subisubisu

Huge relief - the noise was the new ACT clutch plate rubbing against a sheet metal guard or shroud of some kind.  Now there's a gap (since it's only sheet metal).  And wheels spin in the proper directions when in gear under power.  Imma get this thing on the ground this weekend.

With the car on stands, how should the wheels react when I turn them by hand?  An AWD car presents lots of options:

Out of gear, I'd guess I can turn a front wheel and the rears won't turn, but the opposite front would turn in the opposite direction.  Same at the rear - no effect on the front, but opposite rear in opposite direction, due to the differential.

In a forward gear, if I turn a front wheel forward, I expect to see the rear wheel turning forward.

In reverse, if I turn a front wheel backward, I expect to see the rear wheel turning backward.

Or am I all confused?  Without ever having operated this transmission in a running car, I have no basis to compare feel of the shifter, and want to verify operation.  Do I need to adjust anything?  My other AWD vehicles have automatic transmissions and aren't much help for comparison.

Later - Well, that's not what I found.  I put the shift lever in reverse; banged (gently) against the stop on the right, then pulled up the collar on the shifter shaft and pulled the knob further right and aft.  Then I turned wheels, and the fronts turned oppositely without disturbing the rears, and the rears turned oppositely (when I turned one) without disturbing the fronts.

It lives!  Or at least it starts.  There is a not-normal and not-pleasant sound coming from the bellhousing area.  Since the flywheel, starter, clutch and 6MT are all new to the car, I have some diagnosing to do.  I also had quite a time with bleeding the clutch master and slave cylinders, so it's not unreasonable to doubt any part of the function of that part of the powertrain.  Time to research and troubleshoot.

Nice!  Sorry for the reason, but it will be so good to have the new beating heart in your car's chest.  Keep going!

Congratulations!

20 minutes ago, Max Capacity said:

I think I posted the tip years ago after mounting my first GS tmic, put the hose on the tmic outlet overnight, the day before you install it. It opens that hose to the right and easy fit. Then install on ATB like you did, first.

I try to do a good job of RTFF to vacuum up all the good tips out there, but I must have missed that one.  I definitely would have done that.  I'm glad you repeated it here.

I had to tie another leash to another shorty wrench, and pull and reinstall the transmission again to correct a throwout bearing installation mistake, but as of this weekend everything is pretty much together.  All fluids in it except for coolant and windshield washer, clutch and brakes bled and firm.  I was racing the tuner to have it together before the start-up map arrived, and I won because I didn't receive a map before the weekend.

Which may be just as well, because the coolant system will hold pressure in the short run (minutes) if I plug the overflow hose at the driver's side of the radiator, but not in the long run (hours).  I don't hear air escaping, and since everything is either new (including my pressure test tools) or freshly reassembled I have nowhere to suspect over anywhere else.  So, I expect to be filling with distilled water and seeing if a leak shows itself.

I also expect to be disabling the fuel pump and cranking the engine over for a while to build oil pressure and distribute oil prior to first start.

Everything fought me, taking advantage of my naive rookie status, but at last I think it's ready to at least start it up, once I have the ROM to account for the changes.  BTW, one of the changes was a VF39 turbo, which was not just-bolt-it-up compatible with the new Grimmspeed TMIC (Legacy GT version), since the VF40 ejects its pressured air toward the hood, vertically, and the VF39 ejects its pressured air toward the driver's side front wheel, horizontally.  I needed some additional 2" ID silicone hose in a U-turn configuration and a barbed hose coupler plus modification (i.e. cutting) of the hose Grimmspeed supplied to connect the turbo to the intercooler.

The biggest pain with the intercooler install, of several, was connecting the intercooler to the hose leading to the throttle body.  Grimmspeed's directions say to connect the throttle body end first and leave the intercooler end with the hole facing upward ready to sit the intercooler on, but it was a tight fit and tight quarters and I just could not get that hose over the lip and seated that way.  I ended up removing the hose from the throttle body and the intercooler from the car, mating them with the aid of some silicone spray, and then snaking the hose back to the throttle body and using an extension to reach the hose clamp to tighten it.  The BPV hose had to be loosened from the intake manifold to open up access to make that happen.  FYI.

5 hours ago, Dishwasher said:

Still need to pull fuel lines, turbo, power steering pump and transmission, and then should be good to go to get the engine out. This is my first time pulling an engine so kinda excited/nervous. Just bagging everything in ziplocs and labeling, and taking photos diligently. The number of vacuum lines on this vehicle never ceases to amaze me. 

Unsolicited advice from someone only slightly more experienced:  get the cheap little plastic tool to release the fuel line connections.  Don't try the screwdriver method you might see on YouTube.  It's possible to chew up the plastic grip inside, and if you mess those hoses up enough, they are not easily found as OEM replacements.

4 minutes ago, RumblyXT said:

Would really like to fire up the 20x this week.. But every time I plan for it, something else gets in the way..

 

I am right there with you, brother.  It is always something.  And sometimes the something is me.  I was thinking I was a start-up map away from starting up, but now my transmission is awaiting mating to the block again due to an assembly error I made first time through, now corrected.  We will get there, though!  And putting things together the second and third time, it goes faster!

