LandCruisers Follow me: Dedman’s 99 Subaru Forester

I have been a bit slack and haven’t got around to starting member journal until now but better late than never :cool:

I had been riding an 83 Honda CX500 motorcycle for a few years since getting my licence but the lack of practicality was starting to get somewhat annoying and maybe a tad dangerous…

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After the motorcycle started to **** itself using oil at the same rate at petrol (not even exaggerating) and a large portion of the exhaust coming out of the radiator I decided it was time to upgrade to a car. I was going to really miss destroying people’s egos when they tried to drag you off at the lights in their sports cars and ended up getting covered in clouds of blue oil fueled exhaust smoke but the appeal of a car was just too much.

Initially I wanted something that used the same amount of fuel as a motorcycle but was big enough to sleep inside, a Honda Jazz was one of the only suitable candidates for that.

And then I bought a forester…… I have never looked back.

Here is the new car bought November 2012;

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hydrowill said:
All you have to do if that happens is change the lead from the auxiliary battery side of the solenoid to the start side (both terminals are right next to each other on the solenoid). That way the aux battery is still isolated. Saying that I have run the fridge 3 days straight with my 100ah bat and still not had any issues starting.
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Yeah but that requires spanners and Dedman is lazy and annoyed that his car wont start......:rotfl:

No you have a vaild point there. When I set it up I will most likely do it that way. Thanks for the tip :)
 
Just remember to always park on a hill
 
Decided to go a Redarc isolator. Was only $20 more than the cheapies and seems to get a good review.
 
Definately a Redarc mate, I wouldn't go any other brand and I install these for a living! Redarc is by far the best and can handle the roughest terrain, sure you pay a higher price but you pay for what you get.
Buy a Greatwall, sure you might have a new car for $22k with leather seats, sunroof, etc... but look at the downfalls you gotta live. Then lets not forget the reliability and strength of the POS. lol
Do you know what battery you'll be putting in? If you have the $$ to burn go with a optima batter. The Yellow Tops are pretty good. I can't remember the model of the top of my head but there is one tht has about 90am/hr life and is 850CCA. If charged and discharged(as well as being cranked from occasionally they can last upto 10years!(Seen this in person). While your standard battery, Gel, Deep Cycle or Cell(standard car bat) is only really good for 3years max(give or take). Doesn't matter on the brand.
My 2 cents worth anyway...
 
taza said:
Buy a Greatwall, sure you might have a new car for $22k with leather seats, sunroof, etc... but look at the downfalls you gotta live.
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At least you dont have to look at the crappy battery isolator you bought every day :rotfl::rotfl:

Good to know I have made the right decision on the Redarc. I was a bit hesitant on them because I could not find their waterproof rating anywhere....

Also I would love an optima but dont think I am anywhere close to that rich atm. Ill probably just go for a relatively cheap AGM for the minute and but the time that dies in three years or so I will hopefully have a real job/money.
 
^ Fair enough on the battery. Your a uni student riight? I know what that's like, money is almost non-existent when your in that situation.

They are very water proof.
This is 'THE GT' as it was known. It'd been and done everything offroad you could imagine, but it has paid the price. It's the most abused offroad Forester known to human earth. A few people have owned it and it's been to hell and back. There is not a single panel that is unscathed. Gone through 5 clutches, go up and or down everything and didn't always come out in one piece. Not long before it was gone(earlier this year) I had it for 3 months when I blew the rear diff in my Forester. It is by far the most fun car I have ever driven, god the s*** we did in it, racing, drags, donuts, offroad thrashing(to the extreme). But my god it is the most worn out thing ever, everything feels tied(except the clutch and gearbox as it's new lol ), everything squeaks, rattles, knocks, vibrates. It's gone so far beyond what Subaru originally designed it for but it's done everything that's been put in front of it and behind it(Yes it's done offroading in reverse).
Anyway I'll stop blabbering but it has a Redarc solonoid that was in there for 4.5years with a quad battery setup(could run a fridge and lights for about a week straight) but through all the hell(water, dust, mud, sand) it still worked.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1xanvo4Ucs"]Mundaring 26.6.11 018.MP4 - YouTube[/ame]
 
I installed my dual battery system on the weekend. Was all a bit of a squeeze but its nice and tidy now :ebiggrin:

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I mounted the isolator up nice an high (and pretty much in the first location there was sufficient room close to the main battery)

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So many wires (everything 6 gauge or heavier)...
I also tried Hydrowill's idea of running the fuse box lead straight to the aux side of the solenoid but then realised that it also meant that the alternator charge would only go to only the AUX battery meaning the start battery would never increase in voltage and would never turn the isolator on so would never get charged.

I am thinking of rewireing the alternator directly to the start battery.
Does anyone know if I can just disconnect the existing lead from the alternator and then put a new direct connection to the start battery?
I am also thinking of upgrading my alternator. If anyone knows of a higher output alternator that would fit that would be great.


I also put a voltage readout in the dash with a switch to switch between the two batteries. Also installed a manual override button for the solenoid.

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Fairly neat and give a good indication of how everything is charging. Currently the two supply wires for the gauge are coming from either side of the regulator but I might change this so they come directly from either battery so I have a better Idea of what is going on.

Interestingly even after an hour and a half of driving the voltage was only at 14V (well actually it went up to 14.3V shortly after starting then slowly dropped to 14V.... No idea why this happened though :shrug:

Whilst i was in wiring mode I also converted the cigarette lighter socket in the dash and in the back to always on running off the aux battery. I also ran heavier wired to both so there is less voltage drop.


Lastly I installed my gearbox breather. 19mm hose is a perfect fit over the dipstick hole, so perfect that you probably dont even need a screw clamp on it. I sleeved this down to 8mm hose which I ran under the dash with a fuel filter on the end. So far no smell of gearbox oil which is great :)

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Very nice. You really are adding all the cool bits to your Foz :lildevil:

Need to start on a LSD rear :iconwink:
 
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Mounted my new roofracks the other day as well as the bike racks I bought from NachaLuva.
Not sure the Forester is going to be able to move when completely loaded up but oh well..

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If you are going to use the bikes to tow you out of a bog, make sure you have a strong enough tow point on them. Or just use your winch and leave the bikes at home?
 
Haha. Nah have to have the bike in case there are no trees around for the winch:rotfl:
 
nar distribution strap either side of the bottom bracket would be best.


Serious note, when you get on the tassy ferry remember the bikes on the roof wont fit. I had to refuse a claim to an annoying lady who swiped both bikes off on the low clearance, both nice carbon roadbikes.
 
Yeah I was planing to call them up and find out what the max height is. I ticked the box for over 2.1m and with the bikes its 3 so might be alright. If not I will just put them flat for the trip.
 
Yea i think they have different gates, but the problem the girl i had to deal with was, the height going in is different to the height going out. Dont want to mess up your girls bike, she might murder you in tassy and steal the foz
 
Well I am putting a sand flag on the front of the car thats slightly higher than the bikes for the whole trip so I dont collect the bikes on trees and such when wheeling. Can double as a height warning for the ferry
 
Good choice. better be a pirate flag
 
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