Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

ateixeira · August 2002

It's actually plastic, with a layer of fiberglass insulation above it.

I used snips and cut an access hole for the oil filter, so that I could do it without removing it. It does tend to keep the engine bay cleaner, but I doubt it's necessary (other Subies with the same engine don't have it).

4 quarts and it reads high? Mine takes 4.6 or so. Make sure the engine is warm before you start to drain it, and remove the oil filter, too, to make sure all the oil drains out. Also try to keep it on relatively level ground. Finally, if you only put 4 quarts, make sure to check the level again after a short drive.

-juice

kens · August 2002

A friend of mine who owns a GPS has found out that his Forester's speedo overstates vehicle speed by at least 3mph. That could explain the odometer reading high. Interestingly, the speedo error is consistent on either a Forester S or L.

4 quarts shouldn't show high on the dipstick assuming you've completely emptied the oil pan before refilling. The dipstick is a little tricky to read, however -- does it show high on both sides? I go with the lower reading.

Ken

armac13 · August 2002

Speedometer and odometer readings are not necessarily linked. On my Forester, extensive testing (I'm a member of the OCD Club) revealed that the speedo read ~ 3% high, the odometer just under 1.5% high. BTW, I found trying to get an accurate dipstick reading a real pain.

Ross

padraicsdad · August 2002

Interesting. As compared against a Garmin Street Pilot Color Map and an eMap, the speedos on both of our 2002 Foresters read within a fraction of a mph of the speed shown by the GPS. The GPS always lags a little so it's hard to tell exactly what that fraction is but my guess is that it's less than 1/2 mph with cruise set at 70 mph. If true, that makes the speedo accurate within less than 1 percent. Don't know about the odo nor believe that GPS "trip" mileage should be used to gage it.

St. Patrick, our "older" Forester is back at Martin Subaru for a third attempt to get the Duelers balanced. Is this bad service or are these tires just difficult to balance (as in, out-of-round)?

Jeff

rsunico · August 2002

I've put 26k miles in 1 year w/ my Forester. The Duelers are suprisingly holding up (thought they'd be worn by now). Even wear front and rear but I did rotate every 5-6k. Frankly I've been hoping they'd wear out so I can get rid of em (hate em and have 16 inch WRX rims waiting to be installed on the Forester). BTW, the Forester's name is Tadashi. -R

ateixeira · August 2002

You'll love the 16s, I made the switch and I sure do.

I got 28k miles out of my Duelers, and also couldn't wait to do the swap.

-juice

burnsmr4 · August 2002

My 2002 Subaru Forester S turned 10K miles this weekend. Of course, I sang Happy Birthday, which made my wife cringe, shake her head, and roll her eyes. The car runs great, and the gas mileage miraculously improved after the 10K mark. Maybe it was sheer dumb luck. Who knows? I'm switching to synthetic next oil change. Dealership said they'd knock $10 off oil change price if I brought my own. I might do that, seeing as I'm not allowed to change oil/service car in apartment complex parking lot.

Of course, while my Forester's getting better with age, my poor wife's 1998 Volvo S70 cost us $500 this week. Well, actually, it was my wife and her treatment of the Volvo that cost us $500. She hadn't maintained her Toyo tires at all (now it's my job to), and it came back to bite her in the [non-permissible content removed], stranding her in north Atlanta with a blown tire. You could see metal coming out of all four tires.

She got about 35K miles out of 65K mile treadlife tires. Pathetic. She will be keeping her new Pirellis balanced, rotated, and properly aligned from here on out. Ahhh...the trials and tribulations of marriage translated into automotive terms.

Later,
burnsmr4

ateixeira · August 2002

Be happy it was just $500 and not an accident or something worse. Glad to hear she'll do better next time around.

-juice

domettg · August 2002

Does the 2003 Forester have a flipper glass on the rear hatch? I thought the lack of this was a real deficiency on the original since you can't open the glass in order to carry an 8 foot 2x4, etc.

rsholland · August 2002

ateixeira · August 2002

Use the roof rack! :-)

That's why you have a 150 lb roof capacity, double what the XTerra can carry, for instance.

I've hauled two 6'x8' sections of pressure treated fencing on top of my roof, as well as 8 foot 4x4"s on a different occasion, never had a problem.

-juice

caperosier · August 2002

Super advice guys.
How did you cut that to get at the filter? Use X-Acto knife or such?
And, I did ride the L onto ramps just to get at the cover screws....makes you dizzy getting the beast to drop. Damn age creeeeping up. Not much room under there on the driveway sand.
THX !!
PS Does that thin FG/plastic really protect anything?

nygreg · August 2002

It's your job. It's all your fau....job.

