MilesA

Wear and tear, what B.S.! Subaru admitted the material they used was defective and could corrode. Obviously, the anti-corrosion coating they put on during the recall was too little, too late. The corrosion had already got to your brake lines and weakened them. The dealership that did the recall did not inspect very thoroughly or this would have been caught back then. Really disappointing to hear this from Subaru. You deserve better treatment.

That guy needs an editor, seriously. Can you say, executive summary? Perhaps some good info buried in all the ranting there.

RESONANCE 1b (1) :a vibration of large amplitude in a mechanical or electrical system caused by a relatively small periodic stimulus of the same or nearly the same period as the natural vibration period of the system. Vibrations from the engine at certain RPMs have the same natural vibration period as parts of the exhaust system. This sets up the rattling sound you hear. That's assuming this is what's causing your noise.

You have a lot of stamped sheet metal pieces mounted around the various pipes in the exhaust system and the turbo. These can corrode or the fasteners holding them in place can corrode and they will become loose. It will help if you can get the car up on a lift (or rack or hoist or whatever it's called in Australia). https://www.quirkparts.com/auto-parts/2010/subaru/legacy/2-5gt-trim/2-5l-h4-gas-engine/exhaust-system-cat/heat-shields-scat https://www.quirkparts.com/auto-parts/2010/subaru/legacy/2-5gt-trim/2-5l-h4-gas-engine/engine-cat/turbocharger-and-components-scat

I agree on the heat shields. That is so common, especially with age and miles on these cars. There are certain conditions that trigger a resonance in the exhaust. That is the first thing I would try to rule out.

I was hoping we could find out more about what the OP needed and suggest something for him, but I think you all scared him off. I like the suggestion of an Impreza or a Honda as a good first car.

Where do you live, Jack? Do you get a lot of snow and bad weather there? Or drive on dirt and gravel roads? Are you mechanically inclined? Do you like working on things? You would need to be able to deal with pretty poor fuel economy and some potentially expensive repairs.

Captain Obvious here. Exhaust leak most likely. Could be gaskets, could be an exhaust pipe rusting out, could be cat going bad. Do you hear any unusual noise? BTW, your Cobb uppipe is probably catless, meaning you have just the one high-flow cat in the downpipe.

Join Date: 09-14-2004 Joined after I took the Legacy GT for a test drive at a Subaru Ride & Drive event. Bought one of the last 2005 GT Wagon 5MT cars in my area after my old Maxima was totaled. Been on and off the forums since then and it has been invaluable. So, thanks everybody.

I'm amazed you've done that on the original turbo. Congratulations, that has to be a new record!

There are specs in the service manual for camshaft journal clearance: 0.055 — 0.090 mm (0.0022 — 0.0035 inches) If the camshafts and their journals can be polished without exceeding those clearances, that should be OK. I'm not a machinist, though.

A shortblock is a brand new assembly from the factory. It has a new crank, bearings, rods, pistons, rings in a new engine block, but no heads and no accessories. It costs around $1800 if you shop around. At some point, it becomes more cost effective to buy a new shortblock than to tear down the old engine, machine it, put in new bearings, crank, rods, pistons, rings, etc. A new shortblock is less work and everything has been assembled at the factory with high precision. It does not require any machine work. Plus, it is absolutely pristine and new with no debris trapped in the oil passages. So, the most common way to do an engine rebuild is to buy a new shortblock, new oil pump, new oil cooler, get your old heads rebuilt and assemble the engine that way.

I think what those people were saying is they were able to reuse their old heads on a new shortblock, after the heads were cleaned and rebuilt by a machine shop. Since you drove so far after the turbo failed, your shortblock is probably toast. Your heads might be recoverable, but that's not a sure thing. P.S. On the rebuilding question, you can check out the posts in the CARdiac ICU forum. Some people have chosen to do a rebuild on their shortblock, instead of buying a new one. But it doesn't really save much money unless you want to use different parts than you get with a new shortblock, and it takes more time.

He's not even trying to diagnose what is wrong and he has an axe to grind? Maybe it would be better to find someone else who is not lazy/boneheaded/ignorant/prejudiced/all of the above (circle the correct answer).

If your car is a PZEV vehicle, there should be a 15-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the emissions components. Usually just throwing a code is not enough to say that a cat is faulty. The cat is just one of several possible causes for "catalyst efficiency below threshold". A bad cat normally does not affect gas mileage by 6 mpg, and it's unusual for cats to go out on cars with similar age or miles. Other possible causes are things like bad sensor, faulty wiring, exhaust leak. The technician should run through the diagnostic routine in the factory service manual to rule out the other possible causes before declaring the cat is bad.

Can you tell us what is the mileage, model and year of your car? Where do you live? Some of the emissions components are covered by a long warranty period by law. How do you know you need a new cat?

You are like the poster child of the "Please don't try to limp your Legacy GT home" campaign. We should have a sticky post warning people or something.

This can be difficult if there is a lot of rust or corrosion. One of the best tools for this is a heavy duty pitman arm puller. This will non-destructively separate the ball joint using a screw that is tightened with a standard ratchet. You can rent one from Autozone or buy a cheapie from Harbor Freight. Another tool that can be used is a "pickle fork" that is basically a wedge-shaped fork on the end of a rod that can be hammered on to force the ball joint to separate.

A lot of what you'll need to know is covered in this sticky post: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/turbo-failure-wiki-173358.html If you remove the oil pan, you'll see the rest of the story without having to wait on the lab. Once metal particles have gotten into the oil passages, you may not be able to save your shortblock. If you are changing to a different turbo, you will need a tune to be safe.

Pictures aren't working for me, either, I see something that looks like a "No Entry" sign.

Chemically speaking, there's truth to that (though additives differ). But fuel has to be stored and there's some chance of contamination from ground water, rust, sediment, etc.

Amazing with the number of miles you have. Heavy white deposits may indicate running lean or too hot, though.

In this thread, post 165, there is some explanation: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/oem-online-subaru-parts-vendors-list-42243p5.html There is just a note in the parts database -- no reason given, though, AFAIK.

Oh, no! Sorry to hear that. Did you have any warning?

I admit it's a preference thing. Why does Subaru not want to sell re-man axles for the GT? That made me wonder. I think it is better to retain all the parts you know are working and only replace the parts that have worn out. I believe Subaru is reselling re-man axles done by somebody else, it's not the same quality as OEM from the factory.