long travel Outbacks or making Subarus faster and more reliable offroad

[pontoontodd]

So I charged the Impreza battery this morning but it still wouldn't crank.  Put in the battery out of the donor Outback and it fired right up.  Drove it for at least an hour around town, with a half dozen stops but none of them long.  Never overheated or puked out coolant.  When I first got home it was bubbling into the overflow, maybe a bubble every five seconds.  Used the magical test fluid and that never changed color, but after it sat and idled for a bit it stopped bubbling too.  So I'm guessing the head gasket(s) are starting to go but aren't too bad at the moment.  Might do the head gaskets this weekend.

While I was driving around some guy pulled up and asked if I was looking for another Subaru.  His daughter was driving a 99 Outback and rear ended someone.  They had supposedly just done the head gaskets, exhaust, timing belt, rotors, tires, and heater core, it has 118k on it, 4 cylinder auto.  I checked it out, it would need the lower radiator support pulled forward and a new radiator, but I have a couple of those in my basement.  It has a good set of snow tires and alloy wheels.  Clean cloth interior, smells like they smoked in it.  It's about as rusty as most Subarus that age around here, body doesn't look too bad but probably half the bolts would break off the first time you tried to turn them.  All the CV boots look good.  He wants $600.  I'm tempted to buy that and scrap/sell the Impreza.

 

I really need to get another rust free H6 Outback.

 

Still would like feedback on cruise control and AC issues with the 99 Outback.
 

Edited January 16, 2018 by pontoontodd

[Numbchux]

How about just a T100 with the 3.4, then you wouldn't have to swap engines or axles?  Not that the 3.4 made a ton of power either.

 

The T100 has a wider frame than the regular pickups. So it has the longer CV axles, but the exact same control arms. All the width and non of the travel....

 

3.4 isn't exactly a powerhouse either, but in stock form it's decent. But more importantly, it's a proven solid platform for boost. You could have even had a supercharger put on it at the dealer. 

 

 

 

I no very little in real offroad desert/baja racing. But from my experience with rally, dampers can make a HUGE difference. Just on Ziptie Rally #171 we went from some custom-built (allwheelsdriven, IIRC) housings for Bilstein dampers, which were better than stock but only just, and bent after about 2 events. We switched to RS&SP 2-way adjustables, and the improvement was night and day. Then for the last year or so we got some RS&SP 4-way adjustables (which have remote reservoirs), and again, night and day.

 

Had to be sent to Argentina for a rebuild, though.

 

 

Now, in rally, you're really only getting one good hit at a time, not like hitting whoops. But the extra reservoirs are specifically to keep the fluid cool under continuous use.

 

 

 

Anyway, my point is maybe don't get hung up so much on the wheel travel number. By switching to a dual a-arm platform and running a conventional shock instead of a strut might allow for much better dampers, which might yeild the performance you're looking for.

[pontoontodd]

The T100 has a wider frame than the regular pickups. So it has the longer CV axles, but the exact same control arms. All the width and non of the travel....

 

3.4 isn't exactly a powerhouse either, but in stock form it's decent. But more importantly, it's a proven solid platform for boost. You could have even had a supercharger put on it at the dealer. 

 

 

 

I no very little in real offroad desert/baja racing. But from my experience with rally, dampers can make a HUGE difference. Just on Ziptie Rally #171 we went from some custom-built (allwheelsdriven, IIRC) housings for Bilstein dampers, which were better than stock but only just, and bent after about 2 events. We switched to RS&SP 2-way adjustables, and the improvement was night and day. Then for the last year or so we got some RS&SP 4-way adjustables (which have remote reservoirs), and again, night and day.

 

Had to be sent to Argentina for a rebuild, though.

 

 

Now, in rally, you're really only getting one good hit at a time, not like hitting whoops. But the extra reservoirs are specifically to keep the fluid cool under continuous use.

 

 

 

Anyway, my point is maybe don't get hung up so much on the wheel travel number. By switching to a dual a-arm platform and running a conventional shock instead of a strut might allow for much better dampers, which might yeild the performance you're looking for.

 

Makes sense on the T100.

 

Yes, better dampers and better tuning make a huge difference.  Ours are built around Fox shocks with reservoirs, which are considered some of the best in off road.  I think they're tuned pretty well right now, no comparison to stock in terms of ride quality and durability.  I didn't notice much difference in ride between the a-arm setup we made and the struts we have now.  There is probably still room for improvement in tuning.  And I have some ideas we're going to try soon to improve them further.  If you haven't seen what the top Dakar racers can do with 12" or less of suspension travel, you should, they are amazing, but the 2WDs at least have larger tires than we do, which helps.

