Swayze88

So... the other week, my water pump failed, shredded my timing belt and caused a fair whack of bent valves. On the plus side, it has given me the opportunity to remove my first engine and learn some new ways to become frustrated. The engine (EJ205) had around 50k miles on LPG and did not have valve saver/lube so if anyone is intererested in what the valves look like then I'd be happy to post up some pics as I remove more. as you can see the inlet valves on the right had side have taken a bit of a thump. I'm not sure if the level of carbon build up is fairly standard for a 185K+ car or if it has been increased by the LPG or the fact that for the final few miles of its life I think the timing had slipped at least one tooth. Anyway, if it is of interest, let me know what you want to see and I'll do my best to pull take pictures.

Will be interesting to hear the outcome. Hope it's not catastrophic, there certainly doesn't seem to be many story's of low mileage engine issues on XVs. Hope it's something easy.

So finally put the "new" wheels and tyres on the xv, ready for the cold weather (and the fact the summer rubber was on the brink of legality) need to give the car a wash, but I think they look pretty good!

Going to hijack this thread as it's quite close to my question. Having had a catastrophic water pump/timing belt failure on my Forester I have borrowed my dad's Citroen DS4 (it was sat idle for about 3 months) After a week of use it died, went into limp mode and has just been diagnosed as a failed diesel injector. The garage has said that it could be partly due to poor quality fuel clogging the injector and dpf. In the XV does anyone, or has anyone used diesel additives, such as Wynn's diesel particulate filter cleaner or diesel injector cleaner? I'm fairly good at putting "quality" diesel in whenever I fill the car but it's probably only 1/5 or 1/10 tanks, as my partner uses the xv as her daily and typically uses whatever diesel she is nearest. (Her commute is probably 25 mins of A roads at 45-65mph followed by 10-15 mins of city driving) I have never seen the dpf light come on when I've been driving. Oh, the repair bill for the DS is £500+ hence the sudden squirm regarding dpf and injector cleanliness.

Thanks guys, I was hoping for Subaru Diesel storys, or do they all just die at 100,000 miles? I've had a few PSA diesels in the past that have made it to ~200,000 miles before everything else collapsed around them. Hoping that the Subaru might be similar.

Right XVGus and all other home oil changers, I'm pretty sure this is how I did it. It's a little bit of a pain to do, but worth a shot. https://subdiesel.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/engine-oil-change-dpf-models/ Have fun.

I'll go first XV 2013 52,000 miles No issues other than a dispute with the dealer regarding the oil used at its last service. & The Occasional strange warning light, cleared by turning on and off.

I'm interested to see what the highest mileage recorded by a diesel owner is. And of any Mechanical misshap that might have befallen them on the way. Car Age Mileage Technical issues/repairs etc.

Dont know of anyone who has done a conversion, but i'd certainly be interested to see the results. Main issue I guess is that there is no spare wheel well, which limits you to a tank in the boot, or raising the boot and unfortunately the boot isn't huge to start with. The second problem is that (unless i'm mistaken) the majority of XVs are Diesels so there likely few people who have considered doing this. I had my Forester converted at Leeds LPG, with a KING LPG system, while the system is fine ( has worked flawlessly since installation 3 years ago) and the installation was quick, i dont know if I would reccomend them for a new car such as the XV... they are perhaps a little cheap and chearfull. Best of luck if you do go ahead with it and let us know the results. (PS. dont listen to the LPG naysayers)

Hi XVGUS, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a reset that you can do through the steering wheel controls, I'm 99% Sure I found the info online somewhere or even the XV Handbook... Have a click through the settings/service with the steering wheel controls and look for anything to do with oil change, hopefully it will be obvious. Johnny B is right its something to do with pollutants in the oil. the car must do some wizardry dependant on the age/level of pollutants. Also yes, I had a bit of a go at the suppliers of my XV as they had used 5W-30 in the service prior to me buying the car, I contacted Subaru UK, who said that 5W-30 is perfectly fine. Have fun doing the oil, its so lovely having a filter on top of an engine. but be warned the oil will flood out the bottom once that sump plug is out!

Thanks Dogconker, yes the better half does like to drive it quite fast... and there are lots of twisties on her way to work. I've rotated them and got a digital pressure gauge with kpa setting so that I can keep an eye on the pressures. Winter wheels will no doubt be going on soon, or once the tred gets below 1.6mm so I'll get saving for a replacement set.

