Bushwick

I've had bad experiences with smaller mechanics. Had one hose me for nearly $1k because he kept replacing things blindly then saying car was OK as they couldn't find a section of wire off the CPS sensor that had been pinched by the timing cover and was rubbing on the crank pulley, causing random misfires and no-starts. They took advantage of the fact I was gone for weeks at a time due to a job that forced a bunch of traveling at the time, and had the car on/off for near 3 months. They'd replace a cam sensor, say car quit acting up, and I'd get 2 blocks from their shop after the "repair" only to have it stumble. Took it back, and they dragged feet and would drive the thing personally home (how it wasn't acting up for them was a mystery). Finally got mad and had it towed to Ford and they found the issue within 3 hours. I took that shop to civil court as they lied about fixing it and the female judge was a **** that treated me like dirt for representing myself and didn't even know what a spark plug was (I lost). Anyways, that was a very painful and stressful lesson which I openly share to save someone else from the possibility of being hosed. I could afford it then, but shouldn't have had to. While most dealerships are pricey, that at least know their cars and should be a safe bet to at least correctly diagnose an issue. Not all mechanics are the same caliber. If talking simple repairs like tie rods, most can do that.

You can get an exact match fuel pump for $80 at parts store, and within an hour install it yourself. Lift the back seat bottom cushion forward, and there's an oval cover screwed to the metal. Remove that and you have access to the top of the fuel tank and fuel pump assembly. There's roughly 8 or maybe 10 bolts with I think 10mm nuts (or maybe they were closer to 5/16", can't remember). They'll be rusty so a rust blaster and patience will be need to loosen, but once loose, assembly lifts right out. Swap in a new pump AND new sock, and it's good to go. Did I mention it only costs $80 roughly? If you have jumpers, pop the hood and jump the battery. It'll come out of park, and it'll at least have a charge.

^Can't you put the fuse in to force FWD on auto? That disengages the rear. Also, are you saying you leave the tow bar assembled 24/7? Or you pull bumper cover, bolt it up, and toss cover in the rear? Then unbolt after towing and reattach bumper cover? Is that a lot of work? If the bar is a cheap metal, you can get an arc welder at Harbor Freight for $150 or less if it's on sale. I bought one and it's actually pretty good for what it is. You can't even get most hired welders to touch projects for that price. I run the thinnest sticks in it and up to 1/4" it's great. Anyways, you can buy some square tube at Lowe's for roughly $10 a bar, and if you have a dremel, buy the "reinforced" cut off discs or get larger ones for a $30 angle grinder and the var is cake to cut. Grind back a few spots on the tow bar and weld in some reinforcements. Can even double the bar if needed. If talented enough, you could even make your own tow bar out of a heavier walled bar stock and weld a receiver to it. I used that arc welder and some square tubing to make a custom rear tower strut brace that came out nice. It welded that thickness great.

Really need to know what it smelled like. Coolant has a very unique, sweet odor and if you have a pinhole in a hose (radiator hoses, heater hoses, etc.), it'll spray once the hose is hot enough (system pressure increases, hose gets hot and expands, then it sprays), and will appear like it's smoking. Once temps drop in the hose, it can seal the pinhole leak, making it more difficult to locate. Oil or even grease getting burnt either directly or from radiant heat is also very distinctive but noxious and unpleasant. Think the most repulsive car-related odor in my opinion is a diesel that's burning oil (utterly disgusting, foul odor). If it's coolant, you can leave the radiator cap loose (engine cold, loosen cap slightly) and at least drive the car until you get it fixed, but don't go long distances and always watch the engine temp gauge. This more of a "get it home" trick that works by preventing the system from pressurizing, hence the hole will stay sealed.

That's a universal tow bar. You'll probably have to weld something to the subframe so that bar can connect to it, plus you'll likely have to cut out some of the bumper cover so it actually fits. If you aren't getting stuck every weekend, it'd be cheaper to rent a u-haul dolly if/when the need arises. U-haul has issues to renting to people in Ford Rangers due to the Firestone tire issue in the early 00's being a liability, but normal F150 and similar shouldn't be an issue. Rent one for $50 or whatever they run now, put your car on it, get it home, then return it. If you plan on breaking down constantly, find a cheap, beat up dolly used. U-haul sometimes auctions off older ones, so that's a possibility too.