 

All that said, something with well tuned shocks and 12" of travel will never be able to keep up with something with 18-24" of well tuned travel over rough terrain.

[ferp420]

That's why I'm considering something different.

Like i sead in one of my first post i think your working with the wrong rig for your driving style but i have to hand it to you as you have done one H E L L of a job adapting it to sute your needs thats 5he closest thing ive seen to a trophy truck out of a subaru i also think if you dedicate it to off road use you can tune it.to do even better i know it can be done and with less were and tear  i know you dont think so but street/highway use is very hard on off road rigs in my exsperiance anyway the way i look at it the subaru is like a jack of all trades master of non they will do alot just wont do any of it realy well if you want something that dose one thing or another alot better it wont do other things as good as the roo so it comes down to what do you realy want to do and build for that and deal with the short comings when doing other stuff its all a compramise give up alitle here and gain alittle

[pontoontodd]

Like i sead in one of my first post i think your working with the wrong rig for your driving style but i have to hand it to you as you have done one H E L L of a job adapting it to sute your needs thats 5he closest thing ive seen to a trophy truck out of a subaru i also think if you dedicate it to off road use you can tune it.to do even better i know it can be done and with less were and tear  i know you dont think so but street/highway use is very hard on off road rigs in my exsperiance anyway the way i look at it the subaru is like a jack of all trades master of non they will do alot just wont do any of it realy well if you want something that dose one thing or another alot better it wont do other things as good as the roo so it comes down to what do you realy want to do and build for that and deal with the short comings when doing other stuff its all a compramise give up alitle here and gain alittle

 

Thanks.  I think you're right about the Subaru being the jack of all trades and master of none.  Several of my friends have commented they don't know of anything else that can cruise comfortably on the highway, drive off pavement all day fairly well, and drive back home with (usually) no major problems.  It is definitely a compromise between road comfort, high speed off road capability, and low speed rock crawling.  Even deciding how wide a rig you want is a compromise between being able to do narrow trails or go in between big rocks and having more suspension travel and being more stable.  At the moment I've decided to stick with what I have.  Where we live we have to drive 300-2000 miles to get where we want to ride off road, so it has to be good on the highway.  I'm not excited by rock crawling or mud bogging so I don't need giant tires and a lot of clearance.  It would be cool to go faster over rough terrain but the current suspension is good enough to be fun, and I think we can improve it more.  One of the biggest improvements we could make to the cars would be the 6MT/R180 with a lower first and second.  You really can't beat on the 5MT and R160 with the H6 and big aggressive tires or they will break.

[ferp420]

Ya i would like a 6mt brz trans for my outback project then run it to a tcase 

[pontoontodd]

Ya i would like a 6mt brz trans for my outback project then run it to a tcase 

 

You probably know this but I think the BRZ trans is completely different than the 6MT in the STI.  Stock BRZ trans is good to about 400hp.  If you've got a t case after it, it will probably last a long time.

 

Anyone ever mess with alternator wiring?  Mine works but can't keep up with a half dozen 55W HID lights and the AC/radiator fans.  It's supposed to be 90A stock.  The wire plug has three wires.  One is 12V just fused to battery +.  Another is switched 12V with ignition.  The third one is an open circuit last I checked.  My friend tells me that is some kind of load circuit and he's read depending on whether you ground it or give it power, it changes the output of the alternator.

 

Cruise is only staying on for short periods of time while driving now.  Couldn't find any relay that powers it aside from the one in the cruise control computer, so I've got one of those coming in to try.  It will stay on indefinitely with the car parked and ignition on, engine not running.  Doesn't turn off when you shake/tap the cruise computers, so maybe it's not that.

 

Still haven't decided what to do about AC, same pressure on high and low side with compressor running.  I've tried both H6 compressors I have.  Any thoughts on that?  Could the orifice be blown out?  Where is that, mounted to the evaporator?

[pontoontodd]

Cruise is still shutting off on me occasionally.  The light on the button turns off, it's not just cancelling.  Is there a relay for that aside from the one in the cruise computer?  I tried a different cruise computer from a junkyard and it does the same thing.

 

I replaced the expansion valve in the AC system and there is still no pressure difference between high and low side with the compressor running.  Could this be caused by insufficient oil?  Or should I get a different compressor?