OCD will soon take over and you will rotate her new tires every 1K miles.

Greg

ateixeira · August 2002

Tin snips. It's plastic so it was quite easy.

It does not protect in the way a skid plate would, no. But it does keep the engine bay a bit cleaner.

If it bothers you, yank it out, no biggie. If you are going to do water crossings or drive on sand I'd put it back or install a skid plate.

-juice

burnsmr4 · August 2002

No kiddin'! My wife sees her car as just transportation. Not something to be cared for and maintained so that she doesn't have to spend gobs of money repairing it later. So, since I'm an OCD car nut anyway, she hates it when I ride in her car and ask her how long this has been rattling or how long that has been loose.

My next challenge is getting her to give up her car (GULP -- and drive mine) for a day so I can get her timing belt changed...7,000 miles late. That's what I thought when she first called me about the tires. LOL! I nearly fainted, 'cause I knew THAT would cost more than $3,000 to repair if it broke.

Ahhh...married life. ;-) I love it!

burnsmr4

nygreg · August 2002

My OB and I are a running joke in my family. My wife says she is paranoid to drive it because she knows how much I like it. I actually feel bad about that. But the cara most definitely stay cleaner with me and I know they (the wife and kids) don't understand why I am always "doing something" to the cars (oil, brakes, tires, etc x 2). Oh well, I enjoy it.

Greg

kate5000 · August 2002

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (c) Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina"

"Happy families all have car-obsessed spouses who love and enjoy their Subarus. Every unhappy family owns non-Subaru makes." (c) Kate5000, Edmunds Townhall.

Seriously, in my family it's ME who cleans and waxes cars for fun, checks tire pressure, takes cars for oil change and to mechanics for check-ups and repairs. I can even tell alternator from starter and I don't immediately faint when looking under the opened hood!

kate, soon 20 yrs to be married (to the same guy, btw)

ateixeira · August 2002

I'm speechless.

-juice

grahampeters · August 2002

G'day

I am ever so impressed. Given that my wife does not drive and is a bit vague about finding the car in car parks (it's sort of purply blue...) anything car related is definitely my problem. I am making sure my daughter does not suffer a similar fate.

Cheers

Graham

goose15 · August 2002

Me things the fiberglass panel under motor doth protect the pan, filter, rubber lines etc from slings and arrows of such things as rrocks, road detruis, and stuff that mite puncture delicate stuff not by brute strength but by deflecting sanfd spreading the force over a wider area. Real pain however to take off for oil change. If you cut a hole to allow access to oil filter, filter metal tahn not protected. Also keeps road salt off thoings to a degree in winter.

joseph50 · August 2002

Tolstoy reference: An all-time great post!
Thank you for the (thoughtful) lift to my day.

azeal · August 2002

Just wanted to correct the roof rack information--I have been cross shopping both the Xterra and the Forester.

The Nissan Xterra factory rack is rated for 125 pounds.

The optional "heavy duty" Forester roof rack (which looks like it is made by Thule) is rated for 150 pounds. I do not know what the standard plastic rack on the Forester is rated at, but on most cars it is 75 pounds.

I really like the option of getting the Thule rack that fits in the Forester's rail system, it's a lot more useful than the rack on the Xterra.

beachfish · August 2002

The owner's manual for my '02 says 150 for the standard bars.

John

rsholland · August 2002

The Forester's standard rack is rated for 150 pounds. For other Subaru roof racks it's 100 pounds. I don't know what the new Baja's roof rack is rated at yet, however.

The CRV's roof rack is rated at 75 pounds. Most SUVs have racks rated at 100 - 150 pounds. The 4Runner's roof rack is rated at 165 pounds. My Explorer's roof rack is rated at 100 pounds.

Bob

kens · August 2002

No perpetuating gender stereotypes in your marriage! I've gotta have you coach my wife! Actually, she's getting a little better. Before car maintenance to her was putting in the right grade of gasoline. Now I've got her checking her tire pressures and sometimes taking in the car for tune ups.

Ken

bigfrank3 · August 2002

dry gas - With fuel injection, use only isopropyl alcohol (isopropynol) based dry gas, not methyl alcohol (methanol) based.

synthetic oil - Generalization with synthetic oil is difficult because the way they are made and what they are made from, is very different from each other, unlike dino.

Dino oil swells seals. Early on, and some now, synthetics didn't, so if you had a significant amount of dino use, and then switched to synthetic, the seals might relax a bit, causing a leak because everything had taken a "set".

