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Showing results for tags 'Forester'.
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Background: Struts are all newish, brakes recently serviced, new inner/outer tie rods, new ball joints, new FCAR bushings, wheels rebalanced, recent alignment. Symptoms: Faint clunking noise at low speeds while accelerating. Shaking at 60 mph, felt like unbalanced wheel, except we just had them rebalanced. Back story: I've been chasing an issue with the passenger's front wheel on our 1999 Forester for a few months now. The car is closing in on 200k miles and I had just finished replacing the ball joints and tie rod ends on the car when I noticed the passenger's side front control arm rear bushing was pretty badly torn. I replaced that bushing, got an alignment, then my wife tells me that the car is shaking on the highway. OK, wheels must be out of balance, so we get them rebalanced. No change. I do the wheel shake test and I felt some play, so let's take a look at the wheel bearing. Wheel and brakes removed, I can feel some clunking as I turn the hub. The driver's side feels smooth when rotated, but there is obviously something wrong with the passenger's side. I get the passenger's side spindle assembly on the bench expecting to find some grumbling and play, but it feels pretty smooth in rotation, with no axial or radial play. So I grab the halfshaft and rotate it. The clunking is still present, but it doesn't feel like it's coming from the CV or DOJ. I supposed it could be either of those parts, but I get the feeling that the passenger's side differential carrier bearing is going south. Question: I've read a lot about Subaru transmissions over the years and that if not reassembled properly with the correct backlash and bearing preload, they will fail again in pretty short order. As I see it, we've got a few options on how to proceed: 1) Rebuild the original transmission - Has to go to a shop and could get expensive with labor and, "while we're in there" incidentals, rebuild could re-fail 2) Replace original transmission with a good used one - I can do this, no problem, but I worry about getting a bad used transmission 3) Sell the car and find the wife a new vehicle - Since our Forester is a the bottom of it's depreciation curve right now, does it really make sense to sink $600-3,000 into a vehicle that's only worth $4,000 tops? Looking for opinions, experiences, etc. If you've got a nice, used transmission, I'm all ears too! -
So, I have an 01 impreza obs with an auto that is going out, I also have a 5 sp manual from an 02 forester with rear diff, drive shaft, trans support bracket, pedals, shifter. My only issue is figuring out which cv axles I need to aquire to make this swap happen. Do I just buy manual cv's for my obs or do I need to buy cv's for the forester? I have searched for months trying to find an answer on my own and am no closer to making this happen. thanks. -
Hello all, new to the forum here. I have recently purchased a 2000 Forester and I am looking for advice on good lift/tire combinations. I really like the look of a lifted forester, but would like somewhere to start. I have looked on other postings but all of the images are no longer available. Any advice would be great! Thanks! -
New Forester, 2015, bought in July of 2015 has the problem of popping out of first gear into neutral when decelerating on a slight downhill grade in first gear at low r.p.m.s (between 1000 and 2000 r.p.m.) It happened to my wife and me both, and happens about once every week or so. The problem is slowly increasing in frequency. The service department at our dealer has had the car since Thanksgiving and it is now Jan. 4th. They say they cannot replicate the problem. Has anybody run into this problem on a late model manual transmission Forester? -
A couple of days ago I picked up a 1998 Forester, the main issue I am concerned with is a knocking sound in the engine. I think the knocking sound is a lifter. It is a small hammer tapping type sound. If the car is idling in neutral and I increase the rpm's a bit, the tapping normally stops. But if I am driving around town, just normal easy driving, the tapping stays. Under load 20-25 on a steep hill, level ground 20-35+, going downhill, etc, it seems to stay pretty much the same other than the tempo changing with rpm's. I keep thinking it sounds like a sticky lifter. A rod bearing should get louder under load? and a wrist pin quieter under load? If I remember correctly. I have looked up videos and they show the timing belt tensioner gone bad making a rattle, but this is not a rattle, it is a definite tapping that is in tune with the rpm's of the engine. The engine has 246,000 miles on it. I am considering pulling it and rebuilding it. Any opinions appreciated, Thanks. -
Hi All, My 2014 Subaru Forester has been hesitating when cold and at low speeds and now hesitates, shakes and sounds like I am driving over a washboard under a variety of different conditions, especially at high speeds or when engine is under strain. I have read about this problem for other owners and am surprised I cannot find anything on this topic on this forum. I need help! I have enjoyed this car up until now, but now I am really worried! All comments and thoughts will be appreciated! Rob -
