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I've been talking to a coworker who does composite work on the side. Right now he only focuses of making carbon fiber parts for KTM super motos. I've had the idea for a few weeks to start manufacture of NLA body panels for these old Subarus. I talked to him about this and he doesn't have any objections to taking on the project but he doesn't know if there's a market for these parts. Making the molds takes significant investment of both time and money. Would anyone be interested in composite body panels? I'm thinking just fiberglass (to keep the cost down) but face layers of carbon or kevlar would be possible. Or even panels made entirely of carbon or kevlar would be possible. No sanding, no paint. They'd ship as bare parts to he finished by the buyer (or just throw them on without sanding or paint). If anything we'd start with 3rd Gen front fenders and hoods and we could move from there if there's enough demand. Just putting feelers out there if this would be worth our time. No ideas on a price at this time. :]

A leaky injector will leak regardless of being plugging in electrically or not from what I understand. It’s worn injector components or grit that holds the injector open allowing the residual fuel pressure to leak out. You could bench test this easily enough. Build up pressure with an external efi pump, shut it off and watch for leaks with a cup under the injector to catch any fuel (this will give you an idea of how much is leaking too). Also check the injector wires to ensure there’s no current keeping the injector open after engine shut down. That would be a long shot but anything is possible.

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/186723-junkyard-82-84-gl-wagon-2wd-parting-out/ If this hasn't been crushed, and they haven't caved it in moving it with a forklift, do you want me to pull you a door? If so, what is the minimum condition you're looking for? Perfect, minor dents and rust, anything that will fill the gap between the hinges and the striker,...? It looks clean in the tiny picture I got, but there's not a lot of pixels...

Yes, I know there's a forum just for these posts, but I think this one is more likely to be spotted by people in the very limited fimeframe... Through a friend-of-a-friend, I got word of a old gen getting towed to a near-ish junkyard earlier this week. If they haven't crushed it yet, I'm going to head there this saturday morning to pull parts. I don't know anything about its condition other than one text that's been forwarded too many times to have any pixels left. They close early on saturdays, and I'm working 66 hour weeks and can't go there any other day, so I'll only have at most a couple hours to pull parts. Anyone want anything? As I said, very limited time, so nothing complex. I also don't know what they'll charge - I've never been to this junkyard before. From what I've heard, they'll probably crush it almost immediately. If you want the whole thing, let me know and I won't go and strip it, or if you're genuinely committed to a major part (engine, trans), they'll probably wait to crush it if you give them money.

I got a 2009 Outback special edition instead. Only 95,000 miles on it. It spent 2016-2025 in Arizona and before that in Colorado. Pretty much rust free. I drove it home to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Most are non turbo. How many miles on the block? Leak down and compression tests? Check the PCV valve system for blockage? Seems like a long shot but if you're confident the valves and rings aren't it.... Was it burning oil before you replaced the rings? After you replaced the rings did it burn less, more, the same, or can't tell? When rings were replaced were there any signs suggesting which cylinder was the culprit? Did you replace all the rings? There's only two ways for oil to enter the cylinder: valves and rings. Rings are most common

Great choice, the turbo's with age are highly problematic. Gas turbo's in general are be design more complex and don't age well. The turbo's fail, replacement turbo's often aren't good quality, any overheating or low oil situation quickly plants the seeds for catastrophic block failure. And by this age it's not uncommon for one to see oil or overheating issues at somepoint in the past.

Good luck! I'm from Carroll county, was at the Lock House Museum close to you in the spring or last spring on the way back from Philly.

2008 Legacy - oil level seems to be rising and smells like gas and thinned out, running poorly. No check engine codes. Can I unplug the electrical connector to the injector as a test? Or do they just internally whether they are plugged in or not?

John in KY - you still on here, I know I just talked to you recently person to person but thought Id reply to this old post. Did this end up being an injector issue or oring issue? I have high oil level and it's also running poorly in a 2008 legacy EJ25. Orings can cause an internal leak into the cylinder? How does that happen? I have orings on hand, but not injectors....

That was what I was thinking about as you described the process.

Hello everyone, I'm back at it again with troubleshooting the TB and the fault code 24 (Duty C). The only progress I made since last posting was that I swapped TCU's. This led to no change at all. I think I'm going to swap out the Duty C solenoid again, even though this one is pretty new. When I did the ohm test at the T4 connector, it was out of range (between pins 4 and 11). I'm assuming that means the Duty C is bad? But there's is a strange thing I notice that I would like some clarification on. So when I probe the FWD fuse socket at passenger firewall (key off and no fuse installed) I get ground on both sides of socket. When I put the key on (no fuse installed) I get ground on one side and 7.9v on the other. When I install a fuse in the socket (key on), I get ground on both sides. Does this seem strange? If so, I was wondering if someone here on the forum can probe their FWD socket for me and see what readings you get? Reason is that it may help me further troubleshoot the Duty C. Another question I had has to do with sending power directly to the Duct C to by-pass the harness in case that's the problem. The schematic shows that the brown wire in the T4 connector is for Duty C. But when I probe that wire, it's ground. I thought that wire should have voltage, since the Duty C gets its ground inside the tail shaft housing. What am I missing here? Thanks guys!

