Mr B

Would of thought the GLS was mechanical LSD as standard (all S models are but 99 year could be either), Splines are longer on the LSD I believe. Personally I would get another LSD diff over going standard open diff ...

maybe keep an eye on this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIGMA-SUBARU-BMW-HYUNDAI-VW-LTI-ETC-EARLIER-M-SERIES-1BUTON-REMOTE-ALARM-KEY-FOB-/310919408031?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Safety_Security&hash=item48643da99f#shpCntId

Instructions are on here too: http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/topic/1543-alarm-system/ Never bothered with ordering codes as mentioned above they all too often changed, in very rare cases we had no fobs & codes our local sigma approved alarm installer has been able reprogram using there sigma kit.

Not having much luck by sounds of it :-/ I would say both gaskets replaced & heads inspected & surface cleaning/polish if not needing skimming would be about £1,200 all in for a worthwhile repair effort on your 6 pot ... If you shop around you will probably find quotes around £800-900 but a gamble on how well they prep & rebuild unless know their work ...

having a conclusion at least allows you to make choices. My suspicion was gasket & also suspect it mild problem & was present at time of sale & possibly improved with some coolant leak additive. Good worthy job on head gasket replacement is not cheap, done a few over the years & used Reinz gaskets when can & along with very good prep of head & deck finish can be better than when new, unfortunately it quite time consuming & can incorporate a few additional jobs/parts thus not a nice repair bill.

As long as have one working remote & a good key it not a big deal, if on a sigma you can reset the manual pin code manually & add new remote yourself, any good locksmith can supply the keys/fobs but may have order them from past experience, would not cost silly money unless go to Subaru dealer & was a good excuse to work price down ...

Yeh I would say a good job would be around £400 with decent clutch & maybe little more depending on flywheel & clutch pedal assembly serviceable condition, you go too cheap & half the bolts get left out & everything they break while rushing is fixed back with cable ties :-S

Getting the bits is the hard part, Sill steps or rock guards should be available if hunt around online. Rear bumper bar is an idea I had from the rear hitch mount universal ones you can get but I will have a go at making one so runs along lower edge of rear bumper for bit of protection. A lift can be done with springs or top hat spacer blocks, personally I would use 1" spacer blocks & then gain a little more with some slightly bigger tyres. Some skid plates are available but at high cost & probable international shipping so you could get a local shop make one up cheaper. Want get round to doing this myself as not a fan of the plastic nappy subaru use & 2nd gen onwards are particularly nasty plastic clippy mess so making an alloy one that retains the arch parts as plastic & lips the front bottom edge of bumper will look good, add worthwhile protection & get rid of a tatty sloppy subaru nappy :-)

I would go more off-road look as by far the more useful & will retain value better when/if ever sell it. 1 or 2" lift & a set of decent wheels/tyres. Front alloy sump plate with bumper lip guard would be good & the acrylic smoke black bonnet edge trim. Some chrome or alloy sill guards & a similar short tubular rear bumper edge bar mounted into the tow frame would look good & be practical ...

Does sound sloppy, I would want give it a good look at & on a ramp to make sure no signs of things being damaged from jacking things up ... Steering wheel can only be out if wheel taken off & put back on a few splines out or if track rods adjusted & wheel not centred prior to adjustment, also possible steering rack pushed out of position slightly ... Deffo needs looking at & I would suggest looking yourself while on a ramp or getting someone with some knowledge have a look too as not sounding the most trustworthy of shops ...

Have a look at this thread for some guidance points

depends how bad, if just very lightly cracked then should pass but will probably have it noted as an advisory. One of those things that can not give yes or no answers as ain't seen them plus different testers will have different limits within reason.

Tea bag type thing is the fuel screen/strainer, the filter is above the pump (zinc plated with white plastic top) http://www.carid.com/2008-subaru-forester-fuel-delivery-parts/item-8825811.html You can actually remove it & bridge gap with fuel pipe & add the older engine bay fuel filter to the fuel line in engine bay. Was/is a popular mod for people in locations with less than great pump stations/fuel as could change filters more regularly & at a fraction of effort & cost.

