heartless

i would not trust those as far as a could throw one... and trust me, these days, it is not far. one last thought... i dont recall seeing mention of trying to clean the MAF sensor? there is a spray product specifically for cleaning MAF sensors - have you tried this?

the swap never happened, actually.. ended up selling the 02 and picking up an 04, running & driving, instead.. we did still take the 05 parts car (essentially the same as the 04), and it has been worth it for misc parts.

nothing wrong with a small rant or two. I feel pretty much the same regarding newer cars... newest we have here is a 2006 H6 LL Bean Outback.. still going along pretty well.. has a periodic CEL, nothing of any significance, but enough to kill the cruise control... pull out the code reader, clear the code, good for another month or two my daily is a 04 Forester & we have an 05 for parts (car was brought in to the salvage place my other half works to be scrapped - his boss let us have it for a parts car - only has 168K or so. bringing it home has already paid off... my front power windows crapped out - both of them... was the motors that died... pulled the necessary parts from the 05 and I have functioning windows again, YAY! kinda got bummed the other day... found an 05 LL Bean Forester for 500 - motor supposedly shot.. but found out it had been sitting in the weeds for at least a year.. all that damp is not good so we passed on it.

keep it, drive it, enjoy it. when the time comes that the body/chassis has had enough, then yank the goodies for the 79

engine or tranny mount, maybe? would not necessarily be noticeable just by looking at them... but could cause issues under load

I think you need to re-read the instructions that nvu gave....

yeah... that is the exception, not the rule...

parts stores will not clear the codes... they will only read them for you. if you dont have your own code reader (and they are not that expensive anymore) then disconnecting the battery for about 30 mins is the way to go

wish i could, but have no idea where it is... if you ever find it, can you let the rest of us know where it is?

on an automatic it is called an "inhibitor switch" - it allows the car to only start in either the P or N positions this switch is located under the cover for the shifter.

yeah, broken wires in that gaitor is a pretty common thing.. the other half's 06 Outback had a whole bunch of broken/damaged wires. In his case, rear defrost quit working, rear wiper quit, and the license plate lights no longer functioned.. when we dug into it, obviously there were several that had completely broken, and a bunch of others that were barely hanging on... ended up reworking all of them.

yeah, normally you would, in a dying situation... but i think yours is beyond that. and as you well know.. aftermarket alts are just crapola - hopefully things are not severely damaged. might also be a good idea to go thru main box & fuse box, make sure there is nothing is blown. keep us posted on the neutral switch.

going out on a limb here maybe, but i would say you have a dead - not dying - DEAD charging system (alternator)

sorry Bennie... but open loop is the cold/warm up phase - the sensors do not affect much... closed loop is when it is using the sensors to adjust various things... Via google search...

interesting.... is my understanding that it should only be in open loop when engine is cold/during warmup.... once it hits full operating temp it should go closed loop and stay there, even in cold weather, until shut down and cooled off again. I dont think it has anything to do with the barometric unit (pressure), this is more a temperature related thing. temp sensor for ECU (or ECU itself), thermostat, etc - possibly O2 sensor(s)? hopefully you can get it sorted out soon.

ok, you need to ditch Chiltons, and Haynes.. go here and find/download the appropriate service manual(s) for your needs. you may need to do a little digging around - the pages are not usually labeled well, but the information is there.

yup, sounds like the blower motor resistor... go here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Impreza/2011/USDM Impreza FSM 2011/BODY SECTION/HVAC SYSTEM HEATER VENTILATOR AND A-C AC/ open the #10 pdf - blower resister manual....

yes, had (the one in my avatar).. it has since gone on to another home, and yes, it was up there in mileage. Now driving an 04 Forester, silver in color thinking that would be a good idea, just to make sure. and if i recall correctly, it is also recommended to chase the threads in the block, and thoroughly clean the bolts... never done a head job myself, but i do read a lot. lol

have had good luck with subarupartwholesale.com out of Libertyville IL even spoke with them on the phone - very helpful and shipping was done pretty quickly

you can get brand new stuff from Rock Auto for around 900 bucks. i personally would go with the walker SS exhaust kit - includes everything but the cat - and then get the appropriate cat to go on your car - also avail at RA, but sold separately.

yeah, it can be fun trying to decipher some of those drawings, lol had a similar problem when trying to track down the one i needed a while back for the 02 Forester i had. dont forget to get intake gaskets, o-rings, or whatever else you may need to do the job.

finding the correct line can be a challenge,... they are not all listed on the same diagrams... look for "water pipe" under "cooling system" for the one on top of the block..... and the one at the front, that runs vertical, is listed with the water pump... (i think this is the one you are looking for?)

all depends on how badly things are damaged.... if it is just the end, do what lmdew said.. clean it up with a grinding wheel/angle grinder. just take your time and check progress frequently

a mm or two is not going to make any difference as far as the axle goes - a cm or two would be more obvious. worn bushings are not going to cause axle noise as you describe - the control arm would have to be significantly moving/ready to fall off for that to happen. a bent rim can be caused by a multitude of things, including potholes, curbs, being run into in a parking lot, etc. Body putty can also be the result of something relatively minor such as being run into in a parking lot. again, not sure what you mean by "play in the shaft" - the central part of the axle is a solid piece of metal, with joints at each end.. inner and outer.. and they are designed to have a certain amount of wiggle room. I am going to suggest that you thoroughly inspect the inner wheel well liner... look for any rubbed or worn looking spots.. cracks.. etc. Turn the wheels to where you would typically hear the noise, and check tire clearance with the liner.. try wiggling the liner, too... see if it is loose anywhere.

1/4 of a mile? thats it? fix the leak, refill the trans and test it out... you may not need to do any swapping if it only went a 1/4 mile btw - sweet sedan... dont often see them that old