The Dude

Maybe someone can help me out with this problem. I vaguely remember something about removing a spacer/shim in the AC clutch. I have tried, with no success, to "search" for posts related to this problem. When the AC clutch wears it goes out of spec. Removing the spacer/shim puts the clutch back to specified air gap. Thanks.

The remote control key fob for my 2006 Forester is no longer working reliably. I don't know if the problem is with the key fob or the receiver in the car. I have a second remote control key fob which came with the car. How do I "synch" the second key fob to the car?

I have a 2006 Forester, The remote control is not operating reliably The "lock function" works part of the time, and the "unlock" function has stopped working altogether. I don't know if the problem is with the hand held key fob remote or the receiver in the car. I have a second factory key fob remote which came with the car and has never been used. How do I "syn" the second key fob to the receiver in the car? Thanks.

The AC on my 2006 Forester with 130,000 miles seems to come and go. The AC blows nice and cold and then suddenly it stops cooling. If I turn the AC off for a short time and turn it back on, the AC usually starts blowing cold again. I think I hear a rattling noise coming from the magnetic clutch. Since it still blows nice and cold when it's working, I'm guessing that the magnetic clutch might be the problem. Is there anyway to check the magnetic clutch? Any suggestions on a replacement magnetic clutch, Subaru or aftermarket? I approached an indy repair shop about the repair. At first the owner of the repair shop wasn't behind the idea of replacing just the magnetic clutch. Then he said if the AC system was still fully charged, he would replace just the magnetic clutch, but no guarantees. He said that the AC compressor had to be pulled to replace the magnetic clutch and quoted me around $500 for parts (non-Subaru brand clutch) and labor. Does that sound about right ? As always, any help that I can get from this board is greatly appreciated. I'm a fairly competent shade tree mechanic, could i do this job myself?

Thanks for all your suggestions. My GF took her Impreza to the local dealership under warranty. The result? Anyone? Anyone? NOTHING!!!!! She was told that there was a technical service bulletin on this problem, but her PARTICULAR VIN number was not on it. Sounds like Subaru may be trying to limit warranty repair costs on this issue. The VIN range only expands when enough customers express outrage with their non-starting cars. I've been in her car when it refuses to start, this is not a joke. This car could leave her stranded in a dangerous place at night. SUBARU NEEDS TO STEP UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING. g

Until very recently, my GF was in love with her 2012 Impressa hatch back. But now the car is getting very hard to start on occassions. It's happening more and more and it's taking longer and longer to start. Her car only has 16,000 miles on it. There is a thread on this problem on the NASIOC website, so she is not the only one. Does anyone have any additional information on this problem? We love the car, but I'm really concerned that soon, it will just refuse to start leaving us stranded. So far, there has bee no CEL light.

I owned a 1999 Forester and it had piston slap for the entire 200,000 miles that I owned it. The engine was noisy, especially when cold, but it never used a drop of oil. Overall, it was a great car and probably had at least another 100,000 miles of life left when I sold it.

There is the small possibility that the jumper cables were applied with reversed polarity. The car was already "dead", so reversed jumper cables might not be obvious. So, I would check the fusible link.

Where the idlers, tensioner, and water pump changed along with the timing belt?

If you used the arrows instead of the hash marks to line up for engine for the timing belt replacement, you almost certainly have bent valves. Although I would do a compression check anyway. Chances are that you will be doing the head gasket again. Make certain that you use GENUINE SUBARU BRAND HEAD GASKETS ONLY. Many other posters have used aftermarket head gaskets and have lived to regret it. Save yourself from a giant headache.

Don't go pulling the heads right away, unless you just like hearing your ratchet go "click-click-click". You can do a compression, or leak down, test to find out what you need to know with a lot less time and effort.

Just out of curiosity, do Subaru Dealerships re torque the head bolts when they replace a head gasket? I'm going to guess that the answer is "no".

One other thing, the OP reported a head gasket OIL LEAK. Subaru "coolant conditioner" is VERY unlikely to help with an oil leak. If the head gasket was seeping coolant, then the conditioner might help.

It possible that your dealer is trying to brush you off because Subaru of America (SOA) might ask him to contribute financially if your car is fixed under "customer accommodation". Let's say the retail price to fix your head gaskets under "customer accommodation" is $1800. SOA says that you, the owner, will pay $600, and they, SOA, will pick up $600, and the dealer will kick in the remaining $600. Well, maybe the dealer doesn't feel like kicking in anything to make you happy. Obviously, this is just speculation on my part. Anyway why not contact SOA directly? Ask to meet with a district SOA representative. You car is just past the warranty mileage, and head gasket leaks are known to be a problem with 2.5 L engine. You have nothing to lose.

There is a simple, definitive test for a blown head gasket. A chemical is used to check the coolant for exhaust gas. The only way that exhaust gas can get into the coolant is if the head gasket has blown. CONSIDER HAVING AN EXHAUST GAS TEST DONE BEFORE SPENDING ANY MORE MONEY ON THIS CAR. Definitely try "burping" the cooling system. If that doesn't work, I would test the coolant for exhaust gases. I suspect, but do not know, that you may have bought a car with a blown head gasket. The first thing is determine whether, or not, your car has a blown head gasket. If the car has a blown head gasket, the second thing is to decide what to do about it. If the car has a blown head gasket: Did you buy the car "as is"? What are the laws in your state regarding private party auto sales? If your post is accurate, you very well could have bought a car that already had a blown head gasket. Let's cut to the chase, worse case scenario, you're looking at a replacement engine for this car. If there is anyway to go against the seller for an "implied warranty'" in your state, you might consider taking that course of action. BTW, the Forester is scheduled to have a timing belt change at 105,000 miles. The fact that the timing belt was changed at a 140, 000 miles makes me suspicious. Perhaps the timing belt was replaced 35,000 miles late, or perhaps serious engine work was done at 140,000 and a second timing belt was installed at that time. Hopefully, your car has a minor problem. But if it has a blown head gasket, you need to know that and act accordingly.

