hankosolder2

Thanks! I took a look at Cars 101... the early Beans had an optional cold weather package which later became standard. The car seems to have the markers of the package (like the heated wiper areas on the front windshield) so the simple explanation of "no optional cold package" seems to be out. Is there a good place to download the FSM? Thanks for the offer of a '14 harness idosubaru. Let me investigate further. If the seats don't have heating elements in them, that's going to be the end of the line for this project.

We've got a recently purchased '09 Forester LL Bean (produced in '08 before Subaru and LL Bean went their separate ways, but it is the newer body style) I was wondering why the heated seats weren't working, so I pulled the center console only to discover that there's no wiring harness connected to the heated seat switch! I looked around, thinking that perhaps someone had disconnected it and tucked it away somewhere- no dice. So, I guess either someone installed a junkyard center console or pulled out a blanking plug and installed a switch? Or the wiring harness is there and I'm just missing it. It's baffling. The car is high spec, has power leather seats, the electric moonroof, the electrically heated areas on the windshield where the wipers park.... Under the driver's seat there are three black clusters of wires and one orange or yellow one for the airbags. Does anyone know how many connectors and cables a car with power heated seats should have? I think that figuring out if the car has heated seat elements will go a long way to solving this mystery. I'm open to any other theories or advice too.

To be more specific, both vehicles in question are N.A, not turbos. Looks like some of the JDM engine suppliers are claiming the same engine will fit all these cars (if the intake manifold matching the car is swapped over) so that implies that everything is interchangeable. Someone on here HAS to have done this though, would really appreciate confirmation (or not) that this will work. In the past I did an EJ22 swap into a '98 Outback which seemed like much more of a stretch at the time....

I've got an '07 Forester with a healthy engine, just a little over 100K miles on the car but a bad trans, rust, a loose balljoint, leaking A/C, etc, so I'm going to part it out. I'm assuming that engine will fit OK in a 2009 or 2010 forester? Just want to confirm with the more experienced minds on the forum.

You didn't mention if this was a regular Legacy or a turbo Legacy GT. I'd be less surprised to see a piston breaking up on a turbo engine. It might be a good idea to send an oil sample off to Blackstone Labs for analysis to see what they say before committing to repairing that engine. They can check for bearing material in the oil and such. Think it's about $40. Good luck, sounds like you've got a big project no matter which repair route you take!

Well, I suppose buying a non DBW car is the brute force solution to not liking the touchy throttle on the DBW cars! I'd really like to get in to an '05 and up Legacy or Outback so I get the side curtain air bags.... I'm hoping to hear from someone who has driven both an automatic and manual version of one of the DBW cars.

Have an '07 Forester (NA, 4eat) in the family and I find the throttle "tip-in" really annoying. (I find the throttle response to be non linear / overly twitchy for gentle acceleration... basically, it feels like they engineered it to impress people on test drives "wow, the car surges away with only a touch of throttle, it must be really powerful!" when in fact, there's hardly any difference between 1/3 throttle and floored.) I'm looking to replace my '98 OBW 5 speed and was wondering two things- do the newer drive by wire manual transmission Subarus also have this twitchy throttle response or are only the automatics programmed this way? Also, is this an issue across the model range or are specific models and years known for being set up this way? (Yes, I know, I should just test drive the cars I'm interested in, but it's hard to find manual Subarus nearby, and I don't want to drive 100 miles to look at a car and discover I don't like how it drives.) Anyway, I appreciate the input of anyone who has thoughts about this!

I know you said the plugs were wet, but I've heard of people accidentally swapping the fuel supply and return lines. I can't remember if that causes fuel starvation or flooding. Good luck, you'll figure it out eventually!

OK, this is embarrassing, but I should tell you folks to help others. After chasing down wiring diagram, I figured out that the AC was shutting off due to the evap temperature sensor. I concluded that either the sensor was faulty or something was making the evaporator freeze up. I thought "Hmm, what would make the evaporator too cold...insufficient airflow." The volume of air coming out of the vents seemed fine, but I decided to check the cabin air filter. The "pleated" sections were filled with crud to the top! A fresh cabin air filter fixed it. In my defense, I brought this vehicle to a shop for A/C repairs and they failed to figure this out too.

So, I've been trying to troubleshoot an A/C issue with my 07 Forester X and a wiring diagram would be super helpful. Can anyone point me in the direction of a download, PDF, etc. I'm also trying to locate the evap coil temperature sensor for the AC. If anyone has a photo or a diagram... TIA!

GD, is there anywhere I can probe the Evap temp sensor resistance without too much disassembly? I'm guessing the wires from that must run to the HVAC panel... I'm assuming the EVAP temp sensor is a thermistor? Do you happen to know the normal resistance at room temperature or have a resistance-temperature chart? I'd greatly appreciate any info that you can share.

I checked that, there's no +12 at the compressor clutch when it's not kicking in, so it's an electronics/control issue. (Unless something is causing the system pressure to go so high or low that it's causing the high/low pressure switch to kick off.)

07 Forester X about 80K miles. A/C works fine initially on startup, cools off nicely, but after driving for 15-40 minutes, it starts cycling on and off and fails to keep the car cool. (Temp from vents gets warm.) Eventually it drops out altogether, the compressor doesn't run at all and there's nothing but warm air from the vents. The compressor clutch is not engaging when this happens. Took it to a local shop, they said it was fractionally low on Freon, topped it up and said they couldn't duplicate the fault. I found that clicking the A/C button to off, waiting a minute or two, then clicking on again can get the AC going again, but just temporarily. Most recently, after a 45 minute drive, I restarted the car, turned the AC on and the compressor started short cycling, it would click on for a little under two seconds, click off for about two seconds, click on for about two seconds over and over again. This is on a 90+ deg day, with the blower fan set on max and recirc on. Airflow through the vents is good. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking the high/ low pressure switch ( does anyone know the pinout of it? It's three-wire deal.) the evaporator temp sensor or.... ?

Thanks, Gary.

Had a front coil spring break on my 1998 OBW 5MT, I ordered a pair of OEM replacements. There are different part numbers for the left and right springs. They arrived, but how do I know which is which? They are color coded with paint dots. I did a search and only found info for other models. Anyone know? Thanks!