nevets27

Well no news in good news until there's bad news I guess. A couple week ago I had to swap in a "new" engine. Sadly the original engine developed a head gasket leak. The story goes like this. One day I noticed the temperature gauge rise from the normal operating temperature location. Checked the rad and the coolant was a bit low, about 500ml. Topped it up and everything seemed fine, though I was a bit concerned at where the coolant had went. It wasn't a lot though and I hadn't remember touching the coolant lately so figured maybe some water just evaporated over time. Then a few months later it happened again. I was getting more concerned. I then remembered I had drained the rad to replace one of the rubber hoses between the two coolant hard lines on the drivers side as it was bulging. It has was getting some oil on it from a small leak, as these engine tend to do. After fixing the hose I figured I should put some fresh coolant in it. All out of Subaru super coolant I went to a local dealer and picked up some concentrate. Mixed it at 50/50 and pored it in. Wondered if something happed during that repair that has caused this situation to come up twice now. But it's only happened twice and only about 500ml each time and month in between. But of course then it happed again. Hot day, stuck in traffic and the needle starts to go up, I know holding the engine at a higher RPM (around 3k) for a bit would bring the temperature in check, while stopped. Driving there wasn't any over heating. When I was able to check the rad, it was low again. Not being home at the time, and not wanting to mix in none Subaru coolant (I know not big deal but that was me feeling at the time) I got some de-ionized water and topped it up, same thing, only about 500ml. Now I was getting concerned. On the way home it managed to get warm enough to boil over and started to blow coolant out the over flow. Let it cool down, added a bit more water (can't recall how much) and got home fine after that. Went to Subaru to get some more super coolant concentrate as I knew my boiling point was definitely lower now. Here is where things get weird. Go to my local dealer (which I've dealt with in past for parts, and they been good overall), ask for a 4L jug of supper coolant concentrate, I'm told they only sell 4L of premix and concentrate only come in 1L. I found that quite odd as I was sure I bought concentrate years ago when I first got the car and did a coolant flush. Ok fine I'll take it in 1L's then I guess. I get home, and still have the 4L jug I used during the hose repair......it says concentrate. But it's also a stick on label......pulled the label off and behind it say it's premix. Now I didn't have a coolant tester at the time and I assumed it was concentrate and mixed it 50/50. If it was truly premix then it would have gotten very watered down. I'll never know what was truly in there but it's one on my suspicions as this started happening after the coolant was replaced. Now that I didn't really have a good idea of what my boiling point was, I got a coolant tester. Turns out the coolant was very watered down. So I proceed to get the boil point where is should be. Hoping somehow that was the issue. Well a couple weeks go by and it happens again, and the rad is a bit low. But I am now noticing my overflow is full. So I removed the excess out of the over flow and put it back into the rad. I now notice that after driving for a while 1 or 2 hrs, the amount of coolant missing in the rad is equal to the excess coolant in the over flow. Something is obviously wrong. I think I did this earlier but I installed a new rad cap and just because, a new thermostat. Sadly either helped. I think now is when the head gasket leak started to seem likely. But the ez30 aren't know to have head gasket problems, one of the major factors I chose this car. Anyway, now to investigate the head gasket leak. Do I get bubbles in the overflow? Well it seemed like the answer was no, I couldn't really see that happening. Either it wasn't happening at idle or it was happening so slowly I didn't see it. Well, if the leak is that small, and that slow, there aren't a lot of options if it indeed is a head gasket leak. So other than money, what is there to loose with miracle in a bottle. Tried "Blue Devil Head Gasket Sealer", figured it was the lease likely to clog anything up, as I did a bunch of research to learn what it actually is. Followed instructions, no improvement, but kept it in there and drove a around for a few days. No change, but do not if these gets on anything it stains white, it possible to get off but a pain. Some got onto my header and that's never coming off so, it kind of works...? Ok so why not double down, next up "Rislone Head Seal", followed the instructions, but also drove around and kept it in there, and it didn't help either. Note, I did bypass the heater core, and removed the thermostat when using these sealers. Ok so very much looking like a new engine. But I wanted to be sure. Got a head gasket leak tester, where the exhaust gasses in the overflow are supposed to change the colour of the liquid. Well no matter how hard I tried, even now that I could after a 30min+ drive get it to bubble somewhat consistently, the colour never changed. To test it though I went over to the exhaust and pulled some of that air into it and it turned yellow right away. I was a bit stumped by that but after a bit of reading, false negatives are very much possible. I was just hoping to get some more confirmation of the issue before getting a new engine. But the consistency of the coolant getting pushed out by bubbles, it sadly could really ever of meant one thing....head gasket. What was the cause? I have no idea. Weak mix of coolant? Was the Subaru consternate actually pre-mix? Lack of Subaru coolant conditioner? And now that I've trigger some people, some back story on that. When I had done the coolant flush when I got the car at around 150k km, I did add the Subaru conditioner. When I did the hose fix I didn't add that back in as the dealer said they didn't stock it and the typical "don't use that stuff" Now up until then I had been running it for about 100k km. So after removing the Subaru conditioner, I eventually ended up with a head gasket leak. What does that mean? With a sample size of one, absolutely nothing. If you think I'm saying it's head gasket sealer, I'm not I don't really have evidence one way or another and I didn't really think it was. But if it was, maybe it was working to keep the head gasket leak in check and when I stopped having it in the coolant the leak was able to grow. So IF it's head gasket sealer, honestly I'm happy if it extending the life of the engine. Maybe if I had added it back during the flush it would have got some more miles out of that engine. Maybe it had zero effect at all. Who knows. But here's the "new" JDM engine, supposed to have less than 100k km on it. Nice to not have any rust or corrosion (well not zero as it got some from sitting from where I got it). I cleaned it up, swapped over the power steering and a/c so they didn't need to be primed/filled. New coolant, with Subaru conditioner, oil, plugs etc. And flushed the transmission, to give it some fresh fluid. With 270k km on the body/drivetrain. I hope it can last me a good long while, as despite have to change the engine I do like this car and the new engine is even smoother than before. Of course forgot to get a picture in the car, but it's not like it's going to look any different. Sadly, mods have taken a back seat, too many other projects but I hope to finish off a couple this winter.

