What have you done to your car today?

Started the exhaust swap on my EJ22 na. As the BG Outback exhaust line takes the same route above the axle like the Turbo Forester but without the turbo, I'm swapping it for more ground clearance (2cm) without the need of a lift. Will have to modify the bash plate a bit though.
 
Done ! 2cm more ground clearance without lift !

Exhaust manifold, up-pipe, down-pipe with catalytic are from a BG Outback, intermediate and muffler are from the Forester with a bit of welding...
 
After 9 years and 10 months I have finally retired the battery in my 2002 Forester and replaced it with a Marshall X55D23CMF 65 amp hour.
The Powercrank battery that I retired is still starting the car without any issues and tested okay, but I reckon I have had my monies worth out of it.
The Marshall (it is a rebadged Exide) comes with a 42 month 70,000km warranty.
I am heading to the Big Desert before Easter by myself for a few days before joining up with the Subaru 4wd Club of Vic for a trip. I figured it is good insurance as the Powecrank will eventually fail.
 
Damn good battery effort. You can always keep the older one on slow charge and use as an emergency unless of course it was a trade.
I usually get about 4/5 years before they start to die. Think I am on my 3rd battery in my (almost) trusty 2002 MY03 and it is going ok but this coming Adelaide winter will test it.
Enjoy the Big Desert, I am volunteering at the Canberra National Folk Festival so heading there in the "Palace on Wheels".
 
ateday said:
Damn good battery effort. You can always keep the older one on slow charge and use as an emergency unless of course it was a trade.
I usually get about 4/5 years before they start to die. Think I am on my 3rd battery in my (almost) trusty 2002 MY03 and it is going ok but this coming Adelaide winter will test it.
Enjoy the Big Desert, I am volunteering at the Canberra National Folk Festival so heading there in the "Palace on Wheels".
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I still have the old battery ! Enjoy the trip in the "Palace on Wheels"
 
That's terrific life out of any battery, HC :biggrin:!

RonnyRoo got new booties today - 4x Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus 225/55 17" - fitted, balanced and wheel alignment for $750 under the Bridgestone '4 for price of 3' deal.

The tyres that came off were the originals - Yokohama GR95, manufacture date week 22 in 2009 (2209 in batch code). They still had legal tread, and had done 99,907 kms!

Hope the new tyres do as well!

It handles better and is more comfortable.
 
Thanks RB, I regularly get 7 years out of a battery and put it down to not doing short trips. Likewise with my SWMBO's SH we still have the G95s. The SH is about to do 129,000 km and the G95s are just legal! I will be looking for tyres and the Bridgestone deal you got sounds pretty good. I'll need to check out that tyre.
 
Mine is paranoid about tyres! The bloke at Bridgestone reckoned they would have been OK for another 50K. I doubt it though. Maybe another 20K ...

Type number was G95 as you said, not GR95. I was getting the letters mixed up with other tyres we used to have - doh!

The Turanzas have taken the comfort and handling from barely acceptable to reasonably good. Local speed bump at 40 was fine, would have rattled my teeth before at just over 20!

Offer is on until sometime in April. Effectively a $235 discount. Check Bridgestone's web site.
 
Put new steering rack bushes in today . The old ones weren't to bad but i had them in the cupboard for 12 months so i thought i'd better do them.
 
Ratbag said:
RonnyRoo got new booties today - 4x Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus 225/55 17" - fitted, balanced and wheel alignment for $750 under the Bridgestone '4 for price of 3' deal.

The tyres that came off were the originals - Yokohama GR95,
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Oh no not Geosquealers lol

Not a fan of Bridgestone but those will do well

foresterharry said:
Put new steering rack bushes in today .
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Much improvement?
 
Had a busy couple weeks playing with the Foresters :)
Serviced the 2004 and replaced both the cabin filter and engine air filter. I used the UEC that Ateday put me onto. Great stuff at $55 for a box of 12 cans. The cabin filter was replaced 12 months ago and nearly had a garden growing in it!
Got off ebay for $20 an auxiliary UHF speaker for my 2002 which should do the job when on severely corrugated tracks.
Had the wifes SH professionally serviced by an independent very trusted Subaru specialist. Too new for my wife to let me play with it :ebiggrin:

This is the first service since the 5 year warranty expired. During the warranty only the Subaru dealer serviced it. Some interesting points;

  • At 95,00km the short motor was rebuilt under warranty and new valve seals were also installed. Given at 100,000km the very expensive spark plugs were due to be replaced it is not surprising that these weren't !!
  • The engine air filter despite being inspected at each service, was unserviceable
  • The sump plug had been butchered and could not be removed :shake: This was particularly annoying as it delayed the service by one day as a socket had to be mig welded onto the plug for it to be removed. So I had to pay for a new plug as well.
Not a good advert for Subaru Australia's dealers :poke:

On the weekend I replaced the tyres on all four corners of the SH at 131,000 km. These were the original G95 Yokohamas. Pretty amazing given they still had tread on them, but I figured it was time to move on. The new shoes are Bridgestone (following Ratbag's lead) but I got the Potenza Adrenalin RE003. I wouldn't use these off road, but on road so far a fantastic tyre. The stance and handling of the SH seems to have improved.
I also got a "buy 4 tyres and pay for 3 deal" including wheel alignment which helped with the dollars :lol:
 
Your "interesting points" indicate a really poor service shop - care to name them?
 
havachat said:
  • The sump plug had been butchered and could not be removed :shake: This was particularly annoying as it delayed the service by one day as a socket had to be mig welded onto the plug for it to be removed. So I had to pay for a new plug as well.
Not a good advert for Subaru Australia's dealers :poke:
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that does suck.. as a starting baseline, I don't trust dealership mechanics. In these days of cap-priced servicing to large mileage, they're always trying to save a few bucks.

For your sump plug, get a Fumoto drain valve. They are the bees knees. https://www.fumoto.com.au/

The best $30 I ever invested in my car, I reckon.
 
duncanm said:
that does suck.. as a starting baseline, I don't trust dealership mechanics. In these days of cap-priced servicing to large mileage, they're always trying to save a few bucks.

For your sump plug, get a Fumoto drain valve. They are the bees knees. https://www.fumoto.com.au/

The best $30 I ever invested in my car, I reckon.
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Ha, the apprentice probably used a rattle gun and the wrong sized socket to bugger the sump plug!
 
Kevin said:
Your "interesting points" indicate a really poor service shop - care to name them?
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My Forester has several parts broken when it was serviced by a big WA dealer! :shake:

The worst one (from a second dealer) was the radiator was (potentially) half filled then I discovered it when the temperature gauge shot up high when I was driving on the highway on a close to 40C day.

Don't go there anymore. :bananagunner:
 
Well today I replaced the brake pedal rubber pad - not remarkable in itself but it did highlight the difference between OEM and non-OEM parts where, believe it or not, the OEM genuine part was a quarter of the price of the non-OEM! That's right, a "Mackay" pad was $22.10 and the genuine was $5.18. No prizes for guessing which one I purchased!
 
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