Fairtax4me

Someone is really determined. Too bad they can't invest that type of ambition in something useful rather than spamming Internet forums. I reported 3 of these earlier today.

I'll trust your judgement, as I take it that means you have personal experience.

Oil leak is probably the separator plate. Check out beergarage.com for pics/walk through. The old engines had plastic separator plates that are known to crack, but usually the sealer on them just dries up and they leak like crazy. There is also an o ring under the diamond shaped cover opposite the crankshaft that will dry out and leak. An o ring under the round cover on the back of the passenger side cylinder head that does the same. Rarely does the oil pan leak unless someone has removed it and used crappy sealer to reseal it. There are a few other common leak points as well, front cam/crank seals, the oil pump oring, and the cam bearing housing o ring on the front of the drivers side head.

Bad ETC doesn't usually cause problems in warm weather I don't think. But they are famous for causing no start problems. The ECU thinks the engine is warm so doesn't give enough fuel for a cold engine to start.

Didn't know the glove box light was dependent on the light switch. Figured that would just be hot with key On. The longer I look at the wire diagrams the more confused I get. In some way or other, all of the lighting is tied back to the ICM. I'd like to find an explanation of exactly how that crazy thing works.

Steel Seal will only make things worse. Avoid it like the plague. You need to replace the head gaskets. That's all there is to it. A new thread pops up here about once a week asking about the exact symptoms you have. It's nearly a 100% guarantee that the head gaskets will fail on the DOHC 2.5. And you have all the signs of typical head gasket failure. The heads need to come off and go to a machine shop to be milled flat, and have those now bent valves replaced. A full valve job would be ideal and also get the valve lash set properly to avoid burned exhaust valves. 2.5 head gaskets can be done with the engine in the car, but it's much easier to do with the engine out on a stand.

Front O2 sensor could cause problems similar to this without setting codes. If you have a cheap source for the front sensor it might be worth it to swap it and see if it makes any difference. The rear sensor has no effect on the engine, it's only there as a check sensor for the catalytic converter. Since you have codes for both front and rear sensors, that makes me think someone removed the exhaust system at some point and forgot to plug the sensors back in upon re-installation. All of the O2 sensor codes are two trip fault codes. Which means the ECU will store a "Pending" code when it finds a fault, but will not set the CEL unless the same fault is there for two consecutive drive cycles. If there is a current problem with the O2 sensors it is intermittent and hasn't been recognized on two consecutive drive cycles. Or the sensors were unplugged at some point for one cycle, then re-connected before the next cycle.

I don't know if this has been covered, I tried to search and didn't find anything except posts about wasted illumination control modules. Many aftermarket head units have a dimmer feature when you turn the lights on, but, as some people have found out the hard way, it can't be hooked up in a modern Subaru. That's not entirely true though. What I mean by that is it can't be hooked up to the factory radio harness dimmer wires. The reason why is those wires go to the Illumination Control Module under the dash, and the module controls power and ground for all of the dash lighting in some convoluted way. If you try to tap into the illumination circuit for power, the module shorts, the magic smoke escapes, and then you get no lights at all. You need 12v when the lights are switched on to make the dimmer work. You can't get that from the headlight switch on the stalk, because like all of the interior lights, that switch controls the ground side of the circuit, and it grounds through the ICM. The best way I figured to get the right voltage and not risk blowing up the ICM was to tap into the wiring for the exterior lights where it exits the dash fuse panel. On my 96 Legacy fuse number 5 is for the tail lights. The wire coming out of the panel is Red, and I found it on the lower right pin of the grey connector that is top left corner of the fuse panel cover. Pictured here: The multimeter probe is pointing at the wire I used. I get 12v there when the lights are switched on, and my head unit dims now! So there you have it. A simple workaround for a stupid problem!

Could be a vacuum leak. Check all the hoses (what few there are) for cracks, splits, loose ends. Check the breather hoses from the valve covers to the intake tube, and the PCV hoses where they attach to the tube the intake and the block. While you're messing around with that put a new PCV valve on it. Also possible the MAF is failing.

Check the area in front of the radiator for obstruction such as leaves, acorns, animal fur, etc. I've seen lots of cars where the area between the condenser and radiator gets full of sticks and leaves and blocks the airflow. A proper coolant change and new thermostat (dealer only part) will probably help as well.

Even if it checks out fine for resistance values, it doesn't necessarily mean the sensor is working properly. In this case the sensor is likely sending an erratic signal that says knock is actually occuring when in fact it may not be. Also, if the resistance value were widely out of spec, the ECU would pick up on that and set a code for it, since that's part of it's check sequence. A mere visual inspection of the sensor housing will tell you more about the health of the sensor than a resistance check.

They all work the same AFAIK. There were a few different connectors, (some were one port, some were two port, but both have only one wire to the sensor) but you can pop the white harness connector off of one and put it on the other if you need to. (Ive done it) Very easy with a small screwdriver.

