el_freddo

January 26

Cruise is disabled when you’ve got a CEL.

Only fix is to sort out the issue with the CEL, otherwise get used to maintaining your cruise speed with your right foot again.

Cheers

Bennie

January 24

The revving higher than normal and not the usual power sounds to me like it’s an auto issue.

I can’t really help out as I’m not into autos and don’t really know how they work. You might be able to get the transmission serviced or overhauled if you’re wanting to keep the old school rolling for a long time to come. That engine is bullet proof if you look after it.

Cheers

Bennie

January 18

13 hours ago, nvu said:

It's not recommended to reuse headbolts

That’s an internet fallacy - there’s known tech bulletins posted around that state conditions that head bolts can be reused and when they should be replaced.

If you know the engine wasn’t cooked badly I’d reuse the head bolts. GD talks about cleaning them up of any scale and running a tap (or modified old head bolt) down each thread to remove any gunk in there.

As NVU says, if they squeak or squeal while torquing at any stage that head bolt won’t be done to proper speck and you’ll end up with the same issue. I’m not 100% sure on what the required action in this situation is - eg: back off all bolts, replace offending unit then restart the procedure or do that ^ and replace the head gasket you just fitted.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Bennie

January 18

18 hours ago, czny said:

Looks like you've got an OBX Torsen front diff in there Bennie. Nice!

Yeah I do! I forgot about that (been too long since driving Ruby Scoo 😢 ). I found out about the kit to refine the diff further after I had the whole gearbox together - I’m not even sure the kit is still available now. Good diff though and I want another one for my brumby build but they’re either hard to find or expensive to land in Oz. I’ll probably try a factory Torsten diff this time around, just need to save some coin.

Cheers

Bennie

January 17

That’s odd that it’s “between” or most noticeable in 2nd and 3rd gears as they’re in the middle of the gear sets and furtherest away from either bearing sets.

I’ve not messed with those bearings before as I didn’t have a press back then. Here’s a pic of the dual range gearbox (EA82 AWD but it’s basically the same) opened up:

Only other thing I can think it being is not the bearings but 2nd and 3rd gear wearing out/whining. But that doesn’t fit the bill of what you’re explaining either with the noise being there on start up.

It’s a good head scratcher!

The “ting” noise is an odd one as everything in the 4wd system is rotating when you drive so I’d think you’d still hear it then too, unless it’s a chipped tooth in the 4wd system in which case you wouldn’t hear it until the gears are loaded and this will be speed dependent - usually sounds like a distinct clicking sound but this one could be reverberating to the tailshaft to make the ting sound. If you tap your tailshaft with a metal tool you’ll probably be able to recreate the sound in the garage.

Do you have any issues selecting reverse or getting out of reverse? Asking as I’m wondering if the reverse slider gear is *just* disengaging enough to get another gear but still engaged enough that it’s grinding on the other gears. This would be a horrid noise at cruise!

Other thinking is you have a gear selector that’s resting on a synchro creating the grinding sound. But I reckon you’d have a very crunchy gear when selecting it and trying to deselect it could be difficult.

Gearboxes are fun and not as scary as ppl think they are to work on. I enjoy it when I mess around with them!

Cheers

Bennie

January 13

That’s pretty “awesome” that the clutch dropped its guts in your driveway and not ages away from home!

I prefer to remove gearboxes from under the car now and I’m well versed at it having done several and each one was slightly different.

The last one I did to replace a clutch the gearbox didn’t leave the vehicle, I slid it back as far as possible on some smooth steel tubes so I could access the pressure plate with my tools etc. Worked a treat!

Cheers

Bennie

January 12

13 hours ago, idosubaru said:

3 wheel drive

Hahaha… you mean 2wd unless you have a locked front diff you’re not telling us about!

The open front diff won’t do anything for power to the ground!

RWD drift pig here we come!!

Cheers

Bennie

January 11

I wonder if there’s enough wiring behind each plug to strip the wiring to check for shorts in that 2-3 inches behind the plug that @idosubaru talks about.

^ that could save a pot load of time and money fixing this issue than pulling out the whole dashboard and replacing that bulkhead wiring loom.

Also impressed with those notes from the diagnostics. It does borderline on too much info/words that could turn many owners away from actually reading and trying to understand.

It feels like a bit of a step forward from my end.

Cheers

Bennie

January 11

Other issue I thought of is the exhaust mufflers or cat breaking down partially blocking the exhaust.

