89Ru
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Posts posted by 89Ru
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What happened after you pulled the ABS fuse? Maybe the ABS pump relay is stuck closed, and/or the motor is dragging the system voltage down. What voltages are you getting when the pump is running? My 96 impreza had a continuously running ABS pump even with the ignition key off, and pulling the fuse fixed it, just no ABS system now.
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Yep. I've started using subie OEM axles for my daughter's 07 OBW, worth the peace of mind. Hate spending $340+ for a single axle but my rebuilder is having reliability issues and I refuse to use aftermarket. Like has already been said, used OEM axles and rebooting kits from rock auto way cheaper, and messier. I've had good luck with removing the axle and rebooting. Never tried the split boots. I like to keep a couple of used OEM spares on hand for my daily driver.
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Installed an 02 H6 four years ago, had issues with engine harness that were solved with using bits of the stock harness. No engine issues since then after 60k miles. Didn't touch the JDM head gaskets. Alt failed a few months ago but just normal wear. Swapped the stock intake over to the donor. There's a writeup on here somewhere for the whole job. I also have an 07 H4 JDM on a pallet waiting for me to put it in...I'll probably write that one up too. The only issues I've had with JDM engines is finding supply, and shipping damage, stock is low. Unwrap the engine completely and put some eyeballs on it before signing the delivery paperwork or that shiny creampuff is yours, damage and all.
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Up and running with the DB alt. Windings of the reman alt look blackened. So wondering if a winding shorted out since it was charging for a few minutes.
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Yes, DB is in Kingsport. I supported my local parts garden and scored an H6 alt. While the H6 and 2.5L alts both have a 3 pin connector, it appears that only the H6 uses all 3 wires in the harness. I noted that a 2006 Forester 2.5L 3-pin green alt connector only has two with populated pins on the harness pigtail. That being said, I wonder if the H6 alt could serve as a spare for a 2.5L model? Parts store says they will take the reman alt back.
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Ok. I had heard about H6 alt needing ECU input so thx for confirming. This alt is already aftermarket so must have gotten lucky in the past. Local yards are pretty picked over but might try my luck again. This was a sunday night save the day job or so I thought.
https://www.maniacelectricmotors.com seems to sell rebuild kits. Haven't been able to get enough heat to disassemble the electrics.
Local alt rebuilder hasn't updated FB page in 5 years and phone is disconnected
If anyone knows a rebuilder in Nashville lmk.
https://www.dbelectrical.com ships overnight. looks like my best option for the H6.
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2002 Outback H6 Sedan suspected alt failure. Can I swap out a known working OEM alt from a 2007 Outback 2.5L after swapping the pulleys? Looks like output current is about the same 100 on the H6 and 110 amps on the 2.5L. Connectors look compatible.
The background. Batt and brake lights lit on dash on a road trip, driving fine otherwise, headlights shut off (at night of course) and car dies about 30 min later. Presumed alt failure, is a reman unit, about 5 years old. Battery is 2 years old. Charged battery to 12.8v using external charger. Installed a reman unit from parts store. Car starts and alt charging at 14.x volts, dash lights back to normal. At some point during 10 minute idle, alt stops charging. Batt voltage drops to 12.x volts and headlights (normally on while car running) turn off. Batt and brake lights on dash as before. Battery/alt/starter harness replaced about 5 years ago.
Could there be some other failure that killed the new alt too?
Going to bring failed alt to parts store and get it tested, get replacement if possible but if that falls through I have a spare alt from the 2.5L.
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Pulled the driver side head off. All the bolts creaked and some thread shavings on at least one bolt. Visible fluid trail on the cylinder walls of #2 and #4 at 6:00 (bottom of cylinder). Looks like oil and coolant mix. Same section of the head (bottom) is oil stained. Heads look different from when it was an obvious coolant leak (prior job). Exhaust valves were clean before, now they are carbonized/oily.
Don't think its bad rings. Compression and leak down test was ok. Could be from the oil galleries? (low pressure) or from the oil high pressure side on top? (the high pressure section of the gasket looks suspect to me). I used subaru turbo multi level steel (mls) gaskets. Wondering about flatness of the block. Heads were decked previously.
Going to clean the block and head with 3m 120 grit white abrasive disc. Waiting for a decent mech straight edge. I don't trust my old straight edge anymore for assessing the flatness of these surfaces, but there is light showing through.
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+1 head gasket. Less heat in cabin. Coolant overflow tank rising. Temperature fluctuations. Listen for gurgles in the dash. Exhaust gas in the coolant. All +signs.
