Mr B

Well at least you are kiling them in style, quite worthy deaths for both of them. Silver not a bad colour on these & do like the green but shows marks so easily that can make even a really clean 15 year old car look worse that it really is. The all weather is a great buy for what you get in terms of equipment & all round practicality. At 95K the engine is barely run in yet :-D with a bit of luck & sensible servicing & avoiding hidden shovels you & your dogs should enjoy a reliable and enjoyable future with the new chosen Forester.

Well is possible as if have a voltage problem such as earthing issue your fuel pump voltage & current could be reduced thus at high fuelling requirement the fuel pressure drops as pump efficiency reduced thus fuelling run low/lean & thus faults. Loads of other possibilities too & needs looking into quickly as some possible reasons could cause serious engine damage.

If you have just the standard basic subaru system (your comments sound as if you do) you have just remote central locking & also a immobilizer that has a coded pairing chip built into the key & this pairing immobilizer chip in the key is the transponder. I would also be dubious of your mechanics electrical system technical ability as seems to be using technical buzz words with little knowledge of what they actually are & simple looking faults like you have here can waste big money in the wrong hands. I would suggest you make 100% sure you also actually do not have the subaru security upgrade sigma alarm (mainly as fault finding on Sigma is a different ball game) as many owners do & never know till have faults that need fixing, basically if you have two small pod sensors on the windscreen d-piller trims, a bonnet switch on a big black bracket mounted behind the securing bolts for the windscreen washer bottle & a small keypad in the flip down coin box located by drivers right knee then you have a Sigma Subaru security upgrade fitted. Basic remote central locking has the receiver control unit that stores the paired key fobs, receives the fob signals & sends switching voltage signal to the central door locking circuit. The Sigma systems control on central locking is more complex & incorporates dead locking. I have never replaced a central locking receiver control unit in 15 years+ they been in use on Subarus, it is the most unlikely part to of failed but indeed is still possible, almost all faults I have had on Subarus central locking have been down to the motor & switching related to the drivers door when all doors are effected. First thing to do is stop using the fob buttons & just use the key to manually lock & unlock the car in you daily use & see if problems still arise & if does it 99% likely not related to remote locking controller & even if doesn't show the fault still needs the door side of locking reviewed first before spending your cash on expensive parts. Sorry if seems bit long winded but hard to help much without a long reply & I know all too well a lot of money can be wasted on these type of faults through bad diagnosis & at times can be hard to pinpoint even when a good technician is on the job so worth approaching your repair route with extra care & giving very good details of all fault symptoms, this can make a huge difference to repair costs as many times if a customer has given me very accurate details & answers a few points well I almost know likely cause of faults before even investigating myself & this can save a huge amount of time thus money too ...

lol :-D only downside I see when going of topic is it makes it hard for some people to find answers to questions when searching as they are in unlikely topic threads but hard to cure & at end of day the more discussion & info the better on the whole :-)

You got to be careful when comparing prices as if not comparing same quality parts then not really that true a comparison, I personally won't use Gates kits on subaru as the belts just are not high enough grade for the demanding belt run of the boxer engine layout also the water pumps you get vary HUGELY in quality so what seems sometimes £50 cheaper may actually be £100+ cheaper & the shop is making more on your job due to cheaper parts so do your homework well. I personally only use ADL or SA brand parts on Japanese cars as a general rule & for the Subaru cambelt the ADL kit is only one I use & am happy to guarantee ... With some of the cheaper range parts you are probably throwing a more serviceable original part in the bin so take some care when budgeting on parts ...

Quite the norm that on the whole, Have 2 foresters 1 at 120K and a 15 year old one on 105K & I got bored of checking the oil lol. have an old legacy (19 years) on 180k & that just the same, !Removed! things :-D Recent Forester AWP I purchased I gave to my sister as she lives in proper rural area & is a nurse & covers a lot of local emergency call ins so any weather road or track AWD is great, they nice & safe, super practical, low used car price for what you can get & so reliable I really can trust she won't have any hassle & just an annual check up pre MOT is all that needed which saves us all hassle & importantly money.

Good to here, was hoping was drive belt as I mentioned in post above. welcome to the lucky Subaru club :-) with a little bit of effort & luck when purchasing a used Subaru you can get a very useful & super reliable thus cheap annual outlay car for quite cheap money really :-D Don't tell everyone though or they'll get harder to find & possibly used prices would go up :-O ...

varying prices relate to what actually done mainly, basically belt only could be £150. Belt with all idler pulleys, tensioner & water pump too could be almost £400 using OEM quality japanese ADL parts.

