forester2002s

Check your battery voltage. It should be just over 12V without the engine running.

Long shot: Does the clutch-plate slide freely on the splined input-shaft? If there are any burrs on that spline, that could cause a slipping clutch.

Get a Gates or Mitsuboshi Timing Belt. Avoid any no-name timing belt, however cheap it is to buy. I would also change the front crank-seal, if there is any oil leakage. And, with the engine out, how about a new clutch-kit (clutch-plate, cover and pilot & throw-out bearings). With the clutch disassembled, check the 'oil-separator plate' (behind the flywheel); it may need resealing, or replacing if it is plastic (but your 2002 Forester may already have the cast-aluminum plate which is less likely to leak). And if there is any oil leakage from the camshaft-covers, then buy a new gasket-kit for the covers. None of this work adds much time, assuming that you already have the engine out. Your Forester should have many years left.

Might be that the timing-belt Tensioner has failed, and allowed the timing-belt to slacken. The noise you heard could be the Tensioner flapping around. Then the timing-belt might have skipped a tooth, and screwed up the valve and spark timing. Take the left-side (looking forward) TB Cover off (3 screws), You'll soon see if the timing-belt is loose.

Yes, the EBay or Amazon kits are fine, but only get a brand-name timing-belt. Such as Gates or Mitsuboshi. If they don't specify the TB brand-name, then don't touch it.

Some belt dressings work the other way. They coat the belt with a 'sticky' film, instead of with a lubricant.

I see that rockauto.com have your rear strut-assemblies for about $90 incl. shipping to DC.

And use a 6-point socket for those troublesome bolts. If you use the regular 12-point sockets on a tight bolts, you may end up 'rounding' the bolt-head or nut.

I too do a water flush after draining the old anti-freeze. But this always leaves some residual water in the cooling system - sometimes quite a lot. So adding 50%/50% premix doesn't work after a water flush. What I do is to calculate how much of the concentrated anti-freeze that I need (knowing the capacity of the cooling system). Then I add that amount of antifreeze to the system. Then I top up with water. Run the car for a day. And then top up with water again, if necessary. That way I end up with the correct antifreeze+water mix.

Fuel-filter partially blocked?

In my experience, diff oil gets slightly 'cloudy', with some discoloration but not much. And it's normal to see some accumulated grey 'fuzz' on the drain-plug magnet.

Great write-up!

Woaa! Slow down! Grossgary was only trying to help you. You asked for help. And you got some help. IMHO, your negative comments about someone who is trying to help you, will only serve to discourage anyone else from wanting to help.

Can't help directly in identifying that 6-prong connector. But what I can tell you is that my 2002 5MT Forester, which has the EJ251 engine, does NOT have that grey connector. It just has the two large white and brown connectors. No sign of that extra 6-prong grey connector.

Congrats on the fix. You mention a 'short', but I suspect that what you actually had was a 'break' in the power supply wire. A 'short' to ground would have blown the fuse (and also given you the same symptoms). I am assuming that you didn't have to replace the fuse, hence probably not a 'short'.

It's possible that your used remote is faulty (I'm assuming that you've inserted fresh batteries). One way to test the remote is to find someone who has a similar Subaru (cars101 will give you a list of compatible vehicles), and to try to program your remote on that other car. If the reprogramming still doesn't work, then I would suspect a faulty remote.

I have used similar 'spring-inserts' years ago on a Dodge B150 van. The ones that I used were all steel, and fitted between the coils of the spring. Yes, they brought the rear-end up a bit. And, yes the springs survived the modification without apparent distress. But in retrospect, now that I am older and wiser(?), maybe that wasn't such a great idea. I suspect that these spring-inserts put more stress on the remaining 'free' coils. So that the actual sprung-load is then shared between fewer coils. That higher stress-per-coil could result in overstressing the springs, and catastrophic (and sudden) failure. That didn't happen with my old Dodge, but I'm not sure that I would use these spring-inserts again....

Bad wheel bearings can be hard to identify. I had a noisy 'rumble' from the rear, gradually getting worse, but I couldn't figure out if it was left or right. - I tried an infrared thermometer - no temperature difference between left and right. - I tried jacking up the wheels and rocking the tires - couldn't feel anything. Tried that many times. - I tried a stethoscope on the hubs while rocking the wheels - couldn't hear anything. Then, eventually, when doing the rocking test, I heard a very faint 'click', couldn't feel it just heard it. Had that wheel bearing changed, and all was quiet. Having said that, your noise is more of a 'whine', which I would expect to hear from a noisy gear-set. So it might be the diff. Does the diff get warm after driving at high-speed?

+1 on using a 6-point socket, instead of a 12-point socket.

How to post pictures? - Go the box 'Reply to this topic'. - At bottom-right click on 'More Reply Options'. - At bottom left click on 'Choose Files...'

It may have something to do with alignment. A 2-piece drive-shaft with a u-joint allows for some misalignment between the transmission and rear diff. And so the flexibility of a u-joint puts less stress on the transmission and diff bearings. But there may be other reasons.

Give the battery-terminals a little tap with a hammer (or convenient rock). It just may be corrosion at the battery-terminals. One way to check for this is to turn on the headlights just before trying to start the car. If the headlights dim noticeably when you try to start, it may be corroded battery-terminals.

Same thing happened to me. I agree 100% - don't install an unbranded Timing-Belt on your Subaru. I installed an unbranded T-Belt from MizumoAuto, and after 39,000 miles, it had the same transverse cracks at each rib. I asked MizumoAuto to tell me which brand of belt this was. I only wanted to avoid buying another one like that. MizumoAuto failed to reply to my repeated attempts to contact them. See my earlier post (with photo of the cracked belt): http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/154398-timing-belt-best-buy/ One way around this it to buy a cheap kit (with all the idlers and water-pump), and throw away the unbranded belt. Then buy a good belt separately, e.g. Gates or OEM. Or just buy a more expensive kit, with a better belt.

What happens when you try to start the car? Does the starter crank the engine? Or is just quiet? Is there a 'click' from the starter, and nothing else. Or does the engine crank, but not start?

Manual or Automatic? If Manual, could be the Clutch-pedal Switch. If Automatic, could be the Neutral Safety-Switch.