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On 1/17/2023 at 5:40 PM, el_freddo said:
Oil weeping always occurs with the cam retainer plate, especially if it’s not resealed when replacing HGs.
Even then there’s no guarantee the leak won’t stay away for a great deal of time…
I think a lot of the oil down under is due in part to a bad oil pan seal (done by po) and the drivers side head cam retainer plate (I call this a cam cover??) done by me. And yes I sealed it but looks like I need to rethink how I did it. I think the cam retainer-cover leak is getting oil all over the drivers side exhaust gasket. Valve covers are leaking a bit.
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On 1/16/2023 at 8:11 PM, ocei77 said:
If it's leaking oil from under the timing cover it can only be the cam or crank seals.
I've routinely used Fel pro for years and have never had issues with them.
Can't speak for other brands.
Check #4 plug for oil.
Also remove the cam sensor and make sure it is not covered in oil and dirt giving bad signal.
Check the crank sensor for all the teeth .
Pulled the engine, tb covers, intake, drivers side cam and inner tb covers. Crank seal is wet but not leaving a huge trail. Cam seals are both dry. Plugs #2 and #4 are wet with oil. Crank pulley has all its teeth, maybe some of them are need a good brushing tho. Cam sensor is shiny goodness.
Still digging. Have to pull the drivers side head. Not sure how far this is going.
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On 1/17/2023 at 8:03 AM, 1 Lucky Texan said:
try cleaning the crank pos.sensor. They can get metal debris over time and cause issues.
There IS some gunk on the crank sensor. Way back I swapped this sensor out, no happiness. Not saying it isn't playing a factor....will clean it for sure.
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11 hours ago, ocei77 said:
Check blowby on oil rings.
After warmup hold clean paper in exhaust and see if you get oil.
Just took possession of the car, after a solid 6 months at the subaru dealer. I'm embarrassed what I paid for the diagnostic fee. Incidentally the car behaved itself on a 20 minute drive city/hwy. Idled in the driveway like nothing was wrong. No stalling. No misfires. No cel.
Blowby was present on the oil cap several years ago, so I presume it is no better. I'm sure it is burning oil. Crawled underneath. Lots of oil, mostly from the timing belt cover. This isn't new, and I thought it was from either bad crank/cam seals (all replaced when I did the heads but probably not oem, my bad) or the oil pump needs a reseal. Head gaskets are dry both sides, top and bottom. Coolant overflow is a bit lower than typical (I like to keep it filled 3/4) so its possibly consuming coolant. Rad is full. Also, maybe I'm reading into this and searching but there is a faint thump/knock sitting at idle I can hear in the cabin. Can't hear it in the engine bay. I don't recall hearing that before. Mechanic said he did a leak down test and all cylinders were "low" but he said was normal for age of car.
The car has had oil consumption ever since I bought it. I'm kinda used to that with subarus, but this isn't "normal." Recall this car had a clogged cat a while back, after I did the heads. That was fun to figure out. Not sure if its related to internal oil leaks. Someone help me get this engine on the catapult.
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On 1/13/2023 at 5:56 PM, idosubaru said:
Is it using coolant? I'd guess the coolant or oil getting into the combustion chamber is causing poor ignition and drivability issues, not compression loss. If it got really bad I'd expect it to be blowing exhuast gas into the coolant and impossible to mitigate overheating.
The tough part is the "wrong torque specs". Are you sure it was the wrong specs? If it weren't for that I'd be close to condemning this engine. Sounds like it's been through D-Day without a helmet.
Two owners ago ditched it with some reworked or replacement parts (as indicated by the pop up sensors) but wasn't worth keeping or following through on
Prior owner - it was too bad or too cheap to fix
Somewhere in that mix was a autoshop that pawned it off without fixig it
Now there's more issuesI'm assuming too much and making it sound worse than it probably is. But all of that is suspicious.
Maybe with some flat heads, block check, and proper torque down it's all good, don't know.
Using a LOT of oil. Maybe a quart every 2-300 miles. Oil turns dark quickly after a change. Not using coolant or the typical gasket problems you would think of like gurgles in the cabin on startup and acceleration from exhaust bubbles being piped through, or coolant overflow tank rising and radiator level dropping, with no transfers into the rad on cooldown. None of that. Trust me I had all of that in the initial HG failure. And burping doesn't fix it. That gurgle gives me the shivers lol. I don't recall problems with oil on the first HG failure. Not overheating now. Some oil smoke on startup from oil in the chamber but that clears. Regarding the torque specs, just relaying what the mechanic told me. I sent him my 2007 and 2008 fsm head bolt specs. He claimed he had never seen the 2007 specs I sent him and thought I was using Haynes.
