Fairtax4me

But... it IS magical... and untethered of the physical bounds of other vehicles... :-p Just Youtube "Subaru vs snow" and you'll see what I mean. All 4 wheels spin all the time.

What sub-model Forester? X, XS? The limited slip rear diff was only available on the XS model. The X model will have an open rear diff. Barring physical internal damage, that would rule out the rear diff. Torque bind symptoms are almost always due to the transmission on these. Tire size, air pressure, and tread wear play a crucial role in the longevity of V/C in the center diff. If at ANY point the car was driven with mismatched tires, or two brand new tires mixed with two old ones, there's a good chance the center diff was damaged at that time.

I'm glad my write-up helped you find your way in the wild and wonderful world of auto repair! I'd suggest starting a new thread describing your cars troubles in detail. We also need to positively identify the year, and the engine in the car, since the 2.5 wasn't even available until 96. At least not on the U.S. market.

Cars with taller lifts don't typically have problems because the entire drivetrain and suspension is lowered by blocks. The larger lifts bring the control arms down at both ends so the angle of the arm is not much different than a stock vehicle. IMO you should find wheels with the offset you need rather than use spacers. A 1 or 2mm spacer might be fine, but anything more than that brings the centric bore of the wheel away from the hub, which places all of the strain of holding the car up on just the lug nuts. An offset wheel will still sit on the hub, which is much more secure. If you really want to go the spacer route, one that bolts to the hub and provides new lug studs may be the best way to go.

That's scary.

Listen to that supercharger whine! Don't we all wish that were the source of that beautiful whine. Sounds good! The lifters on these are CRAZY loud, enough to scare you into thinking there's a really major problem. But once they shut up all is well. Glad ito hear t's together and running! Great job!

I've heard people say they've had good luck with Napa axles. EMPI is another brand that gets recommended fairly often. You could also order a rebuilt axle from MWE in Denver. He rebuilds only Subaru axles and sells new axles as well. http://www.ccrengines.com/mwe/

The tech installed the gasket incorrectly and it just took a few days to fall out. Too much oil doesn't help anything because it does cause higher pressure in the crankcase but it sounds like the techs poor job installing the gasket took the brunt and failed before anything major happened. Luckily you discovered the leak before it dumped all of the oil out and ruined the engine. Call them and make them TOW the car back, make them replace the gasket again and change the oil and filter. Then find a new shop for when you need repair work done.

The theory is that it has something to do with the clearances in the bearing cups being to large. It's a well documented issue that these cars suffer from. Do some research on the various Subaru forums (or google it), there are TONS of threads out there of automatic transmission Subarus with symptoms of shaking, vibration, and noise immediately after replacing a front axle with an aftermarket part, and changing the axle with a quality part solved the problem.

Proper fluid first, but I'm also thinking loose or wet (oil) belt. When was the last time it got changed? Not all hydraulic oils are created equal. Each has different additives that react differently with the metals used in the system. Frinstance, if you use an oil with high sulfur content, it will corrode brass and copper parts in the system. Alot of hydraulic oils are compatible these days, and thus meet many different specifications without causing harm, but that doesn't mean you should mix and match them. There are still many different systems that have to have th correct oil to function properly. In a pinch using an unspecified oil can be OK for short term, but it should be changed immediately to the proper specified oil for the system, in order to avoid damage to internal parts. It's not a chemical reaction between oil and brake fluid that causes the damage to rubber parts, ANY petroleum based oil will cause rubber brake system parts to swell and fall apart. Oil in the cooling system will cause rubber heater and radiator hoses to swell to over double their normal size, and eventually burst. Gasoline has a similar effect on rubber and brake parts, which is one reason to never use gas to clean brake calipers. A different type of rubber is used for gaskets, O rings, and hoses that come into contact with oils such as engine oil, power steering, and ATF. Generally this type of rubber is suitable for use with fuel as well depending on application.

Glad you got this figured out! I did look in the FSM and it says to test across pins 15 and 17, which is actually wrong because it will give the same reading you got, which is the difference in voltage between the reference pin (+5V) and the signal pin. To get the right reading you connect to the signal pin and ECU ground. We can blame Subaru for that screw-up because the diagram you have came straight from their manual. A little late posting the info (pre-labor day party yesterday, shots were involved ) but glad you got it figured out! Now the big Qstion is, did it fix the original problem?

