idosubaru

Prime them but don’t sweat it. If they’re new and the engine is good they should self prime in the engine too. What you want to avoid is seized/failed ones or one so flat the rocker arm falls out when you first start the car. Otherwise bleeding the HLAs is rather benign and unimportant. You can install them without bleeding and they’re fine 99% or the time if they’ve been sitting in oil. Cars that sat for 10 have loud HLAs then pump up and are fine. When removed from soaking for install air can easily be introduced and no one has had any issues in 40 years. They’re very forgiving. Besides problematic old engines and HLAs. Prime them of course but don’t think they’re sensitive like some systems. Like burping an EJ25 or bleeding brakes. This isn’t like that.

Alignment. Probably been done but don’t see it mentioned. Aftermarket axles are garbage. All of them. Numerous issues I don’t have time to type it all out or share the horror stories or why it’s not as commonly known. It is interesting the tire changed the noise. Different load on those trash axles and it couldn’t take it. Used Subaru axles with new Subaru boots are far superior to aftermarket. Probably can get away with aftermarket boots if you’re not in an extreme environment. Ours see winter road salt and chemicals and degrade faster than Subaru boots. I’m assuming the chemicals degrade them faster just based on what I know about materials science and seeing them fail sooner so I may be wrong. But they can fail in 5 years instead of 10. Might not matter to some so aftermarket is probably reasonable for boots for some people. Subaru axles last the life of the vehicle and should never be replaced. Shops just do it because it’s easier and the make the same money as a reboot.

I’ve installed legacy springs on outback struts. don’t recall what it did to the overall height as I didn’t install them on a legacy. I’d guess you get a 1” lift instead of 2”.

Summary: Buy a lower cushion the color you want and with or without heated seats from a 2014-2018 Forester and you fixed the occupant detection issue. At least - assuming the used seats doesn't have the issue. 1. If you can - find a 2017-2018 model that's already had it repaired. You can search if recalls are done online using the VIN if you can find the VIN if it's already been done or not. 2. Or buy a 2014-2016 since they're not listed on the recall and likely less prone to issues. The bottom seat is fully plug and play - it bolts in and out, the detection system, heating elements, electronics, wiring, are all in place within the seat. The bottom doesn't have airbags. No other parts needed. The air bags are in the top portion of the seat you lean back against, so that's why this is done, to retain the airbags: The upper portion is practically worthless if the airbag goes of so the lower seats are still good in wrecked vehicles and not in high demand. *Remember this all assumes the issue is in the seat. I think they replace the "rear harness" or something like that, but I'm not sure. Does this mean the seat harness or does this mean the wiring that plugs into the seat harness? I'd check that before proceeding. Subaru has a TSB for it -you can skim it and see if there's any useful information in there. I've swapped 2014-2018 lower forester seats - they're all plug and play interchangeable, so whatever that TSB says should be useful for your 2014 even though it's not indicated in the recall.

It's my understanding they replace the seat bottom, or replace something in the seat bottom. So swapping in a lower seat cushion is all you need. Which means you can grab a lower seat cushion off of a seat with blown airbags and install it (which I've done before). The recall is for 2015-2018 Foresters with heated seats (i think) but surely yours is probably the same issue, the seats and seat air bags are all interchangeable 2014-2018 so they're very similar. I've rebuilt these before and worked on a couple. The seats are super crazy easy to replace or swap the lower cushion. 1. Unbolt each 14mm (or 12) bolt - two on the front rails and two on the rear. Pop off the plastic covers to see the ones in the rear. 2. Lean seat back and disconnect wiring to remove the entire seat 3. Remove plastic covers and theres 3 12 or 14 mm bolts on each side holding the top and bottom seat cushions together. Remove those 3 bolts on each side, install another lower cushion and install in reverse. It's very easy and does not take long at all. Of course diagnosing it would be smart but this issue is common, dealers usually have the parts in stock to do it around here.

I'd swap another MAFI bet you have easy access to those too? I had a 90's Phase I EJ hesitate sometimes (I don't recall when it hesitated) for a year, was perfectly drivable but annoying, and then trouble starting ocassionally for a month, never had any codes. Then one day it randomly tossed a MAF code, swapped it, and it ran perfectly. Fuel pressure regulator? Fuel injector? Another big anecdotal meaningless experience: I had a 2000-ish forester with slight running issues and no check engine light. I checked the easy/obvious things, had already installed new headgaskets/knock sensor as well and when I swapped the entire intake manifold it fixed it. I kept the intake for awhile and wanted to diagnose and test the few components on it but never did.

