Fairtax4me

On the older cars when its really cold and you get the really fine powdery snow it can get sucked in through the cowl and get blown through the fan and the vents. The trick is to wait a few minutes for the heater core to warm up so anything that does make it in hits the core and melts and drips out of the drain. But I'm thinking 04 should have a cabin air filter, which should catch anything that gets through the cowl. Might want to check that.

Check timing belt. Cars 17 years old, the belt could have jumped a tooth or two.

$1000 is insanely expensive for a timing belt job on this car, So is $300 for a thermostat and an oil change to be honest. I think we need to find you a better mechanic.

Power for the starter solenoid comes from SBF 4 which is 45 amps. The same fuse delivers power to several circuits when the ignition switch is in the "On" position. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Starter solenoids have two separate coils with a very strong magnetic field to hold the plunger in tight contact with the electrical contacts in the solenloid, as well as to hold the bendix gear in position while it is engaged with the flywheel.

They all seem to do this a little bit. The best you can do is make sure the cable sheath isn't hung up on some part of the dash structure. It's very important the E clip that holds the sheath goes back in the same place. Its also easy to flip the cable end upside down trying to put it back on. Try to attach it so it will be "at rest" when the HVAC unit is slid back in.

You're gonna need more than just engine wiring. You'll have to find an FSM for the year and model of the donor car. Search around on google. There was a thread on another forum (don't remember the name off-hand) with some "vacation pics" for just about every year and model Subaru.

The last reseal kit I bought from Subaru came with the o-ring and seal washer for the reservoir. But that was a few years ago. Can you post a picture of what was included in the kit you bought? You will need a new front bearing since removing the shaft to replace the pump seal damages the front bearing. I think its a 6203, but it says on the rubber seal on the bearing. Can get them at Napa. Online lists them at $5.49. Should be about that in the store, and they keep those in stock. Very common bearing. Most idler pulleys use them as well.

Any 2.5 from 2000 to about 2003 or 2004 will bolt right in and be fine. A used engine usually includes the manifold, but if not it takes all of 15 minutes to swap the manifold off the old engine onto the new engine. This is one of the things a mechanic should expect to have to swap for an engine change. Along with the motor mounts, the flexplate/ flywheel and clutch assembly, alternator power steering and AC brackets. I wouldn't let them do anything else to the car. Rent a u-haul and a trailer for a day. Go pick it up and bring it back yourself and drop it off at a shop you trust. Might spend $150-200 on rental and gas, but better than spending several thousand to have it fixed at a shop that apparently doesn't know how to swap an engine.

Let it idle on its own until the radiator fans kick on and off once. Stop the engine, wait about 30 minutes (wait an hour if its a really hot day), then restart, let it idle about 5 minutes or until the fans come on again, then go for a short drive. It's best if you can get up to about 50-55 mph, but not necessary. This method works for almost every car I've worked on to get the ECU to learn idle and driving air/fuel settings. It also relearns spark timing, and transmission shift points if you have an automagic.

This would be small drops. Leaving a puddle on the floor is the rear main, which the OP said was replaced by the shop. Only time rear mains leak is when they get replaced incorrectly. Poor fuel economy is a sensor or fuel system problem, not a mechanical problem with the engine. The 2.2s get the same and often slightly better fuel economy than the 2.5.

http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_5/engine/camshaft_and_timing_belt/illustration_1/ Under engine/ camshaft and timing belt 806946030 Same part as the one behind the cam support on the RH side. Get 2 and you'll have it on hand when/if you do the Timing belt.

P0106 is the MAP sensor. That's going to be caused by one of those vacuum hoses that goes to the passenger strut tower. You might have pulled one loose and not realized it messing with the MAF sensor. The line to the MAP sensor usually has a T to the fuel pressure regulator. If the FPR vacuum line is disconnected the FPR will close off and make the fuel pressure in the rails too high. This will cause the injectors to spray too much fuel. The FPR can also split inside and leak fuel into the vacuum line which will get sucked up into the intake, then it runs really rich all the time. Pull the hose off and see if liquid gas pours out. If there is liquid in the vacuum line the FPR is bad and should be replaced. Either of these could be the cause of the fuel trim code, and give you very poor fuel mileage. Leave the MAF alone for now. They don't usually go bad, and if they do they cause major driveability problems like stalling and really rough inconsistent idle. But you do need to make sure all of the hoses that connect to the air tube are tight and have no splits or breaks. Check the hoses that run down to the valve covers too. If any of those have splits or breaks it can cause problems. Check the tube itself for cracks and splits, and make sure the tube is clamped properly at both ends.

If you can do it yourself its cheaper to re-boot it, but shops don't like doing that. They would rather put a whole new axle on because its faster. Did they say what was wrong with the steering rack? Or just said you need a new on? The racks tend to leak a bit from the o-rings on the fluid lines, and o-rings are cheap and easy to replace.

