Emjayex

56 minutes ago, D.Ivanov said:

Hi all, I’m a new member here, very helpful forum, stay cool everyone and here is what I’m driving currently

Bro this thing is CLEANNN!!! Looks amazing man

1 hour ago, silverton said:

The underside of your car is well lubricated buddy.

With these pictures it's impossible to say what's leaking. If it's not the head gaskets, valve covers or the steering rack itself, there are three potential leak points on the back side of the engine; rear main seal, the separator plate, and piston pin access cover.

You can either remove the transmission, or pull the engine again.  If you pull the engine I recommend cleaning up all that mess so the next time something leaks it's easier to identify.

Ahh crap. Thats kinda not what I wanted to hear

We did change out the rear main seal as well, so it must be one of the other two (which Ive never heard anything about until now). And Im assuming to replace the separator plate or the piston pin access cover, that means the engine would have to be out anyways? 

Thanks for the input though, Ill look more into that

Ok, long story short, oil is leaking from the rear of my engine and is leaking onto 1st cat/headers area. Its burning, causing quite a bit of smoke. 

Full story, I was driving home from a road trip. Stopped to rest, stretch my legs. And a bunch of smoke comes into the cabin, and through my hood scoop. I freak out because I hope its not on fire or nothing. (Car did not overheat, temps were normal) I let it cool, everyone is looking at me like Im a fool. And Im seeing smoke coming from said cat/header area. 

I do have a power steering pump leak that does burn just a little and has a very small amount of smoke come out here and there. But nothing like this. 

I checked oil levels, and it did go down, just a bit. Nothing concerning. So I topped it off with a bit more oil just to be safe and drove the rest of the way home. 

Its still smokes a bit, not nearly as much as the first time, oil levels are still good and there is some small drips on the driveway. Attatched are some pics of what the underside looks like, and where some leaking can kind of be seen. 

(Car used to leak a ton of oil before I changed headgaskets, valve cover gaskets and almost all the other seals/gaskets you could think of. So there is still a bunch of residue I never bothered cleaning )

1 hour ago, silverton said:

it's difficult to say WHY the line is missing, but I suppose you'll find out!

Yeah, Im not sure why its missing either. But Ive got the line in and cruise control works like a dream! 

25 minutes ago, silverton said:

no fluids.  just get some vacuum line that has a secure fit and send it.

That simple, eh? Who woulda thought lol

Thanks man

So I found a pic of a legacy engine bay and there IS a vacuum line or SOMETHING thats conmected to the end of that metal tubing. Does anyone know what that is??? Do I just need some tubing to pop on there? Or is there some sort of hydraulic fluid or something that goes there too?

Ok, so yes, my cruise control isnt working on my 98' Legacy OBW, so it has the EJ25D. And after everything Ive researched, I just thought it was just some steering wheel issue. So I didnt worry about it. But today I was trying to clean my iacv (car was still too warm so I started looking at some other things around the bay to make sure it was all good) and I noticed my cruise control (module?). We'll just refer to it as the CCM for now. It has a cable connected to the throttle body, right? So I followed the cable to the CCM, and then connected to the CCM is some metal tubing? At the end of the metal tube, theres...nothing??? (Shown in first pic)

And then I noticed that there also seems to be another valve or something that doesnt have anything connected to it either. (Shown in second pic) Is there supposed to be something connecting the two and thats why my cruise control isnt working???

Yellow represents the cable/tubing

Red is just the Cruise control module. 

Any insight or thoughts are very much appreciated. 

6 hours ago, Scubaboo said:

Oh and something like the equivalent of $500 used, I could probably get them cheaper but I didnt bother looking and was in a hurry.  They were only a few weeks old when I got them FWIW.

So sorry man, I just realized you already told me the specs lol

But thats awesome. Ill definitely keep a close eye out for any rotas that pop up. I just dont want to overpay whenever I find a nice set

1 hour ago, Scubaboo said:

Looks great man! 

