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'01 outback 2.5AT, VDC offroad/ overlanding build


scalman
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So MOT passed. Fixed son

Me rust here and there. It was long couple weeks now and i never worked so much on car before . some days it was like 8 hrs non stop.

They saw my cut bumper and my lift spacers. They said : hey this bumper missing something doesnt it? Me: duno it was like that when i bought it. Haha . and lift they said as long as noting else is changed or shortened or modified in some ways its fine.

So i passsed. Now car can have some new offroad led lights i always wanted in front and some extra light for rear when going reverse. Thats for safety. Cant see notin when reversing with that1 oem bulb there.

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Amazing build Scalman !!!

yeah thx . just doing my best in given situation. want to enjoy this car as much as i can. now trying to figure out P0420 code is it front or rear sensor or both, or neither of them. i run on LPG conversion too , and thats gives some higher temperature to engine, maybe its messes catakyst temperatures too.

just car goes kinda slugish and sometimes lags on acceleration, sometimes feels lack of power. 

 

last forest check

Av0kHF7.jpg

Edited by scalman
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one way to find bad ignition wires is get electrocuted from them. as i did. i touched 2 wires with 2 hands and boom. so they are bad and i will change them. maybe my car will work better with new wires . i hope so. just everybody talking to get NGK wires , but what about other makers? are they all just bad ? like Tesla, Nipparts, Beru and some others. i would need order NGK wires and wait for them, or can get Tesla in shop and just use them for now. 

other maker wires not cheaper then NGK thou. 

Edited by scalman
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Looks like you had a good time.  You could have easily just driven over that birch sapling that was laying across the road.  Are there a lot of roads like that near you?

Photos don't show up on your last post, says "please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting", your other ones are fine.

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Looks like you had a good time.  You could have easily just driven over that birch sapling that was laying across the road.  Are there a lot of roads like that near you?

Photos don't show up on your last post, says "please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting", your other ones are fine.

ohh because i uploaded them again to photobucket. i thought all people already have that fix for chrome or firefox to show those pics. somehow my imgur page on pc doesn't load anymore. thats weird . thats why i cant upload pics there. and i don't wanna upload pics into some other place then i will get lost where i keep them. now i started to put pics on imgur but couple days now its doesnt load on pc but it works on phone. 

yh around me there are forests. but not so much more demanding tracks around most are just made for all cars . so its hard to find like real track but not made for 2wd cars. i could go extreme and just go where i see some water or mud but im alone there and if i get stuck whos gonna help me then haha. so i no risk it  too much. but i would like more chalange . and drive with someone to compare would be cool too. im trying to search some people around me that do similar stuff but its hard to fit if they far away and you have different working days and such. in my country people really like foresters too so they are plenty foresters here as in other countrys too i guess. russians love foresters too, australians just love them. just rearly people do something with outbacks here really. thats shame. 

Edited by scalman
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have problem last days. my coolant running out after night. like i fill it up. its fine . nothing overheats. then after night its on low level only. i burped system as i could, but if i press that hose with open radiator cover some air burbles still comes out. so maybe there is still trapped air somewhere there. i tryed all kinda methods i found in internet and on youtube to burp air out. i hate it still in morning there is coolant on ground and it  sits on low level . and its happens only after night. 

like where it comes off? nothing is loose. i thighten up more those places that could leak. and i cant track where it leaks out too. it never leaks out when im in car or even for couple hrs if i wait. 

Edited by scalman
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have problem last days. my coolant running out after night. like i fill it up. its fine . nothing overheats. then after night its on low level only. i burped system as i could, but if i press that hose with open radiator cover some air burbles still comes out. so maybe there is still trapped air somewhere there. i tryed all kinda methods i found in internet and on youtube to burp air out. i hate it still in morning there is coolant on ground and it  sits on low level . and its happens only after night. 

like where it comes off? nothing is loose. i thighten up more those places that could leak. and i cant track where it leaks out too. it never leaks out when im in car or even for couple hrs if i wait. 

 

So it's leaking out onto the ground?  Can you lay a sheet of cardboard or something under it to help you tell where it's leaking?  Knowing Subarus my guess would be a head gasket, see if you can see any green coolant drips where the heads bolt to the block.  If the bottom of the engine is too dirty/oily to tell, try to blast it off with engine degreaser, brake cleaner, or carb cleaner.  Check the radiator where the plastic tanks meet the aluminum core.  If all your hoses are stock, it could be any of those - radiator hoses, heater hoses, there are other small coolant hoses too.  My friend's Forester had a pinhole leak in one of the steel coolant lines under the intake manifold due to rust, a real pain to fix.

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yes on ground. well as much as i can see because car its outside. its happened after i changed coolant and oil. before that i had some oil leaks via HG sure , but not that much and now its no oil, and its leaks a lot. i mean i could put 1l coolant to make it full and next day i would have low level again. it doesnt go below low or it doesnt overheats .so thats weird. like it doesnt leaks more if i dont refill it it doesn't leak. isnt that problem when you leave air in system . so it pushes coolant out or something. i must find out this problem. its kinda anoying that i cant find source of leak.

