WAWalker

The viscous coupler is a sealed unit. Changing trans fluid will not effect it. Matter of fact if gear lube got into the viscous coupler you would lose your AWD. Another thing to keep in mind on a 186k mile tranny, that may have had a hard life, infrequent fluid changes........................torque bind is going to take a toll on the rest of the breaings in the trans. Just saying, how much $ do you want to invest in this tranny. Putting a used coupler in is always an option. Specialy if you are doing the work yourself. As I said the early model couplers have had a lower failure rate than the late model units.

I guess I don't always clearly type what I mean. If the DTC was set before the battery was replaced. Then I would say. Yes a weak battery could have caused it. I would clear the code and drive on. That is what I have done every time I have seen that code in the past 11 years. There has never been a problem with the starter. It has always been something else that resulted in a no start. Not to say something hasn't changed since the invent of OBDII. If the DTC sets with the new battery in the car, and the cars starts and runs fine. Different story.

DTC P1518 - STARTER SWITCH CIRCUIT LOW INPUT DTC DETECTING CONDITION Two consecutive driving cycles with fault TROUBLE SYMPTOM Failure of engine to start

Manual transmission or automatic transmission, would be a very helpful peice to the puzzle also.

Any information you can give my contain important clues. The more info the better.

I was saying I have no input from experiance, due to never seeing this code set on an OBDII car. (Starter switch circuit low input) (I have been around enough to know that OBDI cars do not have P codes) But I do on an OBDI car, and simple crank but no start would set the code on OBDI cars (falsly). The starters really haven't changed. Has what the ECU is monitoring changed? I will step back, as I said, I have no experiance.

Now that deffinetly sounds like a locked up viscouse coupler. Pre 2000 viscous couplers were not a big problem. Have replaced more 2000 and newer than older ones. But yes, enough time and miles will wear anything out.

Another good test. Jack up the front of the car, transmission in N. You should be able to turn both wheels the same direction. There will be resistance, but if there is so much that you can't turn them, then the coupler is locked up.

You don't even have to remove the transmission form the car. Just remove the exhaust Y-pipe and converters. Rear drive shaft. Support trans. Remove transmission cross member. Remove transmission tail houseing. (Not transfer case houseing.) Pull out viscous coupler.

Have never seen this code set on an OBD II car. But, on the OBDI, a crank with no start is all it took. Always a false code. JM.02

Viscouse coupler = ~$450-500 (list price) + gaskets gear lube, and time. 186k miles trans. may not be worth it. Hard to say.

Viscouse coupler = center differentail. In the tail houseing of the transmission.

No it probably will not be necessary. A shop will probably include it in a quote though.

If the idle is just perceived to be low, due to the increased vibration, then a quality axle may be all you need. Definetly a good start. As you know my opinion on the Napa axles.

Would have been interesting to see what kinds of codes the TCU will throw after the spirited driving mentioned. Probably nothing was wrong, just that the TCU got a little confused:) I'm not suprized at the ABS codes afterward. Just running these cars with all four wheels off the ground illuminates the ABS light, and can set codes.

Mitchell flate rate time is 1.8 hrs. If anyone quotes you much more over 2hrs. Kindly decline. Valve cover gaskets, bolt, and spark plug tube seals, $60ish. I personaly think this needs to be done. Most people resist due to cost. But as always it may not be the fix.

5 speeds get torque bind when the viscous coupler goes bad. That would explain the tires screaching, viabration through the entire car, and noise.

Just one of my experiances to back up my valve adjustment theory. Because it was after head gasket work, I find it to be relavant to your situation. Had been doing all the maintenance and repairs on one customers car starting at 59,999 miles. Head gaskets had external coolant leak. Dealership blew him off, did not repair. Buy the time the "campaign" letter about the head gasket leak came out, the car was at 97 some thousand miles. I showed him the letter told him he had better get to the dealer and "ride their a$$" to get them to fix it, as once he reached 100k, all bets would be off. So right around 100k they replaced his head gaskets (both sides) under warranty. He brings his car to me after another 3k miles for a regular oil change, complaining of a rough idle and CEL. Misfire code. I had been doing all the work on this car except the head gasket work. Plugs and wires were new as of the 90k mile service. Had never set a misfire code, had always idle fine. After checking the car out I told him that the only explanation I could give is that the valves were not adjusted properly during head gasket work. He said he had talked to the dealership and they had told him the problem was either ignition related or something with the valve train. I told him to go back to the dealer and have them check their work as far as the valve adjustment, as that is part of a head gasket job. He said "the dealer would never touch his car again", and how much would I charge to check/adjust the valves. Long story short, I got paid to fix the dealers mistake. I adjusted the valves. 80K miles later the car is still running like a top. I can't guarantee this is your problem (without looking at your car myself), but I've said it before and will say it again. Adjustable valves need adjusting. It should be done at Subarus recommendation of 105k miles and/or any time the heads are removed from the engine and reinstalled. If not done, and no problems arise as a resault, consider yourself lucky.

The differance is in the wiring connector. If you could post a picture of yours, it would be easy for someone with one to determine if it will work on your car.

They will not sell the Select Monitor III to anyone with out a "dealer code". Only dealerships can buy that from Kent Moore:mad: But anyone can buy one from Blue Streak Electronics:grin:

You said grounding #5 does nothing. Did you just ground #5 turn the key on and wait for the light to start flashing? You still need to go through all the BS with the gear selector with #5 grounded. See the post that I linked to. The diagnostic flow chart is in there.

That is the correct connector. Seems like they changed which pin needs to be grounded from year to year. Check out this thread. No conclusion as to which was the proper pin in '97. You will need to find the specific info for your MY. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=80437

I forgot to put the word "But" in there. And I tend to over analize things and get real long winded. So I left out the movement of the motor and trans mounts vs. the other hangers on the body And that it still all works if you don't put the springs in, but you may get some rattles, stress on the exhaust pipe................................................I'll quit now:grin:

If you did the head gasket work yourself. What did you set the valve clearance to?

http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ Dissclaimer: I don't think the plugs and wires are going to fix your problem. I just said if it was my car I would replace them.