Hey everyone, Im new to the forum and have been reading as much as I can. I know people have asked this question, but it seems like it was with the older models. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. So basically I'm finally looking to get my first subaru. I have it narrowed down to 2018 crosstrek premium with 6mt, 2018 forester 2.5i premium with 6mt or wrx, Currently wife has ram 1500 longhorn (5seater) and I have ram 2500 6seater. I have family of 6. This vehicle is supposed to be my toy / daily driver. Picking up a second job and will be traveling about 60 miles daily. I prefer the back roads winding through farms in erie vs the straight highway. Narrowed down to these 3 models because I want manual transmission to keep me engaged. I have tried paddles, but it just isn't the same. WRX all but eliminated because would probably have to trade in my truck to make it work. In my eyes, my ram is the family vehicle, so it needs to stay. BRZ is out for the same reason as Dodge challenger scatback with shaker body. My wife actually loves it as much as me, but rear drive in NE PA can't be daily driver and I would have to trade in family vehicle. The only other vehicle I am considering outside of subaru is civic SI, This is actually the best SI I have ever driven. She thinks it is sexy as a date car and it is fun to drive. I saw reports that the reliability is down for honda which I don't like. Pretty much leaves me with crosstrek vs. Forester. Local dealer doesn't have them on lot to test drive. It looks like I may need to drive to Pittsburgh or Ohio to drive both. In my uneducated opinion, crosstrek is impreza with clearance which is why I am not talking about the impreza. We have discussed the idea of needing to take 2 vehicles everywhere and she is fine with this. I am "ok" with this. Crosstrek wins the mileage and initial looks. Which is more fun to drive? Capable off road and in the snow? Being taller is the forester more likely to flip? Are all 2017 impreza accessories compatible with crosstrek? Is crosstrek or forester more reliable? I think like most people here my dream car would be crosstrek wrx. One can dream though. Thanks again. Jason
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I may have an opportunity to buy a very low miles 2010 Forester automatic (4eat? 5eat?) soon. Just wondering what little, or BIG, issues I might expect. any have one long-term here? has it been OK? or will it be a nightmare? it's had the fuel tank replaced due to some kind of stuck vent valves. door dings and slight hail damage. (I know it's gonna need some fluids changed, but it really is a little old lady car, my MIL's car.) -
So I bought a 2001 Legacy/outback (before they became separate body models, I believe) and it had a bad transmission. He sold me, with the car, a transmission. I have the engine out and was swapping the two transmissions when... the flex plate doesn't match the torque converter. 1) I haven't tried yet, but can I put the old torque converter on the new transmission (if it fits)? 2) Can I purchase the flex plate from a forester that would match the transmission I have? The transmission that I HAVE (the bad one) has a sticker that says tz1a3zs2aa-p4 The new one is tz1a3zc3aa-pm. I might have those backwards, I'm away from the shop right now. I'm not finding these in the lists of transaxles - and when I google it, the results are russian. Thoughts? for reference, when I bought it, the bad transaxle drove with a 'clunking' but not too bad. After a hard parallel park, it drove with a crazy heavy clunk back to the shop and was done. -
Hi y'all, I've done a lot of searching on this subject, and I was led to believe Forester struts are a direct swap onto a 98 Legacy (non-Outback), to give a little lift. I bought a set of FCS complete strut assemblies (for an 05 Forester) and brought them to a local shop for install on my 98 Legacy. They say they will not bolt on. What am I missing? Did I get the wrong year Forester struts, or do I need to swap out top hats or something? Maybe I should've just gone with '98 Outback struts/springs? Thanks so much for the help! :) -
I have a 2003 Forester 5 speed already out and split to replace the input shaft seal. My question is on the seal I received from Rock Auto. I've attached a picture of the two, the one on the left is the original. The one on the right came from Rock Auto. As you can see, the one from Rock Auto is half as wide. Does anyone have experience using their seal here? I've used other sized seals like this on other not so critical areas but it's a lot of work if I have to pull this back out. I was unable to find a conversion chart for National to NOK seals. Rock Auto says it's the correct one. My nearest Subaru dealer is 90 miles away so if I have to go, I'd like to go once. The National (Federal Mogul) part number is 222558. The rest of the seals I received for the axles and rear main look correct. My inclination is to send it back to Rock Auto and make the trip to the dealer. What are your thoughts? Also, where do you guys shop online for your Subaru parts? Thanks for your help.
