Buying a Used Engine for Your Subaru Forester: What You Need to Know

The Boxer engine used in your Subaru Forester is a fantastically powerful engine in a very small package. Boxer engines are incredibly efficient, but they must be properly maintained. Our salesman can share tips with you about what you need to know to keep your Forester on the road long after you're through dealing with us.

Buying a used engine is a great way to save money. This is especially true with Subaru engines. They are expensive at the dealership and there really are no "cheap" options for aftermarket remanufactured Subaru engines.

Every day, we ship tested Low Mileage Subaru engines to customers all around the United States and Canada.

What you Need to Know about your Forester Engine

We've found that the most common point of failure Forester drivers experience is overheating. Why is this? The Boxer engine Foresters use has a short stroke and a large bore. Compared to other engines with similar horsepower, there just isn't much place for heat to go if the cooling system isn't working flawlessly.

The timing cover on your Forester is somewhat unique. If you look carefully at your engine, you'll notice the black cover on the "front" of the engine is actually wider than the engine itself. It is also made of a very brittle plastic. The size of the cover makes it vulnerable to getting hit in even minor front end collisions. The brittle nature of the plastic used means that if it does get hit, shards crack off very easily. If this happens while the vehicle is running, the shards can get caught in the timing components and cause serious issues. Because of this, we try to avoid getting Forester engines from vehicles that were involved in front end collisions. In rare instances we do get a Forester engine from such a vehicle, it is thoroughly tested to ensure that no issues have arisen.