1 Lucky Texan

you can search for KS threads here and there are several youtube videos.

the 2 things that come to mind first are; moisture on bad plug wires or the coil, or oil on the plug boots. Early morning dew/moisture can cause arcing/misfiring that goes away when engine heat drys the high voltage system. Some folks have used a plant 'mister' with water to look for the issue - while idling after warming up, spray the mister around unti the car begins stumbling. Doing this at night can sometimes allow you you see arcing. If there was oil on the wire boots, you need new valve cover gaskets. given that there may be a bad fuel issue, fuel filter may need changing now. you might scan the ECU even without a CEL on. There may be pending codes. One more idea, older soobs often have bad/cracked knock sensors. They are cheap and easy to replace and may not throw a code. you might try a search on the above issues and see if others have had success with similar symptoms.

if the 90 and 50 are on the same bank(1 & 3 ?), maybe bent valves on that head?

^^^ didn't know that about the 770 gaskets. good info

turbo is tempting in mountain country but, IMHO, most of them are too risky. wonder if it and the 2009 got their timing belt systems serviced properly?

our NA models have a fuel pump that can lose pressure due to a broken metal cap and/or ruptured o-ring.

the reason it runs well after a reset is likely due to a bad sensor - as fairtax mentioned - the car uses a factory rom 'map' to run the car with and then uses the sensors to modify a:f ratios in 'learning' mode. I'd suggest you may need a starter solenoid rebuild too. Wouldn't hurt to check the knock sensor.

Herman Melville, Moby-Di ck or,The Whale

("Momma makes us kids come inside when Daddy works on the car.") did you shed any blood? that seems to be the sacrifice I have to make when wrenching.

pull plugs in the morning to look for a wet one? leaking injector if found.

make sure none of the brackets/braces for the bars are cracked/broken.

if you turned the engine over with a wrench successfully before trying the starter - can't be locked due to interference. Some folks use the wrong crank sprocket mark to install the belt. check the connections at the starter. bad coincidence maybe that the starter needs a solenoid rebuild as mentioned above - contacts and new plunger are cheap. very common for older Denso starters.

maybe IACV hose dropped off the intake? (just drove thru there a few hours ago!)

I have never adjusted the handle on eoiher of my cars. I have the rear up on stands, I set the brake handle to the first click, I adjust each side until I 'jjuuuusssttt' can't spin the tire with one hand. Then, when I release the handle - it's free, but locks pretty good with just a few clicks.

maybe I'm still confused - stripped the points or the threads? (nut is spinning in place) ? I'd try heating it up and then spraying it with penetrant - as it cools, it may pull penetrant into the threads. the idea about using a slightly smaller socket is good - and try nudging it in the tighten direction and then loosening. I think even one of those butane crack pipe lighters would work on small/medium sized nuts so - maybe shiels sensitive stuff in the area with HD aluminum foil and heat that sucker for 20-30 seconds, spray with PB blaster or 50:50 mix of acetone/ATF. Uh, be careful about fumes/flames OK?

was there any oil on the plug wire boot?

nvermind - stripped, not 'stuck'. aren't there nut splitters? got room for that?

did my WRX at a little over 8 years - under 64K miles. Belt seemed OK - but 2 rollers were very 'loose' and on of those, the toothed idler, was a little wobbly. no regrets

our 03 OBW even has very faint UP arrows embossed on the back plates. I suppose there are plenty of ways things could be bad, or were assembled incorrectly by a prev. owner. look near the oval hole;

proper adjustment is the star wheels - behind rubber plug on back plates - adjust UP to tighten. might be different on very old models though.

rust or wreck related? I suppose the devil is in the details on something like that.

look for oil on the wire boots 1&2 share a coil so, coil pack is a good idea

have you checked the sway bar endlink on that side? the rear bushing on the lower control arm? could be 1 or 2 other items that might do that.

are you checking the ATF while idling? many, many people forget it's the only fluid you check with the engine running.

the WRX failed its inspection - for burned-out license plate lights. I never see it from behind at night, actually, I rarely drive it at night - probably a good thing. Cops love to pul folks over for 'dim' plate lights - usually it's older cars and they get a chance to find expired license, no insurance card, maybe smell pot or alcohol, check for warrants, etc. I had some LED wedge bulbs at home from buying some when a front marker light went out so, slapped them in. Need to check-over the outback tomorrow, prep for a trip to CoSpgs.