norfolkRX

I put on a new Dayco cambelt kit when I bought the car at 35k miles - both the Japanese made toothed roller and the small idler roller (factory fitted?) were pretty rough in spite of the low mileage. I'm now (at 58k) having to fit another timing kit because both the tensioner roller and the small idler roller are noisy and on the way out. The smaller idler is running very hot. Has anyone else had premature roller failure and any recommendations for quality replacement parts? Thanks

Is the AHBL sensitive to slope or load distribution or both? I have to park on a slight upward slope when arriving home and the other half usually gets out to open the gate - after about ten seconds I noticed the headlights were auto adjusted upwards whereas I would have thought they would have adjusted downwards for being on the slope. Is this correct operation? BTW it's a 2010 RX Thanks

+1 It's going in for a service soon and that's on my list of jobs to do.

Just had to change the front tyres because they were worn down on the inside shoulder - I don't think they've done badly having been on for just under 32,000 miles. There was obviously some feathering of the tread blocks as they were getting noisier. Yes I don't drive like I stole it, but the roads round here are rough, mostly potholed unclassified and 'B' roads so they don't get an easy life. The rear tyres have still got life left at about 4mm (they were originally fitted at the same time as the fronts). I went for the same again - Falken Ziex ZE-914 205/50 R17W and the new tyres were noticeably quieter. I would rate these as reasonably good for grip, noise & comfort and mid-range for price.

Wow, you certainly get some strange effects when the battery voltage is low - hazards flashing, security lights going on and off and siren sounding depending on what you do. I'm not sure any of it is helpful in allowing you to concentrate on working out what the problem is. Original problem was being locked out so I had to use the key to get in and then only the driver's door would unlock (even from the inside). The dashboard lit up as usual (so low voltage was not high on my list of suspects) but the car wouldn't start. As I'd had a mystery electronic problem before, I thought it was the return of that so I thought I'd disconnect the battery and 'reset' the system. Achieved nothing apart from the siren going off when I reconnected it. Turned out to be a battery nearly at the end of it's life, not helped by an interior light being left on for a day. Fitted a new Yuasa HSB005 with a cold crank of 550A - it's expensive but it's got a five year guarantee and, so far, it is fine.

Well just 'cos it's there, I decided to take it apart It's made up of about 10 parts heat sealed in the outer sleeve

It comes as a complete assembly (as per photo), the part number is for Trim Code: G30, Colour Code: C6P Once the plastic cam round the steel shaft has broken, it's history. In my case it came apart leaving half of it inside - the only way in is to cut the plastic covering which would leave it looking like a taxi. If you don't need the mirrors, the only difference between left and right is the spigot that attaches to the body - that broke too when I tried to get it apart.

Seems like the sun visor on the 2008/9 MY hatchback is not a strong design. The up/down mechanism (a plastic cam) has failed on mine after only 45k miles. Just posting so we can see if this is a common fault. A main dealer new one is around £60. I suppose it is down to the number of east or west journeys you do when the sun is low

Thanks for the offer. I was expecting it to be in the owners manual but I've managed to find the Alarm leaflet in the misc paperwork that came with the car, so I'll have a read through of that.

So is that a dealer only thing?

Just wondered what this key pad on the cover by the driver's knee was for as I can see no ref to it in the service manual. Also is there any rhyme or reason behind which Impreza models get push button start.

Flat compared to Durham but not dead flat like the Fens. No motorways at all and only a few dual carriageways so speeds down in general which probably helps with the economy. Main thing for mpg is to stay out of built-up areas. As we've got the same (standard?) model, you can always PM me print out from FreeSSM and I'll run a check on mine under the same conditions - and we can compare?

With my similar Impreza 2.0 RX, I have averaged 34.8 mpg over 19 months. This is mostly local commuting, B and unclassified road driving with the occasional long trip. I start getting twitchy when I get to 350ish as the the garages here are few and far between. I also find that the computer is optimistic.

With a bit more research, I think the front O2 sensor may be called "air/fuel sensor #1" though I'm not 100% on that . . . I thought the attached might be useful, which is for non-turbo cars? FreeSSM measuring blocks.pdf

I used this cable (not an advert) which comes with instructions and a disc with FreeSSM and drivers on it. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281376830830 For the price, less than a tenner, I thought it was worth a try. I'm running it on an old laptop which seems to be running Windows 8.1. I also put a screen grab program on there as FreeSSM doesn't seem to include anything to record live data, so you can look it over later.