I kind of get the fascination of trying to build a track car that's a comfortable/ reliable daily. But it doesn't realistically make sense, there's a reason they don't really exist. And if they do you are better off spending 6 figures on something that was designed to do so. Though its more likely you'll have a faster track car and a good daily driver, if you have a dedicated car for each task. Depending on the track of course but hp is usually the least of your issues. Pretty much everything else but the engine will make you go faster/have better lap times. I remember one track day I went to. There was a Toyota Yaris that beat everyone on lap times. Faster than a bmw M5, trailered track cars etc. No idea what he had done to it but if I had to guess, all his money went into suspension if anything at all. I do know he had slick tires. Point being is he could corner at speeds almost twice what the M5 could due to size/weight and grip.

That should be the clue. BTW, they are supposed to be replaced. If they are replaced before they are ineffective then they it will continue to protect the tank itself and the tank will continue to be fine far past 15yrs. But as with most things people don't ever replace it and therefore the tank will start to rust. Point being, if in this closed system without oxygen being introduced the tank will rust unless there is a sacrificial anode. Sound familiar?

Pretty obvious why it took that long to find links that agree with him..... Even the vast internet was hard to find evidence to try to prove a wrong point. I'm actually a bit surprised, usually you can find lots of people agreeing with someone that's wrong. Curious how people think a hot water tank works... That should give you a clue.

http://www.nissantechnicianinfo.mobi/htmlversions/Winter_2012/Hub-Lug_Centric.html One of various links....

Right, completely forgot your bumper had a different layout.

Couldn't find a great link but grillcraft makes ones. Example: http://www.2040-parts.com/2008-2009-subaru-legacy-grillcraft-lower-1pc-black-grille-mx-series-grill-i537613/ So jealous of the euro spec. So beautiful, plus you have the option of the 6mt/spec b for the 3.0R. Would love to get my hands on one. And you got the colour I wanted and is rare here for the 3.0R. Nice to see another 3.0R in here. If you have the means to import one, from the looks of what was available out there, they are much nicer. HID headlights with washers, push button start (not sure which models but I've see a 4th gen with it), I think backup sensors, nicer front end with honeycomb grill (and many other choices) and nicer center console... And the 3.0R spec b.

Taking a wild guess here but I don't think the data you are looking for exists out in the world. (Analysis of both liquids) It would take someone interested enough to do some tests. You seem to fit that bill. So why not purchase both and find out? If this is to decide if you should use it in your vehicles then the result from the test would hopefully be worth it, so you can make a sound decision on what you think this best for you.

Coolant issue must be a location thing. Watching the latest supergramps video where they took it too the track, yes it got hot but it's by no means a typical 3.0R and it was being tracked, on the stock cooling. I was a bit shocked how well it looked to hold up.

