| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
2001 Subaru Forester repairs by problem area
Engine (46%)
Transmission and Drivetrain (15%)
Brakes and Traction Control (4%)
Suspension and Steering (16%)
Electrical and Air Conditioning (12%)
Paint, Rust, Leaks, Rattles, and Trim (2%)
Other (5%)
Chart based on 182 repairs.
2001 Subaru Forester engine repair cost distribution
$2500+ (5%)
$1000 - $2499 (20%)
$500 - $999 (8%)
$100 - $499 (25%)
< $100 (42%)
Chart based on 76 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.
2001 Subaru Forester
Engine not specified
| 111000 mi US $1900 |
Leaky Head Gasket: Replaced gaskets, machined heads, and cleaned valves. |
| 107880 mi C $5000 |
Burning all the oil in the engine within a few months. |
| 108500 mi | Burning oil. |
| 90000 mi US $1600 |
blown head gasket |
| 108000 mi US $2000 |
Engine rebuild. I took very good care of this car, in fact I saved all maint. records. Repaired car and sold. I didn't want to put any more $$ into car. Since the car was too good to salvage, I decided to repair and sell since it was running great. |
2001 Subaru Forester 4dr SUV
165-horsepower 2.5L H4 5-speed manual AWD
| 131440 mi A $400 |
Leaking fuel line. |
| 105000 mi US $500 |
Secondary oxygen sensor malfunction. Replacement solved problem. |
| 168000 mi US $337 |
Replaced spark plug tube seals and valve cover gaskets. Typical for Subaru 2.5, get oil in/on spark plugs from this leak. Only reason this was taken care of was I changed spark plugs. |
| 138000 mi | loss of compression |
| 138300 mi US $800 |
wiring harness failure, causing short to fuel pump. Cam leaking oil. |
| 189000 mi US $2800 |
Check engine evap code, Sticking solenoid valve. Changed out clutch, water pump, and replaced pulleys. Two oil leaks. Head gaskets changed. |
| 155000 mi US $1100 |
O2 sensors and exhaust from cat back. |
| 96000 mi US $30 |
For 2 years, I have found oil creeping onto driver side spark plug boots. It's due to the spark plug seals (pips) getting hard and no long sealing oil out of the spark plug tubes. So I replaced the pips, valve cover gasket, and bolt washers/seals. |
| 106000 mi US $60 |
Rear exhaust pipe flange of original exhaust system finally rusted out. Independent shop cut out flange, and welded in a short piece of pipe. Quick and easy. Hope will last a few years, since the rest of the pipes and muffler seem solid. |
| 107000 mi US $98 |
Knock Sensor CEL turned on and off occasionally during past month, lately remaining on mostly. No drivability issue noticed. Replaced knock sensor myself quite easily with online instrux. CEL went off and has stayed off. |
| 109000 mi US $400 |
Put new bolts in rattling heat shields. |
| 110000 mi US $9 |
Wife noticed temp gauge rise and steam from under hood, she immediately pulled over and parked car. GOOD WIFE! Bottom radiator hose clamp rusted through and broke off causing coolant dump. I reattached hose and replaced all hose clamps. |
| 115100 mi US $77 |
PO420 catalyst inefficient code had been coming on and staying on this summer. By August, an exhaust leak was audible. Inde shop replaced front exhaust pipe flange or donut gasket. I cleared CEL. No problems since. |
| 117100 mi | PO420 CEL came on again. This is usually due to an exhaust leak. I cleared the code off after a few days and it has not come back on. So I will assume no real leak in exhaust system for now. |
| 120000 mi | PO420 CEL on for a month before car inspection due. I pressed rag over tailpipe to check for exhaust leak, but none. So I cleared code, drove for 2 weeks and 183 miles, so the rear Oxygen sensor would reset itself, car passed inspection. |
| 126000 mi | 10 yr old Foresters in the rust belt develop a corrosion leak in the fuel filler neck pipe. We have smelled gas during the last few months right after filling to the top. And the CEL is on. Have ordered parts and will replace it soon. |
| 127400 mi US $1032 |
CEL P0442 has been on for months. Fuel filler neck pipe rusts out, gas leaks, CEL comes on. Inde garage replaced it. CEL off now. All fixed. New exhaust...everything rear of the cat. And new rear 02 sensor, since it was throwing P0037 code. All fixed now, and engine light off. |
| 132000 mi | Occasional CEL P0420 will come on and stay on. For last few years. I cleared it out with my code reader about 3 weeks ago. So far it has stayed off. Probably burning oil in exhaust tickles rear 02 sensor. My best guess. |
| 141000 mi US $1500 |
Clutch plates were slipping badly. Shop said I needed to replace plates AND flywheel. I dunno if flywheel REALLY needed to be replaced, but it is done. |
| 143200 mi | Probably a slight head gasket leak. I now add a half cup of coolant to radiator every month. Also added a small bit of Pwr Steering fluid with stopleak since pwr steering pump was squeaking but belt was tight. CEL is always on. |
| 169000 mi US $25 |
Blown head gasket temporarily fixed with stop leak. |
| 180000 mi | Radiator started leaking but after a few days it fixed itself due to the K-Seal that was put into the radiator in March. |
| 206900 mi | Head gaskets leaking internally and externally, will need clutch as it's original, brakes, timing belt and struts...time to trade it in. |
| 212000 mi | timing belt, brakes, head gaskets, |
| 102000 mi US $550 |
Faulty head gasket replaced, along with thermostat. List price =$2,400. Subaru paid all but $550. Also got NEW loaner car! |
| 112000 mi US $235 |
Needed an a/c pulley system. It was making noise and they replaced it. |
