Mr B

As above plus far better engineered car too, whether XV or Forester.

face to butt is ugly, not keen on interior myself but suppose tastes vary. Had a good look at an XV today, in white & looked better than expected for white, interior works for me as does potential practicality. See how the new breed does on a few years usage with reliability/dealer fettling & I will buy one.

tribeca is a styling disaster :-S kind of glad not to see too many :-) XV is great styling & practical vehicle all in one, shame don't see a few more but then if was as common as a focus the magic becomes lost :-) Will be buying one of these in the future for sure.

Worth effort finding decent independent, might as well start now with basic servicing then you will have some gained knowledge for futures jobs if get any.

I do cambelt, all pulleys/tensioner (OEM sourced), jap sourced water pump, crank seal for £525. We only use ADL kits with OEM bearings or Dayco belts with OEM bearings, water pumps are japanese Asin or equal quality Jap brand not cheaper European sourced. You will get prices from range of £380 to your dealer quote :-S hard compare the lower quotes without knowing quality of parts used & quality/care of work. Always worth asking what parts they use to help judge pricing & also fussiness of garage. Cambelt on the boxer is pleasant job compared to say a Pug 206hdi so any talk of complexity by garage is ploy for more cash or sign of minimal experience Subaru prices are just ridiculous in terms of part prices & labour, would sell a lot more parts & maintain a busy workshop if they improved their pricing.

just scratch or punch a mark on them at 12oclock position or easy reference position, get a few in where they been overlooked & tyres get ruined.

What about brakes ! discs & pads are not that expensive & expect whole front & rear can be had for £130. front calipers recon are not super cheap, rebuilding is not that expensive if they decent enough ... Doubt you will have any issue doing struts as very easy, just mark base position of camber bolts so when reassemble your camber will be close & only need minor tweaking.

So Y section damaged too ? strut top mounts are around £50 a corner: struts, springs, boots/bumps & tophats is around £600+ price figure Parts for all these mentioned jobs would be heading to £1,000

How reliable is this garage ! Has the car had a recent MOT as would expect some of this to of been an issue or advisory !? Can't see it needing a complete exhaust, perhaps cat back which basically centre & rear box ! Exhaust is not that hard to do & can be done on stands or ramps. Shocks/struts are easy & have a read of thread below for some basic pointers on a smooth install http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/topic/7216-2005-forester-xt-rear-sls-unit-leaking/ Are the struts noticeably leaking ? if are then going need whole set & that £300 for kyb & ideally want new springs shock boots & maybe tophats (fronts more so than rear) Drop links are super easy & sump oil leak needs reviewing (if you not topping oil up or just a little it not big issue, could be front crank seal then bigger issue ! Think you need give these reported faults a good inspection & perhaps even take some photos so we can see the current condition. Even doing this yourself will not be super cheap as calipers, discs, pads, drop links, struts will be a chunky parts bill ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&item=300739291877&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&_osacat=0&hash=item4605756ae5&_ssn=mjd128&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xforester+97+kyb&_nkw=forester+97+kyb&_sacat=0&_from=R40 Not cheapest but gets you started with some ball-park figures, best prices will be a friendly autofactors on these I expect.

Just go with KYB springs then if want keep price decent, review tophats too as current maybe serviceable especially rears. Expect springs tophats & protection kits can be had on likes of eBay but struts are hit & miss pending on stock levels & looks like most eBay suppliers cleared them as very little struts for SF. I get them for a little under £70 & they throw in the protection kits free for full sets, just find what can and prices on eBay etc then call a few autofactors & have all details on hand & see what prices you get. Should be quite reasonable & if you do the work yourself I expect a whole set of struts/springs would be cheaper than just 1 complete strut/spring from Subaru so not bad really.

Part# Struts *excel-G* Front L 334190 R 334189 Rear L 334192 R 334191 Tophats Front SM53611 Rear L SM8101 R SM8102 Protection boot/bump kit *1kit for 2 struts* Front 910105 Rear 910072 Springs *kyb k-flex* Front RC2315 Rear RA5763 No idea on your current condition/suspension problems & what your goal is. for best price you would best use KYB springs or originals if good enough order, also expect rear original tophats re-usable but up to you to evaluate. If handling big on agenda then springcoil springs would be good but more hassle & more £. Monroe do struts too & they decent struts so don't overlook them should you see a nice price.

