Mr B

That part of factory system that uses the transponder chip in the key which gets detected by sensor by lock barrel . The keyfob is seperate to this and is Sigma M30 by default for EU market when your model sold here new. To recap, you got 2 systems, standard factory that installed on production line is simple immobiliser circuit control via transponder chip built in the key . This system did not meet EU market requirements so it gets a Sigma M30 alarm which adds siren, door/bonnet sensing, motion sensor and adds additional immobiliser and takes command of remote door locking .

Siren on bulkhead has a rechargeable 9v battery inside it so can actually still sound even with car battery disconnected and by design wired to sound siren if main harnesses tampered with/disconnected .

Hi Melanie, what year/model Forester is this for ?

Few options you could take. This is a used one on eBay and they ship Kenya . Have used them for occasional spares ourselves and they been reliable and nice condition parts . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284344229632 If we send out a good used one it be about similar price, £40 for used cylinder and shipping tracked looks to be £25 . New original or top quality aftermarket is £300 range plus shipping. Cheaper but acceptable aftermarket is about £140 plus shipping .

I would assume sigma alarm module fault, you can pick these up used for £100 range with a fob/pin code supplied and quite simply swap over and reprogram fobs and you done. fixing it will be less of a loss than selling ...

because it wrong procedure for Sigma system . Follow what Greenmamba has posted as that correct and what we use . Sounds to me like rolling code not working right so possibly might need swap out main alarm module as can't see issue with 2 known working fobs at same time. try a relearn and perhaps a used keyfob prior to considering alarm module route .

Don't waste time or money on a recon, pick up a used one, better for environment and your wallet . Before you write off the diff you could drain fluid and inspect for excessive metal debris and if isn't any try a slightly thicker oil . Sometimes the whirring sound in rear diff when driving through a bend can be the viscous diff unit and will actually still do fair few thousand miles service (I got a few thrifty farmers that done a decade driving on a noisy rear diff). Is possible when they isolated elecs for welding it upset the alarm further as had issue prior to welding .

Having both fobs not working is not promising of an easy fix but check basics first. Was the second fob known good and gets used a bit or was it most scruffy one of bunch that chucked with all spare keys and never really used. If above is the case I would check/clean/replace battery and try again, checking fob is actually outputting a signal be good too . Is possible receiver on you alarm faulty or a chance something else in you location interfering with signal . It also quite common have battery connection issues and failed buttons on these old fob boards. The alarm is a Sigma M30 system, they cheap to repair if you know about them so don't go throwing stupid money at it as no need . If you do need fobs, repair service is available (services advertise on eBay etc), prices around £25 plus postage . You can also buy a used working fob and program it to your module and swap fob board to your key housing . Same with alarm module if was faulty you can buy this used *must be supplied with pin code or at least 1 working remote* and it can be fitted and your fobs programmed and pin also can be changed to 4 pin you prefer . All above costs very little and we done alarm module swap and key reprogrammed for around £180 in past . Fob issue alone could be solved for real small money . Final option is disable it, this can be done diy and you can actually buy a plug that you put the main module harness into and you bypassed the alarm . The M30 maunual is below which includes programming details . Need any help post again ... M30 Manul link > https://docs.google.com/document/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfcjJhSm5XUHNyUzQ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118227053694960733297&resourcekey=0-0xC3ClnW4kKEblPzZbcQag&rtpof=true&sd=true

Well that is brilliant result . I would take this experience as a cheap education on being more fussy on who works on your cars and doing some research on what jobs involve and best part brands to use. Quite simply experience and knowledge is difference between 5 minutes it fixed or 5 days of misery between yourself and a garage that making a bigger mess of your car the longer they got it in the shop . I worked on Subaru and Japanese cars for over 3 decades, most jobs and faults we know likely scenario before even got car in shop purely as we seen and done/come across it a hundred times already . Now throw some french garbage on my lift and besides sulking as I detest the badly engineered garbage I also be slowed down through lack of knowledge . Quite simply you can't be a master of all makes and issue with subaru is they pretty reliable and pretty quirky so lot of garages hardly ever see one so they got zero practical experience on them thus high potential for less than ideal repairs and plain bad advice should they assume they competent enough take job . Now if you got french and german cars they in the garage more than on the road so most all make garages get to know them well .

sigma m30 ...

both vehicles in same location when it happened ? You have anything new/changed in the location likely interfere with transmitter frequency Perhaps another new vehicle key in you possession/added to keychain and interfering ! Odd both happened at same time, did you try manual pin code overide on either model ? Be careful of charges on alarm diag/repair as lot be clueless on the system and it actually pretty cheap swap out alarm parts for used or bypass it all together . What you do need realise on these is you got 2 immobiliser systems, one is transponder chip system that detects key when near ignition barrel by subaru and the second is the alarm system that you operate via the remote fob, this system is added for euro cars to meet EU security regulations and is not fitted at production line and this alarm system is manufactured by sigma .

good parts make all the difference ... lot of the aftermarket unless top brands or reboxed oem supplier are garbage these days. buying parts that actually work or last is biggest issue we got in the trade currently .

Later diesels are better but still got issues . Problem we had rebuilding them is lot of times block halves can be damaged around bearing journal, bore could be marked and potential a cylinder with bent valves. Crank new revision version is around £400 but ideally you want mate it to the revision block and that gets spendy . Most owners simply can't afford it as been hit with DPF EGR and glow plug bills already and simply not willing feed the money pit several grand more . We had quite a few 09 to 2012 collected for scrap/salvage . I don't know your needs but the older early to mid 2000's cars are far better made and you could select a proper pristine example for pretty small money and have thousands left for some service work/tyres etc make it totally A1 plus plenty money left in bank for the fuel . I do like my Volvo XC's so I can accept your sin ... have fun choosing another Subaru ... make the most of it before battery takeover ...

