Fairtax4me

Timing belt is the right track. Put a new belt on, if a locked timing idler pulley or water pump caused the belt to break replace it as well and see if it will start and run. You might get lucky and not have valve damage. You can do a compression test to see which cylinders, if any, have bent valves. Of course repairing bent valves means removing the cylinder head(s). Worst case you sell it to someone who knows how to fix it.

It's called a torque wrench. Some shops use them, others use Torque Stick lugnut sockets with an impact wrench. I've used both, and while the torque sticks are quick and easy, they are hardly an accurate way to torque the lug nuts. Using a torque wrench is the only way to make sure you get the proper torque on the lug nuts.

IIRC there is a small low pressure pump on the drivers side of the tank to move fuel from one side of the "hump" in the tank to the other. (The hump is there for the driveshaft to go under the tank) I always figured the hose was inside the tank though.

Courtesy of http://www.cars101.com/subaru_legacy_archive95_97.html You need plain 95 Legacy L model struts for proper fitment for your car.

If you use the correct tire size there will be practically no difference in speedometer/odometer reading. No difference in tire height or ride height either. The 195/60/15 turns ~ 855 revolutions per mile, exactly the same as the 185/70/14 size tire on the Brighton models.

I would guess the TO bearing locked up and spun or just fell apart which subsequently caused the clips to break. Perhaps the driver is holding down the clutch pedal while sitting at lights/ in traffic?

What's your reason for thinking your car needs the higher pressure cap?

I think he meant the exhaust gaskets were felpro. Those should be fine, but the mating surface of the pipes and heads need to be cleaned and completely free of rust, old gasket material, and carbon buildup, before installing new gaskets or they may leak. Piston slap is more of a low thunk or clunk sound.

Water does't make it crack, but water/oxygen exposure is what makes it corrode and stop working correctly. You wouldn't need the plastic housing if the sensor were made of something that wouldn't corrode.

I see what you're getting at. You might think about going with a lower profile tire as well. If you went with a 185/60 you would get a slightly smaller overall diameter which would help put power to the road a little easier.

Last time I was at the dealer I asked about the price of a gallon of coolant. Subaru blue lists at $9.98. That's way cheaper than any auto parts store brand around here. Wish I had known that months ago. I pour half the bottle into an empty gallon jug and fill both back up with water. Use just over a gallon and a half and the rest gets put in the trunk for future use if needed.

When you get too skinny the price starts to go back up. I'd just find the skinniest tire that you want to pay for and go with that. I don't know for sure, are the aluminum wheels are any wider than steel wheels? That might make a difference. I have 185 70 14 on my sedan.

Finally got to check the valve lash clearance yesterday. When wiggled by hand I felt NO play in the rockers. The smallest feeler gauge I had, .008", wouldn't squeeze between the lifters and valve stems. Pressing on the end of the rockers with a pry bar, the springs begin to compress as soon as pressure is applied. I did not see any of the lifters "squish". So it seems the issue is either between the cam and roller or it's something else entirely. I ordered some aftermarket exhaust manifold gaskets (different design than Subaru gaskets), and will swap those when they come in a few days.

Should be. As far as I know if you just match up the color of the tops (red, grey, black,etc) with the ones you have then they are the same.

What he said. A loose plug, poor connection, anything like that could cause an intermittent running issue. 95 IIRC the Impreza was still OBD1 which means you can pull any codes that may be stored without a scanner. You plug in two wires under the dash (I don't recall if its the green connectors or black) and count the flashes of the check engine light. There are some How-To's about it around here somewhere. Search the site for "OBD1 Codes" or something like that and you should find it. The key is simple. Take the cylinder to a locksmith and have them make a key for it. You can also pull the cylinder out of the door and have them match key the ignition cylinder if it isn't the same. You can order a key from a dealer, but if that cylinder has been replaced before then the dealer key probably won't work.

Right, those are probably 8.8 or 10.9 metric grade bolts, which are fairly high strength. Metric 10.9 is roughly equivalent to grade 8 steel. Either way, yeah they like to rust, and they expand into the bushings and seize. Usually a BFH (5lb sledge) is what it takes to get the out when they do that. But often times it's easier to just cut/drill the rubber part of the bushing out, pull the bolt out with the inner sleeve and replace with new hardware and bushing.

Assuming a manual transmission. The center differential spider gear shaft fell out and lodged itself in the case of the transmission. A worn out main shaft bearing caused excessive backlash in the gear sets which caused extreme wear and eventually binding of the gear teeth until they jammed against each other and locked up completely. Or two gears could have engaged at the same time also because of a worn main shaft bearing, but I think this type of failure would stall the engine since it would force the input shaft to stop spinning.

Just stick the magnet to the side of the pan in the back corner with some epoxy to hold it on there.

There are really only Two reasons to replace an engine in a Subaru. 1. It's about to throw a rod. 2. It threw a rod. It won't run unless you hold the gas pedal down isn't a reason to replace the whole engine. You basically need good tune-up. Filters, plugs, wires, vacuum hoses, and clean the idle control valve. As John said, a CEL will indicate the ECU has detected an issue and can lead you in the right direction. You can get that scanned for free at most any auto parts store. Even if the light is not on, check for operation of the light during the bulb test by turning the key ON.

A few things come to mind. Most people probably think of Camber when they see worn edges, but outer edges are usually worn more because of incorrect caster when turning. Did you get a spec sheet from the shop with before and after alignment measurements? Did they adjust the caster angle? (Or even measure it for that matter?)

Are you sure it's the belt slapping the cover and not piston slap or dry valve train noise?

Funny you mention this. I have a couple melted rear covers off my 2.2. I kinda have to wonder just how hot the engine actually gets to melt those covers.

What about the "Wasted Spark" cars that have the one coil pack in the middle? They fire both plugs at the same time. One is at the top of the compression stroke while the other is at the bottom of the exhaust stroke.

Yeah actually the Pickapart place I was thinking of is just a little south of Fredericksburg, not Stafford. http://www.pickapartva.com/ Currently they have 33 Subarus in their inventory. Several Foresters including an 01. I guess there could be some differences between years but I always figured a 4EAT is a 4EAT. They did have an 00 or 01 Forester in CAP not too long ago though. I almost took the struts off of it.