forester2002s

Sticking clutch pedal? Could be that you need a new slave cylinder. Plenty of info on this board. Search for 'clutch slave cylinder'.

You could check the resistance of the heating elements. I don't know how many ohms you should find. But it would be easy to compare the driver's-side with the passenger-side. I would start there.

Too much AT Fluid can cause excessive 'frothing' inside the case. The excess will then blow out of the air breather tube (on top of the AT case). If the discharging froth gets onto the exhaust pipe/cat, that's when you'll see the plume of white smoke in your rear-view mirror. It looks quite dramatic, but is unlikely to do any harm.

Purolator Specifications for PL 14460: http://www.purolatorautofilters.net/resources/Popup/Pages/PartDetailPopup.aspx?partnum=PL14460 Purolator Specifications for PL 14459: http://www.purolatorautofilters.net/resources/Popup/Pages/PartDetailPopup.aspx?partnum=PL14459 These are the main differences: PL14460: Anti-drain-back valve NO; Relief Valve setting 20-25 psi; PL14459: Anti-drain-back valve YES; Relief Valve setting 12-15 psi. Based on those specs, I would definately change the filter ASAP.

On my 2002 Forester, the clutch interlock switch prevents the starter-motor from turning. No juice to the starter relay. It doesn't have anything to do with the ignition circuits. In other words, the interlock would not prevent the engine from firing, if it was already turning over.

My 2002 Forester came with those plastic fog-light 'protectors'. I took them both off, and threw them away! They were so flimsy, that I couldn't see them doing any good at 'protecting' anything. And the plastic grid just obstructed the beam from the lamp. Good riddance!

You don't say what year or model. Perhaps it doesn't matter in this case? The FSM for a 2002 Forester says to torque the AT pan-bolts to 3.6 ft-Lbs (similar to the figure given by #2 above). The key thing to remember, is that this isn't much torque. It would be very easy to accidently shear off those pan-bolts. Good luck.

I presume that this double-negative was a typo, and that you really meant to say the opposite.

How many miles on the timing belt when it broke? My 2002 Forester is nearing the recommended miles for a new timing belt. I'm planning to replace the TB soon, so it would be interesting to know how old was your TB when it failed. 16 bent valves! Ouch!

I agree. And, since oil level is so important, one has to wonder why Subaru's engineers haven't fixed this problem years ago. It's not rocket science...

This wording had me puzzled at first. But I think I understand what you mean. When you say "e-brake light", I assume that you mean the "brake warning lamp". As I understand it, when the "brake warning lamp" comes on, this can indicate any of these problems: - Low fluid in the brake reservoir (nothing to do with the e-brake); or - Parking brake (e-brake) applied. So when you added fluid to the brake reservoir, and the lamp went out, this actually had nothing to do with the parking (e-)brake lever. Or I am I barking up the wrong tree? EDIT: On second thoughts, maybe this is what happened: - You have rear drum-brakes (not discs); - When you apply the parking brake, this forces the brake shoes apart to contact the drums; - this small movement of the brake shoes might suck in some brake-fluid from the brake lines, and depress the fluid-level in the reservoir; - and that could cause the "brake warning light" to come on, indicating low fluid-level. Is that what happened?

Keep trying to remove the upper plug. You've probably thought of this, but whatever you do, DON'T remove the lower plug first, as that will allow the oil to drain. Then how will you refill the diff with the upper plug in place?

My understanding is that you should NOT warm up an engine by letting it idle. Admittedly, my experience has mostly been with carburetted engines. The driver's manual used to say that prolonged idling causes harm to the engine; I assume that this was because the cold-start 'choke' produced an overly excessively rich mixture for starting, and the mixture stayed rich until the engine warmed up. Now, with computerized fuel-injection, that mixture goes leaner as soon as the engine starts, and so idling may not cause so much damage. My practice has always been to start the car, wait a few seconds (10-sec minimum, 30-sec maximum), and then drive away. As others have said, don't overload the engine until it is warm.

Is this only just after turning the engine off? Or does the noise persist for a while? Overnight, for instance?

When I get this hesitation problem, I make sure to NOT drive away immediately after starting the engine. I start the engine and wait about 10-seconds (without touching the throttle, nor any electrics). Then I drive off, and there's no engine hesitation. Try it. It just might work for you.

That sounds normal to me, especially after sitting overnight.

Can you elaborate?

Just to confuse the picture a bit, but: My 2002 Forester came from the factory with the keyless remote. It opens the doors, as it should. But there is no security module installed. So the fact that you have a remote, doesn't necessarily mean that there is also a security module in the car.

Filling the rear diff is a bit tricky, because of the limited overhead clearance. First, screw in the lower drain plug. I use a 1 litre plastic bottle (1 US quart would work just as well). I use the type that has a tapered top, with a small nozzle in the cap (looks a bit like the top end of a caulking tube). With this bottle full, or nearly full, of oil, I aim the 'nozzle' into the top filler plug-hole, and squeeze the bottle. I can only just about get the bottle to the horizontal, or slightly above horizontal. After a few squeezes, I am blowing air; so the bottle needs to be refilled. I keep filling the diff this way, until the oil starts to flow back out of the filler plug-hole. That tells me that the oil level is correct. So then I screw in the top plug.

And if you buy metric bolts from a hardware store, it is useful to know that: - Metric Grade 8.8 is equivalent to an ASTM A325 high-strength bolt (the metric bolt will have '8.8' stamped on the head - the A325 bolt will have three radial marking on the head). -Metric grade 5.8 is equivalent to a run-of-the-mill alloy-steel bolt (nothing special); watch out that you don't shear it off when tightening!

DRAIN the oil, and MEASURE the quantity. I think that this is the ONLY way to tell how much oil you really have in the sump. And then proceed from there....

I'm not sure if this is related, but I experience hesitation on my 2002 Forester MT. The problem is hesitation/stumbling, particularly noticeable at low-speeds in 1st gear. I have previously posted my own fix for this problem: - when starting the engine, do NOT drive away immediately; - instead, let the engine idle for about 10-sec without touching any pedals or switches; - then drive away; there will be no hesitation. I'm assuming that the ECU 'learns' something during this 10-sec of idling. Anyway, it works!

If you're not sure about becoming a lawyer in the first place, then the answer is simple: LEAVE IT TO FATE! - If you make it to the exam location, then you must be destined for great things, perhaps even Attorney-General; - And if you break down in a cell black-hole, and you miss the exam, then your future lies elsewhere.

If your engine was cold when it did this (sucking in), then you need a new radiator cap. A properly functioning radiator cap will allow coolant from the overflow-tank to be drawn back in to the system, without causing a hose to collapse under negative internal pressure.

The question of which are the best (and worst) oil filters comes up frequently on this board. And the answers are predictable: - Brands X, Y and Z are the best; and - Brand F is complete junk, don't buy it. But none of these responses are of much use to me, unless they are accompanied by some real life experiences. - For instance, if Brand X is the best, why? What happened to the engine to give Brand X an excellent rating? Or did the engine just perform normally? - And did Brand F lead to mechanical failure, not just once, but many times? And what exactly went wrong? - And how long is the oil-change interval? Did Brand F fail because of an extended filter-change period? - And was the car driven normally, no red-lining, no rallying, etc? I suspect that, for most normal drivers, driving a mixture of city/highway, with the recommended (or sooner) oil-change intervals, that any brand of oil filter will work well. But I am open to be convinced otherwise (with the relevant explanation, not just opinion).