The block surface often corrodes under the old O rings and even new O rings may not seal properly. Wire brush the corrosion off as much as you can, clean the mating surfaces and put some Indian Head Gasket Shellac on the block surface before putting the new Orings in the grooves. Put some I/H on the manifold surface and install. Do not over-tighten the bolts, they will strip easily. http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_sealants/Permatex_Indian_Head_Gasket_Shellac_Compound.htm

My 96 L with a 97 or 98 (don't recall exactly) Outback bumper and grille. You can't just swap the plastic fascia, and actually it's alot more work to even try. Unbolt the whole thing from the donor car by removing the 2 large bolts on each side behind the headlights. The 3-4 screws along the bottom where the bumper attaches to the lower core support, and the one screw on each side that attach the bumper to the fender. You have to push the wheel well liner out of the way to get to them. And there might be a pop clip or three that need to be removed. Outback and GT grilles are taller, the indent in the bumper where the grill fits is larger accordingly. An L/Ls grille will have about a 1/2" gap between the grille and bumper if you use it with an Outback or GT bumper, but they mount the same otherwise. Wiring for the later two piece lights is no different, the wires are the same color, but 97-99 use 9007 bulbs (rather than 9003) so you have to swap to the 9007 style sockets. But the one piece lights still fit the same with the OB/GT bumper. The two piece lights are kind of a waste of time IMO unless you find some in pretty much perfect condition. The adjusters on the two piece move the entire headlight rather than just the reflector inside like the one piece, and the light output is no better than the one piece style. They do make the car look a little nicer, but when you gt up close the gaps around them are huge because the whole housing needs room to move for adjustment.

Replacement cv shaft? Was an OEM replacement or parts store aftermarket junk? I don't mean junk lightly. Most parts store axles are just that, absolute JUNK. Rebooting the original axles, even if they are clicking and making all kinds of noise, the old split boot OE axles are 110 times better than aftermarket rebuilt axles.

Ticking should go away. The lifters take quite a while to pump up. They should shut up after about 30 minutes. One bath in 6 and a half months? As long as its on Saturday it's all good!

How bout a year, model, and engine? Mitchel and Alldata are semi-good resources but they don't always have the correct info. On the older cars .45 - .55v is correct, but that may have changed between 1990 and say 2010. You may be testing across the wrong two pins. Or that could be right and MOD just has the wrong spec. With a year and model we can look up the ECU pinout in the FSM, and the TPS adjustment procedure.

Never heard of them myself. Have you checked out CCR Inc.?

What's the idle speed? Should be around 750 rpm. Does idle speed move up and down? On older cars that "switch" was probably the AC on/off button. AC puts a lot of drag on the engine. Older cars didn't usually have a step up setting to increase idle speed when the AC turned on. Newer cars do and it's controlled in such a way that it masks the drag of the AC pretty well. 4 cylinder cars have the most noticeable change in idle speed when the AC turns on due to the lack of inertia in the crankshaft. Try turning the AC off when it's doing this and see if it has any effect.

Is the harness cut? The factory plug is gone? It's probably in there but has fallen down somewhere. If none of the fuses are blown then at least it hasn't shorted yet, so maybe the P/O actually taped or covered it to prevent shorting. It might have been cut off short and/or stuffed back into the wire loom also. Did you remove the old stereo? Did it work properly?

Then your "memory" wire is probably switched. Hook a meter to it w/key OFF, then turn key ON. 12V? If so, it's a switched wire. This should go to your RED wire. Check the other power wire the same way. Do that until you find a wire that is 12V w/key OFF, and remains 12V with key ON. This should go to your YELLOW wire.

CEL on? Was the old sensor visibly damaged? (cracks/corrosion) Knock sensor has to sit a certain way so the sensor housing sits flat, otherwise it hits the block when tightened and will deform or crack the housing. Have you checked your theory with the knock sensor unplugged? Strange idle is usually a vacuum leak or a stuck idle control valve. High idle could be something like a sticky throttle cable or the throttle plate being wedged open slightly in the throttle body bore.

I never much liked the "memory" label. I think it leads to confusion. It should be Main power, because that's what it does. It provides the main power source for the head unit. The switched power just tells it to turn on, but doesn't actually power the unit. It's like the remote sense lead for an amp. Sure there's 12V there, but that's not what actually powers the unit. It just tells it when to turn on. That said, make sure the wire you're using for Main power in the dash is NOT switched. The HVAC fuse, when you checked it where did you ground your meter? Someone had an aftermarket stereo in the car before, did you notice any cut/spliced wires in the dash OTHER than what go to the radio?

This: 87 octane = detonation = ECU cuts ignition timing and boost to protect the engine from growing holes in itself. Dirty MAF certainly wasn't helping anything though.

Probably just worn out struts. Common wobble parts are steering rack bushings, rear control arm bushings, and struts. Wobbles with associated clunks could be ball joints, and inner and outer tie rod ends.

Looks good! I'm pretty sure you can buy that color green at most parts stores in the isle with all the spray paint. Probably need several cans to cover a whole hood though. I can't tell from the video, is that the gold colored bumper or the darker grey-pewter color? I have an Outback grille that's the darker color.