Mr B

It will handle way better on b roads on good condition stock than any lower cost or short stroke coilover kit . 2 new kyb struts for rear ar about £120, custom springs all round about £220 . Forgot the clunking issue lol , that causes a driver cringe and frustration every rut :-)

Impreza suspension don't work out that well without custom rear springs as they sag bit low (even wagon springs) either go stock or kyb excel G with springcoil custom spring set to lower it just a little. Coilovers or over lowered suspension for B road use is not a good result in drivability or practicality, You end up trashing the underside, avoiding certain roads, dodging pot holes, drive slow compensate handling issues and can't even mount a small kerbing :-)

You can not put any other springs on the forester rear struts as it SLS tokiko suspension struts . They have height adjustment system via valve ports and it hydraulically controlled using the struts stroke movement as a pump. You change the spring heights/rates and system tries correct height changes caused by it .

to be fair most modern diesels pretty useless in terms of being trouble free, since stringent emissions and stupidity of the dpf they almost impossible be reliable to standards people use to from early 2000's and mpg also took a hit . Biggest issue for subaru was the crank issue, that still not fully resolved and possibly very tricky solve on the boxers short crank and block journal limitations . Kia pretty junky and the diesel not a great one, we see a few and they all run tractor rough Reality is old was gold, select models from 90's and early 2000's best you ever going see if pride component quality and pure reliability. I'll have my 99 forester on the road when most if not all the diesels ones are scrap lol . Quite sad and depressing working on some newer stuff, it can be 30 grand of cheap tat when you really start taking it apart and have seen all the common repeat failure areas. All the engineering and technical effort is in making them cheap as possible and using environment issues as marketing ploy, reality is you buying junk and polluting planet worse than ever before but it just looks great on paper and on the emission testers .

I would of gone with a 2004/2005 proper tidy example to make worthy saving in road tax and have good experience and no hassle . To see rust on these you need not just look but physical touch/tap within rear arch, they go right up in turret outer side and around spot welds and also down sides of the stiffening plate that sits directly behind the strut, also the arch/sill end near the seat belt bolt goes and this happens from inside so external looks great till tappy tap tap :-) inner arch filler pipe area also needs inspection . Subframes and trailing rear link front mount bracket also can rust bad on these, subframes need a really good inspection (more so OS) Other known issues are failing SLS rear strut valving so rear starts sagging . OEM immobiliser is SKM key (skim-key) transponder chip in the key moulding .The alarm is sigma and it also has extra immobiliser circuits (to meet alarm regulations) so someone would of tampered with wiring bypass that fully or plugged in a bypass adapter (you can buy these for this alarm series ) . alarm ecu very easy swap out and you can put the keyfob boards in your keyfobs and be up and rolling pretty quick if you know what you doing (make sure you get 4 digit manual pin code). 2006 XT not a great seller as most like the earlier cheaper tax year plus it pretty easy find very tidy Forester XT's as they don't get used as farm tools quite so much It not sounding a gem so I would make sure either it very cheap or everything else A1 .

fuel cap not seated will cause evap codes . Get a cheap code reader or diag cable for the freeSSM software and review pending and previous fault codes as starting point and some direction on what likely the cause .

other thing this can be with new owners who not read the manuals is the sat nav alarms . Won't find much reason not to like a 2004 outback as they pretty damn solid especially the 6 cylinder model .

Mishimoto do one they just don't now it fits the sti . Just use the oem subaru part number to see model variants that use that rad, oem cap is the best one to use imo .

for road use it no real benefit . mishimoto is option or nissens for a direct replacement . I believe oem p/n on yours will be 45119SA020 but I not in the shop to check on that 100% . 120 to 350 is rough price range from nissens to oem and mishimoto 230ish . if do fit mishimoto think twice before using increased pressure rad cap, absolute no need increase pressure above factory spec for road use in UK climate and with engines known factory HG issues it not a wise move .

