el_freddo

Over here we have to be a member of an approved car club, and keep a log book of days driven. You can get a 45 or 90 day registration. After 90 days you can’t drive the vehicle any more. And if you crash without the log book filled in for that day your vehicle is effectively not registered - and thus, you’re not covered by the compulsory road authority insurance. I’m hoping to get my first car registered on these club plates later this year. Just need some shed time! Cheers Bennie

Good effort Nico! Will all the glass be removed before the respray? And any spray work happening under the vehicle? Mid love to do the same to my L series but time, money and space are at a premium these days ;( Keep up the good work! Cheers Bennie

Cabin fan turned on? If not then try that. Otherwise it could be a wiring issue behind the dashboard or an issue with the relays (RHS strut tower). Or as Naru2 said - not gassed enough. Cheers Bennie

No, definitely without AC. @carfreak85 - The turbo one won’t fit as that is based on the EA82 setup. The EA81 doesn’t have the ability to bolt anything to the water pump pulley. I’m starting to think this fan was an Australian only thing - but I find that hard to believe. ^ This is what I’m talking about. Mover here, if you’ve got AC fitted this fan is removed for a second electric fan that’s run by the AC wiring loom. Here’s a pic of the stock electric fan with the AC (top unit): If you can’t find a mechanical fan, I’d be using all of that available space for a larger thermo fan or two smaller units. I’ve got 2x 12 inch on my L series from memory - these cool the EJ just fine, so cooling the little EA81 would be a breeze. Cheers Bennie

Clutch/flywheel/forks - all interchangeable. I’ve got an EJ22 (4 bolt) bolted to an SG (8 bolt) cased L series dual range AWD locking centre diff gearbox with a Gen1 flywheel, pressure plate and cable clutch fork - in an L series Gearboxes, externally, the phase two boxes all look the same, but internally they have different gear ratios, diff ratio and speed sensor drive gear. Same goes for the phase1 gearboxes but externally they’re different to the phase two box. Internals are not interchangeable due to a change in the reverse gear setup/size. If a legacy box was put into the forester and the rear diff wasn’t swapped to the matching diff ratio you could have other issues with the gearbox. Keep us posted Cheers Bennie

That’s blasphemy!! And having the hawk grille of the hawk eye is where the “good” looks stop there for the original model. The updated facelift is the one to have if you’re going for the tribeca in my opinion - or get something else. Cheers Bennie

I really really don’t think you’ve done this in an EA81 platform either - unless the US versions got the hill holder function. Over here we did not. The EJ251/EJ253 will fit. A mate of mine did one years ago and it passed engineering easily. And it was stupid quick! The EJ25D and any other dual cam variant does not fit without frame/chassis rail mods for a clean install. The SOHC with the valve thingy black-magic stuff could be a different kettle of fish, but I don’t know for sure as I’ve never done or seen one of those in the EA81 engine bay... Cheers Bennie

@sparkyboy - you’re correct. I originally had the EA82 AWD gearbox internals in the front cases of the liberty/legacy gearbox. And I got to keep my low range I’ve now got a real “hybrid box” - SG Foz gearset and front cases, L series AWD centre diff and its matching rear housing, L series 1.59:1 low range and 4.111:1 diff ratio. Goes very well both on and offroad! @Giles, with your time on Ausubaru back in the day I’m surprised you don’t know about this conversion! The best in the L series. @sparkyboy (again) - you guys got the impreza in ‘88?? We didn’t get the impreza until ‘93 I think. The Gen1 Liberty/Legacy series1 came out in ‘89 over here! Ruby Scoo is an ‘88 model... with an EJ since 2009 from memory - it’s still going strong! Cheers Bennie

Who fits the wheel bearings? Are they lubing the bearing properly by packing the bearing with grease? If they’re fitting them with only the packaging grease, they probably won’t last long. How are the seals holding up? Are they also lubed with some rubber grease to avoid “burning” the oil seal out? Bearings wear out for many reasons - how do you use the vehicle? I was regularly replacing my rear bearings due to water crossings when regularly off-roading. Bog holes could do the same too if you played around in the mud long enough. What sort of signs of wear do you have to indicate the bearing is dead and what do they look like when they come out? As others have said, proper torque is key. And you have to retain the bearing spacer between the bearings on the front end. Cheers Bennie

Any EA81 models without AC. Look for base model vehicles - sedans and flat top wagons typically. Cheers Bennie

Correct. Either get an L series 5 speed (the EJ253 will kill this box in the end) or pick up an EJ AWD, flywheel and clutch setup. Use a cable operated clutch cable, no need to go hydro unless you like a lovely light clutch pedal Cheers Bennie

