GrumpyOldDog

Further to my noisy gear box post. Have had to aquire another vehicle to transport my dogs. So reluctantly selling my 2000 SF Forester. I am looking for £750 but it is listed for sale elsewhere. Genuine low mileage. Have owned since 2018 unfortunately gear box has developed a noise at low speed between 1200 & 1750 rpm so have had to get another veicle to transport my dogs, so this is now surplus to requirements and has to go. It starts and drives but it is noisy so would be better on a trailer Low mileage. Good condition for it's age, has scratch marks on top of os wing done by previous owner, rear passenger door has a dent done in a car park, rear ns light has a broken indicator section but a pair of rear lights in good condition will come with the car, rear bumper has scratches done at same time as rear light. Has 4 Cooper Discoverer All Seaon tyres, dot 2119/1321, see pics for tread depths. Valve saver fitted same time as lpg conversion. Rear view camera fitted as the rear screen is blacked out. Wiring in place for dash cams front & rear with mounts for Garmin cameras. MOT until 24/01 2025., Has headlamp protectors fitted. Repairs/parts fitted, New Radiator = 06/2018,49,000miles Gearbox filter & oil =12/2018, 50,425miles LPG conversion with 69L tank = 12/2019, 54,728miles Head gaskets/cam-belt/tensioner/water pump/heads skimmed = 09/2020, 58,037 miles Inner CV boots = 12/2021, 61,960 Front section exhaust + lambda = 12/2022, 65,739miles Front discs & pads = 01/2023, 66,034miles New battery = 04/2023 Comes with new Blueprint rear drums, New shoes & springs, New Febest rear bushes, Blueprint oil filter, Good condition 2nd hand rear lights with connectors all the way from Japan, never got to fit the parts or do the oil change

MY2000 Forester, NA, 72,000 miles, automatic, gaskets/heads etc done at 58,000 miles, used as a daily transport for my dogs so hardly ever gets thrashed Had a rattle & tapping noise from front Had a look underneath and found a loose rusty heat shield so removed it, checked the others and fitted stainless ties to tighten them up at the joints, slight rattle noise gone but tapping still there Tapping happens at 1200rpm up to 1700rpm and only when under load, most noticeable when driving at low speeds and sounds a bit like something being hit as it rotates but I can replicate it when stationery by putting foot on brake, selecting D and increasing the revs slowly, tapping starts at approx 1200 all the way up to 1700, On initial start up tick over is a bit lumpy even though revs hold steady, when selecting gear it sounds like a relay clicking in or out, recorded the sound best I could by leaning out the window while on the drive hence why no picture as only wanted the sound. Hope some one can give me an idea on what it could be before I take it to my local garage, due to its age I will have to weigh up whether it would be worth keeping Tapping noticeable at 0.11 to 0.14, 0.36, 0.44, 0.52, it is the under lying noise the rest is the belt/pulleys etc https://drive.google.com/file/d/1acfD-0EwBzdAF7I5EWU7zJDWmsHKGDQB/view?usp=sharing

Siluro, It does not have a fill tank just an expansion tank. It is booked in for gaskets/timing belt & pulleys/water pump at beginning of September. I emailed 3 garages re the repair and only 1 got back to me.

Hi Judd, The car has been running with no probs since fitting the rad just over 2yrs ago and yes it is OAT. The old rad was blocked with a brown gunge and I suspect the previous numpty had been topping up with water due to the over heating issue, when I fitted the new rad I ran it round locally for 15miles to check it was ok before flushing it through and filling with new coolant.

2000 forester, 58000 miles,N/A Had this car for just over 2.5yrs, when first got it it was over heating so bought all the gaskets/timing belt etc as suspected HG failure, turned out to be a blocked radiator. However on a recent 120m trip to Lincolnshire I had to stop 3 times as it was showing 92c -102c on the digital temp gauge that I had fitted when I did the radiator, the temp gauge on the dash did not go any higher than the middle position. The expansion tank was full to the point of overflowing, I let it cool down then siphoned the coolant off and topped up the radiator. I decided to remove the stat before the return journey just in case it was faulty. On the return journey I kept a very close eye on the temp and pulled over when ever it hit 90c, I let it cool down and siphoned off and topped up plus added some more. Had to do this 5 times, I could travel approx 20 miles before haveing to stop. When ever I removed the rad cap there was a fair bit of pinky white froth, I use a red coolant. To help with cooling I was running with controls on full heat and max fan speed plus A/C on so rad fans were running. I noticed that when it was getting near to the time to stop the vents blew cold air, then when looked under bonnet the expansion tank was full, rad cap appears to be working ok as it is letting the pressurised coolant out. By the way there is no white smoke out of tail pipe. I surmise that a HG has gone so I'm looking for recommendations for independent mechanics within a 100 mile radius of gloucester that would be able to do it useing the parts I have sitting gathering dust. TIA

