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Hope everyone stayed safe out there today. Came across this today on an A road SW Scotland, and first to report it to the authorities. Bonus was a few mile explore / detour on recently resurfaced empty single track lanes!

Just renewed joint cover through Coop (Axa) for another year and on reading the small print in the booklet any " vehicle" that is covered is defined as ( among other things) - less than 16 years from first registration. So this time next year I need to find a new breakdown insurer. A quick web search shows most companies limit cover to 16 year old cars, some to 10! RAC seem to be the only exception. SO, who do you folks with classics and bug- eyes etc use? Any recommendations?

Nice story so far. Hope it's got a real happy ending to come, when you get it fully sorted and out onthe road.

Hi Tony,. Yes it's the only thing in 180 k that nearly left me stranded. And the first time the engine has been touched apart from plugs, belts and filters etc. Only other thing like a failure was a flasher relay sticking on a bank holiday weekend a few years ago! Everything else I class as maintenance, and mostly " planned", even the rear wheel bearings gave a barely perceptible noise for a few months before I had them changed ( had to sit in the boot to feel/ listen to identify which side, it was that minor at about 120 k). Fantastic reliability. all fixed this morning, 300 quids worth of injectors, I put 2 new in that side so I now have a spare! Just realised I used over a quarter tank of petrol getting the 5 miles home yesterday. It was between half and three quarters when I set out. Beats Floz, s 3 mpg! Suspect a load of it was just sitting in the cat and exhaust. WRX Dan is worried about a few puffs of smoke, you should have seen what mine put out for the first few miles after it was going and warming up again today! Now let's see how long it takes for the ECU to fine tune itself, and if the cat and sensors survived unscathed. The forester lives on. Further update after a few shortish runs today: driving fine most of the time but surging / cycling on tick over between 600 and 950 rpm every few seconds, and a similar feeling when dawdling along or overrunning at low speed, it wants to keep on going? Obvious things look ok, like all the wiring and vacuum pipes are attached. Anyone have any ideas? Do I need to try resetting the ECU parameters by disconnecting the battery again, is it likely to be a crudded up O2 sensor that will either burn itself clean with longer runs or with Cataclean?? final update, Thursday: It was the front O2 sensor gummed up ( confirmed, as when unplugged ? the idle remained stable) but after 50-60 miles today on faster roads it's practically cleared itself, stable idle most of the time, can only get better. So, the moral of this rather long story, LOL, is that these motors hardly ever break but when they do, with a little help, they help to fix themselves ✌

Cheers,. Just got to put it all together then burn off a bit of petrol in the exhaust without too much of a Big Bang! Will update tomoro with a bit of luck.

Ok,. So for the first time in 180 thousand miles ( exactly!) and over 14 years, the forester has let me down, not quite stranded but limped home with smoke from the exhaust. A little hesitation turned into a big misfire within a half a mile then the light came on, with code P 0301, misfire cylinder1. Feared the worst! Must be a head gasket. Quickly ruled out ignition fault by changing plugs leads and swapping around with the Impreza coil, then noticed injector 1 wasn't " ticking" but Unburned petrol spitting from the exhaust! Stripped them out today and that injector isn't closing as it should when there's no voltage across it. I can push air or cleaner through it with a syringe. My trusted local independent garage I asked for advice on cleaning/ refurb confirmed it's not worth trying to repair. So, a pair of new injectors ordered from Subaru dealer and hope to collect / fit tomorrow. Fingers Crossed.

Looks a mint car. Welcome.

Spotted last Sunday morning while travelling back East along the A75, firstly (travelling West) a dark blue original looking WRX bugeye near Castle Douglas, then a few mile on near Dumfries, a dark blue classic sport with extra front mounted lights and sti type classic spoiler. Both looked in good nick!

Well, after the big Easterly storm died down, when the sea was as rough as I have seen it ever, and the snow melted, the sea gives up its dead: masses of seaweed, a few fish and 20 little octopus. Now in my freezer for lobster pot bait! p.s. The fishy smell in the forester will soon fade and the black ink washed off the rubber mats?

Now that sounds like a RESULT for perserverance! And Don's original diagnosis and advice. Hopefully OK in a few hours then in the morning.

