Mr B

Probably from helpful ones. online is probably best looked at as prices could be massively cheaper. search eBay and google accessories you want and you will find dealers with them and other subaru oem parts/accessories specialists. as an example we had customers wanting bumper protectors for sg foresters (3 in total as had seen the one on our forester), local dealers best price was £70 each, sourcing online was £28 each . Liners and dog guards come up a bit used on eBay too .

2.5 is indeed prone to HG issue in all versions . If it not using water and not overheating then drive it but use some common sense if planning longer trips and realize this current heat wave could make things worse if out and have issues . Most 2.5 odd heating issues always come back to HG given bit of time only had a couple that turned out more basic with thermostat and coolant sensor issues .

I've got a 99 forester with 250K on it and have a real old legacy just over 200K They super reliable and well built . Almost 100% unlikely anything wrong with drivetrain/driveshaft only going make noise when apply brakes . I pretty much can guarantee it will more likely be brake issue, they super simple work on compared to Peugeot for examples . Brake parts are cheap, decent drums quite expensive and cheap ones not worth using . expect your drums reusable and can be refinished on a lathe . You could try looking/removing a drum yourself as bit of inspection and get idea of likely issues, drum has 2 thread holes to help removal using 2 bolts, you may need rewind brake adjusters if drum heavily ridged .

^ As above, if it makes not 1 sign of noise when driving through gears, doing tight turns forward and reverse it very unlikely be diff or driveshaft related . as does it when braking only I would be checking brakes fully first , If it drums on rear that oily mess will be brake fluid from leaking brake wheel cylinder. If I had to guess, drums on these can be a real ***** to get off and someone not knowing subarus and being less than competent mechanic could damage brake lining, wheel cylinder and even wheel bearing if got real rough trying hammer stuck brake drum off with slide hammer etc . I would be highly suspicious your mechanic made brakes/hub worse try gain access to them then gave up giving you car back in state its in . Needs be looked at by competent mechanic and resolved asap .

HG quite likely, do gas analyser test on open cooling system and check head gasket seam for signs of oil residue/wetness Leaks on these can start so small and only at certain engine temps and cylinder pressures they very hard fully pinpoint 100% due to minimal symptoms and test results . Pressure test on cooling system, thermostat function and radiator flow/fin condition other things need ruling out .

wouldn't worry too much on white smoke as mainly condensation and possibly small amount oil entering intake/cylinders from prolonged standing . Oil leak could be lot of things but location of puddle under engine area helps narrow it down a lot. near front middle, crank front seal Near rear, crank rear seal, rear blanking plate Sides, rocker cover gaskets, cam bungs, turbo oil piping Sumps on these get small but heavy rust patches and can leak quite drastically, done a SG fozzy earlier this year with nice rust hole in sump, needed engine swap as caused big end knock from low oil running, blew a sump rust scab out big enough stick your small finger in .

Seems only happening depressed and was not like it on old clutch I would be suspicious of the sachs clutch cover. Clutches we like using on these is LUK . Your original garage handled issue badly which left you in this scenario .They should of eaten labour costs on second removal and pushed supplier for replacement kit . It going have to be pulled again and needs full investigation and all parts swapped unless can narrow down a fault .

that would be good. More than likely any viscous 4.111 will do but they have a lot small design changes but still likely all bolt on and work . I know from buying diff parts an 05 had different viscous p/n to 02<>04

Most likely but I know from ordering dealer parts lot of the actual viscous diff assemblies are listed forester models only . For less risk of hassle I'd try find a forester xt auto first or take advice from specialist breaker .If you send few emails or make few calls you'kk get idea on prices and maybe options then wait on eBay if trying find one cheap. I'll send you details of breaker we used for few mail order parts to try your luck as had very clean parts at reasonable prices, they large breakers but not subaru specialists but that why prices more reasonable :-)

You most likely want a 4.111 ratio viscous diff . You best first seeing what can find based on salvage 04/05 2.0xt auto try a few specialist subaru breakers or keep looking on ebay etc . option 2 is getting yours looked at and rebuilt if cost viable .

isn't that good either, the older subarus do double that easily . clutch judder on xv is a known issue, whether it dmf related over the actual clutch parts I not totally sure but few I dealt with had dmf and full clutch parts . Like most newer cars all the engineering expertise is in reduced component costs thus long term durability won't touch the cars from 90's and 2000's oil leak should be easy get them do but they don't generally like recognise clutch issues .

