forester2002s

A bit of math: 1/4" tread-depth is 1/2" wear on diameter. And that is pi x 1/2" = about 1.5" on circumference Definitely a mismatch!

The release lever may have cracked. It happens sometimes. If so, it means removing either the engine or gearbox for access.

The individual grid lines are arranged electrically in parallel. That means that each grid line has 12V across it. One line can break, and the others can still work. If nothing works, then the break is likely in the feed to all of the grid lines. Check for voltage in the wider vertical feed lines on the left and right. If you have an aftermarket film on the glass, you may still be able to check for voltage by piercing through the film with the sharp end of an electrical probe.

If the boots are the originals, why not replace them while you've got the axle out? Especially the inner-boot, since that is the one that often fails (due to heat from the nearby exhaust).

What happens if you leave your remote at home? i.e. out of range of the car?

Or even simpler: Is the gas cap screwed on properly?

Could be a faulty plug. You could try switching that #1 plug with another, and see what happens.

It is interesting that this happens when both of: - Low fuel-tank-level; and - Going uphill. If you could confirm these two juxtapositions, then it would lead you closer to the solution.

I check my car's fuel-consumption by averaging over 5 fills. I call this a 5-fill moving-average, and I graph this on a spreadsheet. I ignore the fuel-consumption from a single fill. I cannot control how full the tank gets, especially how much fuel gets up into the filler tube. This 5-fill method is best for monitoring long-term changes in fuel consumption, but does also help in the short term too, just not after a single fill.

A faulty Knock Sensor might give you similar behavior. Although I would expect to also see a Knock Sensor CEL come up. I've had good experience with aftermarket Knock Sensors from EBay. And some are not too expensive.

I am getting ready to replace the head-gaskets on my non-turbo EJ251. I am going to use new turbo-gaskets (#11044AA642), which I think are slightly thicker than the old OEM gaskets. How should I torque the new head-gaskets? - Should I use the 'non-turbo' torques (since this is my engine)? - Or should I use the 'turbo' torques (to match the turbo-gaskets)?

My 2002 Forester has a rheostat-type control, that dims the panel-lights. There's a 'ring' on the left-side control-stalk. Turn it, and the panel-lights can be dimmed, and turned completely off (I think).

I doubt that the coeff of thermal expansion changes much between different brands of antifreeze. Could be a head-gasket leak. Or it might just be an air-bubble in the coolant, expanding when hot, and filling the overflow bottle. Get that air-bubble out, and you may be good to go.

Year? Model?

This is a good question. On my EJ251, the head-gasket leaks are typically on the outer-bottom edge. So I could rephrase the question: Why aren't the outer-bolts torqued slightly higher?

You need Subaru part #11821AA450 ($14). How do I know? I had exactly the same experience as you. The plastic tee broke when I was trying to get to the PCV. I epoxy-glued the old tee together (so that I could drive to the dealer). 9-months and 17,000km later, I still haven't installed the new tee. My epoxy work seems to be holding just fine.

'Torx Plus'? Are you referring to the head-bolts? If so, a 12-point hex-socket will fit.

If you indeed have a door-lock timer (my 2002 Forester does not), why not just remove it from the circuit (if that's possible). If I found an automatic door-lock timer on my car, I would toss it into the nearest lake (the timer, not the car).

I use WalMart's 80W90 in the rear-diff of my 2002 Forester MT. When I change the oil, the old oil looks almost clear, with a very minor 'furring' on the drain-plug magnet. I am happy with the oil. It seems to work just fine. BTW, I don't have a Limited-slip differential.

My 2002 Forester has the cabin air-filter housing, but had no filter installed when new. I've since installed my own filter, made from a reusable/washable furnace filter, cut to suit. The filter medium is fairly coarse, so only keeps out larger particles like insects and leaves.

They do fail. I'm on my third remote (since 2002). I buy them on eBay. Just make sure that you get the correct model for your year. Take a look at http://www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html EDIT: Because your remote is integral with the key, it will be trickier to replace. What might work, is to buy a used remote on eBay; and then swap the good printed-circuit board into the old remote. That way, you get to reuse your existing key. Buying a new key+remote from a Subaru dealer is also an option. But you'll need to win the lottery first.

A while ago, I (accidently) bought some single-platinum plugs. Not really the right choice for the 'waste-spark' system that Subaru uses. So I 'rotate' the plugs once in awhile. Plug #1 gets moved to #2 cylinder, and plug #3 goes to cylinder #4. That way, all plugs eventually get the same total wear. Does it make the plugs last longer? I really can't tell, because these days, plugs seem to last forever anyway. Unlike the days of leaded-gas and carburetted engines, when plugs got fouled-up all the time, and seem to wear very quickly.

Doesn't it depend on which spark-plug is being considered? Don't some spark in one direction, and others in the opposite direction? So for some plugs, the ground-strap is the anode, and for othets it is the cathode?

Brakes? Try gentle brake application while the knock is present. Does it change the sound? Try the same with the parking brake.

This is an interesting idea. However I'm not sure that the coldness of the engine-block at start-up would make much of a difference. Let's assume that an engine-block at operating temperatrure is at about 150 degC (I'm guessing, I'm open to being corrected). In a warm-temperature environment (say 20 degC ambient), the temperature difference from cold-start to operating temperature would be 150 minus 20 = 130 degC. In a colder climate (say minus 10 degC ambient), the temperature difference would be 150 minus -10 = 160 degC. So would these two temperature differentials (130 vs. 160 degC) make that much difference to the behaviour of the engine-block and head-gaskets? I somehow doubt it. We need someone with experience in engine design to comment....