Do you have the M30 or M20 Sigma Subaru alarm option or do you have the standard remote locking fob with just the chipped key immobilizer system. Basic quick points below kind of relate to both alarm options but need a lot more details on fault to be more precise in commenting. Are both key fobs causing same issue ? if so highly unlikely it issue with the fobs. What exactly is the issue in finer detail? If simply doors are not always unlocking, first thing to do is see if alarm is actually turning off even if doors didn't unlock, so unlock drivers door using the key and perhaps siren will go off (if on M30/M20 alarm), also start car to be sure alarm immobilisers are off & functioning ok but purely central locking the iffy part. Point being if alarm is fully off the alarm itself is not faulty but the cenral locking is & you best getting a decent clued up mechanic or auto electrician to have a look & start from drivers door as this is activated via remote & then signals the rest of the door locking motors. as mentioned above interference from likes of mobile antennas can cause issues but if having these issues at several locations then highly unlikely, if alarm is actually not turning off then issue with alarm receiver/antenna or alarm electronic mainbrain is possible. Obviously just using the key on the drivers door to test the locking & unlocking for a few times will help to diagnose what at fault too as if work all the time via the key then likely the initial driver door locking motor at fault. Transponder is normally term associated to the chip with the key that disarms the immobilizer via proximity to a sensor near the ignition barrel. if doors are locking then unlocking when pressed I would be checking basics of central locking function first & if on the basic standard alarm the fob is purely remote central locking in reality with a separate transponder chip that purely works with immobiliser. M30/M20 alarm has a reset procedure which might be worth looking into & I suspect details on this are in a thread already if need.

whine on acceleration wouldn't be drive belt would it as if slipping to some small extent can make odd noises (squeals to light whines when accelerated) & could tie in with your power steering feeling sort of on/off notchy when using a lot of lock & this normally worse when cold as extra load on pump (cold oil) causes belt slip more easily then pump pressure drops. obviously a lot of other possible reasons & without hearing & seeing the car I could be well off track. In terms of transmission the rear diff is most common for whining noises but also wheel bearings & even tyres faults can cause rumbly whines. If no major faults are found & vehicle has no solid record on last change of all transmission oils & not done at this interim service you would be wise to do it with good quality oil, it is quite simple DIY job should you fancy start doing a few basic bits & save a little money too. engine light on when used heated seats is a new one on me, worth getting fault codes read or once again learning how to do this yourself is possible & cheap in terms of what required (few threads on this to help) & possibly just monitoring the situation a bit more if nothing conclusive found. Hope your bubble stays intact, on positive note due to Subarus general reliability most owners of general service interval respected cars don't get to know their local garages on first name terms :-)

No, as the gearbox is just splash fed by internal component movement & grooves & small bores get fed oil this way to feed more precise points, there is no proper oil pump system with filtration & due to no combustion gas entering the oil unlike an engine it only has metal swarf that naturally settles to the bottom of the box casing, Good quality magnetic drain plugs are good for retaining some of the debris & sometimes give useful visual indication that a problem may exist by unusual amounts of metal swarf or a large chip or perhaps a small shattered part from a syncro assembly thus giving good indication on faults/severity & required course of action.

yes

Obviously your forester 2.0X will not have the alloy intercooler but in that position will be the black plastic air filter box. If you stand buy the drivers side wheel & look through the gaps you should just make out the dipstick as it quite low down & invisible until you choose the right path of view. An inspection light or torch maybe handy & just feeding your hand down will enable you to feel the eyelet on the dipstick to pull it out. Kind of easy once know where it is but still have odd days where you can never locate the tube easily to put it back in lol :-S One grouch I have with Subaru is bad location of that dipstick & poor oil level reading of main engine oil unless do it just right & on very level ground as even the slightest uneven drive can really ***** it up & give useless readings, think US guys had an aftermarket engine oil dipstick due to user complaints ...

Those irwin bolt grip soctets are particularly good & should be on the serious diy mechanics christmas list as far more useful than socks. Very useful on heavy rusted head bolts & can even be used for removing totally fubarbed torx & allen socket bolts. Quality set of wall drive sockets is worthwhile too as when just corners rounded of these tend to work fine, also walldrive of good manufacture cause hardly any obvious deformation to tight bolts & dont ride of the head of the bolt so easily so save knuckles & keeps the fasteners looking neat & tidy. Is amazing what damage some people do when working on cars & things like that are hard to spot when purchasing a vehicle & if unlucky can create some highly unwanted frustration & expense ...

