1 Lucky Texan

baja sean, did you get sorted-out?

I dunno, one other thing though, does it run well enough to confirm the transmission is shifting and doesn't exhibit torque bind? if all 4 tires aren't identical, that would be a red flag too.

the main issue that frightens me is, how severely and how often did it overheat? sure, you can put new gaskets on it - but then, a rod bearing could fail in 6 weeks. If it was YOUR car, you'd know how much it had overheated and could make a decision with good knowledge - but that isn't the case here. I'd only consider buying it with the calculation of installing a used engine.

is there a jumper wire in a connector on the ECU??? hope someone with experience will respond.

onn the slow to fire-up; try either one of these; spray some starter fluid in the intake and start - if it starts more quickly, could be a fueling issue. ALSO, before starting, cycle the key from OFF to ON (not START) several times in succession; ON, wait for a 4 or 5 count, OFF, ON, wait for a 4-5 count, OFF, ON - wait, OFF, then START. Each time you go to ON, the fuel pump should pressure-up the rails for a coupla seconds so, if the car fires more quickly, it may mean there is a leak in the fuel system and the pressure is dropping when the car sits. if neither of those tricks help, it likely eliminates fuel supply problems.

some older soobs had problems with cracked clutch forks do you only hear the clunking or do you feel any bucking/jerking? does it happen at slow speed so someone could pace the car and determine which side is causing the noise? clunking could be inner joint on an axle. Should you determine an axle IS bad - BY FAR, best approach is get a used soob axle (with the green-painted inner joint) from car-part or LKQ, regrease and reboot the inner joint.

goof - did you find a shop?

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01 - did you buy the car?

spidey - did you get this sorted out?

is the speedometer working?

I know money is tight but, I have never kicked myself for mistakenly putting a new part on an OLD car while troubleshooting. Sure, ideally I'd train myself to learn how to scope the 02 and make sure the waveform is really slow or w'ever - but the extra time/tools/knowlede sometimes makes it faster/easier to put in a $60 part. The absolute WORSE thing that happens if I 'guess' wrong is, I got a new part instead of a 10-15 year old part, wasted a little time, some money - and eliminated one of the items on the list of possible problems! not ideal but, you see how that works. Again, live data from a smart phone, and ELM327 BT adapter running an app like Torque can sometimes be helpful troubleshooting.

a 2000 model probably doesn't use post-cat data for a:f . I THINK that came in on Subarus around '06 or so ???

wires may not work well so, be prepared to swap for OEM if you have issues later.

no offense intended but, it's easy to forget to check trans fluid level while idling - it's the only fluid that must be checked like that. not sure that would kill the gauge though so....? plugs and wires, were they NGK?

^^^ I did a very brief search as well, nothing positive came up. if you can find their headquarters, the BBB for that county may have some info.

if the compressed length and spline count is the same, doesn't matter.

the way it's been behaving, I doubt that will be any worse. Just don't let stuff bounce/whip around. Wrap it with some tape or plastic and tape or ziptie it out of the way.

^^^ what they said, tires should be IDENTICAL. run FWD fuse (see your owners manual about use of emergency spare tire) less desirable options; run new tire pair on opposite corners (only IF your rear diff is not limited slip), or, have new tires shaved down to match circumference of old tires (this may not work if the difference is as great as you say, plus, it wastes the utility of the new tires)

check your owner's manual, might be called fuel evaporation leakage check system, or similar

the newer models do something like a tank/purge/evap pressure test or w'ever.

all 4 tires the same brand/model/size? any bucking/jeking/grabbing in sharp turns maneuvering in parking lots? will the car do tight circles on dry pavement at or 'just' above idle rpm? try swapping tire pairs front to back, inspect suff like lug nuts and brakes when you do this off course. you try the FWD fuse too.