Mr B

Pressure test the cooling system, look under the engine at head gasket join and see if looks oily/wet . inspect system for any minor leak. Pull the plugs and check colours . As mentioned above chemical tester are pretty useless at times when only minute amounts of exhaust gas enter cooling system, you better off using a gas analyser . Other thing you can check is waterpump rotor not a rotted mess but they don't generally go bad on these . also check thermostat fitted correct and system bled well . I certainly wouldn't swap low mileage engine if all else tests perfect, it easy enough pull heads in situ for a home repair and sohc is super easy (jack engine up and can move to sides to increase working space) . Cheap job if do it yourself as it mainly labour .Certainly want compression test engine and leak down test engine if can as may conclude fault and at minimum get base line of engine health before committing repair effort . Low mileage engine can be more issue than a more normal 100K example . little use and poor coolant and oil quality and service could lead to gasket decay . Blueprint felpro, Victor reinz do pretty nice gasket kits, ebay good source of heavily discounted prices .

dpf regen only happens when specific conditions are met which is not driving in traffic in city or changing up through gears and shouldn't be a cause of oil loss . If oil level dropping you either burning it or leaking it . Smoke under driving conditions you mentioned is either engine oil getting burnt or diesel oil delivery issue due to perhaps injector issue (ecu injector learning or actual injector physical fault)

Lol , you bend him over and i'll shove a bmw fsm up his ar5e :-)

tgv sensor is same as the throttle position sensor so that makes sourcing them far easier/cheaper . You can remove the tgv system which not a bad thing as they are common fault ... Glad see you proper diagnosed and verified the fault and had a play on freessm . Top job and staple trick looks effective :-) job jobbed .

any idea on location of vibration ? front middle or rear . how vibration felt, through seat, steering wheel etc etc ... does vibration stop as soon as clutch dipped (assuming manual !) If goes instantly it pretty much illuminates suspension related and points towards drivetrain .

Go to a sigma installer and the will do it via cable and software. Option 2 is if still got a remote but it not working is send it away to repair service like see on ebay and if get it back fixed then use the opportunity enter new pin with working remote .

^ What I said was transmission wind up, this is when likes of poor wear matched tyres or tyre with low pressure causes rolling radius of tyres differ too much thus the different rotational circumference causes the props and driveshafts to fight against each other as they turning at too different speeds that the 4wd system can not handle. Rear bearings pretty common cause of noise so check them out thoroughly . Only way we pick up lot of bearings is via running in gear on ramp and with stethoscope or long screwdriver on rear hubs .

They came to the diesel to late and with poor design and tightening emissions . Modern diesels are useless due to stringent emissions and dpf that choking the power and potential efficiency from them . Only way we buy pre 2011 subaru diesels is already broken and for scrap money virtually, Picked up a few super tidy ones for later engine swap. Unless you got deep pockets stay away from early diesels and if not doing very high miles stay away from diesel full stop as absolutely no savings if account for thorough servicing, at least one expensive fault and fact the mpg pretty poor .

You can fix the clocks, normally bit of reflowing or bit more solder fixes issue. remove the clock board from the black plastic housing it sits in and plug it in car loom and press components on board until you hit spot that makes it work then hone in on each board component joint till find likely suspect. I found large resistor to right of lcd issue on a couple, fixed more than a dozen over the years with nothing more than soldering iron and solder and 30 minutes patience ...

Check wheel bearing temps with laser and also around the diff housing and see what pick up from that . Don't jump to conclusions as bearings a common source of some serious noise, hopefully temps make something obvious, if having hard time pinpoint it get it on a lift and run it in gear on lift and listen for noises and check bearing play while wheels off ground .

I would contact rallyflapz for fitting details, seems pretty much what you want at fairly reasonable cost .

tricky one really as hard have right tyres all year round and matched for odd scenarios . Tyres good in mud won't be so good on road and will have more noise and worse MPG . If your yoko's well worn that wouldn't of helped as plenty tread depth helps a lot in mud .You going have weigh up what most important to you in tyre features and make a choice. Other option is spare set of wheels for more winter and off road use, couple farmers I do work for have second set of rims for more off road type tyre for wet and wintery times . I like nokian weatherproof as a all season tyre M+S rated, has good fuel and wet weather rating, pretty good all rounder but still likely need a tug in a real muddy field scenario .

import car parts ICP or aftermarket online best bet in term of 'goods in hand time' and cost .

If that intermittent then harder test and less likely anything battery/alternator . at the least take a poking device so when happens can hit/tap starter with it, if good hitting/tapping on starter/solenoid results in it cranking then pretty conclusive and will ideally want replace starter if all wiring checks fine. These things get worse but don't leave it too long or you may get stranded and if got no breakdown cover it gets pricey before even fixing issue .

Nothing to do with fuel pump so don't waste any time in that area. If you got multimeter check battery voltage, should be 12.2 (low charge state) to 12.8 roughly pending on battery type(full charge no surface charge state) Also check battery voltage with aid of helper when no crank present and key held in crank position, if voltage still high all good if dropped to like 9v battery likely iffy with engine running and alternator working you should see 13.8v+ (normally 14v to 14.4v) turn on headlights fan and rear demister and check voltage, increase revs if voltage bit low and see if goes up again . This very basic battery and alternator test as not checking amp output from alternator or actual capacity of battery but it will be helpful if readings are all on high side . If that passes, use multimeter at starter and check battery voltage to starter cable side and starter terminal side and do resistance check earth side, also want do voltage drop test when under load (cranking) "google voltage drop testing for instructions. Only other wire on starter is smaller gauge ignition trigger wire which is what activates the starter solenoid when you turn the key to crank, if this shows 12V when turn key it fine and if shows 12v with key turned to crank and starter not working you instantly know immobiliser fine and starter or starter wring issue . My hunch from 30yrs experience, 20 on subaru and your description is starter/solenoid or if lucky simple wiring issue such as loose or corroded terminal . other simple test you could do with a helper is have them hold key in crank position while no crank fault present then first off tap on starter/soleniod with wood hammer handle repeatedly and see if springs into life (if does solenoid/yoke level worn/sticky, replace starter assembly) If doesn't spring to life try tapping pushing wiggling battery terminals and cable terminals at back of starter and if springs into life you found the area of fault . This all easy stuff but needs some experience fill the gaps and make most of test results you get . Don't go throwing parts at it without testing as just throwing money away . test don't guess . starter and battery good place learn some basics and plenty tuition on google for multimeter use on starter and battery tests .

