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idosubaru

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Everything posted by idosubaru

  1. idosubaru
    That is a decent trade and would be surprising for the 2020, they’ll have way more profit in that 2018.
  2. idosubaru
    Fly out west/south and drive home a rust free Subaru (avoid the northern transplants). It's a fantastic way to drive Subaru's up here. The 3 I'm currently driving are all from the south.
  3. idosubaru
    "1st year model" is sometimes a concern, particularly when it comes to NAV/display since Subaru is usually a little twitchy and not always a trend setter or robust developer with tech. But it comes with a warranty so they'll work kinks out too. 2020 is worth entertaining, used prices are so high for a couple year old Subaru's that 0% financing on Outbacks until Sept 30 can be a good fit. 0% is better than used interest rates or if paying cash, dump that all into the cheap crashing market and make money off of Subaru's dime. The 2018 can have the Subaru 100 or 120k extended warranty added for like $1,250. The 2020 doesn't give a warranty that's impossible to get for the 2018, so that's not a huge selling point, except that it's included in the price of the 2020...up to 36k anyway, but not up to 120k. I'm all about avoiding those warranty costs as a DIY Subaru hobbyist. But considering reliability and practicality are one of the chief values of a new(er) vehicle - an extended warranty has merit over the premium paid relative for buying a new(er) car to begin with. Both are good options and get you far away from any rust issues that 05 is probably flirting with! That alone makes it worth it!
  4. idosubaru
    Reread what GD said, it is spot on. It needed consistent synthetic oil and to *never get low* from mile 0. Check oil and topping it off needs to happen more frequently. Never let it get low and just keep driving it is probably your best bet It's no sign of imminent failure or issues, but sometime in the future a P0420 code is likely. If emissions are an issue you'll need to address that which means clearing the code and hoping you pass, replacing the catalytic converter, or trying a stop gap measure.
  5. idosubaru
    No can do. Have to completely gut the entire car, swap engine and trans and plan on loosing lots of functionality unless you’re up for 40 hours of week working on this for 6 months.
  6. idosubaru
    It’s a nonissue. Safety margin. And ambient temp fill measuring differs from operating temp measuring. The “cold” (relative to operating temps) oil they’re adding doesn’t fully drain. the amount indicated is minuscule and pointless It’s like wondering if the pollen accumulating on your car will reduce gas mileage. it’s a cost and liability to you and them to add room temp oil, run engine for awhile to warm up and displace hot oil, so it fully drains and then measure it again. Much simpler to fill with a little more ambient temps, do a cursory check and done. I doubt they’re working off of quarts but a 4.6 quart capacity Crosstek would not just take a simple round number of quart bottles.
  7. idosubaru
    People make their own bushings with like polyurethane or whatever stuff for diff mounts. Is there a reason the same can’t be done for the auto trans mouths? If not that would be an option.
  8. idosubaru
    Pop ball joint and axle roll pin out and pull the axle. if there’s rust have dual fuel torches ready.
  9. idosubaru
    Sure thing. I've wondered the same thing and looked before so i knew i could find the source quickly rather than me repeating it.
  10. idosubaru
  11. idosubaru
    Those heads have virtually no failure modes except rarely a dropped valve guide. Valve guide statistics between shop reman and factory installed used one are probably a wash in terms of longevity. I would do what GD said, and focus on getting good heads to start with. if you're buying a blown engine Subaru there's no telling what's it's been through. i've seen blown engines with obvious signs of oil neglect and severe overheating. if that's the case, I wouldn't reuse those heads. if it's caked in bake oil or has melted knock sensor or a hole through the block or otherwise points to very poor history of oil changes or severe overheating I'd source less abused heads. there's plenty of heads out there and they're cheap to buy a used set. $100-$200 for a set, get them off a good runner that's all rusty or wrecked rather than from a nasty engine.
  12. idosubaru
    synthetic and check and change often are all that matter for a daily driver. if running hard, hot, not checking/changing fluids often - then run GD's favorite Amsoil product and weight. i'd follow the owners manual for 10w30ish, but brand and weight are low priority. Don't be dumb, follow the owners manual. Any more than that is a waste of time outside of neglect or hard use application. it's a self fulfilling prophecy - whatever you choose will run perfectly fine for the life of the engine unless it's neglected or abused. that's why so many people swear by "their choice". no one is actually hitting the limits of what they're oil can do....unless, again, they are running hard or neglecting the engine.
  13. idosubaru
    welcome, glad you dropped into this forum. you're by far the closest XT6 owner to me, i haven't seen one other than mine in at least 10 years, probably 15 or more. i've had an XT (many - a rotating assortment) as a daily driver since 1992.
  14. idosubaru
    if you drive lightly you could get away with it, but if you're generous on the go pedal or using the car (offroading, towing, heavy loads)...the trans is going to be a weak link. even an EJ trans is going to be a weak link, they're not very reliable or maintenance free.
