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Subaru Forester (up to 2005)
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My advice is to use the brake until you're ready to move - then clutch, shift, release brake, give it the gas and go. Holding the clutch down will eventually wear out the throw-out bearing. You'll know when it starts to go because of the loud squealing whine that just gets worse.
The good news is that they can rebuild the clutch for about the same money while they have it torn apart fixing the T-O bearing.
John
Golden: great story! That proves conclusively once and for all that frameless windows seal just fine, thanks. That's why the Porcsche 911 and BMW M3 coupe both use them.
27 mpg with bikes is great.
The air filtration on my '98 is accessible from under the glove box, so I don't have to remove it. I'm surprised they'd move it to a less accessible location.
-juice
One of the reasons we chose Forester was the lower roof height. In our exhaustive analysis we favored both ground clearance (higher is better) and roof height (lower is better). Forester had the best combination. This was in anticipation of using an on-top bike rack. And we were quite pleased with Forester, once we had the rack and were putting the bikes on top. Lindsey (the other half of Goldencoupe1)and I are both a tad under 6 feet tall, and we are just tall enough to get the bikes up there without having to stand on anything. A CRV, RAV, Escape/Tribute, or Santa Fe would be too tall. And to be honest, when I have a bike over my head and L and I are forming the four-armed monster that is necessary to fasten the bike down to the rack, a Legacy wagon starts to look pretty good -- the Legacy wagon being our second choice to the Forester.
The locations of the 9 screws illustrated in the instructions are correct, but I guess you need to have good spatial relations to interpret where they are 3 dimensionally. I am guessing that you missed the two near the bottom which are a little elusive. I recall needing to use a short-shafted screwdriver so it didn't scrape against the center console. I believe they are kind of down below the glove box door, accessible with the door shut, but my memory could be wrong.
Be careful - there are two other screws that hold the door hinges to the interior of the glove box. These do not need to be removed and will hinder reassembly. (I should know.)
Elliot
By the way, what is the logic for requiring the AT if you want the leather seats? I must admit that I am very happy with the gray cloth seats on my XS.
Spencer
AT & Leather -- My guess is that by bundling the two features, Subaru expects to make more money than by allowing an independent leather option.
Ken
Subaru probably figures if you want the luxury of leather, you probably want automatic. Also, if you agree that 5 speeds are sportier, they may figure a grippy cloth seat is better suited to holding you in place during aggressive driving.
You can always get aftermarket leather. I've seen a Forester equipped like that, and it looked better than the OE leather did.
-juice
-mike
Also, I think the Forester is manufactured as 90% AT and 10% MT, if things haven't changed.
Ken
You made me so homesick for Berkeley (and hungry) with your mention! That and Crepes-a-Go-Go are a couple of the things I miss most about living there.
Teresa
-mike
Kate -- Zachary's is good too, but it's Chicago-style deep dish pizza, which I personally don't care for. Their "thin crust" is better, but it's still a little heavy for me. Cheeseboard Pizza is a lot more simple. You've got to try it once.
Mike -- I know, I know. As a native New Yorker, I still feel the best pizza in the world comes from the Big Apple. There's nothing that beats a hot slice fresh out of the oven! I'll tell you what -- FedEx me a couple of pepperoni slices and I'll send you some Cheeseboard Pizza. ;-)
Ken
I once carried a frozen Gino's East pizza (deep dish spinach) back to San Diego from Chicago. When I stepped off the plane, I thought I was going to be mobbed by all of the Chicago greeters waiting in the terminal who recognized the box!
Next time I'll wrap the box in plain brown paper.
And it travelled well. We cooked it up the next night - was wonderful.
-mike
I step on the tire to arrange things in the roof top carrier, and to tie it down. Of course I have both hands free.
We had some good Hawaiian pizza (pineapple and canadian bacon) when we visited SD, I forget the name of the place. But yeah, nothing beats NY Pizza. Any local place.
corvallis: I've heard of backfires from mis-tuned aftermarket exhausts, but it's not common with the OE exhaust. Is yours OE? If so maybe there is a leak or something. Hopefully the dealer can trace it.
-juice
P.S.- I had my first oil leak in my forester at 15k last week. A plug inside the timing belt cover assembly was leaking engine oil out of the timing cover on the drivers side. I had a joyful tear in my eye to see my new suby following in the tradition of all its forebearers, cant wait for the cam seals to go in this one!!!!
