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Converter ended up being the problem - just took a minute to warm up and relearn I guess, Runs perfect without the exhaust connected

Ok so on the ground by 2026 didn't happen - but i did finally get things to the point where the subframe and diff are now semi-permanently attached to the car. Hooray! Using the holes in the bed for access I cleaned and tacked in the subframe, using the diff and its sheet metal as a jig to get everything in evenly Once everything was pretty sturdily tacked - I pulled the jack out from under everything. So far so good! I pulled the CV axles off of the knuckle/wheel assemblies and bolted in the stock lateral links and stacked the tires on blocks to get an idea of where I want the wheels wheels to sit at rest, and this is where the next complication arises - overall things look really good, except the wheels rub on the front of the arches left to their own devices. I'll need to play with this a little more - I'll either need to do a little bodywork to extend the wheelwells about an inch or two forward, or I may also consider options to move the whole diff/subframe assembly backwards about the same amount, though then i run into other clearance problems in the tunnel. I'll need to spend some time under the car staring at it to figure out which I'd prefer to do. Currently my gut says the latter is the easiest. For now, however, this still lets me move forward somewhat with the suspension construction. the more pressing issue at this stage is that the rear track is still several inches wide at the back. I loosely bolted the rear coils in place, and that let me get an idea of how much room I have to cut and move things inboard. I can almost see the end result - II'll be able to scrap the plan of using the impreza towers and modify the stock wheel wells without too much trouble, even though I might want to reenforce them after the fact. Had I known this prior I would have just cut the tops out, but oh well. Maybe if i do another in the future I can save myself the exploratory chopping. Or hell, even if someone else does this similarly - hopefully I can save you a little trouble. Did a little measuring and this is what I came up with: Forgive my mixed units and felt tip marker sketch on my mechanics crawler (free USPS cardboard) - but here's the broad strokes: I have a little more than roughly 2" / 5cm of horizontal clearance before the coils begin contacting things they shouldn't. The stock rear lateral links measure about 41cm long bolt center to bolt center, and I'm estimating about 10cm of vertical drop from their frame mounts to the knuckle mounts. if my math is mathed correctly, that means I'll need to shorten the link about 6cm to get the wheel moved inboard the requisite 5cm. I'm going to pull the links all the way off so I can measure them on the ground to double check these measurements - as I've found some adjustable links that would appear to be able to get close to these lengths without much serious modification and if i can do that and save myself a few hours of fabrication, I'd prefer to do that. I've also gotta figure out the trailing arm mount, but that'll come after I figure out the width issue. Anyways, that's all for my new years update - until next time kids!

Thanks for the suggestions. I've passed them on to my daughter. She has a big savings account and could easily buy a very young car if she valued having a decent looking car, but this one is generally super reliable, which is good enough for her. She'd rather buy a piece of land.

Resolved, replaced both converters. Thanks Brusbrother. Got this car from Georgia for my daughter, so it's rust free, I'm sure you can appreciate that. Concern is what caused this and hoping it doesn't destroy the new ones - oil level was increasing and bad mileage, pretty sure running rich. Found and replaced one cracked injector while chasing the clogged converter issue. Time will tell. Runs great, looks great, ready for college next year, she got a free ride at her top private school pre-med and was the first player in school history to be named first team all state twice as a junior and senior. Not bad from a rural public school with very poor academic options. /end proud dad brag

Have you drained the gearbox oil and see what comes out with it? Also carefully feel around inside the gearbox through the drain hole for any other fragments that may be present. Noise will travel to different areas. You’d need to use a dowel/long screw driver/stethoscope to pinpoint where the noise is coming from more precisely. Seems more likely that second gear is chipped, possibly both gears - if that’s the case you’d get an un-rhythmic sequence that will repeat after some time. This is because all gearsets have at least one gear that’s got an uneven number of teeth so they wear all teeth against each other for even wear across all the two gear cogs’ teeth.

Finally solved it for anyone wondering it wasn't actually oil burning like we thought at all it somehow is getting brake fluid sucked in from the brake booster which I didn't even know was possible

The tick isn’t anything detrimental - just lifter tick. Parts are basically unobtainiam for the XT6 other than those shared with the L series - and even these are starting to dry up. The H6 conversion would be sick. The wiring is the biggest part of the job. After that it’s driving it so you don’t kill the gearbox! That said, a mate of mine ran the 3L H6 in a gen2 Liberty with the same gearbox that’s in your XT6 - just a dual range version. The thing was mint offroad with the locking centre diff. Sadly he killed the diff one trip in the sand as it didn’t lock and he fried it. Enjoy the journey - collect parts when you can find them! The air bag setup you might need to go down the custom aftermarket route. I don’t have any leads on this sorry.

I think you should start with simpler projects, like CVs, ball joints, and tie rod ends, before worrying about an engine swap. Until you're confident with routine maintenance like that, an engine swap isn't even something you can consider. Then worry about suspension mods and such until you're comfortable with fab work and re-engineering things. Then you can start researching engine swaps or other large projects. Is there even anything wrong with your current engine?

