heartless

you stole that car! LOL

another vote for KYB KYB 334112 is front left KYB 334111 is front right you need one of each (rears should have been 334115 & 334116 for AWD.)

ok, just as a followup on this one... may have solved the hub getting hot issue backed the axle nut off just a hair (1 or 2 degrees of rotation) and took it for a test run of about 13 miles (had to take the dog to the vet) Hub was much, MUCH cooler. same thing on the drive home. Took it for another spin the other night - about 30 miles round trip, and again, it was fairly cool - a little bit warm right at the nut/axle end, but I could easily hold my hand on it for an extended time. So, it seems to be simply that I had over-torqued the axle nut. I will be keeping an eye on things for a while, just to make sure.

easy way to check for spark is pull a plug, put the wire back on and using a pair of plastic tongs (like for a bbq, but all plastic) - or something else insulated... hold the spark plug to a good grounding point - a bolt head on the body works (i have done this against a strut mounting bolt). you should see a good, strong blue/white spark if things are working correctly. i don't recommend holding the spark plug, or even the wire, in your bare hands... (go ahead, ask me why) LOL

we tried putting one of those cone type air filters on our dodge truck... ended up putting the stock air cleaner set up back on it... it ran ok, but didn't sound quite right... aside from that, I have no experience with that sort of thing. a quick check for sucking air around the injector o-rings - try spraying a little ether or carb cleaner in the general location... if the idle changes right away you know you have a problem and about where it is located.

tooth count and the marks on the pulleys - not the belt...

slow needs to mean a half hour - or more - to compress it. any faster and you will blow a seal out. I usually stick mine in a vise, and just barely snug enough so it isn't falling out - then 1/8 turn compression and walk away for a few minutes to do other things, come back, another 1/8th turn, walk away - repeat until it is compressed enough to put a pin thru the holes. Usually takes 45 mins to an hour doing it that way, but at least I know I haven't blown a seal out accidentally.. have done it this way multiple times on tensioners for multiple cars... has worked well every time so far. Oh, and when you get that new tensioner - keep the pin that is holding it compressed for future use. mark what it is for and put it in the toolbox.

that could very well be your issue right there... all three need to line up properly the belt does have an orientation it is supposed to go in - when new they will have an arrow pointing in the correct direction of rotation, but putting it on backwards, i dont think, affects the tooth placement on the cam & crank pulleys... some one please correct me if I am wrong about that...

for O2, the CEL code was all i had for diagnostics, that and the car running like crapola. a new O2 (i believe it was denso) and it was back to running great again. that jdmfsm link above should have any testing procedures & specs you should need... might take a little digging to find the right pages (main sections are labeled decently, but the smaller sections/pages are not - i will poke around a bit & see what I can come up with as well)

buying a used car is always a gamble, you never know for sure what you will be getting - unless you know the car ahead of time and how it was treated. that said, I would take a 200K Subaru over any other brand out there. Yes, you may need to put a little into it now, but once the work is done, it should be pretty much trouble free for another 75-100,000 miles, if you take care of it. just how bad are the struts on it? is it beating you to death from all the bouncing, or is it tolerable for a little longer? buy one pair of struts now, the other in a month or so (or as soon as you can) and install all at once with an alignment after installing. If it is so bad that you are getting beat up, or it is wearing the tires excessively, then yeah, it may be time to bite the bullet and just get it done and over with. but once done, it is done, for a long time.

i personally have not had any MAF problems that a shot of MAF cleaner didnt resolve, so I am not much help there. =P sorry I have had an O2 sensor go, and yeah, it did bog the engine down when traveling at highway speed... lost a lot of power... If you have access to another MAF, it would be worth giving it a shot, but honestly, I cant say for sure one way or the other.

how old are the plugs & wires? what brands/types? I would also be checking under the hood after dark to look for arcing... altho sometimes it can be quite obvious in the daylight... I have a 95 with 230K, and it started misfiring in damp weather, then it got worse to where it did it all the time... was the coil pak arcing... but bad wires will also do this. installed a used coil pak and no more problems (they dont fail often, but they do occasionally fail) cheap plug wires are known to be problematic on these cars... NGK wires are the standard recommended as are the cheaper copper core NGK plugs. 95 doesnt require, or need, fancy platinum plugs.

once everything is at normal operating temp, this should complete - if it isnt, it could very well be keeping you in limp mode... I am no expert by any means, but the O2 not functioning correctly is suspect to me...

and that is why I don't understand the lowering thing... if you need it for winter, then you don't want lower... but, yeah, what ever... and in the "for what it's worth" department - not all "coil overs" are adjustable - that is a very generic term for coil springs over the shock/strut - which most vehicles use these days. the stock suspension on that forester is most likely "coil over" - just not adjustable

just - why?? I never understood the reasoning behind doing that - especially to an AWD Subaru... if you want low to the ground, get something that is low to the ground...

i would not waste time with junkyard struts either (done it & ended up with worse than I had to start with)... do the job right and be done with it for a long time. (rockauto.com has very good prices on KYB struts) and yes - even when marking the bolts, you will need to get an alignment done for proper tire wear. You can get it close by marking, but it wont be the same as having a proper alignment done.

duty c is one of the most common problems with these... that said, go to a large open parking lot and drive in slow (barely above an idle), tight circles and see if you get any binding/bucking. go multiple times in one direction, then swap to the other... if it is an intermittent problem you may or may not notice any binding right away.

i have seen/heard the same thing - 96 was a crossover year for the interference factor - later models being potentially interference motors...how true that is, I cannot say.. part of the reason I like my 95 so much - guaranteed to be noninterference - no muss, no fuss. Either way, it is still wise to err on the side of caution and do the timing preemptively - before it becomes a potential issue.

maybe this thread will help? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/137921-ej-swap-cel-help/ apparently there are some pretty major differences in wiring depending on what model year the ECU is from...so make sure you have the correct diagrams this is an invaluable resource: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

agree on keeping the 2.2 - it is just a more robust design, and the small amount of hp gain in the 2.5 is not worth the headaches they introduce. if the car is leaking oil, have you investigated where it is coming from? you may need to simply reseal the oil pump to get the pressure back up where it should be. When did it last get a timing job? if unknown, I would plan on doing a full timing service sooner, rather than later. Full service consists of new belt, pulleys, oil seals & water pump (i usually do radiator/coolant hoses as well at this time). Full timing kits are easily obtained for around $200 for this motor, and doing the work should only take an afternoon... While in there, pull & reseal the oil pump, and you should be good to go for a long time.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/438010226261479/?ref=groups that should get you to the correct page. It is a closed group, so you will need to be approved by someone

if it is a Legacy, it is a 4EAT A Loyale would most likely have the 3EAT

you say you have all the service records - is there anything about the timing belt being replaced? if not it is sorely overdue in years and mileage. Not as big of a deal on this particular model if it does go (non-interference so no internal damage would be done) but it is something to think about. on the tranny fluid - i will let someone else comment. never had a problem with my 90, so... I did love my 90 LS wagon tho, and kind of miss it. one tough little car that went through some crazy things...

get your hands on a code reader and read the stored codes asap right now you are just throwing parts at it hoping for a solution. find out what the codes are so you have a better idea of what is happening and what direction to go. and yes, it will store codes without the CEL being on the only other thing I would be doing at this point is getting a complete timing kit ordered for it as that would be a priority item if it is overdue.

i have to agree with fairtax - pull that filter out and see how it goes. just get a simple hose barb of the correct size to put in place temporarily - those little filters can be quite restrictive.