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Have you tried taking the upper radiator hose off the radiator (still connected to engine) and filling the coolant that way?  That is the classic Subaru coolant filling technique.

It makes a big difference though if it's just leaking overnight or pushing coolant out.  Clean your engine bay, especially around the overflow bottle.  If you see evidence of coolant spraying out the top, it's probably a head gasket leak, not coolant leaking out onto the ground.

Or are you saying you are filling the overflow bottle and radiator completely, and overnight the overflow bottle level drops?  That might be normal, the coolant will expand and contract as it heats and cools.  When it's hot the bottle will be much more full than when it's cold.  If the hose going from the radiator to the overflow is leaking (put a small hose clamp on it), the radiator will push coolant out when hot but not suck it in when it cools.

It would help if you could narrow down the problem.

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went to find out my leaks. and find out this straight on skid plate end.

20171212_132401_zpseoxxssno.jpg

 

20171212_132553_zpsfnw0aquj.jpg

 

20171212_133743_zps5iubg0c5.jpg

 

so where it comes from. that was one place i saw coolant drops

20171212_133855_zps0rlc8sbi.jpg

 

other side had coolant drops back there

20171212_153349_zpsyjmpdgmg.jpg

 

then it all comes to lowest part

20171212_134208_zpstukchkpo.jpg

 

and to look at my skid plate inside i can see where oil is drops and where it collects

20171212_133643_zpsevsnpfyu.jpg

 

so i cleaned all that . and went for drive again to heat up engine and see where drops will appear again ...and after some 20 min driving back to garage and find this

so again drops in same places

20171212_152934_zpsohdsg6zp.jpg

 

so that much just after some 20 min driving...

20171212_153002_zpshbdjxek7.jpg

 

and again oil leaks via HG on same spot. i tried kinda close it with sealant. but it cant hold that much. still better then was before.

20171212_153149_HDR_zpsvvjvxcmf.jpg

 

again drops in same place

20171212_153209_zpsnepgash4.jpg

 

so yh i know its HG problem. just before i wasnt loosing so much coolant. and i wont do HG job now or soon. so it should hold for some time still. 

 

24150414487_2ee480bcf5_c.jpg

 

38127877885_6800c0a8e7_c.jpg

 

38298197074_f1855d423d_c.jpg

Edited by scalman
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tested VDC traction control on worse situation when bad arcticulation 2 wheels in air and just 2 have traction . 

 

allways was amazed how well toyota tracion control works offroad

 

giphy.gif

 

but found that my VDC traction control worked very similar. maybe not as good but it works too.

GX12EaE.gif

Edited by scalman
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  • 2 weeks later...

coolant doesn't leak anymore. it just stopped. well i put some radiator leakage stop luquid into radiator but not full bottle just some amount. and maybe its not because of that but its not leaks anymore. 

all ways wanted better reverse light without paying like 15 euros for one led bulb that would be much more powerfull . instead i payed 3 euros for those 

b5a38e076058160a1235579a5697b9c3.jpg

 

and result was good just with one problem that volatge was droping on reverse circuit. like to 9v. and those leds wouldnt work on full as they should. 

at first where good results with just one led connected to reverse circuit

 

cc281b4e8ceaa0d158ab09d7155e0a04.jpg

 

big difference there

1fe4f62e1f94cfadd01bfd22e927494b.jpg

 

dd555393ca425ba4b73295b2672a7600.jpg

 

i used same led for trunk light and its superb for trunk just one light is enough. and they costed me 3 euros for pair of 2. 

 

so now problem with volatge droping to 9v. even with engine on if i turn on lights or AC and turn Reverse on lights go dimmed. just when i turn all other lights and AC off they go brighter. but that something wrong there. with ingition on and reverse bulbs getting just 9v. thats low. 

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figured out whos messing with reverse light volatge and it where those oem old rusty corroded bulbs which didint wanted to come off even i used knife and screwdriver to take them out from sockets. it was that bad ..

 

b50ebc28d194235a6353309685b7af9a.jpg

 

so  after i removed them my led light come to full beam instantly. so i removed both oem bulbs and left reverse on just those leds. and they are great . 

again small comparison with oem bulbs and now just those leds without oems.

 

9299366aedc0d0f06f73d5edc9e55da2.jpg

 

019e861ba7cf3262be3df06494b7029b.jpg

 

front low beams on Osram Night Braker Laser H7 and reverse cheapo on 3 euros mini led bars

670f8f990078a93e3995ea9a4214041a.jpg

 

amazing how much those small one give there. and that was not best place for them to sit. 