Putting a free flowing exhaust on our RX Liberty made it a bit more peppy, improved fuel economy and sound awesome. Win win.

And when looking for more performance this is really the only performance mod that’s worth doing on these vehicles unless you head down the NA-t route. But you want to be well armed with knowledge to know the limitations of this setup

Cheers

Bennie

January 10

Good time for a very honest google review, try to remain factual and keep emotion out of it.

That’s disappointing about SOA’s response, I thought they’d look into it further or tell the dealership to pull their head in and help you out since you’re obviously quite a regular service customer.

I’d definitely be looking else where for the work to be done and put in a written complaint to the manager or top dog of the dealership outlining your treatment and how this left you disheartened at the apparent lack of honesty and transparency - which is something you expected from a Subaru dealership team.

I doubt that will do much but if you don’t tell them they’ll never know.

Cheers

Bennie

January 9

That was awesome.

Geez that outback cops a flogging! Amazing to see that low range doing its thing, the H6 makes easy work of it and even more importantly is how controlled you were during that climb!

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers

Bennie

January 9

Yeah this situation stinks at best. You should have access to your vehicle and they should be accommodating this as required within reason. And this to me is well within reason!

All the best with it!

January 9

Ah you miss the point of the Lego principle with Subarus there Jonno!

While the impreza and forester are based on the same platform, the impreza typically saw drivetrain upgrades before the forester models did.

But everything’s interchangeable if you know what you’re wanting to achieve and learn where all the parts reside within the various models - or stumble across them.

There are enough foresters around to seek parts from your particular year model if it’s a small or particular part to the foz. Can’t really say the same for the good old L series or MY line up for ease of parts availability. Still Lego if you know what you’re doing

My 20c

Cheers

Bennie

January 6

Several things you can do/check:

- ensure the cam belt is timed correctly
- check the air filter, if ancient or dirty replace it
- no exhaust blockages? Hard to tell with this one
- all fluids in good condition/fresh?
- tyre pressures good?

The hardest one of those is the checking of the cam timing belt to ensure the two cam wheels and the crank are correctly aligned.

We’ve got a 2000 Gen3 RX Liberty (Legacy) with the EJ251 with almost 500,000km on the original engine and it still pulls like a freight train - it’s a manual which is the difference compared to your Oitback with the auto.

Cheers

Bennie

January 6

1 hour ago, Raynman1989 said:

She's got lowered springs fitted.

They don’t look very lowered judging by the control arm in the pic you provided - assuming this is sitting on the ground and not jacked up in the air. If that is a pic of it jacked up with the wheel in the air can you post a pic of the car sitting on the ground the way it usually would?

What model Subaru are we talking here and what springs are fitted?

Cheers

Bennie

January 6

17 hours ago, Raynman1989 said:

It would seem so but these should work since whiteline make this bar and links for this car. Seems they've got their measurements wrong?

Or that sway bar is designed for a Subaru that’s been lowered.

January 6

It could be a damaged outer CV joint. I had an issue with my brumby where there was a very bad shimmy at speed that would slow down with the vehicle speed to the point that the steering wheel would wobble left and right with the tyre rotation and it was speed sensitive.

The issue turned out to be an outer CV joint on the left hand side that would lock up at one point through its rotation with the stub axle on an angle. It was extreme and I could replicate it with the CV shaft in my hands. Yours may be more subtle than this though.

I’d start by swapping out the shaft on the side you feel that the shimmy is induced from then the other one if it the shimmy is still there.

Cheers

Bennie

December 31, 2023

If you can physically move it around yourself under the vehicle when on ramps (avoid doing this on Jack stands!) you’ll know if they’re no good as the gearbox will move around excessively.

If the PO said they replaced the clutch I’d be checking this out asap - remove the battery then remove the starter motor. This will give you access to the 12mm bolts on the clutch pressure plate to see if any of them are loose or missing - you’ll need a Z shaped spanner that typically has ring spanners on each end that step down to get I my the bolts from memory. You might be able to get an inspection camera in there to check the clutch fingers and ensure none are broken/missing.

I hope this helps!

Cheers

Bennie

December 28, 2023

Sounds like it’s an internal gearbox issue. But it’s an odd one since it’s there when in neutral with the clutch disengaged (foot in/on clutch pedal).

I’d be checking and changing your gearbox oil as suggested by idosubaru, best case scenario you’re low on oil and you’re hearing the gears meshing/whirring as you’ve mentioned.

