Mr B

If you can do some spanner work yourself so basics like window motors, sunroof issues & hill decent switch can be done cheap plus you got some idea on checks at purchase then can be good buy, if not clued up you buying a money pit and possibly rear prop been binned so it a 2wd Landy (common find props pulled as easy way out of vcu & ird issues) 5 door wagon is a smart looking vehicle & if 4wd is working quite capable in real off road but not helping you much on road like a proper AWD system . I can't believe how poor the 4wd principle is on them, engineers that came up with it should be beaten publicly :-/ they revised the gearing ratio in rear diff on the late FL1 which tends help the IRD transfer box falling to bits but whole system needed binning for proper AWD . FL2 was switched to haldex rear dif which better but not great (still lots of problems, 2.2 diesel is super poor on mpg. 2003 to 2006 FL1 revised model td4 is best buy for buck if spend time buy real nice one, FL2 is serious cash for not so seriously built 4wd suv . If find decent one they can be cheap to run & reasonably reliable with good dose of luck & good basic service maintenance . I've used a td4 with a remap for towing & they not bad (standard power is low as Landy new transmission was soft junk) general cruising quite pleasant too, got drive with thought if want see good mpg on td4 though. I like look of them but engineering behind it was secondary school technology student quality :-)

I do a fair few of these as loads around our area, They a good earner :-) if subaru was as unreliable I would be a millionaire :-D Potential for huge amount of faults, elec windows, sunroof, rear door window drop to open mechanism, IRD-Transfer box failure, VCU issues, dual mass fly/clutch issues, TD4 injector/pump failure. petrol engines not worth having ... Main dislike is the 4wd system is junk, rear is geared to turn slightly faster than front so on solid surfaces/roads it front wheel drive basically & only drives rear when front slips & prop to rear turns faster activating the VCU fluid . TD4 is not bad engine, few mods can be done & sensible remap helps power/economy, mpg pretty poor for bmw diesel, some down to aerodynamics, rest down to landrover for awful transmission design. FL2 was built under Ford ownership of LR, FL2 said to be better build quality but FL1 2002-2003 not to be overlooked if see real gem . Would avoid petrols as they are complete junk. Auto box option not bad :-/ Got be real fussy buying these (and I mean real fussy/picky) & know your stuff so spot sign of the expensive faults easily . Quite practical cars & huge amount for sale so not hard find odd good one . They bit like marmite, love or hate pending whether bought a good one or the common shed .

Check engine light covers huge range of engine related sensors, exhaust, ignition etc . Ideally want get a scan tool on it to read the codes, would be worth you either buying a basic obd2 scantool or using the freessm software and a obd2 vag cable off ebay or if have android phone use torque app & a bluetooth obd2 mudule. All is cheap and worth learning , quite bit info on here in some threads if search about .

yeh T5 is 5mm & T10 is 10mm Blue looks nice, smart but subtle, is dimming range working on them sensibly .

Probably one of the front sensors, cables tend fail due to movement/steering over time . Worth visually check all the sensor wires & cleaning connector plugs with elec contact cleaner spray, also check the toothed ring on hub as if heavily corroded & full of crud it can effect sensor reading. Sensors easy fit, nothing complicated, they not cheap though, around £100 region for new pattern part .

like the roof-rack, that turned out good. I done strut spacers a few times, works quite well, rear ideally needs camber offset built in the spacer or get some camber bolts for the upper strut to hub hole.. Looks like a nice versatile this foretza :-)

Have a look in the subaru forester service manual, that ecu not not uncommon & shared with impreza too . Clear image of the ecu & the connector port may help supply a matching pinout diagram .

It's ugly but a good ride . Would of sold well if got styling better, the Oz facelift version is quite nice and they were in the c5 and qashqai market before ever realising it . Missed potential until got round to the xv ...

Rear can be slow going & not pretty work when everything seriously corroded solid, long hub bolt to lateral links being common rear annoyance . On the plus side, front is dead easy in comparison, normally no heavy corrosion on fittings unless real unlucky ...

quite practical car/suv, OZ revised model is my favourite cosmetically. road tax uk is big whack so smaller engined forester or earlier outback or forester-2.5 take the punters who want avoid £500 road tax bills . Only get one of these in for bit of service work, had one other for rear wheel bearing but that it . quite a rarity . Replacing plugs and check ignition parts would be good start, post cat faults reasonably common/likely too, check sensor wiring and maybe do a bench test on sensor if logging/live reading diagnostics doesn't show any conclusive reading issue with lambda values, does pre cat look like been changed recently ! light missing and unburnt fuel soon damages older Lambda sensors . Toe is parallel with preference towards toe in so 0 or around 1.5mm toe in would be good .

