lstevens76

Ok, stop completely. 1.) http://store.forcedperformance.net/merchant2/graphics/subaru_oil/02-103-07.pdf 2.) "This bulletin is for informational purposes only." 3.) "should be checked to make sure it is not clogged or restricted especially if the condition of the oil is questionable or as to when the last oil change was performed." What it just said is it is an "INFORMATIONAL BULLETIN". This doesn't mean a dealer has any reason to check if they don't want to, it's up the customer if they think something might be wrong. It also states that if there are any questions on when oil changes have been done or if the oil is dirty, etc... Did this ever occur? Your trying to blame a dealer for not doing something, this isn't the dealers fault. Have you even bothered to talk to Subaru of American and get there perspective about a 50k failure? And 7 hour seems ludicrous to me for checking a banjo bolt and screen when the entire assembly can be replaced in 2.7 hours. ".7" not "7" hours seems more realistic.

I think what we are all saying is it's worth fixing if you can get it done for a reasonable price.

Being in Lake Tahoe he could be right about the sale price. In Boise I would say $3,000 to $3,500, but in McCall, ID (ski town/lake/tourist town like Tahoe) I could see that going for $4,000+. That being said I think the guy is kind of out there on pricing. 1.) What is his hourly rate (might be time to find a different mechanic). 2.) How did he come up with $2,800 in repairs? What's the breakdown? The total time to do both heads (without pulling the engine) is 13.7 hours. If he goes this route your talking no more than $1,400 in labor (and that is way high for a non-dealership shop). A full R&R is 9.1 hours and a 2.2 replacement can be had 66 Miles away (car-part.com) for $900. That should only be around $2,000, but if he's charging $100 an hour then your probably looking at $2,300 including parts (tb and water pump). You can look farther and find other 2.2 or 2.5 replacements fairly cheap as well, or cheaper if you wait for them to ship it.

What it sounds like is that you have a car w/ a blown out turbo and are upset. I can understand that, but it doesn't meant Subaru didn't follow proper steps or that we know the whole story. If this is about the turbo's, etc... then a few questions need answered before going with what you said at the end. 1.) What % of cars actually have this problem? You have to realize that 9 out of 10 posts on the net are only people who have had problems. The ones that don't have problems don't tend to post. Subaru probably has a good idea for a % of failures to make the decision they did. 2.) If the % was that high, why didn't they redesign and recall or extend the warranty (like the head gasket issue)? I don't believe the percentage is that high. When Subaru knew it had a large % of head gasket failures it extended the warranty to deal with it. If the % was that high they could have easily done the same thing with the turbos. I'm sure your getting my drift that there is a lot more that goes into this than just whether it's checked at an oil change. And if the % is lower it may be that it isn't normally required and the problem doesn't occur as often as it can appear to on the internet.

So, all the parts came in yesterday to do the HG, TB, WP, etc... Then I went over to a buddies house for a bit last night and.............. One of his friends that was parked next to me hit my LH Rear Quarter Panel Fender. I have to get a quote (not sure where I'm going to do that yet) and he will pay for the damage, but really disheartening as this was the one part of the body I knew I could get away with no, or a very tiny, amount of body work. The rest is all just swap parts and I don't do body work.

I would fly and skip-sleep myself. But that's because I really enjoy driving. What is your budget anyways?

The first question is, are you willing to travel to get it? If your willing to travel and drive it back then it comes down to which one you want. Google pictures of various generations, and don't forget the Outback Sport (started a hoodscoop in '97) or the WRX, RS, and STI. Check '02 to I think '06 as well. Figure out a generation. Once these two are answered I can tell you right up front that little to no rust your going to be better off picking up a west coast or south mid-west (texas, etc..) car and driving it back.

Ok, you can put any motor in any impreza, providing you have all the right parts. I'll give you an example: A local subie club member has a '95 Impreza Coupe. What he did was swap in an EJ20 Turbo Motor from a newere ('00+) STI. He picked up the entire wrecked car though. He swapped the motor, transmission, dash, and ECU (ECU being the biggest thing). I think he also swapped the entire interior.

Actually, check out Automd. It lists shop hours and DIY hours along with the average dealer/shop rate around your area and parts cost if you buy them local.

Ok, you use a "variable weight" oil. This means it can contract and expand with temperature. And I thought someone already went over that coolant and water both expand when getting hot. That is why the overflow is there, to keep the pressure at the right amount but still be able to pull the coolant back in when cold. Basically as your coolant gets warm and increases pressure the cap releases that pressure into the overflow. As long as your overflow isn't leaking that coolant gets sucked back in when the car cools down.

https://www.automd.com/repaircost/ For a Turbo '04 WRX STI it's .4 hours (basically 1/2 an hour) And it takes the exact same amount of time on an '04 TS Didn't think there would be any difference. It's a bolt, let it drain, pull the filter, put the new one in, put the bolt in, fill with oil.

To add to this you replaced the thermostat. Did you spend an adequate time bleeding the system? When you bled the system was the heater on high the whole time? Did you squeeze the upper heater hose (towards the back of the motor) to make sure you got the air out of the heater core? To me this sounds like air in the system.