I personally like Mobil 1 because they have tried to make their synthetic mimic all the ancillary traits of dino, to make the transition to (and from) seamless. This includes seal performance. You could even mix it with dino without any issue. This is also not true of some synthetics.

I usually put at least 5K miles on an engine before switching.

Factory fill oil is nothing special, but it usually has a dye added to assist them looking for leaks early on. It is good to change early and often, not because of the oil, but to keep a fresh filter available to catch things during the break-in, especially with the small filters in use today.

Regards,
Frank

maverick1017 · August 2002

Who's going to the Subaru Rendevous next weekend? Sept 7-8th in Green Lake State Park, NY?? Anyone besides me??

Mike

azeal · August 2002

Hmmm, the dealer brochure for the 2003's lists the 150# weight for the Thule-looking optional rack, but it doesn't give one for the standard rack. If the standard plastic crossbars (they look plastic, at least) give the same weight, I guess the extra cost of the square crossbars and towers just gives you the Thule attachments.

The plastic racks on the Forsters at the dealer seemed sturdy, but I'm a bit dubious. For hauling our canoe I think I'd have to invest in the square crossbars and towers.

rsholland · September 2002

are rated for 150 pounds. You then have to subtract the weight of the attached Thule thingy (box, bike carrier, etc.), and then you have your "net" roof rack capacity.

Bob

thecat · September 2002

I doubt that the "rack" itself is the issue here. More likely it's the structure it is mounted to that determines the capacity. You would be amazed at what those plastic frames could hold .. but that load has to be transferred to the roof frame of the vehicle and the vehicle must remain stable with that load.
- Hutch

jimbob17 · September 2002

Took the 03 Forester to the first Penn State game. Its about 300 miles round trip. Got 30.5 MPG and that included the 1 hour of bumper to bumper traffic that it takes to get in and out of State College, Pa. on game day.
On the way back on route 80 I nearly got sideswiped. I had to do one of those maneuvers you see on the Subaru commercial. A quick right and recover at 65-70 is not something I like to do but there was good stability and response. If the other driver had another coat of paint there would have been damage to both cars.
Has anyone noticed that if you try to keep close to the speed limit nearly every car on the road passes you?
By the way PSU won. It wasn't pretty but a win none the less.

grahampeters · September 2002

G'day

It's not actually the weight on the roof that's the issue, but the distance above the centre of mass. If you mount a heavy load high and try to turn a corner, the load has a multiplying effect, trying to tip the car over. This is particularly apparent if you undertake a lane change suddenly, say to avoid an animal (or human) on the road.

It may not seem particularly important. However, a beloved friend mounted a load on the roof of his Legacy, set a trailer behind and then set off to deliver said load to his son 400 miles away.

He dodged a pallet which had fallen on the road, rolling the car four times, stopping his breathing and breaking his neck high and rendering him a quadraplegic. His wife, sleeping beside him, suffered severe bruising and resuscitated him. The dog, asleep in the back seat was pretty shaken up.

Four awful years later, he has died after suffering horrendous complications from his injuries.

The excellent crash cell of the Subaru is not a universal protector. You still need to engage the brain when loading it.

Not so cheers

Graham

3subfam1 · September 2002

I'm going to try to get out there on Saturday (I live about 20 miles to the west of Green Lakes). I'm tied up most of Sunday, however.

I'll be driving my 00 Legacy GT sedan (Rio Red).

Jim

P.S. just had to replace the oil pump on my wife's 98 Forester (@68K).

stever · September 2002

Graham, that's a poignant reminder of how fleeting life is; stay safe out there....

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

ateixeira · September 2002

The roof rails are actually steel on the 1998-2002, aluminum on the 2003s. They may be covered with plastic, but they are extremely sturdy. My cross bars are metal, too.

I've hauled some big loads, including 4x4s, 2 6'x8' sections of fencing, a 21" deep double dresser, you name it, it does the job.

After reading Graham's post I would say that it's capable of loading more than a safe amount, so it's up to you, the owner, to abide by that 150 lbs limit.

-juice

kens · September 2002

Didn't know that they switched to aluminum. Cool -- extra weight savings, I suppose!

Ken

ateixeira · September 2002

Yeah, and a lower center of gravity, given that weight savings is literally at the top of the vehicle.

The hood is also aluminum. No rust, less weight. Open one and lift it - the difference is very noticeable IMO.

