killjoy323232

At the rate mine’s going, that’s compelling, but then I remembered I’m broke and can’t afford another car, and I still have a Forester XT that needs new head gaskets, on top of my leaky, smoky, misfiring (50/50 shot of replacing the right pair of coils, and I got it wrong), badly-tuned-because-the-knock-sensor-took-a-crap OBXT…these Subarus keep me busy at least! LOL

For me, if they don’t go flying across the room of their own volition, it’s because I threw it after mangling it taking it off the car I know what tools I’m buying next…

@KZJonny I should have grabbed some pics while I was under the car. I know that hose is a biznatch to line up on the best of days (sure was on the Forester - the entire reason I had a shop do it this time), and these dudes charged me for OEM parts. Last I checked, Subaru doesn’t use worm clamps on that damn hose, which’ll be a new, fresh kind of hell to remove. @alex0856 Thanks for the tips. I had considered pulling/swapping the up-pipe, too (since ‘06s allegedly still have cats for some reason) which will give relative acres to replace that damned hose. If not, I’ll just remove the DP, buy some comically long screwdrivers and pliers, and go to town. My city is big enough to have most amenities, but the nearest competent shop that’s willing to work on a Subaru (and the dealership here is useless) is like 6 hours Northwest OR Southeast.

Well, I got off my rear to check a couple things out on the never-ending pile of woe that is my XT. Drove it to my dad's work, where they've got an inspection pit, to try to change the plugs and swap the coils (chasing a got-dang misfire that I can't seem to catch in the act - it'll either occasionally miss, or drop a cylinder entirely for a bit, then catch up). I ended up changing the driver's side coils with some used OEM ones (connector on the front one was RTV'd in, and the no-name, third party coil fell apart in my hands as I was removing it - good thing I had spares!). Left the plugs alone, because the "14mm" swivel spark plug socket I bought wasn't even close to fitting the new plugs (unless the NGKs are actually 5/8ths - that'd be my luck). It seemed to miss less, but I had the A/C on and was driving into the wind. I'll keep an eye on it and see if there's an improvement. If not, I'll swap the other coils and install plugs at the same time. More infuriating, though, is it gave me a chance to look at my turbo oil drain, because I suspected a leak there. The "new" hose (that I paid a shop an insane amount of money to replace) is twisted and damn near torn to shreds, so now, I have to find a creative way to replace that.

When I had the shop in Arlington drop the EJ20 in, I suspect they didn’t route the wiring harness under the manifold properly. I had taken the IC off to check the sensor and wiring (chasing a P0328 and drivability issues), and both the knock sensor and throttle harnesses were strained. I have a new sensor to install to see if the CEL goes away, but if not, might have to repair the harness somehow.

Had to park the OBXT for the moment. Have been dealing with an odd misfire that has steadily been getting worse. The good news is I’m now pretty sure it’s spark-related. It’s the only time in my life I’ve wanted to see a blinking CEL to try to track down the misbehaving cylinder, so I’ll knock that and the dodgy knock sensor(/wiring) out at the same time.

Today, I tried to further investigate some drivability issues that I've been having with the car, that I suspect has to do with the knock sensor (P0328, running like garbage, feels like it's misfiring, but could actually be the knock sensor going crazy as there are no misfires reported). Bought a lightly used OEM one (that looks wrong, as it's a two-wire. Great.), took the I/C off, and realized that A.) the harnesses for the knock sensor and TB were very strained, like someone had the intake manifold off and didn't route the harness properly, and B.) that the knock sensor is in an incredibly inconvenient spot, and will require, at minimum, a crow's foot wrench. I buttoned it back up until I can get said wrench, but if the harness is damaged in some way, it's going to be next to impossible to examine without taking the manifold off. Fun times.

That may be my next step…I got the fuel temp sensor and level sender swapped over to the STi pump, started the car, took it out for a drive, and the car ran like utter crap. It felt like I had run out of gas, but it gradually cleared up after I drove it some more and filled the tank. It only had like 1/8 tank when I swapped the pump. Now, I THINK it’s running better…I still have the boost turned way down, and I’m not sure if it’s the crap roads or PTSD, but every now and again, I think I feel a slight stumble (not quite a miss - it’s extremely light) when accelerating. I also have a Company23 tee that I have yet to install for the FPR vacuum line though, because it could also be that famous stutter.

So, as an update to this, just until I can get a good aftermarket one, I scored a really good deal on the complete pump assembly from a really low mileage, wrecked 2018 STi locally. Figured, ah, what the heck, it's A.) really cheap, B.) OEM, and C.) not broken. What I've learned: 1. The VA STi pump assembly physically drops in and works and pumps fuel...and that's about the end of it. 2. Don't be like me - I should have known better and should have swapped the level sender and the sensor on the side of the assembly over, because the VA bits don't work. At all. Who could have seen that coming?

If it reads like mine during the day, it’s scaled 0, 20, 40, nothing, 120, 140, 160. Very useful. I’ll get around to repairing it eventually. i have a clear lens from a base model OB cluster that I can put on to mitigate the issue temporarily. Just haven’t done that either.