I'm not sure if there is any difference with the pumps, the scv (suction control valve) on the pump controls the rail pressure through pulsed control from ecu so any requirement on line pressure changes could of been implemented without massive pump redesign needed . Worth looking at numbers on pump & svc and doing some research, Nozzles on the newer engine injector were different but I thought pump unit was compatible but i'm not sure as we all still learning on the EE20 and just not done enough big jobs on them yet so lacking experience & knowledge for yes/no answers. Your power could feel down as if warning light stays on solid it will run in a lower power safe map, also if dpf well clogged it will itself hold back power. Could be coincidence and dpf was close to issue prior to engine failure, could also pay a part in failure to to additional stress through exhaust back pressure. Changing pump looks bit of pain but might be best way forward over always having a doubt .

Yeh we had limited options when needed one, used subaru breakers as none locally . Do get listed on eBay every now and then . Just do half decent bodge to keep it in place (don't want it dropping down damaging door) & hunt one down .

That sucks ... Yours is the facelift version SG XT so has indicator in the mirror, any late 2005(2006to be sure) to 2008 SG will be same . Won't be cheap even used, try few local breakers then subaru specialist breakers, even ebay be light on options for these late SG mirrors . you may be able temporary re-attach which will give you more time find suitable replacement . new is silly money . We paid around £60 for nice used ones before, can be more and very rare anything decent for late SG going be under £50. Plus side, O/S normally easier source as N/S gets more demand from mirror to mirror clipping .

Parts are good but not OEM, good option when cost or availability a concern . We used esubaru quite a bit for fast OEM part sourcing at more sensible costing the subaru dealer network direct .

shafts are not handed . Do believe auto/manual same but ideally need check that ... another option for axle shafts complete or just joints is J&R We used them for several years for Nissan & subaru shafts, mainly SF fozzy & legacy complete shafts in pair and quality is decent and cost very reasonable. prefer OEM for anyone on turbo models & doing high mileage & expected vehicle life warrants cost . S&R > Unit 14 Tilecross Trading Estate Birmingham, B33 0NW Phone: +44 (0)121 770 5636 Email: [email protected] Fax: +44 (0)121 770 8357 Web: www.jandrcvjoints.co.uk

2.0xt & 2.5xt should be same, manual or auto box !? If after complete shaft OEM try eSubaru 020 8839 0777 and give them reg number or chassis number . OEM going be around £250 to £300 Decent OE quality pattern part around £160 to £190 .

You can get very attached to a family car. I have similar issue with old 94 2.2 legacy that my father had for many many years, keep it going as it like a family member & carries lot of memories. Perhaps try friend network first as could be nice see it around and here about how it going . Is a shame having it sat about not getting used much & creating you unneeded annual bills. I'm fortunate as couple old loved cars I got can sit around the workshop, get used occasionally & covered on trade insurance so not creating to much expense. Hope it works out well for you & the car .

If likes of timing belt been recently done and all tyres a1 matching set I would possibly try 2,750 to start. Not many manuals on market so someone maybe keen. That sort of money gives lot of options on later model outbacks but obviously twice mileage. You can only sell it once and as low mileage and good owners history make most of it and hopefully you will pass it on to someone who'll appreciate it. If I have any serious requests on an outback I'll check out your selling status. Good luck .

