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Did you use the Brat’s fuel tank or bring the one over from the wagon? If using the Brat’s fuel tank I reckon it’s getting clogged up as you drive, fuel starvation then occurs as the pump struggles to get fuel to supply the engine under load. This doesn’t match what you said about your fuel pressure readings though. Is the ignitions switch on the Brat good? These can sometimes cause intermittent issues but seem more likely to die outright rather than a slow, twitchy death. Maybe list the things that are similar/same between the two vehicles that were swapped and not swapped. Something might show up there. Eg: - fuel lines - fuel tank - body harness - EJ power “pick up” points - where? Changed/same? Cheers Bennie

I’d argue that new boots on an old OEM cv shaft assembly is well worth the effort if it’s not left to grind along with loads of road grime, water and dirt in there. A mate of mine swears by stretchy boots. I saw one (now a meme somewhere) that wrapped the boot around the shaft a number of times when the gizzards of the CV joint let go for whatever reason. The CV joint was rebuilt on the side of the road and the boot reused! I’ve used various aftermarket boots with good success. I next time I’ll be trying these stretchy boots. Cheers Bennie

When you buy the entire CV axial, the boots will last for a couple hundred thousand miles. What the subaru mechanics like to do it coat them with a fluid that causes them to disintegrate in about 3 weeks, so you will be back in 4 weeks to have even more work done. It is generally a waste of time to put new boots on a high mileage CV axial. Replace the entire assembly.

Yep, if you can change just the glass it's less work. All of them I've had the side tracks/guides were broken and required a complete replacement.

June 17, 2025. After a while of being without my 1984 GL wagon because the clutch cable broke, I finally pieced her back together with new parts. It now operated the clutch cable wonderfully. I drove her to a friend's, whom I get my used parts from, to show him she was back on the road. He was happy as well. After I had left his place and headed home, I encountered a three-way involving a highway curve that I had to navigate. Traffic oscillating from one way, then traffic from the other way, and so on. I got excited and jumped at the chance to go. Shame on me. I burned off in first with a naughty burnout, followed by a speed shift slam into second, producing a chirp, followed with the same third, sans a chirp, rather, when a horrible sound I'd never heard before, sounding like a mega heavy gear grind! A memory flash suggested a reading I'd done where the author had engaged 4WD as a temporary bailout "fix". I did so and all appeared good for the time being. I babied the car home where she sat until today, the 18th of July. I got brave, and without much choice, I drove her back to my friend and discovered that I had apparently eaten a hub, I have a couple of spare hubs, so this will keep me occupied. A hard lesson as we are both are getting up in years. Her; Sept 1983 = almost 43 and me; 69 1/2. I've gotta knock off the hot rodding and give her more appreciation, have fun all and the best to ya!

Just learned Subaru has obsoleted them, the aftermarket boots don't last. Anybody able to help?

are you sure? well, according to this subaru pdf its just 8 nuts and glass comes off (tahts all i need to change) see page 5 stil linterested in compatability of SF, SG, or else.... or3_body_15.pdf

It's not a hard job, but very labor intensive. - Remove all the interior trim around the windows to drop the headliner. Do it when it's warm and there is less chance of the plastic pins breaking. - Remove the headliner, drop the seats so you have the most room to turn it and get it out the rear hatch without bend it too much - Disconnect the sunroof wiring and drain tubes - Unbolt the sunroof, 2 helpers make it easier. - Reverse to install the used one. If you have access to self-serve yards, you can practice on a yard car. I know some of the slide hardware changed from year to year. If you change the complete frame that issue goes away. Best of luck!

Well, out the blue my GF's 1st series Forester cracked the sunroof Nothing hit it, but now im reading that this simply happens sometimes luckily looks like replacement work should be easy, but trouble is finding a used one (not about to pay 600-700 for new) any idea if glass from SG, SH fits too? seems easier to find used P/N are different, but that could be just shade color etc.... Tnxs

Looks like my replacement worked just fine, been driving it around for a couple of days with no issues. Not exactly sure what it could have been. I'll just have to keep checking it periodically for any signs of wear.

What! I can’t believe everything I read on the internet? Haha.

Yep, you have an electronic throttle. The throttle position sensor is built into the actuator. Replacing the sensor means replacing the throttle body. The sensor you're looking at is manifold pressure. Just because an ebay listing says it fits doesn't make it true.

Thanks for the help. The right side of the Throttle body has a plastic attachment, so the Throttle position sensor must be there inside. There is some sort of sensor on the top left. The reason for my question is that my electric accelator pedal was failing,. So I got a new one. I decided to replace the Throttle Position Sensor too and eBay found one that it said fits my car. However the sensor on the top left Throttle body is narrower and doesn't match. Since I replaced the accelator pedal there haven't been any more problems.

Many 2004s are still cable as well (Legacy chassis, only Cali 2.5s and Baja turbos). But yea

If it is off by as much as you say, I can't imagine it is going to "settle in". You likely got a set of struts that fit, but not a set that are proper. I had a similar thing happen with new front struts for my older Subie wagon. It raised the ride height noticeably and also gave me excess positive camber that could not be adjusted out. The seller assured me they were correct and he proved it by showing me some cross-reference chart online. The cross-reference chart was a no-name document from who knows where and showed that the same front struts would fit any of the three models for that year, even though the factory clearly made three different versions with different spring rates and ride heights to cover the available models that year.

I had an issue somewhat similar to what you're experiencing. My GL would start, only with throttle input and would idle like garbage. But it would smoothen out at slightly higher than idle rpm. What it ended up being is a broken IAC wire in the engine wiring harness. I had to test for continuity while bending the engine harness to try to find the break in the wire. Took me longer than I'd like to admit to find since the IAC tested okay. :]

Yes that's the spring. Hope the bushings take care of it.

QUICK NOTE: AVLS Follower witness marks Just found a blurry image of the AVLS follower that was measured. It is good enough to see the areas of actual lobe contact. You can see how pushing the high lift lobes outwards limits the maximum contact distance away from the cam axis. This directly limits the maximum velocity of the valve. for the same velocity, the distance would be larger for a flat follower. Here. the AVLS cam designer is clearly using all the available velocity, for both the high lift and low lift lobes.

oh right, if it's 2.5 electric throttle. the tps is in there but not easily replaceable, you have to adjust the set screw for it and have an ecu data reader. though, i've never heard of a tps failing on those style of throttles. they either completely fail with the motor not working or make a terrible grinding noises if the gears are sheared. the tps part is pretty reliable

do you have the FSM? the one for my forester does have a spec for the ride height "wheel arch height", check to see how the number for the OB compares to your actual car

I understand it to be that after 2003 no more cables just dreaded fly by wire. All models. Don’t have our 2006 handy but I’m pretty sure it’s on the right side of the throttle body.

Mistery solved, its the bushings..... now to crawl under the car....

My 2005 is nonturbo 2.5 and has the non cable electronic accelator pedal.

Hi ultimates My girlfriends 98 forester 5M/T shift lever is not self centering anymore while in neutral. Remember that happening to me in my legacy and then fixing it, but it was a while ago.... I was sure the spring you can see from beneath the car that was missing (see pic), but when i went ot check its still there... odd... so my memory is not that good? So where is the centering spring located? a link to the relevant illustrated parts list would be appreciated.... Tnxs

Update: Found a regulator that fit but the symptoms persist. Thanks for the insight here, Scooby! The owners before me seem to have made a lot of changes to the electrical so I'm not certain I'd be able to pull reliable codes. That being said, I'll see if anything you mentioned above RE: EG temp sensors, breather hoses, EGR valve etc. are causing the issues. More diagnostics to come!