jonboy

well, thanks Mr.B eternally grateful. Come to Portugal some time , The beers are on me . Probably go down the Poland route as they are in the EU , no taxes,overnight delivery ,etc still wondering about the auto hill start feature though all ideas welcome

The plot thickens, after finding specialists including Amayama, and a swedish company both replied saying my Vin cant be found, or 'isn't recognised by their system. Just double double checked on my owner's document and two seperate plates riveted on the inner wing, and I haven''t got it wrong, its exactly as the the above post....Anyone come across this issue before ?

I'm on my second Forester the first one had a really neat hillstart gizmo ... Is this standard on first series 1998 -2000 + or was it an optional extra.? My current Forester, same year, same spec, a couple of months difference I have had it since 2017. doesn seem to have it and as I'm getting past doing mech stuff myself, I just had a new clutch, valves done, some oil seals (Except the one in my previous recent posts) and said to my Mr. spannerman, who had the gearbox out and generally everything necessary for the work I wanted done , 'while you are under there can you reconnect or at least suss out the auto hill start feature. ' when I bought this one in 2016 the owner said he'd had the system de activated , why for Cries sake it was one of the things I loved most on the first one. So , whaddya think ... is it down there somewhere , maybe it wasnt fitted to my one but my owners manual talks about it.... all feed back gratefully fed back... Jonboy

Boa tarde todos( good afternoon everyone)...thanks for the replies ......Mr. B, as requested.. 1998 Forester, non turbo SF5 VIN. JF1SF5LJ4WG020333, The seal is at the rear of the head lefthand side when you are sitting facing forward the seal bears the number as above, and I found Ars are a japanese oilseal manufacture but searching their listing, B 30, the first three digits come up with a 30 mm seal. mine is 45mm ....someting isn' right , but ,hey, 28 years ago maybe they had a different serial number system. If anyone has ever had to do a head job where of course the cam shaft comes out must have to replace this seal. Unless the cam comes out front wards but still I think you have to pry out the old seal, which basically is sacrificial, to access the end of the camshaft . So why is it so difficult to source ?. again, all ideas welcome Happy bank holiday monday!

I'm in Portugal and Subaru doesn't have a concesssion here any more, ....I'm trying to find a camshaft oil seal for the left cylinder head, It a simple drive in plug a bit like a big version of a core plug, but rubber and metal I suspect its a Subaru OEM part, as none of my local general multi-make factors can help . It has Ars, (make?) and B 30 BP7 45 8-1 HS, any one recognise the logo or how to cross refer that number.? Don't mind where it comes from, but if anyone knows a Euro supplier, its preferable since post Brexit there are ludicrous delays and arbitrary fees. .....Don't get me started.....from stuff imported from UK. All ideas gratefully appreciated

Hi I'm not really new just been away for a while.... Testimony to how reliable my '98 Forester with 400000km is. I'll post a question in the relevant section about sourcing a part in the UK .Subaru have completely withdrawn from Portugal.

A slightly newbie here but I have had a forester for eleven years...never been anything to ask about really .... but...a load of cars here in Sunny Portugal suffer from a scabby deterioration of the clear 'varnish' on top of the base car colour, all makes, Bmws, opels renaults... (interestingly no mercs and there' s more mercs per capita than Germany Taxis in Lisbon often have 6-700 thou kms and thats already round the clock once....!). the old forester, always parked outside in sometimes full-on sun, 40ºC , 55-60º inside, .... had just started to get this peely effect ,, as its the clear coat that is affected , the average paintshop simply cuts right back and resprays, and clearcoats again... Anybody got any recommendations for a car polish that has to work like factor 50 sunblock.? My new forester, actually six months older and with half the Kms at 175000, and most importantly LPG, has been a one-owner always in the garage and is pretty well perfect, but is just starting to get the peely scabby on its forehead above the windscreen after a couple of months in low - mid thrties ºC and it ain't summer yet...