Any hints tips advice appreciated Recently had MOT on my SF (MY 1999/56,550miles) and had 2 advisories; Play in steering rack inner joints. Power steering has slight seepage from a component. Am I right in thinking that the play is on the inner rack shafts? Do these have a bearing that can wear? I had a quick look and the only leak I could see was from the large end of the boots. Some one prior to me has tried to stop it by twisting wire round the boot instead of the proper clamps I can get hold of boots and a seal kit as I was thinking of purchasing a 2nd hand rack, refurbishing it then fit that to my car so that it's a quick turn round Had a look on ebay for racks. the part number on mine is 34110 FC060. I can find various racks with the 34110 but with different letters/numbers after that i.e SA020/FC080, the SA is off an SG 2003 model and the FC is off a 2001 model. If I can find a decent looking rack off an SG will this fit my SF

Update: Went out this morn reconnected battery, fired it up and it ran realy rough. Swore at it and myself then heard a tick,tick, tick looked and saw that one of the plug leads was off, the ticking noise was the spark grounding. Pushed lead back on, crossed fingers, started it and it ran lovely so took it round the block. Had a light bulb moment while driving, I must have inadvertantly dislodged the lead when fitting a pipercross filter. Just need the diagnostic lead to work and I'll be happier.

Thanks. I contacted the seller, he said check the fuses, I did and they are all ok. Waitng for him to get back to me. I think I may have knackered the ecu or pcm. I was looking for a route to run a cable from radio to a cd changer in the back. I saw 2 single wire black connectors next to 2 green connectors, near the obd socket. Looked these up on a service disc and the black are "diagnosis ground". So me thinks join these black ones together and my obd lead will work, duh! how wrong can I be. Check engine light came on and engine would not fire up. Disconncted the connectors, check light went off, retried starting engine and it would try to fire up but sounded really rough and then died. Disconnected battery and left it for 10mins, reconnected battery and retried starting same problem so disconnected battery and came in for my tea and a rant at myself. will have another look at it tomorrow. Is it the ecu and where do I locate it so I can get the number off it and hopefully get another off ebay. TIA

It is a uk supplier, it's advertised as suitable for subaru check the link. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUBARU-CAR-FAULT-CODE-READER-ENGINE-SCANNER-DIAGNOSTIC-RESET-TOOL-OBDII/281376830830?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l9372 The lead has got "vag kkl" written on it and the disc has the freessm software and drivers on it and desciption on how to set up. The only thing I had to do was transfer data from the disc to a usb storage dongle as the laptop does not have a disc drive and my pc, Win 10 64bit, would not reckonise the laptop, Win 7 32bit.

Well the obd lead and disc with software arrived as well as the notebook. Connected up to car and it failed to connect to the ecu. Double checked by using alternate ports and got the same result. Any ideas why it can not access ecu?

Thanks for info

Conti kit; Tensioner is NTN, upper idle pully is KOYO, drive cog is NSK, idler pulley is GMB. I could actually see most of the wording on the pulleys on amazon that why I got the kit. Got a cable on the way plus a cheapish working Samsung NC10. Seen some 40mm lift spacers from the" Russian federation" also some raised springs but they are only 30mm and made to order in Australia, the rear springs have to be used with kyb units, 112924232257 160722508456 Found some nice solid alli trailing arm spacers from that place over the pond, black by subtle-solutions or polished by streetrays will prob get the polished and spray them black smoothrite. 182223020274 272686171140? I shall be fitting refurbed 6.5" x 16 alloys instead of the 6" steels, the offsets are the same at 48mm, not quite decided on tyre size but probably 215/65 as they should clear the struts/brakes easily. Why has the rear camber got to be adjusted and not the front? Would 14mm (offset shoulder) bolts be ok, they are the only ones I've seen listed for the car Can you recommend any uk suppliers of lift spacers