During work on the exhaust I noted wet oil on the exhaust port on #2 after dropping the front cat. So there is likely a lot of oil in the chamber mucking things up. When I did the head gaskets I didn't tear down the heads to the point of replacing the valve seals or lapping the valve seats.
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4 hours ago, el_freddo said:
Did he do a compression check? This would easily identify the issue with one or two cylinders low on compression.
I haven’t read the later FSM’s to notice a change in torque specs… but surely what you did would be up to the task. Seems more like this ongoing issue may have caused the dead head gasket issue providing you cleaned all the surfaces well/properly. Subarus are notorious for super clean mating surfaces when doing the HGs.
To me, not that I visit mechanics often for anything more than tyres, alignments or roadworthies, the $4K job for the head gaskets from the dealer seems like a very good deal provided that includes parts and labour as a whole job!
Plus it’s not a new to you vehicle so you know a bit of its history. Ask for the compression test or do one yourself to see what’s up and if the dealer’s mechanic is on point.
Cheers
Bennie
He says compression is good, presuming he means when cold. The suspicion is that the head gasket fails while operating and causes loss of compression. I asked him whether he verified loss of compression when hot and he said he didn't check that.
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On 1/10/2023 at 6:49 AM, idosubaru said:
There was a lot of confusion over EJ25 head gasket torque, I'm not sure why it was changed. But presumably it was for a reason, you may have stumbled on that reason.
Do you know the vehicles history prior to the last 35,000 miles (before the first time you replaced the headgasket)?
Did the block surface seem reasonable?If you don't suspect the block to be problematic then redoing the heads with the new torque values would be a reasonable choice. But I can understand the interest in other options too.
Car was new to me when I did the heads in 2018. Previous owner didn't even own it long enough to get the title in his name. I think he figured out the car had issues. I quizzed him at length on potential head gasket problems, even did an coolant exhaust gas test (negative of course) before buying it. You know how that ended.
I prepped the block surfaces with scotch brite and a blade where needed. put a flat edge on the block. There is a long post on the first head install. Basically the first machine shop messed up the heads (sanded them) so I had a coolant leak and it wouldn't hold pressure after I bolted them down and filled the block with coolant (prior to engine install, was just basically being super cautious). So I took the heads to another shop.
Strangely enough the engine has glued on pop-up temperature sensors on the firewall side of the heads. Like the kind that indicate an engine has overheated. Mine are not popped up. Maybe the engine was replaced during the previous previous owner's ownership and somebody thought to add the sensors for liability/warranty coverage?
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Premature head gasket failure after 35k miles.
The troubleshooting: OEM MAP didn't solve it. Saga continues. Car has been at the Subie dealer for over 5 months chasing the hard stall issue. Subie mechanic tells me he has swapped over everything electrical/sensor related in the engine bay and no happiness.
The bad: So now he thinks it is a head gasket. Is losing a LOT of oil spilling onto the exhaust and smoking from the engine bay. Exhaust gases in coolant. He thinks the stalling is caused by severe loss of compression from a huge leak. Once upon a time the stalling only occurred during the summer and only after warm-up. Now it stalls in the winter too. Wants $4K to fix it. I did the head gaskets about 35k miles ago, pulled the engine, had the heads machined by a pro, used OEM turbo gaskets, torqued to spec. Re-used head bolts, meticulous on cleaning head surfaces and head bolt holes and threads.
The sad: Subie mechanic looked up the head bolt torque specs I used and says I used the wrong specs. I got the procedure from the 2007 factory shop manual. I noted when I did my 2008 EJ253 head gaskets (same engine as the 2007) the torque procedure and specs were DIFFERENT one year to the next. Anyone else notice this? My 2008 is running awesome. No gasket leaks. Everything else was the same (machining, turbo gaskets, yada yada).
Mech thinks the bottom end is fine. Compression is good, just bad head(s).
So what to do?
Have the dealer fix it for a pile of cash?
Redo the heads myself and use the 2008 torque specs? Maybe throw a new set of head bolts in there.
Spend $2500 for a JDM EJ253 and do an engine swap?
Any help is awesome.
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Update. Verified that the fuel injector covers are swappable left to right on the intake, however due to interference with the oil filler tube, the intake will NOT install with the injector covers reversed as previously thought. So the defect on the drivers side cover was preexistent. Used a cut off wheel to remove enough material (a sliver) for the intake to install flat to the block. Bolted it up. No codes. Will edit previous posts.