No kidding. I had an exceptionally bad experience with a rebuilt engine. The ONLY thing that saved me was that I bought the engine THROUGH the installer and I used an instate installer. I ended taking the installer to small claims court. Since I bought the engine through the installer, the installer was legally on the hook. It is easy to drag an instate company into small claims court. If the installer had been out of state I'm pretty sure that he would've just flipped me off. Most, if not all, rebuilt engines are "tested" after you have installed it in your car and turn the ignition key. If the engine is no good, or fails under "warranty", you are usually responsible for all install and de-install charges as well as freight expenses in both directions. Buying a "rebuilt" engine seems like something of a crap shoot to me. Always buy the engine through the installer, so one party is legally responsible for the whole job. Always, always use an instate installer because the odds of ending up in smalls claims court seem pretty good to me.

I owned a 99 Forester, which I drove for 200,000 miles without any leaks or head gasket replacements. Maybe I'm just lucky.

I'm on my fourth Subaru, so count me as a fan. In brief, they're great cars, but why all the road noise? Is the road noise due to the AWD, or does the factory go too light on the sound insulation? At least it's hard to fall asleep at the wheel.

Actually, when the crankshaft pulley is properly aligned for a timing belt replacement NONE of the pistons are at TDC. TDC means, "top dead center". When changing the timing belt, you want all four pistons positioned at half stroke in their respective cylinders. TDC is what you want when you are adjusting the valves. TDC means that the piston is at the very top of its compression stroke. A piston at TDC would almost certainly bend valves if the camshaft "snapped" during a timing belt change.

Why not just check for 12VDC at the starter solenoid terminal when the key is turned to "start"? Also, I believe the contacts in the starter soleniod have been known to fail after years of use.

No, what you are quoting is the tire chain BS. I am of legal age and sound mind. I am legally responsible for my own decisions. The tire chains could probably handle this whole situation by using a disclaimer on their sales invoice. Example For Discussion Only "the purchaser has been advised by our company of the speed rating of the OEM tires on his vehicle. Despite being advised of the original tire rating, the customer has elected to purchase tires with a lower speed rating. The purchaser assumes all risks and perils steming from his/her decision. ___________________ _________ Signature of purchaser Date Disclaimers are simple, and when properly written, they hold up in court. Companies use disclaimers all the time. To me, this an extremely obvious example of a company using a non-applicable piece of legislation to coerce customers into buying to expensive tires that they do not need.

The US Federal Goverment requires car manufacturers to equip their cars with tires rated for the maximum possible speed of the car. That is the reason the 2.5 L is governed to a maximum speed of 105 mph. High speed tires are expensive. The consumer is NOT required buy tires with the same speed ratings as one supplied by the factory. The tire chains are trying to force you to buy more expensive tires with speed ratings that you will never use. I never go 105 mph in my Forester. I might, momentarily, touch 85 mph when passing a car on highway with a posted speed of 70 mph. I don't need tires rated for 105 mph, why should I enrich some tire chain CEO by allowing him to bully me into buying a more expensive product that I do not need?

Ivan, you're thinking like the good mechanic that you are instead of like an owner. Let's say that the only reason Subaru of America installs the Genuine Subaru Stop Leak in new cars is to get a car with a leaky engine through the warranty period. Well, the warranty period is 60,000 miles. Dave's Legacy already has 190,000 miles on the clock. If the Subaru Stop Leaks only holds for another 60,000 miles old Dave is going to have 240,000 miles on his Legacy. That's a lot of miles, even for a Subaru. The more miles on a car, the more you have to stop and really think before spending a wad of cash on a major repair. If I could get another 60,000 miles on a car with 190,000 miles on the clock for the cost of a bottle of Subaru Stop Leak I would give it a lot of thought. Especially since since the application of ONE bottle of Subaru Sop Leak seems very unlikely to do any harm.

It's obvious from his many posts that Ivan is a highly experienced Subaru specialist, I respect his opinion. On the other hand, I believe that other highly experienced Subaru specialists have opined on this board that Genuine Subaru Stop Leak, when properly installed, is highly unlikely to cause cooling system damage. Personally, I would do some research on this matter. If you have a small external head gasket leak that is "weeping" it is possible that the Genuine Subaru Stop Leak may stop it at very little expense. Check and see if Genuine Subaru Stop leak is recommended for use in the H6. And do a website search to see what others have had to say on this subject. In general, I am death on "stop leak" products. They can be engine killers. Genuine Subaru Stop Leak may be an exception, check it out. From what I know of it, I would install it in my Forester if it was "weeping" coolant.

I'm not familiar with external head gasket leaks on the H6. There have been plenty of these leaks on the H4. If it's not too bad the Subaru Stop Leak might possibly end the leaking. If it's a very small leak some owners manage the problem by carefully monitoring the radiator coolant level. You might be getting close to replacing the timing chain. You could probably save some shop labor if you had both the head gasket and the timing chain done at the same time. Some of the more experienced posters on this board could probably advise you on this.