Got the other ABS connector for the Impreza and have both fuel pumps working on the switch now, seems to empty and fill the main tank as desired. Finally took the center diff back out of the 6MT from the black Outback. Does just appear to be the faces of those shafts that were rubbing together, planetary seems fine. Have done a little PID tuning on the cams in the EZ36. For quite a while now they've been very unstable at low engine temperatures. It's been a tough problem to solve because you can only really try a few things before the engine's warm enough to smooth things out. Fortunately (?) it's been very cold here lately so I've been able to get them tuned in better. I did add another row to the table to lower the PID values before the coolant gets up to temp but I think it's mainly just been changing the values to make it more stable in general that helped. Still a few things to improve on that front but at least progress was made.

How are you guys still arguing over whether an engine is interferential or not? EVERY SUBARU ENGINE AFTER 1997 is interferential. EVERY.ONE. Geez, I've been gone a few years and you guys are still arguing this point? 🙄 We lost non-interferential in return for a lousy 5Mph power gain. Crap trade if you ask me.

Well the mystery got solved and the solution is rather embarrassing! I had no idea this car has an immobilizer and that the fancy Subaru key is necessary to start the engine. Shortly before the starter motor issue arose I had a simple copy of the key made at the grocery store for about $1.98. l was using that key exclusively to try and start the engine. Finally on another Subaru Outback forum somebody asked about my key. As soon as I tried the fancy Subaru key the problem disappeared! Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Maybe this thread will help someone else in the future with the same issue.

Yeah, that's a lot of crap (including the engine) to move - when I get to that point. At the moment I'm just pissed at the bait+switch that DHL is pulling on me - again - over my shipment from Rock. UPS said it'll be here next Tuesday for a reasonable price. DHL said that for five bucks more they'd have it here tomorrow (Thursday). Tracking now says next Tuesday, and I strongly doubt they won't screw that up, because we're rural and just past the edge of their delivery area (by, like, a mile) so I have no idea how or where (let alone when) I'll get it. I'm an idiot, because I knew better. I'm Charlie Brown running to kick the ball - again.

Thank you. That's what I thought but was puzzled by the short life. I greased them up good and filled the cavity ten years ago but I have not greased them since and the car gets driven through icy water a lot. I ordered the new bearings and seals today. I have a seal driver set. I snowmobile in to my cabin in the winter so I'm hoping they might last until spring but I kind of doubt it. Yesterday when I cranked the axle nut enough to gain another hole in the castle nut it seemed to tighten them up a little. If they wear down and loosen up again I'll change them out. That just means that I'll be doing it in the snow on the side of the road where I park in the winter. But hey it's a $300 car that I have been driving for 15 years.

(A few months later, 'cause I had to clean out enough of the garage to get the car in over the pit and buy a Warn Pullzall (110VAC comealong - got a smokin' deal on it) to pull it in, then wait for a break in the weather, since the garage is unheated...) But now the cover's off and I've confirmed that the driver's side chain broke. Since the driver's side chain drives the passenger side chain, what sounded to me like just the crank and no cams cranking was in fact just the crank and no cams cranking. It's not clear whether the chain broke on its own, or whether it was caused by a guide fragmenting, and there are some loose plastic bits in there. Doesn't matter much, timing kit is en route from Rock. As for whether anything got hit, jury's still out. It's so damn tight along the sides of the engine that I'm not sure I can get a compression gauge in there. But I'm also replacing the steering rack while it's over the pit, so I'll be dropping the exhaust and can take a peek up at the valves. Otherwise, I'll just see how things behave once the new kit is installed. I do have an untested junkyard motor on the shelf (bought as a spare a couple of years ago), so I can draw upon that if necessary. But I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

I haven't posted here for years, partly due to login issues. @Turbone fixed those for me recently (thank you!). All the Subarus I had before have moved along, but I have more than ever before - 2006 Outback Wagon, 2004 Legacy Wagon, and the newest arrival is a 1994 Loyale AT my son just bought. The engine is suspect from a large oil leak that resulted in the engine's being run low on oil. We'll see about the leak and then if the noises clear up. His goal is to put a dual range MT in is but we'll see how easy that is to find...

Better to change a manual than auto trans!

Yeah fair enough! You didn’t do the “mandatory” double pump if the throttle before turning the ignition on? Or the other way to do it is ignition on to prime the fuel bowl, ignition off, double pump, ignition on and start. I do this one when I haven’t driven my brumby in a while, especially in summer when it seems the bowl evaporates and needs filling again.

It's a Bambu P1S. I have never used one but first job I sent to it was this. Was a big hit in the office.

