Forester 2.0 petrol any good?

[Mdon]

Cheers, I'll get wax oil on within the next couple of weeks (start back on shifts tomorrow after 20 days off) 

 

one issue ive already found after driving home for 2 and a half hours is the alarm is screwed up. If I lock the car with the remote it bleeps for ages. After reading the book it looks like it thinks a door or bonnet is open. Since I set off at 4:45 in the morning, I don't want it sounding and waking up the neighbours, is there a way I can disable the alarm completely for the time being until I can sort whichever contact isn't working?

 

cheers

 

mike.

[Mr B]

look at bonnet switch which on a bracket behind the washer bottle on n/s strut turret .

these always get bent down by clumsy mechanics leaning on them or setting wrong after removing washer bottle for easier spark plug fitting (switch bracket holes slotted for height setup) and is most common cause ...

check rear boot shutting proper as they do need good solid slam.

Have you got pin code for alarm (has keypad in flip down box near your right knee)

Advanced manual here (includes how enter a new pin code if don't have current pin) >
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfcjJhSm5XUHNyUzQ/view?usp=sharing

if don't want alarm on just lock doors manually with key in drivers door lock (immobilizers still activate)
 

[Mdon]

Cheers for that. I think it might a door one as the interior light when set to doors won't go out when all the doors are shut? I take it the bonnet contact won't operate the light? I'll check the bonnet one as soon as my two year old settles down for the night. She's caught hand, foot & mouth from the local nursery so she's a bit grumpy at the minute.

 

Here's a photo of the car.

[Mr B]

Yeh bonnet switch has no effect on interior light .

Check boot followed by doors & wiggle door switches.
Had one in yard last week bleeping and was boot not 100% shutting .

hopefully minor ...

was a AWP then . you haggle price  a bit ?

Green is very nice when good order but shows the slightest of marks easily .
They lot of car for money and good at almost everything really.

 

[Tidgy]

MPG on em is pants, but as a workhorse they are hard to beat by any other car (and i mean that genuinely). Winter especialy you'll be loving it.

[Mdon]

1 hour ago, Mr B said:

Yeh bonnet switch has no effect on interior light .

Check boot followed by doors & wiggle door switches.
Had one in yard last week bleeping and was boot not 100% shutting .

hopefully minor ...

was a AWP then . you haggle price  a bit ?

Green is very nice when good order but shows the slightest of marks easily .
They lot of car for money and good at almost everything really.

 

Turns out door contacts do work (didn't leave enough time for the light to go off) boot light works correctly too so assume that's fine also. Checked the bonnet one and straightened it up a bit, shut the bonnet and it's still bleeping constantly. 

 

Yeah, all weather pack. It's got fogs, headlight washers, heated seats and heated wiper parks. 

 

Didnt get get any money off as it was almost a straight swap for my Volvo v50. 

[Mdon]

24 minutes ago, Tidgy said:

MPG on em is pants, but as a workhorse they are hard to beat by any other car (and i mean that genuinely). Winter especialy you'll be loving it.

 

 

Thats what im hoping for. How horrendous is the mpg? I'm hoping for high 20s going to work and back which is 25miles each way. And maybe 35ish on a run?

[Tidgy]

20's should be ok. not sure on long runs what they will get to be fair.

[Mr B]

low to mid 30's on long runs (even better if ditch bridgestone duelers).

Highish 20's is norm for chugging about short trips.

One of best things can do for mileage is ditch the awful bridgestone duelers if got them for something decent like Hankook optimo 4s, that improves mpg & all weather grip drastically too .
If doing short runs adding 2-3psi to tyre pressures can help mpg as you never get them warm enough on short trips .

I would revisit the bonnet switch, even jumping wiring to bypass switch & see result .

other thing do is loosen 2 bolts on washer bottle and see if bracket at lowest settting, if slide it up and look at it you should see marks on slotted holes of it's long term position .
Due to service work it highly likely been fiddled with or knocked ...
7 times out of 10 it bonnet .