Dealer will charge you if it breaks off don't assume they cover it free ... dealer rates are ridiculous . Try yourself or use a good independent ... These are known to potentially snap off so be gentle, work it slow, back and forth quarter turns .

Those parts all same to any 02-05 SG forester of any spec ... eBay will have all of that but local breakers be cheaper if did have one online you got chance finding tidy wing same colour which cheaper/better than refinishing it. Best getting good priced bumper and painting it as unlikely get one not scuffed even if right colour & high price ...

Check the glow plug connection clean as debris here can cause it short. simply check the plug resistance/open circuit with a multimeter . Wouldn't use a main dealer as they can get silly prices on these and part aftermarket is easy get . I pull plugs with engine hot, can be super tight but gentle slow approach of back and forth 1/4 turns generally gets them out, gentle and slow saves money and drama on these .

Might be advisable check/change gearbox/diff oil. Sounds like gear teeth or bearing issue, possibly teeth meshing if here it more on over run/ gets loader at moment you lift off throttle . Some noises are improved with better gear oil or if oil level low fill it right up to max . Noises hard advise accurately without actually hearing it . what the vehicle history ? high miles, likely been towing ??

Does it do it with vehicle stationary with clutch out ? open drivers door and check noise with clutch out and clutch in and blip throttle to see if can effect it . Have you checked gearbox and diff oils since you had it ?

That is a good price .

probably because that earlier model bushed drop links (up to 2002) and your SG uses jointed drop links .

Needs a power and ground check at the connector point and also consider new not always good/correct If a cheap sensor you can get these issues . jap made sensors are best ones to use .

Gates do decent upper and lower hoses, we had some before but hard find stockists .

Compression will be more effected by head and block facing and HG used, this all can be calculated and compression/ cylinder cc can be set/balanced to desired range and all part of component preparation . Waste of time commenting without seeing them in hand but if not decent/new pistons start with they not worth working with, amount you would remove in that area be minimal concern to piston strength, the edge chip more concern to whether salvageable . head and block surfaces and timing belt being reused gives me idea your extra money kitty won't be that great on this one ...

^ If is only crown pitting of a few thou and ringlands and skirt A1 and they brand new and quality then we likely get the set crown dressed and weight matched at the machine shop, from pictures hard to say but it common practice on light pitting and something you review on individual basis . Looks like was a rough build and underlying issue not addressed and must be pretty severe lean/timing condition , valve seating wants be checked and the cam journals as they can be scored real bad on these with poor oil and contaminated oil, don't look like it been skimmed or hot tanked either .

Piston looks to be salvageable and if it new more so . You need get that on rollers once built up and fueling/mapping checked as the det is what probably caused HG issue first time round . Block will need good surface clean or skim. Head surface certainly needs a proper smooth finish skim but check cam bearing surfaces as if they are badly scored you best sourcing new heads . Do a fair few of these and if left running with water in oil for long time cam journals and main bearings suffer .

Blueprint glowplug wil be ADS71802, all same from 2010 to 2012, ashuki p/n is S785-02 eBay not cheapest for these . Some underseal and wax protection not a bad thing on these, shultz done proper in rear wheel well/turret good and a light spray of waxoil or similar on underbody every 2-3yrs can make huge difference when car aged another 10yrs+

Blueprint service parts are fine, we use them a lot . For glowplugs we use ashika at about £22 a plug. You can also find the Blueprint plugs around 75-95 pounds a set if hunt around. No need change annually , fit them with high temp ceramic based anti-seize or similar and schedule a removal, inspection and refit 1 to 2yrs and replace 4 to 5yrs . We get them out engine hot and use a gentle low power impact for several minutes as vibrations help remove the carbon jamming up the tip threads .

Try get triple 5 (555) for the BJ's and meyle HD for drop links . Meyle been or best links

Tripple 5 ball joints and meyle HD drop links about best we found ADL also good Moog not bad . Most stuff is monkey metal these days .