montana tom

Pull the plugs and turn over the motor

Valves are bent , but the short block is probably ok.

Of course to get to that plate you have to pull the motor , remove clutch & or flywheel too even see said plate . While you are back there using your impact screw driver ... also remove the piston pin cover (diamond shape plate on opposite side and replace the O ring underneath.If the rear main is not leaking (noticeably) then leave it alone.

You probably already have but ,make sure all your breather lines are still attached, the impact could have knocked one loose. If the idle air line was knocked off or cracked it won't start easy or at all until you unplug the maf.

Well the hose you found is the breather hose from the valve cover... should have been reconnected but would have nothing to do with your misfire/hard start problem. Is it possible that you got a tank of fuel contaminated with water ?

#1) 00-04 all will need head gaskets around 150,000 miles or less. Yes 03-04 are improved . After a properly done HG job no more issues should be seen. #2) well I like to hear about subis pushing the 500,000 mark, but personally after 300,000 I would be carefull, all depends on who had it and how well it was maintained.#3) Whoever posted about cooling problems needed his head gaskets done properly or his radiator & cooling fans or thermostat,rad cap ... no telling what his problems were but they are not indicative of subis in general. #4) lol everything you always look at , fluids ,axles & boots , tires,struts ball joints, tie rods , have a obdll tester with you to scan codes ..... After purchase...Timing belt, tensioner, all idlers, water pump, cam / crank seals, tighten oil pump backing plate . If they are not documented as being done then just plan on it , you don't want them failing on you. I drive a 2000 obw with 258,000 miles the wifes is a 2001 with 208,000 ... they are good cars.

Is there power at the brake switch ? is it passing the power thru ? Do you have a signal (power) at the back of the car when applying the pedal ? Sometimes the bulb socket will quit working on some functions and not others, unplug and check the wiring for signals just before the bulb socket. If your not getting a signal at the back then do as jes suggested and inspect the fuse blocks for bad connections.

Been my experience that the chisel must be a small one and come straight up from the bottom... with the control arm still in place you can't do that. I never had luck trying to spread that spindle by coming straight in .. for me that just will not work. sounds like everything is rusted up tight. Look for a donor car and take everything from the strut thru the lower control arm and just replace it all.

If your sure its a good tranny ,then check the linkage at the trans.

If you have access to shop air try a pickle fork on an air chisel, like an impact gun it slams faster and harder than you can with a hand sledge. If not then heating the stud where it goes thru the lower control arm will give you a good fire with lots of black smoke and destroy your boot but , should allow you to pop free from the control arm with your pickle fork and hammer. After you get it free of the control arm , use a small chisel to spread spindle ,being sure that the chisel itself doesn't tilt in and hold the ball joint in place. Once you have that spread then grabbing the stud with vice grips and slamming with a hammer... or using small chisels at the small lip where the Bj seats on the spindle start smacking ... or welding a nut on a slide hammer can sometimes pop them free...if you heat this area you could damage your wheel bearing... but if all else fails and your bloody and pissed off and you're this far in ...just do it and if your wheel bearing starts howling later then change them out.

Try changing out the maf , with a known working one, cleaning doesn't seem to help.

Not enough fuel would be more common than too much. To much fuel and you would hydrolock the engine up . when your car acts up and will not start ,somebody needs to see if you have spark, if so then pull a fuel line and see if your fuel pump is working . In your previous post you smelled fuel around the rear of the car. You should have them check the rubber fuel lines leaving the tank ,you may have a split fuel line that sucks air at times and causes a lack of fuel pressure as well as a fuel smell in the rear. You would think a split line would leak fuel everywhere but depending on location they won't.

If it were me I would use 10-30 in the winter and 10-40 in the summer. This new zero weight oil (in my opinion) Is nothing but a way to wear out a motor faster. In my old fashioned understanding of these things, 10-30 means 10 weight oil with the protecting properties of 30 weight...It was designed for fuel injected overhead cam cars that start and run at 2000 rpm and NEED that oil at the top of the motor instantly. Well if that's true then 0-20 sounds like maybe it has zero weight ??? and protects like a 20 weight ??? sounds like factory bull sxxt to me. A subi is a flat boxer motor and has no need of ZERO weight oil !!! What a rip off. For years i refused to use the multi weight oil and stuck with straight 30 weight. I still use straight 30 in the summer in my older subi but will run 10-30 in the winter. If a car has an overhead cam then multi weight oil is the thing to use.

I see it all the time. You have to get a pair of needle nose plyers in there to yank the metal wire end out. You will need to remove the parts of the intake on the pass side and the windshield washer tank on the driver's side to get decent access .