I see that making some sense as it takes a bit more paying attention to drive a manual. Though I wish the opposite was true here. If everyone was somehow forced to drive manuals first they maybe they would learn to not use the gas and brake as on/off switches, of course that would never happen. Personally, a 3.0R with a 6mt would be a dream to drive, a dream since I'll likely never drive one. The auto definitely hurts the enjoyment of that engine.

Not sure what you would be gaining in running straight water.... That would reduce the boiling point. As for surviving the derby, from everyone I've ever watched is, once your rad gets punctured the end is near. So depending on what's you are allowed to do, do everything you can to protect it before hand and during.

Case closed then. Everyone knows the shape of the container dictates what's inside. I'm sure most people have seen that so little chance this is news to anyone.

Pairing different springs will definitely effect the feel of the shocks. Best back to back I've had was driving another persons legacy with bilsteins and STI pinks from what I recall, don't recall what revision though. Anyhow, it was a firmer ride not harsh. It was enjoyable (relatively short ride on good roads though). Now one place I could feels a difference was leaving/entering a parking lot. In my car with stock springs and koni's it when driving over the transition it didn't throw you around the car as much. It kind of glided over the transition while the bilsteins followed it. Bad description but it's hard to explain. Though I feel it's more a factor of the springs. My take away between the two. Koni with stock springs give the legacy a sportier but comfortable rides, kind of sport luxury. The bilsteins with STI pinks are more sportier, hugs the road, at home being driven spirited with a bit less comfort/luxury feel. *my koni are set relatively soft. 1 1/2 - 2 turns from full soft I think off the top of my head.

I assume you've seen a lot of blown up engines in general over 13 years. It begs the question, how many haven't had the conditioner (that you know of) but still blew up? This is why I don't get the "subaru did this to protect themselves from warranty claims" argument. If it was to stop warranty claims it wouldn't have any effect if the coolant was changed per the service schedule which is well after the warranty had expired. Why would they even care if you used it when you finally did your coolant change at 137,500 miles, if it was just a stop leak for head gaskets? If it truly is a conditioner, then it's likely something that came in the system from the factory. Which means it's not being "added" later it was always in there. Or, like the documentation says, (example) they realized there was a corrosion problem that would be an issue when the coolant system was getting older (at 137,000 miles) and now requires some additives for more corrosion protection. The manual actual mentions after the first 11 years or 137,500 miles that the coolant should be changed on a 6 year 75,000 mile interval for the rest of the life of the vehicle. I'm contrast I have seen the WWP-99 service campaign but that was up to 2002. Though it does basically say that the subaru coolant conditioner is a stop leak. I'm not aware of a service campaign/TSB/recall for 2002 or newer vehicles, does one exist? It all seems a bit odd to me. If in 2002 they wanted it in all engines past, present and in the future, wouldn't they haven been adding it at the factory at that time? If not then the first time it gets introduced into the engine is 77,500 miles after the warranty has ended? Logic/speculation can go on forever. I'm a bit surprised no one has actually tested it yet. Only real way to know.

I find the flat 4/6 subaru engines are easy to work on. Personally I think easier then inline 4, but of course depends what you are doing. Though a hell of a lot easier then a v6. Things that are easy to get to: starter and alternator, things that will likely need replacement eventually. Can do both of those jobs without removing anything other then what you need to remove for the most part (though the intercooler will probably be in the way for the turbo engines). Spark plugs are actually easy despite being inline with the frame rail. Of course they are easier on an inline 4 but it's not hard on the subaru. H6 is nice, no turbo to worry about. Less stuff to have to work around in the engine bay. The only "issues" I've read was water pump may need replacement at some point and that's a big job. I think I read the timing chain tentioners can loosen off a bit and you'll hear noise from the chain which will give let you know it needs some attention. Both are the only thing I read could happen but weren't "common" And the idler pulley bearing may wear out prematurely, but that's like a $5/5min fix. Stock for stock they are pretty identical for power. The 2.5 has more grunt at lower rpm and runs out of steam higher in the rpm range. While the 3.0 is basically the opposite (this is based on the 4th gen). At least this has been my experience driving them back to back As for the transmission, not the greatest no. But the 5eat is decent. Treat it well and you should be fine. It does benefit from some "tuning". Wait.... Forgot you're in Japan.... I think they have the 3.0R with the 6mt (manual trans) there. If so that's a beautiful combination we don't get in North America.