The Dude

I owned a 99 Forester. And at 200,000 miles, when I sold the car, it used a half a quart, at most, between 5,000 mile oil changes. And that was with a leaky separator plate and several other leaky oil seals. So, I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that you hadn't checked or changed the oil for a long, long time. Not checking the engine oil periodically was your downfall. When you heard noise coming from the oil starved engine, it was already too late. You might as well have kept on driving because the expensive, and irreversable, damage was already done. We're still missing some vital information on your car. How many miles? Is the car a manual or an AT? What kind of shape is the clutch and transmission in? In other words, is it even worth throwing a new engine in your car. What other fluids have you not checked or changed? There are quite a few fluids to check on a Suby: engine oil transmission oil/fluid front differential oil power steering fluid rear differential oil brake fluid On the original battery, even the water level has to be checked windshield washer fluid. Optional, replace only if you want to see where you are going.

You drive your Suby about 15,000 miles a year. With JUST the head gaskets replaced, the engine should be good for at least another 70,000 miles. That's about another five years. At that point you will have a 14 year old car. Given the length and ferocity of Minnesota winters, the body of your Suby will most likely resemble a slice of swiss cheese with the exposure to all that road salt. You bet cha. Your car has seriously depreciated. Don't spend more money rebuilding the engine than the entire car is worth. Just replace the head gaskets and move on.

No, it's just a plain old O6 Forester X. But, it does have the factory equiped Geolanders. I think, and hope, that the Geolanders are part of the problem. I remember that the 04 and 05 Foresters were criticised for having too much body lean. I heard the suspsension was "tightened up" on the 06. This 06 is also much noisier than my 99. Maybe the variable timing for the engine made it noisier. Two steps forward, one step back.

This is my second Forester, the 2006 replaced my 1999 model. In general the ride of the 2006 seems way harsher than the ride of the 1999. So far, I'm putting the harsh ride down to the factory equiped tires. I hope I'm right. I won't know if I am until I replace the tires, and by then I'll out of the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Anyway, that's not the problem I'm posting about. The first time I use the 2006 Forester each day the ride seems incredibly harsh. Like you can feel a jolt from every little bump or crack in the road. Once the cars operates for a short period of time the ride becomes much smoother. I don't believe that the problem is engine related. I know that a suspension will normally get stiff with low winter temperatures in the morning. That's not the problem here. I still get a very harsh ride even when the low temperatures at night are in the 60' and 70's. It always happens first time I fire up the car for the day. And the ride always smoothes out after the car is driven for a while. Any ideas"? Tires? Suspension? Thanks.

Do yourself an enormous favor and get a Fumoto oil drain valve.

First, thanks for all the great information that you have provided for posters on this board. Maybe I'm a pragmatist, or maybe I'm just cheap, but I like the stock steel wheels. Steel is much stronger and crack resistant than alloy. Steel rusts, but alloy wheels seem to have many more problems with leaks due to metal corrosion. There is no "special handling" fee when a tire is put on a steel rim. And finally, no one is going to steal my plain steel wheels. I'm pretty confident that all four wheels will be there when I get back from a business trip.

The guy is right. The foam cover for the spare tire well cover will PERMANENTLY deform if a heavy weight is placed on it. I place a piece of plywood over the spare wheel well when I need to place something heavy in that area. Plywood is cheap, easy to cut, strong, light, and easily obtainable-what could be better? I think Subaru screwed up with the easily compressed foam spare tire cover. However, it's a minor problem.

There's NO question, the 1999 has the Phase I engine. And Olnick has raised a very good point. ONLY genuine Subaru replacement head gaskets of the LATEST revision are acceptable. Phase I engines repaired properly with genuine Subaru head gaskets have proven to be quite dependable. I would also want proof that the job was done by a Subaru dealership or an independent repair shop with extensive Subaru experience. Other than genuine Subaru gaskets? Walk away from the deal. Unless the very real possibility of another head gasket replacement is priced into the deal.

IMO, that's one of the major problems with owning a Subaru, extremely inconsistent dealer performance. Your Subaru is only as good as your local dealer. Many owners on this board take their cars to independent repair shops due to poor dealer performance. I wouldn't make too much of the fact that a particular dealer is female owned, I have found that customer service is more a function of an individual's attitude rather than their sex. Attempted Thread Hijack: Should a dealer require that a Subaru owner have all maintenance done in the dealer's shop before he or she "goes the extra mile" on an out of warranty repair? I have a friend with a Toyota. The paint started peeling off the car just outside of the warranty period. In essence, the dealer told my friend, "I've never seen you in here for an oil change, so get lost". The right move?

I own a 2006 Forester. At 30,000 miles, no major problems. I believe that the 2006 is an improvement on my 1999 Forester. I'm getting about 2 better mpg with my 2006. I really like the Forester, but one of my primary reasons for owning one is its' towing capacity.

I drive an '06 Forester with drive by wire. I have noticed that violently mashing the accelerator to the floor board results in a very noticable lag in engine response. A slightly slower and smoother depression of the gas pedal does the trick. Drive the car for a week and acclerator operation becomes second nature. One the primary reasons manufactures have gone to drive by wire is to meet future pollution standards. It can also be used to increase mgp if required. Frankly, it removes control from the driver and gives it the manufacturer. You can mash the gas pedal all you want, but there is a manufacturer algorithm that has ultimate control on how much gas is actually delivered to the engine.

