[Guna]

Originally Posted by WRXXX

1L was what was quoted when I had checked long time ago with CASS@Garuda
and that was for set of four I think, May be that price is slightly off the mark with what it
actually costs. What shocks are these? Could you please share the details if you don't mind? And do you think the front shocks are still holding good?

These were ordered through Trident Chevy and are genuine Subaru SLS type shocks.
I think the Front shocks are also bit hard and replacing them would have made slight difference. But I am happy with the overall ride quality now.
BTW front shocks are just 10k a piece.

[IcarusMan]

@WRXXX: That's very good, practical info about the wipers. Thanks. Kind of suspected these are locally available but wasn't sure.

@Guna: So you finally went for OEM SLS struts. I guess KYBs delivered to town were working out to a comparable price?

Am trying to read CEL code with a cheap "Vagcom KKL 409.1" cable from ebay. Gotzuk pointed me to ecuexplorer which was able to connect and show "realtime" engine parameters but, strangely, could not read diagnostic trouble codes from the car. FreeSSM wasn't able to connect. Probably will need to go with a bluetooth-type dongle + Torque app.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by IcarusMan

LHS side valve cover after removing plug wires:

LHS valve cover! Is this a boxer engine? On regular engines, valve cover is right at the top of the engine from what I have seen.
BTW, what's the cost of oil seals and spark plugs?

Thanks!

[IcarusMan]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

LHS valve cover! Is this a boxer engine? On regular engines, valve cover is right at the top of the engine from what I have seen.
BTW, what's the cost of oil seals and spark plugs?

Thanks!

Yeah, it's a horizontally-opposed boxer engine. Plug seals were $12.80 for a set of 4 from subarugenuineparts.com; NGK G-power spark plugs were Rs. 800 for set of 4 from JC Road.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by IcarusMan

@WRXXX: That's very good, practical info about the wipers. Thanks. Kind of suspected these are locally available but wasn't sure.

@Guna: So you finally went for OEM SLS struts. I guess KYBs delivered to town were working out to a comparable price?

Thanks to WRX I could get the wipers for Rs 330 vs. 20+ UK Pounds I would have spent on eBay. For the first time I am getting something readily available for less then Rs 500 for the Forester (well I did change the brake light, parking light bulbs for 200+).
I was caught in a heavy downpour on the outer ring road with a failed wiper and had terrible time.
Problem with KYB is, you need to replace the springs as well which makes it almost as expensive. It my require even changing the mount, so I was not sure.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by IcarusMan

Yeah, it's a horizontally-opposed boxer engine. Plug seals were $12.80 for a set of 4 from subarugenuineparts.com; NGK G-power spark plugs were Rs. 800 for set of 4 from JC Road.

Wow. I have heard great things about boxer engines. Do you really feel it's special? And good price for the oil seals. We had to change oil seals on my friend's Accord. We had to pay Rs.3300!

[WRXXX]

Originally Posted by Guna

For the first time I am getting something readily available for less then Rs 500 for the Forester

The other part that I know has long-term ROI on cars like forester whose parts cannot be procured so easily is having a K&N air filter, they have a relatively long interval in-between cleaning and recharge kits are readily available locally. I am still on the first recharge kit and I have done only ~65k so far. Thanks to @IcarusMan will get the NGK spark plugs myself for the next service.

Wishing 3D printing technology goes to great extent keep Foz alive on the road in the future :-)

[WRXXX]

Originally Posted by IcarusMan

Am trying to read CEL code with a cheap "Vagcom KKL 409.1" cable from ebay. Gotzuk pointed me to ecuexplorer which was able to connect and show "realtime" engine parameters but, strangely, could not read diagnostic trouble codes from the car. FreeSSM wasn't able to connect. Probably will need to go with a bluetooth-type dongle + Torque app.

I finally found my cable if you would like to give another try and see if that is of any help.
This cable is from palmer performance

[IcarusMan]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Wow. I have heard great things about boxer engines. Do you really feel it's special? And good price for the oil seals. We had to change oil seals on my friend's Accord. We had to pay Rs.3300!

I like its elegance of design from a technical/engineering perspective: Symmetrically balanced due to opposing pistons; lower CG due to horizontally layout. Plus symmetrical AWD. From usage point of view, though, I don't see any difference from other cars. Except perhaps for the occational times when low-ratio AWD came in very handy, e.g., when climbing some very steep mall parking lot ramps ;-). But that has very little to do with the boxer aspect of the engine. Suffice it to say, I didn't get the Foz because it has a boxer but the design/merits are still interesting for an auto geek. Here's a couple of videos from the Subaru USA website.

Originally Posted by WRXXX

I finally found my cable if you would like to give another try and see if that is of any help.
This cable is from palmer performance

Thanks! Yep, I want to try it out. PM'd.

[Guna]

My Forester has one problem which has been there since 4 years (when I bought it as used car) and something the service center folks have not been able to address. When I take a tight turn (lock to lock) at low speeds, there would be a 'krrrrr.....' sound in the front wheels for a second or 2. From past 2 days this krrr is also accompanied by 'kat kat' sound.
Has anybody experienced this and would know the reason/solution? 'Kat Kat' sound seem to come from the engine area.

[gotzuk]

Originally Posted by Guna

My Forester has one problem which has been there since 4 years (when I bought it as used car) and something the service center folks have not been able to address. When I take a tight turn (lock to lock) at low speeds, there would be a 'krrrrr.....' sound in the front wheels for a second or 2. From past 2 days this krrr is also accompanied by 'kat kat' sound.
Has anybody experienced this and would know the reason/solution? 'Kat Kat' sound seem to come from the engine area.

From what you describe, the krrr sound seems to be the power steering pump groaning under load at full lock and the kat kat sound could be from failing cv shaft joints. Get them checked.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by gotzuk

From what you describe, the krrr sound seems to be the power steering pump groaning under load at full lock and the kat kat sound could be from failing cv shaft joints. Get them checked.

Should the sound from (possible) failing cv shaft joints be persistent or would it surface only during tight turns?

[gotzuk]

Originally Posted by Guna

Should the sound from (possible) failing cv shaft joints be persistent or would it surface only during tight turns?

It should make the sound only when accelerating while the steering is turned.
Initially a failing cv joint will only make the sound while at full lock, but as it deteriorates further if will cause the noise even while driving straight ahead, but even then only under acceleration.
If the sound comes even when the throttle is off, it is not coming from the cv drive shafts.

[IcarusMan]

So, I finally got this bluetooth OBD scanner from Ebay India. Turns out the seller lives close to where I stay and he let me try it out before I bought it .

Paired with Torque app and the Foz finally spilled out its secret: it's P0030. Front O2 sensor is bad. This appears to be a critical component for calculating Air/Fuel mixture. No wonder, car has been running rough for the past month or so with a drop in FE from 8.4 - 8.9 kmpl to near 6 kmpl.

Anybody here with experience in replacing the O2 sensor?

[devrajman]

Originally Posted by IcarusMan

So, I finally got this bluetooth OBD scanner from Ebay India. Turns out the seller lives close to where I stay and he let me try it out before I bought it .

Paired with Torque app and the Foz finally spilled out its secret: it's P0030. Front O2 sensor is bad. This appears to be a critical component for calculating Air/Fuel mixture. No wonder, car has been running rough for the past month or so with a drop in FE from 8.4 - 8.9 kmpl to near 6 kmpl.

Anybody here with experience in replacing the O2 sensor?

Thanks for buying from ME!

Before even trying to replace, check if connections and current O2 sensor is OK.

You can try to see O2 live data given out and analyze it