“Right side of the speedometer”…please don’t say “dead backlighting”. I’m putting off looking at mine, mostly because of the slightly overwhelming amount of effort it takes to swap/reprogram the immobilizer EEPROM in the cluster…or disassemble the cluster.

I echo the above sentiments…I know that pain. Such a beautiful wagon, too.

Hadn’t ever had the injectors out myself, and to be honest, not sure if they’re original or the JDM 20x injectors. Figured I’d start at the pump/filter (holy crap, speaking of the stupid filter, the OEM ones are $$$) since theyre almost certainly original to the car, and given the car’s sordid history, could be contributing to the miss. Looks like I’ve got some shopping around to do.

Got it…I’ll try searching for the DIY when I get home. Might have better luck than on mobile. On the coils, that’s kind of why I was considering used factory ones that have, say, 20,000 miles or so off of a ‘18 STi, rather than brand new NGK, if they fit. Save a little money (and lasting the life of the car) while not ending up with complete junk. Of course, failing the compatibility check, I’ll be buying new, quality coils, anyway.

I’ve had an EJ20x swapped into my XT for a few months now, and it’s been great. BUT, I have a feeling some of the 217,000-mile and 17-year-old parts are starting to show their age, as I’ve developed a weird, random stumble while accelerating. Very concerning, as it’s under boost, and at this point, equally likely to be fuel or spark, so I’m considering this “preventative maintenance”. SO, couple of questions: 1.) On changing fuel pumps on the 4th gens with an aftermarket one (eyeing something like an AEM 300), is it just a matter of disassemble basket, swap pump (with new sock), reassemble? I realize I probably sound like a rube, but I’ve never installed an aftermarket pump before on anything. 2.) Are ignition coils interchangeable from, say, later EJ25 STi’s? They appear to be visually similar on RockAuto, and I figure lightly used OEM might be better/cheaper than new aftermarket. Thanks in advance!

Ugh, thats exactly what I “repaired” today…except I cheated and used a combination of M6 hardware to secure it, as my ‘Amazon special’ tap would not cut threads. It’s not on as tight as I’d like (there’s next to no room under that part of the rad support even after taking the grille and hood latch off, so good luck holding that blind inner nut still) and will probably rattle apart even with a lock washer, but it’s something until I can tap it properly. Tomorrow’s job is drilling/riveting the driver’s door support beam back in place to stop that rattle.

Edited my EJ20X map to a “fail safe” state (stock boost and wastegate, with the required lowered timing and increased fueling for the high comp.) until I can figure out for sure why the car is breaking up under moderate/high load… …or, until I just give up and replace the likely worn out 216,000-mile fuel pump and coils with shiny new parts, when I have the time/space to do so.

My ‘06 is sitting pretty at 216k here. She ain’t exactly happy, but she’s moving under her own power at least!

While waiting for my fuel pressure gauge to come in to hopefully pinpoint some weirdness while tuning for my 20X swap, installed my new '05 headlights (thanks, @SubOperator!), cursed the collision repair shop that apparently "fixed" the car before I got it, and did a quick and dirty chrome grille surround blackout.

If I’m reading that right, the ECU is adding fuel in the “A, B, and C” ranges. Granted, I’m still a nub when it comes to tuning/troubleshooting, so someone more experienced should chime in (battling with my own car), but if you went to a smaller displacement engine while leaving the tune alone, shouldn’t those be trending negative?

The .125 IAM makes sense if it’s the stock map. It’s probably pulling timing like crazy. Mine sure did before I started having it tuned for the 20X.

PM'd

Very good to know...thanks for that info! I was poking around the "totally legitimate" version of SSM3 that I have installed on my laptop and checked the manual that comes installed with the software, and lo and behold, there are two keys you need. One is presumably the vehicle-specific one that you'd mentioned, and the other might be a lockout to keep people who don't know what they're doing from messing with the immobilizer. Also, it looks to be like an all-or-nothing procedure; there's no "just" re-registering a cluster - You're registering the entire immobilizer with whatever is currently installed in the car (with the matching code/VIN/what have you). Which is a bummer, because that means my only options are A.) Clone the cluster EEPROM somehow (if I fail to get the code...or don't buy the necessary hardware, which is $$$), B.) Leave my car in a city that is at minimum, an hour away, to have them *possibly* reprogram the immobilizer (have I mentioned my Subie dealer is worthless here?), or C.) Pray that I don't completely ruin the existing cluster/steppers trying to replace the failed LEDs myself. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, and good luck with the new shop, by the way!

Both that thread and the relevant immo thread over on the other forum are full of very useful info, but seem to be more geared toward using a new ECU, rather than a new cluster. I saw it mentioned a bit briefly, but didn’t really see a follow-up. I’m starting to get the vibe that my only options may be dealer, or EEPROM programming on the cluster…however that might work. Definitely have my work cut out for me.

Ah, gotcha. See, I’m hoping that whatever requires the locksmith account only applies to cutting/registering new keys and not necessarily to re-registering components to the BIU (i.e. the cluster), but that would make sense that it might. Everything I’ve been able to find so far has been a bit vague…even the FSM, and while I’m tech-savvy, I’ve never done EEPROM cloning/writing. If only the dealership in my city wasn’t a complete dumpster fire (or there was a Subaru shop around me that had an SSM3), I wouldn’t have to worry as much.