idosubaru

Avoid. A decade old turbo with no known history. I'd suggest an outback as they're larger and heavier and safer because of it. There's no substitute for size and impreza's are small. The highest risk for accidents is 16-19 year olds so safety isn't a bad consideration. Scour the wrecked auto auctions and look at totaled Subaru's - I buy from those places and it seems to me outbacks fare better as the weight suggests they should. There are turbo Outbacks and they come in H6's for a little extra power without the turbo's maintenance, repair, and failure horror stories. Any turbo gas engine is one small failure away from $5,000+ in repairs. My buddies 30k mile cream puff turbo blew up a a year or two ago - $10k repairs. And more. It happens. But let's be realistic - if the kid is looking at this and it's even remotely possible for his parents to be entertaining it - then practicality and finances are obviously of little concern. This kid obviously has free reign to get some sporty aesthetic he's after. That car is nothing remotely close to a good financial or safety decision, so those things probably don't matter much beyond just talking about it. If that's true, let's mitigate all the heat/synthetic oil/intervals/mods/maintenance issues possible with a turbo. I would want documentation on timely synthetic oil changes. Those engines are extremely unforgiving. Non-turbo's - who cares, don't let it get low and change it sometimes and they're fine. Turbo's...they like to blow up if you give them a reason. Get the VIN and pull all the data on it - VIN check, carfax, ask owner for maintenance history, and call the local subaru dealers to see what's been done to it. Pay particular attention to the oil changes and oil/cooling/turbo related work/repairs/modifications. At a minimum it needs a timing belt job ($1,000 at a dealer if it's done properly with Subaru belt, pulleys, tensioner). Mileage doesn't matter, it'll well past the age limit.

Who replaced the headgaskets?

Did you see signs it was worked on before? If so then your guess is highly likely - they had parts in a bag and mix and matched when reassembling.

Good question - I’d rather walk 50 miles barefoot while brushing teeth than pulling those in a yard. The H6 shims I’ve done have always needed reduced, not increased. So I just do it the easy way and grind down the backsides to gain the clearance instead of doing that baffling shim matching voodoo.

Usual culprits are front diff or front axle. If you mimic the same conditions that cause the noise but do it while 1. Going straight 2. Turning left and 3. Turning right 4. Uphill, are there any differences? A free test, or waste of time, would be to swap both front axles left to right. This reverses the loading and will change the noise if it’s axle related. But if they’re old and may need new grease or boots this might not be a total waste of time. Is either axle a non OEM replacement? Those are highly problematic when new and with age. Or They can also just need grease - the grease gets old and will just pour out like liquid. Cleaning and regreasing can quiet them up Change diff fluid and look for any signs of metallic particles or chunks in it. Driveshaft ujoints or carrier bearing and potentials but I’d expect

absolutely. I pour it through a cheap cabin filter or whatever you have laying around. As to the clutch issues I imagine you'll know what's wrong when you take it apart but probably a decent change the fork or pivot have failed.

You said 30 ohms - how did it compare to the others or did you look up specs? Bad ECU's can cause injectors not to fire, though I haven't heard of them causing one to fail. I'd look up the FSM procedure for testing the circuit. ECU is easily accessible in passengers side footwell under carpet/dash if you need to trace wires from injector to ECU. I don't have it memorized but I don't think injector wiring is too complicated, can probably just test resistance/continuity from one side to ECU and the other to ground.

Get a new Subaru block with 3 year 36,000 mile warranty ( I think I heard they even bumped the mileage component up higher). https://www.ebay.com/itm/SUBARU-GENUINE-LEGACY-FORESTER-IMPREZA-SHORT-BLOCK-ENGINE-EJ253-2006-/283726043624?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c1#viTabs_0 (Resurface the heads first - like $150, no need for a full valve job. And use Subaru gaskets) If you're buying used get a 2008-2009 legacy or outback engine. There are ways to get other year/engines to work. You do not have a JDM engine and federal/CA shouldn't matter for just replacing the block. You're not replacing the electronics or converters.

