Mike Percival

Sorted! I've sold the car. It was getting to the point where constant repair and refurbishment was becoming rapidly uneconomical. Since the car only cost me £500 to start with, I paid £300 to get the brakes sorted, £520 to get the exhaust replaced, it would have cost about £500 to get the wheel bearings done (so I left that for the new owner). The bodywork was rotting around the rear light clusters and one of the hatch supports had become detached due to rot. My days of sorting anything mechanical have gone due to COPD and Osteo Arthritis, I am now reliant to a large extent on garages for work. At least I sold the car for more than I paid for it, but given the work done, and 12 months road tax, I have made a significant loss on the deal. Shame, it was a nice car to drive, most of the time.

For some years I have driven Subarus on closed roads (Response driver for the Isle of Man TT races), my favourite was a Forester with a 2.5 Turbo Police pursuit engine, great fun! One year they gave me an XV and I hated it. The battery kept going flat and it was slow and lumpy. The Subaru engineer who was on the Island to fettle the response cars said it was a common problem, and suggested every night I should connect a battery charger. Needless to say, the following year I made sure someone else got the XV!

Over the last few weeks I have noticed excessive road noise, seemingly from the rear of the car. My worry is that it could be a bearing, the rear diff or something else I haven't thought of. The noise doesn't seem to affect the performance or road holding, but I wondered if anyone had experienced anything similar and knew what it was.

Managed to get the front pipe (with cat) for £365, fitted. The rear section of the exhaust was new - why the previous owner replace that but not the front section -? The section had several holes, an old tin can wrapped around it held in place by a jubilee clip. Have to admit it did sound great with the holes - vroom vroom!

My 2004 Impreza GX Wagon has blown the front section of the exhaust - the bit with the cat in. Talk about hard to get hold of and damn expensive when you do find it. A previous owner had replaced the rear and mid sections, but not the front, though someone had done a bodge job on blanking off a hole. £375 later and the cat section is on order (hopefully the correct part). I'm not sure why it is so expensive, or why the cat is so necessary when I'm only doing short trips and it never gets hot enough to operate properly. However, re-mapping the engine is yet another un-needed expense so I'll just go with the cat.

Managed to find the method by trial and error. There is a panel under the boot lid, beside the light unit with two plastic screws holding it in place, remove that then undo the two bolts holding the light unit in place. Ease the light unit far enough out to get to the bulb holders, then twist the holder until it can be removed. Fit the new bulb then reverse the process. I'm not surprised they put an inspection hatch on later models. What a faff!

The passenger rear brake light has failed on my 2004 impreza wagon 2.0 gx and the only instructions I can find are for the wrx and sti models which have a handy panel in the boot to access the bulbs. The gx doesn't have this. Do I have to remove the boot liner to get at the rear of the cluster to change a bulb? Help please before I get pulled over by the local police.

I did use "Steel Seal" in the engine of a Landrover Freelander. It worked, but I did it to sell the car and yes I did tell the buyer that the gasket had gone and I had used the fluid. He was going to replace the dreadful "K" series engine with the diesel version so I didn't feel too guilty. As a (very very) temporary stopgap it works, but Tidgy is correct, a full strip down and re-build is the best (only) way to go, or even get a refurbished replacement engine.

Yay, I found a couple of sites on-line with downloadable pdf versions of the owner's manual and the workshop manual, so I have some serious reading to do now. If anyone else is looking for the same manual, let me know and I can email them

How difficult is changing the sensor? I am fairly competent and don't mind getting my hands dirty!

I have a 2004 Impreza GX Wagon, 2 litre auto and I'm trying to find either an owner's manual or preferably the Haynes book. Plenty available for the WRX, but not for my more modest vehicle. Has anyone any idea where I could obtain either (please don't say Ebay or Amazon - nothing there!) There are a couple of niggling faults (windscreen washers not working, sidelight needing replacement, etc) and the books might help. Thanks

I have the engine light on as well, the previous owner told me it's the oxygen sensor in the exhaust and it shouldn't affect the vehicle performance. To be honest I have no idea why such a sensor should be fitted anyway, unless it's to do with pollution levels. At least the vehicle still runs OK.

Hi, I thought I'd better introduce myself. My name is Mike Percival, I live on the Isle of Man and I have just bought a 2004 Impreza GX Auto. So far very happy, a couple of minor issues - I need to replace the drivers side sidelight bulb and I understand I need to completely remove the headlight unit, any tips? The engine warning light is on and I have been told by the previous owner that it's the oxygen sensor on the exhaust, I suppose I had better replace it, again any tips?