 

For a few days the engine was cutting out at about 4000RPM in first gear at full throttle, like you turned off the ignition.  Never at part throttle or any other gear.  Cleared trouble codes and hasn't done it since.

 

Been messing with some other minor things and waiting for some shock parts to try something different.

 

Also getting serious about finding another rust free H6 Outback with under 150k miles, preferably 2001-2004 non VDC.

[Gloyale]

cruise faulting and rev limiting tied to CEL?

 

sounds like a VSS issue.

[Uberoo]

Hey Gloyale clean out your PM box.

[czny]

"I replaced the expansion valve in the AC system and there is still no pressure difference between high and low side with the compressor running.  Could this be caused by insufficient oil?  Or should I get a different compressor?"

 

From what I've read, you've replaced the compressor expansion valve & still the compressor doesn't cycle. Are you sure the A/C clutch is engaging to drive the compressor?

Unless the clutch is engaged the pump won't rotate. Very simple to power that clutch with a hot wire to test the clutch with engine running & gauges connected. 

Have you checked the pressure high-low switch, thermal overload in compressor or anything else in A/C clutch control circuits?  I don't have a diagram here for your vehicle. 

 

[pontoontodd]

"I replaced the expansion valve in the AC system and there is still no pressure difference between high and low side with the compressor running.  Could this be caused by insufficient oil?  Or should I get a different compressor?"

 

From what I've read, you've replaced the compressor expansion valve & still the compressor doesn't cycle. Are you sure the A/C clutch is engaging to drive the compressor?

Unless the clutch is engaged the pump won't rotate. Very simple to power that clutch with a hot wire to test the clutch with engine running & gauges connected. 

Have you checked the pressure high-low switch, thermal overload in compressor or anything else in A/C clutch control circuits?  I don't have a diagram here for your vehicle. 

 

The clutch engages and turns the compressor, but still no pressure drop, now maybe 10-20psi, but not the 200 or so it should have.  I replaced the expansion valve which is mounted in the car with the evaporator.  What is the compressor expansion valve?

[czny]

I meant to say "replaced the compressor(comma) expansion valve & still" etc.

Does that expansion valve have a pilot tube connected to the system - in other words there are three connections to it? Did you replace the inline filter when you did the compressor too? A clogged filter would affect the pressures.

Did you flush the evaporator & condenser coils?

Another thing often overlooked are the rubber lines themselves. Inner linings have been known to collapse, blocking flow.

Edited February 4, 2018 by czny

[pontoontodd]

I meant to say "replaced the compressor(comma) expansion valve & still" etc.

Does that expansion valve have a pilot tube connected to the system - in other words there are three connections to it? Did you replace the inline filter when you did the compressor too? A clogged filter would affect the pressures.

Did you flush the evaporator & condenser coils?

Another thing often overlooked are the rubber lines themselves. Inner linings have been known to collapse, blocking flow.

 

The expansion valve has just two connections and some kind of metal diaphram looking thing with a copper tube that ends in a bigger copper tube clamped to one of the lines.  Presumably some kind of temperature compensating orifice.

 

 

I have no idea if or where there is an inline filter.  I did not flush out the evaporator or condenser.  I would think any added restriction from a clogged filter, evaporator, or condenser or collapsed tube would give me more pressure drop than normal, not less, but I guess that's why I'm asking.

[czny]

Yeah, that thermo bulb is meant to be stuffed into the evap coils to compensate for changing temps.

 

OK, so you don't know if the evaporator or condenser coils are clean & free flowing. The filter should be somewhere near the inlet line to the condenser, sometimes in front of the radiator if small enough. Some filters have a view window built into the top. Others have ports for the high-low pressure switches.

Changing the high side filter when replacing the compressor is a MUST. So is flushing the coils & lines to rid the system of contaminated oils & particulates. Most parts store carry system flush in aerosol cans for $15-20. After flushing blow out all parts with dry compressed air. AND, evacuating the system then charging with a little R134 to test for leaks before fully charging the system.

Also, did you drain the compressor oil then refill it with recommended oil? Likewise with the filter & condenser. There has to a certain total amount of oil in the system to survive. Otherwise you'll be lunching the compressor again & again, contaminating the lines, condenser, evaporator etc again & again. 

 

Here's a 99 Lego drier-accumulator-filter:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2195678&cc=1389405&jsn=351

 

More reading:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/163981-98-outback-ac-work-compressor-dryer-and-evaporator/?hl=%2Bconditioning+%2Bcompressor&do=findComment&comment=1363158

Edited February 7, 2018 by czny

[pontoontodd]

cruise faulting and rev limiting tied to CEL?