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So you were able to get the axle pressed out of the hub. Good job to all. Getting all that irregular knuckle metal/mass balanced in a press can be a bear! At least you have access to a press, as your wheel bearing is press in/out. Getting a ball joint out without a special tool is no fun. Ball joint tools are not expensive. A bull pin is cheap and effective but has the risk of tearing the boot.
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10 hours ago, awdonry said:
Ah **** I whacked it at least 12 times with a 4*4 wood blockin front of the spline. Man I hope I didn't damage anything in the transmission. I removed the pin, it wasn't bad with the proper punch. First time attempting axles.
Thanks. I was going to bring it to a independent shop for a rebuild/reboot. I don't think I have the know how to do it myself. On the plus side I found 2 OEM axle with the boot intact local. I may just get 1 rebuilt/reboot and keep 1 as a spare.
Always nice to find OEM axles. I have whacked things for hours in the past. Sometimes a better tool is the answer, such as a hub puller like OTC 6574, a beast. Probably didn't bother the transmission, it's mostly solid metal anyway and some of that force goes into the control arm.
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Yes, remove the axle from the transmission so you aren't hammering against it. With the strut free you'll have some play to swing the knuckle away from the transmission and out pops the other end. Make sure you take out the axle pin on the transmission side first.
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2 hours ago, el_freddo said:
Is the gasket also squashed on an angle like you suggest with the ruler?
In essence, yes. In the first pic, the southwest corner is the "high side" of the gasket as it was not squashed at all. You can see flow patterns imprinted on the gasket leading toward the chamber.
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Agree with what has been posted thus far.
I realize you are past this point. However it cannot be overemphasized to avoid altering the backlash from factory setting. Messing with it opens a can of worms. However if you are reading this you may have (like me) blundered into rotating something you now regret. At some point you may need to go down this road if you purchase another transmission and someone has bungled it prior to your ownership. Going through this procedure will likely not fix your current situation as the damage has been done. I expect you have returned the ring to its former position and hope for the best.
Proceed with caution! I did this once, years ago, and hope to not have to repeat it. As of this post the car is still on the road with that same transmission after 25000 miles.
This procedure is expected to be done with the transmission completely out of the car and mounted on an engine stand for ease of maneuvering. In my opinion it is impossible to perform on car in its entirety.
I had a failed 1996 Impreza Outback sport manual transmission (was popping out of 4th gear and 2nd gear was a mess) so I purchased a used transmission. Part of my prep getting ready for the swap was changing axle seals. I marked L side but did not realize the difficulty in setting the backlash and preload so I did not bother to mark the R side and lost its factory setting. This is how I managed to recover from my initial mistake.
Setting front differential backlash/preload. basic idea is to return bearing preload to existing value.
Do one side at a time. Do NOT remove both retainers at the same time. You may make a tool out of pvc pipe using a cutting wheel to carve out notches to fit into teeth of seal retainer for ease of rotation without breaking a tooth. Brush mineral spirits all around prior to removal of retainer.steps to set backlash and preload. basically following the FSM procedure plus other mods.
mount transmission on engine stand
Mark L seal retainer position with a punch or marking pen prior to removal
remove L shaft seal retainer. Press out old seal and remove o-ring
reinstall L seal retainer partially, w/o o-ring
rotate transmission so L axle shaft side is down
Mark R seal retainer position
remove R seal retainer. remove seal and o-ring
place 10 lb. weight on bearing ring using tail cone
You will need to turn the transmission input shaft. I used a clutch spline mating ring and a c-clamp
Turn L seal retainer in with PVC mating tool while turning input shaft to get the point where there is binding and back off 1/4 tooth. This point takes a while to get to feel the binding. Install tooth lock. Flipping tooth lock around will allow 1/2 tooth adjustments. I think the retainer was about 1/2 tooth from the original location.
remove R bearing weight.
Turn in R seal retainer w/o o-ring while turning input shaft until it begins to bind. It was about 4 teeth between slight binding and almost not being able to turn the seal retainer.
install R seal retainer tooth lock.
this is the zero point.
If I remember right the procedure calls for loosening the L retainer by 1.5 teeth to set the backlash and tightening the R retainer by the same, plus 1 full tooth to set the bearing preload.
Use a precision dial indicator to measure backlash through the oil drain plug access point
Mark the pinion gear in four places on both sides with yellow gear marking paint. Rotate the input shaft until a clear pattern is seen on all the pinion gear teeth.
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Replace the other front axle.
Hub Tamer - 99 Forester
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
Posted
If you have the space, a 20 ton press from harbor freight is handy for older wheel bearings, I've done a few. There's a used KD hub tamer on Ebay, might be missing the two-jaw puller, same set also on CL for over a month, but I've not used one before.