AC72

Ignore me, it's all come back <phew!>

Is it just me or has parts.subaru.com lost all the good stuff like engine bits, suspension, etc. and only has accessories now?

Finally worked that out - the tab that bolts the tube to the cylinder head had got bent. I couldn't work out how if the tab was bolted to the block, the tube pointed forward. Once I twigged that the tab could be bent, it went in a treat! Now it's the PAS pipes - I can't work out what the brackets on them bolt to. The manual has them bolting onto the RH fuel pipe protector plate (I think) but the drawing in the workshop manual isn't clear, the pipes don't seem to want to go near to the plate and I can't even find holes in the plate that match the M8 holes on the pipe brackets. It must have looked obvious as I didn't take a photo when I took it out (a bit like the dipstick tube and the mystery bracket - spot a trend here...) but it isn't two months later!!

Thanks. Don't worry too much - engine's back in and I'm not missing it yet, although I wonder if it's related to the puzzle of how the dipstick tube fits! 😆

Thanks very much - any joy? A.

Just getting ready to put the EJ255 back together - I seem to have a bracket that I can't place where it goes... I've looked through the parts catalogue and can't seem to find it, I think it's probably from a cylinder head area, probably the right hand one. I'm sure it'll become clear at some point, I'd just rather it wasn't once I'd got the engine in and realise that I can't get the bracket back in!

Thanks all, ended up getting the proper tools from Import Car Parts, a lot cheaper than the Company 23 ones and had all 4 pulleys off in 5 minutes - they were f'in tight though - breaker bar plus extension. The nut and bolt trick looks useful for when I put it back together this weekend. Once it's all buttoned-up if anyone around Cambridge area needs to borrow these tools, just get in-touch.

Tried the usual with mole grips around the old belt but they weren’t holding against the 4ft breaker bar 😕. I suppose I could try to make something with a bit of steel bar and bolt through the old belt into a loop but to be fair these cam bolts haven’t been moved in 16 years and it shows!

Just doing the head gaskets on my 06 Forester XT and none of the usual tricks for locking the cam pulleys to remove the 10mm hex are working so going to have to resort to proper tools. Rather than buying them for a probably one-time job I was wondering if anyone had a set they would like to rent to me - I’m happy to leave a big deposit (oh-er) and pay postage both directions. I’d be after the AVCS intake cam and normal static exhaust cam tools.

Ah great, thanks - that was going to be my next question "anyone know of people who can do this near Cambridge"! 🙂

Evening, Recently became the owner of a 2006 Forester XT. I bought it eyes wide-open and knowing it was cosmetically challenged and quite possibly/probably mechanically so as well, but the price was right. Anyhow, I noticed that a couple of years ago she failed her MoT with a check engine light and the following day magically passed the same - unsurprisingly this turned out to be thanks to blu-tack down the MIL light fitting rather than anything more thorough. My OBD reader reckons the problem is with the secondary air system, so I shall take a look at that before the next MoT in March. However if it's looking like an expensive fix, then I'll be tempted to consider removing/neutralising the secondary air system rather than fixing it. I know this won't cure the check engine light but from a quick read of the internet, this can be fixed by removing those specific error codes from the ECU. Bearing in mind that I'm likely to be doing other things to her over the years I was thinking about getting an OpenPort cable and editing the firmware to remove the Secondary Air faults from it myself. So, two questions - can you do this with OpenPort/ECUFlash and if so, it this the best option? It's not exactly cheap for the cable but if it's simple and reliable I don't mind stumping up for it. Thanks

Hello, Quick intro - just picked-up a 2006 Forester XT with a bit over 100k on the clock for a snip. I'd gone to see it knowing it was cosmetically not great but I have plans for that involving matt blue metallic wrap and dark bronze alloys etc. so a shabby body is almost a good thing. Unfortunately the seller's opening line was 'it does use a bit of coolant on the motorway' and sure enough the radiator was full of oil/water mayo. I was basically walking away when he asked me how much I'd give him for it so I made a low offer and now have a project! Drove home about 60 miles gently and the temperature gauge wasn't going too wild so hopefully it's in the early stages of blowing its head gasket(s). I have a lot of experience with Land Rovers, including rebuilding a couple of Rover V8s from the block up, but not much with Subarus (had an Impreza WRX for a couple of years but it was almost new so I never touched it mechanically), so I have a couple of questions if I may - number one is, what's the story with workshop manuals? I don't see that Haynes do a traditional Book of Lies for either the Forester or the Impreza, only some online thing which seems a bit basic. Secondly, spare parts - in the Land Rover world there's lots of options for pattern, OEM, genuine - pattern (****BritPart) are best avoided for anything important, OEM & genuine are good but genuine tend to be pricey. Similar situation in the Subaru world? Any recommended suppliers? Thanks! Andrew.