creep_nu

uh oh, the forbidden chocolate milkshake...signs would point to head gaskets, but normal checks should be made to verify. is the overflow the same color? did someone accidentally add oil to the water instead of the engine?

it's really easy, took me maybe 45 min? just have a good shorty phillips screwdriver and a good pick set to unclip the 18 individual harnesses in the parking brake assembly thingy and you're good to go. the P/N for 5th gen is 72131AJ10A. the top screw is a little annoying to get back in since you gotta kinda feel it in a tight area with no visibility, but once the module is in its tabs everything kinda lines up and the screw should go in no prob

looking on the subaru website, yes both should be the same. honestly though, i'd skip dorman and just go OEM...you can find subaru discounters selling it for like $80. it's not difficult to replace, but...it's not an expensive part.

only done it once because i got ahold of a lot of cheap sound deadening, but...i made sure I didn't cover anything i'd need access to. put it on the door skins, the floor, trunk, spare wheel well etc, but never covered up any wires(routed them on top if need be) or closed any holes up like on the door frame. worked well to quiet down my impreza...could have been better i suppose if i really attacked the doors, but i was worried about the same thing--ease of servicability. might want to just try something like that, cover stuff that's out of the way and not covering anything, and if it's not enough, explore from there

lol understand, as easy as it is to remove it's an enormous PITA. personally, whenever something pops up on one side and not the other, if i can, i switch sides to see if the issue follows, helps pin-point issues. but hey, $40 for a new switch ain't too bad

did you try moving the bulbs etc side to side

i'm not one that usually agrees with big corporations, or follow the leader and not thinking outside the box. With the automotive field being so competitive and everyone doing everything they can to eke out that little extra power, or lower emissions, or whatever, but...if there was any actual advantage to them, whether power, fuel economy, emissions, ease of tuning(???), whatever the manufacturers tout, then they'd be used in every single engine since their introduction. Nobody uses e3 plugs, and nobody uses these plugs. So, what. Spend a bunch of money on a plug that is *maybe* equal in performance to the OEM plug, or maybe inferior? don't make sense to me.

Put in the sun sensor, no change. Gonna rent a set of gauges and see if the charge is low, and ordering the mode door actuator. still shocking to me that everything went wrong all at once...doesn't make any sense to me... And to add insult to injury...went to take the car out this evening and came on a flat tire. Pumped it up and found the valve steam is deadsoes/leaking from where it comes through the wheel. So. Hooray. Add a new TPMS to the total. I..am having a bad month with this car.

good to hear...here's hoping my diagnoses so far are correct, i'm hoping that sensor fixes it all, i don't wanna start up the parts cannon on this car...these sensors and motors get expensive fast... add on the new front struts and brakes/rotors all around for my daily and this has become an expensive car maintenance month...still beats the hell out of a car payment though

i have never used the auto headlights since they're known to blow bulbs and the sensor, so...i don't know if they work correctly or not haha. i haven't checked the charge, but the passenger side blows cold so i'm leaning away from that. when i did the climate control self-diagnosis it gave me codes 45 and 49, which point to the sunload sensor and the mode door...but the modes change without any weird noises or anything, so i'm hoping just the sensor...thanks for the reminder on the TSB, i'll check on that and perform if necessary.

been having issues with my AC, drivers side blowing warm when passenger side is cold. watched and verified the blend door actuator wasn't working so replaced that. didn't fix the problem, though the air does now change between hot and what should be cold now, it's just not cold. found some diagnostic steps and found both the mode door actuator and the sunlight sensor are both bad now apparently too...changing the light sensor since it's easy first to see if that somehow magically fixes the mode door...doubtful but hey... so, in a nutshell, my whole AC system died and i'm replacing it and i don't like it haha

Oh I agree, I just know I get frustrated and walk away for a day or 2 sometimes haha

did you just leave the top screw out? or did you work on getting it back in? i've got an AC problem i'm waiting on parts for now, myself...just wondering if it's strong enough with only 2 screws to avoid having to put it back *in* using that flexy thing if i hvae to go that route

lol no worries, good luck...it looks like if you've got small enough hands you can get in there without taking the dash off, but...might just be better to take the dash off...

in case you'd like a walkthrough...

always nerve wracking when someone else puts their hands on your car eh

as much as i love my 5th gen, those 4th gens will forever and always be the most handsome leggys ever made, just absolute classic...that and the volvo s60 from that time frame just knocked it out of the park.

yeah i ended up replacing my entire set...with most things, once one goes the others follow. they're cheap enough that it was good preventative maintenance, and i keep one of the known good ones in the trunk as a spare...might as well.

surprised it was so stuck in there, looks like pretty minimal corrosion on it

time flies...congratties Zee! keep her goin

been using OEM mazda rx-8(09-12) filters for a couple years--same bypass pressure, bigger capacity, and make by roki...works for me...N3R1-14-302 is the part number...about $11 from the dealer and it's just fine by me. here's a big (OLD) comparison of subaru filters...who knows what's changed since then but...should give some ideas... (All Years) - Subaru oil filter comparison | Subaru Forester Owners Forum

yup, as much as i love working on my own cars i just don't have the time (or patience) and space to do the big jobs myself anymore. oil changes, brakes, suspension stuff, sure, but more involved jobs that'll take multiple days...i'll bite the bullet and pay for someone to take care of it. working on a city street isn't really conducive to a big rebuild either...don't need the riffraff stealing my engine while it's out on a stand lol

i used fel-pro when i did my 02 outback many moons ago, worked fine for 50k miles before i sold the car. OEM bolts though. limited experience, but worked for me.

once you get the hose on and coolant in again...run the engine. once up to temp if you see air bubbles coming up the expansion tank that's usually a pretty sure-fire way to tell. next would be a compression test and/or using one of those color changing head gasket failure thingies you can get from autozone or whatever (Loaner Block Tester - Find the Right Part at the Right Price | AutoZone). just spitballing but could be something as simple as the radiator cap being dead and overpressurizing the system? did the hose clamp just break? did the radiator hose give up the ghost and split somewhere? did the thermostat get installed upside down(with the jiggler thingy at 6 instead of 12) and through a series of unfortunate events cause an air pocket by the thermostat...reduced flow and blah blah. i ain't no mechanic so i have literally no idea how possible 2 of those 4 scnearios are but...just thinking thoughts

if you don't have leaky head gaskets, don't touch em. do the timing belt and hubs, replace cosmetics if you'd like, make sure all fluids are up to date, inspect for any faults (ball joints, tie rod ends, blown struts etc) and ship 'er out the door. you'll never get the time/money investment back from doing the head gaskets on a 10 year old 200k mile car