Plugs you messing with was test mode loop plugs . Not that easy mess the ecu as jab electrics pretty solid and well thought out, lucky it just something knocked loose, plug lead in this instance :-) diag cable more than likely driver/port related . Could be a bad cable as lot of the chinese cables are slapped together bit rough with no QC . You could check ground and power pins at the diag socket .

looks a good job ...

Insurance companies suck these days and hardly worth the cost besides fact legally need it, I totally get not being the sort of guy milk it for all can get untruthfully but you need factor in realistic losses as the insurance fookers don't even provide the cover you expected to get when take out the policy without major ballache. future policies will be effected to some extent .My sister had an issue with an accident that never existed and even that haunted her for years and took massive amount of effort get fair deals and situation fully understood by underwriters and written or email response to the effect they accepted no previous accident history . . Anyway look on bright side, all will recover, the car and the kids, monetary issue not big deal but insurance policies that don't live up to negotiated expectations bite my biscuit :-/

Car insurance is an absolute ballache on claims these days. I only got one underwriter who will give good trade policy cover with likely worthwhile evaluation on modded cars and imports. Costs a &#33;Removed&#33; fortune and until we get a claim scenario don't truly know if they good and cost worth it . Pretty much guaranteed it costing you, you need maximise your financial outcome from incident and be sure you fully compensated for injury and personal time/inconvenience .Seems current trend between insurance companies these days not chase down who liable and use lot of the fine print to reduce values/payouts . Least car looks like it back better than ever and I assume any inquiry pretty minimal in the big picture .

It will be a chinese cable with cloned chip and modded drivers, not that that should be an issue as I got a black totally unmarked cable that works fine and a blue one with vag kkl sticker that cost £3.49 direct from the factory motherland Guangzhou and that worked too . can be fussy on com ports and need be lower port numbers or other installs/drivers possibly cause conflict . Seller got pretty good feedback, I would try running through install again and see what com ports are assigned to on laptop already, if no joy cantact seller for tech support. They shouldn't be selling or even including freessm on a disc as a free bonus so you likely get you money back easy enough via eBay

What lead and drivers was installed ? can be fussy on drivers and port numbers, being online when attaching the cable can mess it up by installing online instead of modified drivers you probably got on disc with chinese ebay cable .

manual/auto differ, best way is take numbers off the diff casing so can source right diff off other model variants and pay realistic prices . before commit to the job be sure it is a diff issue, rear wheel bearings and uneven tyres are common faults diff gets blamed for .

T10 and T5 is what I used , T10 not exact wattage match but they fine. Be careful with led as can leave poor illumination spots .

lift spacers are better than springs as 1: can retain rear sls struts and 2: you still get same stroke range from strut from ride height position. russian spacers the cheapest but some of the usa kits best quality. front has camber adjustment bolts already from factory so can be adjusted after lift, rear doesn't so you either mod rear use front oem camber bolts or buy the aftermarket 14mm bolts. Trailing arm spacers pretty easy make if prices not great .on pre made option . I don't see any uk sellers on pre made kit . UK option for springs is springcoil.co.uk .

it pre OBD2 so uses SSM . Get yourself a cable off ebay for subaru with ISO9141 support(under £10) and download FreeSSM software to a notebook . I don't like continental kits, double check all parts as doubt they all be oem japan . you got lucky with rad :-) SF's look good with 30-40mm lift spacers added . need camber bolts on rear and trailing arm front spacer keep wheel central . Also look way better and helps protect arches a bit if either swap rims or use spacers to offset wheel 25-30mm , they way too recessed especially the rear . Have fun, ideal weather test your overheating :-D

Back pressure in exhaust certainly would not help it, does it build boost okay, does it feel similar power on boost ...

What does the head gasket joint look like from under the vehicle ? totally dry or slightly damp sticky mess ? In early stages of leaks head gasket leak tests don't always prove anything unfortunately .

What thermostat ? I tend use only original as aftermarket not so good in water flow design and rated temp opening, you could try lower temp rated thermostat too . if a 2.5 then head gaskets very common and don't have all the usual symptoms associated with head gasket failures .

Ball joint and wishbone (corrosion issue, has a recall) and wishbone bushes need good looking at . Check steering rack bushes too . can you feel any play in steering when stationary and rock steering wheel left to right .