KZJonny

Swapped OCVs to opposite sides after the p0021 mentioned earlier. Code moved along with the junk bin solenoid. AP showed it sticking at 54% duty while the other was constantly adjusting. Thankfully the parts engine has some Subaru OCVs to pillage. Also got a half tank of 94 for the price of regular. Nice bonus.

So the synopsis is that after an amount of money I don’t care to think about and dozens of hours of work, she’s laid low by a single CEL code. Back under the knife this weekend it is then. Hah! Well, we had a good 24 hours at least. I’ll do all the prep work and monitor vvt and see if the CEL moves with the OCV. Thanks all.

Sage advice, will do. The OCV(s? I forget) are only a couple thousand kms old, but I am 99% I got them from Rockauto, not OEM. I will see if the code follows. If so, are these something that has a bad rap from aftermarket supply? I mean, it's just a solenoid, seems like a reasonably easy thing to make. I was waiting until I have time to replace the turbo oil feed with a filtered one to inspect the banjo, but I will consider parking the car if chasing down the source of the CEL doesn't get me anywhere.... I seem to recall reading that a dirty filter on the OCV supply can cause this problem, also I just want the filter gone. Edit: I can do one better. I've got a parts engine hanging around. I'll swap sides, clear codes and go for a drive. If the code follows, I'll clean one of the OCVs from the donor motor up and swap that in. Filter comes out this weekend now as well to rule that out. Thanks again for the headsup. I did a little reading and I can see that P0011 and P0021 are linked to some more serious consequences than I would have expected for a AVCS advance error.

Got my car back from the alignment shop, and finally got to give it a real spirited drive. I'm almost 200km into all the installed new parts, and nothing is leaking after a week or so, which is encouraging, so I decided it was time to lean on it a little. Probably already well know around here, but JMP's work on the Custom VF40 is crazy good. I know it's not a big turbo, so I'm not competing with the track crowd, but it is an entirely different animal than the stock VF40 I sent him. Just have to pump his tires a little. Aside from that, I am loving the sounds of the EL headers and catback, and the improved ride quality having ditched the Pink springs and installed a set of Spec B Bilstein's with 'stock' springs. I did pick up a P0021, but I don't see unusual levels of knock, and DAM is pretty solid, so until I can pull out the oil feed banjo and see if there is an oil filter in it, I'll keep a close eye on it. (Turbo filter is removed) I've always really enjoyed driving this car, but I am pretty surprised at the how dramatic the change is with a free-flowing exhaust and the JMP turbo. Can't wait to start tuning to really take advantage of it.

Nice looking Legacy! I wish my GT looked half that good. I've got bad paint and rusted out fenders. Be a long time before all that gets worked out. Aside from this forum being awesome, I've found the crowd over at subaruoutback.org to be incredibly helpful, and you may find that in some cases there is more experience over there with the 2.5i's. My Outback is NA, and I've got loads of help from members both here and there. I would also propose that unless your exhaust is really in a bad spot, I would spend the money on uprated sway bars before and exhaust. They're not terribly expensive and you get some meaningful improvement in handling for your dollars, rather than just noises. Just IMO... Whereabouts in Canada? That looks like a West Coast car with so little rust at that age. (Sorry, saw that your Montreal!)

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5018-825/xtc-2-bike-xc-dual-receiver-hitch-rack?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_7KXBhCoARIsAPdPTfh-f70yIApEmWs6V6gFm7CsO2e_XhLG-Eb-iq1fkHKYQVY_cQnKhb0aAjIREALw_wcB Since your going with a roof rack, it’s a little less important, but I just find it easier to load/unload the bikes with a rear rack. Not as much with the GT as the Outback, but I’ve also gone down some kinda gnarly back country roads where the tree canopy would’ve surely been hitting my bikes, were they roof mounted. I guess since I need a hitch to tow things anyway, it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer.

