It took me a while to find out what coolant to use. The Subaru stuff is difficult to get hold of. In the end I found that VAG Quantum G12 pink has all the right specifications and my mechanic has it by the drum so that was convenient.

By the way GB, my offside wishbone snapped in half a few weeks ago. Luckily I wasn't driving the car, it was in for a service. The garage drove it and said it was all over the place, so they jacked it up, there was a loud bang, and the thing broke.

I rang my nearest dealer and told them what had happened, including telling them I had contacted them last year about the recall in which they told me my car had been covered (corroded front wishbones a known weak point including Imprezas and I think Legacy's). They inspect them and change if looking bad, or spray them with cavity wax if looking OK (not good enough methinks). They got back to me and offered to replace both free of charge. They also ended up replacing the offside driveshaft because it pulled out and got damaged as the car was being winched onto the transporter.

New wishbones are thicker gauge metal apparently although I never had the chance to compare old with new. I'm glad that they supplied and fitted them because I couldn't find SG Forester wishbones anywhere when I was looking out of interest last year. The strange thing is that the earlier SF Forester wishbones are available everywhere but they don't tend to rust like the later Foresters!

So I'm happy enough, but things could have been far worse if I'd been travelling at speed. I also think that the wishbones should be replaced regardless, as an inspection obviously isn't good enough if mine and other peoples experiences are anything to go by. That's an expensive option for Subaru, but it's a serious safety issue.

Next time you get underneath, have a good look at them. If you think you need them and can't get standard replacements, STI alloy wishbones from an Impreza fit, don't rust and are stronger but the rear bush mounting needs to be swapped as it's different on the Foz. They also need a cone adapter to fit the balljoint.

Edited by corax on 02/07/2018 at 19:32

Corax.

Thanks for the wishbone warning and the tip about STi alloy wishbones, noted, i had a good look at everything when i rustproofed the vehicle recently, they seemed rock solid like everything else but next time i'm underneath i'll have a good poke nose round them, as you say scary stuff indeed.

Fortunately with the very low mileage and the general condition of it, i don't think it's seen a great deal of salt, but doesn't pay to be complacent.

Metropolis.

Surprisingly little coolant in the Landcruiser too for a 3litre Diesel, 11.2 litres, maybe a Japanese practice, i put new Genuine Toyota coolant in only about 12months ago, so that's good now for several years.

Certainly the Scoob does get up to temp quickly, this weather it's switched over to LPG within 30 seconds.

As Craig and Corax, i've swapped to the red OAT stuff, hence the mega flushing to get the green stuff fully out.

Guess the subaru is more efficient at cooling, or perhaps they're trying to get the engine up to temp faster and reduce wear that way.

Great heater in the winter, mine is putting out warm air within a few minutes of driving.