Agree'd with the "feeling it" without seeing it. I'd like to remove the cowl just to see how it comes off, but Its not like you need to drop the engine or remove a wheel to get at it. I work on German cars for a living, and in cramped quarters you generally need to be able to work by "braile" method in tight confines.

I'm just going to kill two bird with one stone - when I remove the cowl to do my springs, I'm gonna throw in the Kraftwerks plug conversion .

 

I take it none of you have ever had to do plugs on a subaru. You have to move most of the things on either side of the engine and then, being boxers, the heads are still jammed up against the body with the plugs burried 6" inside (DOHC). First time takes about 3 hours to get the plugs out.

 

Ouch... Thank you for causing me to have an anxiety attack ... My wife has an 09 Forester... At least she is very easy on it and doesn't drive it all that much.... God bless Manxman's little heart, he likes to make a big deal out of things he is totally ignorant about..

 

This was a 99 outback so no idea how much has changed. Pro tip, when its time, what you do is stick the socket in first then the extentions and basicly put it all together inside the head. Its a half hour job once you figure out how to do it.