I'd take it to Subaru for an actual diagnosis as there's a 99.9999% they'll accurately tell you what's wrong. Go to a hole in the wall or small shop, and they might replace things randomly, charging $$$ for parts that might not actually be the issue, but padding their bill just the same. It could be anything from a failing u-joint to bad bearing. Anything from here would be purely guessing, and possibly having you chase your tail.

I'm betting someone had an incorrect socket that was to large to fit in the recess of the head and they tried using a smaller 12 point socket that rounded the outer hex edges and they resorted to a hammer and chisel to tighten it, or possibly they couldn't get it out and left it in. If you have a correct socket, it should come out even if you have to tap the socket on to clear the damage. Might want to get engine hot and up to temp, shut it off and pull wire, then try cracking it loose. Leave plug in the head until engine cools, then thread out rest of the way. Also, be SURE to run new plug wires. They do go bad over time.

I think the frustration comes from incomplete posts where someone states there is an issue, asks for help, then never follows up with the solution that fixed the issue, assuming they ever did actually fix it. I know this has been frustrating in my own personal experience more than once, and tend to just ask vs. countless searches and redundant reading.

You can't find the actual horn under the hood, correct? Has the horn worked before? Or did you try and hit the button and no sound?

Another thing worth pointing out is you own that Outback outright. If you like having something a touch more "fun", you might consider trading that WRX with someone that has a slightly older model in similar shape or just sell it outright and let someone else take over the lease, or get the dealership to try and get you in something about half the price. Then, you could feasibly own or quickly pay down a less expensive car and own both outright. It's not like these cars don't run forever, so a 35-60k mile ultra-clean model a couple years old might give the same joy

If mileage is low and car is perfect, you won't loose as much on it if you hold onto it and store it properly. Many of these cars will be tomorrow's desirables, and the lower the mileage and better shape, the easier it'd be to sell it for a better price. On the other hand if you enjoy it and it brings pleasure to a boring weekend and you can afford it, why not? If you find you are "maturing" and it's not as appealing as it would have been in your early 20's, wait about 8-10 years when you get a 2nd wind for something fun as a mid-life crisis hits. You'll know it hits when your hair starts jumping off your head like lemmings off a cliff to avoid a Bieber concert and you start missing the youth that's getting further away

Would really help to know which code it had as that's be a definite pointer in the general direction of what to tackle 1st. As others stated, timing belt should be replaced if original. Fuel filter could be clogged, but to do that to your engine at that mileage, you'd almost need a crazy ex to dump sugar or even gobs of dirt in the tank, but that'd most likely clog the pump's sock up. Your fuel pump could also be failing from some unknown reason. Sometimes they'll fail but keeping the pedal pressed will allow it to run rough. You don't have any disconnected sensors, unhooked MAF, a pod air filter, etc.? I'd start with the basics and do a full tune-up ($50 worth of parts and you rule out so much more) and timing belt and see if it'll run better. If it doesn't change at ALL, then you likely have a fueling or ignition issue, which can be as simple as a CPS sensor going bonkers (a multi-meter can check it's values) or fuel pump, MAF sensor, etc. Hopefully it's not an actual issue with the mechanical side of the engine.