The pop is probably unburned gas, right? The ECU should lean out the fuel eventually.
-juice
(I'm still working my way to clinical OCD, but perhaps this stupid gov't inspired message in my peripheral vision will do me in.)
-juice
Thanks,
burnsmr4
-juice
in two days driving around honolulu/oahu, i must have seen 50 '03 foresters. incredible. in the 3 months they've been out, i think i've seen one on the road here at home (colorado).
only thing i could think of was that the rental car companies are using them.
if i would have known that i could have rented an '03 forester, i would have gladly traded my rental ford taurus in for the pleasure!
Lots of variations on how to do the reset and can be useful in clearing a "non blinking" CEL as the result of a minor glitch such as not tightening your gas cap / overfilling trying to round off a fill up or adding an engine mod like a CAI.
I "reset" twice a year to help adjust to the oxygenated fuel used in my part of the country. It just helps the ECU adapt a little faster by reducing the data base.
Note that resetting the ECU in and of itself should have less impact on your mileage/performance than the way YOU drive the machine.
lakepop: so I'm to blame for driving aggressively? :-)
Funny how that throttle obeys your command, no?
-juice
Thanks,
burnsmr4
I have never experienced a major drop in mileage with a reset. Overall I average 27+ and only drive agresssively on occassion ; )
mtngal -- Yes, the ECU monitors many variables, one of them being the amount of air flowing into the engine. Much like other vehicles, our engines use a sensor (MAP or MAF depending on your model) that measures the amount of air coming in. At higher altitudes, the engine should sense less dense air coming in and make the appropriate changes.
Here's a neat link to read through:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/car-computer.htm
Ken
My understanding from talking to the Subaru of Australia tech who replaced my ECU is that it only holds about the last twenty minutes of data.
Certainly, I have found that if you modify your driving style dramatically (from hard to very gentle) the throttle behaviour and fuel usage alters dramatically initially and then more slowly over the space of about twenty minutes. After that time, there is no appreciable alteration in behaviour.
Cheers
Graham
This comes to be $100 over invoice. How does it sound to you guys? Or is the XS not worth the extra $ and should go with the X?
That's an interesting tidbit of information, but it seems to conflict with what I observe after an ECU reset. If the ECU does in fact only retain the last 20 minutes of data then I should be seeing similar gas milage before and after a reset given that I drive the same way and all other enviromental factors are the same.
However, I have always observed a significant drop in gas milage after an ECU reset (approximate 5 mpg less) than compared to the normal variation I measure (usually within 1-2 mpg).
I've read in numerous posts at i-club that the ECU averages readings from the last 10,000 miles of driving. Whether the interval is truly this long, I don't know, but my experience seems to indicate that the learning process takes at least one full tank of gas for my vehicle.
Ken
The dealership owner's got to eat! ;-)
FWIW, after I got a new battery, which resets the ECU by default, my gas mileage plummeted, by about 5mpg, too.
-juice
Those of you who had it done already - is there a clear improvement? Also, when you disconnect the battery, whil this reprogramming need to be redone?
Thanks,
Daniel
I would have the dealer test it under load (i.e. test drive accelerating up hill), to try to duplicate the problem.
It can't be too bad - if you had unburned fuel passing through the O2 sensor would trigger a CEL.
-juice
Thanks!
Patti
They compare the interior to best-in-class VW and call it the most fun-to-drive.
-juice
What startled me a bit was their '98 review. I can understand the less spacious and and more body roll than a Legacy OB part, but feels slower? No way. It's lighter than a Legacy OB. And less fun to drive than the last-gen OBS? Not when it's packing 137hp. (Sorry, OBS owners. ;-) )
I think all can agree it needs more punch.
Ed
What I'd note in the review is the conclusion that the 2003 Forester, like prior Foresters, is a great all-around car. That is why we got it. I just think the idiot that wrote this review could have been more positive...there's a lot to be positive about.
Wrong! Brent is a skilled, knowledgeable and respected writer.
Go ahead and find fault with an article but spare us the cheap ad hominem attacks.
tidester
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SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories
I am objecting to flat out belittlement and namecalling. Stick to objective criticism and we'll all be happier!
tidester
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-mike
tidester
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SUVs; Aftermarket & Accessories