| 126000 mi | Timing belt broke only 35,000 miles after replacement, ruining the engine. Also needed original clutch replaced. Total repair costs = $4,800, and it was not worth it to me to spend that much on a 13-year old car with that many miles on it |
| 78120 mi C $1200 |
oil pan changed (was rusted) crank sensor changed (during extreme cold weather car refused to start, after a short drive) |
| 81220 mi C $300 |
code P1443: vent valve malfunction. replace evap vent valve |
| 83080 mi C $750 |
Rotten middle/rear exhaust pipe, plus muffler |
2001 Subaru Forester 4dr SUV
165-horsepower 2.5L H4 4-speed automatic AWD
| 155700 mi US $350 |
Worn tube, radiator flush and coolant ref ill |
| 238700 mi US $1000 |
Head gaskets leaking and I did not know service history on timing belt, pulled engine out myself and overhauled, machined heads, all new gaskets, seals, belt, pulleys, starter, hoses etc..... |
| 237200 mi US $300 |
Overhauled engine, put back in car but was now getting no spark. Check various connections but not good with electrical so I towed it to a local shop. They believe the ECM "computer" is bad, awaiting a used ECM to fix. Wires broke to crank, cam and knock sensors when I removed and replaced intake. |
| 238200 mi US $5 |
Replaced slow leaking oil cooler seal |
| 198750 mi US $89 |
Knock sensor Replaced Knock Sensor |
| 207700 mi US $60 |
Primary Cooling fan ran intermittently, so replaced fan. |
| 210265 mi US $100 |
Replaced Secondary radiator cooling fan |
| 179468 mi US $1700 |
Only 1 of 4 cylinders firing properly. Codes say replace spark plugs and ignition coils. $225 spark plugs $448 ignition coil, $90 wires to ignition coil. Oil all over spark plugs, so replaced some seals. |
| 91000 mi US $500 |
Really Loud Exhaust Noise was noticed. Exhaust system back of catalytic converter was replaced (Muffler/Pipes) |
| 175000 mi US $200 |
Head gasket failure |
| 128000 mi US $1600 |
head gasket seal was replaced. |
| 220000 mi US $200 |
Timing belt tensioner bearing busted. Replacement of tensioner. |
| 138000 mi US $555 |
Golden Hills Auto Center performed scan for check engine light, indicated spark plug wire and ignition coil failure (also resurfaced rotors - replaced rears after they damaged them. |
| 143000 mi US $1903 |
Check engine light still, check oil burn smell - missfire at #4 cylinder, oil in spark plug; replaced cylinder head gaskets, timing belt(?), water pump(?). Check engine light returned after this repair. |
| 150000 mi US $1110 |
In to and diagnose check engine light; code indicated catalyst efficiency below threshold; replaced cat converter. Check engine light off (Golden Hills fired.) |
| 120000 mi US $3900 |
Head gaskets, all engine seals, oil cooler gasket, oil pump gasket cat converter was working OK, but fittings were badly rusted so after engine removal, could not be reused. |
| 138000 mi | fuel filler pipe was badly rusted and needed to be replaced. |
| 145900 mi US $160 |
Idler pulley on AC drive belt froze, causing belt to fail. Replaced pulley and belt. |
| 150000 mi US $92 |
Running poorly, lacked power, especially at low speed. Replaced upstream oxygen sensor. |
| 169200 mi US $95 |
Knock sensor needed to be replaced. |
| 170800 mi US $350 |
Evaporative control hard lines were rusted through, causing a evaporation control system leak. |
| 180000 mi US $60 |
Some of the original emission control tubes and valves were corroded and needed to be replaced. Valve cover gaskets leaking. I replaced them. |
| 203800 mi US $1500 |
Timing belt water pump idlers etc repaired successfully. |
| 205000 mi US $100 |
Transmission locked out of drive. Brake sensor replaced. |
| 215000 mi US $75 |
Leaking head gaskets on both sides. Put gasket conditioner and new coolant in. |
| 211000 mi US $46 |
Fuel hose near throttle body cracked. |
| 86000 mi | Head gasket repaired under warranty. Barely leaking, and at first dealer refused to replace it until I used the name of the independent mechanic who noticed the leak. They know him. |
| 148700 mi US $75 |
Heat shield under car attaching screws rusted and let go, shield was dragging on the road. Heat shield was replaced between catalytic converter and muffler. |
| 169000 mi US $313 |
Check engine light came on intermittantly. Code indicated that the catalytic converter was at or below 95% efficiency Air conditioner pulley seized, destroyed the drive belt |
| 181000 mi | Check engine light on permanently. First converter of two was replaced. Error code cleared. Fuel purge solenoid set error code and was sticking closed. Shop blew out lines and cleaned solenoid, reset computer. Error code did not reappear. |
| 193000 mi | Strong gasoline odor on starting cold engine when outside air temperatures below 25F. Some gasoline visible around and near fuel lines. Repair consisted of tightening the fuel line clamps around the rubber line connectors. |
| 215300 mi US $2020 |
Exhaust crossover rotted out & leaking - loud exhaust |
| 216000 mi US $1045 |
Valve cover gaskets leaking oil into spark plug wells and wires. Engine was running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Oxygen sensor was fouled by unburned gasoline. Replaced gaskets, spark plugs and wires, including ignition wire. |
| 241300 mi US $99 |
Replaced leaking radiator. Really easy. |
2001 Subaru Forester 4-door
4-cylinder manual AWD
| 121000 mi US $200 |
Overheating on long drives. |
2001 Subaru Forester 4-door
4-cylinder automatic AWD
| 85000 mi US $345 |
Oil was leaking. Car hooked up to computer. "O" ring replaced. We noticed sparks coming out of exhaust. Dealership replaced oxygen sensor. Still an occasional spark but not as much. We haven't told dealer this. |
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