Hughieboy

Evening All, The time is approaching for me to sell on my 06 Facelift Forester XT. Can anyone advise the best way to do this? It seems that the value amongst afficianados is miles away from the trade in value that a dealer would offer. Mine is in great nick for it's age and I've spent plenty on it. I have replaced the rear shocks with Pedders ones, Michelin Cross Climates, DAB radio, Sports Exhaust, privacy glass.I've spent a small fortune and its done 100,000 miles yet trade in i've been offered less than £1500! I appreciate its a niche market car but on the other hand i've seen similar cars up for £5k plus which seems excessive! Can anyone who has successfully sold one advise where best to sell it and how to price it? It all seems so random !any Thanks.

Thanks for the info Joel, sounds exactly like mine! I decided not to do anything about the clutch, I don't use the car much and apart from being stiff it works fine. Regarding the remap, what you say makes sense from what little I understand. I'm not techy enough to start fiddling around myself and I wonder if the guy I took it to knows enough but not everything, if you know what I mean. I feel I've thrown enough money at it for the time being but will look to possibly getting someone who knows what they are doing to look at remapping it at some point. I agree that it definitely sounds like an ECU issue of some kind. I have a Walbro fuel pump and a part Hayward & Scott exhaust on it so there should be room for a bit of tweaking.

Thanks for the info...... I have had a go at bending the fins back but they are pretty mashed tbh..... I might get another secondhand one. Interesting to know about the mapping. It's already got a Walbro pump in it. It's been a bit of a money pit so far, it was obviously used and abused before and I get the pleasure of putting everything right so I need to be a bit careful how much I spend as I'll never see it back. And I have a nasty feeling it might need a clutch soon, it's very stiff. I might try a Terraclean for the sake of £130 or whatever it is, just wondered if anyone had experience....

Morning All, So the ongoing saga of my very slightly lumpy running 2006 XT continues..... I have had various issues which I've posted up on here before but I have a slight niggling running issue that I can't seem to get cured. I had it in to the local Subaru specialist last week and put on his dyno. He couldn't find any faults and it is putting out 212bhp on a power test which is down on the advertised 227bhp (?) but he didn't think that was a problem. He also pointed out that most of the fins on my intercooler are damaged and that wouldn't be helping. He said the only other thing I could try was to get it remapped to see if that cured it but that he doesn't have the required software or module or whatever to do my particular model and wasn't planning on getting it. I then contacted a local mapping specialist, they said my model can't be remapped and recommended a Terraclean? So two things..... I have tried straightening the intercooler fins with tweezers but to be honest, it's pretty shot and the fins are all bent and/or breaking. I think I would be better off replacing it but I'm not in the market for buying a £500 aftermarket one and I'm not sure where to go to get a replacement, either new or good condition used. Is this a worthwhile thing to do? Secondly, is it correct that this run run of SG XT's are a bit different and can't be remapped? (It's the one with the AI system). And is 212bhp about right as the car's a few years old? Does the Terraclean thing really work? The issue remains that it just runs a little lumpy and 'chuggy' at times and on two occasions it has 'died' momentarily when giving it a boot full to overtake, albeit it was quite low on fuel both times. I want to love this car, I've put a lot of time and money into it now and this issue is frustrating. It's not particularly inspiring when the local specialist can't come up with any answers and tells me 'that's how they are sometimes'. I'd be grateful for a voice of experience please and if it is 'just how they are' I need to know before chucking any more money at it. Many thanks :-)

Morning, Does anyone know where I might be able to get a set of wind/rain deflectors to fit to the windows on my Facelift SG at a reasonable price? I've only found one supplier who pops up on eBay occasionally but they're about £170 which seems a bit steep for four bits of plastic! Be grateful for any info, thanks!

I will have to watch my potty mouth in future ;-)

Oops, sorry..... minor swear word has been removed (it was only bl***y, nothing awful!)....

Thanks for your reply Mr B..... are there any elements of that that can be checked at home by an amateur tinkerer or is it a ramp and gearbox out job?Could do without spending £500 unless I have to, I've spent a fortune on this !Removed! motor since I bought it... (replaced secondary air pump and valves/fuel sender/fuel pump/exhaust back box/coil packs)..... not to mention a set of tyres! It was supposed to be a cheap motor but I've had my fingers burned..... :-/

Hi All, I have a 2006 XT SG Facelift manual and it has a really heavy clutch. I've heard somewhere that this is usual on Facelifted SG's and that a heavy clutch is normal. I was hoping someone could confirm this or otherwise, I haven't had one of these before and it really is stiff, like if you're in stop/start traffic you put it in neutral before your foot goes numb stiff! Other than this it operates as it should and I don't want to spend £800 getting it replaced to find out there was nothing wrong with it! Hope someone who knows better than me can advise, many thanks!

