[jss]

I am the original owner of a 2006 Forester XT with about 73,000 miles on it.

I am going through some maintenance on my own and have read various threads on here on the 60,000 mile service.

I just changed my plugs out today. Not too bad. The drivers side was a little tight to work in. I started on that side as I read it was the worst. When I got to the passenger side, that was a piece of cake. I wished I would have had a 3/8" torque wrench, it would have taken the guess work out of where to stop tightening. You can feel when the washer flattens as a guide.

I changed the air filter. I will change the cabin air filter when it arrives, and may flush the the a/c condenser and ducts. I have done this in the past when I was getting a mildew smell. Worked great.

I am considering doing the PCV valve, but wanted to know if members felt it was necessary? Do you recommend buying the pcv valve as a unit with all the hoses and connections, or just change the metal valve?

What else do you members consider top priority at this point?

pcv valve
brake fluid
auto transmission fluid
coolant fluid flush
drive belts
rear differential fluid

I may have to do some rear brake work also as I am getting some scraping in the right rear. I think a caliper may need some help as the pads were changed not that long ago.

Other than that my cars only issue is the typical moon roof problems. I don't know that is worth fixing though after reading through a lot of prior threads with the plastic track breaking.

Thanks for any input!

Jack

 

[dannyboy]

I've got 115K on my '03 Forester and have not replaced the PCV valve. It's easy to pop off and check it to see if it is clogged and it seems to be functioning fine. My theory is if you change your oil fairly frequently (I do mine about every 4K miles) then the sludge doesn't build up and your PCV valve stays healthy.

As for your other maintenance items, definitely do the fluids listed at this point. For the belts, I'd wait to the scheduled maintenance at 105K. That's when I did mine and they looked to still be in fine shape.

 

[jss]

Dannyboy thanks for the input and feedback.

That helps me sort out a few things.

The belts look good so I'll leave them.

I'll work on getting these fluids changed out, and at some point give the PCV a look and cleaning if needed.

Jack

 

[Inspector]

Drive belts should be fine till the T-belt interval. Diff, trans, and brake fluid should be your top priority. Hope they were at changed at 30,000mi.

 

[lfdal]

The XT PCV valve is in a whole different class than the NA PCV valve. Start by removing the intercooler and then looking hard. At least on the 04 XT it was really "special". I think you can purchase it as an assembly, well worth doing.

Search around here for it, its worth looking up.

 

[jss]

Drive belts should be fine till the T-belt interval. Diff, trans, and brake fluid should be your top priority. Hope they were at changed at 30,000mi.

I will hold off on the belts until 105K.

I will get serious on those other fluids in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately I think only the brake fluid has been refreshed. :icon_cry:

The maint. schedule said inspect on the other fluids, so I have never done it.

Thanks for the concern and perspective! :smile:

 

[jss]

The XT PCV valve is in a whole different class than the NA PCV valve. Start by removing the intercooler and then looking hard. At least on the 04 XT it was really "special". I think you can purchase it as an assembly, well worth doing.

Search around here for it, its worth looking up.

Thanks for the encouragement. :icon_biggrin:

I have looked around on YouTube and here, and feel confident I can do the PCV valve.

I will need to order the assembly though for about $30.00. I mistakenly got just the metal PCV. From what I have seen most people don't recommend just changing the valve. I will have to send it back.

Jack

 

[lfdal]

Thanks for the encouragement. :icon_biggrin:

I have looked around on YouTube and here, and feel confident I can do the PCV valve.

I will need to order the assembly though for about $30.00. I mistakenly got just the metal PCV. From what I have seen most people don't recommend just changing the valve. I will have to send it back.

Jack

Back when I was going to do the one on my 04 XT I bought the valve, then popped the intercooler. I spent about 10 minutes wrestling with trying to get the valve by itself out and decided I was going to break something.

Swallowed my pride and next time at the dealership asked them to install it. Drove away in a loaner car after they broke it and had to order the assembly. They felt bad they broke it, I felt glad it wasn't just me. :icon_cool:

 

[Sabrewings]

Heat guns do wonders for these. All of those rubber hoses mold themselves to the fitting with the pressure of the clamp. With no lubrication between them, they're on there very well. A heat gun will soften and expand the rubber making it pull off with ease. Lightly coat the fitting with motor oil before you slip the hose over it to make it come off easily next time.

 

[Inspector]

Unfortunately I think only the brake fluid has been refreshed. :icon_cry:

The maint. schedule said inspect on the other fluids, so I have never done it.

Dang, 73,000mi on original drivetrain fluids. Would be interested to see how they look.

 

[jss]

Swallowed my pride and next time at the dealership asked them to install it. Drove away in a loaner car after they broke it and had to order the assembly. They felt bad they broke it, I felt glad it wasn't just me. :icon_cool:

That is a cool story, and you can feel good you made the right decision an had foresight. More often than not we go for it and have regrets later that we were going to push to far with something. Not just with cars, but life in general.

 

[jss]

Heat guns do wonders for these. All of those rubber hoses mold themselves to the fitting with the pressure of the clamp. With no lubrication between them, they're on there very well. A heat gun will soften and expand the rubber making it pull off with ease. Lightly coat the fitting with motor oil before you slip the hose over it to make it come off easily next time.

Very good advice there! I do have a heat gun! :woohoo:

 

[jss]

Dang, 73,000mi on original drivetrain fluids. Would be interested to see how they look.

I hope I am wrong.

I use to take my car for service to the stealership. There is a chance I did the 30,000 mile service with them.

I only drive this car about 5-6K per year now so that was many years ago.

I will have to dig through my old receipts and service records and report back.

I guess I will need to be buying some car ramps soon.

Today was my first drive after doing the plugs and air cleaner. All is well. The car appears to be running very smooth. It was getting a little rough here and there recently.

 

[jss]

Front and Rear Differential, Automatic Transmission

Last night I changed the front and rear diff, and auto transmission fluid. Overall it was pretty straight forward.

The hardest part was refilling the transmission fluid. It has to be down off of feel. On the turbo model the fill spout is out of sight buried down low behind the inter-cooler. I used a flex hose funnel on both the front diff and auto transmission. I used a squeeze hose on the rear diff.

I only pulled the drain plug on the transmission, and got about 3 quarts out. The filter is said to be long life so I left it alone.

I was really pleased how decent the fluids looked, and I had minimal to no metal filings.

The rear and front diff fluid was pretty clear yet.

I replaced the washers on the tran and front diff plug. I used some thread sealant on the rear diff plugs.

I used an air impact to remove the front and rear diff drain plugs. I was very glad to have this, it made getting them out a lot easier. It was pretty tough to get decent leverage under the car with just a ratchet.

I did not jack the car up at all.

I used a 1/2" torque wrench to set the torque upon re install of all bolts.

The rear diff is 1/2" drive, the front is T70, and the transmission plug is 17mm.

Thanks to all the prior posts on this job on this site, it made it a lot easier to know what to do.

 

[jss]

 

[jss]

 

[jss]

Here are some supplies images.