That pretty much confirms it's inside the trans. Though, when I had 2nd let go on one, it broke off an entire tooth on the small gear only make a light clicking noise, and lodged the tooth in the center section. Draining didn't find anything, only taking apart showed the issue. Though with how old yours is, it might also be loose bearings causing enough slop to make that constant noise

For functional and tough parts my go-to is Armadillo by Ninjaflex. It's a very high hardness TPU so it acts like a normal rigid polymer but it has a very high bond strength between layers. It takes some tweaking to get your settings dialed in and may require dual-extrusion or a multi material unit when you print support material. Since it bonds so well to itself, getting supports off without cutting and sanding tools isn't easy. The best overall bed adhesive that works with almost all polymers, that I've found, is normal white school glue spread with a damp paper towel (3 quarter-sized dollops spread thin). Once that dries, lay a layer of Magigoo PC bed adhesive over that. That coating will last 3-10 prints before you wash it off with dish soap and reapply. I've wanted to print a cup holder. Right now I'm just using a cardboard drink carrier I got from a coffee place on my passenger side floor board.

In second gear, when you clutch in does the noise go away?

It was a terminal connection issue coming from the driver's door to the dash harness. The hatch still only works as manual. That's less annoying than manually locking and unlocking doors from the inside so I'll leave it for now. That breaking noise I heard I believe was a locking rod disconnecting from its socket. One on the driver side was only semi-connected.

I had an 05 Outback and in chasing the dreaded P0420, I was "thrilled" to discover that there were 3 cats and 5 oxygen sensors. Somewhere there is a Subaru engineer busting a gut with laughter... and a parts manager handsomely salaried.

That’s an interesting one! A chipped tooth will make a rotational clicking noise that’s speed related and only when in the chipped gear. That noise sounds like something is grinding - and interesting that it’s only in one gear. Other thought is that it’s multiple teeth that are damaged - unlikely though as the gear would most likely strip as a result, but anything is possible. Hopefully it’s something simple.

Possibly clogged cat converter(s)? Broken bit's of the honeycomb will follow gravity and clog the exhaust when car is heading up hill. The noise will startle the neighbors but if you can disconnect the cat(s) and test drive, that will help in diagnosing this issue. Buddy had this issue and just emptied the broken bits and drove on.

Plumbed a tee into the top line feeding the steering brake and put a bleeder on that, after bleeding that spot and the calipers a bit more it seems fine now. B replaced a front wheel bearing on his Forester which seemed to help his on/off throttle steering issue. I edited and posted two videos from our last trip to the UP, one long, one short:

scoobydube, you should have seen her in her prime! -82baru

For the axle nut, a center punch works fine. Just drive it in a little. If you have a 6 point socket and large breaker bar you can just back it off. No damage to the threads. Best bet for the axle, would be to get a set of both and take the inner CV joint off and swap them. I believe the spline count is the same, but I could be wrong. A bit of time at the you pull and pay where you could investigate would be best.

I don’t see anything for A/C in what I do have. Hang in there. If you’ve got a local dealer with an older technician ask that guy.

Did a little more weekend deathwheel work today - took about an hour to get some access panels cut into the bed floor so I can more easily add some gussets to the subframe while it's bolted to the assembly. The idea here is that I'm going to use them both to reinforce the subframe and it will give me a locating feature when I go to tack this piece into the car so everything lines back up. The idea here is that I'm going to use them both to reinforce the subframe and it will give me a locating feature when I go to tack this piece into the car so everything lines back up. I've still got to take things in and out a couple times before this becomes a more permanent part of the vehicle. I'll probably weld the panels back in once I'm satisfied with the subframe and suspension towers, as some of these welds I'm planning on leaving only semi-permanent till I've got all the clearances worked out with the coilovers, so I'll be leaving access until I'm sure I don't need it anymore. This last photo looks real scary but in reality it's just me adding four tack welds to the gussets only on the subframe. I'll be removing it one last time to box everything in and hit it with a bit of weld-through primer. Folks with a real professional background in automotive engineering would probably cringe at some parts of my approach, but I got everything measured up as even and straight as a mallet and tape measure would allow. I'm honestly pretty impressed with myself at how evenly I was able to get everything to line up with a couple symmetrical features I used as reference points (a couple bolt holes and a few key bends/seams. I find myself repeating the mantra "perfection is the enemy of progress" a lot on this build, and so far (knock on wood) it's working out pretty good. Next up I have a fairly short punchlist to get this subframe on the car in a meaningful way, and then I'm planning on attacking the lateral links, trailing arms, and locating the strut towers. The more I think on it the more likely it is that I'll probably be scrapping more of the Impreza tower than I'd intended. The rust is pretty deep in the driver side tower and the more I stare at the mockup as it sits the more dislike the way it looks. One way or the other I'll figure out something good. Main goal is to have it back on its own four wheels (again) around the new year. We'll see if I make that goal or if I blow past it for some unforeseen reason. Hopefully I'll have at least one more update before the New Year, but if you don't hear from me beforehand, have a good last few weeks of the year, everybody! -M

I got a 2009 Outback special edition instead. Only 95,000 miles on it. It spent 2016-2025 in Arizona and before that in Colorado. Pretty much rust free. I drove it home to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Already surpassed the 40 years milestone of being with my "BumbleBeast" in continous ownership and, despite that this SportsWagon is looking smaller as new cars around tend to get bigger; I preffer this Yellow noisy fellow over any other car, everyday in any weather condition. Lousy cellphone photo Kind Regards.

Any updates on this? Going to do any racing this summer?