2017 SUBARU FORESTER maintenance

Warranties
&Warranties for U.S.A.
All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru of America, Inc. and sold at retail
by an authorized SUBARU dealer in the
United States come with the following
warranties:
. SUBARU Limited Warranty
. Emission Control Systems Warranty
. Emissions Performance Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“ Warranty and Maintenance Booklet ”.
Read these warranties carefully.
& Warranties for Canada
All SUBARU vehicles distributed by
Subaru Canada, Inc. and sold at retail by
an authorized SUBARU dealer in Canada
come with the following warranties:
. SUBARU Limited Warranty
. Anti-Corrosion Warranty
. Emission Control Warranty
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“ Warranty and Service Booklet ”. Read
these warranties carefully.
& Warranties except for U.S.A.
and Canada
All warranty information, including details
of coverage and exclusions, is in the
“Warranty and Maintenance Booklet ”.
Read these warranties carefully.
How to use this Owner ’s
Manual
& Using your Owner ’s Manual
Before you operate your vehicle, carefully
read this manual. To protect yourself and
extend the service life of your vehicle,
follow the instructions in this manual.
Failure to observe these instructions may
result in serious injury and damage to your
vehicle.
This manual is composed of fourteen
chapters. Each chapter begins with a brief
table of contents, so you can usually tell at
a glance if that chapter contains the
information you want.
Chapter 1: Seat, seatbelt and SRS
airbags
This chapter informs you how to use the
seat and seatbelt and contains precau-
tions for the SRS airbags.
Chapter 2: Keys and doors
This chapter informs you how to operate
the keys, locks and windows.
Chapter 3: Instruments and controls
This chapter informs you about the opera-
tion of instrument panel indicators and
how to use the instruments and other
switches.
– CONTINUED –
1

Chapter 4: Climate control
This chapter informs you how to operate
the climate control.
Chapter 5: Audio
This chapter informs you how to operate
your audio system.
Chapter 6: Interior equipment
This chapter informs you how to operate
interior equipment.
Chapter 7: Starting and operating
This chapter informs you how to start and
operate your SUBARU.
Chapter 8: Driving tips
This chapter informs you how to drive your
SUBARU in various conditions and ex-
plains some safety tips on driving.
Chapter 9: In case of emergency
This chapter informs you what to do if you
have a problem while driving, such as a
flat tire or engine overheating.
Chapter 10: Appearance care
This chapter informs you how to keep your
SUBARU looking good.
Chapter 11: Maintenance and service
This chapter informs you when you need
to take your SUBARU to the dealer for
scheduled maintenance and informs you
how to keep your SUBARU running
properly.Chapter 12: Specifications
This chapter informs you about dimen-
sions and capacities of your SUBARU.
Chapter 13: Consumer information and
Reporting safety defects
This chapter informs you about Uniform
tire quality grading standards and Report-
ing safety defects.
Chapter 14: Index
This is an alphabetical listing of all that’
sin
this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
& Safety warnings
You will find a number of WARNINGs,
CAUTIONs and NOTEs in this manual.
These safety warnings alert you to poten-
tial hazards that could result in injury to
you or others.
Please read these safety warnings as well
as all other portions of this manual care-
fully in order to gain a better understand-
ing of how to use your SUBARU vehicle
safely.
WARNING
A WARNING indicates a situation in
which serious injury or death could
result if the warning is ignored.
CAUTION
A CAUTION indicates a situation in
which injury or damage to your
vehicle, or both, could result if the
caution is ignored.
NOTE
A NOTE gives information or sugges-
tions how to make better use of your
vehicle.
&Safety symbol
You will find a circle with a slash through it
in this manual. This symbol means “Do
not ”,“Do not do this ”,or“Do not let this
happen ”, depending upon the context.
2

Table of contents
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1
Keys and doors2
Instruments and controls
Climate control4
Audio5
Interior equipment6
Starting and operating7
Driving tips8
In case of emergency9
Appearance care10
Maintenance and service11
Specifications12
Consumer information and Reporting safety defects13
Index14
3

