have a broken CV joint.

Did you replace front and rear brake pads? Did you clean and re-grease the caliper slide pins? Flashing CEL means its misfiring. NGK plugs and wires should cure that. This could create the "thumping" feeling when trying to accelerate. Knock sensors go bad all the time and are easy to replace. Search for my "Knock sensor 101" thread.

Cats dont even work until they're about 600-800 degrees anyway, so the exhaust will always smell very strong of fuel when the car is cold. The cold start fuel mixture has to be extra rich because cold air doesnt vaporize the fuel as well. Most of the fuel that gets injected into the engine when its cold doesn't actually burn, as a result these cars tend to smell kinda strongly of fuel anyway. That doesn't mean the cats arent working normally when it is warm. It sounds to me the OP is saying the car has a hard time starting when cold, the engine has to crank for several seconds before starting. Kinda sounds like it needs an ECT sensor.

If there is little fluid in the trans or converter it will suck the pan dry shortly after starting. The whole thing holds around 11 quarts of fluid IIRC. Put 4 or 5 in the pan before starting, run it for 20-30 seconds, and check the level, add until its full. Don't let the pump run dry or it may burn up.

Sounds like a vacuum leak or a split PCV or breather hose causing an air leak into the intake tube between the MAF sensor and the throttle body. Could also be something as simple as a plugged up PCV valve. If that hasn't been changed its a good idea to, and give all the hoses that lead to the intake tube a good check.

Problem is not wiring in the speedo head, its a broken solder joint or trace on the PCB. There is a good thread with pics on how to fix it out there in google-land somewhere. This problem will set a CEL because the speedo head sends speed signal to the ECU.

Starting problem should be addressed, especially if its loading the oil with raw fuel. High CO is either too much fuel, or not enough oxygen. Search for the method here to get the CEL to flash codes and see what comes up. At minimum I would try replacing the ECT sensor if you have a spare or can get one cheap.

There's a circlip kinda dealy that goes in the tube that fits into the TC. You have to pull the tube out and re-seat the circlip correctly. Still entirely possible the trans oil pump is damaged, but I would check the circlip first and try re-seating the TC again.

I've seen gasket surfaces on reman parts that looked like Swiss cheese they were so rough. In those cases I just use RTV with no gasket, or if it seals against an o-ring I use Indian head gasket shellac.

Whole used knuckle is the easy way to go. If you only need it to last a year just get the cheap bearing.

Aisin water pump and gasket are the OE type. I've compared the gasket Aisin supplies with their pumps to the dealer gasket and they are identical right down to the packaging, minus the Subaru part number sticker.

Last time I was at tractor supply they had Exide (IIRC) batteries with 72 month warranty for about $79. That's about $50-60 less than a crappy parts store battery around here.

The only reason not to would be if there is limited clearance around the head of the bolt that prevents you from putting a socket on it. That size bolt should typically have a 10mm head. See if you can order a flange head bolt with an 8mm head for any bolts where there is a lack of side clearance.