 

sounds like a VSS issue.

 

Thanks for this tip, if it acts up more I will check VSS wiring.  Saw another thread with I think an EZ30 that would cut out at 4000RPM tied to a VSS issue.

 

Yeah, that thermo bulb is meant to be stuffed into the evap coils to compensate for changing temps.

 

OK, so you don't know if the evaporator or condenser coils are clean & free flowing. The filter should be somewhere near the inlet line to the condenser, sometimes in front of the radiator if small enough. Some filters have a view window built into the top. Others have ports for the high-low pressure switches.

Changing the high side filter when replacing the compressor is a MUST. So is flushing the coils & lines to rid the system of contaminated oils & particulates. Most parts store carry system flush in aerosol cans for $15-20. After flushing blow out all parts with dry compressed air. AND, evacuating the system then charging with a little R134 to test for leaks before fully charging the system.

Also, did you drain the compressor oil then refill it with recommended oil? Likewise with the filter & condenser. There has to a certain total amount of oil in the system to survive. Otherwise you'll be lunching the compressor again & again, contaminating the lines, condenser, evaporator etc again & again. 

 

Here's a 99 Lego drier-accumulator-filter:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2195678&cc=1389405&jsn=351

 

More reading:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/163981-98-outback-ac-work-compressor-dryer-and-evaporator/?hl=%2Bconditioning+%2Bcompressor&do=findComment&comment=1363158

 

Thanks for the tips and links.

 

Drove the 99 Outback down to southeastern Illinois over the weekend.  Cruise worked pretty well, shut off at most once an hour on the highway.  Engine ran fine and never cut out all weekend.  Mainly 100s of miles of interstate driving but at least 100 miles off pavement.  I'd tried something different with the front struts but it didn't seem to work as well as before, so I'm going to put it back.

 

We did see some cool ice though.

 

Indian Kitchen:

 

 

 

Secret Canyon:

 

 

arch along entrance road to Garden of the Gods:

 

 

Pounds Hollow:

 

 

 

[pontoontodd]

A couple weeks ago, when the engine was cutting out, I heard a bad noise during very hard cornering and acceleration in a rough turn or two in the 99 Outback.  Looks like the u-joint at the back of the trans hits the driveshaft strap under extreme loads.  It's probably an inch away at rest but that trans mount is soft.  Need to bend that strap down.  You can sort of see it in this picture.

 

 

Replaced the head gaskets in the Impreza last weekend.  One thing I've been impressed with in every Subaru engine I've done head gaskets on is that you can still see the cross hatching in the bores and the ring gaps are tiny with a quarter million miles on them.

 

 

There were a lot of little dings on the quench area of the heads.  Those must have been caused by something the previous owner did.

 

 

Head gaskets definitely looked a lot different than the new ones but I'm used to the MLS gaskets so I don't really know what bad looks like with these.

 

 

While the engine was apart I replaced the timing belt and clutch release bearing.

 

I put everything back together and as I started filling up the radiator it started leaking out the middle of the core.  If you saw this radiator you would be surprised this is the only leak, but the strange thing is that it wasn't leaking when the car was running.  Some piece of debris must have been clogging the hole and fell out when I drained it.  Also the battery isn't quite enough in sub freezing temps.  So I got a new radiator and battery.  If I'd known all that I don't know if I would have done the head gaskets, it's a great car but probably not worth spending a few hundred bucks in parts and a few days fixing it.  On the plus side it seems to run fine now.  Drove it for a few hours today and no overheating or coolant loss/overflow. 

 

Really need to find another rust free H6 car.

[pontoontodd]

Finally figured out my AC issue with the 99 Outback.  I've been skeptical of the Harbor freight gauges for a while now, just seems like they don't always respond when you think they should.  I got a couple pressure gauges from McMaster which I added on and those agreed with the HF gauges.  I was telling one of my friends about there being no pressure drop between high and low and when I told him I was only adding one can of R134 he suggested I add more.  Then I noticed when you go to fill the system the low side immediately jumps up to 60-70psi and the can doesn't get much lighter.  Eventually I figured out the low pressure fitting on the HF kit was not charging the system.  Got a new one this afternoon, system charges, AC blows cold, took two cans.  Running about 100psi on the high side and 20 on the low side but it's only 40F outside.  lt's probably not fully charged but works, going to wait until it warms up to try to add more.