Quite easy with some planning, the gearbox dipstick/filler tube is found on drivers side of gearbox (look down gap in line with air filter box housing & you will see the bright yellow level dipstick) Use a funnel & suitable diameter tube to comfortably reach & get fluid to filler tube. Drain bolt is 21mm bolt near y section of exhaust (later subarus have a torx T70) manual box - diff & gearbox oil is all in one

by then it warmed up & has oil pressure, from cold & zero pressure many engine builders really frown on it.

lol ... & amount of engine builders I know who complain at people loading pressure on crank thrust bearing by clutching when starting a car ...

Gulf is fine but if new had a crunchy gear change I would of gone for Motul 300 75/90 but even that is only 50% likely of helping the issue. Tested motul 300 on a few car that came in with notchy changes or ones found with notchy changes during service & used the expensive oil but charged at standard castrol oil price, being a 50/50 gamble makes it hard to push at the cost but we wanted test claims of the Motul oil. Not had much luck with additives for syncro issue but likes of mollyslip was very good on noisy landrover gear & transfer boxes. Xado maybe worth a shot if price is reasonable & has properties helping syncros & changes. Certainly worth doing a bit of digging on peoples experience on additive for your symptoms then trying one you feel happy with. What mileage has this one done & does the gearbox sound a little groany if listen to it with drivers door open while idling & dipping clutch a couple times to help distinguish the transmission from other noises .

Have a garage partnership business which is very Japanese vehicle orientated & due to our location we see a lot of Subarus but I mainly work on contracts for various companies these days. xado is eastern block equivalent of likes of mollyslip products, if they do a gearbox additive & cheap & easily available to you it is worth a go. would hate for you spend out on likes of motul 300 & have no major improvement.

Mechanical engineer on a good day ...

mollyslip would be cheap to try but unsure how it would help with a syncro issue, can be good at reducing bearing noise. 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 but I have not used that personally but have heard it to be good. Motul 300 has made a long term difference on a couple of notchy boxes we tried it in, bit of a lottery though as a particularly bad syncro needs replacement but sometimes the right oil can make huge differences & for thousands of miles too. Do also check your clutch is in good health & adjusted correctly but would assume your syncro is worn. this syncro gets a lot of use & as the 2nd gear is big & thus quite heavy the syncro needs good grip to bring it into speed match for smooth engagement.

If disconnect it will run on fault mode & safety map. Don't just assume it too sensitive, many people using poor fuel (turbo model even more so) are possibly experiencing some det. I would check for det with independent det meter & also check condition, resistance/voltage of current sensor along with fault code reading & test drive with data logging plus wideband for fuelling check & replace or consider repositioning pending on what results I got from inspections/tests. Point being I have replaced a few bad ones on older Subarus & come across the odd bad/damaged connector but never needed reposition one. A good knock sensor can be had for around 18 to £25 from good autofactors or even eBay these days .

Dual mass flywheel failure (vibration issues), issue with early Diesel particulate filter (revised to close type). Crankshaft/main bearing issues on pre 2010 cars, had at least 4 revisions to crank & block changes, few owners globally have had snapped cranks on early diesels. Could be oil feed issue to a bearing causing failure or crank production issue but not much feedback on it to conclude ... going cam chain was great move & something that should of been done long ago on the petrol boxers, not all maintenance jobs on the diesel are easily carried out with engine in situ so some nasty labour bills can occur if you unlucky.

if rest of car above average condition & drivetrain A+ could be worth getting a used replacement engine perhaps ! Shame this happened & one of those used car purchase nightmare scenarios :-S You could recoup quite a bit on basic parts such as wheels, brakes/hubs, alternator, starter, engine sensors etc & even then what left would be worth 130 plus as scrap metal ...

Worth 160 to 200 at a breakers on average . Worth being 100% on what wrong before throwing in the towel but does sound highly likely cambelt could of been a poor replacement effort & not all tension pulleys & water pump replaced or just simply fitted badly. Bit of bad luck as the old legacy can run over 200,000mls without too much trouble & see plenty of healthy ones in the 160k & 180k region ...