Update; SORTED My first job was getting a cheapish multi car pressure kit off ebay. Pumped it up to 1.5bar and checked it after 2 hours, no drop in pressure. I thought I'd play safe and get the parts I would need for the worst case scenario. Ordered a Continental Timing belt kit from amazon as it had pulley bearings made in japan, Got a BGA full gasket set from a company in Germany as much cheaper. Managed to get a new pump with the cast impeller, Airtex make, rather than the new fangled pressed steel type, just missed out on getting the last japan made one from an ebay seller. I also decided to get a new radiator, yet again from Germany as 2 uk ebay sellers said they did not have one when supplied with my reg. Once I had removed the rad I could tell that it was partially blocked by the way the last bit of coolant drained out. Fitted the new rad and stat along with fresh coolant, burped the hoses and let it idle until gauge got to half way, by then it was getting late. Next day took it for a spin, gauge got to normal point and stayed there, yip yip hooray! I've now been driving mixed roads and distances with no over heating problems for 2 weeks, although for the first few days I did keep an eye on the needle. With the rad removed I could see the rust bug had been at work on the front cross member, so that was wire brushed and jenolited it has also had two places filled with fibreglass filler ready for a coat or 2 of underbody sealer with added waxoyl via a spray can. I intend to keep this little gem for quite a while so later in year I'll be spraying waxoyl in any place I can get it. Next on the agenda is self refurbished 16" alloys with some new tyres and once the ford is sold an lpg conversion. Future mods, 40mm lift, wheel arch and door protection, 2nd fog light in rear bumper, rear red drl, front drl and may be leather seats. One other thing, I have an OBDII scanner but it can not connect to the system, its an ANCEL AD310. Is it only a Subaru checker than can connect or are there other makes that can. The reason I ask is that I would like to check the live data especially the coolant temp.

Thanks once again. Have printed this mine of info so I can refer to it easily. Car was listed on eBay and parked at Hartland nr Bideford. Will not be selling any time soon, I will wait until it becomes a Classic. Will prob get a complete gasket set from IPC

Thank you Mr B & Swayze88 I've already checked for leaks on hoses, rad and head joint and all appears ok. Still running it without a stat atm and using heater as supplementary radiator Will check plugs when the weather improves. Nice tip re jacking up engine so can move it to gain space will make the job much easier Have already checked ebay and made a list of gaskets/bolts from ICP and BGA will have a look at victor and blueprint 2 questions; Do new head bolts have to be used. Is it possible to change pump with out messing with timing belt and pulleys

Heater flow through is good, I'm using it to keep engine coolish by having fan on full and airflow to windscreen. I meant no sign of the expansion tank overflowing but the level has gone down by an inch from the max level mark. How does the pressure tester work, is it done with a hose pipe or an air line? I've seen one on Amazon but its not clear how the none engine side is connected. Had look underneath could not see any sign of an oil or water leak

No bubbles. It was OEM but it is now running with out a stat. Fans come on and got an uprated rad cap 1.1bar on the way, no sign of coolant loss via the expansion tank

Decided to downsize from a ford explorer so made a short list and guess which one won. Got a 2000 forester with very low mileage 42,000, double checked via dvla mots, had to travel to devon to get it. A mate drove it back for me but once we got on to the dual carriage way with long uphill sections it over heated, so he had to drive along with the heater on full blast which kept the needle in the normal range. As it had not been used for a while I thought it could be a sticking stat or clogged rad. Once home I drained it, turned out to be mostly water, fitted new stat and checked flow through rad and refilled with coolant. Took it for a spin, after approx. 5 miles the needle started to creep up so back to square one. Bought a HC test kit off eb, tested when showing normal and when at three quarter of the way on gauge both clear. Left it overnight, drained it and removed stat just incase it was faulty, took it for a spin and it overheated. So my conclusion is that a head gasket is leaking slightly once it gets to a certain temperature. I have 3 choices; Your two bobs worth would be appreciated. Take it to a garage, not Subaru main dealer. Can anyone recommend a good place in Glos/Worcs area ? Repair it my self on the drive either in situ or pulled. Where can I get a good quality gasket kit, preferably Fel-Pro or Cometic , as long as it is MLS. Get a 2nd hand engine to take the place of existing while I strip it and replace the gaskets. Apart from another EJ202 what other models would fit with out too much hassle also would an engine from a MT fit to an AT Any input would be appreciated