Nice one, glad you got it all sorted out, and are enjoying the car! Get some pictures up so I can wave at you in the street!

Has anyone had any issues on the XV with the outside edges wearing quickly? When we bought the car a year ago it was fitted with a new set of Event Potentum UHP 225/55 R17 V97 I had the tracking checked after about 6 months, with no noticeable changes required, but now ~14,000 miles later the outside edges have scrubbed really badly. Just wondering if it is a common issue or not?

We paid £585 from AF Noble for our 4th year service! fook me i had my pants pulled down. Lucky I didnt let them do the front brakes/pads else i wouldnt have had much change from £1k.

I don't believe 3rd is a problem gear, I only get to drive ours at the weekend as its the parters car. Definitely don't rush into it, there are plenty XV's coming on the market at the 3 year old mark, I'm sure if you wait you will get another. I rushed into buying our one, and I ended up doing an oil change, filters and alignment to satisfy myself that the work had actually been done. You might also be better off looking at one that has just had its 4 year service, as this is an expensive one, with rear diff oil and all other sorts of costly fluids included.

XVGUS, I had a quick look at the pullies on the XV, I took a video, but can't upload it at the moment. I did not see any significant movement on any of them. The tensioner had a slight wobble as the belt ran around it, but probably only 1mm or so in the direction the belt would be pulling it. For reference this is on a 2013 diesel with about 47,000 miles, it's just had it's 4 year service.

I'll try and have a look this evening, if I get home before the other half goes to work in the XV.

I was driving the XV down some pretty windy roads the other day, and this soft rear end question popped into my head. Coming from an Outlander which I assume? is 4x4, but FWD when driven normally? Could it be just a feeling of coasting through the corner? I certainly feel that if you are on the throttle in the corner the back end grips and stays firm, but if you lift off and coast, it becomes bouncier.

None taken, I only had the dealer re-gas it as I was able to get it done FOC due to the car being bought from them. I'll see if there are any specialists nearby that can have a look at it.

Think I might have a similar problem, When we got the car ~ July last year the Aircon was pretty rubbish. I got the dealer to re-gas and it improved (I would say that it was still not as good as it should have been). Now the hot weather is back it is much more obvious that the AC is not working again. we ran the car with AC on for 40 mins and i think it must have been blowing at about 19 degrees, certainly not Icy cold like AC should be. As the car is now 3 years old, what are my options? Do i have any clout at the garage i bought it from to get it sorted? or Will Subaru look at it?

That's what I thought. So told them to put it back together and I would do it myself. Tidgy, your right, way cheaper to go through ECP or the likes. Part of where I work does truck maintenance, so I managed to get pads disks and a fitting kit for under £100 through a local motor factors I'll fit them when they start to grind.

Yikes! Just had a call to say that the front Brakes were getting thin and that they would need to do discs and pads. Wanted £345 to do them, and that was a reduced rate as the brakes were already in bits £87.36 per disc £124.00 for Front Pads £45 fitting (Half an hour as brakes were apart for the service apparently)

Our XV is in for a service today (4th year) they are wanting £510! (AF Noble - Penicuick) As its there or Ian Grieves in Falkirk (whom I don't think did a wonderful job last time) I've bit the bullet and told them to go ahead with it. Will report back what they do.

Welcome! Sorry to hear you don't love your XV, I agree with you and marcothio, the do feel a bit soft at the back, but they definitely do grip. I wonder if it is set up a bit like a pick-up with the expectation that you will always have 100kg of stuff in the boot to firm up the ride? I'm sure they did some suspension tweeks between facelifts, I cant remember if they made it softer or firmer though... Comparing apples for apples the Outlander is surely a closer match in size to the newer era Foresters? While the XV is essentially a tall Impreza. Hopefully the back end isn't anything stupid like cheap tyres, or over/under inflation, and I hope that you can get to a happy place where you are confident in the ride. (I'm sure one snowy day will shake any feelings of doubt!)

Found out what the wee circles with 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 on the speedo are for. (Maximum speed in each gear) Also found out that there is a symbol that looks like a cog/gear with an arrow in it. I was coming down a fast 60mph road and needed to turn left onto a very small lane so went from 5th gear into 2nd while braking hard (Clutch was still in at this point) and all hell broke loose, beeping and flashing basically telling me not to be an idiot and not to release the clutch, then it stopped as soon as my speed dropped past the circled 2 on the speedo. Interesting feature I suppose it stops you blowing the engine up by mistake, as long as you know what its beeping at you for.