Baja turbo rear springs offer minor improvements decent for many OBW situations. They can stay level or better with a couple hundred pounds of two average/light rear passengers and gear in the rear and towing…depending on weight distribution and tongue weight of course. For really high loads, heavy passengers and gear, heavy towing and zero tolerance - then king springs.

You should just need a standard non turbo EA81 axle. Rockauto only lists one variation: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/subaru,1985,brat,1.8l+h4,1267747,drivetrain,cv+axle,2288 You can reboot yours. I've done this with 100% success rate and it always works though I'll avoid ones trashed with south georgia pecan tree access road sand or mountain coal field aggregate. I wouldn't be confident of axle parts interchanging, the axles/splines/ball/cups aren't all the same.

Did you ever have a client have that issue while you were working on them!?

Subarus (and probably others I just don't know) are well known for passing any wheel bearing test. There's no one test that positively identifies all failing wheel bearings.

2 years - wow, that's got to feel good to be done with that! With those extra parts replaced maybe you can keep those annual PA inspections at bay for awhile (if those are state wide?) If the title didn't say front, we would have landed on rear wheel bearings first since that's by far the most common issue on 2006 Outbacks. 05-06's have an extended 100,000 mile/8year rear bearing warranty because of it. Very well known. The title saying "Front" steered us wrong. Otherwise this would have been easy for folks very familiar with Subaru's due to that issue. I say all that because it would be good to keep that in mind for the other side. Even if they've already been replaced after 15 years if they were aftermarket, that's just as bad, if not worse. I just replaced the same exact part number as yours in a 2008 rear. It was already replaced with aftermarket 14 months ago and already failing. And that's not the first time I've seen that. I've never seen a replaced Subaru bearing fail. May have had multiple issues - the title said "rumble", now described as "screaming", and it says front when it was rear. That's really odd to mistaken front/rear for a noise. I don't have good hearing, usually working on older/noisy cars and we have horrendous roads and i still never even remotely confuse front/rear. You may have had one failure, the wheel bearing, and maybe some other noisy components too.

Probably too small and tedious of a procedure for a bra and a curved surface but I’d look into heat and razor. There’s a few options: Prolonged direct sunlight, heat gun, plastic razors or metal razors. I’ve had some adhesives peal off surprisingly easy (relative to how bad I thought it would be) with copious heat.

That's unfortunate. I'm in a similar boat wondering if the trans is hosed: I just rebuilt a totaled 2013 outback that had the lines severed from the wreck, so I was assuming the trans could be hosed. I'm done the body/welding and now have to wonder if the trans is shifting poorly and noisy for some other reason or it just needs replaced. I've already bought the transmission. 1. Do you have any check engine light codes or is the AT flashing 16 times at first start up? 2. Drain and refill the pan for two reasons. You'll get a look at how much debris/metal/swirls are int he fluid (or none at all). And if there's any significant debris that's in the pan and obstructing the pick up screen you'll get that out. Although if that's the case I'd guess that's horrible news for a trans. Also consider replacing the filter if this debris is a concern. I would guess a new transmission is in your future. If rust and bushings are in reasonable shape it's worth considering to keep. Those two things can start long drawn out maintenance. I would buy a JDM or used transmission locally. Those H6's are very reliable transmissions. I have a JDM trans with low mileage I haven't installed yet I'd sell but distance is a killer. Just drove to atlanta last month I could have popped that in the back of my forester.

Yeah rob them off of basically any MT Subaru you find in a yard or laying anywhere if you want used ones. I’ve got them laying around but I’d never be able to go find one at will lol.

I get them from the dealer. They’re the same part as a legacy Imprezas BRZ or Crosstek so subaru will have them in stock. I work on XTs 10x more than other EA82 models but they’re also EA82 and should be the same. I have an EA82 in an XT in my driveway now ive installed new clips from Subaru in it One time someone here said they’re just to help assembly and not strictly necessary?!?!