It's not typical to replace heads so it makes total sense they're planning on not doing it. The only damaged heads I've seen also had a block with a 1 inch hole in the top of the block you could look inside of it. To be clear I haven't been around that many blown blocks but I believe it's standard procedure to look for contact, it'll be obvious and usually doesn't exist, and focus on ensuring the heads are properly cleaned - completely disassembled and clean out all oil passages.

Used today. Also saw some others mention it in another thread.

Ah excellent. Thanks, I would have just taken my current rose buds. I'll be sure to take my entire torch set ups with me to the supply shop and ask them what to get.

It does have a top strut mount. The spring does not press up against the top of the body. Maybe you leave the mount in and press the spring in place via the jack but you have to compress a spring to replace. You originally said - no compression needed. That’s what I was trying to make sense of, not word choices. because a spring does need compressed. I’ll blame this on semantics or limitations of a keyboard, I was thinking at first maybe you had never done rears before.

That’s not what I said. I said same ***configuration** meaning requires compressing a spring to replace. I didn’t say they’re interchangeable and no one would assume that since that’s not the context of this discussion. whatever it’s called - the spring needs compressed to replace it. He said there’s no spring to compress, that’s not the case

All Subarus front and rear since the 80s are the same (except early 90s leg and late 80s XT/EA air suspension) configuration and require compressing springs to swap the strut only. Subaru calls them struts: https://www.subaruparts.com/oem-parts/subaru-strut-20365ae15a?c=Zz1yZWFyLXN1c3BlbnNpb24mcz1zdHJ1dHMtYW5kLWNvbXBvbmVudHMmbD0xJm49QXNzZW1ibGllcyBQYWdlJmE9c3ViYXJ1Jm89b3V0YmFjayZ5PTIwMDMmdD12ZGMmZT0zLTBsLWg2LWdhcw%3D%3D

Interesting on the creaking. Subaru springs generally last the life of the vehicle fairly well so reuse is the norm. Just my preference to replace on anything that's pulling weight and headed for 200K+ miles. Probably more because I hate compressing struts any more than I have to.....none of the compressors work well for Subaru struts. lol

Lubing the threads should avoid creaking. Maybe higher quality or ensuring it’s getting all the way down the thread bores. I too have towed huge boats and other things over the weight limit and had them sagging. Replace the rear springs while you’re doing struts. I’ve done H6 struts only to have to do the springs shortly afterwards due to horrid ghost jumping from warm springs. Car rear “jumps” randomly sideways a little while driving over bridge joints. Not a very good feeling at highway speeds. Feels like driving in winter..in the summer

Sure thing. I could be wrong, maybe bearings can vibrate. But I’m not. just kidding, who knows with mechanicals right Ive cut open boots and the green grease pours out like water. Kind of crazy it gets that nasty Here’s a his user profile, fantastic guy. Hasn’t been around in years hope he’s okay, and this assumes he never changes accounts/didn’t have two accounts: https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/profile/23241-fairtax4me/

Are you saying it's on one side? If so then replace that one rear wheel bearing. That has nothing to do with the diff/trans. That's normal for wheel bearings, particularly OEM ones, they can take a long time to get worse when they first start. Eventually they start getting worse quickly. I routinely drive wheel bearings thousands of miles while humming/groaning. Got one right now, not worried about it, just did a 500 mile road trip this weekend. I like to turn the steering wheel rather sharply momentarily at higher speeds, like 50 mph, (tough to find good road conditions to do this) to change the loading, you'll often hear the noise momentarily disappear. This guarantees it's a wheel bearing. If you don't think it's on one side or think it could be something else, drain rear diff fluid and check for metallic discoloration of the fluid.