Not too many 2.5 manuals, and even less low mileage super clean ones . If very very clean/original it worth another 50% of book prices . As a guide I would say about £2,000 I do prefer your model shape & also think the blue with 2 tone works well on the shape & against black trimming.. Coming up to time when sales improve for AWD too. Downside is many don't like the 2.5 due to head gasket problems plus many looking at 2.5 or 3.0 later model which quite cheap to buy & fair few around . Start high & see how goes, someone who after one and appreciates a clean car not going grumble as hell of a lot of car for the money & potentially a few years of trouble free enjoyable & versatile cheap motoring to boot . I'm always happy to pay 500 to 1,000 for clean original paintwork & cars that had caring owners/been garaged as pleasure of clean car & reduced small niggles & problems pays you back with interest .Sensible cost also helps it go to worthy new owner rather than some ebay bargain jack-ar5e :-)

DPF is the big box with sensors & small pipes in exhaust right at front of engine below pulleys. Do check pipes for pressure difference sensor all serviceable, not damaged, kinked, blocked ... We use a bore camera to get good look at both ends of the inner filter & rough idea of build up Pressure cleaning is last option on what appears heavily blocked DPF, good thing with pressure wash clean is can reverse flow & that gets lot of ash/soot out, can damage cat/dpf combo's if not careful plus ideally want be dried out prior to refitting . First step is seeing your soot levels & oil dilution levels & get things reset & possibly a forced regen (due to flashing dpf light) & see how goes. Using a dpf additive in fuel 3 times a year could be good practice too, Part of subaru service practice is additive in workshop & supplying bottle of fuel addative for use by owner at suggested interval . You would need good software to have forced regen, oil reset, new dpf & programming function for injector change etc .You will probably be using or want try torquePro for android phone which should give access to some useful data values . To be honest dpf in general is a problem in long term use & rather a waste really as you still produce the particulates but just waste a huge amount of manufacture parts (which have pollution value) to catch the soot which reduces efficiency (your performance & mpg is hit hard by dpf restriction in exhaust), then you waste even more fuel to spit this soot out on a regen cycle on a clear road ! Logically it counter productive much like most emission hardware. Pre dpf diesel are far far better & a modern tech diesel without dpf but with maximum design on fuel efficiency & clean burn, low manufacture pollution & long life cycle of all parts would be way better for environment :-/

Flashing is warning mode it requires forced regen . If stays in flashing mode too long it will go into limp home mode with lower power You want use something like freessm software & vag obd-usb to read ecu date/codes on the dpf . I recently purchased ssm3-4 diagnostics & training so better equipped for diesel issues (we getting quite few as dealers silly money & no complete cures, fair few on 2nd 3rd owner and they not happy with potential £300-£1,000 bill in first 6 months of ownership) At moment we can reset & gain normal dpf function but soot levels & regens can be fast in reoccurring, besides obvious sensor/injector/dpf/driving style faults other issues with firmware & hardware are yet to have suitable solutions, hopefully modded diesel roms or more knowledge on hardware issues will help better resolve in time ....

Is it steady light or flashing light. Could be worth looking at ecu firmware update status as mentioned, physically checking dpf would be good too, cleaning it out and seeing how goes could be way to start resolve, also temporary bypass to visually view soot at normal driving can be useful. early injectors can be problem and cause too much soot. Dpf is a PITA, I hate the things ...

You either have a single din or double din head unit as standard this can be swapped with many after market head units that conform to din 1 or 2 sizing . Wiring harness adapters are available too . Simpler than may appear and Google will have loads of info and videos on forester radio fitting . Lot of options, I would go with something with SD card or USB . You could also pick up a used original cd player if want cheap simple fix.

Clutch and flywheel issues Dpf/regen cycle issues Self retune issues Injector issues Crank issues Glow plug issues All issues tend be expensive with bills in thousand potentially. Later models are best but it still not an amazing diesel unfortunately . We don't trade early diesels as too much potential for customer dissatisfaction which could ruin our local reputation . Some running issues hard resolve & even Subaru don't have solutions for all unfortunatly . For those not doing massive mileage should stay with petrol/lpg . If buying one buy best can afford and have reserve funds for possible issue. Also test drive several times and some being town and b roads to see if dpf or self retune behaving . Servicing needs be spot on and any doubts in any area walk away .

Out of interest what injectors and ecu you using on your v5 ee20 transplant as wondering if cross parts of v4-v5 causing the issue, injectors different sizing etc. Dpf (basically a soot trap) is a pita and ruins modern diesels . Hot water and pressure washing can be good and cheap way of reviving heavily clogged dpf, regeneration not good when heavily blocked as regen fueling is killing engine oil and creates huge amount of heat stress too, chemical cleaning systems on running engine do work but costly and don't always resolve that long before warning light on again .