Front seats........................................................... 1-2Manual seat ........................................................ 1-4
Power seat (driver ’s seat —if equipped) .. ............ 1-5
Head restraint adjustment .................................... 1-8
Seat heater (if equipped).................................... 1-9Front seat heater (if equipped) ............................. 1-9
Rear seat heater (if equipped) ............................. 1-10
Rear seats........................................................... 1-11Armrest (if equipped) .......................................... 1-11
Head restraint adjustment ................................... 1-12
Folding down the rear seatback .......................... 1-13
Reclining the seatback (if equipped) ................... 1-15
Seatbelts............................................................. 1-16Seatbelt safety tips ............................................. 1-16
Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) ................... 1-17
Automatic Locking Retractor/Emergency Locking Retractor (ALR/ELR) ......................................... 1-17
Seatbelt warning light and chime ........................ 1-18
Fastening the seatbelt ........................................ 1-18
Seatbelt maintenance ......................................... 1-24
Front seatbelt pretensioners ............................. 1-25Seatbelt with shoulder belt pretensioner .. ........... 1-25Seatbelt with shoulder belt and lap belt
pretensioners .................................................. 1-26
System monitors ............................................... 1-28
System servicing ............................................... 1-28
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-29
Child restraint systems..................................... 1-29Where to place a child restraint system .............. 1-30
Choosing a child restraint system ...................... 1-32
Installing child restraint systems with ALR/ELR seatbelt ........................................................... 1-32
Installing a booster seat ..................................... 1-36
Installation of child restraint systems by use of lower and tether anchorages (LATCH) .............. 1-37
Top tether anchorages ....................................... 1-40
*SRS airbag (Supplemental Restraint
System airbag) ................................................ 1-42
General precautions regarding SRS airbag
system ............................................................ 1-42
Components ...................................................... 1-49
SUBARU advanced frontal airbag system ........... 1-51
SRS side airbag and SRS curtain airbag ............. 1-61
SRS airbag system monitors .............................. 1-69
SRS airbag system servicing ... .......................... 1-71
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-72
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags/Seatbelts
2. Insert a tongue plate or other hard
pointed object into the slot in the con-
nector (buckle) on the right-hand side and
push it in. The connector (tongue) plate
will then disconnect from the buckle.
3. Allow the retractor to roll up the belt.You should hold the webbing end and
guide it back into the retractor while it is
rolling up. Neatly store the tongue plate in
the recess and then insert the connector
(tongue) plate into the slot.
CAUTION
.
Do not allow the retractor to roll
up the seatbelt too quickly.
Otherwise, the metal tongue
plates may hit against the trim,
resulting in damaged trim. .
Have the seatbelt fully rolled up
so that the tongue plates are
neatly stored. A hanging tongue
plate can swing and hit against
the trim during driving, causing
damage to the trim.
& Seatbelt maintenance
To clean the seatbelts, use a mild soap
and lukewarm water. Never bleach or dye
the belts because this could seriously
affect their strength.
Inspect the seatbelts and attachments
including the webbing and all hardware
periodically for cracks, cuts, gashes,
tears, damage, loose bolts or worn areas.
Replace the seatbelts even if only minor
damage is found.
CAUTION
. Keep the belts free of polishes,
oils, chemicals and particularly
battery acid.
. Never attempt to make modifica-
tions or changes that will prevent
the seatbelt from operating prop-
erly.
1-24

Keys and doors/Immobilizer
CAUTION
.Do not place the key under direct
sunlight or anywhere it may
become hot.
. Do not get the key wet. If the key
gets wet, wipe it dry with a cloth
immediately.
. Donotmodifyorremovethe
system. If modified or removed,
the proper operation of the sys-
tem cannot be guaranteed.
NOTE
. To protect your vehicle from theft,
please pay close attention to the fol-
lowing security precautions:
–Never leave your vehicle unat-
tended with its keys inside.
– Before leaving your vehicle,
close all windows and the moon-
roof, and lock the doors and rear
gate.
– Do not leave spare keys or any
record of your key number in the
vehicle.
. The vehicle has a maintenance-free
type immobilizer system.
& Security indicator light
Refer to “Security indicator light ”F 3-30.
& Key replacement
Your key number plate will be required if
you ever need a replacement key made.
Any new key must be registered for use
with your vehicle ’s immobilizer system
before it can be used. The maximum
number of keys that can be registered
for use with one vehicle is as follows.
. Four (models without “keyless access
with push-button start system ”)
. Seven (models with “keyless access
with push-button start system ”)
One key that has already been registered
is required in order to register a new key.
If you lose a key, the lost key ’s ID code still
remains in the memory of the vehicle’ s
immobilizer system. For security reasons,
the lost key ’s ID code should be erased
from the memory. To erase the lost key ’s
ID code, all keys that will be used are
required.
For details about new key registration and
erasing the lost key ’s ID code, contact
your SUBARU dealer.
& Certification for immobilizer
system
. For models with “keyless access
with push-button start system ”:
Refer to “Certification for keyless access
with push-button start system ”F 2-19.
. For models without “keyless access
with push-button start system ”:
– U.S.-spec. models
FCC ID: MOZRI-38BFH
CAUTION
FCC WARNING
Changes or modifications not ex-
pressly approved by the party re-
sponsible for compliance could void
the user ’s authority to operate the
equipment.
This device complies with Part 15 of
the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to
the following two conditions: (1) This
device may not cause harmful inter-
ference, and (2) this device must
accept any interference received, in-
cluding interference that may cause
undesired operation.
2-4