^ That would be my hunch from his comments and experience but assume nothing and test everything . We would diagnose that in 10 to 20 minutes unless something more odd with immobiliser or ignition switch needing more testing pinpoint part and repair options . Do get odd one with simple battery terminal issue, had one before xmas where lady had ordered a battery online and fitted it herself, she hadn't loosened clamps off enough to fit fully down on new terminals and not done them very tight, wiggling them could see was loose and pushing down on them cured the intermittent no crank issue lol . easy fix with a 10mm spanner . Charged her hour and half labour and recon starter :-D no i didn't, only joking lol . Plenty starter motor option used or recon and easy fit so no big deal if that the issue .

It a 12yr old starter and if done lot of short trips it had more use than a car with 120k on it. Sounds likely mechanical solenoid issue to me BUT always check power and grounds, we do this with voltage drop test with a dmm having tested battery charge state/drop test, also use infra red heat gun these days too and see temps at cable joins as shows a high resistance connection in seconds without getting fingers dirty. You also want check the ignition 12v trigger signal to starter solenoid as if ignition switch related or immobilizer related that 12v feed will be 0v . If the ignition trigger is 12v and getting to the solenoid and wiring to starter and voltage good (you can use jump leads as temporary leads/earths as a test procedure) then starter needs pulling and bench test and repair/replace .

I would say about 3,500 about best you get private and even that may take a while . always best try little more as you can come down in price but not up . I picked up odd 04-05 XT as low as 2K privately in super tidy order under 100K . 2.5 not most popular due to HG issues, TGV and EGR valve issues and most people prefer a 2005 for road tax reasons . eBay is big seller for cars, even those using autotrader also be looking at eBay too . Do very good pictures (not with car still wet from a wash) and be super honest in description and things should be pretty simple once get a viewer . selling cars is just luck in having people interested close enough to your location . Good luck .

sounds likely an issue to me. at over 12K now engine should of bedded in so no real excuse for oil consumption and smoke ... I would act on that pretty quickly and don't get white washed with excuses, and if possible do a vid of smoke and make record of oil volume lost in mileage covered and see where it takes you with subaru dealer .

with only 1mm between part data and your measuring I would put money being they right, coming direct from dealer even more likely it right .

pretty poor experience with your 2 garages work, just shooting parts at it based on hunches rather than proper diagnosis :-/ Expensive way fix what probably really only 1/3 of the total bill if someone competent had been involved, shame the customer don't have more rights on poor diagnosis work as would get rid of a lot of the not so good garages pretty quick .

Sending yours in for refurb by bigred is about most cost effective approach, they generally very well priced and do good work . We don't do caliper rebuilds too often as refurb cost generally better and a warranty/liability to fall on . Small issue of piston seal or slides we may do if individual parts cheap or after something specific like stainless piston fitting and caliper in general pretty clean to warrant effort, rear calipers with handbrake system issues generally always best getting full refurb .

breakers or ebay cheapest route . it basically sigma alarm so same style sigma fob branded sigma will do you . do come up cheapish new at times on ebay, had them under £25 at times . be sure you know your 4 digit alarm pin, if not sort it asap and while you have a working remote . plenty threads with m30 alarm manual and on resetting pin code if needed ...

Prices can be pretty low on these as not that popular on used market so don't be shy in making offers and put your initial offer few hundred below your ideal price so can haggle up a bit . Wouldn't pay too much of a premium for lower mileage on diesel, longer runs seem keep them more trouble free . try and view/test drive at least 3 before buying anything as will give you feel for the vehicle and a better idea of good price and potential faults through comparison . Here's another that may interest you, my favourite colour on this model forester, would want pay less than asking but how much less really depends on how crisp and clean it is and how much spent on servicing upkeep, thus you got see it to put a value on it . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Forester-2-0D-XC-2011/122923177805 anything you look at low ball it with sensible offer and more so if simple cash sale. wouldn't be too concerned with dealer warranty as most of them useless at sorting subaru diesel running faults, main dealer could be bit better but I wouldn't pay a premium for dealer warranty as it simply a waste of money . Don't rush into it and be sure inspect and test drive thoroughly . Lot of what ends up in dealer yards is polished junk so be careful .

Main pointers if going for diesel is indeed 2011 going be better option than 2008 to 2010 . only good thing with 2008 was it pre dpf which nice, the crank issue is pretty serious and likely cost you more than the car value . DPF is an awful concept which in long term creates more waste and lowers potential mpg of modern diesels and complete waste of engineering and production effort and one reason I against modern emissions on diesels . Be sure test drive vehicle minimum of twice and combination of b roads and dual carriageways, be sure clutch feels spot on as these expensive and known be bit problematic (DMF, dual mass flywheel) Make sure engine runs smooth and no odd knocking or rattling hot or cold . Be very particular (ignore any seller bluff) and any doubts walk away as problems on these can be super expensive and almost like a french peugeot in likeness to some issues not fixable as ecu firmware or oem part related with no revisions available .