unibrook

Here in Massholia, we seem to have an over-abundance of 3rd whirld dopes cruising around with mail-order licenses. My wife got backed into by an Indian lady who refused to give up her license details etc in fear of insurance claims etc. Anyway, being THE socialist craaphole of USA, we are a magnet for dypshyt drivers here. Dopes just keep voting for more dope-breeding welfare programs here, no mystery to it.

I have been using 4 Winterforce M+S for about a year, year-round. Love em. Sure, a bit noisy on hwy dry. But I only put 5k a year on my car, mostly city driving. These tires are great on the ************ty roads of Boston.

Uni, just use a large cotter pin. Been working on my 2001 Forester for years. No problema.

A word of caution when trying to find the ABS test connector under your dash. Mine is a 2001 Forester, and the only open white connector is above the accel pedal. One by one I grounded each of the 8 holes, none of them produced any ABS light flashing when I turned the key to ON. 2 of the holes produced sparks, yikes. The ABS and CEL lights did go off, along with running lights and instrument panel lights. I found one toasted fuse, a 20 amp in the engine compartment box that the manual described as the Lighting fuse. That got my lights turned back on, but I am still twigging a bit about the CEL going off and not coming back on....it had been on due to my cat efficiency below threshold. Hmmmm. Anyway, the only open connector above the brake pedal was a small black one, and yes it had the 2 black wires nearby. I did not bother testing it since I had already produced sparks on the white one. Also, I removed the plastic kickplate near the driver's door since the Endwrench article mentioned the ABS test connector hides in there.....well, nope, it doesn't, that I could see. Anyway, I went ahead and replaced the front left ABS sensor since I was sure it needed doing. The ABS and CEL lights are off for now.

I have the Winterforce on my 2001 Forester. LOVE them. I just leave them on year round. Probably not as quiet as all seasons, but with the rear bearing noise I am tolerating now, I can't even hear the tires!

Hi Denise, I have a 2001 Forester with 86k miles on her here in Boston. The only boot that cracked on mine so far is the passenger front inner boot above the exhaust pipe (cracks due to the heat from the pipe.)

Perfect, thx. I will try it tonight. Even though I already know which wire is broken, I want to see the code flash.

Hi Porcpine, where exactly is that ABS wire harness located so I can test it? I have a 2001 Forester. Thanks anyone who can steer me...

Might be front 02 sensor also.

Anyone else feel as thought the Search function on this board is lacking a bit? Try searching for ABS. You might think you would come up with plenty of hits......but no.

Tru dat. My bro says he had to get medieval on his 94 camry ABS sensor to get it out. The newer the car, the easier, I would assume.

I am feeling your pain. Some welfare punk threw a rock and broke my hatchback window. That was about $270 to have replaced....and I get to hear little pieces of glass rattle around for the rest of its life. Seriously, it is time to sterlize anyone who goes on welfare, it just breeds more vandals and criminals.

My 2001 Forester with 86k miles on her has the ABS Light staying on: Dealer just says they have to hook up their ABS computer scanner to diagnose the problem. You might as well first do a visual inspection of all of the components to be sure wires are intact and no obvious damage exists to any of the conduits etc. My best guess is to check your front wheels first, since they turn and probably stress the sensor wires most. On the third sensor I inspected, I found an old wire breakage near the sensor that the previous owner (or some clown who broke the wire while doing a brake job) had soldered back together and wrapped electrical tape around….amazingly, it held for a few years. Here is a diagram of the general ABS setup, albeit from a different car: http://autorepair.about.com/library/illustrations/bl457a-lib.htm You can easily and quickly pull out a wheel speed sensor once you remove the wheel. It has a black wire coming out of it, (perhaps with a white stripe if you look further up it near the wire clamp). You will find it mounted just in toward the engine on the splash shield by the rotor. Use a 12mm socket to take out the single retainer bolt. Then gently wiggle or pry with a screwdriver to pull out the sensor. It is a friction fit and sits in a hole like a bottle cork. So you can wiggle it out back and forth. Clean off the dirt/rust dust that might be covering the black sensor “cork” and the metal tip at the bottom of it. Visually inspect the teeth of the tone wheel, mine were clean as a whistle. The front left ABS speed sensor assembly is part # 27540AC100 and costs $120.77 shipped from subarugenuineparts.com. $3 cheaper than 1stsubaruparts. The wire from the sensor goes up through the fender into the engine compartment where it clips onto another ABS system wire with a standard wire connector.