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Hello everybody meet Rosey! She is my trust family helper which I purchased to get my children safely to school and back and also assist in hauling groceries. With the occasional family road trip scattered in between. It will replace my 2002 Toyota Sequoia which is great at hauling a trailer but not so great at city fuel mileage. I was able to sell my old bucket 1995 Legacy (which never did me wrong) and pool together some tax return money to pick up this gem: She has 206,000 miles, is a 5spd and has been pretty well taken care of her whole life. Now its my turn to have my way with her First thing first, these rims have to go. They were resprayed and are now flaking badly. Plus the tires dont even match so thats a big no-no! Next is the suspension... the current rear struts are blown. And I need to do something about all of that wheel gap, so some WRX suspension is in the works. Other than that, I want to touch up the exterior with a headlight restoration & repaint the bumpers and plastic cladding.
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I know there is tons of threads on this but I couldn't find anything talking about doing the wire harness swap. From what I understand there is a harness merge you do with the auto loom to make the manual drivetrain work normal. What I am looking at doing since my manual (2002 Subaru Forester S) got hit by a drunk driver is to swap everything besides the motor over to an Auto Forester (2001 Subaru Forester S). What is needed in terms of electrical to make it fully function (reverse lights, cruise control, abs, speedometer, key lock)? Links are greatly appreciated too! -
I'm thinking of lifting my 2008 Forester. if i go up 3 inches (strut spacers) will i need to also change out trailing arms and such? I do realize i will need an alignment and adjustments. any input would be great. Thanks -
Hi - a friend negotiated $5000 offf the invoice price of a Chevy and I've tried doing the same with Subaru at 2 dealerships. They say I'm insane and no one will do that deal. Are they lying or is it truly not possible to knock more than $500 off invoice with Subaru? And where can I find true invoice price? Thank you! -
Just like the title says - I'm in need of a new rear diff for my manual transmission '03 Forester. I'm really hoping to find one at a junkyard, but I'm not confident I'll find an exact match anywhere nearby so I'm hoping to get a list of vehicles that would have a compatible part. Thanks in advance for any help! Edit: First junkyard I called did a little digging and suggested that my rear diff can be found on '03 through '08 models. I'm not 100% sure whether that's only the non-turbo models. -
I'd like to say hello to everybody on this message board! We are from a small town dealership in Southern New Hampshire and we are excited to get to know everybody from the forum! I'd like to offer everybody here in this forum a special coupon to our online parts catalog! If you're interested in that feel free to shoot us a message and we'd love to help you out! Thank you everybody for taking the time to read this! We look forward to talking to all of you in the message boards! -Austin -
Hi All, I am new here but could not find this... I live in the BVI and recently got a 2003 Subaru Forester XT 2.0 Turbo imported from Japan. Yesterday not sure why the 'ECO' light started flashing and the car stopped switching gears. Mechanic checked today and looks like it is stuck on 3rd gear so he asked me to buy (we can't get the parts here) 5 transmission solenoids... First of all... is it correct? There are 5 Solenoids? Are all of them the same? Where can I get parts that will fit my Japanese import? As you can see I am not really one that understands about cars (would love to though) and have no clue what exactly to buy... Thanks in advance, Sergio -
The new forester has swing roof racks that are neat, and fun. They are however a little weak and somewhat difficult to fit accessories to. I believe they are rated to 40kgs only. There is a good solution - coming onto market next month - just in time for XMAS...... RAK Australia (phone 0299971211 www.rak.com.au) have a add-on aluminium roof bar system. It is very strong - even suitable for roof top tents. It has a track for fitting accessories which is quick and easy - and secure. The accessories are well priced too. The RAK roof bars will cost $200- $250.
