Fairtax4me

That K&N may be hurting more than it helps. The oil in the filter can coat the MAF sensor element and cause it to read incorrectly. Put a paper filter in it and spray the MAF sensor with MAF sensor cleaner. Oxygen sensors can make a huge difference. The front sensor is used to make changed to the fuel mixture, the rear sensor is a waste of money to change unless you get a code for it. Vacuum leaks will make a difference as well. 17 year old rubber vacuum hoses are hard as a rock and brittle.

Yeah it's pretty simple. Call a dealer and ask.

The separator plate is part of the PCV system. It has baffles that catch oil vapor so it drains back into the oil pan rather than all of it getting sucked into the intake and sludging everything up.

I hope you replaced the o-ring under the wrist pin cover too. I've replaced three of those in the past 6 months. All of them were as brittle as plastic and leaking. It's only another $1.50 or something like that and easy to replace while the engine is out.

These commonly leak oil from the separator plate, which is part of the pcv system, inside the bell housing. Oil leaks right down the back of the block then down the front differential case and lands on the y pipe. This only leaks when the engine is running unless it's really bad. Other common leak points are the valve cover gaskets, cam seals, crank seal, oil pump housing to block o-ring, and an access cover inside the engine bell housing.

You may be able to see them through the hole in the bellhousing. Remove the cables and the boot from the lever and look in with a flashlight and small mirror. If you wiggle the release lever the TOB should move with it. If the TOB looks crooked or doesn't move with the release lever one or both of the clips may be broken.

You likely have a ground short issue causing all the lights to stay on. All of the warning lights in the cluster are switched ground and none of them are common at any point except for right at the cluster. Check over all of the vacuum and breather hoses under the hood. Any leaks will cause problems with boost pressure. If the boost is bleeding off competely it could be a mechanical problem with the waste gate, but with idle or stumbling issues a vacuum leak makes more sense. You want to be careful when driving with it like that, that boost needle can very quickly change direction and go way over before you know what's happening, then you get a hole in the block.

Possibly an adjustment issue. There should be about 1/4" of free play at the release lever. Is the car leaking oil or transmission gear oil?

Pretty sure the one with taper is for the steering u joint. Whenever I remove parts that have multiple or similar bolts I put the bolts back in the hole they came from until I'm ready to reassemble.

Did you tighten the pitch mount? If the transmission moves too much the linkage can pull it out of gear. Kinda doubt that's the problem but it's worth a check. Possible someone was resting their hand on the shifter when cruising and wore out the bushings on the shift fork. Now it doesn't go into 5th gear far enough to stay engaged. That or the synchro hub is damaged (someone grinding gears like woah) or just completely worn out. If the main shaft bearing was allowing the shaft to walk back and forth enough to pop it out of gear there would be all kinds of racket when the shaft was spinning. I don't see there being much chance of the stake nut on the end coming loose unless someone had the trans apart and removed the nut (to replace the MSB perhaps) and just didn't get it tight enough, doubtful of that being the issue here. The TB, just more evidence that the car that trans came from was not properly maintained. It had mismatched tires, and the owner that would rest their hand on the shifter. :-p

It's the same car. There is no difference in materials or craftsmanship. You got one that was rusty and/or abused by a previous owner. Shifting without the clutch does less harm to the transmission than shifting with the clutch, assuming you do it correctly. All thats happening is you are matching input and output shaft speed when the years are engaged rather than making the synchros do the work.

Yeah these pumps have an issue with the screws that hold the backing plate on getting loose and backing out. It's a simple fix but the pump has to be taken off to get to them.

I've been lucky and haven't had one break yet, but with a good set of drill bits drilling the leftovers out of the knuckle isn't that difficult. Drill it out all the way and put a longer bolt all the way through, smothered and covered with anti-seize. Coat the ball joint with anti-seize too.

Checked the timing belt? It's also cold now, that can make a fair difference in MPGs. Tire pressures all to spec? Any idea when/ if the front O2 sensor has been replaced? Any Check engine light? Does the bulb work when key ON?

2.5 w/ Autotragic trans. No codes. When cold it runs fine, runs ok until just about the time the ECU switches loops, then the idle starts going up and down, up and down, up and down. Only about 3- 400 rpms. Hasn't ever stalled. Sometimes it doesn't do it. Seems to do it less if the outside air temp is about 60F or more. ECT reading on diagnostic scanner is consistent with outside air temp when cold, rises accordingly as the engine warms, and compared and verified with an IR temp gun once the engine is warm. Checked for vacuum leaks, loose hoses, all that jazz, found nada. Removed the IAC and the O ring was goofed up (installed crooked). Cleaned it, (just sprayed it down and wiped it with a cloth) replaced the O ring, idle still fluctuates. Guessing the IAC needs to be replaced. Gonna clean the throttle body first (throttle bore is gummed up, the butterfly sticks to the sides), see if it helps. And a good Seafoam treatment is a must (plus it's fun ). Any thoughts?

Nope, the EJ25 clutches are 1" 24 spline, 8-7/8" disc. I just ordered a full Exedy clutch kit from ebay for $125 shipped. Check there for good deals.

The brakes are there. If they aren't then... wow. Post a picture so we can see what you have. It should look similar to the front brakes, but some models had drum brakes in the rear which will look different.

The 96 - 99 cars had a good spot right where the fuel lines come into the fire wall behind the drivers strut tower. There are 3 lines, but a plug in the firewall with 4 "nipples". Poke a hole in the empty one and feed the wire through.

You verified there is 12V on both sides of the fuse? Probably a harness issue. Next step is to find out where the circuit is broken. Could be in one of the junction blocks at the firewall. Could be at the fuse panel inside the car, could be another junction between the fuse panel and lights. Check here to download a copy of the FSM for 2000+ Legacy. http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/ Check out the wiring diagram section to find out where the wiring for the lights goes in the car. I suppose it can't hurt to check the grounds for some of these lights.

Much cheaper than the $25 dealer part. Thanks for the tip.

It's gotta be a power issue because there are separate grounds for several of those circuits. According to the FSM all of those get power from Fuse # 2 in the main fuse box under the hood.

Yeah if it doesn't have the tab chances are it doesn't need the spring. does the shifter feel floppy at all when its in neutral? Without the spring the shifter will just fall over towards the drivers side. If it stays positively between 3-4 then it has the internal spring and doesn't need the one on the linkage.

Is kind of hard to see from below unless you know what to look for. There is a small tab on the bottom of the linkage right where it attaches to the transmission. Here's a thread on scoobymods with some pics of the shift linkage. http://www.scoobymods.com/showthread.php/kartboy-shifter-and-bushings-wrx-205.html?s=&threadid=205

Check the heater hoses where they connect to the bypass and crossover pipes right on top of the block, and the small hose that attaches to the bottom of the throttle body. The air box removes fairly easy, removing that will give you more room to figure out where the leak is.