Four problems related to gas recirculation valve (egr valve) have been reported for the 2004 Subaru Forester. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Subaru Forester based on all problems reported for the 2004 Forester.
Anytime the temperature drops below 60 degrees fahrenheit there's a strong smell of gasoline inside the cab of the vehicle. When looking under the hood I can see it dripping out of something underneath the intake manifold. Severe gas leak. Nauseous and dangerous fumes.
In cold weather (below 20 degrees or so) the fuel lines in the engine compartment come loose and leak raw gasoline onto the hot engine. Obviously there is a good chance of an engine fire with possible loss of life. This has been reported in several forums, there is a TSB out on this for the wrx (same engine, same part numbers), and most dealers (in cold states) know of this problem.
Strong fuel odor inside cabin developed when operating on cold mornings; fuel odor typically went away within 15 minutes of starting the car. Inspection of fuel lines, filter, etc. Revealed no obvious leaks above the intake manifold. Dealer quoted approximately $800 to remove intake manifold and inspect. I have had two independent shops attempt to fix this issue over the past 3 years with varying degrees of success; the most recent (2011) removed the intake manifold and replaced all rubber fuel lines under the manifold, but the problem has recurred this fall and winter and at increasingly warm temperatures. Now, there is a visible and obvious leak from a fuel line just as it goes under the manifold--inaccessible without removing the manifold. Clearly, the problem is with the design of the metal fuel rail to rubber line interface, since this is a common problem in Forester xts across several model years. Subaru of America issued a recall for this problem on the wrx, but so far has not acknowledged the problem for the Forester or Forester xt. This is a costly repair and a huge safety issue: the leaking fuel drips directly onto the engine cylinder heads and in some cases (on passenger-side fuel line leaks) is in close proximity to the turbocharger--representing a significant risk of engine fire. The fuel fumes in the cabin are also a health and safety risk which should be dealt with by Subaru.
When outside temperature falls below 10 degrees f. , car will not start or starts only with greatest difficulty. Last year(2004), same sort of starting problem was attributed to a cracked ignition coil. This year dealers service department can not find a problem, also can't explain the problem.