Worst case scenario is the gearbox lets go and leaves you stranded.

The vibration is interesting too. A uni joint on the tailshaft could do that.

Also what are your gearbox mounts and engine mounts like, can you lever the gearbox or engine around easily? This wouldn’t be helping if they move easily.

That’s all I can come up with for now - other than the 4wd mechanism partially engaging so the synchro is grinding but it’s a single range that uses the vacuum actuated cable to engage 4wd so I think that one is ruled out.

Cheers

Bennie

December 26, 2023

$500 surge tank… whaaat? You’re not needing a race spec surge tank!

Get one off ebay, it shouldn’t cost anywhere near $500 and if you’re fitting it yourself you won’t need much other than some time and maybe a bracket once you work out a mounting location.

Or if you’ve got a mate that’s a welder get them to make one up for you - it doesn’t need to be a huge capacity, a litre should easily do the job.

Cheers

Bennie

December 25, 2023

Get a fuel tank from an EFI model - the SPFI or GL-10 will have the baffled tank you’re after.

At half a tank you won’t have an issue, below quarter of a tank you might though.

If you can’t get a baffled tank go for a surge tank/swirl pot setup between the factory tank and the EFI pump. It doesn’t have to be huge but you will need your stock Fawcett pump between the factory tank and the surge tank/swirl pot and have the fuel return go to the surge tank/swirl pot and its overflow going to the factory tank.

Or just keep your fuel tank above a quarter all the time (personally I suck at this and for some reason enjoy running my fuel tank low low low).

Cheers

Bennie

December 15, 2023

On 12/16/2023 at 7:03 AM, Steptoe's photos said:

not holding my breath Bennie. Any changes?

I moved it from near a tree when we had some fierce winds the other night. It was good to just be in it for that short amount of time.

I haven’t touched anything else on it - since we’re in the high to extreme fire danger period I’d rather have it in one piece and running than in bits and immobile.

Plan/thinking there is if there’s a fire and I’m home the brumby will be one of the two vehicles leaving the place, with the other vehicle being the family bus driven by Mrs El Freddo.

This might change once on the Christmas break when I’ll have near zero work load and a carb kit in my hand.

Cheers

Bennie

December 14, 2023

Have you thrown a new O2 sensor at it to see if this resolves the issue like you think it will?

Fingers crossed that’ll sort out the issue.

Cheers

Bennie

December 10, 2023

Ok finally nutted this one out. Had the wiring extension on my cam angle sensor the wrong way around.

Idles minty smooth and sounds real meaty when revving it now!

Cheers

Bennie

December 7, 2023

Ok since there’s been zero contact or update from Micah or aselby I went ahead and applied their build application/idea to an EJ205 setup. I’m not done yet as I’ve got an NA EJ202 block and matching heads as the test mule running all the turbo gear from a 2002 SF GT forester - which I’m not sure if this model was sold in the US. It’s basically the GD WRX setup but with a TF035 turbo.

I’ve got it running which is a great feeling but I also have a misfire on cylinder 1 and a check engine light I can’t read (I need to splice in the diagnostics plug as I got a bit trigger happy with the wire cutters). On cylinder 1!I’ve checked the coil pack, swapped for a good running one on another cylinder, same for the spark plug but the issue remains with cylinder 1. Wiring continuity for the coil pack and injector checks out from either unit to the ECU. Valve clearances are good/on point.

Compression on each cylinder, engine cold is:
Cyl 1 = 185psi
Cyl 2 = 200psi
Cyl 3 = 210psi
Cyl 4 = 205psi

It seems the HG issue is on cylinder 1 but that compression doesn’t seem poor enough to induce a misfiring cylinder to the point that disconnecting the coil’s trigger doesn’t change the engine’s behaviour at all

What I haven’t done is swapped the injector to another cylinder to see if the issue moves with the injector, that’s next to do. I can hear the injector clicking using a piece of dowel held against it when the engine is running. Disconnecting the coil plug doesn’t change the idle at all, or how it revs.

Does anyone have any insights as to what the issue might be? I’ve cut down the loom with the only things not hooked up are the temp sensor for the deleted up pipe cat, the neutral switch and those random wires that go to dash switches such as the rear demister etc. I don’t have the fuel temp sensor in the fuel tank hooked up but haven’t heard of this being an issue before.

This wiring loom and ECU combo ran fine with the complete DOHC EJ205 still in the Forester before it was pulled out and I started playing with it all.

Cheers

Bennie

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