  15. idosubaru
    what John said. scott is a member here and makes a complete kit, i buy lift stuff from him: https://www.sjrlift.com/products/ea-to-ej-swap-kit
  16. idosubaru
    100% he's referencing the Subaru OEM shortblock. That's the way to go. $2k for 3 year/36k from Subaru, that's hands down the best option, and he mentions it frequently.
  17. idosubaru
    is anything else not working? No check engine light? does the power light flash 16 times at first start up or come on at all? Check the trans pan and make sure it’s not dented even a little. There’s microscopic clearance between the pan and intent pick up. If this car sat and you’re poking around the car look for areas of custom wiring or rodent damage. 3rd gear only . It’s in a fail safe mode or it’s not being run by the TCU at all. If it’s disconnected (via the plug in the engine bay rear pass side) or the TCU it’ll drive like you described. id want to determine which it is. It sounds like the TCU was doing something at one point and it’s unlikely for something to be disconnected. Check to see if the TCU is getting power. And yes they can fail. Try another used one. GD says the solder joints fail with age and can be reflowed by placing them in the oven. Sounds crazy, I’ve never done it, but there you go!
  18. idosubaru
    Yep rust is *highly* variable. What works one time may not the next. I’ve had a couple so rusted into the knuckle that the ball joint ripped out of the head of the ball joint which remained rusted into the knuckle. Those are nasty and once it rips out, require drilling and flaking and chiseling to get the rest of the ball joint remnants out of the knuckle. Those require so much force that usually any tool you try breaks and then you move onto large digging equipment, leverage from a few thousand pounds of tractor and extreme leverage which rips the ball out. Few DIYers will encounter one that bad, or if they do, continue to find ways to try to pull one out with that much force. Yours will not be that bad but that’s an illustration to show one method does not work in all situations. What works in most YouTube videos isn’t going to work on all 50 older Subaru northeast Ball joints.
  19. idosubaru
    Almost all Subaru OEM engine and a mechanical parts are superior or excellent quality. Oil filter is about the only exception for a daily driver NA Subaru. moog are fine way more times than not, but they’re not OEM quality. The boot is of poorer design, metal more prone to rust, and thus I assume (though I have no data for it) lesser in other ways too. I’d install one for someone if they want but Ill avoid them in my subarus. It’s not like it needs to last another almost 20 years like the original did. those rear bushings are frequently replaced. ball joint has nothing to do with setting alignment.
  20. idosubaru
    $2k older rust belt cars are rarely gems. I would expect it to need a lot of work and have issues.
  21. idosubaru
    I don't really see much in the way of bushings in that picture. are you referring to that rubber bump stop? the rear alignment bolts and bushings typically squeak and clunk and you gotta torch them out and replace the bolts and nuts too. maybe that's just the rust belt, but i don't see them in that picture. ball joints can function fine with torn boots, OEM units usually do and take a long time to develop any symptoms, they're very robust. that being said - of course replace it because dirt is just going to keep getting in there and degrading the joint. but it isn't necessarily a dead ringer for the issues you're chasing. definitely use OEM balljoints. subaru ball joints are awesome, robust, and never fail. can't say that about others and that is one part that can be catastrophic if it fails. low chances but for $50 or less it's not the place to save a buck when you're already doing $500-$1,000 of labor savings on your own.
  22. idosubaru
    Or maybe you fixed it? Sounds like maybe a memory mode or test connector was left connected or unconnected when it shouldn’t have been? “ECU needing to reset itself” is not a potential condition.
  23. idosubaru
    1. Tire wear is unrelated, it needs an aignment. I would not assume they're related unless you have a *very compelling* reason to do so. 2. pay particular attention while driving - you should be able to tell if a noticeable clunk is front, rear, left, or right. Start there. This will reduce your efforts by a minimum of 50% and probably 25%. 3. Get the car off the ground and pry hard with a digging bar or other very long/stout instrument (screw drivers are usually too light duty for hard to find play). Pry on areas that will show play in the ball joint and control arm bushings/bolts. Grab the tie rods and pull them very hard back and forth - with all of your body weight (I mean while on the ground, don't hang from them like monkey bars). Same in the rear - pry everywhere and find the exact bushing that is loose and go from there. I wouldn't guess. Subaru ball joints and tie rods are robust and don't fail very often. Sure they do, but at this age and mileage everything is equally suspect and it is almost certainly only *one part*, not both sides unless this thing was used and driven hard.
  24. idosubaru
    Used ecus are cheap. $30 probably. Try one. chiltons manuals are not good. I’d throw it away and get a free FSM online somewhere. It could easily be wrong. The battery disconnect dance is unnecessary. and probably stressful to keep doing something that will never fix it, that you hope might help. It will clear up on its own once it’s fixed.
  25. idosubaru
    rock auto often has strut dimensions, check there.
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