NeilHopkins

Hi all. My check engine light came on earlier (07 Forester, normal aspiration/stock engine). Pulled the fault codes and it looks like P1499 (both Fault and Pending. Lucky me!) So pointing to EGR valve issue. If it needs to be replaced, what would you best guess for a ball park cost be? Planning to go to my local friendly specialist (not main dealer). Just want to mentally prep myself if it's going to be a bit pricey... Thanks!

Just a shame the first bit wasnt so reasonable! Ironically I did do some investigation before choosing the last garage. But never mind what is done is done!

Thanks for your help all! It was a misalignment with the hi/lo selector. £40 and an adjusted clutch later and it feels like a new car! Have a great weekend!

Sigh. It was more than that (even the original quote before all of the unexpected extras). Never mind, live/learn etc - but hopefully the next bill won't be too much as I really don't want to pile cash into it... Happy New Year to you too!

Well, fingers crossed. At least I now know what to tell the garage to look for! Wish I had gone to the local specialist first - but I didn't know about them 😞. Clutch cost a load to do - and they had to put in a new driveshaft/wheel bearing as the old shaft got bent somewhere... I'll let you know how it works out - thanks for the help!

That sounds about right re the arm. I took it around the block this morning (tried the reversing trick a few times as detailed in the link I previously shared) - no better and, at one point, the car didn't want to move at all after trying to shift (stationary) into hi then back to lo. With a bit of revving it did pull away and then drove as before in Lo. Given that it didn't do this until I selected lo, presumably if it was fitted wrong, it may now have 'slipped' or similar? Re clutch behaviour - it feels quiet smooth. It's a bit on the low side (ie it feels like you need to push it a far way to disengage, but I had a Legacy that was the same. Kinda prefer to it a clutch that disengages at the absolute top of the range) and improved after the replacement. Re gear selection - never had any complaints. You could describe first as a 'little tough' but the car has got 108k on the clock and I've driven far, far worse. It's not hard to get it into 1st, just not quite hot-knife-through-butter. Even now, once moving in Lo, first three gears select fine. I haven't gone to any speed that would require a higher gear as I'm not sure that's the best thing to do... Re smell - it was quite smelly after the replacement but has been getting better. I had this in a previous couple of cars - first few hundred miles there was a smell which went as everything settled in. If it is the selector arm, are these a difficult (expensive) replacement? I've found a Subaru specialist around the corner from me so won't be going back to the local garage how had such a hard time changing the clutch in the first place... UPDATE @Mr B - I think that you've hit the nail on the head! Found this when searching for 'selector arm': https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/2000-help-my-dual-range-high-low-transmission-keeps-slipping-into-neutral.88579/.

Thanks Judd - I did try that but didn't have much joy. Will leave it to completely cool down and see what it does tomorrow! Re the clutch smell, it's on idle (getting better slowly)/stationary and when reversing. I'd like to think that it was all fitted properly and so shouldn't need adjustment so soon but...!

Hello everyone - can you help me out? I recently had a new clutch put into my 07 Forester. it's smelled a bit clutchy since (esp when reversing) but have had new clutches before and they take a while to bed in (probably haven't done 400 miles since). Anyway, today, I decided to put it into Lo range for the first time (haven't owned it that long) mostly to check that the lever actually shifted! Pressed the clutch, went into Lo fine, drove back and forth for a few meters, all seemed happy. Now it will not go into Hi range - it feels as though I'm trying to engage a gear without depressing the clutch. The lever goes into the Hi position, but it just grinds as though the clutch/gear isn't engaging. I found this post on another forum about driving it backwards and forwards while turning the wheel - https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/2003-stuck-in-low-range.820453/ - but I think that this is for an auto gear box, which mine isn't! Any help or nudges would be appreciated. Having just spent a load on the clutch (plus drive shaft and wheel bearing) I really don't fancy another big bill....... have you had this happen and, if so, what fixed it?

That would be great! Would you DM me PayPal or similar details and I'll sort it? Thanks!

HI all I'd like to get a decent boot liner/cover for my 07 Forester so that I can chuck all manner of muddy/wet things in there and not turn the back into some kind of mushroom farm... Ideally, I'd love one that also covers the seats when they're down. Have been looking online and there seem to be many recommendations and prices from £30 - £130. So I thought that I would ask folks who know! Thank you, in advance 🙂

Thanks Mr B - much appreciated! Will let you know how it goes!

I've switched the battery and still the spare keyfob isn't doing anything... Are they easy enough to replace as it would be super helpful to have 2 working keys! I've looked online in case it's a programming issue and the most I can find it about keyless entry systems (which this isn't). Thank you 🙂

Hi all I picked up my new ride today - a 2007 Forester X 🙂. This isn't my first Subaru - had a non turbo Legacy saloon a good while ago - but my first Forester. And I have a couple of questions I'm hoping you can help me out with! (Thanks so much in advance) A) What's this all about under the passenger seat? There are 4 bolts in the floor and what looks like a 6-pin audio cable. Would there have been a multidisk changer in the other originally? The thing in the top/middle of the pic is a movable bit of metal with some tape around the end. I've had a feel around and can only assume that it was once part of a bracket? B) One of the keys has a dead battery. Do we have to do anything special once replaced to make sure that it disarms the car? In the owners manual, there's something about a code that would have been printed on something that attached to the keys. We don't have this - is that a problem? C) Speaking of arming the car... We've got this entertaining keypad. We've also got a booklet all about arming the system, changing the auto locking, beeping etc. Before we start prodding anything, is this likely to be the Subaru alarm? There aren't any pictures of the keypad unit in the booklet... Thank you! I am sure there will be more in the future, but that's a start for now...