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Subaru Forester

Here you find some information about Subaru Forester cars.

fluids

For a 2017 Subaru Forester base 2.5i with CVT transmission, I have used the following fluids:
engine oil: 0W-20, ~4.7 us quarts which fills up ~3/4 on the dip stick.
differential oil: 75W-90. front: ~1.26 us quarts. rear: ~0.8 us quarts.

spark plugs: NGK #93482 SILZKAR7B11

Power Windows

If the passenger side window does not move from the driver's switch console, but is moving from the passenger door switch, it may need to be re-calibrated and the driver's switch console is not broken. To re-calibrate move down the passenger side window all the way with the passenger door's switch and continue to hold down the switch for another 6 seconds. Then move up the window all the way and continue to hold up the switch to another 6 seconds. This should re-calibrate the system and make it accept up/down commands from the driver's console again.

wheel bearing

The front and rear wheel bearings on Subaru cars are known to wear out frequently. You find many videos on YouTube how to replace these bearings. All videos talk about how difficult it is to remove the bearing, as they're often corroded into the knuckle. I have successfully used a tool, as shown on the video by MrSubaru1387, to remove a wheel bearing with only 3 swings of the 5 pound hammer. I can recommand buying this tool. It can be found under many brand names for ~$50 on Amazon. Search for ATD-8629.

For my 2017 Forester I've purchased the following parts from Subaru:
Wheel Bearing 28473FL040
backing plate 26704FJ012
cv axle nut 902170049
cv axle retainer (dust cover) 28437FG000

Some other tools and pieces you may need:
2x M8 screw to lift off the drum brake
2x M12-1.25 nut to attach the ATD-8629 tool to the bearing
32mm or 1.25" socket for the cv axle nut
10mm, 14mm and possibly some other size sockets to remove brake calipers, backing place, bearing and other pieces.

The Forester service manual lists the following torque values for the various bolts:
wheel bearing: 65 Nm, 48 lb-ft
brake caliper: 66 Nm, 48.7 lb-ft
brake hose bracket: 33 Nm, 24 lb-ft
ABS sensor: 7.5 Nm, 5.5 lb-ft, basically hand tight, it's a plastic piece don't squish.
cv axle nut: 190 Nm, 140 lb-ft
wheel nut: 120 Nm, 88.5 lb-ft

CUSP px3 Radio

I have replaced the stock 6.2 inch radio (Clarion CF658UL) with a modern touch screen Android 7.1.2 based radio. You find these from many sellers on aliexpress or your local Ebay. See below for some YouTube videos showing such devices and how to work on the radio. Mine was made by the the Shenzhen Cusp Technology Co and I have the model px3. The Android settings show the following values:


The factory password is 121212.

pinout

My 2017 Forester base model uses the 28 pin connector. After some research the following pinout seems to be correct for my car. I've mainly used the following 2 sources: 2016 Subaru WRX/STI 28-pin wiring and flickr.

For an easier search I've made a HTML table plus the picture below. The connector diagram is showing the connector pins, when looking at the front of the connector. The connector has the name i87 in Subaru's wiring schematics. (see the pictures above for an example)
Subaru 28 pin connector i87
Subaru 28 pin i87 pinout
pindescription
1n/c
2+12V reverse gear signal
3brightness, illumination dimmer cancel
4+6V microphone power (or +5V)
5microphone signal
6microphone detection (should be GND to make radio detect)
7n/c
8n/c
9n/c
10n/c
11+6V rear camera power
12rear camera video signal (NTSC)
13rear camera shield, should be GND
14n/c
15parking brake on (active low)
16n/c
17vehicle speed signal (VSS)
18n/c
19microphone GND
20rear camera GND
21steering wheel switch 1
22steering wheel switch 2
23steering wheel switch GND
24n/c
25AUX input enable
26AUX input right
27AUX input GND
28AUX input left

Using the stock rear camera

The Subaru rear camera uses +6V as operating voltage, not +12V as most other car electronics. The Subaru factory radios will supply the +6V to the rear camera via pin 11, when they sense the reverse gear signal (pin 2). They will also display the camera image on the radio display, when the reverse signal is detected. To use the rear camera with a replacement radio, you'll need to manually add a +12V to +6V voltage converter. These can be purchased for little money on aliexpress. You'll find them for $2 to $3, you don't need to pay more. Then wire them into your radio circuit harness as follows:
converterconnectorpindescription
+12V i85 10pin 3 +12V ACC
12V GND i85 10pin 7 GND
+6V i87 28pin11 +6V camera
6V GND i87 28pin20 camera GND

Subaru 10 pin i85
Subaru 10 pin i85 pinout
pindescription
1?
2?
3+12V ACC (when car key is in ON position)
4+12V battery (always has 12V, even with car key removed)
5?
6?
7GND
8?
9?
10?

other firmware

Several developers on the xda-developers forum are working on custom firmware for these radios. My PX3 hardware is of the MTCD or MTCE type. See also the Generic Android Head Unit wiki page on xda-developers for an explanation of these terms.
I have currently installed the Hal9k Modded ROM 2.0 and it is working fine for me. An alternative firmware (not tested by me) is the Malaysk ROMs for any yet known MTCD-MTCE Device.

Radio Links

The following websites and videos have been helpful for me to plan and do this project:

picture

CUSP px3 in Subaru Forester