You did well...... 👍

Yes, I think you're right. Not sure where I'll get a good used pump from though, probably no use looking at a breakers as there's no way of knowing if their stuff is any good. I'll have a hunt around the internet I guess. Thanks for your help.

I wish I were nearer to you Mr B and I would book it in! Ive just taken the new Walbro off and put the old Walbro back on..... haven't been for a run yet and expect I'll have the hesitation issues still (although I have stripped and cleaned the filter) but the horrible stop/start whining is gone so the new Walbro pump was obviously a dud so I'll send it back. I have no idea if it has had any kind of remap but I would doubt it as part from having been a bit neglected in some areas it looked totally standard, no sign of 'pimping' at all.... so I guess whoever fitted the last Walbro just fitted it as a replacement, not because of any tuning. As you suggest, I will look for a used STi/WRX pump and swap them over as a final tidy up before booking it in. Will it be a straight retro fit?

Morning Mr B..... You are right and I am going to have to stop doing it! It's just too tempting when there's info on the web and parts are available easily to just have a go and hope for the best. Interesting what you say about the Walbro pump, also the one that was already fitted was a Walbro. To be honest, I bought it because it's the most commonly available, I didn't really see anything else apart from cheapo's on eBay or expensive stuff from the specialist tuners. Do you think it sounds like this pump is faulty from what I have said? If so, I'm just going to go and out the old one back on, send it back and book the car in to a Local Subaru specialist as I'm starting to lose the will to live! ;-)

I'm going out this morning to pull it off and refit again in case I've made some schoolboy error but I can't think what. Yes, sounds like the same boat. I sold a 5 year old Merc C220 that I'd had for three years thinking an older cheaper car might save me a few quid on finance etc but the Merc never missed a beat once! I thought being ten years old and Japanese it would be it good bet but so far it's been an expensive pain in the butt..... I do actually really like it but it's testing my patience (and finances) trying to get working properly. I'll report back, still hoping someone who's experienced this might comment...

There's a great long post on here from me that Mr B and others have kindly been helping me with regarding some issues I've been having with my newly acquired Forester XT. So far I've had it for about 2 months and it has been nothing but expense, grief and trouble. Problem is, I'm so far in now I need to carry on! In my endless quest to sort out a slight rough running/misfire issue (after replacing secondary air valves, pump, plugs, coil packs and fitting a new MAF sensor) I decided to fit a new fuel pump and ordered a Walbro GSS342 255lph model. I have just changed said pump but all is not at all well! Firstly, after fitting and going through the ECU relearn procedure I left the car ticking over for a while. The new fuel pump makes the most horrendous intermittent whining noise, almost sounds like someone repeatedly cranking an engine over. Really loud and awful sounding! So I took it for a spin and, hallelujah, if I'm not mistaken, no misfire/lumpy running anymore, it seems smooth....... until after a few miles and I put my foot down and just when I would expect it to 'take off' at about 4000 ish rpm it just hits a flat spot so my guess is it's not getting enough fuel....!?! Can anyone tell me whether I've done something wrong or whether it is a faulty/rubbish pump? Obviously, as you do, after fitting it I have looked and found many people complaining about Walbro problems but I'm a newbie and I'm just following the herd. I'm starting to wish I'd never bought the damn thing, it's costing me a fortune. I'd welcome any advice before I just go out and put the old pump back on (which, incidentally was also a Walbro so it's obviously been changed before) Many Thanks.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind! :-)

I thought I might as well give it a try. Something is causing an issue when the fuel level gets a bit low....