[Mdon]

44 minutes ago, Mr B said:

low to mid 30's on long runs (even better if ditch bridgestone duelers).

Highish 20's is norm for chugging about short trips.

One of best things can do for mileage is ditch the awful bridgestone duelers if got them for something decent like hankook optimo 4s, that improves mpg & all weather grip drastically too .
If doing short runs adding 2-3psi to tyre pressures can help mpg as you never get them warm enough on short trips .

I would revisit the bonnet switch, even jumping wiring to bypass switch & see result .

other thing do is loosen 2 bolts on washer bottle and see if bracket at lowest settting, if slide it up and look at it you should see marks on slotted holes of it's long term position .
Due to service work it highly likely been fiddled with or knocked ...
7 times out of 10 it bonnet .

Cheers mate, I start back on day shifts tomorrow so I'll have a tinker on Monday and let you know how I get on.

 

looking forward to the journey to work tomorrow, although it is a bit louder than the Volvo, she sounds sweet when powering along at 70.

[david1972]

I got 33mpg (see my signature below) from my 2.0x (AWP) Foz for the 6 months I had it (January-July) - the best thing that improved it for me was when a good quality oil got put in it - think it was a 5/40 fully synthetic

[Mdon]

23 hours ago, Mr B said:

low to mid 30's on long runs (even better if ditch bridgestone duelers).

Highish 20's is norm for chugging about short trips.

One of best things can do for mileage is ditch the awful bridgestone duelers if got them for something decent like hankook optimo 4s, that improves mpg & all weather grip drastically too .
If doing short runs adding 2-3psi to tyre pressures can help mpg as you never get them warm enough on short trips .

I would revisit the bonnet switch, even jumping wiring to bypass switch & see result .

other thing do is loosen 2 bolts on washer bottle and see if bracket at lowest settting, if slide it up and look at it you should see marks on slotted holes of it's long term position .
Due to service work it highly likely been fiddled with or knocked ...
7 times out of 10 it bonnet .

Managed to get a quick look at this, there's two sets of holes for the bonnet switch one higher than the other. Looks like it's always been on the lowest setting.  I've moved it up to the next set of holes and problem fixed. Thanks very much for your help! Chuffed with the car so far. 

[Mr B]

^

good result ...

Any problems or questions post in forester section if find nothing searching .

Glad you like it so far, good ones make easy & cheap motoring for many years .
in floods & heavy winters you'll be laughing too & enjoying the heated seats, they more useful and worthwhile than may think .

Have fun ...

 

[Mdon]

Feeling slightly annoyed. Had my first issue today. Short run to my mothers house which is about 4 minutes drive (can't walk atm as I've caught hand, foot & mouth disease from my 2 year old and the blisters on my feet are killing me) about half way there the engine management light came on. I've read the code and it was for the 'idle air control valve' P0519. I've reset the code, drove it about 6 miles and it hasn't come back on yet. A bit of googling has revealed you can clean it to sometimes solve the issue? Is it just a matter of removing it, spraying some carb cleaner on it and giving it a wipe? The car came with a 1 month warranty but I'd rather not take it back to the supplying garage if it's a simple fix as they are 2 & 1/2 hours drive away and for the last 175 miles it has driven faultlessly so I'm hoping it is just a very simple thing.

 

thanks.

[Mr B]

^ that not a big worry ...

removing and stripping idle valve and giving real good clean with carb/IAV cleaner & light oiling with bit of wd40 may cure, also check wiring condition & use some elec contact cleaner in the plug & socket . Neutral switch can also flag idle valve codes so that worth thinking about if step 1 of idle valve makes no difference . need fix yourself first then look at your fozzy, not worth round trip time & money to do under warranty and they only going do basics as a first step anyway .

[Mdon]

Thanks MrB, Sorry to keep pestering you. I removed it today and it was black. I've cleaned it with carb cleaner and gave it a coat of 3 in 1 oil. I also cleans the plug/socket with electrical contact cleaner. We'll see how it goes for the next few days. 

