Setright

The notch is supposed to indicate the maximum hot mark.

"Rumours of my death have been greatly exagerated!" Twain

Could be a number of things. I would suggest removing the glovebox - and any trim panels behind it - to gain access the blower motor itself. You can try to connect it straight to a 12 volt power source and see if it works. If it does, try to trace backwards up to the dash control. The dash is a bit of a pain to take apart.

Wow, Mailman, you must feel hunted by the pedantic Setright! (Gear oil, then this!) ;-)

Yes sir! Sometimes I just read want I want to read :-)

I have had some amazing fun in 1st and 2nd gear, sliding around on compacted snow - Legacy EJ22 MT. Never experienced any tendency to spin just one axle and stand still. Always predictable handling. Winter is coming up and this will be the first time I take the Impreza into snow :-)

No..time..to..write....chugging Carlsberg...! Jokes aside, I now own a 2000MY Impreza 2.0, and although I haven't checked the dipstick tube location, I have not had any trouble getting a consistent reading on the dipstick itself. But do have years of Sube experience behind me :-)

The low and high marks are one litre/quart apart according to the manuals. I find that half that amount often yields a good result.

The hiss is normal. If it's very loud I would suspect that the refrigerant level is low.

Or an Impreza WRX, Tiny ;-)

Mailman, I disagree. The thicker oil should have a higher film strength and therefore be much better at protecting the gear teeth from scuffing eachother. It's just a question of 75W-90 being plenty already. A worn diff or gearbox might be made to last - silenced a bit - by 75W-140. I would not worry about about using 75W-140 instead of 75W-90. In principal the 140 will increase fuel consumption, but only marginally. The "75W" in both oils should mean that they perform near identical in cold weather. The 140 will handle higher temps better.

Touching the strut tower will be less likely with 40mm than 50mm. The higher the number, the further in the wheel will move. So, a 40mm offset is likely to cause rubbing on the fender. Offset is more important than many people - including wheel shops - realise. A 40mm offset will cause a different load on the hub-bearing, and will interfere with your steering and suspension geometry. The car won't swerve off the road or anything drastic, with a 10mm difference, but if you are seeking better handling with the new rims, you need a 50-55mm offset.

Sounds like normal operation to me. The cooling is cycled to avoid freezing the condensation on the evaporator. If this turns to ice, it will impede the air flow. Just before the air goes cold again, you should be able to hear a slight "hiss" from behind the glovebox. Normal. If it hisses for more than about a second, or makes any other noise, then the refrigerant level is probably low.

Okay, thanks. Makes sense too, since the belt tensioner is then on the slack side.

Okay, very creative. However, on my 1990 Legacy I replace the oil pan....and could see clearly that the tube did not reach below the level. Maybe your engine is overfilled??

Here's a good pic: http://www.kfz-tech.de/Bilder/Kfz-Technik/Achsantrieb/Torsen-Differenzial01.gif

Question, and I hate to have to ask this: Standing at the front of the car, looking into the engine room. which way does the top side of the timing belt move?

Erm, the VC will take some punishment to "overwhelm". For sure it would be easier to spin the rear wheels, on gravel remember, than to trash the VC. VC overload is more likely on a two-wheel brake test stand.

Torsen is an acronym for "Torque Sensing". It distributes torque away from an axle that is starting to spin faster than the other. It's really cool. The system is 100% mechanical, using a bunch of planetary worms gears and something that looks like a normal diff, to do the distribution. It reacts faster than most electronic systems, simply because it's always connected. (In principal, the Sube silicone thing has a delay too.) Torsen is full-time, on road, four wheel drive. AWD to you ;-) And since Audi has cast it aside, it's time for Sube to take it over!!

That size is spot on.

Well, it doesn't sound unreasonable. Diagnosing problems, you have start somewhere! That said, the engine also has a cam angle sensor, which the ECU should rely on if the crank sensor goes bad. Perhaps your cam angle sensor (driver side of engine) is also covered in timing belt filth? If your belt is giving off rubber dust, you really should replace it before it snaps. Still, your problem could stem from the ECU. Especially since the crank signal is arriving at the connector. Off hand the only other thing I would suspect is the MAF. You mention something about 3000rpm, and a defect MAF means the ECU won't let the engine rev above that. MAF is cheaper and easier to replace, so it could be worth a try. I trust you have made sure that all the vacuum and PCV hoses are connected and not blocked?

I suspect that all four wheels spun due to a total loss of traction. The center diff divides torque 50/50 under all circumstances. The front wheels ARE free to spin alone, but the rears will still get half the torque. If one front wheel has no traction and the other one does, the one without traction is free to spin 50% of the entire torque away. Even in that situation, the rears are still getting 50%, so they will push the car forward. This why an MT Sube is hard to steer as you enter a snow filled road. The fronts hit the snow and spin, and the rears still on tarmac push the car in a straight line. Howver, once all four are on the slippery stuff, it's tail-out galore ;-)

There is no international governing body that has stipulated what constitutes AWD or 4WD. The things written in this post are based on opinions, and not certifiable facts. How many wheels does a Subaru have? Four. If "All" of them are driven, surely it's four-wheel-drive. AWD is a marketing babble. More Opinon: I prefer to divide them into full and part-time 4WD. Both can be accomplished in different ways. The "Torsen" diff that Audi/VW used to use in the "Quattro" and "Synchro" models was full-time. The new "4Motion" system is part-time. I was a big fan of the old system, and wish Subaru would use the Torsen diff in the center. However, the Haldex clutch in the center of a 4Motion car is a sell out. I would contend that either you want 4WD or not. Would anyone want to shut off their ABS?

Are you certain the tube actually penetrates the oil level?? I find that I get a consistent reading if I let the car cool on a level surface overnight, pull the stick, wipe it clean, insert all the way and pull it out.

Someone from Oz was on the board about a year ago, with a similar problem. I suggested the fuel pressure regulator, and what do ya' know, it was! The regulator is easy is to replace, so it's a good place to start. Fuel pump is a little more time consuming, and expensive. Buy a genuine Subaru regulator and replace it yourself, before you start paying big money to the dealer.