Further update Mr B! The trip to Wales almost went without hitch..... 500 miles nearly still with the issues previously mentioned then suddenly, 60 miles from home on the M42 it lost power.... it was like it was suddenly only firing on 1 or 2 cylinders. Pulled onto hard shoulder, let it cool, nothing. Called the AA. They recovered us to a services rather than straight home and sent someone out to 'assess' it. He knew not much about Subarus however he disconnected the MAF sensor and it started. He drove it round the car park as did I but it still seemed a bit spluttery so we opted for recovery home (broke down at 2pm, finally recovered at 8.30!) Anyway, with this MAF thing in mind, this morning I removed it and sprayed it with electrical cleaner a few times to clean it up. The leading edge of it looked a bit brown and tarnished but after a few sprays looked shiny so I re fitted it. Started up and ran better than ever! Went for a spin round the village and the splutter it has had seemed to have gone so there was obviously a problem here. I was very low on fuel so drove to the petrol station. The guy I bought it from told me that for some reason 'it doesn't like being below a quarter tank of fuel' and it did cough and splutter a bit on the way, I hadn't had the tank this low before. Anyway, I filled it up with super unleaded and after a couple of miles it was running better than it ever has! Still not 100% but far better than before. On the strength of this I have bought a new MAF sensor as it was obviously problematic and although I've cleaned it I thought it better to replace it as it may be faulty. Which leaves me with the low fuel issue. I am now wondering whether for the sake of £70 I should change the fuel pump. As it has an 'in tank' fuel filter I imagine that has probably never been changed and if I'm taking it out I can't help thinking it would be as well to change the whole pump for one of the aftermarket ones as the car has done 94,000 miles. Have you any opinion on this or whether this might cause low fuel issues? I realise it might still need to go in to a specialist at some point if these fixes fail but as this MAF cleaning has made such an improvement I'm kind of happy to spend my money on parts and save myself some labour costs as long as I'm not wasting my time....

Then that's what I'll do in the New Year. Will report back when I have it sorted.

Another update..... So, at first everything seemed 'cured' but it isn't unfortunately. Although the engine light has only come on once in the last few days (still showing code P0410 although I haven't changed the pump yet as I thought the issue had gone away) the misfire is rearing it's ugly head again. It's not as bad as it was before and in fact isn't really like a misfire in the true sense any more, but more like a slight stutter. Not bad enough to make the car unusable but enough to be annoying as you find yourself looking for it and expecting it. It shows itself mostly when either, say, pulling away again after slowing for a bend at low speed. The car will jolt along a little, almost like you've let the clutch out too quickly or you're in too tall a gear if that makes sense. It's just lumpy. The other time it's most noticeable tends to be if you put your foot down to overtake for instance and it will hesitate a little. The rest of the time it shows itself occasionally by just missing a beat now and again. So, I'm not sure now what it is. I think as it's running better it was worthwhile doing the plugs and coil packs as I know they are good now and whilst could have been symptomatic of the problem there are other issues. I guess I could liken it to driving a car with a manual choke if you've turned the choke off too soon if that makes sense. I've also noticed that when left on tick over the revs fluctuate from high to low quite frequently rather than being constant, I don't know if this is normal. So I'm not sure what my next move should be. Could it be fuel related or the ECU? Should I get a leak down test done in case there's air getting in somewhere? Or could it be something else? It's all a bit of a head scratcher and I'm pretty surprised/shocked that a quality modern car with only 93000 on the clock should be this problematic, it's not like it's an old banger. I'm going to take it to Wales as planned and will need to address it in the New Year. Maybe it's time to visit a Subaru specialist.

Will do 👍

Thanks...... there must be a proper technique for doing it. I can't imagine the Subaru dealer mechanics are messing about with different extensions and swearing and cursing and squashing their hands whilst doing it! Be interesting to know what the 'official' method is..... but I am glad it's done!

Cheers! :)

Update..... I have replaced the plugs and also the coil packs with ones from Surefire..... they came next day! Anyway, it now seems to be running properly at last! I've just been for a 20 mile drive and all seems to be well, it's a different car! But what a complete pig of a job, no wonder the guy at the garage wasn't in a rush to do it! Especially the passenger side rear one, there was some colourful language in my garage last night I can tell you! Anyway, all's well that ends well and as an added bonus, for some reason there is no engine light anymore even though the code came up as being secondary air related..... maybe it's because I've reset the ecu by having the battery removed for a couple of days? I have actually managed to buy a used but good pump of a guy on eBay for £60 but if the light doesn't come on I will put it on the shelf for a bit and see..... Anyway, thanks again for all your advice, I am happy to have the thing running right at last.... for now at least! Cheers :)

Update..... have removed the coil packs and can't see any obvious signs of anything untoward.... they're a bit old an dirty looking but no breakages, splits, corrosion or otherwise... the wires, terminals and plugs all look ok visually. Halfords don't stock the plugs so I've removed and then partly re-inserted one just so I don't leave the hole open to check I have the right tools, I'll need to get some online or something. I'm wondering if there's any way I can test the coil packs while they're off? Is it likely/possible it could be a faulty plug? They should have been changed at 75,000 and it has now done 94,000, the book is stamped for the service but I guess that doesn't mean anything necessarily. I suppose it's a case of just change the plugs and see or change both and hope for the best? Do the coil packs have a lifespan whereby they would need changing anyway? I'm assuming the ones I have are the originals, they look pretty old.....