[pontoontodd]

There are two different ranches the Texas desert racing series and this weekend they were going to hold a race at the one we haven't been to.  My friend and I convoyed towards Texas in the Outback following another friend.  He'd just gotten a baja bug, formerly desert raced in Nevada, but thought it might have clutch problems.  There was some rain forecast for a few days before the race, the day before we left they cancelled prerun on Friday but said the race was still on for Saturday.  When we were halfway through Missouri our friend got a call saying they had snow so the race was cancelled.  We found a spot not too far off I44 near Cuba Missouri with a bunch of dirt roads.  We drove down a side trail in the Outback that kept getting narrower and narrower.  Got back to the dirt road and our friend just wanted to do a few miles on the main roads in the baja, so we did a triangle loop.  He said his clutch was definitely slipping.  He thought it might have been but has no good place to test run the car since it's not street legal right now.  He headed back home and we headed to Arkansas.  Looked like the weather was supposed to be decent on Friday so we stayed in Branson Thursday night.

Drove down to Pedestal Rocks and hiked to that and King's bluff.  Then I let my friend drive and we looked for some woods trails in the Ouachita national forest.  There were a couple of side trails with blue markers.  He went north on one for a little bit and then we weren't sure if we were supposed to continue so we went back to the main road.  The trail continued south of that road but looked more like a hiking path.  There was another trail that went north that we drove on.  It continued for miles, fairly narrow with a lot of small stream crossings/ditches/berms with various side trails, most of which were dead ends.  Eventually we were heading down a trail that was headed straight for a road.  It kept getting steeper and rockier downhill but we figured we could drive back up it if necessary and it should come out to the road.  It did come out to a wide graded gravel road.  On the opposite side of the road was a small dirt parking area along a raging river.  We went one direction on the road and it came to a river crossing.  It was not extremely wide but at least two feet deep and flowing fast.  There was a house near the river and they had a footbridge over it and a truck on the other side, probably for times like this when the river can't be crossed easily.  So we headed the other way on the road and in about a mile it also came to a raging river crossing much worse than the one by the house.  After surveying our options, we decided our best bet was to go back up that rocky hill, even if we had to go all the way back the way we came.  We aired down the tires, dumped out some extra water jugs to reduce weight, and set up a couple go pros on the front.  Drove up fairly easily in low range, it was a little rough and we definitely had some wheelspin but made it to the top without any real issues.  That is probably the longest rockiest climb we've ever done.  Went off on another trail which also came down to a graded gravel road.  The first end we went to had a raging river crossing, at which point I told my friend I'd bet money there's one a mile the other way.  Which there was.  There was a trail that went along the river right before crossing it but went through some deep water to get there and we doubted that would cross the river.  There were a bunch of other short side trails that went to an old rock wall and camp sites along the river.  So we went back up on the trails.  Another trail eventually got to a paved road.  The trail did continue across the road but I'd had enough for the day so we started heading north.  At that point we'd been on those trails for about four hours looking for a way out of the woods and made it maybe three miles total in a straight line from where we started after maybe twenty miles of wandering.  Fortunately the AC worked the whole time, it was the only way we could keep the windows from fogging up with all the moisture, which really helped being able to see in the woods.  We stayed the night in Rolla.

Wasn't supposed to rain Saturday morning, we would be between two big storm systems, so we went to the high point of Missouri.  On the way there I tried a bunch of side roads, many of which had deep rivers/streams crossing them.  One of those might have been a quarter mile of water to where the road started on the other side.  We hiked to the tallest waterfall in Missouri (Taum Sauk) that's a mile hike from the high point.  Not so much one big falls as a bunch of rapids but it was cool.  The hike there was wet and rocky.  It didn't really rain while we were hiking but most of the trail was a stream.  When we got back to the car we put on dry socks and our driving shoes since that's all we had with.  Next stop was St. Joe state park.  It was basically on our way back and I've been curious to see it for a while now.  Admission is only $5 per car, I also had to buy a $12 flag since we hadn't brought ours along since we hadn't planned on going to any off road parks.  Unfortunately only dirt bikes, ATVs, and side by sides can use the trails.  Full size vehicles can only drive on the sand flats, much of which is lead mining tailings.  Not a very large area, about a mile in each direction, we drove around all the flats in about twenty minutes, but it would be a decent place to do some suspension testing and tuning.  There was a lot of standing water when we were there and the engine started to hesitate and sputter a little bit.  Not terribly but after we'd been around once I figured it was best not to push it.  Put the flag in the back between the cage and the headliner, then I just hooped the bottom half around in a U to close the hatch.  Almost immediately after we left the park rain started coming down hard so we just drove home.  Cruise stopped working for the last hour or two.  A few times during the trip it would stay on but lose some speed, I would set it at 80 and it would stay there for an hour or two and then drop to about 75 but maintain the lower speed.  Maybe an hour later on the highway we heard a crunchy noise, at first I thought maybe it was gravel coming loose from somewhere under the car.  A while later I noticed the fiberglass flag pole was broken and then realized that caused the noise.

