1 Lucky Texan

oh, I see he has 132 posts so, likely no confusion

stupid question but, If this were Outback SPORT, would that alter the underhood arrangement?

scan for pending codes?

does an 04 still have that IACV hose going to the intake tubing? could be loose

WANT!

look for fuel wetness in the vacuum hose on the FPR - maybe flooding the system ? triple check PCV and breather hose routing.

did it 'throw' the rod?, any new cam pulleys? any broken teethe on the back of the crank pulley? 3 - 4 cheap/easy ideas; triple check the IACV hose do a tooth count on the timing (you can find the tooth count online, yours 'looks' OK, just a cheap/easy suggestion) I know you said it looked like you had good fuel, but you could try feeding some starter fluid or even propane into the intake when starting, if it gets worse, yeah plenty of fuel, if it gets better - fuel starved? scan again for pending codes?

Joe, what are you expecting to see? most subarus would look the same as yours in the same test - indeed, many would only spin a single front and a single rear wheel.

find the tooth count for you engine on line, pull the covers and check timing as mentioned - align the pulley marks and do a tooth count - belt marks will not be aligned.

I'm not certain I follow everything in you post but, our cars have open differentials in the front and, most, have an open differential at the rear. So, you won't see power at all 4 at the same time. This is not to say there may not be a problem with a broken axle or bad differential, but what you observed seems normal. with all wheels in the air, no parking brake applied and the trans in neutral, if you turn one front wheel, the other side should turn the opposite direction. If the car has a VLSD in the rear, turning a wheel will cause its mate to turn the same direction. If the rear is also an open diff, the other side will turn backwards.

search youtube, probably more than one axle rebooting video - there's even one that shows it being done on the car!

future external coolant weeping might be cured with Subaru Coolant Conditioner.

some say the carrier bearing can really howl - I could imagine it might possibly vibrate as well.

possible timing belt tensioner noise. mechanics stethoscope could help narrow-down the issue. Look for youtube video of subaru tensioner noise. oil analysis with high aluminum would confirm piston slap I think. high iron would be rod knock.

I'd give them a chance to fix the issue I think. If there's more to the story than just the flipped tires and you want to avoid PepBoys,, take your car to a Discount Tire. Great folks. They might get a chuckle out of 'one-upping' the competition.

interior detailing guy hit it - same thing has happened a coupla times on wife's outback.

check your front axles. if those trans have magnets on the drain plugs, maybe look for 'chunks' instead of just a little sludge?

I still check the newsgroup occasionally! alt.autos.subaru

keep all 4 tires identical - same brand/model/size don't let some yahoo confuse fluid drain/fills CONFIRM that the rollers, idlers, tensioner, were changed along with the belt at the last timing belt system service - with parts of japanese manufacture. the schedule is 105 months, or 105K miles, w'ever comes first.

seems like a good indication someone was really zooming around. Might explain worn-out trans. My 5spd ate 2nd gear at under 70K miles and I have NO power mods.! You should probably consider a clutch fork upgrade too if the clutch is upgraded. If at all possible, get a 6 spd swap. Talk to local tuners/shops about it. www.nasioc.com would be a good place to search/read/ask about options for the car going forward. Heck, someone in this sub-forum , https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=21 ,may even recognize the car!

shifter bushings might also be causing a problem. don't use synthetic GL-5 in the trans - many folks report problems. a cheap-ish fluid that some folks like, is the synthetic 'blend' sold at walmart. Subaru's gear oil is good, Motul is good but pricey, Amsoil Severe Gear is good. Any name brand conventional gl-5 should be OK. If you still seem to have problems, drain the oil into a clean container and save it for your replacement trans. check car-part.com or maybe consider a JDM trans.

someone may have put it in to try to SOLVE an abused trans. Or, try to quiet it to re-sell...? might be an indication the car was being abused - any other signs of modifications? how much sludge was on the magnet?

Smurf Blood! some folks use Redline Lightweight Shockproof, which is green-ish. Others might use a 'cocktail' with 2-3 fluids, one of which is the LW SP. it's good stuff on its own in a manual trans with no pump, or in a diff, but, if it's in a mix, - what with? https://www.redlineoil.com/lightweight-shockproof

wh....what's in my 06 WRX ?

hmmmm....maybe check for a harness near the little u-joint on the steering column near the firewall, on some models I think it has rubbed into some wires.