Gene J Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 05-07-07 It was time after 100,000 miles. Cornering was not the pleasure it once was. We needed to replace the struts with KYB GR2 units. So I bought new struts from Summit Racing which had the best deal on line I could find. No performance springs were to be found anywhere from any source at any price for our wagon. The decision was made to stay with the stock GT springs which really have no issues and are actually pretty good. We had a great summer and did not find the time on weekends to install these struts. 10-16-07 The Daughter calls and reports that the clutch has gone bad because it does not disengage anymore. The manual transmission will not go into gear and it grinds badly when an attempt is made. Following instructions, she starts the car and drives it home in second gear. She is really good! 10-20-07 We started on the front struts and decided to do a “While I am at it.” on the front brakes. There is a shimmy from a warped rotor, only the center third of the pad is touching the rotor, the brakes are a bit spongy and the car does not stop as it once did. We finished installing the front struts. Kids of all ages love air tools! The rotors are rusted on and will not come off with any amount of persuasion. Soaking them with BP Blaster did not help. We will let them soak for a week. We discover why the rotor warped. It was because a lug nut was lost and the tire store replaced it with an American nut. The stud was cross threaded and the store compensated by over tightening a few of the other 4 lug bolts. Fortunately a new lug nut solved that problem. We make a list of parts we will need after inspecting the car including the hydraulics for the clutch. 10-23-07 We ordered the first set of parts which included new OEM brake pads and a clutch slave and master cylinder. Lots of other items like new pedal covers etc are also ordered at this time. This car will be so great after we get done! 10/27/07 Since the parts did not arrive in time for the weekend we could only finish the rear struts. We learned that we should have lined up the arrow on top with the bracket on the bottom of the strut. It is not easy and a real a PITA to rotate the strut with the springs on. We learned and did not make the same error on the other side. Pounding with a big hammer and heating the rotors with a torch did not do the rotors any good. The cheap rotors from the last brake job did not have the bolt holes to push the rotors off of the hub. We ordered new rotors from a local parts store and picked them up the next day. Measuring the rotors showed they probably would not have machined up clean anyway. The darn things still did not come off. 10/30/07 Parts arrive. 11/3/07 We brought back one Chinese made front rotor as the back surface had seriously large low spots and pits where it was not machined. Really big bad spots would have eaten the new pads in no time. About 25% of the machined surface was missing. We got another rotor which happened to be in stock. The new pieces have the screw holes to get them off for the next brake job. A lesson is learned. Plug wire installation is for people with skinny fingers. If you do not have skinny fingers remove the washer tank and air cleaner and you will have easy access to the heads. The fuel filter is also easy to install! We will not need to do that again for another 100,000 miles. The slave cylinder went on easily on Friday and all of the slack was instantly gone! I needed a daughter to help put on the clutch master cylinder and bleed the hydraulics on Saturday. The pedal was nice, hard and did not stay on the floor when depressed! However the clutch still did not disengage. There was now no hope that the clutch was alright! We tried to get the rotors off using an 11 inch puller and an air gun. No luck. We always welcome the chance to buy new tools. And kids still like air tools! When we attempted to assemble the front brakes we discovered 3 out of 4 sliders in the caliper brackets were frozen solid. That explains why the brakes were so bad. We tried heat and a 3 foot pipe wrench on the sliders to break them loose. Not a chance in heck. The brackets are not available from an auto parts store except as part of a packed rebuilt caliper set. There would be no problem if it was a Honda. Since the calipers were good and we had a new set of new pads the packed parts did not make any economic sense. At that point even if I could get the pins out I would not trust those parts. 11/05/07 We ordered the second set of parts which included the caliper brackets and slider pins. They were not cheap but they were needed. 11/07/07 The parts place called and said the parts are backordered at Subaru. 11/14/07 Parts are shipped. 11/19/07 Bracket parts arrive. After some confusion which is quickly cleared up we figure out how the slider pins fit. Thanks guys! 11/24/07 Heart Attack and Bypass. I will not be working on the car for a while. 1/5/08 A buddy comes by and we get one rotor off and finish the right side. Left front rotor will not come off. A few pieces of the rotor broke off while trying to get it off. We will have to wait for another warm day for plan B. 1/12/08 I tried a propane torch to heat that darn rotor. That and a hammer did not budge it. After a half hour it was still cool to the touch. But that is what rotors are supposed to do. Get rid of heat! The trans shop offers to get the rotor off for us when they replace the clutch. 1/17/08 The wagon is off to the clutch shop on a flat bed. The truck backed into my drive way and when we were pulling the wagon up we almost got it stuck in a tree. Flat bed tow trucks are taller than you might think. 1/22/07 We get the car back! Woo Hoo! The brakes feel good, the clutch feels good and the struts are way better. The clutch fork was bad and ate the through out bearing. Also while getting the rotor off (they had to chop it in pieces) the ABS wheel was damaged. There is no ABS for now. We will deal with that in Spring 1/22/07 The car is out for alignment. That sure took a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 05-07-07 11/24/07 Heart Attack and Bypass. I will not be working on the car for a while. EEEKKKKK God i am glad you can write about this in a humorus way. I am glad you and the car are both better. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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