I did a hitch mounted rack. Hitch was like ~$180 CAD from Uhaul, and did the install myself. Pretty easy if the exhaust system is reasonably solid and won’t break when you lower it a little. 2 bike rack was ~$200 CAD?? So, waaaay under $500 USD…. 6-7 years of using it, and no damage to the paint on either the car or bikes…. I can drag up the manufacturer of the rack, but it’s solid enough for my dually XC bike or my Ebike…

I had success jacking up the engine at the front of the trans, carefully, when doing my oil pan. Used a block of wood to do so, of course. You probably already know, but you’ll have to remove a bolt from the pitch stop and remove the motor mount lower nuts to get the require play… I stuck some 1.5” hardwood shims between then motor mounts and subframe so I could remove the floor jack and have ‘good’ access to the pan bolts. Ymmv…

Congrats dude! I understand the excitement/feel your pain. I just got through an 8 month long ordeal to get a by-law variance to build a 2 car garage in my backyard. Total cost so far in permits and survey work has been like…$5K. And that is before I’ve spent a dime on building it. So…. Yeah. That is a fuel system, tune and paint job, which the car badly needs.. ah well. I did already buy a 2 post asymmetrical lift, which has been sitting in the dealers warehouse the entire time, so when it is finally done, far less time spent in my sun-baked driveway on my back doing work. Best if luck with the house and all the mini-projects that will certainly come Along with it. Please do keep up the great build/restoration thread. As I’ve said before, it’s been both informative and inspirational. Coming from someone in much the same position. Cheers!

DP blanket installed, and nuts and bolts check done. Second shakedown drive and everything seems good so far. Alignment is only okay, and the steering wheel cocked pretty bad, but used rack, so what should you expect… hopefully I got the pinion on close enough a good alignment job will take care of it. Now to learn a whole bunch about data logging with an AP.

Can confirm installation is pretty easy. I did the Energy Suspension versions of the same thing. For the moment, I’m only using poly on parts that are static. Replaced the stock trans mount with a Group N while I was doing all the work. No real increase in NVH for me, and shifting is definitely a little crisper. Just don’t break a trans mount bolt off in the trans housing, and it’ll stay a stupid easy job….. =/

‘New’ rack installed today. No leaks!! (Yet) Gates power steering hoses seem alright, but not as nice as the OEM. If I ever do this again, I would consider going that route, have to look at the price difference…. Securing hoses to the rack before install is definitely the way to go, as long as you get the alignment of the hard pipes dialed. Much, much easier than trying to tighten them down in the 2” space available in the car.

Page 7 is where Hammerdown describes his process. Photos don’t seem to have migrated, but the process is all there… Covertrusssian did the same thing, and the photos here are really useful.

I assume from your handle you have a MY06. Pretty sure if you had a filter in the turbo feed at the back of the block. There is also one in your avcs feed on the drivers side of the block at the front. It’s behind the timing cover, below the dipstick, more or less. You can just follow the oil feed line back from the OCV. Not super easy to remove it, or put it back in with all the timing stuff in the way, but there is a thread somewhere by Hammerdown on how to remove May or may not be your problem, but also not a bad idea to remove it in any case. It’s still on my list of things to do, as I prioritized the turbo feed filter as instructed by my turbo builder.

Maybe inspect and clean OCVs? Do you still have the avcs oil feed filter in place? My friends Honda does this exact thing, and it’s a failing vtec solenoid. Toyotas are also known for this….

Pulled the rack today. It is not a particularly fun job. Word of advise to anyone else doing it for the first time. If you undo the power steering lines at the top and drain the fluid, you can snake them down through the engine bay still attached to the rack. I think you need child sized hands to undo them in the space allowed below the turbo, with the half-shaft in the way. I intend to try the reverse on installing the ‘new’ rack and new hoses. Tighten everything up below the car and feed the whole thing up from the bottom. Also replaced the leaking axle seal. Might actually have a leak-free 18 year old car now?! Haha. Yeah right.

Started pulling my rack to throw in a second hand one that doesn’t leak. Of course, it’s probably original, so every fastener is fighting to stay put. Got out the chinese-made bolt buster and convinced them otherways. I really wish I’d bought one of these sooner. I can’t imagine how much money I could’ve saved on thread inserts and broken fasteners. Discovered a front inner axle seal is leaking now, and *maybe* the diff plug? This is now a multi day project. Old cars. It never ends…

Sounds like you’re not afraid of doing a little work. Do the tank yourself and save ~$1K. Tank is ~$270 right now on rockauto, plus some shipping. Add in a few feet of vacuum line to replace all the rotten stuff your going to find, a bag of SS fuel line clips/screw clamps, and some aluminium bar stock to replace all the brackets that have rusted away….. maybe $500?? Oh might as well throw in a new filler neck, for $80, since it’s going to leak soon as well, if your tank does. It’s not the best job, but also totally possible with basic tools and a good impact. Did mine in a weekend on a Quickjack. Just seems like a lot of money for a fairly easy job. Put the grabs towards fixing the misfire…..

