Stelcom66

I recently traded in my '02 Outback automatic with 140k for an '02 Forester with 98.k. For me - the manual transmission is the way to go. Although the Outback ran perfectly - I missed driving a manual and it's great in the Forester. The engine is capable of staying in 5th gear on my frequent travels through hilly terrain. What got me searching again is when I was looking for a car recently for my son - that's a '95 Legacy S with the 2.2 engine - 150k and running fine. If I didn't find that particular Forester I would have kept the Outback for years. Bought it at 49k in 2005, only replaced tires and brakes, and recently the timing belt that was overdue.

Ok thanks - I'll see if the local Subaru dealership (not where I bought it) will tell me anything. I was going to see if I could remove the clock to see if there's voltage - maybe I can re-solder the connection.

I just picked up an '02 Forester S - my 7th Subaru. What a great car - I love having a manual transmission again! The key FOB doesn't work - replaced the battery from the same type of FOB from my Outback, still n/g. Seems like the LED is erratic - sometimes it will stay on, blink or is dim. Assuming the FOB may be defective I thought I'd try the Outback FOB - tried the instructions to program the FOB by turning the ignition from Lock to On 10 times within 15 seconds...etc, no luck. After the 10th turn the horn should beep to indicate it's in the programming mode - mine does not. I wonder if some other way could the system be disabled - I read how it can be if an alarm system is installed and placed in the 'passive' mode but I don't think that's the case. I wonder if a certain fuse is in line with the system - the overhead clock doesn't work either. Probably not related - but will refer to the manual for any other possibilities. Any other reason it may not be going into programming mode?