The Tribeca has the H-6 engine which has a timing chain. I know that chains usually go a very time before they need replacement. But when you do replace the timing chain you also replace everything the chain runs over. This is usually very expensive. Does anyone know how much timing chain replacement costs on a H-6?

Just for amusement, ask the shop in Westminester for SPECFIC details concerning "problems" with CCR rebuilt engines. I doubt that they could do it. I've been on this board for eight years. During that time CCR has sold a lot of motors. I can't recall one complaint about CCR on this board.

Buy the rebuilt engine through the installing dealer. That way, the installing dealer is on the hook for the whole thing. Use an installing dealer in your state. Then, if there is a problem with the engine, it is much, much easier to drag the dealer into court.

I would agree. Nipper is very knowledgeable and helpful. His posts are always welcome.

You pose a very interesting question. Since Subaru has never admitted to a problem with the Phase I , they have never disclosed the "fix" supposedly incorporated into the Phase II. In other words, as far as Subaru is concerned how can there be a "fix' if there never was a problem that required fixing? Even with the early Phase II engines which suffered from external head gasket failures, Subaru announced only that "counter measures" have been taken. "Counter measures" could be just about anything. Who knows, maybe one of the assembly workers in Guma spits on the head gasket before the head is installed and that's the "countermeasure". My guess, is that the latest revision head gasket that is able to accommodate a great deal of cyclinder wall movement is 90% of any real fix. Perhaps Emily from CCR or someone else with a lot of engine tear down experience can tell us if there is any real difference in cylinder wall support between the Phase I and Phase II engines.

You're joking, right? Treated properly these cars are pretty problem free for at least 150,000-200,00 miles. Once your car is paid off, you should still have six or seven years of reasonably dependable service. Once you pay off the Forester, put the monthly "payments" you are no longer making into savings or investements. When you need a new Forester you should be able to pay cash for it.

I owned a 99 Forester for 200,000 miles, and I currently own a 2006 Forester. Given a choice, I would simply avoid any car with a Phase I engine. Whatever the exact per centage is, the head gasket failure rate is just too high on the Phase I engine. Plus, with internal gasket failure the potential for bottom end failure due to coolant contamination is a real possibility. Not to mention that due to overly narrow oil channels the Phase I engine occasionally had a camshaft seize. The incidence of head gasket failure in any year Phase II engine is much, much lower than in Phase I engines. When they do occur, head gasket failures in Phase I engines tend to be "external" failures, so at least there are no bottom end worries. I haven't heard of any camshafts seizing on Phase II engines, so I assume the oil channels were widened. All in all, I would buy a Subaru with a Phase II engine regardless of model year.

No, you have the Phase I engine, the engine that is known to suffer from frequent internal head gasket failures. However, you may not have a head gasket failure. There is a huge amount of information on this subject if you do a search. Whatever you do, do not allow your Phase I engine to overheat. This all aluminum engine takes overheating very poorly. You may simply have air in the cooling system, or you may have blown head gaskets. I'm not certain, but I believe there is also a a plastic oil separator that is probably leaking oil. If you decide to replace the head gaskets and the oil separator is leaking you might want to pull the engine.

You seen to be within the terms of the extended warranty, so I would say that chances for warranty head gasket replacement should be excellent. You're absolutely right, the "extended" warranty was the very least, other than nothing, that Subaru could do. It would be obscene if Subaru failed to live up even to the terms of their grossly inadequate external head gasket leak "solution". Let us know what happens.

My 1999 Forester acted the same way. I actually felt obligated to tell people driving my car for the first time to watch out for the "touchy" accelerator. That car definitely required a delicate foot on the gas pedal.

Ever check the price that your insurance company pays for a windshield replacement? It's about 1/4 the price that the glass company tries to charge an "off the street" customer. In other words, if you go for new glass replacement, check around and aggressively negotiate your best price. Otherwise, you're getting hosed.

The Phase II engine calls for spark plug replacement every 30,000 miles. The Phase I engine calls for spark plug replacement every 60,000 miles, and requires expensive platinum spark plugs due to the extended interval. Guess why? You'll find out. Changing the spark plugs on the Phase I engine can be one giant PITA. DON"T forget to use anti-seize, especially if go with the 60,000 mile replacement. Good luck.

I owned a 1999 Forester for 200,000 miles, and here's my take on your situation. NONE of the proposed engine work NEEDS to be done. If your not seeing puddles of oil under the car, and the dipstick shows a slight loss of oil, the proposed work is entirely optional. I would replace the belt, water pump, and seals on the front of the engine at 105,000 miles. PERIOD. If you're not leaking oil and don't have oil fumes in the car why pull the engine to replace the oil separator? Just for giggles? You have the Phase II engine, the overwhelming odds are that your head gaskets will just be fine. Your car is getting old, dude. Now the game is to have it run as long as possible, as cheaply as possible. Don't scrimp on safety or maintenance that will actually add to the life expectancy of your car. Say at 200,000 miles you're adding a quart between oil changes. So what?