I'll post part numbers for KYB later as busy at mo. Won't find them in masses on internet or eBay, SG range found easily mainly as huge stock hence cheap prices of around £55 for SG. Top hat kit (front) from KYB is same for sf & sg & that number is SM5361 You can use kyb spring too and they cheaper than springcoil but obviously no custom ratings. If yours is JDM import then standard springs are stiffer than EU vehicles. You would be best pricing from local factors and you should be able get some level of trade price if handle it right. 4/3 or 4.25/3.5 is better real world ratings for BC, 6/5 ok on good dry surface but !Removed! on wet or bumpy roads, BC strut travel is also very short in travel range & not great on 4wd road cars.

I don't rate the pedders very highly mainly in terms of durability as replaced a few that not been that old but dampers had failed. You get 2 year warranty on kyb's , kyb do top hats too as they are the OEM for subaru. Mix that with some custom springs from springcoil & you would have decent ride & grip in all weather & road types. kyb struts are probably about £70 a corner & springcoil would be about £55, throw in top hats & strut boot kits & you should do complete at £700ish

8/6 on a daily road car will be awful & a downgrade in handling/grip. 6/5 will be bad enough with pillow balls & stiffer rear rubber mounts.

On B-roads 8kg is awful, ok for track but for good handling & grip on real average roads & wet roads coilovers like BC & high spring rates are awful. Best road handling would be new struts from kyb or monroe & some custom springs from springcoil ...

Mmm does look interesting for the price but absolutely hate the colour :-S

If door perfectly good then certainly overkill & finding decent same colour is always tricky. Could be bit awkward but not that bad for someone with decent tools & some experience or natural ability in these things. Best bet is looking at mechanism first as may be repairable, if you can't handle it take it to a decent garage. Could be a bit time consuming to get all aligned & working smooth depending on exactly what been bent/stretched from the accident !

No need break the window, with your particular scenario you may need chop the regulator arms up to allow removal if badly bent & not workable as is. A decent replacement regulator assembly & sensible effort fitting it should have you sorted.

Most important thing with headgaskets is using quality gaskets & surface finishing on head & block, certainly things such as bore condition, rings, valves etc will be reviewed during the process but if engine otherwise healthy it now way a rebuild. The specific issue on Subarus & head gaskets is mainly due lo more permanent contact of oil, petroleum & water on the gasket due to boxer design mixed with less than perfect head gasket design/material. Your boost is 1.2Bar which indeed is high & do need be sure the fuelling & ignition is supporting this. I would like see fueling figures from a power run & also ignition timing/knock, retarded ignition will cause overheating, would expect some CEL activity though. Hard call with the results you posted to date. Compression test readings are not low but difference is out of tolerance spec but all over 150 is very good. Would really expect pick up combustion gas with sniff test (gas analyser rather than chemical after running car till shows overheating ) or at least have some water loss if head gasket.

Its not a full engine rebuild & from your remarks from tests likely not head gasket thus far. Best get it checked thoroughly by decent subaru knowledgeable independent & take it from there. Cooling system needs a good check with basics such as thermostat looked at/replaced & rad cap too, I would get it on rolling road to simulate issues & log all data & do sniff test on cooling too while on rollers to try pinpoint issue. Your pressure test readings are not the best but certainly would want do more tests & inspect other areas prior to even thinking about head gaskets seriously. A lot of misfire/hesitation issues when on boost comes down to ignition faults, fuelling, leaking inlet piping & crappy dump valves.

Probably a split cv boot on drive shaft throwing grease out. Kind of impossible for pump not to pump for short time but a pump leak could be involved & be intermittent. You certainly want to keep an eye on it & that grease issue needs looking at/fixing (not big job that) Ideally the car wants looking at on the ramp with plastic tray removed & take it from there, this could be done when boot/grease issue resolved.

Do the sniff test with exhaust gas analyser probe, far cheaper & just as accurate. Do check for obvious simple leaks first ...

GC4/GF4 should be 24 spline. GC3/GF3 should be 21 spline Look at your vin plate for details.

Good job, 2hrs is not too bad & bolts at rear can be more troublesome & doesn't get touched very often. With price on the KYB struts with 2yr warranty you got to be mad to buy Peddars kit. When SLS full collapsed it is aprox 50mm of droop so sounds rebuilt height about right, would expect it to settle few mm perhaps in a few days to a month. Really isn't a hard job & at least now you got experience in dealing with your suspension so any future work won't be an issue plus you save about £100 in parts cost & actually got better quality :-) If you marked camber bolts & refitted to very close positions your camber should be close & generally within tolerance. Enjoy the ride at the weekend ...