LameRandomName

My tranny is stuck in 2nd gear. I can depress the clutch and disengage it, but I can't pull it cout of gear. It almost feels like the linkage is broken. It's at the dealer now and I'm waiting to find out if it's a 3 or 4 figure repair. Anyone ever experience this?

Went to dealership, got code pulled and it turns out that it's a front oxygen sensor. (They use some other name for the sensor)

Coil pack.... Yeah... That sounds about right. Thanks.

2000 Forester, 5-speed, 87k miles; well maintained with plugs/wires somewhere in the 15-20k mile range. Recently began having a "miss" at various speeds. The car will suddenly feel like the engine lost a chunk of power. This is similar to the sensation of the A/C compressor coming on; only stronger. Sometimes it'll be a rapid-fire "stutter" sensation, other times a longer feeling of power loss. This will happen at pretty much any speed, whether cruising or accelerating, lightly or hard. The car starts fine, doesn't stall and there are no obvious problems like loose wires. Today, while on a 3-hour drive; the Check Engine Light came on and stayed on. The CEL doesn't go off after shutdown or re-start. Even after fully cooling off, it's still on. I don't know what the codes are because I haven't taken it to the dealership and I don't have a tester to pull the codes. What I'm looking for is anyone who has experienced a similar set of symptoms. Before I go to the stealership, I'd like to have some sense of what the possibilities are. I'm not looking for a bunch of wild guesses. I can do that myself. I'm looking for anyone who has had a similar experience. Thanks in advance.

Just popped back in to check the thread. Thanks for the info. I think I'll end up with factory parts. My car sees severe service and the factory stuff has held up better than I thought it would.

Yeah, neither can I. I just THINK it is. In any case, the stock exhaust has so far lasted since 2000 and almost 80,000 miles under fairly severe conditions; so I gotta figure that's what I want. I DEFINITELY don't want some crap from Autozone that I'll be replacing again next year. *sigh* I guess that's what I get for buying a boring car. No decent aftermarket. I'll bet if I had a WRX though.... heh heh heh

As far as I know the stock system is stainless, although I could be wrong. I haven't called the stealership yet. As far as the length of time on this system, my current problems MAY be related to just a gasket. I haven't bothered to take it to a shop yet because I want to ALREADY KNOW what my options are BEFORE I go to a shop. Also, I live out in the country and deal with a lot of roads that have yet to be blessed with stone, let alone pavement. Driving frequently on rough dirt roads DOES take it's toll on any exhaust system. There is also the stuff Ohio uses for snow melting now. It's worse than salt.

Guys... the reason I came here to ask this question is because I assumed that the denizens of this board would already be familiar with the options available. Does ANYONE know what's available in terms of high quality replacement systems? Other than the factory replacement... I already know about that option. Or is the problem that, other than the factory replacement system; there IS nothing but cheap-a$$ replacement systems?

Ever hear the phrase; Penny wise & Pound foolish?

(Did a search, didn't find the info I wanted.) I'm coming up on 80,000 miles and from the sound of it; I'll be needing some exhaust work soon. I am inclined to buck up for a good quality stainless system, if one is available, on the theory that it's a better long term value. However, I don't know what's available, other than, I suppose; a factory system. I also wouldn't mind a better flowing system and even a bit more sound, but I am NOT(!) looking for some boy racer fart can setup. What are my options?

Before you get yourself all involved with complex possibilities, consider replacing the plug wires. It'll never hurt and it often clears up stuff like that.

Remove your rear drums and clean out the accumulated rust.

What gives is that Subaru's cruise control system sucks donkey butt. Believe it or not, I am so fed up with the issue that I have decided to sell my Forester this summer.

2000 Forester w/ manual trans.

As some of you may have noticed, the cruise control on Subaru's SUCKS. Specifically, it doesn't "catch" right away, usually losing 5mph or more before it kicks in, then having to accelerate back up to the set speed. Also, if you're going up a long uphil and the vehicle loses about 10mph, the cruise control cuts out and you have to reset it. I'm wondering if this is something about which nothing can be done, or if it's possible to reprogram the computer for a more "aggressive" cruise control behavior.