I'm also getting a coolant leak out of the middle of the engine. I thought it might be the lower radiator hose, but that's not it. My mechanic said it is too cold to work, though he does have a garage, he's from SA and they do most of the work outside.

Last night I managed to repair my grille that most would have looked at and considered a total loss. The deer hit the corner of the grille and shattered it like glass. Luckily my lower valence panel caught almost all the pieces. All you need for this repair is a bottle of THF (a chemical used as a precursor for polymer synthesis) and some applicator bottles with needle tips. The THF will wick to into thin cracks where it then melts the top layer of plastic. After the solvent dries, the molten plastic molds together forming a chemical weld. To better understand and visualize this process, look up how model builders weld their models. It's the exact same process. You could also use this process to repair interior or exterior trim pieces. THF works with most plastics but it does NOT work on polypropylene (PP). Look for the plastic composition molded into the piece you're working on. For polypropylene your best bet is using an adhesion primer along with CA glue (super glue). :]

Insane video!

Thank for the tip. We live in Maryland, top of the Chesapeake Bay. They salt the roads, but not very often. I recently did have a huge problem getting rear hubs off the knuckle, so I know things can be frozen on pretty good. I'll be doing this job in the next week or so, need a clear weekend day.

Your biggest potential (though unlikey on a car this new) issue will be trying to get the ball joint out of the knuckle. It will all depend on how much rust/salt that thing has seen. The guys out west and down south don't have to worry about that and can pop ball joints all day long. The ball joint just pops out. Up here....sometimes they pop out, sometimes they don't. I've ripped t(metal shards and all) the ball joint shaft right through the actual ball itself which was left rust welded into the knuckle, then you're spending a lot of time chiseling/drilling to get the remnant of the ball joint outer casing separated from the knuckle housing and you'll need to replace the ball joint. Good chance a 2018 isn't that bad and comes right out...but if you ever do experience a rusty ball joint you will curse everyone who says "oh just pop the ball joint out" and realize they often live down south/west or are dealer guys only working on new cars under warranty. Are the current axles bad, these newer axles often run a lot of miles without issues and almost never fail. An aftermarket axle may very well fail before the originals with 200,000 miles. In rust prone areas many of us avoid the ball joint and just undo the lower strut mount bolts to replace an axle. The top bolt impacts camber, so you mark the HEAD (not the nut) of the bolt relative to the knuckle housing and make sure you install it exactly where it was before you did the work. EA81, EA82, ER27's are all front parking brakes, so yeah nothing newer than 1994!

Grab a service manual, print out the AC relevant parts and show your mechanic. There's probably a diagnostic checklist section too. https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?18087-Subaru-Factory-Service-Manuals-(FSM)-Every-Model-USDM-EU

Original engine? 01's and some 02's were notorious for timing chain noise. I believe due to tensioners and they have jumped timing before. I've seen failed tensioners and guides, never a failed chain though I'm sure anything is possible.

If it comes to no other options, my parts guy may have a door. I remember seeing an early 4 door he had. Was fairly clean if I remember, baby blue. He's a bit of a... Collector... So he may be hesitant to let it go. But if you need I can always ask. It may take a bit for me to get it. I'd probably have to buy the whole car since it's in decent condition and he may not want to part it out. :] P.S. I believe the car is actually a first gen. I remember it having an EA63 in it. But he may have something laying around, he gathered up quite a few of these Roos.

I’d try wiggling or probing those wires when the system is on and should be functional. Otherwise get an AC specialist or auto sparky involved.

I do have a door, and I think it's fairly straight, but if I remember right, it's rusted out along the bottom. I'm working 12 hour days until next year, and won't be able to dig it out until then.

What would be a good way to go about finding a solution?

We have done a pretty extensive search on the West Coast here. From San Diego up through Washington State. Lots of later years 86-91 wagons and 4 doors but no 80-84 four doors or wagons with an intact driver side rear door yet. We have a decent offer from the insurance company as we provided comparables, but we really want to save the car if we can. It belongs to my youngest daughter, and she loves the look and driving it. Gen Zer driving a manual shift and having a blast in an 80's sedan. 😀 The issue seems to be there are very few 80-84 cars that are available right now for parts which is good in one sense but we need a door.

Very true. Rubber has a lifespan regardless. I’d bet even NOS boots would be running on borrowed time. I’d recommend trying the beck arnley boots. You can get them off amazing for about $20 a pop.