Setright

Yep, that "hot" smell is probably normal.

Ditto on the water pump.

Clicking could be because the green and black connectors under the dash are connected. Disconnect under normal running please.

Idle it like that until it gets warm enough to turn the fans on. It'll overflow but any trapped air will be expelled when the fan comes on. ' Waiting for the fan means you can be sure the thermostat has opened and isn't holding onto any air bubbles. Install the cap, fill overflow to FULL mark. Presto, air free cooling system. Drive for a few weeks, open rad cap. If the coolant doesn't reach up the spout, then you have some sort of issue.

You won't go wrong with a Genuine thermostat. Some aftermarket replacement parts might be just as good, but it's a big risk for a small saving. The classic symptom of a non-genuine thermostat is over cooling though. The springs tend to be too weak to hold the coolant back.

Power should be 136bhp. Extra toys might include electric headlamp height adjustment, electric fold-in wing mirrors. Momo steering wheel.. NOt sure about that though. In fact I find it odd that the Japanese local market had a 2.2 at all. They had a DOHC 2.0 with 150bhp.

Nice one JPX, picture is worth a thousand words

Mine whines, new Mobil fluid didn't help. Lucas, eh?

What he said. Go for a semi-synth. Shell or Castrol will do nicely.

Funny that, I was under my Sube a few hours ago clamping down the heatshields and had a good look at the ABS sensor and tone wheel. I'd say yes, by the way. The tone wheel is behind the hub.

Dr.RX take note the cabin temp gauge stays put from roughly 70 to 100 degrees Centigrade. Once the temp pushes past 100 the needle begins to climb.

Factory headers aren't all that bad. And with the turbo pulling gases out, the gains here aren't going to be massive. Better to look behind the turbo, especially the flange that looks nice and wide from outside, but is really just a small pipe in a big flange. A good turbo-back system can give you 25-30 bhp more along with less lag.

You can cut them off no problem. The main reason they install them is avoid panic in the cabin when you run over a plastic bag and it melts and smells like the car is on fire. Parking in high dry grass is still dangerous even with heatshields on.

For sure you need to take it back and have those faults documented. So much easier to complain to higher authorities if you have a "paper trail". Oil burning on a brand new engine isn't that strange, but I wouldn't expect a non-turbo to eat that much. My 2.5 Turbo drank 2quarts within the first 3k miles, and now seems to have settled down.

Good skills! I love it when people really put their cars to use

I just did the 3k intial oil change on my 06, 2.5XT and wasn't bothered by exhaust pipes. Perhaps my turbo has different routing. I mean, it's still close but I could get my hand on the filter. Leave the car to cool for fifteen minutes, the exhaust pipes do cool down quite fast.

Intermittent bucking, especially after a highway run is often the spark plug cables failing. Coil pack is also a point to consider, but I'd start with new genuine Subaru plug cables. Of course, that does depend on the ECU codes.

NGK heat range 6 will be good. You might just have fouled/worn plugs in there now.

Moving the control to defrost will switch on the AC, but if you hit the AC button afterwards the compressor is switched off again.

Yep, another vote for the "they all do that, sir!" line. I have long term experience with three Subes, one of them a turbo, and they all have a slightly erratic lump at idle. Most of the time smooth as an androids bottom, but occasionally there's a shake. If you don't feel the engine mounts are being stressed and the engine is bucking about, relax and enjoy the ride!

Yes, try to read the codes before guessing anymore :-) Sometimes the ECU won't store a code, but we'll cross that bridge... Is there any relation to revs and speed, would CEL come on at the same revs in a higher/lower gear? Or is 100km/h the cause. Off hand it sounds like a fuel delivery problem. Perhaps the fuel pump is giving up and the mixture is going lean.

Drain and replace along with the oil in the manual tranny, at 30k miles. I like to be on the safe side :-)

RE050 ? Factory fit for Ferrari Enzo, and now available in "normal" sizes. Still expensive though. Re040? Depends on local pricing. So3 wouldn't be a bad choice either. Notice how much I like Bridgstone You might consider Yokohama Geolander, might be better for dirt roads. Factory fit on Foresters.

I'm not a fan of squeezing the hoses, you are just as likely to suck air back in. If your rad has a bleeder screw that should be out too, of course.

I'd take the Prodrive