No no. You are talking to someone that walked his turbo CHRA into the compressor housing after dishing out an extended butthurt against an EVO and clipped his compressor wheel, cracked a dog dish heat shield, and put stress cracks into the exhaust turbine, and with ZERO turbo tear down knowledge at the time, rebuilt it and upgraded it in the process to a larger hybrid despite it being an uncommon turbo to do so with and little info floating about, as it was cheaper to do all that than buy new and used would be potentially have the same issue eventually as stock. Basically did what no one said was possible w/o machining experience and had it professionally balanced after. I'm one to go the DIY route if/when possible. My NA Legacy has rust but is mechanically sound. So I get the notion about wanting to avoid putting money into one if you think it'll exceed the base value. I've taken to looking at it a different way though. If a new car on average costs $200-500 a month depending on what it is, and I don't own a new car, that's a huge savings every month and every year. If the older car being driven is worth $1k, and needs $600 worth of repairs, but is otherwise 100% dependable and easy/cheap to keep on the road otherwise and has an easy 5 years left in it if it just doesn't rust apart, that's roughly 2 months worth of new car payments (not including 10-20% down, etc.) and you are back to having zero car debt; Subaru really isn't a money pit unless you have a lemon; I wouldn't suggest doing this with say an early/mid 90's Dodge or Chrysler as they had a ton of issues from engines to electronics, etc. So while you might think of it as expensive and maybe not worth it, if you look at the entire car owning expense from a different perspective, you'll see it might be worth investing $600 for a couple years worth of reliability. Every time you start over used, regardless of price, you inherit a new can of worms. Anyways, complete running EJ22 engines from specific yards go for for $150 roughly, locally. Other yards might be closer to the $350 range, and the wagons are plentiful (97-99', 00's are getting more common now). car_parts.com you can get heads shipped from various yards for $75 and up. So going used would be cheaper in this area. But if that wasn't an option and valves were bent and heads needed to come off, $600 would be worth the extra attention to detail that an actual head shop could provide as they can mic everything, do legit leakdown tests, find tiny stress cracks, thoroughly clean the head, etc. etc.. Your heads might outlast the car, then again in a 1k miles, you might end up with excessive carbon build up on a valve that's not seating correctly and it decides to bend then lodges in the open position, trashing the piston and the engine, and you are back at a more painful and expensive repair. I was trying to say to the more casual reader that might decide to tackle a head repair, that they really need to be careful. No attack against you personally. I hope it holds up over time.

Yeah, I've never heard of them either. Australia is more in-tune with what you guys/gals get on your roads as they can actually import them cheap enough and both of you have right-hand drive, and if it wasn't for you tube, I wouldn't even know that (well, I know about RT-hand drive). We have a roughly 3000k mile border with Canada, and our government oddly shields us from them to the point you wouldn't even know Canada exists if it wasn't for maps. You know something is goofy when Mexico (over 1500 miles from me) is mentioned more often and Canada never gets mentioned despite being within 75 miles of where I'm at. Same deal with South Korea and Japan. Both of you know more about the US than other way around. Why? I haven't a clue. But we've been getting bombarded with North Korea BS as I'm guessing our government is priming us for the inevitable. I will admit though, PBS carries some of Japan's news and it's tragic how you guys/gals are getting pummeled by earthquakes and the like. I'm a fan of some anime, so that's about the most Japanese culture we get to sample here unfortunately

FWIW, aftermarket cats aren't "junk". They typically have less precious metals than OEM have. Plenty of guys run aftermarket high-flow cats on turbo'd cars and have no issues. I have an aftermarket cat in other car and it's passed the last 2 e-checks w/o issues despite having a more performance oriented tune. Some of the round high-flow cats can blow out the centers due to the way they rolled the substrate, but that seems to happen on high HP builds, and is easy to avoid by getting one that doesn't cheaply roll the substrate.

When you did the wheel bearings, are you positive you tightened the axle nuts to spec before inserting the cotter pin? I couldn't get the axle nuts cracked on another car (actually bent a 1/2" breaker bar trying), and talked a shop into cracking them free, then snugging them up so I'd be able to have them removed at home. They misunderstood, and left them a little better than hand-tight. I drove roughly 2 miles like that at slow speeds, and it actually affected the front brakes and made them feel soft- all from the axle nuts being a tad loose. While that really won't account for missing fluid (unless it's getting so hot it's boiling off?) it can account for a soft pedal when everything else checks out. And no, you probably won't feel anything odd in the steering, I didn't. Was one of those "you'll never believe it's possible until you experience it" situations.

^Is that due to the ABS module? I bled mine a couple times (after a rotted section let go) and did the typical furthest rear 1st, then other, then front, and it bled OK.

Start a new post and ask there. Someone will respond. This forum is very good about people responding.

Yeah, I saw the mod status. Was just pointing it out. Sometimes if the "send' button hangs and it's pressed twice, it'll double post.

You double-posted. Don't forget to edit the email out of here either. Once you end up on a spam list, you'll never be off of it. I used some questionable Facebook things 8 years ago and ended up on a spam list, and still get hit with waves of the junk.