 

Thanks

 

mike.

[Mr B]

Fingers crossed .

low mileage (short trips) can be worse for gunking up IAV, best first step is clean it unless other symptoms give clues to bigger issue .

I assume your cold mast idle & hot idle all steady & sensible range ! i do a fair few IAV cleanups & on real dirty ones it favourable to be the fix, never hurts to give a second clean before expanding diagnostics approach . dirty connectors play big roll too, amount of cars get in where owner spent 200-400 on sensor replacement only to find fault coming back and many time it because of connector contacts effecting voltage readings to ecu & that fixed with a few pence really ...

[Mdon]

16 hours ago, Mr B said:

Fingers crossed .

low mileage (short trips) can be worse for gunking up IAV, best first step is clean it unless other symptoms give clues to bigger issue .

I assume your cold mast idle & hot idle all steady & sensible range ! i do a fair few IAV cleanups & on real dirty ones it favourable to be the fix, never hurts to give a second clean before expanding diagnostics approach . dirty connectors play big roll too, amount of cars get in where owner spent 200-400 on sensor replacement only to find fault coming back and many time it because of connector contacts effecting voltage readings to ecu & that fixed with a few pence really ...

Yeah the idle seems fine between 500-750 mark on warm idle and holds steady. Unfortunately I've been off sick this set of shifts however I'm back in on Sunday hopefully so it'll get a 50 mile round trip then to see how it fares. 

[Mdon]

It's back on. Took the car for a run to the next town, about 6 miles away and it came back on when setting off to come home. I sat on idle for a little bit to watch the Rev counter and it does fluctuate between over 750 to below 750rpm. 

[Mr B]

I would review neutral switch .

Clean valve and contacts second time and use wd40.

If you into covering more diagnostic s yourself you could look at getting obd to USB cable so can use the freeSSM software which good package.

Could be worth using warranty too before runs out .

 

 

[Mdon]

I've contacted the supplying garage who've told me to take it to a local garage and get it diagnosed. 

 

I think I'll clean as you've suggested and dose it with wd40 and then if the light comes back on I'll book it in next week.

 

Do do you believe it'll be the neutral switch rather than the idle air control solenoid? Where exactly is the neutral switch located? 

[Mdon]

I have her a wash and hand wax with zymol today, looks beautiful.

[Mr B]

Quite a few things can cause this.

Simple thing check is throttle cable setting to butterfly, is possible someone adjusted loose throttle to much and butterfly open too much, why this cause issue ? Well with more air via butterfly the iav has reduce idle by reducing air and can be beyond or on edge of its adjustment range then this code pops up, air leak can cause similar . Worth checking as seen it a few times and classic caused by service tech who no idea what doing and no knowledge on Subaru.

On to neutral switch, this can be faulty or have wear on linkage which activates switch, If switch passes multimeter test fitting a thinner sealing washer is one way of curing wear in switch mechanism. Many say this high mile box only, I disagree as low mile car doing short trips is in and out of neutral way way more than a high mile car on motorway runs and 20 year of Subaru repairs have taught me it good area check, cured couple like this and even had 1 from local Subaru dealer as they could not find fault .

Worth cleaning maf element too while you doing iav, check all pipes secure and air box assembled correct, check throttle movement and throttle position sensor too, if go in for diagnosis try use someone who into Subaru/Japanese as many garage tech really are poor in knowledge and ability .

Basically if you don't know how it really works you hard pushed work out realistic fault areas thus waste a lot of customer money on bad approach or unneeded new parts .

[Mdon]

Just filled her up after 268 miles using 3/4 of a tank. Averaged 31mpg calculated brim to brim. I'm very happy with that. No doubt it'll drop a bit over the next few months with the cold weather arriving.

[Mr B]

Yeh they can be quite good, tyres & driving style making big difference. certainly reasonable for a awd not overly aerodynamic wagon .

hope you keep enjoying and minor issue resolved without any drama . you'll be too busy looking for snow ice and floods to play in over the winter so likely forget about mpg lol .