nitroman58

Thanks again.

BTW, what does this mean? the AWD system needs all 4 to be within 1/4 inch in circumference. your circumference is in the 82 inch range.

Thanks John. When we bought the car, it had these tires which I believe are the Dynasty brand. The local mechanic put the two with the most tread on the front. He has put about 11,000 miles on the tires since that time. Should I rotate the tires, or just get 4 new ones? Currently, the rear tires do not have as much tread as the front ones. I have a Costco membership, and I can usually get $70 off on Michelin Defender's. I put the Defender's on my van, and they are pretty good.

I drove my son's 01 Forester last weekend, and thought it felt pretty good, but it was pulling to right. The first thing that I did was look at the tire pressure, and then the brakes. They were okay. Since he is away at school, he took the car to a Firestone place for an alignment. Firestone told him the alignment was fine, and even reduced the price by $15. They were saying that it is coming from the tire. How likely is this to be correct? I do not have a problem with replacing two or 4 tires, but these tires have a good bit of tread left. I thought about rotating the left and right front tires first to see if that would correct this. Does anyone else have a suggestion? Thanks

I plan to. I am either going to take it to the local dealer or a guy that specializes in Japanese cars.

Two local mechanics said that is probably the Cat. How is the quality of the Eastern Cat? One guy was saying that it depends on the amount of precious metals that they contain. That is, the more precious metals, the better the quality.

My son's car has been displaying this since the spring. Currently, he is out of the area on a summer internship. Yesterday, he took the car to a local mechanic, who stated that the front O2 sensor is good, so the code is probably originating from the rear O2 sensor or the cat. My son will be returning home in two weeks, so I want to have it repaired. My question is that if it is the cat, would an aftermarket cat be a good choice? I believe the Subaru cat is about $1000. The car is in good shape other wise and has about 90,000 miles on it. Thanks.

I am looking to transport 1 adult male bicycle with my Forester. Years back, I bought a 1&1/4" trailer hitch from U haul, which is on a older Toyota. The hitch works well, but really rusted out. I do not know if I want to add something like this to my Forester. The roof rack models do not appeal to me because I think the weight of trying to lift a 30 lb. bicycle on the top of a car could cause me to scratch the car. Could anyone recommend either a good hitch, or a bicycle rack that would work for my situation? Thanks

Okay, so my wife tell's me that for the second time, all 3 lights remain on when driving. The first time that this happened, she turned off the ignition, and turned it back on and the lights went off. The car is under warranty with about 10,000 miles. It sounds like by a Google search, others have had this occur as well. Any ideas on what it could be?

I wanted to find out if there was a milage that Subaru recommends for changing the manual trans fluid on the recent models? My car is an 2011 Forester.

Thanks, that is what I thought too. I will see what the trans place has to say on Monday. I do not know what the reliability of a used trans would be, but that is probably the cheapest option if it were to need a replacement.

Hello, I come seeking the advice of the community. I am the original owner of a 2002 Sienna with the Symphony package. In the last few months, the van has been revving high and struggling to shift into the higher gear. Currently, the car has 175,000 miles. The body is in good condition with a few parking lot dings and scrapes. The interior is in fair condition after my teenagers got to it. In the last year, I replaced the tires, front brakes and rotors. Last spring, I had the valve cover gaskets replaced as well. I am wondering if it is worth replacing the transmission if need be. I will have the problem evaluated next Monday by a trans shop. My son is using the car at present, and he puts about 6,000 per year on it. I am seriously considering what may be the cheapest option, and buying a used trans. Any advice from the community?

My mechanic checked the code today and it was P0420. He reset the code as well. I drove the car today, and I thought that is ran pretty darn good. I will just see if it comes back on for now.

Wow, thanks. The car is going to my local mechanic tonight. He is pretty good with not charging for things that do not need to be done. One thing is, the gas cap is an aftermarket model. It seems to go on tight, but it does not give that clicking noise when turning it clockwise.

On my son's 2001 Forester L, the check engine light came on after he hit a bump in a road. The car is running fine otherwise. He took it to a local Auto zone where he was told that it was either the oxygen sensor or the catalytic converter. The car has about 85,000 miles at present. Other than being certain that the gas cap is tight, are there things I should check? My mechanic will look at it on Friday. I sure hope it is not the catalytic converter! I believe that is a big ticket item.

Okay thanks. We did use the Gates timing belt kit, but bought the water pump separately. I did buy the coolant conditioner which was added to the new coolant. I was going to change the front brakes and oil before the trip. I will ask the local mechanic about the other fluids, fuel filter, and CV boots.

Thanks for the tip. I will check the brake lines and the exhaust out. Fortunately, the trip will be from May to late July.

My son is planning a summer cross county trip this spring. Back in December I bought a Forester with 81,000 miles. The local mechanic suggested replacing the timing belt and the radiator hoses. I had that done and currently have about 83,000 miles on the car. Aside from changing the oil and plugs, and checking the breaks and tires, is there any thing I should have done before this trip? The car has a manual trans. Is there a way to check out the clutch before him starting out?

Also, the timing belt and water pump were replaced last month. The mechanic used the Gates timing belt kit. Someone told me it could be related to the belt adjustment of the power steering pump.

To provide more information, he said the battery and check engine light flashed when revving up in gear. The steering wheel took a lot of force to turn as well.

I just got a call from my son about his 2001 Forester with 83,000 miles. He said he was having difficulty steering when it was in gear (it has a manual transmission). The check engine light also came on. I do not recall the other details but, he said that after doing an online search, he thought it could be the alternator. When he started the car up today it seemed fine. He is arranging to have the car looked at. Are there any typical symptoms seen with a failing alternator? Any other thoughts?

Thanks for the information. I have to respect Subaru for owning up to this. Do you expect the engine to hold up after the warranty period? Could this be the cause for piston slap during the summer months?

Fairtax4me, thank you for the reply. Which area of the exploded diagram that you linked will the work be done? Does this involve replacing the head gasket?

As far as I can tell, I do not see any oil leaking. I am quoting what is stated on the service paperwork. Perhaps the service advisor did not state in correctly? They want to allow at least 3 days to perform the work, so it must be somewhat involved.

I have owned this 2011 Forester since March of 2011. This car has always had a burnt oil smell when I shut it off. There has also been some oil consumption as well. During the first oil change, I asked the dealer about it, and I was told it is normal for these cars. Today, I had the car in for the brake line recall and they also checked out my complaint of the burnt oil smell. The service technician found that both left and right side camshaft carrier seals are leaking and would be repaired under the power train warranty. Does any one have a picture that could illustrate this for me? This sounds like a major engine overall, with the dealer removing the engine from the car. Will they have to replace other commonly repaired parts while they are in there? Currently, I just under 40,000 miles on this car. I feel that the leak was probably there from the start. Should I be concerned once the car is beyond the 5 year/60,000 mile warranty?