Mr B

To be honest 06 subaru no real ballache for battery removal the old fashioned way same as your landy . Main reason we use memory saver is speed and aftermarket radios and alarms as keeps customer happier than turning up and needing a radio code and tweak lost settings etc . Do get odd times when electronics like body control ecu, alarm modules can go bad with power cut during a swap, Peugeot use to be real bad for that and need mudule flashing after power drains and jump starting as firmware became corrupted but fortunately we don't work on them if can help it and jap electronics way better than french and german :-) Main reason on leaving car door open or window down is as precaution not lock yourself out if alarm on repower locks car and keys left in car :-S Has happened to me so I have this working practise to save any drama .

Couple options 1 unlock car with remote, open drivers door and leave open or at least leave window fully down, open bonnet and remove battery . be ready with remote if alarm does go off on reconnection of battery. 2 do as above but make your own battery memory saver, I do this and simplest method for quick battery swap is a 9v battery with 2 long cables with 9v battery clip and crock clips on ends, clip them securely to + & - car battery cables then remove battery leads, power from the 9V will keep everything alive as long as don't nock lead off, can do same thing with cigarette lighter adaptor . I used a rechargable 9v for years when doing battery swaps as saves time with clocks and hassle with radios etc . * Other tip is be sure have your 4pin alarm code tested and working before do anything as PITA plus expensive if remotes fail or loose programming and you got no pin code. If you don't have a code you can program a new one as long as have a working remote .

^ Diesel is not injected into the oil, during dpf regen extra diesel injections happen during exhaust stroke and diesel is burning in the dpf to heat it up and shift the soot . certain amount of this diesel makes it way past rings more than normal and thus into the oil diluting it. some will evaporate in time with engine running. Dilution % is purely mathematical equation by ecu logic . Quality oil and filters and regular changes are a must on modern diesels . I think diesel additives (cetane increase and cleaning) are important on modern diesels as is decent fuel to start with. I like the millers diesel additive . Modern diesels are an economical and environmental joke, maintenance and reliability are high due to complex design all caused by emissions/DPF which besides collecting soot and spitting it out on the motorway does nothing but reduce potential fuel efficiency and increase long term pollution by increasing service and component material consumption on top of burning more fuel due to back pressure of exhaust and regen cycles . engineering and environment madness :-(

more likely 25mpg slugging about town but the auto and wrong driving style = poor mpg figures . on longer runs 35+ is easy but getting 28/29 short trips is about best can expect if trying and ideally with a manual box .

for jap cars either blueprint or oem , stay away from euro parts ...

kyb would be fine, I would google the kyb numbers for cheapest price as one of those items that can vary a lot .

they are pretty much average taiwan coilovers . from my experience they useless on uk b road daily driving use and downgrade in traction and handling over well planned oem style suspension tweaks . I've removed quite a few coilovers after owners bored of it , had failures or just downright dangerous road handling .

average taiwan coilovers are useless on uk B roads and downgrade in real handling and grip . Get new top mounts and look into custom spring options from springcoil.co.uk if want alter things a bit . Don't lower too much on standards struts as can run out of compression travel plus limited travel range and spring preload changes can make for poorer handling .

You can buy the complete blade (Denso DRA035) for about £8 .

picture of key and alarm fob and siren/sensors in car will help, oem sigma would be uk only generally, could of had a sigma fitted by sigma installer or some other alarm . Without more details no one can give viable answers ...

No can't really go with used hub as bolt they on about goes through the hub so same issue, it got come out . I do these all the time, they can be ballache but if soak them few days with penetrating oil and then attack them with heat and air gun followed by air hammer you normally get them free. If you use a hub tamer bearing kit you can do bearing on car as long as get driveshaft free so can work around this seized bolt by trying remove the link other end . Also be aware new springs will not fix your sagging issue, you have hydraulic SLS (self leveling) rear struts and the hydraulics fail and rear sags about 50mm or more. Fix is new KYB struts (non SLS as they only available genuine at about £700 a pair) and matching springs for non SLS suspension (springs differ between sls and non sls) , (less than £200 in parts . I done a thread on this if search . If need more details just ask .

No idea on what year jdm went to skim key fully, I remember doing a 99 and 2000 jdm with them .

Think I would retrace my steps and try best find the key lol . If was fresh import then would have only standard skim key (transponder immobilizer) built into ecu and 2 button fob built into key which central locking only . For eu/uk market they had to have upgrade meet eu requirements and that out sourced at that time to sigma, sigma made a new custom cover for the standard 2 button key which turned it into 1 button and had a custom made pcb board fit the key fob assembly . Would assume you going need a cat1 cert for insurance so if didn't have anything fitted something will need fitting . Key and skim chip easy enough sort and any half decent locksmith can do that , subaru central locking could be sorted easy enough, sigma alarms easy enough sort too if does have one, if no alarm system and adding one that can control the central locking as well as that what sigma does and and any alarm system has door locking interface outputs for integration . Car keys are pretty expensive things, one of first mods want do is sort key spares and alarm pin (if have a sigma) amount of panic and expense I seen over years as this been overlooked is scary . Any new customer we get with sigma's gets asked if have pin code as easy reprogram if have a working remote and easier for them and us to have it sorted before an issue rather than after .

