I would not skip the coolant maintenance, as coolant is a known culprit of HG failures in these engines, 30,000 miles or 2 years for coolant. AT Fluid only needs changing if you tow trailers and/or the fluid color is brown and not cherry red. Front and Rear Diff fluid changes are only needed if you tow trailers often.

If it's an AT, how are you "...downsift to 3rd and 2nd before apply the brakes"?

What speeds are you travelling at for 10 minutes to get through the gate? Slow speeds is not indicative of "normal driving", and how many miles do you cover in those 10 minutes. In fact depending on the terrain and how often the AWD is working, you may be working the Front and Rear Diff fluid harder than you think.

 

"Approaching 30,000 miles, for the vehicles I am familiar with, I would typically change coolant, automatic transmission fluid and filter, front and rear differential fluids, fuel filter, maybe re-torque head bolts and check valve clearances, in addition to engine oil and filter, air cleaner, and cabin air filter."

I don't think you need to do any maintenance except maybe brake fluid and steering fluid, and you can judge this as well as I. Coolant corrosion resistance lifetime is said to be loosely related to number of hours at operating temp, in which case you're in good shape. All this said, I've flushed my '99 A/T fluid about every 25 - 45,000 miles and the tranny is solid at 235,000; have owned since new. I'd guess I'm on the 3rd fill of the differential fluids.

Any maintenance about the engine itself is a pain because of access differences between Subie's flat 4 and everyone else's vertically oriented engines. If you get down there to re-torque head bolts (does anybody do this?) I'd replace the plugs with fresh Iridium or Ruthenium plugs and consider these as lifetime plugs - so you don't have to mess with them when you get older like me.

Glad to read your post - welcome.

If it's an AT, how are you "...downsift to 3rd and 2nd before apply the brakes"?

I do this on occasion, but usually it's more work than it's worth in my type of driving / my frame of mind ...

 

@bman400 I have always downshifted automatic transmissions, in heavy and light vehicles. I just pull the Forester down into 3rd, and then sometimes 2nd, before I use the brakes. I do this when approaching stoplights, going into turns, and to control speed on downhill slopes.

For our gates, the Forester is idling, no strain on the differentials. We are on level gravel road, stop at a gate, open, drive through, stop, close the gate, stop at the next gate, open, drive through, stop, close the gate, drive out to the dirt road, drive slowly to the paved state road, and then drive 35-40 mph for a few miles until we get to the 60 mph state road.

I already have a case of Subaru coolant, and the super-special Subaru additive (re-branded Holts) to change the coolant. Factory manual says 11 years, 137,500 miles for the coolant. That seems like a long time to me.

Factory manual says forever for ATF and differentials, that also seems like a long time to me.

 

IMHO those long life stuff for coolant is not something I trust and also agree the ATF, differential fluid are not considered lifetime.

I used to downshift like you on my 2001, I stopped as the linkage on the AT will wear out as it's not meant for that much action. Brake wear is cheaper than messing with the transmission linkage. Just my opinion.

 

► Edit - correction!

Note: 2012 - All 3.6L, Forester 2.5 X, and Impreza 2.0L have a timing chain, which shouldn't need inspection

On the SG, not entirely sure on the SH, the AT... 4EAT doesn't have the "timing belt guide", so getting overaggressive with downshifting could cause the timing belt to skip a tooth!

As to downshifting - we only shift between D (4) ◄&► 3, staying in 3 until we're above 50 mph. This is for performance, as the 4EAT will shift into D (4) too quickly & D (4) is like an overdrive!

Bobby...

['07 FSXT Member Journal] ['03 X Member Journal]

 

@2.5x_sleeper No! The 2012 has a timing chain

@fairwind Your 2012 has a newer design FB25 motor that doesn’t have the old head gasket issues. Ignore the above mention of head gaskets

I would do the book maintenance items. Oil, filter, air & cabin filter. And brake fluid flush. Check the condition of the power steering fluid. Coolant should be fine, if it’s been maintained only with Subaru Super Coolant. Anything else I’d do the coolant as well.

And since it hasn’t seen much driving, the diffs and a trans drain and fill. Make sure you know whatgoes to what. Plenty of seasoned mechanics have gotten their plugs confused.

 

@hogtownrocketsled I stand corrected! "Downshift" away!

Note: 2012 - All 3.6L, Forester 2.5 X, and Impreza 2.0L have a timing chain, which shouldn't need inspection

The 2012 XT still has the rubber timing belt.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT Member Journal] ['03 X Member Journal]

 

The 2012 XT

Made me check O.P.’s VIN, but I think it’s too short?