Instruments and controls
Cruise control indicator light (if equipped).......... 3-32
Cruise control set indicator light (if equipped) ......................................................... 3-32
Automatic headlight beam leveler warning light (if equipped) ......................................................... 3-32
Steering Responsive Headlight warning light/ Steering Responsive Headlight OFF indicator
light (if equipped) ............................................. 3-33
Front fog light indicator light (if equipped) .......... 3-33
Headlight indicator light (if equipped) ................. 3-33
X-mode indicator light (if equipped) .................... 3-33
Hill descent control indicator light (if equipped) ......................................................... 3-33
Steering responsive fog lights warning indicator/ Steering responsive fog lights OFF indicator (if
equipped) ......................................................... 3-33
BSD/RCTA warning indicator (if equipped) .......... 3-33
BSD/RCTA OFF indicator (if equipped) ................ 3-34
RAB warning light (if equipped) .......................... 3-34
RAB OFF indicator light (if equipped) .................. 3-34
Information display (Mexico-spec. models) ...... 3-34Outside temperature indicator............................ 3-34
Driving information display ................................. 3-35
Clock ................................................................. 3-38
Multi information display (models with type
B combination meter) ..................................... 3-39
Basic operation.................................................. 3-40
Welcome screen and Good-bye screen ............... 3-40
Warning screen .................................................. 3-41
Basic screens .................................................... 3-41
Menu screens .................................................... 3-42
Multi function display (if equipped) .................. 3-44Basic operation................................................. 3-45
Welcome screen ................................................ 3-45
Ending screen ................................................... 3-46
Self-check screen .............................................. 3-46
Interruption screen ............................................ 3-48
Basic screens .................................................... 3-48
Selection screen ................................................ 3-56
Date and time settings ....................................... 3-59
Image quality and volume settings ..................... 3-66
Screen settings. ................................................. 3-68
Maintenance settings ......................................... 3-76
Driving history registration ................................. 3-79
Car settings ....................................................... 3-80
Initialize ............................................................. 3-90
Light control switch ........................................... 3-93Headlights......................................................... 3-93
High/low beam change (dimmer) ... ..................... 3-95
Headlight flasher ............................................... 3-98
Daytime running light system ............................. 3-98
Steering Responsive Headlight (SRH) (if
equipped) ........................................................ 3-99
SRH OFF switch ................................................ 3-99
Turn signal lever .............................................. 3-100One-touch lane changer ................................... 3-101
Illumination brightness control ....................... 3-101
Headlight beam leveler (if equipped) ............. 3-102
Automatic headlight beam leveler (models with
LED headlights) ............................................. 3-102

position.
The trip meter shows the distance that the
vehicle has been driven since you last set
it to zero.
If you press the trip knob when the ignition
switch is in the“LOCK”/ “OFF”or “ACC ”
position, the odometer/trip meter will light
up. It is possible to switch between the A
trip meter and B trip meter indications
while the odometer/trip meter is lit up. If
you do not press the trip knob within 10
seconds of illumination of the odometer/
trip meter, the odometer/trip meter will turn
off.
Also, if you open and close the driver ’s
door within 10 seconds of illumination of
the odometer/trip meter, the odometer/trip
meter will turn off.
The display can be switched as shown in
the following sequence by pressing the
trip knob.
*: They cannot be displayed when the ignition switch is in the “ON ”position. To set the trip meter to zero, select the A
trip or B trip meter by pressing the knob
and keep the knob pressed for more than
2 seconds.
CAUTION
To ensure safety, do not attempt to
change the function of the indicator
during driving, as an accident could
result.
NOTE
If the connection between the combina-
tion meter and battery is broken for any
reason such as vehicle maintenance or
fuse replacement, the data recorded on
the trip meter will be lost.
&
Tachometer
The tachometer shows the engine speed
in thousands of revolutions per minute.
CAUTION
Do not operate the engine when the
pointer of the tachometer is in the
red zone. In this range, fuel injection
will be cut by the engine control
module to protect the engine from
overrevving. The engine will resume
running normally after the engine speed is reduced below the red
zone.
NOTE
To protect the engine/transmission
while the select lever is in the
“P ” or
“ N ” position (CVT models) or the shift
lever is in the neutral position (MT
models), the engine is controlled so
that the engine speed may not become
too high even if the accelerator pedal is
depressed hard.
Instruments and controls/Meters and gauges
–CONTINUED –3-11