Terpodion

I tested the "A" shift solenoid - the one with the green wire. It's an open circuit. I took out the bolt that appears to hold it in. I can spin it and it drops perhaps an eighth of an inch but it won't come out. I do not want to force it for fear of causing more damage. I'd rather not take out the valve body. I can not find any videos or instructions to remove the shift solenoids and most of the how-to videos on replacing the other solenoids have the valve body removed. Anybody know how to get the shift solenoid out? Does the valve body have to come out?

There is no way I'm reusing that pan. A web search tells me that I can get a new one for under $50.

Here's a shot of the inside of the pan. .

I dropped the pan. There are no broken wires. I can not even see any with pinched insulation that might gave been grounding out. It is still pretty oily in there. I'm going to let it drip overnight and give it a more thorough inspection tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out which one is the shift solenoid. The infor I get by doing a web search is almost useless, Most of the Subaru transmission pictures I find don't look anything like this.

A dent in the transmission pan? You mean like this!? Notice the yellow / orange paint that rubbed off whatever he ran over. Curbstones are often painted that color around here.

I wouldn't think that pad wear would cause it to go down that much. I added quite a bit of fluid. But you never know. I wouldn't be surprised if the car had been driven around with the e-brake on.

Update: I had the codes read. PO753 and 748. Both are shift solenoid codes. According to the stuff I'm seeing on various sites it could be caused by low fluid (nope, the level is fine), dirty fluid (it looks and smells pretty clean), a faulty valve or a problem with the electrical connections. I'm not sure where the valve is located - inside or outside - or if there is wiring outside the transmission. I'm hoping that the latter is true and something has come loose. I wouldn't put it past the dumb-rump roast to have run over something jagged, damaged a wiring harness and ignored it. It's raining now, otherwise I'd jack it up and crawl around underneath it and do a thorough inspection. I'd also like to know why the brake fluid was low. Brake fluid doesn't just evaporate. There has to be a leak.

Update: The car was flat-bedded. It was not towed with the wheels on the pavement. I drove it some more today and it does not shift at all. It seems to be stuck in 2nd gear. Pulling the shifter down into 2 and 1 has no effect. I managed to get the transmission dipstick out - it was almost as if it was welded in place - after some trouble and it might be a tad low. It's certainly not empty and the fluid did not smell strongly. I suspect that the car / transmission is in some sort of limp home mode. I'm going to have the codes read. I really need to buy a good scanner but I just dropped several hundred dollars on a tow company. Also; the tire is still holding air nicely and after I cleaned all the crap out of the back, I found the original Subaru lug wrench.

This is a long story but I'll try to be concise. This car has been passed around. The latest recipient is my daughter's loser boyfriend. Some time ago he sold it back to me so he could pay the rent. I let him keep driving it because I wanted him to be able to get to work to support my daughter and grand-daughter. I know, this sounds pretty greasy but there is only so much I can do. Kids. This past Monday, he (the boyfriend) calls me in the late evening, pissed off (at me) because he hit a pothole, had a flat and can't change it because the lug wrench won't fit the lugs. At the time I was still in the throws of Covid-19 so couldn't leave the house, much less go change a tire on a 20F degree night. He leaves it at a dumpy gas station and my daughter picks him up. Fast forward. Tuesday afternoon. The car has been towed away because he never came and got it. He can't get it back because the tow company wants money and of course he's broke. He says he'll pick it up Friday when he gets paid. Late Friday afternoon. I call the tow company and he still has not picked the car up. I go to the tow company and pay them. I have a key as well as the title. When I start the car, the CEL is on (no surprise) the BRAKE light is on and the AC OIL TEMP light is flashing. The car is stone cold - hasn't run since Monday. I drove it onto the street where I prepared to change the tire. I'd brought an air tank with me with about 100 psi in it and luckily, the tire inflated and held. It had probably been low when he took off Monday, he didn't notice and may have broken the bead when he hit a pothole. He'd claimed that the tire was ruined after hitting a big pothole. I checked the oil and the dipstick came out dry. I anticipated this and brought a quart of oil with me. It was still not reading on the dipstick after I dumped it in. I'm surprised the engine didn't seize as soon as I started it. I checked the brakes and they seemed to work. No grinding, firm pedal. I carefully followed my wife home, taking the back roads. Once up to around 45 mph I felt like the rpms were too high - over 3k. The transmission (automatic) will not go into 4th gear. The AC OIL TEMP light kept flashing. In any case, I made it home. It was late and I was losing light but discovered that adding brake fluid turned off the BRAKE light. Where did the fluid go? I checked for a puddle. None. I should also mention that there is a pretty sizable exhaust leak. It's between the cylinder heads and the exhaust header. It was minor when I first gave the car to him. I told him that he needed to fix it or else it could burn an exhaust valve which would ten break off and get sucked into the combustion chamber. I know how to fix this leak. I dealt with it on the '80s era Subarus. I had five of them. One of them, an '84 with all the options (except AC) I still regret selling. In any case, my daughters "fiancée" (she'll never marry him) is not getting this car back - particularly if he's going to drive around in it with my grand-daughter. At this point, it's not road worthy and is bordering on being a death trap. Before I gave it to him I'd done quite a bit of work on it; new radiator and hoses, new ball joints and tie rods, new tires. He totally neglected it. I'm glad I could save the tire. But I'd like to save the rest of it for use as a "snow car" and weekend adventure car to drive on the sand roads in our local Pine Barrens. The brake leak, exhaust leak and oil leak are easily within my ability to repair but the AC OIL TEMP light perplexes me. Whey would it come on when the car is cold? A wiring / sensor issue? Will 4th gear come back if I fix it? A brief Google search turns up only issues when the transmission is actually overheating. Did he roast the transmission? I was not able to get the transmission dipstick out. It's dark and cold and I'm pretty tired at this point. I still have not gotten back to full strength after Covid. Any help is greatly appreciated.