Oh, I bet those cheap ones would outlast the seeping one when done right. Why? Because I've had them in a car before and I know they can go 30k when installed correctly (at least 30K since that is when I sold the car). But, I plan to keep this car well past 30k and the 2.2L are considered solid engines so I'm going to do the HG w/ what is supposed to be better quality (I've not always had good luck w/ fel pro) and see.

Hmm, I've never sat in the back seat of mine. lol It isn't "spacious" but it isn't cramped either. Based on cars.com info it has about the same amount of room as the Jetta. It doesn't look like it changed much until 2003 when they actually gained a good 6" in rear leg room. You can do a lot to the Legacies, but based on what you are saying I doubt you would be happy with it. It weighs a lot more than the Impreza, but carries the same motors. Although many of the performance mods people do on the Imprezas will fit on the Legacy your still not going to get the same amount of power simply due to weight and size differences. Personally I would tell my roommate he can ride on top so there's room and just go. But being serious, I wouldn't allow other peoples needs to outweigh my wants when it comes to cars.

Dropping that fast after the car isn't running would probably be a fuel leak somewhere. A stuck open injector, or 2, could do it without smelling it. Your getting no CEL?

Your pressure shouldn't be dropping off like that I don't believe. Most cars retain the pressure long after it's off. I would suspect a leak somewhere causing it to drain off pressure.

I was going to mention the 2.5 Block option. You'll want to do the Timing belt, water pump, and idlers (idlers need to be replaced). Your going to have it out so I would reseal the motor (new exterior gaskets). Are you swapping over the AC Compressor and power steering pumps?

Autox, Rallyx, straight rally, etc... are a whole lot more fun than Drag or Circle tracks if you "enjoy driving".

Well the order is placed. $579 later, not including oil, coolant, and getting the heads milled/cleaned. :-/

Oh, to add to this I paid $450 for my OBS. I found a set of basically brand new tires on Craigslist for $100. That's $550. I put a knock sensor in it (wiper blades also, but I don't count those) for $50. I then did a thermostat and could have skipped the blue devil so I won't count it, for another $50. That's $650. The struts I just put in I picked up used ('06 WRX Struts ) for $50 for all 4. I put them on myself (already had the tools and rented the strut/spring compressor). We are now at $700. I'm now getting ready to spend another $500 on a head gasket job + camshaft sensor + blower motor. That put's me at $1,200 on a car that low blue books locally at $1,400. Yes I need a fender/door but I'll be patient and by what I want as it shows up for the right price. If this wasn't my daily driver I would be picking up a EJ25 (2.5L) short block and pulling my engine to put the Heads/intake on that block after fully rebuilding it (probably another $600 to rebuild the short block). It's all in what you find and how you look.

Seriously, you need to consider an impreza. Go over to dirtyimpreza.com and look at the Rally car builds. Based on what you want to know, and your skill level, an Impreza is the perfect starting point. And before you start looking, look at those forums. The Impreza body hasn't changed a lot over the years until you get into the last 5 to 7. The '93 to '01 and the '02+ years are very similar. Personally I have a '96 OBS I'm building. Another person locally has done a full STI swap (right down to the dahs) into a '95 Impreza..................

And all done. The pain is worth it. I have a little more clearance and no more rear-end sway going down the interestate! Plus the spring noise in the front is gone as well. Here's what she looks like now.

This order is going to hurt the bank. Ok, so I updated my parts list, but note this isn't just HG work stuff either as I need the sensor and the blower motor (might need a relay as well, but won't know till the motor's replaced). Evergreen TB Kit with Aisin Water Pump and a new tensioner: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NLLH74C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A131HE22U4WT5U NGK FX 41 Spark Plug Wires: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C5O1N0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER NGK Irridium IX Plugs (4 Pack) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B6R00U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2IS69AN9A0OWP Purolator Air Filter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VAODBQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Standard Motors Cam Sensor (mine will intermittently fail causing a no start, then work again) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C7ZRJ0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Evergreen Complete Engine Gasket Set: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P748YU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A131HE22U4WT5U Purolator Fuel Filter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C6IX1A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER New Subaru Metal Oil Seperator Plate: (that took some tracing down to get the right part number) There are also 2 aftermarket brands, including Dorman, making these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BI6JNAI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1MM6MK6TUHTXN TYC Blower Motor http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GOG3LU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Fel-Pro Head Gaskets (x2) Just the head gaskets: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C2AFU6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Other than Oil, Coolant and some good silicone sealant I think I have everything covered. Just to note, I don't pay shipping so if your looking at these take that into account. I will be placing the order when I get home tonight so it ships tomorrow. I have an Amazon Prime Membership so I get Free 2 Day shipping and although I could order from RockAuto, the shipping pushes the order up higher than I spent here. :-/

Did you try replacing your hazard switch? Someone else had this problem a little while ago and turned out to be a bad hazard switch.

I've actually never heard or seen an H6 turbo before. Based on your wants/plans why don't you include the Impreza? Your still learning, you need a vehicle to "play" with. The Impreza community has this much more than any other subaru due to the WRX and STI. Dirtyimpreza.com, nasioc, and rs25.com are all sites that are impreza related including turbos, full turbo engine swaps, etc..... Wanting to play is fine, but find a car that not only has it happening but has the experience behind it to help you.