Mr B

^ Glass is thinner as easy area reduce weight at no additional manufacture cost and improve mpg which big concern for manufacturers these days . Not concerned enough spend out on few more alloy or polycarbonate panels though 😕

With good turbo's, water cooling and modern ester synthetic oils it not really needed unless been spanked silly and glowing like a cherry .

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Impreza/1997-1998/

If your rad leaking/system not sealed it will not draw coolant from overflow tank very well or at all . Get gas sniffer on it, 8 out of 10 overheating/cooling issues we see on the 2.5 all end up at HG and unfortunately in early stages it hard diagnose 100% clear cut with test results .

People would be best avoiding euro car parts or at least cherry picking parts they get as ecp really sell low quality and not always that cheap . an alloy one on eBay made in china would be better than what ecp stock . ones ecp stock can be found for £70, cheap alloy is about £130 (use a eBay coupon on it and they great budget value buys) I fitted couple customers supplied and quality/fit was fine, invoice sku started with UKZZ . Sounds very much like HG is going be issue, getting diagnostic proof can be hard but as it gets worse gas sniffer or chemical test on coolant will register it . Look at the bottom off head to block seams and see if look damp and oily . HG need sorting quick as left too long and turns into a full rebuild . suspecting left too long already .

is an easy job as long as you can manage the hose and clips without drama, you do not need remove bumper . If you had long term over heat issues randomly is a high chance it HG as inevitable on the 2.5, very hard prove via hydrocarbon check on these . Standard crimped rads are not best but over heat issues will help finish them off .

I would charge your battery, refit and lock car with fob button then after next false alarm event use the diagnostics to see if get a last trigger status . Trigger status is going dictate what diagnosis you do probably but do realise that poor voltage will make alarm functions and diagnostics unreliable so don't overlook the basics of cars battery power including some visuals of alarms wiring for water/corrosion damage etc . Regardless of results of diagnosis I would also do a test of locking car with key after car been unlocked and running. With the car locked via key your car should not have alarm on unless someone set it to auto arm (auto arm is off by default and best off as good way lock yourself out lol) point here is with alarm off and no auto arming if alarm goes off it more likely internal fault or perhaps voltage level fault You can also alarm car and have the ultrasonics disabled which good way rule them out The alarm measures voltage, it has audible bleep for low voltage warning and function of viewing voltage via led blinks . Low voltage (car battery or siren battery) can cause issues and as your new battery low I would do some diagnosis on battery charging, parasitic draw before going deeper into alarm modules wiring . Do note this just my assumption based on your 12.1V reading of new battery, use your own gumption to conclude why battery may of been low at time you checked it . Most faults we see on these are bonnet switch, main module board gone bad or siren battery failure or water damage . Used parts are pretty cheap and diy fixable, if do need buy replacement used module be sure comes with 4 pin code or a working remote at the least .

First observation is battery voltage low, 12.1v is 65-70% disharged . Other observation is don't turn alarm on, lock car with key in lock cylinder and see if alarm goes off (should not and would indicate fault including low voltage issue from car batt or siren backup 9v pp3 ) . View the user manual below as give you tips on isolating internal motion sensor and viewing what set alarm off if you lucky . They very easy alarms swap out used modules and program and siren can be opened up for battery replacement . Read the manual and see how you get on ... https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7Ub2apq5-pfcjJhSm5XUHNyUzQ

diesel or petrol ? assuming going be diesel ... but best assume nothing :-)

2010 is still in the age of worst crank failures . No modern diesel is great thanks to dpf's so not really worth anyone having a modern diesel unless doing very high miles and not short trips as simply to much maintenance costs for more average user . I don't recommend subaru diesels to any of my customers, petrol legacy is great, stuff from early 2000 way better than newer . If buying diesel cars only buy pre dpf models or don't bother unless like hassle and spendy garage bills . Also buying earlier diesels or petrols give you potentially more future stable road tax and mot emissions . If you want reliable stress free motoring look at quality older models in A1 condition, I work on the junk day in day out and newer just means cheaper engineered or sourced parts ...

All depends on leak severity and amount of time been like it and overheat it been subject to and tune/usage of car. I done a lot of 2.5 head gaskets only and only ever had one back and that was ringland failure 10 months down the road. Got be done on individual basis as lot of these imprezas get spanked and with poor tuning/mapping all while suffering early HG failure . Hopefully not too much of a surprise as any standard 2.5 will have HG failure, it inevitable by factory design .