My blob eye had a leak high up in the wheel well where the nuts (14 mm I think) for the rear bumper were fitted just under the wooden panel, one each side. Try tightening these nuts if the classics are similar?

Hi Joff, if you haven't got a big syringe to get the old fluid out of the reservoir, get a cheap Turkey Baster with a long nozzle and use that. You can get a couple of hundred ml out at a time, replace with fresh fluid and turn the wheel side to side a few times as Mr Don said, which circulates and mixes the fluid,( and pushes any air out ) then replace another portion. Keep going till you've used up most of a litre bottle of fluid. When you say " groans under load",. If you mean groans on or near full lock,. Like the car salesman says " they all do that, sir".

Does the sound come from one side only? Or more central? Very likely an outer driveshaft joint if it's clearly on one side, Shouldn't be too expensive or difficult if that's it ( even if buying a new shaft with joints). Good luck.

Ha, so if trees had a voice they would thank us lot for driving Subaru's ! Seriously it reinforces John's original point, CO2 rates are manufacturers figures, totally theoretical and per mile or kilometre. The taxation issue totally ignores how many miles that particular car drives in a year, or worse still how long it's stuck with in traffic queues in the real world, with correspondingly more CO2 per mile. So why does a theoretical CO2 output per mile determined be actual tax paid, irrespective of how far driven therefore how much CO2 actually produced? said it before, my old tech flat four driven on mainly empty rural / semi rural roads at smart but efficient speeds, will do a lot better at actual emissions than most modern cars stuck in jams or with their direct injection ( petrol) engines rapidly coking and choking up the inlet manifolds and valves giving nowt like the manufacturers claims for CO 2 on a clean NEW engine!

Up and up,. Non turbo,s now £305. the link shows what a complicated mess the car tax rates now are. So much of a (self created) mess they will be obliged to overhaul it, as rumoured.

Try the belt tightening next Joff,. Hope that will fix it for you. Try that before buying a pump.

Nice little snowdrift this afternoon: must say, ploughs and gritters have done a great job, but good luck to those in the SW who are about to get it next.

Traffic Scotland webcams:. This site is handy to check before planning trips up North: http://trafficscotland.org/livetrafficcameras/ no need to check before going sledging today though, there's a foot deep outside our front door. Take care all out there,. And hope Joff is well stocked up with pot noodles in his cab.

Plenty here, dry drifting stuff, minus 3 C at 11 am. summer tyres are patiently waiting while the Nokians are on the Impreza and Avon ice touring so on the forester!

The N/A forester wasn't far behind at 285! Impreza expected to be the same next month. But rather have them still on the road for driving enjoyment and ability ( even without a turbo) rather than a lower tax but modern gutless and anonymous motor thats full of " infotainment" gizmos to con the buyers. Read a car mag the other day in the dentist and it suggested a lower 20 pound tax rate on X was a reason to buy that rather than buy car Z that was 40 pound tax!. ( can't remember what make/ models but obviously bland anonymous cars for the masses) Think it was meant to be a serious comparison and recommendation LOL!

Just focus on stopping joff's squeal and it will all be ok!

Nice video Floz. The kids would really appreciate be the humps in that road, they call them" tickle bellies". I really should get a dashcam for the days when I must have accidentally pressed the " invisibility button" on my dashboard, and pr---s pull out in front of me, (usually looking at their phone.)

Youve won the battery record award John.

Sitting in this cold weather for a week unused might just drain the battery enough, along with stiffening up the belt when it's cold, to cause the issue? Costco warehouses do good Bosch batteries for about 70 quid if you know anyone that's a member to get you one.

Hi Joff,. Sounds like steering issue but just in case- - - - What's your battery condition like? It's possible ( assuming this aux belt does both the power steering and alternator on your year car) that you battery is just a little short of charge after standing, and the alternator is working that much harder causing belt squeal for a few mins after a cold start? Had a similar thing in the past on the forester, and it also makes the power steering a bit odd as the belt slips/ stalls because of the high load on the alternator. Only other sign was a slightly lower starter spinning/ cranking speed but barely perceptible. And it used to squeal more when my wife as reversing off the drive presumably full lock (load on steering) and seat, front and rear screen heaters on( extra load on alternator). A new battery fixed it for me. Hopefully the o ring will fix it for you though.