Fairtax4me

Brake rotors rust when cars sit for a long time. They tend to make crunchy grumbling sounds while driving for a few miles until the rust wears off. If the rotors are extremely rusty, take them off and wire brush them. Light rust will wear away with normal use in a short time.

Glad to hear you got it figured out!

The lines on the belt will not line up again until you crank it over about 82 times. :-p As long as the marks on the sprockets line up with the marks on the covers you're golden.

I'm kinda wondering if there is a short in that 2.2 harness. An ej25d tossing a rod is no strange occurance. That happens all the time. The electrical issues afterward are coincidence, or something that happened while the work was being done. I can't imagine that high revving just before the failure of the engine or attempting to start the car afterward would damage the electrical system. Maybe if you held the key for 5 minutes it would burn out something, but trying once or twice shouldn't affect anything.

I didn't really expect it to but it needed to be done to be sure. Check that the B/W wire from the alt is not shorted to the W wire (12V from battery). Do that with the connector plugged in if you can. Beyond that I'm thinking maybe a bad main relay(s). I'll have to look up how they work on the 97. Older cars had one main relay that was a SpDt. I think 97 had two separate SpSt relays. One of those bad would keep the instrument cluster lights and some other stuff hot w/key off. They also control power to the ECU, which might mean it's getting no power during cranking or none at all. Or only partial power. edit: No I'm thinking wrong (tired) main relay doesn't do lights. It's just powers various sensors and ECU.

Fusible link is the one that looks like a wire in the under-hood use panel. Something strange and electrical... A bad diode in the alternator would allow a backfeed into the cluster through the indicator bulb lead. Disconnect the alternator plug and see if the blinking lights go away.

Legacy L, GT, and Legacy Outback models have different camber specs. If they selected the wrong vehicle type in the alignment program they could have set the adjustments incorrectly on the car. What kind of shop did you take it to? Often, even though they are more expensive, a dealership will be better able to correctly align the car since they primarily do Subarus. But that doesn't mean they'll get it right every time. The machines calibration could be off as well. It might have been several months since the shop had the machine properly serviced. The specs could be incorrect in the alignment program they use, or they just did it wrong. You could take it back to the shop that did it and see if they will correct the alignment, but you might have waited too long.

What's pneumonia got to do with it? Jk

Somebody has one. Check the classifieds here. Craigslist? Ebay? If I knew for sure that one would work I could get you one for about $40 from the piknpull I go to. I haven't been there in awhile, I need to check their Soob inventory. :-p

A DCCD maybe if it comes with the module and wiring. Standard VLSD center diff you can get from any soob AWD trans back to 1990. Although I probably shouldn't say that. Somewhere along the line there was a change in the way they worked internally. The older center diffs you could disassemble and replace just the viscous coupling if it went bad. Newer ones you just have to replace the whole thing. I'm not sure if the the newer gen center diffs are the same spline count and physical size as the older ones. Someone does? Either way, standard VLSD isn't worth any $300. Get them at the U-pull yard for under $50.

Like GD said, Any time a gear is replaced it has to be done as a set, except 1 2 and reverse since those are formed into the mainshaft. One of those goes out you replace the entire mainshaft, along with the gear set on the countershaft. Replacing ANY gear on the countershaft (the lower shaft) means disassembling the pinion shaft so the bearings can be pressed off. Then when re-installed you need new crush washers for the thrust bearings on the pinion shaft, and you need to reset pinion depth and ring gear backlash. Basically it is WAY more work than it's worth to rebuild one of these, and some of the parts are astronomically expensive. You'll spend more on a rebuild than you will to go get a used working trans. There are some parts you could keep. Center diff and transfer gears and if the front diff is limited slip keep that.

Which lights in the dash glow after the key is out? Any specific ones like Battery, oil, coolant temp? I want to make sure we're not talking about back-lighting because that means we're looking at some strange coincidental failure or broken/crimped wire harness near the fuse panel under the hood. Have you checked fuses? Under hood and in the dash panel. Fusible link in good shape? Checked the connections on the alternator? Both battery terminals tightly connected? Battery FULLY charged?

Pull-n-pick? Try Car-part.com

I'm not sure about wiring differences, but as far as overall design you'll need something from 95-99. I would think that any of those should work, but I know this has been done plenty of times. Search around here there are bound to be a few threads about it.

Double double check the 3 main wire harness plugs on the bellhousing. They can be difficult to get plugged in all the way.