 

Overall it was a good trip, weather was crappy and we were disappointed the race was cancelled but we found some cool trails for hiking and driving and didn't have any real problems.

Cruise worked again the next day.
Wipers didn't work well the whole time, I've tried a couple different brands and they seem to have too much arch so they don't really wipe in the middle of the blade and don't wipe well on the way down.

[Gloyale]

 

 

Wipers didn't work well the whole time, I've tried a couple different brands and they seem to have too much arch so they don't really wipe in the middle of the blade and don't wipe well on the way down.

 

I'll bet yer windshield is flexed.  That cowl area has taken a beating eh?

[pontoontodd]

I'll bet yer windshield is flexed.  That cowl area has taken a beating eh?

 

That is an understatement.  Driver's side wiper arm rubs on the windshield sometimes too.  Know of any fix for this?

[Gloyale]

That is an understatement.  Driver's side wiper arm rubs on the windshield sometimes too.  Know of any fix for this?

 

pop the windshield out and reinstall.

 

Might reset the "bow" of the glass.

[pontoontodd]

My friend finally figured out his starting problem with the Forester was a bad battery to starter ground.  Added another ground cable and starts consistently now.  Clutch was still basically non functional, he got one of his co-workers to tow it to my place.  We pulled the CV axles and trans and found this:

 

 

 

Knew the release bearing was bad, I could see sparks coming off it one time looking in the bellhousing when he hit the clutch.

 

 

 

 

Kinda figured this was the case too, some fingers missing so you can't really disengage the clutch anymore.  Ends of the fingers torched from the dead release bearing.  Not sure exactly why they broke though.  It's never been replaced while he's owned the car, maybe it's original?

 

 

Inside of the bellhousing is beat up from the shrapnel, there is one extra hole in it now.  Definitely not SFI approved.

 

We replaced his RF CV axle that was making noise with a reman axle from the dealer, curious to see how that holds up.

 

 

We did a few things to the 99 Outback.  Tried fixing the rear wiper.  Does nothing when you hit the switch on the stalk.  Tried a different motor off an old hatch, same thing.  Both motors turn when voltage is applied, go back to the park position when you plug them back into the car.  Plug for the motor has 12V at three pins, ground at one pin.  Still don't entirely understand the wiring for this with the whole park deal.  Going to try to find the relay which should be near the gas filler inside the car.

 

Cleaned up all the battery cable ends in the Impreza and replaced one.

 

 

So they all seem to be starting and driving well now.  Cruise in the 99 OB is intermittent, cruise in the Forester doesn't work, and there are some other minor things we could work on.

[pontoontodd]

We went to the local you pull it junkyard on Saturday and picked up a bunch of things, mainly for the Forester.  Got all the corner lights, exhaust Y pipe, cruise actuator, module, and switch.  We checked and the later one piece Forester headlights don't quite fit the older Forester at least without some sheet metal cutting.  Got a couple of trailer wiring harnesses.  Cut out the auto trans harness plugs for a future manual trans swap.  I had pulled a couple of idle air control valves the last time I was there. 

Took the front spindles off a ~2007 Outback that has bolt on wheel bearings.  My friend might eventually put those on his Forester.  Ever since I did that in my 99 Outback they've been good, and if I do have to replace them it will be much easier than the press in bearings.

He put the corner lights, idle air control valve, and exhaust Y pipe on his Forester.  The cruise actuator on his car measured infinite resistance across two of the pins that had under 100 ohms resistance on the one we'd pulled out of the yard, so he swapped that out.  It had been idling at 1700-3000RPM, now it idles normally, it's quieter, might run smoother, and the cruise works.

[scalman]

As for alternators h6 was on 3 wires socket as just 2 on 2.5 . some more fancy stuff was there

 

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=265729&stc=1&d=1460410918

Edited March 13, 2018 by scalman