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I’m having my mechanic replace the tires engine in my 2003 Forester. He ordered and received a 62K miles JDM EJ25 and he should be installing it this week. Should I have him replace the headgaskets before it goes in, or were the headgaskets on the JDM NA motors better than the cheap composite headgaskets used on the USDM engines?

Give me time, I'm still learning.

You're doing it wrong... you take off the shocks, then the three bolts on the trailing links, then the inner bushes, then drop the gas tank, then bolt up the 4x4 gas tank, the mustache bar and diff, and the trailing links with CVs...

Got the rear wheel bearing changed today. Freddo was right, they're like a boat trailer. I got one of the hatch struts replaced but the previous owner lost the brackets where they mount on the driver side to the body so I'm needing a set if anyone is selling. Also discovered I have a leaking transmission axle stub seal. Glad I threw a long cardboard box under it in the shop.

Yes swapped the relay no change. I'll dig into it a bit more. When I jumped the AC and the compressor kicked on it was getting cold. Thanks

If it's the single gauge one on the low side only. Yes it would read high, around 80-90psi when the system is off. Not much else to add about why it's not kicking on, but it's normal to see it high on a single gauge reading. Thinking it's more electrical than a system problem. Did you swap the relay with a similar one on the car yet?

Was the air in the cabin getting cold? If so, it sounds like something in the wiring or possibly a low pressure switch, but I’m not an a/c tech by any means.

Thanks for the replies . I had originally thought relays were either good or bad, never intermittant. After your replies I did a little research and found out that I was wrong, they can be erratic. I'll put one in next week and cross my fingers. I'll probably disassemble the old one and look for corrosion or damage. Thanks!

Unless you've had an engine swap to something uncommon, the fuel pump is what pressurizes the injectors. The injectors are electronically controlled valves, that let out a precise amount of fuel when the computer tells them to open and close. The fuel to them is supplied, at pressure, by the fuel pump. The only common exceptions to this are diesels, ancient satanic bosch fuel injection, and ultra-modern direct injection gas engines...

I had it service Nov 2024 after replacing the Evaporator due to a leak. Worked great till the other day. Then NO AC. No leaks and when I hook up the cheapo service gauge pressure is High, in the red. I pulled the AC Relay and jumped it. AC compressor kicked in and the gauge went into the green. I'll take it back to the service location, just thought I'd put this out there to get your thoughts. Thanks, Larry

Yep Relay would be my bet.

Have you checked if the throttle position sensor is set properly? Just a thought I had while reading this discussion. My opinion is to check everything you can before chasing the parts dragon. Though it is always good to have spare parts while they're still sparsely available. Never a bad idea to buy a spare if you have the scratch IMO.

Luckily those cars are still fairly simple. Good luck with the chase. Old school guy like myself would ask how the exhaust smells when that’s occurring? But sure just swap in a good CTS and check the other notorious items from the EA82 era.

@scoobydube Had some time to check the engine for an EGT sensor issue and looks like my model does not have one. Went ahead and checked the coolant temp sensor and it did have some white crud on it. After cleaning the sensor, the engine started up right away and then idled at 2000rpm before starting to climb without touching the throttle. I gave it some gas to see if it would come down to normal idle levels but the engine puttered out. Now I'm back to no start. Might try swapping the coolant temp sensor first to see if that's been the issue all along.

Hi all. I recently bought a 2003 Legacy with 108k miles. Now I am getting this P0171 code about 60% of the time, ie it turns off for about 3 hours of driving and then comes back on for about the same time. Whenever I have the cel, I get a rough idle up and down but no issues driving. When there’s no cel, the idle is smooth. Mileage is also extremely poor + soot in the exhaust. I’ve sprayed brake cleaner around and haven’t found any vacuum leaks. My next idea would be the upstream o2 sensor or an exhaust leak. Any other ideas? Thanks

Sorry to be unclear. My understanding is that the problem is the failure of the pump that pressurizes the injectors. Fuel pump itself is fine.

Is this a Carb/SPFI/MPFI/Turbo? The different fuel delivery systems use different fuel pumps. (I'm assuming you're talking about a fuel pump, if not then snap a picture of what you're talking about.) If you let us know what it is I can get you a part number to cross-reference online listings. I'm also going to see a parts guy in a few weeks, so I may be able to grab you what you need while I'm there. No promises but it's possible he'll have a spare. :]

I’d check the fuel pump relay. Maybe the contacts in that are dirty and don’t always make a good contact, making it look like the fuel pump is the issue. The fuel pump relay will be located on a bracket beside the main ignition/power relay. The ignition relay is a brown six pin relay. I don’t know exactly where it’s located in your model though. I hope it’s a simple fix like this. Cheers Bennie

An injector pump? As in an EFI high pressure fuel pump? I know it’s not a diesel so it can’t be the governor pump… If after an EFI fuel pump, use any generic external pump. Can’t recall hose size etc sorry. Cheers Bennie

The 87 GL has fallen on hard times again. All is well except we can't find an injector pump or a rebuilder for the existing pump. Any help out there?

^No - not something I've done. Just read about.

Yeah..try this too: http://opposedforces.com/ It's working, but shows the domain expired 5/2025?

Any chance you got the 3.6 vs. the 2.5 version? Unless you have the 3.6. I'd guess the 3.6 are a different p/n for the extra weight? Maybe not.

Any idea if it can be metered to see if it's bad in some capacity? I'll look into it further and see what I can figure out.

I've read about the ignition wearing out on other cars and causing similar symptoms, so likely Subars can too.