1 Lucky Texan

any sign of rodents around the car?

around here, batteries are suspect at 3 years of age. they are getting old at 2.5 and rarely last over 5. But cooler locales should be able to get a longer lifespan if the battery is not abused. Any complete discharge of a typical auto battery will usually decrease its lifespan as well so, it isn't out of the realm of possibility your battery was bad, and evidently that was indicated at the parts store. Still, worth doing the test outlined above on parasitic current drain.

yeah, I could esily have 3 completely separate issues and I'm trying to keep an open mind on there being any common source or not. The car is 10 years old (though only 70K miles) and stuff starts failing I know.

low beams work and, at least once when I was 'experimenting' with the problem, the DRL came back on after I turned the lights off! does the module control a separate relay that is intermittent maybe?

Just wondering if anyone knew if the DRL module and the Illumination Control Module on an 03 H6 Outback might share a bulkead connector or a ground or ???. I have mentioned in other posts about the illumination issue and I do have a replacement module, but I also recently noticed intermittent operation of the Daytime Running Lights. (I also have an intermittent brake light, but I think that's from a sticking float in the brake fluid reservoir) just wondering if a schematic shows anything in common. thanx

definitely the front sensor. Wouldn't be unusual to be bad at that mileage, but also good to look for other possible causes like wiring. if you replace it, use OEM or Denso part. generics have been reported to not work well. I think there is a way to use an oscilloscope to see if it is swictching correctly.

sounds like a fun project. build 2, sell one to pay for yours!

you might consider new hoses if yours seem worn, they can 'balloon' and make the system feel soft, also, consider going back with SpeedBleeders; they have a check-valve inside. not cheap though.

miles' approach is similar to mine, 'specialized' containers. Household stuff broken down by function, electrical ,water supply, water drainage, woodworking, painting etc. Similar with the car stuff. Of course there's overlap and I have a 'generic' bag( Hammer, dogbone wrench, knife, needlenose w/sidecutter, waterpump pliers, medium crescent, vice grips, screwdrivers etc.) that usually goes along with each of the special bags/boxes. I'd be worried though about thievery. Consider bowling bags. might take more than one for some of you guys but, they don't scream STEAL ME at least. Pick 'em up at thrift stores/garage sales.

what cars? some newer legacies have HBAs dont they?

try tightening, then loosening. sometimes helps other than that - I dunno

oops! sry

others will be in with some ideas. First, will it start with the pedal on the floor? That's the typical 'clear flood' routine. do a compression test, maybe the oil control rings or some other issue with compression has cropped up. When you pull the plugs, see if they are uniformly wet or just some of them. recheck cam timing Check fuel pressure - maybe high? just some ideas

nvrmd - dunno anything about the '12 washers.

there must be a sticking relay somewhere they could just swap out.

I usually replace. I have re-used successfully. right now, working thru a box of Dorman i got from Amazon Dorman 095-142 Oil Drain Plug Gasket - Pack of 10

I could see it being MUCH easier nowadays to pour some corn syrup or Pepsi w'ever in rather than trying to get a a powdered substance past that filler flap deal.

I bet this was caused by someone making a mistake with some additive. putting it in the tank instead of the radiator, or thinking 5 cans will work better than one or something. sodium silicate is used in some radiator stop-leaks products. oh yeah, I'll ask the obvious; Did you taste a piece of the deposit to see if it's sweet? a REAL mechanic would. lol!

when cars are turned for 'cash-for-clunkers' programs, they are supposed to use something to destroy the engine. I THINK it may be sodium silicate, but, w'ever it is, I wonder if somehow, that car was supposed to go to a crusher after a C4C deal? Problem is, unless they were confused, the silicate is supposed to go into the crankcase after draining the oil. Or, did someone go overboard on some kinda headgasket fix/'mechanic in a can' stuff? anyway, if you are finding crystals in the tank, clearly the stuff is not very well dissolved by gasoline. But it certainly seems enough is - or gets through - to cause problems!

that's crazy looking stuff. But, supposedly, sugar is insoluble in gasoline (despite the 'common wisdom' of sabotaging a vehicle with it - dunno about gas with 10% ethanol) but, it WOULD clog a filter. Dunno about honey or molasses. wonder what the 'sock'/strainer on the fuel pump looks like? Or could that stuff have come from the PCV system? maybe put some near a sweet-eating ant bed and see if they go for it!

shop for EMPI axles at RockAuto, or reboot a subaru axle from a junkyard. typical rebuilts from car parts houses are notoriously variable in quality. try not to run it much if at all or the seal in the diff may get compromised.

Most of that equipment is just a scope, voltmeters and frequency counters and a freq. generator. T hat was in my first year or so of almost 12 years working on surface and borehole instrumentation for oil/gas exploration. (called 'logging' equipment in the biz) this is pretty close to what my hair looks like these days;

at work, we often see the magic smoke released after an I. D. 10 T. error. ID10T

too many red flags to treat it as other than an 'as is' parts car, price-wise at least.

maybe dig around at www.opposedforces.com for a soob part number. interesting, at RockAauto, the 'info' button leads to this; http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1835962&cc=1269659