What do you mean missing? Is the threaded portion sheared off flush or part way? Or is the entire gasket seating rim surface also damaged? Get high mileage filters and RTV the filter on with The Right stuff would be the easy method. but then you have oil filter changes to contend with. High quality oil filters can be changed every other oil change but that’s unthinkable for most. Im not sure if there’s room insitu but I’d see if the EJ and EZ “oil coolers” could be used as adapter. the cooler would have a new oil filter receiver on the other side to screw on to. Tap the ID of the EA housing to the pitch of the cooler hold down bolt. Bolt it in place and you’ve got a new oil filter mating surface on the opposite side. No need to use the cooling fittings. You’d need a hold down bolt next to it to compare. I don’t have any handy or I’d take a picture next to an EA pump I just looked at. This won’t be ideal if the engine has warn and problematic oil delivery throughout the engine since it may reduce flow characteristics. If you have a questionable engine compare the oil flow rate from a Forster to the EA82. They’re found on 01-04 H6s, early 2000s foresters and other models. There may even be aftermarket “oil filter adapters” or something that would do something similar.

Works on 2004 and earlier subarus before the rear sensor became more utilized by the ECU. Pre 2004 the rear sensor data is practically used as just a toggle switch “good” or “not good”. Very good success rate and worth trying in areas that are not asinine on inspections. They’re available premade on eBay for cheap There were also mini catalytic converter like inserts you screw in front of the O2 sensor that had a minuscule amount of catalyst just for the sensor stream. But I haven’t seen one for a few years and I never used those.

Yep - if they do make noise it'll be facing up a steep hill, from a stop making a right or left turn with steering wheel at full lock and accelerating up hill through that turn. It'll be a deeper knock knock as opposed to the outer joint click clicks.

I’d trace the known issues specifically the code and back track that wire if you have no voltage and think you should. I’m busy and only have this a cursory glance so I may be mis understabding To confirm in case you’re hesitant since you still have issues - AT and MT ECUs are interchangeable. ATs and MTs can in a few years, particularly that 00-02 range you’re in, have differing trigger points on the crank and cam sprockets which does lead to some swap and “signal” issues. This can make for some uncertainty in commentary online as people discuss this. There are issues swapping some things but are no issues swapping just the ECU like you did.

that's fantastic. Definitely wondering what you get from this. You've already replace everything - TCU and trans 3 times - the only thing left is the harness or a ground causing fuzzy signal. I ignored that though - I can't imagine that impacting only that one sensor. Those 00-04's transfer system seems too simplistic for the transfer solenoid to be impacted by any other sensors.

Awesome, good find. How positive are you it was exhibiting the issues at the time of testing? It may have just not had a bad connection during testing. I wonder if there's a way to monitor that wire during driving so you can see what's happening when it has issues and when it doesnt?

Splice in a new wire from the body side trans connector harness for the Transfer solenoid to it's destination, which I think is the TCU. It's only one wire I believe. You can even use those little "clip in splices" that don't require cutting any wires just for a test run. Then make sure to properly do it and tape it up to protect it. Ohmed it from where? I think you want to wait for the light to be on and symptoms present and test for continuity of the transfer solenoid wire from the body side harness to the TCU. Of course the issue may be so intermittent that it won't fail the test.

Can you trace each wire at the trans harness engine compartment passengers side? If it’s giving a code jt shoud narrows down which wire it is If it’s wiring, Presumably it’s bad from the connector to the TCU. From the connector to rhe trans can’t be bad since that was replaced three times with each trans swap I’m suspicious that maybe it could be bad around where the connector plugs - somewhere that was disturbed when you did the trans swaps since it “seemed to get better” after the job. Maybe moving it around changed it? and that area gets a lot of abuse during engine pulls headgaskets and in MTs trans clutches, I know that’s this isn’t a MT just examples - etc it’s prone to have misplaced and damaged wires more so than other areas. check the top harness where the engine trans mates on the passengers side. Look for signs of rodent damage or pull the plug and check for vent pins. Look for signs of prior accident or flooding issues or moisture issues etc where the TCU or wiring resides I’d try to look for obvious damage. In my experience stuff like this is often related to some prior incident. i had a bunch of codes on an 02 outback. Tracing lead me to wires under passengers seat feet carpeting - Pulled the passengers side carpet and what do you knkw - mouse droppings and chewed wiring. spliced and done. And there was no signs of mice in this car otherwise and damage was one small area