No probs no hijack, but thats my point.....how can one find out what fits what? Stant's info above should help...but no-one seems to know or won't say... I just wikied 'platform design' where the principles of general standardisation of certain componentes is explained... But another thing... i have just been sourcing two front discs for the Forester, to be told by the motorfactor ooh thats a tricky one we'll have to do some research..... are you seriously telling me theres no other vehicle on the planet that has the same format as the forester?. its a steel disc of a certain thickness a certain diameter and certain stud hole and central hole specs.. there should be a way to feed that info in and up comes yeah its the same as a Toyota blah and a mishitibus blah and a nissan blah or ... but I go to the factors and they say best off going to Subaru ... pleeez...

thanx but i should have explained the issue is the well is full of lpg tank so i need to relocate the spare somehow, and a skinny was one of the options

Any Soobs come from the factory with those skinny spares....? apparently over half of all new cars dont have the traditional spare now...tyre repair kits or skinnies or run-flat tyres...looking for a skinny for an old sf forester ....any specialist wheel guys to recommended...or other tips ? Anyone know if the forester 15" rims have the same stud pattern and position as any other cars so I can widen the search a bit...Thanx JB

Fair point Daz, but at the end of the day , unless you spent the 1500 beer tokens on the lpg when you really should have spent it on the tranny or a heart transplant, you will still be halving your running costs therefore subsidising either a major repair, or the pimping and tweeking you want to do for the wow factor. Its a personal thing of course and for me the car is a necessary tool for work and leisure, but Ive been down that road on motorcycle customs a few times.....spent a fortune on building specials, that either end up unsaleable or get broken up for the next Project. On the other side, I have just bought a superbly rebuilt and modified Harley for 4K , with bills for over six grand and that was just pieces....the man hours that went into it are uncountable....and the original donor bike must have cost four or five K. But honestly as its a 'special' it will probably fall into that category mentioned above of never being worth its value invested. Except to me because its worth what I paid, but maybe not to someone else. But It is a head turner and there's a huge wow factor. 'If I have to explain you wouldn't understand' I suspect applies to all of us here more or less

well i used to have one but now its scon

No such thing as a wrong country lqq and we do have the best seafood in yurp, what with our coastline being almost entirely atlantic..and barbeques are the normal way of cooking in 9mths of the year. oowillavafishyonalittledishy me here

interesting in theory Daz RSK, but in eleven years with my 98 forester , apart from a head gasket issue i never had anything but maintenance every car needs. tyres brakes clutches, ..timing belts and pulleys .. exhaust... a few leaky seals that were sorted at timing belt changes,... 200000kms and never touched the rear brakes. never needed any suspension attention apart from a couple of droplink things and still on the same shockers...but three clutches, I tow and launch a boat on steep slips a lot in the summer, a slave cylinder failure and other minor stuff . My cars work for their living... before the forester I have had a couple of old Merc station wagons likewise a Volvo 240 diesel, and an old and faithfull Peugot 5 series diesel that finally died at one million kms. Never did any of them get close to the Subaru in terms of reliability and level of equipment. Thats why when the old Sub was getting a bit clapped and ratty, I found the six month older half the kms '98 and GPL, and there was no competition. Unless I win the lottery I wouldn't have another car. theyve reached the age after ten years when all the depreciation has happened, most stuff has been fixed or has still got multi miles left and the Subarus are better than almost anything for that. Don' t not fit lpg in case the gearbox might fail soon, if thats the attitude don't do anything becsause something might fail soon.

Next question ... about two years ago my old forester blew its head gasket...( a whole other story about sorting it , but watch this space.) all sorted and running well but after a few months the interior heating radiator sprang a leak ... footwells full of water and all the associated problems. two years of no heating and no demisting, but not a big issue as I don't live in freezing conditions not such a big deal... but finally i am going to tackle it. But where to start ! I cant find a single starting point and the chiltons manual conveniently doesn't mention it at all Anyone done this job ? any tips before I start ripping out acres of dash board plastic and scary airbags and not a screw or fixing in sight. I really don't want to start jemmying bits off just to find its not tyere after all...