DrD123

Yesterday was brake day - new pads and rotors all around (EBC redstuff this time around). Also replaced the seals and other rubber bits for the front calipers (used OEM parts for that) - pistons came out more easily than I thought (using a compressor and firing them into a 2x6) - dust boots were damaged, so I figured might as well replace everything.

That is a good idea - thanks!

So I am planning to upgrade my stereo in the near future and don't like the way the typical install kit recesses the screen into the dash - I found the Metra 95-8904B kit which allows you to mount the unit at an angle so that it's flush with the dash, however it only comes in black - has anyone found a paint that is a reasonably close match to the interior trim? The metra kit mounts the stereo at an angle, and for full depth double din units requires some modification behind the dash, but for the thinner digital receiver units (that don't have a cd player) that shouldn't be necessary

Used these two parts to make an extension harness for the low horn (the one right behind the grille) - the OEM harness is just a little too short since the OEM horn has the harness attach on a different side of the horn. (wasn't sure if I'd need two extensions - this was cheaper than buying two sets of pigtails, so I just chopped off one leg and used that to make the harness (could even use the plastic cover to protect the wire) - soldered the two together and zip tied it out of the way.

Got tired of the annoying horns and replaced them with some Hella trumpets - found that the connector used by Toyota is the same as by Subaru, so bought the application specific ones which plug right in (except for the low one - the harness is a little too short, so I picked up a pigtail and made an extension adapter) - sounds much better now! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EG18SFM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I had been thinking about the normal supertone install that lots of folks do (also listened to the sharptones), and while it's loud, I really don't like how it sounds - trumpet based horns just sound a lot better to me, and these are definitely quite a bit louder than the OEM denso horns!

there's a tsb for a popping sort of noise coming from around the base of the A-pillar (two different regions it comes from - have to pull the quarter panel to get to them, though)

does it sound like its coming from around the base of the a-pillar?

if the wheel is balanced and true now, and it's still vibrating, something could be broken/bent - did you look at the outer tie rod end and control arm on that side? also look closely at the strut.

Where are you located? If the NJ in account name is for New Jersey, there are a few that get tossed around regularly here (AZP installs I think) - there are also a number of folks that have done etunes with decent success. I'm sort of curious how much can be done with headers since they are so short before hitting the turbo on the 5th gen (vs. the 4th where the turbo was further away)

Albuquerque has been weird - we had 2 dealerships - Garcia and Galles and Davis, then Garcia bough Galles and Davis and we had Garcia north and Garcia south, then they split off Garcia south (which was actually the "original" Garcia) and it's now Fiesta Subaru - I got my old WRX from Galles (back in 2002) then got my Legacy GT from Garcia in it's original place, and then had the shortblock replaced at Garcia in the new location - I think it depends a lot on your service writer - the person who helped me made sure I had a loaner the entire time, was able to bring down the costs from the Dealership side, then I got the additional $ from Subaru. I've found that most of the dealers here are sort of pinheads when dealing with women - when we were buying our first Odyssey, I had to literally take my daughter and walk away before they would pay attention to my wife at one dealership! Toyota was better, but when we showed up I was pretty direct about who they needed to convince for the van (we had looked at a Sienna as well) - probably the best treatment we got for my wife was at Carmax.

SoA helped me when the car spun a bearing when it was out of warranty for time, but still under 60k miles - they gave 2500 towards the repair (basically covering the short block) - that was approaching them with a single repair they knew the cost of, etc. - if there are some parts that keep failing, you might get some traction if you can provide the paper trail showing the repeated repairs with the specific cost for that component, etc. - for me, they needed to see evidence (receipt) for the required maintenance (since it was the short block, that was oil change info) then there was some negotiation to get to the final payout. The work had to be done at Subaru, so SoA reimbursed the service department directly. Anyway, I think the key is having your ducks in a row for what you are hoping to get reimbursed for. The hard part is that it's a 13 year old car with 100k miles on it

What are you wanting to have SoA or the local dealer do? It's hard to comment on repairs without knowing what the are - brake longevity is a function of (among other things) the driving habits of who is driving the car - I hope she recovers from her chemo treatments (they can be pretty rough)

Well, the GT and 3.6R definitely have the same appearance gauge cluster (same redline, etc. - the 2.5i is a little lower) - maybe the 29A and 37A are just a 63A programmed to run as a manual engine car? Not surprising they haven't sold them after the fact as there were only 227 USDM 2.5GTs sold in 2012. Going from 2011->2012->2013 Subaru was gradually pushing more stuff onto the can bus, so the ECU became "in charge" of those things, and the cluster became more and more just a display... I don't know how a cluster knows it's from an auto, cvt, or manual, or if it even matters based on the info the ECU sends it...