If you have more than 60 seconds delay from unarming alarm to starting the car the immobiliser in the alarm activates (part of cat1 alarm criteria) what you have do if won't crank when turn key is with key turned to ignition position (dash warning lights on) press keyfob button again and you probably here a relay click, now twist key to crank and your problem hopefully resolved ...

they had an education at your expense by sounds of it ! If you know what you doing you pull the engine as takes about an hour have it out . On older cars not everything goes to plan but experience and brand knowledge can keep problems and costs down . Clutch job on sg9 2.0x should be around £350-450 including decent quality japan clutch or luk . Hope works out okay . Need any more advice post away ... happy new year hopefully 🙂

If they done something to external range selection lever it should be pretty simple fix ... If you unlucky it be internal fault and a possible fault from when you bought it !

Clutches on these are super easy, main issue is most normal garages only use to euro garbage so got little experience thus you the owner suffer as they learning on your dime . Unfortunately as you never tested range before it may have internal issue but it not that common to Hopefully it selector arm/lever or something blocking its full travel to high position . Generally on these we pull engine do the clutch as quicker/easier . I'm guessing they pulled the gearbox 🙂

You should be able change range on the fly easily on these as got syncro . My first guess would be high low selector arm possibly bent/fitted wrong ar something blocking it's full travel to high position . If they pulled transmission (rather than pulling engine) do clutch then they would of messed with this . Shouldn't get too much clutch smell, if clutch feel odd or smell persists don't ignore it . When driving do all other gears select okay (including reverse ?)

Buy all season tyres wisely, they vary massively in capability . asking a tyre be good in all conditions is asking for best designs, best materials, best testing and user feedback when you making selection choices . Modern diesels tend write off any mpg savings eventually due to dpf/egr/injection system repairs, other issue is diesel mpg not that amazing as dpf is a brick wall between next level mpg figures . collecting soot and then burning fuel in exhaust to spit it out on highway at cost of fuel consumption, reduced oil life, reduced reliability, reduced vehicle lifespan is not great besides for emptying money from owners pockets one way or the other. CVT another area of potential high expense . If you want true low running costs go back 15-20 years when vehicles made massively better and didn't fill skips with emission equipment parts that kill your bank balance .

97 to 2005 all same master cylinder. Impreza G11 00 to 2005 and also the legacy B12 Is shipping reliable to Kenya ? if you struggling source one we could probably ship used or new from UK .

What exact year/model is your forester ? Germany online car parts has a good selection of new master cylinders and ships most countries Maybe even get something sent out from UK Subaru repair kit 26471AC022 covers lot of models from 97 to 2007 . Quality complete new or good used tends be best way go .

Bridgestone are not particularly good tyres, they always been known for cracking . Duellers are not great and shame Subaru never fully moved to better factory supply tyre choices . Tyre flexing is what helps keep it supple as releases oils throughout the rubber so possibly less than ideal stationary conditions caused the extra rapid onset of cracking . Most times I'm doing tyres for MOT's as badly perished they always got 4mm+ tread but dry rotting and when it visually bad on the sidewall it very wise not mess about taking chances and buy new and better . Nothing annoys me more than people who think they need awd vehicle yet happy to run on garbage tyres lol

Ideally you going want wiring harness and connector diagrams for your model. The wiring is in harness sections such as bulkhead harness and rear harness . If you done continuity check I assume you know pinouts and wiring colours for abs module. Have you actually checked output voltage back probing right at the abs module plug ? Rear harness likely easiest find a harness connection point to test as can follow entry point into vehicle and you will know wiring colour to find the connector pin . Once you done a test here it will dictate direction you need go, if got output power concentrate on very rear harness, if no power need focus on wiring run towards the abs module . Good wiring diagrams and connector location and pinouts become a must if got go deep into it and that subscription services or factory manuals .

In this scenario we generally confirm voltage output right at the source connector prior to testing circuit so we verify module outputting value and test equipment functional . Don't go unplugging things or yanking too much stuff about to start with or you could temporary fix the issue . Once we confirmed a correct output or in your case you confirmed an open in the output wire we would visually trace and inspect that wiring looking for likely issue points where it might flex, rub, be exposed to heat/moisture or goes into another connector and perhaps have corrosion/poor contact . If you find a connector you can back probe and see if getting voltage and you eliminate that part of wiring and gradually narrow it down to shorter wiring run for closer examination . Lot of times you will have visual clues to likely trouble spot, Perhaps even work done in a specific area recently that may of damaged a harness/connector ! . Ideally you may want wiring diagram and connectors location diagram for easier inspection and testing if don't find anything on what can visually trace on that wire run. . Start at easiest test points and verify output voltage from module and meter reading correctly prior to testing . Another thing always consider on this type of issue is some modern systems will switch off output on a circuit that got active code and fully clearing code or reset procedure maybe needed, if your open circuit test valid then obviously not your case but something always be mindful of on modern systems .

If you don't need it road legal you can find them 500 to 1K . I used a 1986 Justy for years running around my land, bought it for £50 lol . Quads and specialist utility vehicles are stupid money for what you actually get, same scenario as lawn tractors . Is a few interesting SF Foresters around if keep looking for them, if you would accept an Auto transmission then quite a few more likely proper clean ones can be found. Just be proper diligent on rust inspection . Facebook marketplace and gumtree been best places find the good stuff for me .