bikerphil

The thing is called the igniter and breakers take the mickey when you want something so simple. People asking more for a bit of cable than a complete ballast with cable! Cheapest option is an aftermarket ballast and igniter cable for about £20 but you'd have to make holes for the cable to enter the headlight. I managed to get one from the states for £18 inc post. Todays thing thats broke is the top radiator hose split. Any of the other subarus use the same hose? hard to find one on ebay anyway.

Update on the headlight problem .... still not sorted, but i do at least know what the problem is now. There's 12v going to the ballast, and swapped ballast from right to let and it's still not working. So swapped the braided ballast cable and plug thing (that goes onto the back of the bulb) and suddenly it works. Anyone know what what that thing is called? i'll email a few breakers and try and get one. cheers

Thanks.... it went pretty good!

I'm going to take a better look on tuesday as i have the day off. I'll swap the headlight ballasts round too. In the meantime i need to go racing and forget all about our dodgy subaru for a few days. Thanks again Mr B will report back on progress or if i get stuck! Cheers

Not sure but think it's the sigma, it has a keypad next to the steering column ... or do they all have that?

Thanks for the reply Mr B, Not sure about when it's running, but certainly when the ignition is on the right side indicators stay lit rather than flashing. I can only get them to go out by removing the fuse. Ign on or off. Strange bit is when i first fitted it they worked fine, hazards and indicators. Only when i tried to lock the car they went wrong. Strange how its the right side only.

Close to having enough of this car now. Worst vehicle purchase we ever made hands down. Whilst checking the fuses for the headlights i found the fuse for the horn and hazards had blown. Must've been like this before we bought it and we just hadn't noticed, we had wondered why the indicators didn't flash when setting the alarm. Anyway, i fitted the fuse and tried the hazards... all OK. Pressed the keyfob to lock the car and the indicators now flashed but the right side indicators now stay illuminated permanently. had to take the fuse out. Any ideas please? Phil

After the shock of being quoted £103 for a bulb from my local motor factors, i went online and bought a pair of new ones without thinking there may be another issue. I'm used to vehicles where if the headlight goes it's a bulb - no questions! So, you can probably guess the rest, i replaced the faulty one and it still doesn't work. Are the ballasts prone to go? can i swap right to left to check if the ballast is at fault and what needs to be done to get at them .... from an initial look it appears the whole bumper needs to come off? I checked the fuses and found the hazards/horn fuse had blown (i never even noticed them not working) but no others. If it is the ballast can they easily be changed with a universal one or one off another vehicle? any recommendations? Cheers all.

Thanks for that, it's not a scraping on full lock, but when turning even slightly right at speed. I feel it's something to do with the brakes though as they do need attention. Also after advice on exhausts. It's had a couple of weld repairs so i want to keep my eyes out for a replacement system, maybe a secondhand stainless on eBay, Which exhausts fit other than forester if any? and i wanted something quiet, and poss decatted as it'll be going for a remap at the same time anyway. Also is it a 2 piece or 3 piece system? The up pipe doesn't have a cat.

Had the heads skimmed, sump replaced, oil pickup found to be cracked and replaced too, and some other bits sorted, dead expensive but been fine since we got it back :) One of the other issues we had since buying it is a slight scraping sound when turning right at speed. Not sure but it sounds like it's coming from a front wheel. As soon as the steering returns to center it stops. I know how to check wheel bearings and will do so when i get chance, but can anyone advise what to look for or if there is a likely culprit?

Ok, so the engines out and heads are off to be skimmed tomorrow. Should have it back by the end of the week. Seems the oil leak was the sump heavily rusted, also the steel water pipe almost rusted through. Seems odd as the underside of the car is the cleanest of all the foresters we looked at. Plugs seem to show it's poss been running lean, so a dyno run to check the fueling might be in order. Could be a knackered fuel filter, lift pump or weak fuel pump maybe? No cat in the up pipe apparently. But there has been a weld repair to the exhaust and we are contemplating a freer flowing exhaust and remap, do wrx systems fit and what recommendations has anyone got for a good but still pretty quiet system? Gonna be a big bill, but we didn't pay over the odds for the car so fingers crossed nothing else will go wrong and we can enjoy it.

