Chapter two: Pondering the future and daily driving.

We last left off with some much needed maintenance items… or that is what most Subaru owners call headgaskets these days. A spark plug or four.. and a new to me driveshaft had the Forester back on it’s tires. But those tires were a set of Michelin Defenders that were getting me by but not what I wanted.

Spark plugs are always a good thing to swap out with a new to you used car. Always use a reputable source for them! NGK Sti/Fxt spark plugs from Subaru.

With a noticeable amount of water inside the headlights I took the time to seperate them, black out the housings and reseal them. Sadly while taking them apart I noticed a lot of haziness within the inner lens of the light, which isn’t easy to take care of. I took this time to go ahead and replace the factory units with Depo Forester sports models.

Repairing and overhauling the original headlights was a fun task but in the end the lenses were so damaged they ended up being replaced. Headlight reseal diy link here. Depo headlight link here.

I was noticing that the Forester was drifting right when going down the road. So I popped it up on the alignment machine to make sure everything was in the right place. The alignment was in spec but still it pulled to the right, given me a good reason to replace the tires. At least for the current season… A set of Bridgestone Blizzak Ws80s in the factory 215/60R16 were installed and the pull was gone.

After three winters these guys are still rolling strong. Blizzaks are awesome, click this for my review.

Nothing like a new set of shoes… Blizzaks!

Over a month of daily driving found the A/c belt tensioner pulley bearing was on its way out. The loud whine sounded like a teeny tiny supercharger but it was time to replace it before something worse happened. A/c tensioner pulley replacement guide. This was also the time I found my battery to be on the weak side and decided to replace it.

New pulley! I went with the metal version from Duralast after having good luck with it on my STi. Gates metal pulley linked here.

Full write up for swapping this pulley out right here!

During all that driving I had noticed how bad the wind noise on the driver’s side. Knowing that wind gussets were a common fail point among SG Foresters, I decided to try my hand with a at home remedy versus biting the bullet on the expensive oem replacement. My repair was taking a roll of insulation tape and putting it in the torn area, then using black electrical tape to seal off the tear. This worked out well until summer came about and constantly rolling up and down of the window dislodged the repair, but it held tight for a good few months.

My best diy guy fix for the mirror gusset without spending the $90 dollars… Lasted till I rolled the window up and down during summer. Wind noise solutions, Window seal replacement

After that was complete I was unsure of where I wanted the Forester to be, to mod or not to mod… With such high miles (198K) and daily driver status was making it a tough choice. Having the STi protuned and knowing what a upgraded ej25 is like.. made it hard to say no. But I was enjoying the perkiness of the Td04 and the feeling of a little v6 off the line.

I used Cobb’s trade in program to swap out my Accessport 2 for a Ap3 and wondering what life would be like with an Ap2 on the Forester… But I was hesitant and shipped the AP2 back for credit and so the Forester kept its factory tune. Keeping my eyes peeled for a cheap Accessport 2 for the Forester.

The future of the Forester seemed to be a stock one, but sagging rear springs appeared to cause the hill assist to engage on even flat road surfaces.. My modding brain was beginning to take hold to solve this issue, as I had recently found Anderson Design fab’s Forester build on the Sf.org forums and thought… Hey, a lift kit would probably fix this issue! Even though new rear springs should have been the proper response. The mod gears were turning…

Drove halfway across Kansas in 3 days helping out with Bike across Kansas! Forester stuffed to the gills but still very stock.

Just regular Forester stuff in full swing!

Another year had gone by without any major modifications and it was now Autumn 2017 and the mod itch was looking to be scratched. Stay tuned for more Forester fun and how the plan unravels.