Our '02 Legacy was the auto trans - probably very, very similar to yours. It was still running strong when we sold it at 211k, so hopefully you have good luck! Here are a few other odd things to look out for that we dealt with on that Legacy, which may affect your Forester since they have identical engines and trannies:
- There are a couple of very short rubber lines connected between the chassis fuel lines and the engine fuel rail on each side at the front of the engine:
View attachment 471901- For several years, we'd smell gas in the fall, and it took me a while to find the source. It seemed that over time, the hoses lost elasticity, and when the temperature changed, the rubber hoses expanded at a different rate than the steel lines on each end, resulting in leaks. If yours has the same hoses, and you smell gas when temperatures drop in the fall, look at those hoses. If they seem to be the source of leaking, replace them, but use the Subaru OEM hoses and clamps. Tightening the clamps will temporarily work, but eventually, the hose will fail from too-tight clamps. Also, aftermarket hoses and clamps seemed to always repeat the problem the next fall. I think I still have some OEM hoses, and maybe clamps, in my spares box for that car, and I'll be glad to send them to you. I'd rather see someone use them than have them rotting in my shop! Even with the low miles on your Forester, it's old, and I'll bet the hoses are a bit stiff now and due for replacement. I'll look for them tonight and let you know if I still have them.
- The EVAP system for that vintage Subaru is fragile. Don't let the fuel hose overflow when filling because the raw fuel will overwhelm the charcoal canister (I think Subaru put out an advisory on this back in the day.) I replaced the purge valve about four times until I realized that the canister was shot, and carbon was being drawn through the purge valves when the canister was purged by the engine control module. The tiny pieces of carbon were causing the purge valves to fail open. It's really easy to tell when this happens because the car will be hard to start, and rough-running once it does start, immediately after fueling up because fueling stirs up vapors in the tank that get drawn into the intake, creating a rich condition due to the open purge valve. I ended up replacing the canister because the carbon was loose in it, and after that, no more purge valve problems. So, if you have a purge valve failure, check the canister before replacing it because those purge valves are pricey! You shouldn't hear loose carbon in it when you shake it.
Those were the only issues, other than the head gasket, we had in 9 years and 157k miles of ownership of that Legacy, but they were a pain to deal with because it took me a few years to find the root causes.
Every one always dogs on Subaru owners, and for good reason. Unlike Jeeps, there are very few Subaru owners who actually know what they are doing when they work on their cars. I have seen some of the dumbest technical comments on Subaru forums! For that reason, all the Subaru forums can't be trusted to give reliable information. If only all model-specific Internet forums had the great folks that this one does!
