gfcrane

I have an 05 Forester XT and experienced a small, but steady leak for the first year. I carefully measured the replaced coolant and it eventually reached 1.5 liters. The dealer twice kept it and claimed they could find no leaks. Finally, I replaced the radiator cap with OEM($20!) and the leak completely stopped. I still don't trust it and check it often. My complaint to SOA naturally fell on deaf ears, they claimed it was normal leakage. I think the problem stemmed from the method of cooling the turbo. It is designed so that the water jacket around the turbo housing boils and draws heat away in the vapor. This goes to a small reservoir with the cap, rather than to the radiator itself. Somehow this creates excess pressure at this point in the system. It stopped for a while just from loosening the clamps and twisting the small hoses. I detected some indications of a leak there by the green stains but they were very faint and the dealer wasn't buying. I now have a definite green blob at the end of one hose but no leakage requiring any coolant addition.

In my 05 Forester XT checking the ATF level is a real adventure. The dipstick is virtually hidden behind the engine on the drivers side. To reach around and pull it hot invariably causes burns. Then one has to reinsert and pull it again. The only way I've found to insert the thing is to put your head down as close to the engine as you can get to see, stick one hand down on the pipe, and guide the stick. I check the engine only weekly, the front diff monthly or so, but hardly ever the ATF. I'm dreading the need to drain and fill since getting the new oil in is going to be a problem. Maybe I'll trade it off before then.

On every car I have purchased, new or used, over the last ten years, the first thing I check is the lug nut torque. This usually happens in the first 50 miles. I have not found a single one with the proper torque on the front wheel lugs. This includes Toyotas, Nissans, Fords, Chevrolets, and Subarus. One, or more was always over tightened and sometimes badly over tightened. I have never found one loose yet. This proves nothing but I suspect a lot of warped discs are caused by the use of air torque wrenches at the factory or at the dealers. Sometime, the dealer provides a pre-delivery check sheet and lug nuts are one of the items checked off. Coincidently I have never experienced any warped rotors yet.

I lived in Denver for some years and have driven Vail pass with a number of vehicles. Now travel between St George and Denver yearly or so in a 2005 Forester XT. I agree with you that no other car I've owned goes over the pass anything like the subie. This includes an 02 Nissan Max with 250hp. We have only made one trip, but passed everything in sight in 4th with an auto.

I bought a 05 Forester XT about six months ago and wondered about turbo cool-down too. The manual is silent and the dealer says it wasn't needed. After looking at some coolant diagrams on the Forester site, it appears Subaru has a very clever design and it isn't really necessary to run the engine at idle to let it cool. There is a small coolant reservoir, metal not plastic, where the coolant returns from the turbo. This is then connected to the plastic overflow bottle. In operation, when the turbo stops at shut-down it boils and the vapors pass into the metal coolant collection tank. Boiling evaporates the coolant mixture until sufficient cooling has taken place and the pressure from steam is safely disapated into the plastic overflow tank. This is a clever design and should prevent any damage unless the coolant level gets low. The oil setting in the turbo bearings will probably see somewhat over boiling temperatures but non-synthetic can tolerate 230 F for a while and synthetics for far longer.

At operating temperature there is absolutely no difference in the viscosity of 5W30 or 10W30 motor oil beyond the normal brand variances. The first number folowed by a W is the cold viscosity so 5W30 flows better at startup than 10W30. The second number is the viscosity indicator at 100 degrees centigrade (celcius?) and the oil must meet the viscosity range specified by the API to be labeled as such. Short answer, in your climate it doesn't matter much.

Most, if not all, of the high mileage oils are actually blends of up to 30% "synthetic." Any name brands with the SL or SM ratings are good oil. Synthetic is kind of a relative term but none of them will damage your engine but won't make it young again either. Myself I would probably just keep using one of the high mileage such as Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil, etc. WalMart sells Mopar at something like $1.60/qt the last time I looked. It is actually a blend of 20% or so syn at a really good price. The term high mileage is mostly for marketing so don't worry if it doesn't say that in the product name.

