forester2002s

My 2002 MT Forester has never held brake vacuum for very long after the engine is shut off. I've always considered it normal (I bought the car new). The driveway in front of my garage has a slight downward slope. So, when I activate the remote to open the garage door, I turn off the ignition and put the car in Neutral. As I coast slowly into the garage, I can feel the vacuum dying. By the time that the car comes to rest, there's no brake-assist left. Why do I do this? Mainly so I don't introduce too many exhaust-fumes into the garage. But it also reminds me of the fictional character 'Garp' in the novel (+1982 movie) 'The World according to Garp'. Garp (played by Robin Williams) rolls his car like this into his garage, mainly to amuse his kids. But one day there were unexpected consequences! You'll have to read the book, or see the movie, to find out what happened.

Heartless, I'm also getting a bit 'long in the tooth'. I rely of a set of knee-pads when working in the shop (and in the garden too). They make a huge difference for me. Wouldn't be without them.

Yes, the bolts protrude downwards through the roof, with nuts located behind the roof-liner. Sometimes just tightening the nuts will fix a leak. Otherwise, use some silicone-seal around the mounting holes before reassembling the bolts and nuts. Search on this forum for how to remove the roof-liner. It's somewhat time consuming...

Try an oil and filter change. Perhaps with a slightly thinner oil. This might dislodge any blocked oil passages.

Are the battery clamps tight? Tap the clamps lightly with a small hammer. Can sometimes help restore a flakey connection.

I have run my 2002 Forester for 40km (25miles) with the Low-Fuel Lamp on, before filling up. Never ran it dry though.

And if my memory serves correct, that hatch-switch is a liquid-mercury type, that senses hatch-orientation, and not the physical condition of the latch. Or am I thinking of another vehicle?

Yes, I got it backwards. But anyway, you should have either 0V or 12V across the bulb terminals.

Seems odd. With all doors closed, and dome-switch OFF, there should not be any 12V to the dome-bulb. I wonder if one of the door-switches (or the dome-switch) is playing up, and not 'opening' fully, but is still maintaining slight contact? You could try measuring DC voltage at the dome-bulb. You should get 12V with a door open, and 0V with all doors closed.

What year is your Legacy? This site might help with your misbehaving alarm: www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html

Wheel-bearing noise/rumble sometimes changes when turning corners. Give it a try...

I Googled this question about Stop/Start, and found several sites with answers. The one answer about Subarus suggested that there's a connector under the dash that can be disconnected to disable the function (although one of the comments said that it didn't work for his Subaru). Another answer (non-Subuaru) was a YouTube video of how to disable from the on-screen settings. And another answer (also non-Subaru) said that the Stop/Start is disabled automatically when towing, so the ECU could be fooled by the use of a resistor across the trailer connector.

Both of my 2002 key-fobs died a natural death, and fresh batteries didn't help. I replaced both with used fobs from eBay. They both work fine. If buying from eBay, read the item descriptions carefully, as some listings are for the fob CASES only.

My old AC compressor was seized, and eating drive-belts. Found a used one on www.car-part.com and went to pick it up from a local junk-yard. It came with a 3-month warranty, so I wasn't too worried about the condition. But it worked just fine.

Does the passenger-seat have a sensor that could be activating the chime? If that sensor is faulty, it might think that your non-existent passenger hasn't buckled their seat-belt.

See attached page ME60 from the 2002 Factory Service Manual. I'm not sure if the 2002 and 2000 2.5 SOHC are the same, but the torque details differ in a few places 2002 Subaru 2.5 SOHC FSM ME60 Cylinder Head Assembly.pdf

'Boat': moves (a little or a lot) when you step aboard. 'Ship': doesn't move when you step aboard.

When I buy new tires, I invariably find that the wheel lug-nuts have been overtightened. So it's a routine for me, that every time my car comes back from a shop: - I untighten the lug-nuts using a socket & T-bar; - Then I retighten using the car's spare-wheel wrench. That way, if I have to change a tire on the road-side, I can at least get those lug-nuts loose.

You can get touch-up paint from: - Subaru dealer (best option); or - Auto-parts store; or - Amazon; or - eBay. You'll need the Subaru color-code (usually shown on the under-hood data-plate).

And also: Have you checked the fuse(s) and relay(s) that feed the fans?

What happens if you turn the key to ON, but don't start the engine? Still hear the clicking? If so, try removing the fuse for the fuel-pump. Still hear the clicking?

Not sure if this will help, but... Try pushing in on hatch from outside, whilst activating door-button or fob. Or try the opposite: Pulling on hatch while pressing buttons.

OK I see that you have already tried deleting the CEL, and that it came back. I get the feeling that you don't want my input. Fair enough.

These are 2 unrelated problems. Agree with Fairfax, fix the starter first. Then deal with the P0335, and could well be faulty insulation or connector contacts. Try deleting the P0335 CEL, and see if it comes back. Do you get any driveability symptoms? A clean signal from the Crankshaft Position Sensor is needed for the engine to keep running. If it fails, the engine will stop. So if it is on the way out, it needs replacing ASAP.

Burnt-out fusible-link on battery +ve cable?