Want monitor live data of lambda sensors as possibly help give direction in finding issue . check wiring integrity and vaccum leaks .

another 15% eBay coupon today and runs to 12th, coupon code XMAS15 Works on tyres as just tried it (set of winter for a customer). Got it on 2 accounts and just spent little over £600 thus saved a 100 on various parts to stock and some tools as prices already good on select items and with extra 15% way cheaper pricing than any of our parts factors . Enables me give better prices and still use quality parts I like and have items on shelf so no delay .

Lot of these are HID from japan . Left and Right is fused separate so for fuses it need 2 gone . HID can be PITA, bulbs and ballasts play up and bad wiring either from tampering or corrosion in terminals/earths .

15% discount today on eBay, coupon code PRESENTS . Not sure if this one site wide or limited categories as not looked into it .

only cheap ones I could recommend is riken rp, park of michelin group, they around £44 a tyre and if get lucky with coupon could work out in high 30s . With UK weather and roads half decent tyres a must, Hankook kinergy nice, nokian weatherproof nice all rounder for a forester but spendy, Cheap but good options are truly a few . maxxis AP2 not bad all weather or the hankook kinergy, if budget difficult consider riken as sensible balanced budget tyre . If buying used always check date codes on sidewalls as many sellers say they only few years old and when look the about 9yrs old and starting dry rot .

you generally find budget tyres wear fast and tend only have better compound on very outer so as wear they perform worse . Blackcircle don't even give brand or show images of budgets tyres they selling . Difference is like £20 a tyre, my advise is spend the extra 15 to £20 for better tyre, more so if doing 4k+ a year and expect have car few years . Budget tyres never end up budget expenditure unless doing very low miles or only keeping car short term ... mis-matched tyre issues is big concerm on awd, we get at least 2 a month with related issues all down to old and new axle pair mix (have an xc90 in last week with failed output spline partly due to new tyres only fitted on front axle :-S ) If your good 2 close to new you can get away with it but if pretty worn the rolling circumference difference stresses the transmission a lot. Mix in manufacturer dimension variations and flex differences and things get worse . Part worns can be good buy but lot of garages/tyre shops won't fit them, we same as technically our liability insurance is voided if not fitting a new tyre . Was couple options of budget/midrange on eBay in other threads, I would wait for a 10 to 20% site wide coupon from eBay (they normally do one december before or after xmas) ...

same bushes used on at least 3 models from 2009 to 2018 I don't see many swaybar D bush issues, drop links common one and make nice clunking noises . What you got realize with modern cars is all engineering skill is in minimal cost and material quality and have no intention of over engineering (spending) for easy 10yr lifespan . Confirm what really causing the rattle before swapping parts, use oem or decent aftermarket .

Good choice, that what we use most followed by 10w40 .. Millers is good and British :-)

yeh normal for sigma cat1 alarm if car don't start you just press fob button while key in ignition and turned on and it turn immobiliser off so can crank car .

^ To be fair with your symptoms I think I too may struggle conclude with irrefutable evidence it head gasket. Early stage HG issues on these can be total swine diagnose 100% to a customer . Thermostats need be oem style as most others do not flow well, doubt this your issue but worth highlighting . My suspicion would be HG on what you said but if overheating minimal and intermittent it hard prove to a customer in solid diagnostic evidence and becomes more a diagnosis based on known repeat failures and experience (all factory 2.5 HG's will fail it just matter of time ...)

Blueprint do all basic service items and pads for a b4, so that could be had online or local factors ... ICP is good too but be careful on non oem with them as they stock some junkier stuff these days in bid compete on pricing .

50K/5yrs is the schedule and they do that easily (same parts in USA do 105K as legal requirement is over 100K for cars sold in USA) The water pump has no need be changed if visually good and bearing physically feels good, the oem pump is superb quality and you likely throwing a better part away than a new replacement unless high end or oem japan part . On higher mileage of 140K plus or track cars ect then a pump can be good idea but low mileage it generally wasteful and a negative benefit if using european pattern parts . It pretty normal only do a belt on first change, second interval more likely need idlers and maybe tensioner if not passing visual and bench tests . We ONLY use Japan oem idlers tensioners, oem dayco or blueprint belts .

Wax type spray, the waxoil does work but you need good aplicator and experience helps. Bilt hamber is good and easier for DIY user the diy aplicators decent As above, this no time of year for it, hot summer the best as stuff creeps right into cracks and seems with capillary action and it sprays far neater/cleaner on bone dry car in hotter temps.

Just buy the end joints/boots as needed, all you need do is count the splines to match them, same joints used on most models and easy source . Blueprint or solidauto do good boots, bleprint do joints but not cheapest but quality good, plenty options on eBay, also ICP should do them and they will do SOC discount . Replacing whole shafts not a great idea and the full aftermarket shafts poor quality and can have balance issues (vibration), we only ever rebuild shafts for subarus .