Tizaala

Cheers buddy,keeping all options open, Will need them changed for the " Control Technique " (MOT), It's only every 2 years in France, The alarm problem I had was eventually sorted at Abergavenny dealership,no one admitted the unit was faulty so I ended up buying another unit, sods law strikes again.

Moving to France permanently next month and will need to change my headlights to right handers spec. anyone have a couple lying about please ? 2003 Forester

Well , what a disastrous trip that was, the recovery people sent a taxi for me to collect my car from the scooby agent in France, it was over an hour away from my hosts place , big show rooms and loads of Subaru flags and banners everywhere. I got out of the taxi and walked in.....no cars not a single Subaru to be seen.!..just an old woman in reception.She got the boss , he got the bill out €189....gave me the key and sent me to the workshop. I pushed the key fob... nothing . mechanic (?) came over and said" this is how you do it now", he got in pushed the code into the keypad, turned the key. the engine warning light came on , " you ignore that light now " he said, the !Removed! had bypassed the system, nothing worked as it should, the auto choke didn't work at all, and when I opened the back door all the hazards came on. But it got me back to the uk, and yesterday I gave it to the Scooby agents in Abergavenny . The French !Removed! had shorted the alarm system out by taking a wire from the starter motor and cutting three more wires in the loom. so another new alarm was fitted and repairs to the loom to sort out the mess. £436 please.. but now it all works again. So if you ever break down in France DO NOT GO NEAR THE SCOOBY AGENT IN BRIVE.....THEY ARE TOTAL !Removed!

It was a brand spanking new replacement unit as you can no longer get replacements that have been repaired. No power lines within 10 Kms of where I was parked , isolated country property only trees and fields , no electric fences , nothing . Did fall on my feet in respect of where I broke down though, lovely people that gave me a bed for two nights and fed me roast dinners, He's a rock guitarist , and plays blues and fusion jazz, has played with Genesis , Name of Chris Dair, a brilliant musician. He phoned me this morning to say that I can go and stay with them again until my car is fixed and he will collect me at 10 am in the morning, Treat yourselves to a listen. http://www.chrisdairmusic.com http://www.chrisdair.com http://www.viviendair.com http://www.youtube.com/user/kitcarew http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisdair https://twitter.com/Chris_Dair

Here we are again, I eventually got over to France and managed to view 10 of the 12 properties that we had short listed, Just completed the viewing and set up the sat-nav for the next jaunt to the south , went to start the car and ----nothing , !Removed! alarm system had struck again. Good job I had total European recovery breakdown cover , It has now been taken to a Subaru dealership for sorting. and I am stuck in a hotel until next Friday when they might get to look at it for me. This trip has been doomed from the start.

PS . hermes couriers turned up yesterday afternoon , I sent them away with a flea in their ear , they thought we were out as there was no car and they tried to dump the parcel in our stables, got the shock of their lives when challenged, total !Removed! lied to the Subaru garage as well said" they tried to deliver it but we were out, " we have not been off the place for two weeks .....

Well, after giving up and handing the job to my local garage , they came out yesterday and towed it in, rang them this lunchtime and it was ready for collection, the boys had a hell of a job with it , had to take all the fascia off just to locate the old unit, it was tucked away behind the glove box, so everything is now working again , and they even changed the led warning lamp for the new 3 colour one , green amber red , also fitted the new keypad so everything is as it should be . probably going to cost more than the car, but hey, I'm mobile again so what the hell. Many thanks to you guys for the help and advice I received on this brilliant site, you do a marvellous service for scooby owners, Cheers guys Regards Doug (Tizaala)

Have given up for today , being disabled does not help when it comes to lying upside down in a foot well with a torch and mirror. and I'm having to work outside in rain and wind. sod it....

Well ,the first job is disconnect the neg. terminal of the battery, then you have to change the siren for the new one in the kit............. I finally found the siren hidden under the panel where the wipers are, so far so good, I cannot find the old alarm unit, it is supposed to be above the clutch pedal, the only box I can see is a white one on a metal bracket to the right of the steering column to the side of the fuse box . just behind the socket for the diagnostics plug , is that it ? If not where the hell is it hidden on a 2003 forester 20x. I need help please.

