Hi Guys
I'm hoping to get get some help from other owners. After lusting/wishing/praying to own one for a long long time things finally came together and i was able to afford buying a 2007 Forester Xt auto.....cheaply. White in colour and has just over 220k on the odo. Was very well looked after cosmetically and looks pretty new. Mechanically it's so-so at best, but beggars cant be choosers. Motor runs very smoothly and gear changes are soft and gentle. I've only owned the car for a few days and I love it so much the wife feels jealous. It has a few problems though which im praying wont be too expensive to sort out as my budget is tiny. I have to admit i dont know all that much about car mechanics, but love cars in general, i just dont know how to fix them and I cant really afford them breaking. I bought a Forester because it's what i wanted and I love it like a second child and it has an ageless to it with character . I live in the Pietermaritzburg area about 40km from town but I dont know the area all that well as i only moved here fairly recently.
ok, so problems
1. Car overheats for no reason sometimes, not following any pattern. I can be going fast or slow, high revs or cruising, heavy load or not, etc. Sometimes i can drive for a couple of hours with no problems and then suddenly there goes the temp gauge skywards. Sometimes the radiator is boiling hot and sometimes it's not. Sometimes the right side is cool-ish and the left is boiling. The fans are both working, doesnt look to be losing water much. Overflow tank has water in it. Going to do a full radiator flush tomorrow as the water looks a little dirty and will do a test on the Thermo. Hopefully it sorts it.
2. Engine check light is always on with the cruise light blinking, i have no idea what that means except that the handbook says take it to a dealer. I wont be able to afford dealers so i have a problem. What i've read on the forum I dont truly understand and things like ODII i dont know what that is/means or does sorry.
3. Cruise control doesnt work and pushing the button on the lever doesn't do anything. The light just mocks me by blinking all the time.
4. Aircon doesnt work, might be needing gas though. I will try to find somewhere to take it for a check next week. I am hoping it's gas only.
5. When accelerating, it 'feels' like the car is pulling strongly, but not as fast as I thought it would be mind you. Also it's only in 1st and second gear, in 3rd it's so so and in 4th its dead. If i put my foot flat at 100km/h in 4th it doesn't accelerate at all. It will pull strongly in first then when changing into second there's almost nothing for what feels like a pretty long time and only then it starts hauling again. Sometimes it hauls in first but then falls flat on it's face when it changes into second. = I've also noticed that Sometimes when putting my foot down the rev counter would sometimes drop slightly during acceleration and sometimes it would jump about 150 - 200rpm. I must admit when it Does haul hard in first and second i have The biggest smile on my face and i am happy as can be.
6. Needs new shocks as it wallows around a bit and the nose lifts and dives when accelerating and braking. I dont think it's supposed to be like that?
7. Brakes feel pretty dead and I have to stomp the pedal into the ground basically to make it stop. Might need new brakepads?
I would love to let someone that knows how the car Should feel drive it so they can give me their opinion as maybe it pulls like it should.
I've never owned a turbo petrol car so i dont know what to expect really.
Like i said I dont know much about engine's so really not sure what the deal is with all the above problems. My father in law is a mechanic but very much old school so he's hesitant to do anything more than basics for me with the XT so i will need to find someone around Pmb probably. I knew going into the deal that the car has a few problems like the AC and the engine check thing, but wanted it badly and hoped for the best. The other problems i only found out later. Service history on the car is only up to 135k as per the service book so i have no idea what has been done since then. I do know it needs a service and the cambelt and waterpump just by reading it here on the forum, but will have to save up a little first before that can be done.
At the moment im not really driving it as Im too scared it overheats again and causes big damage.
Even with all the problems i cant help but be happy to see it parked in the drive way and i really hope i can get it sorted so I can start enjoying it even more.
Any advice will be appreciated thanks guys :-)
Jay
Topic: Forester problems (Read 433 times)
