Mr B

Likes of ebay good place get plugs at sensible price. Coils don't have service schedule, being intermittent issue not likely you going diagnose bad one easily, If have a multimeter you can do checks on coil winding impedance.

Sounds a plan, if lucky it plugs, coil packs are reasonably common and finding a visually cracked one or more would in some ways be good :-) If all coils look fine you would be wise do plugs and test outcome . expect halfords or small car accessory parts store doing sunday trading can do plugs, prices won't be as good as online pricing wise . ngk or bosch plugs would do you . Would be wise review you plug tools before going shopping as find may need longer tool/extension you can try source all in one trip.

Coil packs easy/quick remove compared plugs so no bother removing again. Up to you if want invest in set of new coil packs, will be £160 roughly and if issue not ignition then money wasted. I would ideally look at them and do road test with diagnostics logging . Plugs make sense as never a bad thing have known new plugs in, whether you go for coils is entirely your decision, I would try look at them asap as only 1 bolt & plug loom then pull off, if see crack or spark tracking marks then get new and fit when do plugs . Plenty other things could be causing hesitation/missing but I can understand the frustration .

mmm possibly airpump, when valves been stuck open airpump gets rough time. see if code thrown again :-/ Plugs are a driveway job, how easy it turns out depends on what plug tools you have at your disposal, watch a youtube video and have a go, you may need invest £10-£20 in plug tools. It not hard just little awkward till got tool & technique sussed. Set of iridium plugs can be had under £35. Mark position of removed plugs as tip colours will tell you a lot about how cylinders are running. You will be removing plug coil packs off of each plug so best physically look at these, the plastic housing has a habit of cracking so have a good look at them for cracks and signs of arcing from a short, new decent quality set of coil packs around £160 so no point buying until had a look at current ones, plugs are cheap & might as well have new on hand and bang them in. Under what scenario does it misfire, is it always under load/boost,does it ever miss when idling or light throttle ?

In long run it will probably be cheap fun car . A scruffy body is worse than small mechanical niggles, you never get same paint quality as the older factory original paint, they can last well over 25yrs with basic care. It quite hard find unmarked forester SG's as bumpers and arches so easily marked as all painted and over prominent . Hopefully you new valves have the air system working okay so you won't be back tracking on that and to be fair they should last your ownership hopefully . Old Fozzies look like sick dogs with the saggy butt, handling is indeed awful when sls strut hydraulics fail. Subaru parts prices are shocking, new rear shocks would cost about £800 a pair for bare shock strut :-O they would be wise discounting prices on common older parts to keep the business and subaru dealer image but they not too smart so it falls to us subaru specialists :-) Be fussy with your servicing (quality ester synthetic for engine changed regular and good coolant, 2,5 head gasket issues amplified from poor oil and old or bad choice of antifreeze), use good fuel and motoring should be pretty smooth going with luck . Crack on and enjoy it, wiser spending on this than having newer junk on credit . This is link to cheap easy use code reader, work well on subaru and what I recommend to users who not into obd via phone app . http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Engine-Fault-Code-Reader-Diagnostic-Scanner-Reset-Tool-OBD-2-CAN-BUS-EOBD-UK-/172200936611

I would advise you get a cheap obd reader. Either Bluetooth dongle for torque app if android user or simple stand alone handheld unit (£10) worth their weight in gold and just store in glove box . Is an eBay link to one in couple threads. Your buying price seems fair and if condition super clean it still worth it. Problem with air valve system is you likely end up buying most parts get it fully working so is expensive . Misfire hopefully easy one (if indeed misfire). Coil packs split so likely cause along with plugs and a must 1st check area, boosted cars need A1 ignition system, higher compression from boost equals more resistance so systems fails easier. I would assume previous owner sold due to air valve issue, main dealers would priced that at heart attack figures. You best avoiding main dealers as much as possible as besides basic servicing they got little older vehicle fault experience and only know replacing oem new for old . Stick with it as likely get perfect with bit more time and money . Your mechanic sounds genuine and helpful, Subaru very easy work on once gain basic knowledge .

Best bet would of been removal of the secondary air system, system is just a con to dilute emission readings and best place for it is in a metal skip. What is current code for CEL Ideally you going want pull plugs and check them and the coils, as they hard to get to they get left a LOT, I've done a few even ones with stamped recent history have had junk plugs that been overlooked out of laziness. I would get them pulled inspected and bang a new set in just to eliminate basics plus plugs sorted for long term . Big mistake so far was spending on air valves, about half that cost would of had it removed from map and blanked thus never anymore issue. Hopefully current cel more related to misfire ! Going Subaru specialist is way go as generally we can pinpoint areas of fault more accurately and wisely invest your money for long term benefit . Good luck .

neutral switch is the highest mounted of the 2 If in doubt put ignition on and in reverse and if pull connector off reverse switch the reverse lights will go out. You may have the later model with map intake system over maf. if maf - maf is a small square looking block with loom connector bolted to flat moulding on plastic intake pipe. you remove plug and bolts and sensor pulls out and element cleaned with carb cleaner. Give me your engine number if need more precise info to what you actually got . Shame mouldings not going on, would been nice way do them if rust minimal . One of those jobs where 4 arms and a heat gun or hair drier would be useful .

generally the oem units don't .