P0120 TPS A circuit P0130 O2 circuit B1S1 P0141 O2 Heater circuit B1S2 P0170 Fuel Trim B1 P0403 EGR Control circuit P0505 Idle Air Control System The thing to do is see which codes came back. The O2 heater circuit code usually pops up if the sensor is unplugged. Check the wiring and make sure its plugged in and actually there. That code is for the rear O2 sensor. The other O2 sensor code is for the front sensor and that one combined with the fuel trim code could mean the sensor is bad. This could account for the bad fuel mileage. But if you're trying to figure mileage by what the gauge says it will be way off. These fuel gauges are notoriously inaccurate. IAC code will probably go away if the TPS is calibrated properly. Same with the TPS code. The EGR stuff isn't that complicated to put back on. Grab what's missing from a junkyard and that code should go away.

Sometimes you can oil the bushings and the squeaks will go away for a little while. I'd try that before replacing it. Things is, its such a pain to get out I'm not sure I would want to remove it just to have to do it again.

Head gaskets typically do cause overheating. What people do to alleviate the problem is often to drill holes in the thermostat, which can cause the behavior described by the OP, since the thermostat is no longer able to close and keep coolant temp up where its supposed to be.

It might throw n IAC code and go into limp mode. If it does just unplug the battery for 10 minutes. Nuetral position switch is the rearmost of the two switches on the side of the transmission. Check the wire connectors for good connection and clean terminals.

The FSM I have for 97 shows the same removal process as what you have pictured above. Sometimes parts that look like they're attached don't actually need to be removed to get these things out. Not sure if that's the case here. The wagon unit and sedan unit are different. Could be the service manual depicts a sedan. I've removed several of these, though never one out of a Subaru, so I know they can be tricky to get to sometimes.

The nut on the outside also needs to be removed. The nut is what secures it to the body and seals the grommet so it won't leak. Once the nut is off you will be able to lower the mechanism and tilt/swivel it around to maneuver it out so you can get to the connector. There is a relay assembly on the antenna that controls the up/down. If the antenna still retracts all the way sometimes, the relay is possibly the problem. You can usually pull the cover off the relay housing and check out the insides. Make sure all the contacts are clean. Also make sure the pins in the wire connectors are clean and free of corrosion.

Fel-pro replacements are still a MLS design just like what you would buy from Subaru. It's not so much the fault of the gasket these days as it is the attention to detail of the person doing the repair. The MLS gaskets have to have a perfectly clean, flat surface in order to seal properly. And a lot of people just slap new gaskets and go rather than getting the heads milled like they should. If someone did the gaskets, that doesn't mean they sealed correctly. Or they could have replaced the thermostat with a cheapo, or didnt put one in at all. The thermostat is the first place to start since that's what regulates the temperature of the coolant. It's obviously not being regulated correctly, hence the wild temp guage. Another possibility could be a loose connector on the temp guage sender. But I think the guage would be more erratic if that were the case.

It's not air quality that the O2 sensor reads. Only oxygen content. Pulling the sensor into open air would read high oxygen content, and still set a p0420 code. You might try an ez-out on the broken piece. Maybe it will grab enough to pull the threaded section out. PB blaster and heat will help. If it wont come out, maybe JB weld would hold well enough to get it past inspection.

Someone gutted the thermostat or removed it entirely, probably trying to cure an overheating issue, which on that 2.5 means head gaskets. While the engine is warm and running look for bubbles coming up in the overflow reservoir. Bubbles are a sure sign. Get a Subaru thermostat or a Stant Exactstat. The cheapies you will have problems with. Pop it in and see how it does. Read up on how to properly fill and bleed the cooling system, air pockets are guaranteed with these engines and need to be properly worked out or you will overheat.

I've been through 3 of these. All of them had bad synchros on 2 and 3. If the synchros are still good its not bad to pull the trans apart yourself and have a shop press a new bearing on. The part is only about $50 from Subaru. Paying a shop to tear down the trans would push the cost well beyond what one of these transmissions is worth.

I've seen two of those in the yards near me recently. Unfortunately both were shattered by idiots pulling the radios out. That dash trim is so light, despite its size, it doesn't cost much to ship. But going from US to Canada might add a couple pennies. I think Ivan's Imports is near Vancouver. Maybe he has one?

The only difference I know of as far as mounting the front bar is they changed the shape of the clamps at some point. And the two types are not interchangable because they changed the front subframe. Since you have the front bar, if you feel adventurous one day see if you can make it fit. There may be just enough room around the y-pipe for it to fit, maybe with a little persuasion of the heat shields? Spacers on the rear brackets could be an option on the left side but on the right the fuel filler is kind of in the way. Rear tower brace will make a difference in the wagon, though slight, but a difference non-the-less. But put enough of these slight difference makers together and you get a big difference. Some other things that make big difference in the rear suspension are the trailing arm bushings. I put solid group-N bushings on my 96 because the stock ones were shot and it definitely made a big difference. And the group N bushings were cheaper than the stockers. There are a few companies that sell "lock-down" bolts that secure the subframe. Those make a difference as well. Of course one of the biggest difference makers is good shocks. If those are old a set of new KYBs will do wonders.