Mr B

that will be the air valves, if in good mechanical order removal and very thorough cleaning can work but again if paying for the labour new parts tend work out better long term value repair . window is very affordable, secondary air could possibly be got working for couple hours labour but gamble how long lasts, welding shouldn't be that bad if this first rust repair and no previous MOT mention, they all rot pretty much same areas and I never seen one on first repair need much more than 300 or 400 worth of welding and sealing, welding repairs can vary drastically shop to shop but inner arch and turret not that difficult and material cost is very low . If you can't find better priced viable repairs you will be best selling it as those that can do the work themselves would find these common easier jobs a desirable repair car purchase .

the ecu assumes regen is needed by measuring back pressure which gets higher the more soot the dpf is holding, then when it decides regen it adding more fuel to heat the dpf to burn out the soot. DPF systems is an awful engineering concept and does nothing for environment as the system ruined diesel mpg economy and it wastes even more fuel and oil with regens ! With mileage you done DPF highly likely need replacing, you could try special cleaning but you be wiser spending on a top quality aftermarket dpf and at a independent garage as dealers be silly money on this job, you may even find oem dpf at better cost outside a dealership . Before jumping on the DPF you ideally want back pressure monitored to concluded DPF is too restrictive . You are right that if DPF is sorted then regen and oil dilution should be rectified but that assumes all else is working correct and DPF health is falling below functional level and this really needs be concluded to move forward with repair option . serious repetitive oil dilution is pretty serious issue and 1 reason towards the all too common crank failure .

It does not need a authorised subaru garage to flash non turbo ecu . personally I prefer simply replacing the pump as simplest solution with no future legal snags, aftermarket pump and fitting is roughly £240 which would be diag check that it is the fault and it not a control side issue, removal and refit which quick to do, code clearing and bidirectional test and colds start/road test .. I generally can get oem pumps working again but how long they function perfectly before trips CEL criteria is a gamble .

Well you should be fine then . They very easy work on as lot of design effort apparent on making repair route easier . The real key is making effort buy a proper tidy one and not assuming newer will be better .

800 sounds expensive for strut mounting, I done a few rear turret and arch repairs and including a total arch seam seal and stone guard refinishing dearest has been 600 and average 300 to 400 Drivers window an easy fix and common, don't buy a new motor, buy a used passenger side rear as they same front drivers side besides a water drain fitting needs clocking position changed and original harness tail swapped over (plugs in) they about £30 for tidy one and 1: don't get used much and 2: don't get water ingress in motor like on drivers door as motor sits upside down in passenger rear . You can improve motor drainage by removing motor housing and making 2 small weep holes and renew grease in bearing points but that beyond most garages . air pump a pain, is possible sometimes free them but if paying someone you best fitting quality new or getting it mapped out . Could list it spares or repair if you unable find repair route cost viable , right time of year for people look for 4wd and easy fix and worth doing if rest of car proper decent .

Best you see is 30, more likely is 26 to 28 for more short trip running around. They can make up for slightly less fuel efficiency from reliability thus annual repairs can be pretty much zero . General service costs are pretty low unless your garage ripping you off . Main thing here is don't get caught up in newer better as that far from real facts, Very late 90's to 2006 about best they get . You far smarter buying a older super clean car than chasing an well priced 2007 to 2010 . If going 2.5L or even the 3.0 you want earlier than a 55 plate (or first couple months if a 06) to get into favourable road tax class . The outback is a great versatile wagon 2.5L engine not too bad but the 3.0 EZ is subarus best and they last real well plus benefit from timing chain . 2.0L EJ also pretty solid lump but it be a Legacy model to get that . Out of the 2.5 or 3.0 the 3.0 wiser option as hardly any mpg difference and the strength/performance of the 3.0 makes it the best choice in most cases . I see 2.0 at 180K to 220K quite a lot and 3.0 same and more, they do 300K easy if serviced well (oil and filter regular the big key), 2.5 generally has head gasket issues which little bit spendy repair . The main criteria is buying wisely, look at a lot to learn the cars and inspecting them well and learn good from bad . Don't expect dealers be best options for clean cars, private sales generally always best and more honest . Generally you can find Outbacks super clean and FSH quite easily, don't be afraid pay extra 500 to 1K for old super clean car as it will pay you back many times over. The absolute most important part is educating yourself before purchase and view several models prior to any buying, make use of any local dealers that may have one even if not spec/price you want as the viewing experience will educate you into smarter final decision hopefully . If you completely no mechanical competence take a friend or friend of a friend who is, don't rely on likes of RAC inspections as they tend be a bit slack for what they charging . Basically the cars great, more so older models, just be sure choose wisely, if any niggles or doubts walk away and never take anything a dealer tells you as a fact, I in the trade and most silly stories of biggest junk and lies and silly prices always comes back to a dealer unfortunately .

you could keep the switch in with a cable tie for a temporary measure. Is easy fix or relocate. If garage charge to pricey picking up a used bracket online should not be too hard .