Either way you do it will be good, I'm sure, but if I were doing my install again, I'd have cut off the flare to the doughnut gasket on the catback and welded in a short 2.5" --> 3" adaptor and 3" flange to match the DP. Having the donut gasket is nice, and gives you a little flex in the system, but by the time I was done buying the adaptor plate, doughnut gasket, and new stainless bolts to mate the whole thing up (the ones the Grimmspeed sends you with the package are like....2.5" and nowhere near long enough to get through the DP, adaptor, and springs bolts....) I think I would've been about the same price as just making my own 3" direct fit up. You'd also have the advantage of eliminating one gasket from the exhaust system. Although I do wonder about the long term disadvantages of having a more rigid system on the whole and where it ends up moving the strain that the doughnut gasket is intended to take up. I know that for most people the 2.5" restriction isn't going to be a bottleneck, and my whole catback is 2.5" since I just don't imagine ever needing a 3" at my power goals. I guess I was just thinking that if you've spent the extra cash on a full 3" system, why not go the extra little bit and make sure the whole thing is uniform. At very least you should probably see some increase in laminarity of exhaust flow, although admittedly that won't buy you any measurable power. Might sound better tho? hah!

I believe that is the one you'd need. I had to go the other way from my 3" DP to the 2.5" fitting on my catback, which wants a doughnut gasket. Why not trim the taper so you have a true 3" pipe the whole way? Concerns about overboost?

Please take the time to find those photos if they don't repopulate on their own over time! Your rebuild/repair thread was so useful. For myself to be sure, and probably other. I need to swap out my steering rack, and will be rebuilding my original one, and had planned to use your walk-through for that as well as a guide. Hopefully many of the older threads aren't lost for good.

Following up on the sway bar bracket question. Looks like the Energy Suspension parts will do the job just fine. Might help someone else who hits the same snag in future. I don’t think the RSB reinforcement is critical given my use scenario, but I did have to get the trailing arm brackets to install Spec B rear end stuff, and it wasn’t a whole lot more money to get them at the same time. Glad I did, since it took months for them to arrive from Japan. There was lots of help here mentioning how you need to adapt the trailing arms, but this was a snag I wasn’t expecting the day I went to install them. Hopefully these hold up alright.

Finished installing my Borla Catback. Set the car up on blocks and torqued down all the non-poly bushing in the rear end. Topped up front and rear diffs. First fire up post exhaust install, and she sounds sweet! Now to triple check for oil/fuel leaks after new turbo, tank/filler neck/fuel pump install. Damnit I love and hate this car in equal measure, but the same must be said for all the old/cool garbage I own.

Awesome. Thanks all. For the price, I pulled the trigger on the Energy brackets. Really didn't want to drill more holes in the Cusco braces if I didn't have to... makes far more sense to drill through the thinner metal of the factory parts. If they arrive and won't line up, it's an amazon purchase, so easy to return. I do know traildogck from the outback.org site (my daily is a 3rd gen OBW) and will definitely reach out to him it what I bought doesn't work out. But for $40 delivered, a set of poly RSB brackets with zerk fittings seems like a pretty good deal. Not entirely sure what who made my RSB, since it came with the car, and is completely covered in rust, but it is definitely at least 22mm, so hopefully it fits up okay. I suspect it is Cusco as well, given that the uninstalled front sway bar, now installed. is a Cusco unit, but I don't suppose I'll ever know. Sooo much corrosion to deal with in the rear of the car... Ah well, Ontario life. At least she'll never see another winter.

Perhaps something like these Energy Universals are a good solution? Obviously I would need to measure the diameter of the swaybar to ensure it would fit... I just like the idea of using purpose built parts, but in a pinch, anything is better than having the braces and not being able to use them. https://www.amazon.ca/Energy-Suspension-9-5158R-Greasable-Sway/dp/B000CN7BTS/ref=asc_df_B000CN7BTS/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=292992180896&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=997688002721537994&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000767&hvtargid=pla-569541954400&psc=1