Mr B

Well if indeed heat shields it not going damage anything if left. I have had a fair amount that come off easily even when nuts look awful due high grade of fastener used. Best thing to do is once the plastic nappy off get car warmed up so noise can be produced by blipping throttle, then while accomplice is working the throttle try pinpoint source of noise & use a screwdriver to push shields around/wedge in gaps to find the offending one. Generally heat wrap ribbon or stainless wire wool (borrow some from the wife's sink cupboard ;-) ) can be used yo pack out the c-clamp brackets on shields. sometimes spot welding front Y section shields to adjoining shield is only way to fully cure.

to honest if you make effort with servicing with quality parts & quality oils you should get more than 2yrs without major hassle. I got an old legacy that now almost at 170K & had very little problems with it & it been used hard, My father used it for forestry work & towing a trailer for many year & then used as general work horse & it still drives good today, looks rather tatty but damn reliable.

Perhaps exhaust heat shields, I do at least one Forester or Legacy a month with this issue. certainly worth looking at first. Thread with some points on it here > http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/topic/4048-rattling-heat-shield/

About £400 for proper job from decent independent using quality Blue Print or ICP-Dayco kit with genuine Japanese bearing idlers/tensioner & top quality water pump plus OEM crank seal. Do it right you do it once, nothing worse than coming back in 3 months as old water pump starts leaking so you got buy pump anyway plus pay to strip all down again :-S or worse pump pulley/bearing fails :-S Same with crank seal.like extra £10 charge while doing cambelt or pay £80 have it done later. Heading towards a grand at the dealers :-O totally ridiculous but keeps me in work i suppose ! Independent charge is pretty good for possibly another hassle free 40K+miles in your old but trusty Fozzy. If she runs sweet & in real good order keep her as new stuff ain't a patch on the older cars ...

Standard transmision service oil we use for your average Subaru is Castrol Syntrax 75/90 (now branded as universal) An oil that has helped in past experience is motul 300 75/90. Another good one being Valvoline synpower 75/90 If indeed gearbox bearing you could look at Molyslip gearbox additive or similar along with fresh oil > Castrol Syntrax & see how works out !, have seen a few rumbly discovery/landrovers drastically improve with it.

Happy to help, if been more local would of been happy put it on our ramps for inspection, no conclusion no bill is my motto :-) 40K is low miles but short trips, cold transmission & a lot of gear work kills a car 3 times as fast as one doodling up & down the motorway and on 120K. My bet would be box as not unusual here a fozzy box a bit rumbly, good oil can help & if not too serious it could see another 40k without attention.

6 cylinder will be chain .

Hard to be real helpful without hearing it in person really. from your info it would deffo seem like transmission or running gear. Gearboxes whine & wheel bearings whine plus rear diffs, & those 3 are the common ones on high mileage/towing fozzies. Only ever done one prop that I recall but indeed it should be looked at as possible area of concern. If noise is more of a whuring on/off drone it more likely wheel bearing or prop. I would suggest another test drive & rock the fozzy left to right via short abrupt steering movement (do so on dry & clear straight road safely) if noise goes away when rocking it could indicate wheel bearing. I have seen loads of bad diagnosis & expense turn into a wheel bearing so don't rule it out. Personally I would also run it on ramp in gear & use stethoscope to help trace noises. If believed was gearbox & considered to be minimal concern would probably try a quality oil as first option, whiny gearbox can go on for thousands of miles but first need better diagnosis on source of noise. Good luck ...

Indeed, that alloy frame feeds from under bumper & through grill. would be possible make a frame with mounting bar using number plate points for lower frame & through grill for top, would be solid & lights look & work good at that level. Don't actually need any lights myself but tempted buy some just for sake of some fabrication :-P plus a meaner looking SG :-P

Your best bet would be some custom made brackets to feed through bottom of grill. Anything under numberplate is going be easily knocked etc ... If particularly heavy or large lighting you could look at the light bars but they not cheap for what they are. Custom brackets should be cheap option & worse scenario is a bit of cutting on the plastic grill,& that easily replaced if ever wanted reverse the surgery.

does it do it if in neutral & stationary ! if yes then not the prop. Could be input shaft bearings, could even be clutch release bearing perhaps ! If you drive along at about 50mph & press clutch down put in neutral & keep clutch down does it still do it & does it seem match vehicle speed, does light blip on throttle make any change ! Heard a few Foresters with whiny boxes, sometimes a change of oil, using a recommended quality oil (thread on here about it or the oilman can be very helpful here) can help dramatically.

