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New Subaru Forester Owner! I have some questions -)


Paul_JJ
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HI everyone.

 

 

I'm Paul. I've recently bought a 1997 Forester T/Tb which is pretty much standard, however I was told that the exhaust has been replaced!!!! I used to have a Glanza running 177 bhp -) but now since I have a family now I needed a bigger car!

 

The car is pretty good, also I already experienced some issues with it, first my fuel pump went... The mechanic who was looking at the car advised to put a Subaru WRX fuel pump which he had in stock at a good price. Also the WRX is 218 bhp and mine is 260 - do you think it would work ok without any problems? I've noticed that the car takes about a second longer to start up now with the fuel pump replaced, I wonder if it's pump related?

 

Can anyone advise on the rear brakes - where can I get the caliper service kit and what discs and pads would you recommend (with part number if possible), as far as I know the rear brakes are the same on many Subaru's including the Legacy and Forester models. The fronts were 267 mm twinpot and I believe the same model as the Legacy ones.

 

 

Another problem I have is that the gearbox light is flashing on a cold start, but not every time (the snowflake + HOLD sign), did anyone had the same problem? The fluid level seems to be confusing to me as it was pretty difficult to measure the exact level, there is a bit of a strong smell, but no black or burnt colour. What kind of the gearbox fluid would you recommend for TZ103ZB1AA gearbox? Would 5L be sufficient? Is there a filter for the gearbox and where is it located (part number would be a great help).

 

What are the service intervals for the cambelt?

Would you advise on the K&N air filter for this model?

Can you recommend the iridium spark plugs for this model?

 

 

Feel free to point me to the correct links to have a read, I'm new to the forum and it's pretty complicated at first -)

 

 

Thank you.

 

Paul

post-5234-0-19208800-1445205833_thumb.jp

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Hello & welcome, basically as ours are early cars they share 90% of the components on the impreza platform, so just about everything is interchangeable except the back section of exhaust as longer, springs/shocks due to extra weight, the pump will be fine is it an uprated unit ? It's probably juts taking a little longer to prime,

Cambelt on manual is every 4years or 45 thousand

Unless you've had the car on the dyno & remapped I doubt it's making 260, as the cars were supposed to make 237ps on 100 Ron jap fuel, had mine on the rollers this year and it didn't even make that, after map I saw nearly 230 with 250ftlbs of torque

Www.importcarparts.co.uk are good for oem stuff, normal pagid discs and pads would be fine as the front does 70% of the work,

The rest of bits and bobs scooby parts & scooby world etc on the Web are good for aftermarket bits I wouldn't go k& n unless dry as the oil cam affect the maf sensor better off with a cosworth or green.

5l should be ok for the box but not sure about auto's

Anyway feel free to poke around and ask as many questions as you want

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Hi, it's good to hear some feedback!!!

 

As far as I know - googled -) the T/Tb version is indeed factory 250 ps, also being a de-cat would surely push some more.Yes the UK petrol is not as good as the Japanese one, indeed so probably would be around 230 mark, indeed. It pulls really good though and I know what is a 6 second 0-60 talking from experience -)

 

The fuel pump is STANDARD WRX pump, which is 218 bhp, so hence the question if it's ok for the forester or not?

 

IS it really just 45k miles per cambelt change??? Usually it's about 60k at least? Are these engines non interference ones? or would the damage occur if the cambelt will snap?

 

Mines an Auto by the way!

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Well this is a Japanese Import, so I believe like you mentioned may be the cambelt replacement interval is longer?

Any advise regarding the gearbox fluid and diff fluids? What should I get? original Subaru?

 

What's the difference between S/Tb and T/Tb?

 

Anyone experienced flashing gearbox orange light?

 

I would probably start with the rear brakes and all the bushes - if anyone has a full link for all the bushes needed that would be appreciated. Also the rear ARB sounds great, where can I get one and what's the part number?

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Right 3rd time of trying to write a reply ! Stupid phone,

I wouldn't like to say about the belt intervals, maybe give your local subaru dealer call see what they say, i'd be sitting down when they give you costings, however a good independent will do it for at least half the price.

The rear diff is 75/90 and I think the auto box uses dexron 3 atf fluid, again I don't know much about auto's, but www.opieoils.co.uk are a good place to start and we get a discount, again with the orange light may be an over heat warn light but a Google should give better indication,

S/tb is sport turbo and manual t/tb is touring turbo and auto's may have different interior trim, do you have any wood in yours ?

As for rear bushes there are loads, at least 16 so import car parts will advise you, could always polly bush it but they are more expensive.

This is the majority of the rear end

http://importcarparts.co.uk/parts-info.asp?id=10981

Obviously this is sti group n stuff so you could get oem rubber cheaper,

Then you have droplinks arb and other smaller bits,

I stuck a whitline 22mm rear bar on but I knew somone who was breaking a classic sti so snapped it up cheap, a bar from a classic impreza of the same year should fit and is alot thicker, they can be had relatively cheap and are on the bay.

There's loads of aftermarket ones around too just depends on how much you wnat to spend

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If you have the pollen filter installed it will be under the glove box, it's a black box with a couple of screws and pull tab, mine is empty but you can buy them and stick it in where it belongs, been told they were a factory option but no idea if true,

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Great reply! Thank you very much. Is there any chance someone could make a list of ALL the bushes as If I'm to replace them then the whole lot once, as I'm pretty sure the 19 year old ones are pretty old now -)

 

I'll have a look for the pollen filter!

 

Yes I do have some wooden trims on the doors -)

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I found a couple of screws under the glovebox indeed, didn't realise that I would need a screwdriver for that -) The Toyota one had plastic screws with wide caps, so it was easy to undo by hand...

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Great info. Thank you! Cost a fortune need to save up for the kit, but definitely worth the hassle!

 

Now if someone has any info regarding the Auto Gearbox (TZ103ZB1AA) and if it has a filter at all? and if yes a part number would be great?

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Hmm i'd say it looks ok, you'd expect cold to read lower than hot,I think when it gets really hit it thins out so much it's almost transparent, somone before me roughed up the end with some emery paper to be able to read it easier by the looks of it

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