The saga continues, Having ordered the replacement kit last Friday ( a week ago today) the dealership had it in stores on Saturday,but instead of dispatching it on Monday it got delayed because someone had a day off ....so the couriers Hermese , ( useless twats ) collected the package on Tuesday, Now common sense dictates that I should have got this on Wednesday/ Thursday at the latest , no show by mid afternoon so I rang the MD of the franchise and complained bitterly. the guy from the parts dept then rang me this morning to say that he had ordered another kit and was delivering it in person, and sure enough this afternoon he turned up with it . Much better customer service. Should the courier ever show up I won't sign and will make them return the parcel. what a perlaver

Thanks for your offer but I will go with the dealers unit to be on the safe side as we are well out of your area in Mid Wales

An update on the alarm problem : Had to cancel the trip to France until the car is sorted, so I phoned a different dealership at Abergavenny, talked to the guy in the parts department, told him all the symptoms, he confirmed that it is the main alarm unit burned out. Also told me that the original units have a component that cannot be obtained anymore but they have a new replacement for the whole thing , a plugin unit that comes as a kit with new keys for £238;50p so I will get that this week. apparently this is a very common problem now. He also told me that replacement keys are only £35 each . not the £350 quoted by Shuckers of Shrewsbury. Forget that by-pass unit from Stoke , they no longer make them. Hope this helps any other member for the future with similar problems. Thanks to everyone for your help guys. regards Doug ( Tizaala.) PS for anyone looking for their unit , it is either behind the glovebox , or above the clutch pedal

Just found these people at Stoke-on-trent. perhaps this would be the cheaper option....a unit bypass for £110

the sparky came out ,checked all the fuses , all ok. ..shorted the car battery out and pressed the key button. and it stopped the alarm. and now the keypad does not respond to any input at all .the armed light has gone from flashing to solid on. he thinks the problem is in the module itself. so tomorrow I have to hire a car to get us to France.

I rang the Suburu dealer for the codes, fine, still doesn't work , can you send me two new keys? ... " Yes Sir, they are £300 each....... Stuff that says I...

Many thanks , appreciate your efforts....

I had on old LDV minibus 2ltr Perkins lump , took all the seats out so I could fit 40 small bales of hay inside, and I could get one and a half ton of dumpy bags of grain in, but it couldn't handle our mud here even with chunkies on the back. It too was a very useful tool , I have to have practical vehicles , ornaments are no good to me.

9 goats have been inside on one occasion , there is not enough air freshener to move that stink in a hurry !

Well you did say you wanted pictures , and I said she was a working girl......

This is the keypad

Sorry for the delay in reply, Yes factory fitted small key pad by the bonnet catch release pull. that's the one.

Not sure what alarm I have , how do I find out ?

Quick hello from me, Tizaala , had the forester 3 years now , it is very much a workhorse for our smallholding, the only work it has needed so far is new tyres ( big chunky Matadors) and an antirollbar link joint . Every week it has to carry a quarter ton of horse feed home , or pull an old chopped down rice box trailer with three round bales of hay, and it does get used across the fields for fencing or getting a trailer full of logs home , mud is not a problem half way up the wheels. Quite a useful tool in general.

My 2003 forester has been playing up for the last 12 months, If the temperature of the key fob gets chilled you have to warm it in your hand for a couple of minutes before it will lock / unlock and let you start the car despite fitting brand new batteries several times. then today it would not lock or unlock at all, after dismantling both sets of keys I removed the tiny circuit board and found it full of sticky gunge and the button switch stuck down. so , out with some meths and washed it off and managed to release the switch, dried it all off and reassemble the keys, new batteries again, I did however , manage to set the alarm off. so disconnected the car battery , left it for half an hour. put in the 4 digit code *^^^^# still nothing. what am I doing wrong ? I am booked on a cross channel ferry to France on Wednesday so getting desperate. HELP PLEASE