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that's one of them Nip. Friendly Jacek chased mileage and there was somebody with a Forester.

this is also interesting that she has another Forester that gets much better mileage. I would not think the automatic would make that much difference, maybe a MPG or so.

I've got Michelins that came stock. I'm not sure they are Xs though. Whatever they are they've worked well in mud and two sets have gotten the car to 129,000 with more left.

Hey Nip, Who was it that chased bad mileage in a similar Forester for about a year? I don't remember him ever finding the solution.

that's about what I would expect, although it is so close I'm not sure that it is measureable. A small drop in power due to lower compression.

Another thing that can happen when you toss a belt could be that the crank trigger is damaged. Is the back of the pulley in good condition and all the wires are on?

ox sensors can get lazy and not throw a code. Or they can go the other way and throw codes and still get average gas mileage. The little buggers do have a sense of humor.

But just for a counter point I have a few friends with an H6 and the only complaints are premium fuel and one guy says he feels it has very little power advantage over the 2.5 he had. I have seen a couple complaints on the board like the timing chain tensioner and when you go to install plugs it is supposed to be tough to work on. One guy in San Jose had a ring and pinion problem didn't he? Not sure you can blame that on the H6 though.

Hey 777, don't you have a complete conversion on your website or am I just senile?

Yep, if you are pulling it yourself you can also see if it looks replaced. A warranty is best as you never really know what is inside a salvage yard piece. I have replaced a tranny with one just as bad before even though it looked great on the out side. It's a lot of work to do twice.

A number of salvage yards around here get most of thier cars from being abandoned. They have no idea and often no paperwork. At least with a wrecked car they have a title and sometimes a little clue.

A couple of things come to mind. Tires flat spot after sitting and sometimes your rotors rust a bit and clear off with running. I'm sure somebody else has some ideas too. If it cleared up i would not worry until it gets worse.

Actually this is pretty common. I changed the slave and hose on mine per the TSB and that was inadaquate. A new master put the car back on track with no furtur problems.

In my 99 Forester mine was stuck in when I got it. I twisted and turned it till it came out and lubed it. now it almost seems too loose but still stays in there.

I'm not sure if they are still available but there used to be a place in Hayward CA that sold rebuilt cats. I put one on my old Mercedes and it was still going a few years later when I sold it.

The ox sensor on my 99 Forester was done at about 100,000 miles. I am in San mateo, where are you driving yours? when I drive in SF my mileage is terrible but the usual mix is down to the city to pick up my wife (24 miles each way) and the Forester does the shopping in San Mateo. Usually I average 25 overall.

There was a firefighter a couple years ago that was looking into a big alternator for his lights, that's all I recall.

Charlie I assume you mean the front ox sensor. It carved on my 99 Forester at about 100,000 miles and I got a PO420 code. I just ordered it online (from Jamie) so I knew what it looked like and matched up a wrench. I think it took something like an 1 and 1/8 inch wrench. You could do a search because I posted the instuctions. I just leaned down and changed it from the engine compartment without jacking the car up. After you disconnect the wire you can just see it down by the exhaust. It took about 10 minutes.

I think I see a thread coming about installing a heavy duty alternator.....

For a long time I've looked for somebody in the Bay Area who could match paint. I found a guy through the local detailing shop who can fix bumpers and touch them up. He calls his business Bumper Zone and can do paint related matching and small dents. He did a bumper for me that another place wanted $650 to do for $150 and touched up a couple other small spots for that. I'm quite pleased with the job as I know where it was and I can't see it. His name is Gene and his phone number is (650) 642-6826 and tell him Cookie sent you. He works mostly for the car dealers but he will bring his paint van to your place too. I have posted a slam before but this is a nice change to post and say somebody did good work for me!

That's quite interesting and clever.

Now for the Moose bar....

That's the way to get a stuck one out too.

I would think the grove could actually reduce compression. I saw some of his stuff several years ago that had many groves that had to cut compression. Have at it if you wish but mine will stay stock.

Sometimes dipsticks have O rings that swell and make them hard to remove.