That's the only way they came! (11 and 12 were all limiteds, and the 5th gen 2.5GT was 6mt only) - interestingly, on parts.subaru.com, there are two different part numbers for the 12 LGT, and both say they only fit the 12 LGT (p/n 85021AJ29A and 85021AJ37A - no idea what the difference is, both show as no longer available)

The wiring diagram looks pretty similar - the 2012 has a component noted as "single step dimmer" that isn't shown in the 2010 - not sure how it's different, though, since the components attached to it are internal to the combination meter. There is an important difference, though - for 2010-2011, the check engine light is direct wired from the ECM, but on the 2012, it was changed to be driven on the CAN bus - so you might lose the check engine light (no idea if the ECM is going to get mad as a result - depends on what is being communicated on the CAN bus.

I'd replace what's broken - I had one of the forward bushings die on my car, so replaced both control arms with OEM (so both bushings and the tie rod) - I am not a big fan of Mevotech control arms (the ball joints, in particular) based on a number of quick failures of Mevotech supremes on our old Odyssey. For the tie rods, I'd only replace if they are broken/worn out (torn boots, etc) If you have a vehicle that lives in the salt belt, be prepared for a struggle. There's an astro pneumatics tool for the front ball joints which helps - the pinch bolt is usually what gets folks in the rust belt, though.

Well - cars.com has a bunch of them on there 2011 2.5GT Limited, 163k miles, $6950 2010 2.5GT Limited, 132k miles, $10500 2010 2.5GT Limited, 117k miles, $12961 2012 2.5GT Limited, 112k miles, $13900 2010 2.5GT Premium, 158k miles, $11998 2010 2.5GT Limited, 104k miles, $9999 I am guessing with the right buyer, the STi 6mt is worth extra (though given how much work it is to get it in, some folks might be concerned - there was one person on here who has a build thread that goes through the ordeal they went through to swap out the stock 6MT with the STi unit.) 385hp suggests there are other mods on there (don't believe you can get there with just a tune and the OEM fuel pump/injectors/turbo)

I've used paintscratch.com a number of times in the past for paint - usually in a rattle can, though - looking at their website, they offer paint in pint, quart, and gallon size (as well as a couple of small bottle sizes) as well. If you are just doing a couple of mirror scalps, I'd go with a rattle can (they sell kits with various primers, clears, etc.) - I think a quart would be way more than you'd need to shoot a few small parts

How big is the heat sink? I've been running VLEDS evolution extreme H7 bulbs in my 12 for almost 4 years now and they've been great and everything (bulb and driver) fits inside the headlight housing - their heatsink isn't huge, and it's an active one (has a fan) - one thing they (vleds) do sell (I'm sure other folks have them as well) are rubber "caps" that extend the back of the light assembly out a bit - if the headlight assembly is too shallow to fit everything in there, then these might help.

Good deal at Harbor Freight - they have their 25% off coupon for the labor day weekend - one of the tools that caught my attention recently was the Icon locking flex head and ratchet bit set - it's a 35 piece set and is part number RXFT 35. This was recently reviewed by MrSubaru1387 on youtube - this is actually sold under the Facom nameplate for $135, as well as a Matco version apparently (though I couldn't find that) - anyway, it's 40 at HF, so $30 with the coupon - I picked one up earlier today - really nice kit (particularly from HF!)

Has anyone picked up the Lisle 64180 Actuator Motor Wrench Set to do this? Looks like it might help.

Well $6 is a pretty inexpensive experiment - will be interesting to see how it turns out (curious what the wear pattern will look like on the plugs when they get some miles on them)

Agreed - I figured the gap looked weird because the plug is rotated a bit - I am more concerned about the insulator cracking, to be honest - stress state is going to be a tad asymmetric with the big electrode offset from the middle on one side and the little one on the other... I'm with you on the NGK laser iridiums - that's what the car came with, and that's what I bought and put in there when I did the timing belt.

I've always gone with NGK (laser iridium) - I've never seen the nitrode plugs before (don't see them on rockauto) - are they more/less than the iridium ones? ($12.07/ea for the SILFR6B8 plugs)

that's interesting - I didn't realize that the middle part was rubber (I remember drilling out the rear mounts when I installed Koni's, but the only rubber I remembered was the spring seat and I thought maybe a little around the hole the strut goes through.