Doubt it, ebay & paypal got to be more expensive than card payments from my experience, would assume low on eBay due to price competition between sellers.

could get another copy wrx pro calliper then at least you got a paired set, keep the originals as you may want them fully reconditioned with ss pistons for future use ...

Looking at the scuff & still very good looking alignment of bumper I would suspect no further damage beside perhaps a few broken or popped clips, slightly twisted fixing holes for the bumper fixing. Has it scuffed the wheel arch slightly as well ! certainly annoying but luckily the prick got stopped & hopefully will suffer some heavier insurance premiums & you get your car back to as was condition at a top quality repair shop.

Hope you get a positive result ...

well I will put in a favourable word for you. Only 3 kids ! really haven't been that sinful sir, to much Subaru influence keeping you from going astray ...

looking at your avatar you could be a perfect match, are you married Mr Gambit ;) she is available & I suspect very good at a bit of clandestine arm wrestling :D

Lol, if you ever meet my sister you will realise how funny that is, she quite a lad in some ways & rarely any makeup in her bag if she even got one on her :-S

@mickjo, yours has the auto arming activated & that feature can be turned off, as for the issue related in original post Ganbit has covered that already. Basically the 30 second immobilizer arming after unlocking can not be turned off as an important feature linked to the cat 1 cert the alarm is approved to. All you do is in scenario when you turn to crank the engine & nothing happens or you just here a relay click because 30 seconds have passed & damn immobilizer has come in is to leave the ignition key in IGN position (next twist would be starter/crank engine) then press the single alarm button & it will disarm the immobilizer & then you can twist ignition key one turn to crank & start car as normal, no real hassle or bother. The alarm senses the ignition key IGN position & if ignition key in this IGN position (where key sits when car engine running) pressing the key can only turn immobiliser off or do nothing otherwise it would be possible to turn alarm on while driving & actually cause car to cut out & potentially cause an accident. If when you try turn the immobilizer off you are arming the alarm it is because you are turning the key back to ACC ignition position or further then it possible to arm the alarm & also holding button down acts as panic mode & alarm goes straight off. Had same issue with Fozzy I recently gave my sister, fortunately a quick lesson on that & how use the oil dipstick effectively should have her fully subaru efficient :-/ lol

thermostat & rad cap needs ruling out of equation first, & the thermostat is super cheap, could be replaced & a coolant flush done at same time as cheap first step cure/prognosis & rad caps can be tested or just swapped with a friend, cheap one from autofactors or breakers. Pumps only loose efficiency if get clogged in scale or blades get corroded badly on pump & this is not a trait on subaru but worth evaluating if nothing else shows up. I would also get the coolant checked again for exhaust gases to rule out headgasket yet again as to be honest it sounds like a sneaky posibilty, you can use exhaust gas analyser to sniff the radiator & if detect high exhaust gas readings you now head gasket problem. Sounds easy but sometimes at early stages it very minimal thus hard to detect also it may only be leaking at specific high temps & conditions not being reproduced during testing so could unfortunately still be a possibility. also possible you get minor external leak on the head on these & once again only on a hard run & when real hot then by time you cooled it down to look or take it to a garage no super obvious sign & needs a super keen eye & someone familiar on the subaru headgasket issue to pickup on it. Fingers crossed on the simple options but I wouldn't waste too much money on likes of pump replacement without really checking for minor leaks (only occurring when engine cooling system really hot), thermostat & rad cap etc.

Yeh having seen some of those I would say they are copies as machining finish was bad on set I had a look at.

Some do & technically a 118MPH T rated tyre (12MPH lower than H) is still acceptable & also may open tyre options & lower prices, but can have legal issues with insurance etc so best checked first as you will be surprised what little things can invalidate insurance with some polices & underwriters even though technically no one should really be getting close to even a T rated tyre on UK roads.

A lot of the All Weather Foresters had the Sigma Security upgrades as it was quite often a sales throw in to close the deal. Sigmas are very good but faults can be a little more odd/erratic & hard to diagnose.