Love that colour scheme! That EJ25 is most likely a SOHC EJ253 - and it will fit in the engine bay. You’ll want to upgrade the gearbag to either the L series 5 speed or the AWD box that comes with the EJ engine. A few custom bits will be needed to fit the gearbox but there’s plenty of info on the net about this. Wiring will be the biggest issue and is the one that usually stumps most people. The keys are 1) find a wiring diagram specific to the donor model and 2) know how to read said diagram. After this a brake upgrade would be a wise idea. Rear disc conversion, new rotors and decent pads front and rear, new flexible brake lines should be the bare minimum. Then enjoy! Cheers Bennie

I’m thinking the pinion shaft bearing is dead. This was a common issue on the L series auto. What does you front diff oil look like in colour and texture/thickness? Is there more in there than what it should be? Is the trans fluid still a good red colour or Ian it discoloured? If you have either of these signs I’d say the seal between the front diff and the transmission died, allowing cross contamination of one or both components (diff/transmission). Pinion bearing then dies due to a lack of lubrications. This allows the pinion shaft to start walking as it tries to rotate the front diff. Forward/reverse action will give different noises/movements in the pinion shaft due to the shape of the hypoid diff ring gear (I hope I got that correct from memory!). If you drain the diff oil you *might* be able to get one of those little camera units in to view the pinion gear, have two people rotate the front wheels (car secured and on jack stands, transmission in neutral) while you watch the pinion gear rotate. It should be a smooth rotation with absolutely zero lateral or vertical movement. If it feels crunchy to the two turning the wheels in the same direction this will be a clear indicator things with the front diff are not healthy. If that’s the case, new transmission will be required. Cheers Bennie

If it’s got an EA81 it will. Just make sure you put it on the EA81 and not on the hatchback Cheers Bennie

@Giles - JohnnT put up a pic of the trim piece. I believe this is the trim around the instrument cluster Cheers Bennie

Host them image on a free photo hosting website or reduce the photo size and attach it to your post. Cheers Bennie

Muffler - internal parts moving or beginning to collapse. A mate of mine had the same thing in his forester last week, but a dull thudding sound like the exhaust was hitting something or there was something wrong with the rear diff (mate’s first thoughts). We narrowed it down to the exhaust. He took a punt on it being the rear muffler and had it replaced. No more noise. The sound was most prominent between ~1900 to ~2100 rpm. Loading the engine up could make it louder the longer he let it go before taking action. Cheers Bennie

I considered the tribeca as our next family bus. But decided that the Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun/Montero(?) was the way to go in diesel. Loving it. Still got my older subi’s too I regularly see Tribecas in my area - probably because we have a dealer in our town so there are plenty of Subaru’s around. But if you don’t know what they are then you’d easily mistaken them for a CX5 or something of the like... Cheers Bennie

Welcome to the forum Hogan! Cheers Bennie

You can’t strap the block to the bench to do the work? Personally I’d avoid using the impact wrench. Some of those bolts in the coolant galleries can be really difficult, I wouldn’t be introducing multiple shocks to those bolts or threads. Cheers Bennie

@Giles - I’m not the one organising it but I think JohnnyT is talking about the trim piece around the instrument cluster - the one that breaks very easily if not handled with extreme care. As for the EJ22 conversion - this conversion has the equivalent power output as the peak of the EA82 turbo. It’s got better torque and earlier in the rev range. Plus it’s uber reliable compared to the NA EA82 let alone the turbo variant! Cheers Bennie

You would’ve been better off pulling the dash board out. You’ve created a lot more work there pulling all the individual pieces out like that! There are seven bolts holding the dashboard in from memory. Three under the windscreen hidden behind click on plates, two each side, one centered one. Lower section there’s one on each side, then two in the centre on top of the trans tunnel. Other snags include speedo cable, temp control slide cable, vent cables - driver’s and passenger’s side, AC wiring, ignition wiring and the main dashboard harness plugs. This is all from memory so I could be wrong on a few of these. Last L series dash removal was in 2015... I thought I had an image of my L dashboard out of the vehicle but I can’t find it now. As for the MY heater core. I can’t see how this can be removed without pulling the dashboard to remove the heater box. I’ve got my brumby dashboard out atm and there’s no way that heater core comes out sideways. Cheers Bennie

Unfinished business in this thread @Loyale 2.7 Turbo? I wonder what happened with this build... Cheers Bennie

I dunno what your dash trim looks like. But this may be of interest to you. Very early days though! https://ausubaru.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=49678&sid=2d2aff677794a92f62692bd8f5e30399 And if you remember your old credentials you’ll have user access to the new version of the forum Cheers Bennie

Yes. That’ll work. The trick is not to crack the windscreen upon removal. And you’ll need that glue stuff you apply to the windscreen and put a current over the wires to heat it up. I’ve always had a pro fit my L series windscreens. Cheers Bennie