-juice

gened1 · September 2002

While getting an oil change today I checked out the 03 Forester.
I noticed that the rear center headrest goes down and contours with the rear seat unlike my 02 Forester. I had to take the center rear headrest off to allow me better visibility to the rear. Does anyone know if this headrest will fit the 02 Forester?Can we order this new lower headrest? I also noted that there was an 02 legacy with one I asked the parts man and he said there was none available for the 03 Forester unless I ordered the whole seat but there was one in black or beige for the Legacy, though the 02 Legacy had a grey one like my interior. He said it was $130.00 but didn't know if it would fit my Forester and didn't have one in stock.
Thanks for any information.
Gene

chepburn · September 2002

My wife just picked up her '03 Forester. After taking it camping this past weekend it became apparent that the rear bumper was going to get scratched up from loading and unloading. I'm going to buy and install the Rear Bumper Cover.
Is this a simple install that I can do myself or should I let the dealer install it?
How is this installed on the bumper? Is it simply glued in place or are there some holes that need to be drilled?
Thanks
C

ateixeira · September 2002

Gene: ask them to take one from a car on the lot, just to see. I bet they fit, but the fabric doesn't quite match.

C: I think, but don't quote me on it, that they use two-sided tape. That's how my fender flares attach (plus a few bolts).

-juice

sfdriver · September 2002

Is it my imagination or are the 03 Forester's front bumpers higher than the older Foresters'? I had a former coworker who installed a bumper/grille guard to protect his grille from tall suv's rear bumpers when he parked his cars on the streets. If the 03 front bumpers are high enough, this may not be needed.

leo2633 · September 2002

Juice is right. My wife's '02 Outback has the optional rear bumper cover, and it does, indeed, mount with double sided tape. Hers is loose, so I pulled it up to see. One of these days I'll pull it off, clean everything up and remount it. Piece of cake.

Len

pnassmac · September 2002

No problem. Lift the tailgate, place the bumper cover (BC) on the bumper, align it, place masking tape directly on the bumper at each side of the bumper cover as a guide, double check your alignment, remove BC from bumper cover and peel off the red adhesive protectors from the double-sided tape, place the left (or right) side and lay it down slowly. Lay down gently. It is possible to peel the BC off the first couple of inches of the adhesive, beyond that, good luck.

Once it's down sit on it for a few seconds. Also, make sure it's warm outside (closer to 80 degrees).

Good Luck.

pnassmac · September 2002

Forgot to mention it, make sure the top of the bumper where you plan to place the bumper cover it as oil-free as possible. We used a clean cotton rag and isopropyl alcohol to thoroughly wipe down the top of the bumper. This will give the adhesive the cleanest possible surface to adhere. And of course, remove the masking tape when you're done.

speterson1 · September 2002

Was just on my.subaru.com and noticed that Subaru is liquidating a lot of their accessories with some substantial savings over MSRP. If you're thinking about adding something, take a look at http://www.subaru.com/mailing/accessory/index.htm

ateixeira · September 2002

I checked, but the tweeters aren't on sale, that's what I'd like to get. Prices are cheap for what's there, though.

-juice

stever · September 2002

Subaru chat tonight in a couple of hours. Get there via the link in the chat graphic at the top.

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

k2rm · September 2002

I had the pleasure of renting a 2003 Forester in Kauai all last week. I was very impressed by how well it drove and power of the engine. It was very quiet, seemed much quieter than a 02 CRV I was recently in. The seats were comfortable and the dash was very well laid out although the parking light switch on top of the steering column gave us a little confusion at first since it was on when we picked the car up. Decent mileage, I averaged around 25 mpg over about 500 miles. If I was looking for this type of vehicle to buy, I would definitely get one over the other car based SUV's out there.

There were some things that were annoying though. The first was that the rear hatch had to be slammed extremely hard to completely latch. There were many times I had to pull over after driving a few yards to slam it closed.

The rental didn't come with keyless entry and there wasn't a keyhole on the rear hatch, so the only way we could unlock the hatch was to open the driver side door and then hit the unlock button. Is there a hidden key hole in the rear hatch somewhere that I missed? I think keyless entry would be a must with this design. Or, is keyless entry standard and they just didn't give it to us?

The car only had 3000 miles on it but had many rattles from the dash and the back. Granted, I bet those 3000 miles were pretty hard.

All in all, it seems like a great vehicle. I will recommend Subaru to my fiance when she replaces her volvo next year.

stever · September 2002

grrrr, chat problems on our end.... apologies...

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

marinkid · September 2002

I was perusing edmunds incentives and rebates and came across a $1200 dealer cash incentive for the 2003 forester. Sounds like subaru is having a hard time selling the forester. Have only seen one 2003 forester on the road so far here in s.f. bay area. Bruce

Subaru Forester (up to 2005)

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