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bought cheap 48w flood LED's . $13 for one.

tested. put them on original antifog light place. at least for now. that was easy just put there, then took connector from original antifog too and just used that on new led light. i tried to move light with hand in total darkness and see how its afects and how much its lights. so if it would be on bumper not under it maybe it would make some more light in front but really not that much . and they not best looking to put them on bumper in front. not sure that i would wanna do that. so testing. most impressive is when in some forest narrow road with trees on side. then its just wow. when road open its gives much more on sides. because i turned them more to sides too. why keep them in front there low beam doing job. so on sides they just great.

 
a130a0f62867cea8da7f228ff934cd02.jpg
yes its not ideal place i can hit them with something or scrap if angle would be steep. but maybe i could move them more back. well will see more testing later
 
from top both low beam+LED , then just low beam and lowest is just LED. and they Flood light.
8560a8ddc735226ef6ee9725b47173cb.jpg
 
40d35fff5f61da9239a17fa74f8e18bc.jpg
 
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in pictures all its more brighter. in reality just low beam is pretty dark and scary alone in forest. pictures makes all more bright. so go from that dark with just low beam to that super bright with LED its really amazing.
754038056b2343a51331dddd1c1ed61f.jpg
 
and because its sits one 1 bolt so i can turn it if i need like all over to side completely. for now they turned little to sides. so they not looking at front.
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Looks like a great improvement.  LEDs are great for flood, from what I've read only the expensive ones are any good for long distance. 

 

One thing you should consider is buying HID conversions.  I don't know if they sell in Lithuania, but for instance DDM tuning sells them for about $40 per pair with ballasts and bulbs, plugs right into your stock wiring, one year warranty.  On your car the high beams are separate bulbs so you could keep the halogen low beams.  Already got them for my 2002 Outback just haven't swapped them in yet.

 

I've been looking into HID/LED projectors too, they are probably better for distance than putting the HID bulbs in the stock housings, but more work and money.  There's just so many options now.

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yeah low beams i put already superior ones H7 that i could find there and still its not that good. i saw led bulbs for low beams but not sure how that would be legal to drive with. yeah HID conversion maybe not bad idea. 

some leds like those maybe

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bJ4AAOSwGwlaKfbn/s-l1600.jpg

 

still its impresive how much distance those cheap $13 leds reach and they are floods. look at that elecrtic pole and how much led lights it compare to low beam

67a6ca1d25d54feb7b5397c5237e94ae.jpg

 

and its nice warm color 

b2aacfeb5eb534b33ecad73c648fa533.jpg

 

thats original fog light that was in front bumper compare to that new LED. i just held them in hand and pointing at same spot

1ab2bee9572f5a107124f29f1497491e.jpg

that fog light is not so bad , but in car it was so rubbish that i never saw any use of it. i guess it was bad angle and height maybe.

 

for future planing to make roof rack so maybe then i put even more lights on that roof rack for front and rear too. when i drove in dark to that forest area and saw how much i see everything with those LED's i was really impressed. its so bad to drive in such dark with just low beams and those leds just make you wanna go in dark more.

Edited by scalman
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yeah low beams i put already superior ones H7 that i could find there and still its not that good. i saw led bulbs for low beams but not sure how that would be legal to drive with. yeah HID conversion maybe not bad idea. 

some leds like those maybe

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bJ4AAOSwGwlaKfbn/s-l1600.jpg

 

still its impresive how much distance those cheap $13 leds reach and they are floods. look at that elecrtic pole and how much led lights it compare to low beam

67a6ca1d25d54feb7b5397c5237e94ae.jpg

 

and its nice warm color 

b2aacfeb5eb534b33ecad73c648fa533.jpg

 

thats original fog light that was in front bumper compare to that new LED. i just held them in hand and pointing at same spot

1ab2bee9572f5a107124f29f1497491e.jpg

that fog light is not so bad , but in car it was so rubbish that i never saw any use of it. i guess it was bad angle and height maybe.

 

for future planing to make roof rack so maybe then i put even more lights on that roof rack for front and rear too. when i drove in dark to that forest area and saw how much i see everything with those LED's i was really impressed. its so bad to drive in such dark with just low beams and those leds just make you wanna go in dark more.

 

I would just get HID conversions for your high beams.  Why bother upgrading the low beams?  You'll just aggravate oncoming drivers.  I think with those and your LED fog lights you'll have enough light in the woods. 

 

Putting them on the roof risks getting them knocked off by a tree branch or stolen, and the wiring is more difficult.  Cleanest way I've seen to do that is to run the wiring under the base of the hood by the wipers, then up the A pillar at the edge of the windshield.  Don't have to drill any holes and still looks decent.  That said, we put a pair of KC 6" daylighters with pencil beam lenses and HID conversions from our buggy on the roof bar of the 99 Outback and they put out a ton of light.

Edited by pontoontodd
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Well welding nuts to bolts would prevent stuff from stealing. And then when i need o take it off just cut that bolt. You could even put like 2 nuts and weld last nut then cut just that one and you still have functioning bolt with one nut.

I could mount leds of roof rack so they like inside it and covered by frame not like put it in front it or on top. When you weld stuff yourself you can make there anything how you want it. Or steal some ideas from others :)

Another good idea leds on magnetic pads. And long cable from cigarete lighter. So they like inside your car and you just put them on roof,door or anywhere when you need them and just plug them.

led-work-light-magnetic-base.jpg

Edited by scalman
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