I spoke to TEG sport in Warton today, they specialize and race subaru's and they sounded pretty sure it's HG from the symptoms. Probably gonna drop it off for them to have a look at in the next day or so. I really need a garage then i can do more stuff myself. I build and race drag bikes, do pretty much all my own engine work, got a milling machine and lathe, could skim the heads, reface valves and seats, pretty much anything. But i'm geared up for bikes and work in my cellar (although getting a dragbike into a cellar ain't so easy!), but when it comes to working on cars, i don't have a driveway- in fact i don't even own a jack!

Something a bit worrying happened today. Took it down the motorway, got 20 mile or so and the temp gauge suddenly shot up. Slowed down and pulled off, steam coming out of the bonnet, and coolant flooding down the road from underneath. Looks like the expansion tank had been overflowing, water everywhere around it. Took the rad cap of slowly, loads of pressure in there, and coolant level in there is low and very foamy. Filled it with water, and carried on, absolutely fine the rest of the 60 mile journey. Went to check the level before returning home and it had maybe lost a little 200ml perhaps but again foamy. Drove 60miles home and the temp stayed normal even when given some. I know these are prone to HG fail, and foamy coolant a sign, but anything else could cause this that i should try? Cheers Phil

Thanks for that pic. having a starting point for the angle of the arm should make it easier. Might make the link from 2 mini rose joints. That plate thing over the link arm is completely missing. Cheers

The link doesn't work for me Mr B

Oh, hold on, i found some images on google. I think the entire metal bit is missing that goes on the arm. However, a pic of a rear one showing how the bottom bracket sits would be real useful. Ta

I had a quick look at the rear headlight sensor and the arm is just dangling there with the end socket broken. I can't actually tell what it's meant to attach to. theres a bracket on the suspension arm thing (sorry i don't know what it's called, i only know bike bits lol). Could anyone provide a pic of what it's meant to look like and attach to? I'll then try and make a new arm and bracket for it. Cheers Phil

Can anyone shed more light on the headlamp level sensors. Do they seize up or just fail? are there 2 on the car? Only they seem expensive to replace. Are they fixable? Cheers

We are both enjoying it so far. Dead impressed with it's urgency and surefootedness. Gives loads of feedback too. The brakes have actually improved, the wear pattern on the disks is widening, it probably hasn't been used much and the disc edges went rusty and scuffed the pads. Still too late for them, although i have a lathe and could skim the discs if they have enough meat remaining.

I took a look with it on the level and it doesn't look as bad. But tyre to arch dist is greater on the front by 20mm. We would never have known had i not posted on here so gonna make out like i never read your posts. Ignorance is bliss. It'll be a future job - if it ever bothers me that much. lower the front to match maybe :) Brakes are first on the agenda. In fact no, buying a jack and some stands is first on the agenda as i only have tools to work on bikes. Thanks for the info again though. i did find and added to my watch list those springs and dampers.

Thanks for the info. I may rebuild the calipers. Pistons, seals and pins doesn't work out too bad at all. I could get them bead blasted for not a lot too. When you say check the rear suspension do you mean for leaks? If so it's fine, i looked round it pretty good. Feels ok damping wise but then i've nothing to compare it to.

My partner wanted a car to replace her transit van that died recently. Something with a big enough boot for a pair of border collies, and something fun to drive. So yesterday we went hunting for a forester and picked up this one, an early 2006 2.5 XT The price was good but it's got a few, hopefuly minor issues. Brakes need looking at, work ok but uneven disc wear. One section of the roof rail trim missing One front splash guard trim missing Small oil leak from the sump area Suspected drop link - knocking very occasionally. Warning light for the headlight levelling mechanism is on, i read thats most likely a sensor and to check it's output with a multimeter? Otherwise, seems ok. Certainly goes grips and turns nice. Looking on ebay at discs, pads and sliding pins they seem amazingly cheap, even recon calipers pretty cheap. Is there anything to avoid and are the calipers prone to seizing? I'm more used to bikes and bike prices (which are a LOT dearer) and on non opposing calipers it's usually the pins that seize rather than the pistons. Any advice on sorting any of these issues or what to avoid would be nice. OH, and hello to all!! Cheers Phil