Parked up and catch the sun on black leather is awful lol . This time of year I love my all weather heated seats in the mornings lol, is really effective and great to have, can see why subaru so popular in canada ....

If it mainly noise it may stay like it for ages but if can feel the issue at low speeds it really needs sorting . I done the odd rear diff so I know the viscous units can go bad Is your XT auto or manual ? your first thing is accurate diagnosis or at least crossing off options narrowing it down. I've had customers in who spent hundreds on rear wheel bearings and new tyre set then moved on to me for help and it was the diff. flip this scenario and some tyre issues wheel bearing and rear brake issues can causes drive line type faults/noises so it needs looking at by someone with subaru experience. I could probably diagnose that in 30 minutes from short test drive and putting it on lift and running it in gear on the lift and doing basic examinations, it not that complicated to a clued up mechanic .

It takes less than 10 minutes do a relative compression check and useful as gives idea on engine health in general as well as some direction on your issue. It indeed likely CPS sensor, coil or wiring related but without some test data on basics you just guessing and have no direction in trouble shooting it . I see these NA engines at over 200K without much drama, relative comp test give you some useful data to it's condition and life and if shows lower comp on cylinder 1 may show reason for the code .

Rear diff is a sealed viscous lsd unit so changing rear oil or adding additives makes little difference when this the fault . Other thing check here is tyres are matching make, even tread wear and pressure correct. Any of this wrong and rolling circumference can differ enough to wind up transmission . If when doing tight slow manoeuvres you can here and more importantly feel it in drive train DO NOT leave it as can seriously damage drivetrain to point of severe failure . Is quite common see cars with rear lsd fault have recent new tyres and rear wheel bearing in effort fix the symptoms then sold as wallet burned out by bad mechanics/advise so see if this seems case with yours (what tyres on it and any recent bills or signs of work on the rear) Rear diff if is needed best done with a used unit, XT diff is same as some impreza and not hard find and not expensive (under £100) Removing and fitting rear diff not that hard of a job, about 2hrs if have few rusty fittings but simple enough and nothing complex. Absolute no need go whole rear axle that just silly, be logical do some checks such as tyres wheel bearing and brakes, (infra red heat gun superb tool for this) If doing a diff get someone who experienced with subarus and take bit of time source diff rather than blind panic buying first thing find. New diff will be silly expensive so don't even bother unless was warranty assisted repair . I would expect a small refund from dealer who sold you car, even if just £100 as good will gesture .

when say windows, fronts rear or both ! Front motors are troublesome as the motor housing faces down and collects water over time but symptoms of that normally slow and weak window movement.Check glass for alignment to seals as adjustable guide blocks keep frameless glass on course and if these out noise can be due to glass alignment off . Wiping seals down with silicone spray and lubing glass tracks with white lithium spray grease good practise . Motor removal pretty easy if know how do it but if don't can turn into a disaster, I can do some pics and basic pointers on removal if need arises . Don't pamic over sourcing motors as that pretty easy . Mirrors probably crusty mechanism, can try some careful application of contact spray or wd40 mixed with cycling operation and see if improves .

It's a small country but your forester can cover all of it all year round :-) I'm few miles from dartmoor national park ... You in barnet as in north london, not really 4wd fozzy country ...

Can't go far wrong with a petrol forester . hopefully we'll get some snow so you really get to enjoy it ...

His ar5e will be warm and perhaps a bit sweaty ! . seats straight swap, pretty simple fit heated seats to even a non all weather fozzy as harness points all exist in main harness run . Not a big fan of japanese leather or leather car interiors in general, age badly and awful in extreme cold and extreme heat .

Other thing to do before engine fitted is a new set of heater plugs, see post on here for info on heater plugs .

Basically a good used late 2010 or early 2011 ee20 complete block minus accessories, swap over injectors and all external parts to the new salvage supplied assembled block using new oem gaskets etc as needed. exact gaskets needed will all be down to how your breaker supplies engine and your dismantling technique., you also want service items oil filter, air filter, coolant. You will want review your clutch and dmf while engine out so could add another 500 . Finding good used engine at sensible price is the hardest part but if you not in a major hurry you should do okay .

At a guess from what I dealt with so far cost is about 2K if lucky. good revision diesel engines are worth more than your dead car . I see the foresters available at between 1K to 2K pending on finer details of spec mileage and overall condition. One we bought is 09 75K in metallic grey with only body defect being minor light scrape on rear bumper corner, paid 1,400 . Getting right engine at right price is hard bit, could by 3 or 4 of the foresters as few dead ones about and costly fix unless can do a swap yourself .

Don't bother, part of issue is the short block as they flex around main bearings and that helps the early crank versions fail . They done about 3 crank and possibly 4 short block revisions and you best looking into fitting a better revision engine to your fozzy . We actually got one in to do as above, purchased with same old crank failure (they worthless once busted which was nice for me buying but a killer for owners) :-/ and will be sourcing a used ee20 to get it back running in the new year .