I did my plugs & wires this moring.... (2000 Forester) I did the rear driver's side first, because it looked to be the hardest. And it was... snaking my hands and tools into that cramped spot... When it came time to put the boot on the new plug, I couldn't get it on, so I resigned myself to removing a few items to open up that area. Imagine my surprise when it was only two bolts to get the windshield washer fluid tank out of the way. Doh! At least I had only gotten halfway through, and on the passanger side i removed the intake ducting first. (3 bolts) Other than removing a total of 5 bolts to get a clear shot at the plugs, this was just as easy as my 1978 DL. Nice.

When engineers design a motor, they recommend a particular oil based on the bearing tolerances and the oil pump volume. If you use too thin an oil, the pump can't keep up. When you use too thick an oil the pump overworks itself and it can't pump rapidly enoug, not to mention the parisitic losses and the damage to your gas mileage. You always want to use the oil weights suggested in the owners manual because that's the viscosity the engine was designed for. If you're worried about the heat, which is a valid concern, run a good quality synthetic. Mobil1 is good enough, albeit just barely. Amsoil is even better. If the cost bothers you, change you oil once every 6000 miles and your filter every 3000. Personally, I go a whole year on my Amsoil, changing the filter every 3,000 miles, because no matter how good the oil is, it'll still get dirty just as fast. The Amsoil product I use is their "good" stuff, that's rated for 25,000 miles, although in one year I only do around 15,000. Look, I used to be a big believer in heavy oil too. But when I owned my VR6 Passat, I decided to try the Mobil1 10-30 in the summer. I picked up noticeable power and TWO MILES PER GALLON. From then on I used 10w30 in the summer, 5w30 in the spring and fall, and 0w30 in the winter. I drove that car another good 50,000 hard miles before I sold it. Now I'M sold on correct weight, high quality synthetic oil. It's your car, you can do what you like. I just wanted to make sure you had the information.

Why in God's name would you use such a thick oil?

I did a search on this subject, but it wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped it would be. So, I guess I'll have to start a new thread. I have a 2000 Forester, which obviously has the 2.5L 4-cyl. This morning, which was very damp, I had some hesitation and bucking on acceleration, which went away once the car had been running for a while, so I'm guessing the wires had absorbed some moisture and then the engine heat "baked" the moisture out after about 10 min. Seein' as how I have almost 54,000 miles and (as far as I know, the original plugs & wires... Well, you get the picture. I need to know what to buy, because I don't want to get bent over at the dealership. Here are the questions: 1) These APPEAR, at a cursory glance, to be ordinary plug wires, as opposed to some fancy resistor thing. Is that true? 2) Any particular wire brand happen to have gained a reputation for being good? This isn't a hot-rod, and I don't need some kind of fancy plug wires. I just want to buy good quality, stock-type wires. 3) What plugs seem to work well in our cars? I see a number of people like NGK, which I do as well. Are they good? What part number NGK's? 4) What gap should they be set at? 5) Other than plugs & wires, are there any other tune-up items I should hit at this time? I guess that's about it for now.

I wasn't looking to turn my forester into a race car. I already have something for that. I was looking ahead to my post warranty period and wondering how feasible it would be to get a little more power out of the engine by bolting on some parts from the forester XT. Something in the range of 6-7lbs of boost.

As a former passat owner, I am forced to disagree. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and i won't make an issue of it.

Has anyone retrofitted a turbo to a N/A Forester yet? Failing that, does anyone have a fairly comprehensive idea of what would need to be done and what is available in that specific application?

Bill Kolb in Rockland County. They are also an "internet" dealership, so you check out their stuff online.

Be advised that VW doesn't have a good track record in terms of customer service. If you don't live near a VW dealership that has a genuine reputation for REALLY taking care of their customers, then do NOT buy a VW.

Tell her that your loss has wounded your male pride and you need her to make you feel like a man again.