Yes, you can simply test with bonnet open by holding switch down with one hand and arming alarm from fob with other . We relocate those switches sometimes as pretty poor effort by sigma . Easy enough fab a bracket /use another generic alarm switch and lengthen wiring. in a pinch easy enough jump the wires so alarm thinks switch always pushed in . don't rule out doors and boot if bonnet switch doesn't appear at fault .

door boot or bonnet not shut or switch issue / check the bonnet switch as they on a bracket that tends get bent with people leaning in engine bay ... Use the manual link in this thread get basic understanding of your alarm .

Give the part number to a local subaru dealer parts counter . If you search for japan parts suppliers you find many companies in Japan that will ship oem parts and being small it might be affordable option . You may also find something suitable from eBay . https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=86636FG140&_sacat=0

Have you tried ICP (import car parts.co.uk) We had washer covers from them before .

What new alternator fitted ?, reman of many brands can not be up to spec and system sense control will have issues . You either want an oem original alternator or blueprint, we tend stick to original oem as much as possible as issues with reman and aftermaket is highly common and we don't have time keep swapping duds or want reputation issue due to current parts trend for junky poor spec and quality . you can do some tests at ecu to see sense control working and blue wire alternator grounding switches correctly (grounds this wire to reduce alternator output) .

Does the control side of compressor clutch stay powering the clutch (test it with a meter and check amp draw when runs if can), low pressure or other safety parameter maybe turning it off, has a diagnostic check been done on the system .

crankshaft failures, dpf issues, injector learning issues, I repair subarus and I can't recommend them . 3.5K for 128K car which known lemon in the industry is a bit high in price and risk . failed crank leaves you with a car worth less than 500 quid and as much as your purchase price to replace the engine . post 2011 got better but the crank issue wasn't fully resolved even at end of the diesel production . If you want a good diesel buy a pre DPF .

It still wise drain gear oils at sensible intervals mainly as good way visually see gearbox/transferbox/diff in good order and keep meshing swarf to a minimum. some gearboxes have oil pumps and filters, all have lubrication feed wells of which stay working better in later life when been kept extra clean .

Good job well worth the trip and well worth 300quid . their prices seem very good, although as specialise in this work they fast and materials cheaper in bulk and good knowledge of supply chain . would of been a miserable result if had ended up with of the shelf NA mild steel system . have fun with your XT and thank the wife for putting up with you and your phone 🙂 ...

Give us a couple shots of finished system . I quite like looking at old mens polished pipes and a proper job . interested in the price too if you happy disclose that ...

Yes none of the motorfactor systems match oem diameter as all they done is mark a non turbo system as XT fitment in the model fitment ... I normally get 1 or 2 XT models a year in that got 1.75 to 2" cat back junk systems on them . I use to to get systems done at a powerflow shop as fairly good price for good system and guy working there always done good effort on fitment and matching sound to what customers would like . Trouble with that was handing good paid easy work away and with cars aged a lot people don't want spend more half the price they paid for the whole car on an exhaust . We now sometimes use good used impreza turbo parts which easy source some stock and mod to fit and do our own exhausts mig welded as less material/labour cost and only tig downpipes and manifold work or tig a whole system if customer wants it .

No idea on your wetproof as I never used them, being a summer tyre they should wear better than compound of the all weather model all season tyre . 10K is poor for tyres on a forester with good suspension setup. Get better than that from budget asian winter and all season tyres .

Be careful of after market standard system as most will be NA spec thus smaller bore and more restrictive than turbo spec . cheapest solution is picking up a decent used system off a turbo impreza and tweaking it to fit the foz xt .

The Nokian All Weather should do 20K+ easily if geometry correct and rotation done. Foresters are good on tyres when suspension in good order . Tyre pressures important too and can be good run extra 2-3psi on the fronts in better weather seasons . If wearing bad on outer edge camber/toe likely wrong, you got camber bolts on front strut lower flange top bolt which make adjustment easy but also easy mess up when people do suspension work and don't know it a camber bolt and make no reference mark before undoing it . If get any alignment always get a print out of settings, too many shops just do a 5 minute toe and go. Other issue you got is while equipment maybe best on market if not used 100% correctly the vehicle will leave with wrong settings and many times worse than when went in ... These machines need very fastidious operators get good results

generally trailing arm spacer equal to lift spacer, although going bit more can be needed if already biased to front of arch a lot . 20 to 30mm likely range that work. from standard the always biased to front . What height gain did you get with new kyb fitted (measured from centre of hub cab to arch rubber trim fold)

No but checking plug tip deposits gives idea of combustion conditions and if all cylinders evenly matched . can you graph and log lambda sensors and fuel trims, maf/map values ?

If your pre and post cat lambdas are showing logical readings to support ltft and not suspect or had any fault codes for them then it seems likely with your results so far that egr valve leak maybe internally valve not closing correctly and scavenging effect drawing intake air into the exhaust making the lambda sensors see a lean condition thus more fuel . How does car idle ? Is coolant and oil levels and appearance all normal . exhaust smell is probably from rich mixture/contaminated-failing cat perhaps . You could try a temporary block of egr for a test, might be an idea pull plugs and visual inspect tips to evaluate fuelling equal across cylinders . certainly needs sorting pretty quick as going cost a lot in fuel and component damage from serious fuelling issue .

check self diagnostic codes and compressor clutch perhaps ...