I just asked Cityside Subaru here outside of Boston how much they would charge to put in a new rear wheel bearing on a 2001 Forester......$340.

yep, Hondas run like a top, but have fun tunneling into/under it to replace a friggin starter and alternator. Saab was a pain to reach alt. also. I will keep my Forester.

From my experience with my 2001 Forester 85k miles, you might be due for another front 02 sensor. Swap the old one back in if you are sure it still functions right. Cheap way to test. My front 02 sensors only lasted 40k miles each.

Just to play devil's advocate here, my old saab 9000 fwd handled in the snow better than the Forester. Period, no argument, don't even bother .... Now, that said, if you were stuck in snow, or facing a slippery hill, that is another matter, and the Forester will climb, whereas the Slaab will just sit and spin.

I want to run a 4" circular saw off of my 2001 Forester. Can I do it with a 100W inverter plugged into the socket in the cargo bay of the car?

Replaced front 02 sensor with OEM. Drives like new now. (except for the cel being on, of course).

Just wondering how quickly people here have seen cat converters go bad under tough driving conditions? I have a 2001 Forester with only 86k miles on it, but inner city short trip driving. And I drove it about a year with a bad front 02 sensor before I replaced it. I have the cel po420 now. So, no doubt life has been tough for this cat, only wish it had 8 more! 86k and 6 yrs is pretty brief, don't ya think?? Any warranty on these cats? ps. I have been averaging 27 mpg since I replaced the front 02 sensor. Very happy about that mileage.

Could be your front 02 sensor too.

And be happy for your small Subaru problems. My bro is trying to R&R the front 02 sensor on his gf's 2003 Toyota Rav4 with 40k miles on it. Hey it is right up front on top of engine, easily reached without removing anything just lift the hood......should be a piece of cakewalk, right???? yeah um, apply force, hmmmmmmmm, why so tough? Apply more force with breaker bar, oops, SNAP goes the 02 sensor tool as it cracks in half. Many hours later, saw the old sensor in half to get a spark plug socket on to crank it with even more leverage. Finally gets it out, and you guessed it, totally mushed threads. This is a 2003 gently used Toyota, folks. Ouch.

yep, grab it. worst case you part it out. and that is a solid engine year.

My fix turned out to be the front 02 sensor. Here is my review from a diff thread: I have a 2001 Forester L with 85k miles on it. I have been chasing an intermittent hesitation under load problem for the past year since 80k miles. Only occurred when engine was warm. The front 02 sensor had been replaced once at 40k miles. I suspected it again this time, but since the only codes thrown had been cyl's 2&4 misfire ( p0302 & p0304) I assumed it must be ignition related. So I replaced plugs and wires 8 months ago...no effect. Did the dollar bill test over exhaust pipe, it was fine. Misted the coil, no sparks. I mentally sort of ruled out the fuel filter since it only happened when the engine was warm. Finally, a week ago while cruising on hwy at 65 mph, I felt the hesitation again (I wasn't even accelerating this time) and a new code was thrown....p0172. AutoZone read it for me, I described the symptoms to the guy and asked if he thought it might be the front 02 sensor. He said, "absolutely." So I decided to replace it next. Cost me $100.75 incl tax for the oem part# 22791aa00a from Cityside Subaru. I asked the Parts guy there if his experience was that this model engine needed a new front 02 sensor every 40k miles. He said, "no, these sensors are good for 100k miles." Well, bullsnot on that. I replaced the new front 02 sensor in 1 hour reaching from the top over the passenger side of the engine using an adjustable wrench. Be sure to use the thread lube so you can get it out easily next time.....after another 40k miles. I took out the air channel assembly first for better access. That seems to be the fix. No further hesitation since. Car runs like new.

I agree with Ferret. On his recommendation, I bot it and use it on my 2001 Forester. Love it. Any cheap old laptop will work. Just pick up a p2 or p3 processor laptop and you will be smiling.