 

Why not just do a drain and fill of the coolant to refresh it somewhat? I would not bother with the stop leak conditioner. I think it's a vestige from the old head gasket failure days and has the potential to cause more harm than good.
It can't hurt to change the transfer case and rear diff gear oil, as yours probably dates to 2012 but even that could probably wait another year or two.

 

I would not bother with the stop leak conditioner. I think it's a vestige from the old head gasket failure days and has the potential to cause more harm than good.

FWIW, I always used the conditioner when changing coolant in my 2010 and after 240+k miles it has never had any issues from using the Subaru-recommended conditioner.

 

fairwind
Hi and welcome to the forum.
At some point the moderators are going to ask you to update your profile with at least your vehicle information.

I've also own a MY 12 and drive miles on dirt roads to get home. I change my air filters (engine and cabin) a LOT more often than 10K.. More like 3K, because they NEED it! .
Maybe you have less dust in the air from driving on dirt than I do... By 5K my oil would be really dirty, so 4K is about it for me.

If your transmission fluid isn't pristine, I'd change it by doing a drain and fill with your next 3 oil changes to allow fluid migration from the torque converter.
It'll use just shy of a gallon. There's no filter you need to change. The 4EAT with good fluid seems to last forever. My daughter's car is approaching 300K on the clock.

Ditto on the power steering.. Pull the serpentine belt and rotate the pump pulley with the return hose in a container and it will get a good flush.
Brake fluid should really be changed regardless of mileage. It gets contaminated from the brake line fittings and absorbs water. Three years is pushing it, two years is better.

The valves are shims, so you shouldn't need to mess with them unless you have a lot of clatter, which I seriously doubt.
If you decide to drain and fill the difffs, be sure to remove the fill plug BEFORE the drain plug.

 

For those following along, having any confusion about engine types, you can locate your own car's engine type number from the data plate. This is easy if you get down on your hands and knees. In the case of SJ '14-'18 Foresters like mine at least, this plate is black-metal 3"x5" inside the lower right hand door jamb. FA2... and FB2... four-cylinder engines all have timing chains, and EJ2... are the older types having toothed rubber timing belts. If I recall my car magazine reading from 10 years ago correctly (when I didn't own a Subaru), the SH Forester was the first Subaru to get the F design engine, and it happened in the middle of the SH generation's production run, about 2011 or so. The Legacy/Outback/Impreza all got F engines a bit later. In 2021 only the WRX STI still comes with an EJ engine. (did I say all that correctly?)

 

It's basically radiator stop leak, and mine ( and the OP's) has the newer engine which should not suffer the same head gasket issues that affected the EJ series of engines. When my radiator developed a slight leak where the upper plastic meets the aluminum fins, I just replaced the radiator, and saw zero need to add stop leak. Too much potential to gum up the thermostat and heater core in my books.

 

Originally posted by fairwind
70 year old retired mechanic.....

.....This car is never driven over the speed limit (we are old), rarely turns more than 3,500 rpm (I downshift to 3rd and 2nd before applying the brakes) and is never over-loaded (we rarely carry more than half the 900 pound payload).

We live in a moderate climate (Virginia) and it takes 10 minutes of warm-up just to get out through our farm gates.
....

I hope you never retire as a mechanic...

And how dare you say you are 'old'? Nor never drive over the speed limit?

These aren't compatible things. I am nearer to 75 than 74 and when I get a chance I get well over speed limits. Sometimes I seek out lonely roads just for that purpose!

And didn't you know that overloading a car is good exercise for it? Especially if it's ten minutes' drive to the gate... are you near Charlottesville?

Fact is, I am sometimes a bit of a slacker when it comes to 'normal maintenance' and a lot of what I do is on gut feeling rather than by the book. If it makes a noise it gets treated, if the level's low it gets topped up. But I do feel that it's important with the coolant to flush and replace after two to three years - even if that might be over a hundred and twenty thousand miles. I don't know about automatic transmission fluid as I'm allergic to automatics. But when I drive one I do downshift for long descents and sharp slow-downs.

Working on these little devils can be 'interesting', certainly different, sometimes you need to find ways to do things using self-made aids, some are here:

('06-'08) - The revamp, '05 Forester gets...

My '05 Forester, bought as a fairly high-mileage model by my wife four years ago with 207,000kms up, last year reached 337,000kms in my 'loving care'. Problems then began besetting it. A crack in the radiator top tank leading to some mild overheating before it was revealed; driver's window...

www.subaruforester.org

I'm of a mind that if you have to do anything with a cylinder head you really should pull the engine out to do it.