Absolutely. I've done it. Massive vibrations, had to vary the speed constantly basically undrivable, rear view mirror shaking so bad you couldnt' see out of it. Regrease, good to go. I think Marshall from MWE used to get some new parts, unless I'm just mis-remembering. I heard him say something over the phone to me one time about new parts 20 years ago, so there's a lot that could go wrong in that recalling? I haven't heard of people really rebuilding with new so I assume they don't exist now or it isn't cost effective. Axles can wear without breaking/exposure. Usual suspects - high mileage, type of driving, etc. I doubt it. If wheel bearings are vibrating I don't think they're mechanically forgiving enough to tolerate being out of spec like an axle. I think they have very limited lubrication, they aren't sitting in a huge cavernous supply of grease like an axle. There's more ball bearings, less grease, in a tighter area that's not designed for any play or articulation like an axle. They're not going to click for 50,000 miles like an axle but still work fine. They're going to get worse quickly and fail. I doubt they have some phantom vibration unless it's escalting over time. I think Fairtax (username) had a troubling vibration on his EJ vehicle that he couldnt' figure out for years replacing multiple items. He ended up accidentally repairing the issue when he replaced....i think it was the steering rack...for some unrelated reason. If you can find that ancient thread, that might be worth looking at. Fairtax 4 me or something along those lines.

Has the car ever been wrecked? Rust? Alignment good? Definitely do not install any aftermarket bearing. They fail all the time, no matter what brand. I can't exaggerate what garbage they are. Anyone that says "I used this brand and didn't have issues" has replaced very few wheel bearings, so that's why you'll find "success" stories if you look. Anecdotal. At scale, aftermarket bearing suck. *Except in instances where aftermarket companies use OEM parts just to fill their catalogs. So sometimes you can buy an aftermarket bearing and receive an NTN/NSK Japanese original OEM wheel bearing. But that's inconsistent since companies can change that from year to year. Replace only the bearing that's failing - do not replace both bearings in pairs if that's what is meant by "we have replaced rear bearings twice". Modern wheel bearings are more prone to failure, I have no idea why. but it's wasteful considering older bearings didn't fail as often. Even Honda's have more wheel bearing issues than they used to. It's the new normal unfortunately.

Yes it can matter. You can swap axle guts or side to side to change loading and material wear internally. I knew a local Subaru guy 20 years ago who was doing that with Subaru axles. Often it doesn’t because OEM axles have so few issues. But it can. So if you have the option change the loading. MWE used to be a well known reputable axle rebuilder in Colorado. I’ve bought axles from Marshall years ago when I’d drive through CO. Great guy and axles. Some (all?) of them were painted blue. I doubt that’s the clamps you’re seeing but it’s the only blue axle related thing I can think of. Probably more likely just a local store had a brand with clamps like that.

It depends how badly it’s damaged of course. One atomic particle missing is different than a a huge gaping wound. Too much work I’d just get a new subaru seal. But yeah add sealant if you’re okay with some risk. I’d use The Right Stuff or something beastly like that instead of regular RTV.

1996 still had FWD. 1997 was the first year that FWD was not available.

My "autocorrect" comment was a joke trying to make fun of these asinine changes Subaru made. the codes very well may have went away, I don't know enough about it to guess if it could have been the nonfoulers. I've got some nonfoulers laying around and my 06 tribeca has P0420 but after all these years and 250,000 miles I don't think I want to touch the sensors....

There are title and VIN plates continuously listed for sale on ebay. VIN swaps aren't prosecuted unless they were done to further some other criminal activity like avoid lien's, "authenticate" stolen vehicles, etc. it's illegal to remove catalytic converters, work around emission laws and CEL lights, and modify safety equipment....all of which are ubiquitously discussed on forums with people even providing free code to upload to ECU's to intentionally remove P0420 emissions code and remove the CEL. AZ just passed a law making older cars with problematic title/VIN issues easier to register and I think even allows some types of VIN plate changes in certain situations for older vehicles.

Autocorrect changed your message, you must have typed "imbecile" or "annoying", because it is. 2005+ leg/OB is also when you can no longer swap an engine/trans due to CANBUS.

same engine. Subaru had a 100k extended headgasket warranty from 00-02. they install new headgaskets and add a bottle of coolant conditioner as part of the warranty/ TSB. if any work or coolant change has been done since then it may not have added the coolant conditioner. if it's leaking coolant buy a bottle from subaru and follow the directions. and reminder always avoid these snake oil gimmicks in bottles, but here's one rare case where it has a reasonable application if you use your head.