When you have a compressor that's locked because of internal damage it's smart to check the lines for pieces of metal from the compressor. There are several different ways these can fail, and the location of the failure (and design of the compressor) will determine if any particles are pushed out of the compressor into the lines. Probably not, but it's easy to check. Disconnect the high pressure line at each end and remove it, put one end into a cup and spray brake cleaner through it to wash it out. IF any chunks or glitter come out then you'll have to replace some other parts while you're at it, but all of this stuff is cheap at the junkyard. Junkyard compressor is the way to go. These don't fail very often. Just make sure the junkyard compressor will turn.

As I suspected, there are two sources of switched power that go back to under the hood. One is the headlight relay power (for the pull side) , the other is the AC relay power. But the headlight relays are grounded through the switch on the column, so you can get switched power from that circuit without being affected by the position of the headlamp switch.

As horrible as it sounds, most probably pour it on the ground or down a drain somewhere. I live around many people who have the exact same mindset, and it happens all the time around here as well. :-\ I'd still like to think that the recycler/collector service that the shops in your area use could provide a way to get rid of antifreeze. Even though individuals pour it out all the time, it's against federal law for a business to allow hazardous liquids/materials to be poured out onto the ground / down a drain / into the creek out back. A reputable licensed repair shop has to have a collection and disposal service for antifreeze and oil. Whether or not they will accept yours is up to them, but it can't hurt to ask.

Off the top of my head there isn't much. Headlamp/park lamp circuits. What year/model? How much current do you need? Are we trying to run 500w offroad lights, or just power the pull side of a relay?

The green liquid is oil with UV dye added. The refrigerant is a gas and has no color/visible appearance.

I didn't see this link before, but I like it! I found a few places to take other things, such as old Nicd batteries. Also found a recycling center convenient to a shop where I do on the side mechanic work from time to time, where I can take all of the old oil and antifreeze that's currently occupying a half dozen 5 gallon buckets there. :-p Lets make it clickable: http://earth911.com/ They do not allow that here so I'd also advise to call and ask before flushing it down the john. Gear oil, motor oil, steering fluid, transmission fluid all kinda count as oil. Shops mix them all together along with brake fluid, so it should be fine to mix them. I always figured brake fluid was closer to antifreeze, but the antifreeze collection truck driver said, no can do "only antifreeze only".

The hub on the compressor should be easy to spin by hand. If it doesn't move at all the compressor is damaged internally and should be replaced. There are a few ways to evacuate the AC system, one is to take it to a shop, two is to crack the line open slightly then run away for an hour, three is to buy some fitting adapters and hoses and a vacuum pump and refrigerant storage tank and capture the charge yourself. More than likely, if you take the car to an AC shop and say I need this system emptied the proper way, and i'll bring it back to have it re-charged after I fix the compressor, they'll be nice and empty it for very cheap or even free. (it only takes 2 minutes for the service machine to empty the system) The black plastic can with the two vacuum lines is the charcoal canister for the evap system. Make sure those vacuum lines aren't dried out and split to avoid vacuum leaks there.

Awesome! How much concrete did you pour in the front bumper to keep the wheels on the ground so you can turn?

Seems strange that the door affects it. The alarm can be reset by disconnecting the battery -, turn the key to ON, then reconnect the battery -. There are other ways as well. There was a recent thread on how to disarm the alarm in various ways. Give that a try and see if that has any effect on the door problem.

Waiting for things to break is a fine policy when the part that breaks is the only part that will be affected by it's breakage. Modern engines are not so forgiving. I don't see how it's worth it to gamble the cost of an engine replacement vs a couple hundred $$ for a whole timing kit. Kinda like digging your own grave IMO.

You could use a code reader, but if there were anything serious enough to cause a problem right now, the CEL would be on. No CEL probably means no codes. Knock sensor has to be connected. If you unplug it the ECU will default to safe mode where you get almost no spark timing advance, and no power. Often the knock sensor will fail without setting a code. Knock sensors are cheap on Ebay, cheap enough that even if it doesn't fix the problem you won't feel like you've wasted anything. Your thinking that a TPS problem will show only with a change in throttle position is correct. The TPS typically has nothing to do with a problem that shows up only at a certain engine speed. If the TPS were a problem you would notice changes in engine power by varying throttle position.

It will only rotate about 45 degrees before the next set of lobes starts to push the rocker arms. Also as cmill said, You should have replaced ALL of the idlers and the tensioner and water pump because there is a good chance they will not make it another 105k miles. Usually the lower cogged idler fails first, chews the belt up and you end up with bent valves. Spend the extra $150 on a full timing set, and do it right, or you'll end up spending a lot more, and wasting a lot more time rebuilding the cylinder heads in a few years.

Might have cooked the driver circuit in the ECU. Swap it with number 4 to see if it's the injector or wiring. Or check it with a noid light. There could also be water in the main harness connector. Pull that apart and spray it with electronics cleaner/ contact oil. Fuel injector removal is easier said than done. You'll want to spray the rails out with compressed air first or else the intake will get about a half cup of gas poured into it when the injectors are pulled out of the rail. Remove the 2 screws on the injector cover, then pull the cover off, don't lose the small rubber insulators. The injector can then be pried out of the rail. I've used a small flat head screwdriver stuck in the small holes on the side to pry the injector out. Once it's popped up a bit it can be twisted/pulled out by hand.