1 Lucky Texan

if you need that rear bushing/transverse link - look at Febest brand on Amazon. RockAuto has those arms - some even come with a new balljoint I think.

a low-miles wrecked WRX 'may' not have been on the road long enough to have been reamed-out by a kid. Or, as said above, if you knew the history on a car and it was driven by an adult, that might be a good source for an engine. There are the occasional turbo Foresters that haven't been abused.

those green connectors are only used for a type of troubleshooting procedure - leave them disconnected. not sure what they have affected, kinda surprising. but, you might try to reset the ecu with a scanner - or disconnect the battery for half an hour. maybe let the car re-learn from the base map. When you start it the first time after the reset, try not to touch the gas pedal - it may also crank kinda long.

does airtex have a unit for that year? I sometimes see them listed for newer cars.

You should consider RetroRoo in Henderson. Shawn owns this site! If you don't know how often or severely the present engine was overheated by the previous owner , consider a junkyard engine.

you can measure 'dark current' and pull fuses until you find the high-demand circuit. even a new battery will degrade quickly if it has ever been completely discharged - and every time it has gone flat, more damage is done. best to use a battery 'tender' (trickle charger) or remove a battery if it sits unused.

way more info than you ever wanted about oil over at www.bobistheoilguy.com

austin - are you looking for a major project, a new car, a way to get into racing....? what is your goal?

^^^ good post, more features details at www.cars101.com

if you're handy enough to do a timing belt - maybe you could find one that is approaching the 105K mile-mark, bargain the price down based on dealer quote for TB system service, do the TB system service yourself and KNOW it was done correctly. or, if you never want to hassle with a TB service, get an H6. the older a car is, the less important its brand and reliability rating and the more important the car's previous care and current condition become - shop carefully. maybe have a mechanic on-line to perform a pre-purchase inspection, might save you thousands o r - give you a little ammo to negotiate a lower price.

I'd think starter fluid, propane or even carb cleaner should get a detectable increse/change in the idle - even if just for a few moments. be careful

isn't high nox a sign of lean mixture?

find a low-miles engine from a wreck? car-part.com or LKQ do you know it hasn't been severely overheated on multiple occasions? It would be a bummer to install gaskets and have a rod bearing start knocking 5 weeks later.

factory pads are Akebono ceramic. For the same performance, i run Centric PosiQuiet Ceramic on our 03 H6 OBW. On my WRX, I run Stoptech Street performance. They dust more, but have a very high MOT for an affordable 'high performance' pad - plus, they maintain good cold initial bite and good modulation, noise free too. ferodo ,EBC , hawk, etc. also offer upgraded pads. Stay away from true 'race' pads - they often are very harsh on rotors, noisy, extremely dusty and often only 'bite' after warming-up. If I needed rotors, I'd also shop for Centric - good value. If it can be turned and stay over the minimum thickness stamped on it, try to keep the OEM rotor. OEM is quality stuff - but a little pricey. Avoid any consumables labeled 'economy'. That stuff is for the guy selling or flipping cars or people who must save every penny. do a search for brake-related threads, everyone has their own experiences/recommendations.

so many threads on brakes. properly used and maintained OEM brake components ar excellent. what pads and tires are on the car now? crap tires and 'economy' pads and old fluid might be the problem now. tell us more what you intend to do with the car. (racing, towing, bombing down mountain roads fully loaded with gear, etc.) best brake upgrade is stickier tires.

cam and crank sensors must be good to fire engine. I occasionally read about bad crank sensors, but moreso in older cars. um, no chance any of the tabs at the back of the crank sprocket got broken off?

seeing as how the car is new to you, perhaps some fluids are low or even incorrect (happens more often with these cars than you'd think) so, double check all fluids - trans is the only one checked while idling. fluid or CV joint grease on exhaust will smell bad. torque bind is caused by multiple issues but, it manifests itself as a stress that builds-up in the drivetrain due to the AWD system being fooled into engaging as if the car were on wet or icy roads or on gravel/dirt. If it WERE on a low traction surface, binding would not be felt and the drive train would have an opportunity to relieve/prevent any stress. Dry pavement affords no such opportunity so, the stress build until something slips - this can destroy some parts of the drivetrain - either immediately or over some time. running different size tires, swapping mismatched transmission/rear differential, failing duty c solenoid, grooved/worn wet clutch pack 'basket', etc. are some possibilities. confirm your tires are the same size, try a fluid change, easiest for DIY is 3 drain.fill/ drive cycles - that gets over 80% new fluid. valvoline maxlife is good. Sneak-up on the fill line - those marks are only a pint or so different, not a quart like engine oil.

clean or replace the PCV valve is a great place to start I think.

there's an oil cooler - check those lines. not pushing too much into the overflow is it?

confirm timing, line-up marks and do a tooth count.

about 3 times now I have noticed an odd thing leaving for work in the morning. The right side headlight does not come on (drl) when I release the handbrake. One day, it stayed off for my entire 11 miles trip, another day it had a delay of about 1 or 2 seconds, then came on. This morning, it came on when I revved to leave my driveway (I have to reverse up an incline). This morning I was also able to confirm that the high beams work OK when this is happening. Also, the symptom persists if I use the stalk to switch on the low beams. When the light is off - no manipulation of handbrake or switches would make it illuminate. The problem 'seems' to be getting more common but - I have only seen it happen 3-4 times. I think i recently read that the 2 'sides' of the system may have different relays? maybe I could swap them?

I have read plenty of posts about bad knock sensors - in none of them was there a report of no-start as a symptom. scan the ECU for pending codes - maybe there's a clue?

non-VDC should, might look like this;

do tight circles in a dry-paved, parking lot, then use the FWD fuse and test again. seems like torque bind. (maybe a wire or harness was pinched?) EDIT, ugh, slow typing but yeah, sounds like the tran's pump is OK. no change to the tires? all the same?

how do you know the car only "skipped a tooth" - what did you find int eh TB system when you replaced stuff? broken belt or bad idler bearing? $15 (even $10) knock sensors have been fine for many people from what I read. pull a plug and see if it's wet with fuel - holding the gas pedal to the floor while cranking is the 'clear flood' maneuver for fuel injected cars. (longshot)maybe have someone crank-over the engine while you hold a strip of paper at the tail pipe. If it 'sucks in' - could be a bent valve. Leakdown test would be better.