aero901

@WohnsonXLR8 Do you remember which seal needs to be reused by chance?

Check the ball joints. I had a bad joint and experienced similar symptoms to those you describe: bad front wheel vibration when decelerating (lifting or braking) from higher speeds.

Guessing it's not getting power to the bulb socket if the bulb is good? Have you verified this with a multi-meter? You'll need to trace the circuit back and see where power (or ground) is being lost (after checking fuses first). I'd pay close attention to where the harness passes from the body into the door through the rubber cable guide and any connectors along the way.

I was able to get this fixed and it wasn't the PS seals. Suction hose was hard as a rock and not sealing around the pump inlet nipple allowing air to get in. The new hose was all that was needed.

I've been using LED bulbs with cooling fans for a few years now and the fans haven't been the point of failure. The driver circuit or the LED chips themselves seem to let go first. Would recommend the mid-range to higher-end LED bulbs over anything available in the incandescent flavor. They are definitely brighter and will last a little bit longer than the high output filament bulbs but they may also cost a little more... Just bought a set of H7 S-V.4 LED bulbs that I'm getting ready to install.

For anyone else that runs into a similar issue, I just had a dimness problem with only the drivers side headlight low beam. Thought it was the LED bulb/driver but when swapping the bulb/driver to the other side the dimness remained at the drivers side housing. Voltage at the connectors were both the same (~11 volts when key in the on position). The problem was the reflective lining on the projector reflector was flaking off and not allowing the light to be pushed out the lens. New housing is the easiest solution here.

Has anyone ventured into the photogrammetry route for making a 3D model? I've had OK results getting an underbody model of an Outback for some bracing/skidpan stuff I'm designing using this method. The model resolution is coarse, almost too coarse for my needs (ie. difficult to locate precise chassis bolt points), but would be an improvement for CFD based on what I've seen posted in this thread. I haven't tried doing the rest of the car since it wasn't needed for my project, but a good camera and a decent PC are the only equipment needed to fill in the blanks. My model was created with the car on a lift (notice the support arms?) meaning the suspension is at full droop. This was good for my purposes but probably not for CFD. It would be difficult to edit the wheels/linkages back to a normal resting position. Might be more time efficient to start from scratch with a car supported on the wheels. To create the model I used Meshroom, MeshLab, (both free), and my 25mp DSLR camera (not so free ). Around 440 full res TIFF images and ~16hrs of CPU time were used to generate the mesh. I have an OK workstation (6core Ryzen 1500, 64gb RAM, Nvida GTX 750 Ti, 64bit Win7). It sounds like some of you have access to much more computing power than this which could speed up the process considerably. MeshLab also allows merging different scans so a large model like a car can be assembled in pieces. MeshLab can export as STLs which most CAD packages can deal with. FYI, high resolution handheld laser scanners are also getting pretty cheap. The Einscan Einstar is going for around $1k and has sub mm resolution. Need a good Win10/11 PC/laptop to run it though.

Is there a power steering seal replacement kit for the 3.0L H6 engine combo? The kits I'm finding are for 2.5L engines... PS pumps are showing as different part numbers between the engines and the FSM specs different output pressures/flows. Replaced the inlet elbow o-ring but the leak persists (PS oil seeping on top of engine behind the pump). New suction hose is on the way but want to get the seal kit lined up if that doesn't fix it... Symptoms are: overflowing reservoir, loud whining noise when turning, "knotchy" feeling steering when turning the wheel. I suspect it is ingesting air somewhere on the suction side but if I'm on the wrong track other advise would be helpful.

Are the bulbs loose or misaligned? If the bulbs aren't clipped into the reflector socket correctly it can have a big impact on brightness and beam pattern. Also, what bulbs are you using and how old are they? OEM bulbs are pretty lackluster but there are LED replacements that will put a lot more photons downrange. I recently refinished my headlights (polished and new 2k clearcoat) and there wasn't a huge difference in brightness when driving at night over the old faded lenses. Looks a hell of a lot better though... If not a loose bulb, what are the voltages at the bulb socket when in DRL mode vs. the low-beams?

Good point. Something to look into for sure. I know the column mount units are commonly used in rally projects which see about the most extreme duty of any motorsport. Granted, the cars weigh less but they also commonly use a steering multiplier which puts even more load on the EPS motor. Need to find some hard numbers though.

Cool, didn't know about the Volvo/Ford units. After looking into it a bit, I'm going to steer clear of them for a couple reasons though. The pumps draw a lot of current. Reports of up to 70 Amps at max effort and this might require an upgraded alternator if used in a high performance environment. The column mounted EPSs max out around 20 Amps when stalled. Looking to stay away from hydraulics in general since they are more complicated with more points for failure and maintenance. The pumps also seem noisy in the videos I've watched? Could just be a video sound equalization thing though? The motor/reservoir assembly is larger than the current stock pump/reservoir which is the opposite direction I am looking to go with this. They are relatively tall and need to be mounted vertically to work. Not seeing a good spot to mount it under the hood without moving/removing other stuff...

You're right those are pretty compact as is. The hoses were my concern since they seem to be taking up space that would better serve FMIC piping and turbo stuff. The ideal solution would be the quick ratio rack with the column style EPS.

Anyone know if there is a Subaru electric power steering rack from a newer model that can be swapped into the Gen 4 chassis relatively easily? Ideally, one with a quicker ratio than 1:17, but willing to go with whatever. The boots and seals on my current rack are toast, the pump is leaking, 20 year old hoses are cracking (basically needs a total system replacement). Can't keep fluid in it more than a couple days. An electric PS conversion/swap may be the cheapest option, if available, at this point. And it would free up quite a bit of space in the engine bay for "future projects." EPS units from a Prius and other similar vehicles seem to be a popular option for other projects I've researched. The motor is integrated into the shaft between the rack and steering wheel though so not sure if there would be enough space under dash while maintaining a stock-ish interior.

I just put a 2019 STI/WRX Catback on my H6 Outback. Louder than stock but not obnoxious. DIY cost was around $200. Posted a bunch of pics of the process over on the Outback Forums: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/wrx-sti-exhaust-swapped-onto-an-06-outback.551237/post-6367376 Video of H6 noises.

Extending the column would be tricky without a well equipped metal working shop... Slide the seat forward an inch and shorten the pedals an inch?