Need an O-scope to really see if the Speed sensor is actually creating the correct pulse, but you can check it with a voltmeter set to ACV as you drive. I'm not sure exactly what the readout should be, but anything above flat 0V should at least tell you if the sensor is indeed turning. Hook up the meter at the cluster end of the wiring for the sensor. If you get a signal there, then you probably need to replace the speedometer. The 1507 code probably has nothing to do with the IACV. This code typically sets if the car gets driven and the ECU receives no speed sensor input. There is a module on the back of the gauge cluster that converts the sensor output from 8 pulses per revolution down to 4, then it sends that signal to the ECU. If your speedometer doesn't work chances are the converter isn't sending a signal. The ECU sees changes in throttle position and vehicle speed while you drive, and adjusts the IACV according to speed when coasting (off throttle) in gear to keep the engine from spitting/backfiring in the exhaust. Without the speed input the ECU seeing is high idle speed at 0mph after you take you foot off the throttle to coming to an intersection, or going down a hill, or just coasting along on the highway. The ECU is trying to correct the idle speed by altering the IACV pulse width, and it's not reading a change because the engine speed doesn't come down. The ECU assumes this means there is a problem with the IACV and sets a code. Then probably goes into limp mode which would explain the rough running. Figure out the speedometer issue first.

Hub puller. This one is an extra heavy duty version but there are others out there that work well and don't cost as much. HF has a set IIRC that should be fine for the occasional DIYer. http://www.ebay.com/itm/OTC-6574-Heavy-Duty-Hub-Puller-/200725098767#ht_2347wt_805

Sometimes the broken piece can fall off and the rest can APPEAR to be fine. Broken springs are common enough that it's worth checking into. Especially if the car has ANY rust on it at all.

I'm using Chrome. Not too worried about it though. Have been running Linux for a while and it seems to be fairly secure. Much more-so than the Windows platforms I'm used to.

1507 sets when the car moves, but the ECU thinks it isn't. The drive gear inside the transmission might be broken or stripped. Is this an auto or manual?

Annnnnnd this is a surprise? PCV valve Stock OE Subaru part or aftermarket turd? Does it jiggle? What about CEL? Does the bulb work? Codes? Squirrel in the intake? :-P

What GD said. Or possibly the connectors melted (high resistance/ poor contact creates quite a bit of heat. pretty common issue) and they had to be replaced.

The only time the block is totally unusable is if a rod goes through it. Or it overheats to the beyond extreme and cracks. Minor rod knock is a perfect rebuild candidate. Main bearing knock is almost unheard of. You need a LOT of wear on the mains before the crank gets enough room to get enough momentum to make an audible sound when/if it hits the bearings. Rod bearings almost always go first since they see the most dynamic changes in load. I've asked several of the technicians I used to work with about signs to look for to determine Rod or Main bearing damage. Rod bearing damage causes knocking, and sometimes low oil pressure, but usually the knock turns into a hole in the block (rod heat seizes to the crank and breaks) before there is a very noticeable change in oil pressure. Main bearing damage almost always starts out as noticeably low oil pressure. Noise then develops as the rod bearings wear due to lack of lubrication at low RPMs. A bad thrust bearing can make some noise when changing from on/off throttle if the crank moves quickly enough. Known as "crank walk". Ask any early Mitsubishi Eclipse/ Eagle Talon turbo owner about Crank walk (or google it, it's fun).

Rebuilt? Nobody PROPERLY rebuilds Subaru manual transmissions. There are too many components that SHOULD be replaced, too many clearances to set, and not enough demand for them. The center diff is cheaper than a whole transmission and is very easy to replace. Even a brand new part from the dealer is cheaper than a used trans from that era. Before you go buying differentials and transmissions check two things. Tire size. Are ALL 4 TIRES the EXACT SAME Brand, Model, and Size? Different brands of the same size are often different sizes when actually measured. On these cars, all 4 tires must be within 1/4" (7mm) circumference. Tire wear. Tire wear can not be more than 1/4" difference in circumference between the tire with the most amount of wear, and the tire with the least amount of wear. Make sure they all have the correct air pressure as well. If the tires are mismatched, or are worn more on the front than on the rear (or vice versa), a new differential will be a waste of money and will be damaged in the same manner in a short time. A new set of matching tires may cure the binding problem, or at least lessen the severity of it.

Springs hold the weight, struts control the weight. It's possible the spring on that side broke. That's pretty common on rust belt cars.