Good luck and maybe you get some snow to play in. chase up any glitches and use warranty to the max as these models can get expensive sorting issues if unlucky .

I'll be interested in the verdict ... being a diesel be fussy as that era is a PITA on Injectors and ecu firmware itself.. Clutch is indeed junk too, new one and dmf along with precise adjustments to pedal stops is only way get them in good range of bite. I done a couple clutches on these now and they come out in a mess even at under 35K which shocking, Dealers like blaming driver clutch technique but the issue is clutch used not good enough for the torque output, you won't get a Subaru tech admit that though as could end in an expensive recall . Surprised with their reputation they had that on sale without doing obvious glitches first and more so when priced that high. Be sure it perfect and push them hard and quick for faults while on warranty as bills can get silly and hard cure on diesel running issues .

If you lucky, drivers side tends be seat internal assembly (pressure switch from driver in/out of seat) but you get lucky sometimes and wiring or plug knocked by stuff pushed under seat or seat movement itself. Worth checking voltage/earth to seat base before fully concluding element/thermostat or seat switch related. good luck .

Usual 2 faults are connector wiring under seat knocked off/damaged so check that. Heater elements/thermostat or seat pressure switch the other, these need seat base stripped or used seat sourced.

Michelins are indeed a great tyre, just some struggle with a £600 tyre bill .

The Michelin are good but those Maxxis AP2's shouldn't be overlooked when cost important, they done very well in winter and season tyre testing against big names, they not the best but they matched or got close to some top name brands, before £ drop you could get these fitted at £85 which a bargain option that still gave good performance low noise and fuel economy .

crossclimate is nice. another option for this size at under £100 that I seen on couple customer XT's is maxxis AP2 all season XL One moorland owner rates them high and uses them on farm track, winter rain ice & snow, b road and motorway. rating and cost good too .

lol :-) are the tyres in good health and even wear between the set .bushes and mounts in good order Gearbox oil level and condition ok ? Could be worth dropping gear oil as can check oil state and debriss and try new oil a little over max and see if noise alters. Hard thing pin down over the internet, bang it on a lift and run it in gear and should be able pinpoint issue with stethoscope hopefully .

does it do it at 40mph with clutch dipped ? if goes away as clutch dipped it likely box related. Driveshafts normally clunky noise along with some mild droning noise, worse turning on a particular lock . Most likely wheel bearing (not overly expensive but try use ntn or at least jap made bearing), on a straight road when noise is present rock steering left to right if noise stops as load transferred wheel bearing it is. Putting it on a lift and running it in gear and using a stethoscope is way we do them when no physical evidence in hub exists. As noise/vibrations will be carried along driveshaft towards box and from drivers position sound will appear more central.

SF is great as easy remove from front and got some rear access as you point out, SG is PITA and got force hand into rear of bumper between plastic shield :-/ clips and plastic sh1te on the front underside of SG is appalling, almost french bad :-O got to love the SF, probably best car they ever designed and built in a general vehicle usability/longevity perspective .

It H3 bulb from what I remember so bulb base held in metal socket in housing which in turn is connected to the fog light loom earth. They can get bit scabby so likely good clean and some elec contact spray will have it all sorted . socket on loom can get very scabby and packing with silicone grease once cleaned can help keep it trouble free.

It increased NVH (noise vibration harshness) from the new pitch arm harder bushes .

awful spray too as not stripped much skirts left on, door fittings, bonnet fittings etc, will be overspray signs and poor edge finish everywhere, someone wasted 2.5k :-/

You can beat peddars kit price by £100 you can fit the kyb struts (kyb shocks can be found under £50 each inc p&p) KYB excel-G come with 2yr warranty and kyb do non sls springs or suplex range has springs aso, both giving oem ride height. If wanting specific ride height, tow or carry lot of weight or firmer handling then springcoil.co.uk do custom spec springs for SG at about £120 a pair and they A1 quality .

Idle switch issue is not generally related to the switch so much as the linkages inside box that engage with the switch, that why we use a thinner washer or remove it and use ptfe tape on threads which move switch closer to worn linkage. this issue not very well known, when our local subaru dealer gets stuck the cars end up with us ... dealers don't get a massive amount of experience on older running faults and only know what subaru tech bulletins teach them. Idle code can be tricky one though and though fault itself normally cheap it finding it first that the issue. ecu connector clean worth a go too as we resolved couple code issues with that over the years . clean maf and maf connector and clean tps and neutral switch connector too . do one thing at a time so can draw conclusion if get a change . good luck ...

Oh I see, I thought P0519 was resolved with iav . Can't see why dealer thinks it Cat on that code I would try looking at neutral switch (fit thinner sealing washer) as mentioned in previous post about idle fault. perhaps map sensor too . removing ecu connector and cleaning with elec contact cleaner could be worth a go too, has worked for us before on odd faults . take it idle is perfectly fine.