heartless

if grounds are all good, yeah, leaning towards alternator. there are many reasons why an alternator could fail and in various modes, too any big chain parts store can test the charging system for you & most do it for free. Go get it checked out why the new battery? and how old was the last one? Bad batteries can kill alternators, bad alternators can kill batteries... the two are intertwined

check all grounds, make sure they are clean and tight otherwise, maybe have alternator checked out

yup, dont need to actually start it, just turn the key to the on position and do what you need to do

dont have a Pep Boys around me, so didn't bother to look at the ad, would do me no good. lol but yeah, if they have the right weight, go for it. I know oil can be a hot button topic, but my nickle's worth is this.. better to keep the oil level full, even with mediocre oil, than to let it run low. the 90 Legacy i had some years ago leaked oil pretty badly when i got it (oil separator plate) so until we had the time to yank the motor and reseal it, i used the cheapest oil i could, just to keep it full. After getting the reseal done, it got better quality oil and it was changed regularly - no ill effects from the cheap stuff - at least not while i was driving it. ended up selling it to kid for parts about a year after I parked it.. he got it started and actually drove it home.

Rotella is widely used in over the road trucks (diesel) so it cant be all that bad, lol - trucking companies cant afford to have down time due to crap oils but, do they have the correct weight for your car? truck/SUV is likely going to be heavier weight

that red wire is going to give you problems in the near future as well.. has damaged insulation that is pretty obvious in the picture.

I had one blow out on the 90 Legacy I had.. just age as near as I can reckon. Definitely messy. lol

we have been down the rusty pipe road before with both my Forester and the 95 Legacy i had.. so yeah.. that is at the top of my list to look closer at. he has not said anything about smelling coolant, except for the other morning when left but then came back.. I don't think it is heater core, either.. just does not jive at all.. the heat is either working or it isn't, there is no in between, luke warm episode, and when it is working, it works quite well.. We did not "buy" the pressure tester - just rented it.. and it was because he was seeing steam occasionally from under the hood with some coolant loss.. at that time, it was a radiator hose that had a small split in it.. was not visible when just looking at it when cold, but there were obvious signs of liquid in the general area (staining).. put some pressure to it, and it opened up and sprayed a fine stream. cap was checked at the same time and tested fine (the one on my Forester was shot, tho) As for pulling coolant from the overflow bottle.. yeah - it should, if there is any in there for it to pull from.. the bottle was rather grimy and he was having a hard time seeing if there was anything in it.. I made him take the bottle off and I cleaned it so it is now easy to see. Really hoping it is just a bad water tube or a hose to be honest.. really don't relish the thought of head gaskets.. i know it is not super common on the H6, but it does happen..

Never buy basic tuneup parts from Amazon - far too many fakes/poor quality parts out there.

at this point, trying to just keep it nursed along until warmer weather. He knows now that he needs to keep a closer eye on things - checking at least once a week to stay on top of it. We did rent one of those cooling system pressure testers last summer (when we found the one split hose) and checked all of the vehicles while we had it (the kit had a deposit of over $250) - we were concerned about the radiator at the time.. thankfully it was just a hose. also found I needed a new radiator cap, lol, so it was a worthwhile thing. But yeah... might want to rent that kit again and verify

it would be very helpful to know exactly what is going on with the pump - that way appropriate detailed advice can be given.

an air bubble would have manifested a lot sooner, i would think.. it has been nearly a full month since the last episode.

Oh, we know better than that, Turbodog. and thus far, the thermostat has not been changed (we do have one handy if needed- ordered back in Dec when this first became a problem) hoping it is just a slow leak at that upper hose... overflow bottle has been cleaned up (was kinda grimy, so hard to read) - everything will be topped up and monitored closely for a while.

UPDATE: Jan 23, 2021 - the saga continues He has been driving the car with no further issues until just the other day (Wednesday) - started the car to let it warm up before heading to work... hmmm, no heat again.. He decided to try going with it anyway.. started down the road and noticed within a couple miles that the temp gauge was climbing.. when he went to turn around he also noticed steam coming from under the hood.. brought it home & took my car to work. FF to today - popped the hood & found the little hose for the overflow had come loose from the radiator, radiator level was low. There was also coolant on top of the engine on the drivers side - we are assuming the coolant on top came from the overflow outlet when the little hose came off.. Sopped up the mess on top of the motor, topped up the radiator, and suddenly the heat works again.. No obvious leaks on top of the engine (from the small metal tubes/connections). Temp is steady on the gauge and where it should be. He did note that the drivers side upper hose has a lot of crud built up near one end (passenger side hose was changed last summer due to a split) - possible slow leak there? it has been nearly a month since the last occurrence, suggesting a very slow leak. Current plan is to change the drivers side upper hose (which we have on hand), top everything up and see how things go. not really sure how or why the overflow hose came off tho... that one is a puzzler.

so, are you out of the doghouse now? lol Glad to hear you have it all sorted out and running well

looking on Rock Auto, there are indeed 2 different mounts listed for auto trans (manual is in a completely different section and has 2 studs).. one has 3 studs, the other 4 studs, just as he described.. if it were me, i would be checking to see what the car has currently, and go with whichever that is.

LOL, yeah.. ok.. just one problem.. finding a reman tranny for a 90 legacy is pretty much a nonstarter. We are talking about a car that is 30 yrs old, was not that popular to start with and there is pretty much no aftermarket support for these cars - wasn't any when they were new, darn sure isn't any now. So, unless that website actually belongs to you, I suggest you pull the link before you get tagged for spam. To the OP - yes, that tranny 'should' work.. verify the final drive ratio is the same, tho. If it is not, you will want the rear end from the same car as well It is primarily the first 6-7 digits of the tranny number that are the most important on Subarus

check here... http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ 90-94 are all basically the same - a few minor cosmetic changes here & there.

Sounds to me like you got yourself an abused money pit lemon. Yeah, it does happen. As bad as that one sounds, I am with GD - time to find something else in better shape, and send that one off to the crusher. In the meantime, tho.. front diff uses gear oil - dipstick for that is on the passenger side, kinda low & probably hidden by air-box stuff & wiring. If you have owners manual, check it for recommended grade. Tranny fluid dipstick is on the drivers side, towards firewall.. needs to be fully warmed up (driven a bit is best, but not always possible, i know) and parked on level ground to properly check fluid level. Again, check owners manual for recommendations, but any Dexron III compatible should work here.

chances are it is NOT the rear main seal that is leaking in this location. It is far more likely that it is the separator plate that is the source of the leak. in fact, it is highly recommended here to NOT touch the rear main seal on these engines by those that have far more experience than i, and I have had my share. I had one leaking so badly it was losing a quart of oil every few days. resealed the separator plate and problem solved.

those connectors are pre-OBDII take the car to your local chain parts store - advance, o'riellys, whatever you have nearby and ask them to read the codes for you. Most will do it for free. They will not clear the codes, but can give you the existing codes present on the car so you know what needs addressing. basic OBD code readers are fairly cheap anymore - might be a good idea to pick one up. this one is cheap, and will do basic read & clear functions: https://actron.com/content/obd-ii-pocketscan-0

will check into that. thanks. =)

apparently the heat worked fine this morning, he took his car to work.. but, not quite as cold either. I suggested that he not turn the fan on full blast right away, and make sure the fresh air intake was set to recirculate when it is that cold, lol so... this seems to be resolved for the time being..

gotta tell him that, LOL but yeah, I let it run for a good 15 mins before testing the heat

yeah.. not sure what to do, where to look next on this.. He is going to give it a try tomorrow morning, so we shall see