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…

9200114034_8c6b6b0e5b_b.jpg


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;

9229859496_56f1ab7448_b.jpg
 
Click to expand...
Had a thought for preventing water flowing in through the doors...silicon in a tough plastic sheet behind the trim. I dont think you can stop water flowing into the doors through the drainage channels but you may be able to stop it flowing from inside the door to inside the car :iconwink:

Also, make sure you've sealed up the vents behind the rear bumper :poke:
 
Not a bad idea although there is the door speaker and the door handle inside to deal with. Might be an option though.

Yeah did the rear vents few pages back and discovered water behind them 6 months after last going through water....

I am just about ready to give up on the water coming in. It just seems to come in EVERYWHERE!!!!! Apparently there is a leak somewhere under the boot foam in front of the tyre because the spare wheel well filled up and there are clear run marks from that location somewhere...
Despite trying to seal the sills up from the inside water also was pouring out of them when I hosed out the inside.
Every trim clip, every join in the body work, every bolt, they all leak to some degree. Trim clips are the worst though....
 
Dedman said:
Apparently there is a leak somewhere under the boot foam in front of the tyre because the spare wheel well filled up and there are clear run marks from that location somewhere.
Click to expand...
Yes there is a hole there.
I used it to feed my diff breather tube :iconwink:
If you're looking at the spare wheel area from the rear of the vehicle it's at about the "1 o'clock" position :)
See pic below.

holeforbreatherxo9.jpg


Hope this helps.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Nope got that one sealed. Its somewhere else, not huge but still enough to fill the spare wheel well to about half in a minute or so.
 
There is a few grommets on the lhs in my outback, one is a drain hole for the sunroof and there is another that is deeply buried in deadner, at least in my outback anyway. Had some chronic issues with the spare wheel well filling up untill I found these.

The water would fill up in behind the quarter panel and come into the wheel well under the foam.
 
The water was coming from that direction though... Looking at your picture again that green clip i can see behind that hole might be letting something in... There was also evidence of water flow from the 11oclock pos as well
 
hydrowill it doesnt seem to be coming from the quarter panels unless its leaving no run marks which is possible. I have made a big effort to seal the vents and drains in them as well.

Loving all the ideas though
 
hmmmm, when I say quarter panel I mean the little compartment below where the jack sits (if thats the same location in the forry)
 
Yeah thats where I meant as well. There are vents in both to help let air flow through the car and with door closing ect. They both let lots of water in but now sealed so shouldnt leak
 
Maybe better buy a sub....marine and put 4 wheels on it !
 
Haha cool. Do you have all your points of water entry sorted MrT?

I just found where my leak is thats filling up the wheel well...from the tailight. I took off some of the trim & removed the 3 nuts but cant budge the tail-light assembly. Its got a rubbery sealant that wont release & I'm worried if I apply enough force to release it I'll break the plastic! :(

I also found a drainage plug in the bottom of each 1/4 panel (look from underneath at the inside...behind the wheel) that I would like to seal up but I need to fix the leak first
 
NachaLuva said:
Do you have all your points of water entry sorted MrT?
Click to expand...
So far so good :)

Thats is since I sealed up about 20+ drainage holes or so after that epic water crossing we did a few years ago :raspberry:

Kevin knows the one I mean :iconwink: when the rear foot well, on the drivers side, decided to get slightly wet :p

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Haha I think I need a subota sticker as I would much prefer to be ontop of the water than under it.

On another note I found another big point of water entry if the water is deep enough.

10753363464_4c8a46f5e9.jpg


There is some foam in there to slow the water a bit but still.
Also discovered that that is where the cruise control unit is...
I was very lucky not to get it wet when I was hosing things out as the water would have just about been lapping the bottom of it...:eek:
I have now moved it so that it is above the glove box which was easy as there was heaps of play in the wiring harness.

Think I will seal up that hole as well when I get a chance...
 
Last edited:
Tasmania

Started packing the car today for my tomorrow departure on a 6 week road trip around Tasmania before starting full time work next year.
Have fixed all my mechanical problems; water pump, timing belt, cv boot, gearbox axel oil seal, wheel bearing.
Have installed the muddies, made a sand flag, put the bikes on the roof, did some more water proofing and washed all the dirt out from behind the door seals which was a massive mission but hopefully there will be no more water coming in...

I am hoping to get some pretty serious wheeling in but there is a lot to see as well so not sure how much will actually get done...
I am going to try keep a record of the trip and will post it all here when I get back :ebiggrin:
 
Gidday DM

Have a safe trip, mate. There is a lot to see in Tassie ... :iconwink: :cool:.
 
Have a great trip Dedman :raz:

Be safe & stay safe :)

Looking forward to hearing all about it when you return :ebiggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top