unibrook

2001 Forester 107k miles. Burning about a quart every 4k miles.

I assume you mean you replaced the FRONT 02 sensor, right? If not, replace the front 02 sensor.

I would have guessed axle and not bearing. When a bearing goes bad, it is more likely to make a steady grinding noise, not JUST on acceleration.

In the long run, all Subarus are dead.

2001 Forester 107k miles. A month ago, my knock sensor began to throw that CEL off and on for a few weeks. Now it is on steady. I pulled the sensor to see if obviously cracked in the housing or if the mating surfaces of the engine vs the sensor were corroded....no to both. So, since I am getting no drivablility symptoms, I am guessing it is the sensor insides which are dying. I will pull it one more time to try to improve the connector contacts, but if that fails, then I will buy a new one and replace it. 12mm socket with two extenders beneath the throttle cables. I needed a breaker bar to loosen that retainer bolt.

When I replaced my pass.front axle, I couldn't get the roll pin back in there to save my life. So I just used a big cotter pin. Works just fine. Yeh, me and my Lesbaru...........we're ghetto like dat!

Echo this. I drove a whole Boston winter with a shot boot....no problemo. My driver's side inner boot is cracked now, probably been that way for months....still no sound coming from it. I might get around to replacing that axle sometime this summer.

I used the Hub Tamer on my 2001 Forester rear bearing. Worked well enough. Another post on here said the Harbor Freight tool works just as well and is much cheaper, so you could try that route. The lateral link bolt is either frozen welded to the bushing or it isn't. If it is, just melt the bushing out with a propane torch in 5 minutes....not hard to do. But you need to have a new bolt and bushings ready to replace, of course. I can email you step by step instrux if you want them. nwlovell at yhoo.

My 2001 Forester with 106k on her loses about a quart per 1000 miles. Same way, no drips in driveway, can't see any smoke. But I think if General Chaos is correct, that explains it. That amount of oil can burn off without seeing it in the exhaust. I will go with that.

If you haven't replaced your front 02 sensor in the last 40k miles, try that. Worked for me.

Here is what my bad bearing sounded like:

I chased a misfire for about a year before I finally replaced my front 02 sensor....it was the cure.

From a diff site: >> Find the EGR valve (drivers side of the engine, on the back of the intake manifold, near the top) and the BPT is just in front of the EGR valve. The EGR valve also has a metal tube that disappears down the back of the engine to the exhaust port on the #4 cylinder. Start replacing all the rubber hoses associated with those 2 main parts...> Have you already done this?

Did you get this resolved? My guess is you need to replace the front 02 sensor....if it hasn't been done in the last 40k miles.

Glad to hear that worked. Thanks for posting back here with your fix. That should help the next person.

That is a $500 car to me. jmho.

I have a 2001 Forester with 106k on it. My front 02 sensor has been crapping out every 40k miles. Mostly city driving. Just fyi.

Unplugging the front 02 sensor would not affect the engine idle....I don't think. A bad front 02 sensor will show up most when the engine is under load. If it hasn't been replaced in the last 40k miles, I would replace it.

If it only misfires when warm, not cold, and if you have not replaced your front 02 sensor in the last 40k miles....then try replacing it.

Bingo! Mr. Shakes was great. Fit me in at lunch while I waited. $60 well spent. THx for the lead.

bstone....which muffler shop did you use in Boston? I need one. Thx nwlovell @ yahoo.

That's a definite clue!

Well, I put on the split flanges, and it does pull the two pipes together and hold them solidly in place, but it still leaks....so off to the muffler shop I go to have them cut and weld.

In fact, my rear wheel bearing outer race was so tight, the Hub Tamer could not press it out before it began to deform the knuckle...so I stopped. I rented a slide hammer from AutoZone to yank/pound out the outer race. That was the toughest part of the job. I was SLAMMING that bear.

Ok, good to know that isn't the source of my oil loss. Thx for the clarification. Good post.