Ill keep an eye out for some Rotas. If ya dont mind me asking, what are the specs and how much did you get em for since they were used?

2 hours ago, Scubaboo said:

I am on Rota's, 18x8 Gravels with 225/45 tires on my 5th gen Legacy.

I got them to clear STI Brembos I put on around 2018, the Gravels were well documented to clear those brakes.  Cheap too.

I still have them on today, no bends yet but the powdercoat came off in chunks for some reason a few years ago so had them repainted.

IMO at stock Subaru tire sizes and tire pressures (not low on air) Rotas should hold their own.

Awesome man, any pics?

And where did you get em? Used? Brand new?

2 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Really don’t think it would be the PS pump either. If a leaking seal there caused a CEL, half of us would have one. 

Lol good to know

Ill update if for some reason cleaning the iacv works though

Ok, so I recently got a cel and p1507 popped up. I had this code when I initially bought the car (1998 Legacy OB MT) but replaced the neutral saftey switch, cleared the code and never had any cels until just recently.

It idles fine, everything seems normal, but I just have the code. I was prepped to go to the store get some carbon cleaner and clean out the iacv, but my car still runs fine and doesnt have dirty iacv symptoms. What do you guys think it could be? Old vaccum hose with a leak? 

(Side note my power steering pump is leaking a bit and Im going to replace the O-ring soon, but I highly doubt thats whats causing the cel) 

49 minutes ago, silverton said:

I know they're konigs! i have a picture of the label inside the barrel but it doesn't do me any good with a google search they came with the car just running stock tire size 205/55r16's, has DWS06's on it now.

 

Ohh ok I see. 16s dont look as bad as I thought theyd look. Again, thx so much!

53 minutes ago, silverton said:

*mumbles to himself about stupid prius' owner who could have just pulled forward out of their spot but backed up into my passenger door instead*

(assuming original 200k miles suspension)

(h&r sport springs with gr2's)

Oh man! It does look real sweet. Seems to be about perfect dd ride height. I think Im getting H&R. Thanks so much Silverton!

(And jeez that prius really left a mark. So sorry man )

Also, are those Konig Runlites? Wheel/tire specs pls?

43 minutes ago, silverton said:

I run gr2's and h&r sports on my gen 3 legacy and love it, the ride and the look are great.  I want to get h&r sports for my gen 6

Awesome! Any pics of how it sits?

Update: I found that there are legit lowering springs made by H&R for my gen 2 legacy. Lowers about 1.25 front, 1 inch rear. Any thoughts on those?

Hey all, wondering if anyone has, or had H&R OE Sport Springs and what opinions you had on them. I own a 98 Legacy Outback, and I just wanna lower it a tad. Might try autocross, definitely some spirited driving, but I mainly just want to lower for looks while not going too low. 

The springs im looking at says theyre for 04-07 sti. 04 should work with my stock shocks for the meantime. It also says it lowers about half an inch or so all around. Since I have an Outback, that means Ill be roughly and inch and a half lower. (Will probably need saggy butt spacers)

Any thoughts, opinions, ideas?

Thanks everyone!

15 hours ago, 05gtripper said:

Doubt fluid is the problem. cant speak on the tech of the trans yet tho. Think we have helical gears, all I got lmao.

       Get a kartboy shortshifter.  My stock one had lots of N play & overall play.  Is less now with shortshifter. I land in gear with much less movement  & quicker.  I did NOT replace any linkage bushings or anything else.   my plastic pivot/ball cup broke tho on install & may be making it a bit harder to shift around occasionally. like def going down to 1st is a lil tighter i feel, maybe even almost every pull but it also lost 2in of leverage.   I'd recommend Kboy sshifter & an oem or if he has em'-- a new ball cup pivot thing.   plus u can get linkage bushings & such from there.  Other's said they like a OEM /non stiff feel tho, obvi anything is better than worn tho.       

