Fixing up my Forester to sell (image heavy!)
 

First and foremost, as the best defense is a good offense, no women are involved, no exes, no friends, no women at all, and if any try to involve themselves, I will tell them to do push-ups.

I am not doing this out of the goodness of my heart for anyone, but for the simple conclusion that cars sell for more money when they run properly.

I will sell the car to whichever stranger offers me the most money in a timely manner.

Ready to talk about my car? Let's go! :)

First of all, she runs rough. A mechanic said that the usual cause is a problem with the spark plugs, but with the Boxster engine, the spark plug wires extend out in a big H, with each one going right to a spark plug. The wires are not crossed, so unless there is a problem with the plug or wire, I do not know what the issue could be. Everything seems tight and I am not receiving any relevant CELs.

Then I read Pgfpro talk about grounds in http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post491239 and remembered that I had one ground and I did not know where it went, while I had a bolt and I did not know what was supposed to attach there. This grounding wire barely reaches, but if it were supposed to go there, it would not be as tight. I have been trying to find diagrams:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440819445

When you pop the hood, this little guy greets you:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440819445

According to the (dirty) vacuum diagram, it does not exist!
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440819445

All that I have found so far is missing hose identification (pic) - 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX - Ultimate Subaru Message Board, where the owner found a bare nipple, without a hose, and they told him just to cap it, but he had a 96 engine swapped into a 99 Impreza.

If I look at the parts diagram:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440821748

It shows part 26486B bolt-joint, which looks like it connects to this hose:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440833714
but that is for a 1995 model!

If you look at the repair manual, it says that my system takes 9.8 quarts of coolant. I took a poor picture, so I retyped it, although that does not seem very legible to me, either:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1440821867

I think that I had poured in about half of what I expected when it started spilling all over, so I started burping the hose, which was difficult, it seemed like there was too short of a distance between the radiator hose and the fuel cap. I needed to fill the hose, but it was extremely difficult to stop there. I tended to get it too high to burp, so I needed to remove a little. When I went out, I could squeeze the hose hard and hardly saw any coolant, but it only took about one cup.

I am also getting P0117, Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit Low Input. I looked into it and someone said that you could trigger that with insufficient coolant, although the car has not been overheating.

Perhaps that has been distracting me. Right now, I think the ground is the most important issue, affecting drivability, but I am not having any better success figuring out where that ground goes than anything else.

Of course, it could still provide a ground, while another ground is the problem.

:thumbup:

How much do you think you could get for it as-is vs if you fixed it up, and how much would it cost to fix it up? You might be better off trying to sell it as a mechanics special than sinking more time and money into it.

Actually, I think that I would not be able to sell it for nearly as much. I already replaced the head gasket; all of these problems should be simple once I figure them out.

After eventually putting some effort to fix it, wouldn't you rather keep it as long as you'd feel comfortable doing so instead of just giving it away for cheap?

Rooster,

I just got 22 MPG on a tank in the Forester, while I can double that in my Civic, which seems to require fewer repairs. The HX might not be an ideal vehicle but it hauls my ego adequately for now! :)

Someone on SubaruForester.org told me that the vacuum hose went to the cruise control unit and the grounding wire went to the bracket attaching the power steering lines to the intake manifold. I had not put the bracket back yet, so I had not been able to see where it went!

Every time that I opened my radiator cap after running it for at least fifteen minutes (with the heater on high (with the fan off, apparently)) I was able to add a couple ounces of coolant and burp out some air, but once I found the coolant temperature sensor, it was loose, and now my engine temperature reads properly. I do not have any idea why I kept finding air in my radiator. I do not have any leaks.

I am not worrying about it anymore.

Are you topping the recovery bottle off as well as the radiator. If all the air is out, the radiator should be full cold and the level in the recovery bottle will drop. Warming up the level in the bottle will rise. Probably a bleeder, but maybe not with the boxer engine.

regards
mech