The 03 2.5L Impreza is doing what all my other Subarus have done - leak between the cylinder head and the exhaust manifold (header, Y-pipe or whatever you want to call it). My other 5 cars were all the 2nd (?) generation type with the pushrod engine. They all did the same thing. The bolts going into the head would strip out and make it impossible to get the manifold tight enough to stop the leaking. I eventually discovered an after market manifold from J C Whitney and was able to drill out the holes, tap them and put in bigger bolts that held much better. I haven't tried to tackle this job on the Impreza yet and can't find much about it on the net. So, I'd like to find out as much as I can before I jack it up and crawl under there. If I attempt to tighten the bolts or remove them to put in a new gasket, will they just take the threads of the aluminum head with them? Are there aftermarket solutions like I found with my old cars?

"I am truly sorry that you are so incredibly misguided as to own anything from SAAB." But no one else makes a car with an automatic napkin folder.

I bought a Duralast from Autozone. So shoot me. The car actually runs on all 4 now and the part is so easy to change out, it's ridiculous. If it lasts 6 months, I'm good. $104.67 and I'll just buy another one - I think it may have a lifetime warranty. Quite frankly, I don't care. I intend to sell the car and find an older model - a GL or DL - one with the pushrod engine. We are not talking daily driver here. I have three SAABS for that. True highway cars that have leather seats with butt warmers, rain sensing windshield wipers and automatic napkin folders. I want an old Soob with dual range 4 wheel dive that I can drive into the New Jersey Pine Barrens on weekend adventures, look for abandoned villages and treasure buried by Pine Robbers and not have to worry about getting stuck in 2 foot deep sugar sand. Ideally it has a lift kit and a winch on the front bumper.

How about the OEM Hitachi? I don't want to deal with the junkyards around here right now.

That makes perfect sense why it's acting this way. But ok, I'll bite; what's wrong with aftermarket coils? Rock Auto sells eight different brands other than the OEM Hitachi.

I found this on an Outback forum: " i had this similar issue for a year and I solved it so. it was merely a poor ground issue. i removed the ground wires that were connected to the manifold and screwed to the firewall and near the fender. they were corroded and i sand papered all these areas and also reinforced those grounds with thicker wires and problem was solved immediately. i spent over 800 dollars in coils until I really had to sit down and think." Grounds are really important in cars. I once had a Pontiac that was almost impossible to shift out of park because the transmission cable was trying to weld itself to the housing. The ground strap to the transmission had broken and it was grounding through the cable / cable housing. I'm going to try cleaning up the ground strap. It may take me a few days because I'm busy with a charity construction project for a little old lady whose house got flooded and my foot got run over by one of those big steel carts in a home improvement store while buying flooring materials.