My 4th has dropped out a few times since i've bought my vehicle too.   sucks-  worst one was few days ago on bumpy rd- was in it for 20 secs- scariest part.   I now am working on the habit of applying pressure after the shift to make sure it's good, then let go.   but actually i think it's mostly from the bumps & acell.. cuz my shifter moves a fair bit(enough to possibly slip out if weak engagement already). Worn bushings everywhere on this thing.  Just picked up the front two control arms to put in this weekend.

Good luck, 

Mick

Theres a replica Cobb short shifter on Amazon for less than 40 bucks so I think I will try it out and see how it goes

Just now, Emjayex said:

Lol well I guess it makes sense. Ill try it out then and see how it goes

So replacing bushings, short shifter upgrade should fix all those issues then?

3 hours ago, silverton said:

This buddy.  1000% this.

Lol well I guess it makes sense. Ill try it out then and see how it goes

Ok, some context...

1998 Legacy OBW, 5 speed manual, 163k miles. 

So heres my problem. Its an intermittent one, but a strange and possibly dangerous problem nonetheless. This has happened to me maybe 3 or 4 times in the past 2 or so months. 2nd, 4th and reverse gear seems to get really tough to get into. 1st, 3rd, and 5th are all perfectly fine. When it gets stiff, it almost feels like a misplaced shifter bushing is in the way of 2nd, 4th and reverse gear positions. Its popped out of 2nd on me a couple times trying to get into gear. 

Again, its weird because it doesnt happen all the time, and seemed to start happening once it started getting cold. Its happened to me while turning onto a busy street most cars going 50-60 mph and it got sketchy. 

Side note: my shifter does need bushings replaced as it rattles like CRAZY. I was thinking of just going for a short shifter in the near future. 

Any thoughts? Tips? Will a short shifter fix the issue? Would trans fluid be the culprit? Might the whole trans be ready to fly out the window???

Edit: fixed some typos

So, tires...dont want to necessarily "cheap out" on tires, but I hear that its best to get the best tires you can afford. So Im wondering what are some "good" performance/summer tires that are under maybe $500-$600 bucks a set. 

Im not tracking my car, but have been considering dabbling in autox.

Definitely some spirited driving though

Tires im looking at: (all come in 215/45 r17

Kumho Ecsta

Hankook Ventus V2

Lexani LXUHP

On 11/18/2023 at 10:48 AM, KZJonny said:

Also, you can probably get a full cat back for the price of a set of new headers… and that will likely sounds nice if you choose well, or have something custom made.

For the heat shields, either put worm clamps around them and tighten them down a little till they are snug, or just remove them. Aside from the ones on the header, none are going to cause your car to melt if they aren’t there.

Even the header ones are kind of optional, but really shouldn’t be removed if at all possible.

Btw, I did just want to update that I got my heatshields to stop rattling. I got a bunch of steel wool and stuffed it in the heatshields where it was rattling and for now, its all fixed

I have some clamps just in case it starts rattling again

1 hour ago, KZJonny said:

Hey dude, we all start somewhere. Enjoy the 1st gen wagon. I miss my '02 Outback, wish I had kept it.

If I can suggest a thing, start with a thorough looking over of all the rubber parts in the suspension. All the bushings and mounts. Everywhere. (control arm bushings, sub frame and differential bushing, engine mounts, trans mounts, etc...)

They are typically cheap to get, and while they *may* be a nightmare to remove and replace (rust, seized bolts, etc...) you might be very surprise at how much of a difference in driving experience you get from replacing as many as you can. Even with normal OE-type bushings... You can put fancy coilovers or struts on the car for street cred and a lower ride, but if all the parts that are actually doing the work to keep the car driving as it should are old and dry-rotted, guess how that's gonna feel?

'98 is pretty old and anything original will probably be pretty stuff and likely on the way out, if it hasn't been replaced already. You will also learn an absolute shitstack about how everything under the car works, etc....

That + the best tires you can afford will gain you the best possible return on your modifying dollars.

Thanks man, will do!