You can open the bleeders and connect a very small vacuum line to each bleeder end, then insert the opposite hose end into a clear pop bottle or similar (though bottles are better as you can see them filling at a glance). Remove the master cylinder cover so it can let air in. Let it drain a couple hours on it's own (dunno if you need a hand pump on the reservoir or not or if that is just faster), occasionally topping off the master cylinder with fresh fluid. I've never done this method, so can't attest how long it takes, but if you occasionally empty each dirty fluid bottle, you'll know the line is cleared of old fluid once the fluid is as clear as what's coming out of the new fluid bottle. Close the bleeder and wait for the rest to be the same. After all 4 are fresh fluid exiting, THEN bleed the system. Newer cars can be bled by starting with furthest away bleeder and working up to closest bleeder. If after bleeding all 4 and brake pedal is still soft, do all 4 again. Other option is get a turkey baster. You can get them at Walmart or possibly parts store. Suck out the fluid in the reservoir (as much as you can while leaving a small amount on the bottom) then top off with fresh fluid, put cover back in place, drive it briefly while using brakes constantly. Repeat this numerous times until fresh fluid is all that's in the reservoir. Another option (this and gravity bleeding are the best methods) is start with furthest away bleeder, and act like you are bleeding the system, only keep bleeding the line until fresh fluid exits. It won't take long doing this. You just pump, hold, open the bleeder, let ALL the fluid exit the line from that bleeder (letting it drain through hose and into bottle is less messy), top off reservoir as needed, and keep repeating until FRESH fluid exits the line only. Do the other bleeders as well in the same fashion and don't let the reservoir go empty (keep it topped off and be SURE cover is snug before you pump the brakes). When all is said and done, fresh fluid will be in the lines AND reservoir. If pedal is mushy/soft after this, go back and bleed any air out.

I wouldn't "hold" a plug during a crank test. I'd actually go one step further and suggest NEVER touching the plug wires or even the coil when engine is running or even cranking unless you have heavy duty rubber gloves as the current can be lethal. Plug wires can also be faulty and allow random arcs to exit the wire in random spots. If you've ever heard anyone say "spritz water on the plug wires at night to see if it's arcing" this would be a situation where you would NOT want to touch the wires. Battery acid for example will eat small holes through the silicone cover and can cause the arcing. Be safe!

Check your fusible link in the engine compartment fuse box. It's a short " U " section that jumps a connection with spade lugs. Mine originally cracked on the bend and the silicone split, allowing moisture in. Over time, it built up corrosion and broke the connection. It scorched the underside of the cover slightly. In an emergency, you can jump it with a heavier gauge wire and it'll start. Engine won't crank if the connection is broken, and I think some dash lights will fail to light. When turning the key, half the car won't respond. I replaced mine with a generic fusible link from AZ, but had to go one step thicker as the replacement got too warm on engine idle. If you have a pick set and needle nose pliers, you can reuse the factory spade lugs as those are very high quality stainless. Do NOT use cheap speaker wire lugs as the metal is inferior. Also, this jumper can cause intermittent start/no start issues if enough of the wire is touching at the break, but it WILL arc and burn the wire out.

ALWAYS do a full tune-up before assuming the worse. That means plugs, wires, air filter, FRESH oil change and fuel filter (which you've done already obviously). Reset battery cable and take it for a 50 mile drive. If it was running too rich from weak spark, it'll need the 50 miles roughly to clean out any soot build up on the O2 sensors, etc. Don't be afraid to drop it in "3" and drive it at 65 on the highway. "3" will pull it out of overdrive and kick the rpms up a bit. Plugs can last 20k miles or stretch to 50k miles, just depends. I've had a misfire in another car that ended up being plugs with less than 30k miles on them. They were a little rounded on the tip and were correct heat range color. But were worn enough to cause a misfire. You can do a full tune-up for roughly $50, and it'll make the engine run better, get correct MPG, feel more responsive, and stay healthier, longer. Do this, drive 50 miles, then see if it's still having a random misfire.

While "easy", it not's the easiest thing to get to, and it must be repositioned in a specific manner so it seats correctly. If you still get codes after replacing (pull battery cable and reset) then it's most likely not seated correctly.