Thanks for the link - It'll take some time to see the wood for the trees as there's 1000 posts on that thread!! Did you have any thoughts on the front O2 sensor not being monitored? . . . or is it called something else in FreeSSM?

Just trying to get to grips with OBD-II and have been looking at FreeSSM which I've got working now on an old tablet. I wondered what your thoughts were on whether FreeSSM is sufficient for normal problem solving or if there are bits of the live monitoring that are handled better by a commercial code reader and which reader? For instance, looking at the FreeSSM measuring blocks, I notice that the front O2 sensor doesn't seem to be monitored or am I missing something? It's a pity that FreeSSM is no longer being updated, maybe I'll have to learn C++ . . . . . .

I'll have to read the manual again but I think it says something to the effect of not cranking the engine for longer than 8 or 10 seconds and not to try again for 30 seconds (don't quote me). Of course I ended up reading that after the problem. I think that what you're trying to avoid is putting unburnt fuel on the cat. No DTCs were present so I'm assuming the car cleared them when they did not re-occur. Mine's a 2010 reg, but the VIN points to a car built in 2008. Haven't yet worked out which models & variants get the push-button start.

Well, code reader arrived today and I did a quick check without the engine running. Shows no pending or permanent codes which is good, but also shows time elapsed since DTCs were last cleared was 1255 miles and 52.5 engine hours. Unfortunately I can't remember what date I first had the issue, but this distance might be about right for it. As I haven't cleared the DTCs, I'm assuming the car cleared any pending codes cause by the starting issue, itself. So looks like the car just got its knickers in a twist when trying to start before. Will try a check with the engine running tomorrow and see if that's OK too. Still looks OK with running engine (though there's a lot I need to learn about ODBII to be sure). Found this at: https://www.engine-light-help.com/oxygen-sensor-codes.html "The most common issues for lean codes are: . . . . . . 4. Engine misfire - Yes I know this one may seem weird. You might think that if there is a misfire then you will have all that unburned fuel and it should read rich; right? Well the O2 sensors read only oxygen content in the exhaust, so if you have all that unburned fuel from incomplete combustion then, you guessed it, you also have all that unburned oxygen. High O2 content in exhaust equals a lean reading! " Which I suppose explains the petrolly smell when the engine didn't fire.

I'm near Watton but don't worry, I've got a code reader on order now ('bout time I entered the 20th century anyway). I know what you mean but I'm thinking the petrolly smell is a symptom of the lack of desire to fire rather than the cause. I was thinking along the lines of the crank sensor as I've had these go before and they usually give you a few warnings before they quit altogether. Start procedure on this car is foot on clutch, press start button, and the electronics are supposed to take care of the rest. The time it refused to start 3 times in a row, I did use the accelerator on the final time and it eventually struggled into life.

I gather you guys like pics, so here's one . . . BTW I seem to be getting 35 mpg which I'm guessing means I'm far too laid back . . . ?

Sounds like I need a fault code reader . . . A mixture, 30+ mile mixed in with 2 or 3 mile journeys. Probably idles a bit slow as it's easy to stall - and then a restart is necessary which would count as a short journey - why do you ask?

Hello Mark, Yes, I've really noticed the difference with the AWD, no more skittering around corners; I live out in the sticks with no salt on the roads, just mud and ice, about 20 miles west of you. Tyres I've got are Falken ZIEX ZE914 which seem OK. Used to be a serial Alfa driver until I finally got fed up with it spending more time getting fixed than on the road. Getting garage withdrawal symptoms with the Subaru.

I'm have occasional trouble getting the car to start. It is a registered in March 2010 (2009?) non-turbo model with push button start. It seems to turn over OK but is reluctant to fire whereas normally it springs into life. The most times in a row is 3 tries after which it reluctantly started but with a petrolly smell. No warning lights were showing but would there still be a fault logged that I could read? I have checked the battery/charging which seems normal and it has had a major service including spark plugs 6 months ago. Other times it behaves quite normally. Any help appreciated as this is my first Subaru and I'm still finding my way around.

Hi All, a quick intro, I'm a first time Subaru owner in Norfolk with an Impreza 2.0 RX which I've had for a year. So far I'm pretty pleased with it.