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Hey everyone i first post here. I am 99% Sure i am buying a 2006 FXT this Saturday. Just want to check to see what y'all think and if there is anything you recommend i check out. Details, it is a 2006 FXT with 88k miles. Fresh oem headgaskets and timing belt and tensioners within the last 1k miles. Only things wrong with it are a few stress cracks in the sun roof, and the current owner says he thinks it needs new struts. Plan is to pay 6200 for it we will see how that goes. Are there any common issues with these other than headgaskets and timing belts? What should i look for. Tell me what ya think. Thanks
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Hi Gang, I'm a first-time Subaru owner 'hopeful' and I am eager to know your opinion about purchasing a 2001 Forester, that has had some repairs and a lot of preventative maintenance. Thank you in advance! This is for sale by a self-proclaimed Subaru mechanic (not Subaru certified). He supposedly decided to specialize in Subarus since they represented a large percentage of what was on the road in his home state of Colorado. He buys them, fixes them, and sells them. He completed the work described below and explains that besides the cylinder heads and head gaskets, the rest was not necessary but was mainly preventative and done out of convenience since the engine was already out. He said170k miles is really not much for a Subaru that has already had the two Achilles heels replaced (headgaskets and timing belt - idler pulleys seized up on previous owner). Here's the work: Instead of just replacing the bent valves, he replaced the cylinder heads with ones from a 2003 with about 120k miles. Since the engine was out, he also did the following: Valve grinding/lapping. Valve adjustment. Had heads resurfaced, cleaned, and leak tested. Installed new fel pro MLS head gaskets Installed new timing belt, water pump, pulleys, and tensioner. Installed new fel pro valve cover gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, and exhaust manifold gaskets. While engine was out, he went over and resealed everything that could possibly leak down the road, including the notorious pcv baffle plate, and wrist pin cover. Oil change with Castrol GTX high milage, and a coolant flush. He took the car on multiple long test drives, as well as letting it sit idling with ac on for a couple hours. The car did not overheat, nor have any issues. Engine runs great, transmission shifts like it should. Brakes, and suspension are very smooth with no creaks, clunks, or any odd noises. Ac/heat work great, all power options work. Interior is in good shape. Has a few stains on the factory floor mats, but underneath carpet is almost like new. Exterior is in amazing shape for a 15 year old car. Paint is nearly perfect. No peeling, chips, or rust. He explains the car will need nothing mechanically for a very long time and will be super reliable for at least another 100000 miles. He builds a warranty on all the work he does into the price, $3600. Is there any reason *not* to purchase this car - can I get another 100k, you think, and is this really in great shape give the two 'achilles heels' have been addressed? Thank you! -
Hello everyone! I am currently in the market for a new car. I have always admired Subaru's and the brand as a whole and have come to the conclusion that I would love to own one and join this great community. Right now the two Subaru models I'm most interested in are the 2006-2008 Subaru Forester XT and the 2006-2008 Subaru Legacy GT's. I think both cars look great and I'm sure either would make me extremely happy. However, I was wondering if any of you veterans who may have owned/been around these two models could give me any buying advice, and maybe give me you take on why you would take one over the other. Thanks for any help you can give me! -
I recently took my 2012 Subaru Forester X 4 2.5L to a mechanic, for an annual checkup. They found oil in the coolant reservoir, and told me they suspect a faulty head gasket. In their own words: I took the car to the dealer since it is still just barely under warranty (58.5k miles out of 60k that are warranty-covered). The dealer took the car in, and after a while responded that they think the PCV connector has a leak in it, which cases the oil to get into the cooling system. In their words: I called back my mechanic who was extremely surprised and said that what the dealership described is not possible mechanically. I am now completely lost and not sure who is wrong. Can anyone weigh in based on the data I presented? Thanks! -
Hey guys need some guidance here. I own a 99 subaru forester s and the windshield wipers don't work properly. The wipers Park to far both ways so they slam into the edge of the window on both the bottom and side. They do not do this everytime they go up and down but often. And each time they go in their rotation they stop at different points on the windshield. This also only happens when the windshield is wet. If dry the wipers stop normally maybe even a bit not far enough. The more wet the windshield is the more the wipers slap against the edges of the window. Ive already take off the panel to inspect the wiper linkage and cannot find any issues with it. The arms have no issues either and the arms lock into place when bolted on as well. What else could be the issue? Anyone else had similar issues? I'd be very appreciative if someone could share some expertise on this topic and move me in the proper direction to fixing the issue. Thanks -
I own a 99 subaru forester s and am in need of a solution to my worn out seats. I have the beige leather heated seats in the car and the front seats have cracking and tears in them. What can I do? I've seen leather repair kits but for the matching dye and everything it's 70+ dollars and I'm skeptical about the results. Is their any way I could get replacement oem seats for the car or is there any good aftermarket seats out there that would fit and match nicely? I'm not looking for race bucket seats just some comfortable daily driving seats. Any suggestions are appreciated