One tricky item is removing the plastic guard to expose the oil pan and filter. Don't, under any condition, drain the pan you can see or remove the filter next to it. This is the transmission if you have an automatic. The guard is held in place by five, if I remember right, black plastic keepers. To remove, turn the center phillips screw out, then pull the fastener out of it's hole and try to catch it since they are easy to lose and only come from Subaru. One fastener is actually a hinge and the guard swings horizontally out of the way. On my first oil change the filter was so tight nothing I had would loosen it so I had to make a trip to AutoZone and buy a wrench. If the dealer has been servicing your vehicle, chances are the filter is also very tight. Otherwise, there is nothing unusual about Subaru oil changes. Since the filter is mounted base up, it doesn't even spill much.

I bought an 05 Forester XT in Feb and it now has 2,500 miles on the odometer. It has been losing a small, but steady, amount of coolant from the overflow tank since day one. Usage to date is 500 ml. This isn't much but I've had many new cars which use virtually none. For instance my 02 Nissan Maxima used exactly 50 ml in two years. SUSA says it's normal and the dealer can find no leaks or any pressure loss. Nonetheless, I am nervous. My Toyota of nearly the same age has lost exactly zero from the overflow tank. The only difference is the XT's overflow connects to the pressure tank thru a hose run thru a hole in the top of the overflow tank with a loose fit. The Toyota connects to the bottom thru a threaded fitting. It appears some evaporation could occur thru the gap between the hose and tank. In any case, I don't think an engine should consume coolant given the "near thing" designs of today.

If Mobil 1 is making a "high mileage" oil, I haven't seen it yet. Others do but none of them except for Valvoline are synthetic like Mobil 1. Are you sure you haven't mixed up the names or something?

After reading lots of pros and cons on tranny flushes, I decided on drain and flush as the best (and cheapest) way. On my last car I bought a case of Chevron ATF and did four drain and flushes. This gets you down to almost single digit percentage of old fluid. My plan was then to do one four quart drain every six months with non-synthetic ATF. This might be a bit overboard, but it's pretty cheap insurance and is easy to do. Then I traded for a Forester and have a while before deciding what to do with it. Once I figure out how much comes out and the total capacity, I'll probably do something similar. Changing the filter would be every couple of years at my mileage.

To find if you have antifreeze in your oil, the easiest method is to have a used oil sample analysis done. To do this you will need to go to the blackstone.com website and ask them to send you a sample bottle. It's free and takes a few days to arrive. You will then need to get a sample of engine oil out of your crankcase and into the little plastic bottle. It only takes a few ounces. The testing costs $20 with postage about $1.50. Depending on the mail transit time, you will have results in a few days, by email if you want. They include a short description of the results and comments. What you are looking for is antifreeze. If you have water it will be easily seen because very much turns the oil into an ugly colored pudding. Antifreeze shows up as high amount of potasium and/or sodium in the list of elements in the oil you will get from Blackstone. They will usually identify even small amounts of 10 ppm as suspected contamination. The other numbers serve as a measure of oil condition and engine wear.

I have never used it but there is a lot of information at http://www.bobistheoilguy.com. Go to the forums and do a search. According to a lot of posts it does as advertised in cleaning rings of carbon, valve guides, and generally will remove sludge from engines.

I have a new 05 Forester XT and will soon change out the break-in oil. I plan on using Valvoline Synblend only because I have 10 qts of the stuff I got for free. I really think a turbo should be using real (PAO or Ester) synthetic but I change on frequency, not miles so it probably doesn't matter all that much. If you want the real low down on oils, visit bobistheoilguy.com. More than you ever wanted to know, including used oil analysis on Subarus of various ages and styles. From what I gather, the Subaru engine does well on most oils, with low wear metal content in analysis. Luckily, it appears most of the head gasket problem described on this site result in external coolant leaks, unlike GM vehicles. Coolant is probably the greatest engine killer of all time.

I just purchased a 2005 Forester XT and agree that the road noise is somewhat loud. Mine came with Yoko Geolander G900 tires, which are actually truck tires on the tirerack.com site. They are not a highly consumer rated tire. I suspect it's mostly tire noise I hear and for highway use a different style would reduce it a lot. Since I don't feel like parting with $400 or so for new tires, will have to put up with it.