@ Silver Forester 2.5 XT . You can download PDF HERE with some images & brief report. If not interested no bother, if interested pm me ... thanks . ... SOLD ...

Change your gearbox oil too if not been done for a while or unsure of quality oil used.

I would be inclined keep your current one bit longer, at 110K it still got loads of life in it & the older ones are far better cars in my opinion.

Will do, won't be till mid week at earliest.

@ Ganbit Any rules on selling on here ! Don't really deal with selling via forums so not up to speed on it, just want make sure following the rules/guidelines roughly :-)

One I have is 2003 to 2008 forester model range, light grey, fully working & as far as I recall close to new condition really. Would have to get it out & look to report accurately plus do some photos. I'm pretty busy too at moment so doubt I will be able organise that till middle of week. I would want £90 inc of P&P, shipping not cheapest due to length being too much for super cheap deals. ... SOLD ...

If he sent that standard 1st class I would of probably claimed never received & get my money back via PayPal. Indeed not technically correct but at least you get money back & can do something with the free tat you got. Personally eBay are at fault as the amount of fake & unlicensed goods listed is unbelievable & they need monitor the worst offenders. As Gambit said if you know you buying fake & price fair then all well & good but in cases like this the fookers need sorting & best way is making sure they don't keep your money thus they are loosing money :-) If they start loosing too much they go under or clean up.

Looks menacing that . I had a Mk3 7MGTE for a while, bought it with high speed kerbing damage. Needed suspension, subframe, steering rack, bumper, wing. Also had to do a head gasket to HKS metal layer & fit better turbo. Was quick & bit of fun but lowsy performance & handling in reality :-S Always loved the GT4 but never got one of those :-/ that funny thing with me, many cars I really like I never have owned ! I love a few special impreza turbo models but never owned one :-/ Mmm time for some car shopping :-D

I have a grey one from a 2003 SG AWP. PM me if interested, would need shipping as i'm down in the south west.

Miltek do one . You could also look at a custom system from powerflow or tweaking an impreza performance system to suit your forester.

change struts to standard non SLS. If SLS faulty & got saggy rear then worth mucking with but if in good order I would leave alone & spend money on checking all suspension bushes are in good order & buying quality tyres/wheels perhaps Lowered foresters tend to be a worthless job unless done well. We done a 2.5XT & rather than lowering we used KYB struts to replace worn SLS & fitted custom rated standard height springs all round to give firmer ride & little less body roll. Problem with impreza suspension swap is you need do some homework so use a good donor option plus you need buy good used 100% standard rather than half dead & fitted with unknown non standard springs, buying suspension used is a risky game.

Be careful lowering foresters as if on SLS rear struts you will need change them as well. Most people swap to impreza struts-springs as cheap used part option so find what works with you forester version & go hunting. Is a few specialist breakers but they are never the cheapest & subaru used parts hold good value due to demand & low number of subaru vehicles in the dismantling networks.

Sounds good & worth a little effort sort the niggles. I would get a good check of complete front suspension/hub/wheel & obviously let them test drive if fault easy to induce prior to alignment. Bumpers would be quite easy to take off & refinish, not super cheap for decent job but would make a clean car look almost new if done ... Good luck with it .

Are you sure it the tyre squealing & not the power steering pump pulley belt squealing on that particular lock at low speed. Any sign on tread wear suggesting alignment issue. Are the tyres new all round (important all tyres are evenly matched) Would assume MOT would of picked up on any fault with suspension but could be wise give it a good visual as perhaps something could be slightly bent from likes of curbing at speed !