Not at all ,just trying to be informative to you. I bought and still own a 94 legacy wagon with a salvage title,I paid 6000.00 for it but it was only 4 years old with low miles at the time. It's my ranch wagon now ,looks rather shabby but has over 300,000 on the original 2.2 motor, hauls feed ,fence posts , all my deer and even one elk (in pieces) road home in it. As long as you plan on keeping it in the family forever (subi's rarely die) and have shopped around as far as driving imprezas , legacys ,outbacks to be sure that the forester is the model for you. If you like the car and can get a price you're happy with then go for it. If they won't come down in price then just look at other cars at the same dealer. The right subi is out there ,maybe this is the one maybe not... good luck

A rebuilt title ??? OH , that changes things in my mind. Your resale will be spoob if you buy it. Not to say you shouldn't, but think long and hard about how long you will keep this car ! Nobody but a dealer can get any kind of money out of a rebuilt title. Are you sure it has a rebuilt title (this means that an insurance company totaled it) If you mean they repaired some body damage and rebuilt the motor and the state was not involved then your ok but if it got totaled (no matter how little damage ) then as a first time buyer I would run away from this one and keep looking. Craigs list has all sorts of deal that pass thru, if your "automotive illiterate" then find a friend or just hire a mechanic (familiar with subi's) to go with you to look a private deal over before buying. Also ask here for advice before buying.

Mathew; If its as nice as you claim I wouldn't pay more than 5000.00 for it. Remind them it is thirteen year old car! Head gaskets & timing belt are not even close to a "rebuild" on the engine... rings and bearings should be replaced & heads should be gone thru , that is a rebuilt engine. Just putting on a timing belt and head gaskets is just preventative maintenance on this motor. Did they replace all the timing belt idlers ? the tensioner ? the waterpump ? (ASK) What about the cam and crankshaft seals ? (ASK) New tires & brakes are good but what did they replace on the brakes ? Just the pads or the rotors ,pads and calipers? What shape are the rear brakes in ? 170,000 is just broke in on a subu, my 2000 outback wagon has 258,000 on the original motor and other than timing belt & parts + the head gaskets it is all original.I would take that car across country today, that's how good a subi is. Yes, I would hope that it has at least another 100,000 in it, even if all they changed was the timing components & water pump. It sounds like a nice car but unless that motor had a real rebuild by professional rebuilder, there is no way I would pay what they are asking.

Stark: The tensioner on the alt is held tight by the 12 mm bolt that sits horizontal , after loosening that then you loosen the vertical bolt as well as the pivot bolt on the a/c side. The belt will still be snug but will slide off and back on. The a/c belt will have a similar tightening set up with a horizontal nut that must be loosened before trying to adjust the belt . If you thought the alt belt was tight the a/c is tighter.

Or if automatic the neutral safety switch.

Sealed bearings pressed into place. If you remove them, plan on putting in new. If they don't growl and the wheel is tight leave them alone... pretend that you inspected them.

Bill I had them ... hit a deer and the replacement attaches differently. I 'm thinking I saved those clips.... I'll look around the shop but no promises. It's kind of a mess out there.

Well to start , pulling the motor is easier than pulling the tranny. Leave the rear main alone unless it's leaking. reseal the oil separator & change out the o ring behind the diamond shaped plate on the other side of the crankshaft. Be sure to use an impact screwdriver to loosen the screws or they will strip . Nothing to the hill holder system loosen it up while you adjust your clutch then screw it back down till it just starts to move. Exedy is the prefered clutch and will come in a kit with all the other pieces you mentioned including an alignment tool . It will not come with the t.b. clips but i've always just reused them. Have them just clean up the flywheel don't let them take off much.

Cleaning the maf on this problem doesn't seem to help. Change it out with a loaner maf and try running it.

Give one of the jap engine places a call, they sell trannys also. I just got & installed one for a 99 forester. my cost before shipping was $535. one year guarantee! Although they won't pay labor on that . The tranny they sold me was originally from a 2.0, they included a new flex plate to match, and a can of pressurized flush to clean the lines and cooler . It installed perfectly and worked great. The engine import places are very good at what fits what and are more than happy to explain it, (in the hope you buy from them) I,ve installed dozens of motors , multible 5 speeds and a few auto trannys all jap import and have only had one engine blow and they replaced it with no problems.

You may have broken a solder connection inside the MAF. They are prone to problems in those years. If possible, temp. swap one with another car and see if your problems clear up.