20 minutes ago, RumblyXT said:

Any particular size resistor or just any would do?

At least 1/2 watt, is what I've seen across the googles.

50 minutes ago, xt2005bonbon said:

Once you have the engine in front of you, it should be pretty easy to figure out where stuff goes. Remember though for coil packs: black in the back, white in the front!  (front is close to the bumper).

Do the coil pack colors match the injector colors?  That's the way I thought to do it, but I can't remember now if black was in back for both sides.  I'll check in the morning.

I've located two of my last three car purchases - all used cars - on Facebook Marketplace.  It seems to have largely supplanted craigslist here in the southeastern USA, at least - YMMV.  It's no better than craigslist or eBay in terms of it's still caveat emptor, and whatever the Latin word for seller is, too.

Best of luck to you.  My OBXT project was one of the two, found in another state and shipped to me with zero compression on #4 and a very cracked windshield.  I was looking for a project and found one, so those things do happen.

16 minutes ago, silverton said:

https://parts.subaru.com/a/Subaru_2005_Outback-25L-TURBO-5AT-XT/_54102_6023999/ENGINE-COOLING-AT-OIL-COOLER-PIPE/B13-450-06.html

Item 45174, mounts to the radiator.

Many, many thanks!

I am ever so close to having my engine reassembled after darn near complete disassembly.  I took lots of pictures and did some labeling as I took the engine out of the car and took it apart for rebuilding, but it turns out that black hoses on black pipes jammed up next to others doesn't serve as the best photographic documentation of where things were.

Where does this one go, please?  2005 OBXT, but could be LGT of similar era, I'm pretty sure.

Sometimes praise for golf courses includes the statement that "you'll use every club in your bag" to meet the challenges of the course.

I wanted a challenge when I set out on this OBXT project, and I think I am using every tool in the chest.  That sounds cool and the gang, but it includes using shorty wrenches and bit ratchets.  I was happy to make those purchases in my ignorant past, thinking they might save my bacon on some hazy future day, but now I know that if you're reaching for the shorty wrenches and bit ratchets, you are hating life because you are working with your fingertips in some very tight spaces.  I even tied some fishing line to a shorty wrench because I already dropped it once and had to use an extendable magnet to fish it out.  Maybe on my second such project I will be able to recall these instances and do some preparatory work before making installations and reduce the need for hand cramps and profanity.

Car is on the ground.  It's not cartoonishly out of alignment, but I've only started measuring and have not yet started adjusting.  This is one of those instances where you burn a lot of time going back and forth from side to side of the car if you don't have an alert and motivated helper, which I do not this weekend.

All the belt-driven accessories are installed, as are the belts and the new radiator, although I see the old one came out with some foam tape that somewhat seals the air coming through the grill, pulled by the fans across the radiator.  New Koyorad did not come with such tape, so I might see about getting some and sealing that up before placing the fans.

New clutch master cylinder assembly ordered.  I did not see a way to get just the reservoir, although I would also have gotten a seal and maybe a cap, too.  I checked on any easy upgrades and didn't see any, but I did see talk that the stock one is fine until you are getting VERY heavy in the clutch department.  It does appear that you can use WRX parts in the clutch slave cylinder and brake master, if those need replacing.  Mine don't seem to, but I have made a note.

Power not on yet.  Only a very few connections not yet made, on the backside of the intake manifold.  I have figured out that the new PCV needs part of the old PCV removed before I can install it, and I should have done that before putting the intake manifold on.  Noted for next build, but now I need to get creative about how to go about this chore.  I still have a few hose connections to make, but I RTFF some more and found some handy-dandy diagrams that I think will give me the guidance I need.  Then it's mainly the new TMIC and the upper reservoir to be put on and connected, and that will get me very close.

Now I'm leaning over and reaching down into the engine compartment instead of standing on a stool.  I had the car way up in the air to make dealing with the transmission easier, among other things. but it was a little dicey working with the floor jack up at the limits of its extension, and some, ahem, additional extension.  All's well that ends well, and I won't be appearing on the local news this weekend.  Don't try this at home, kids.

2 hours ago, Infosecdad said:

How are you doing the alignment?  It's been on my list of capabilities that I want to add.

Toe plates will give me the sum of toe, front and back, with mechanical measurement of two tape measures in flat plates flat against the wheels.  The camber gauge has an electronic inclinometer to measure the tilting in or out of the wheel.  You can calculate caster by measuring camber with the wheel turned in and out, but I don't plan to try to adjust it, at least not first thing.  I bought these:  https://wheelalignmenttools.com/instructions/

However, since I changed so much, the sum of toe won't tell me that I am symmetrical along the thrust line, so I plan to use the PVC pipe and fishing line method from this video to get it centered from side to side:

I shouldn't need to do that very often, once it is centered.

New endlinks on front swaybar.  All the front (and rear) suspension torqued, although I know some torque-breaking and adjustment is coming soon, because... toe plates and camber gauge on hand.  Not sure who 'round these here parts does a good job on aligning modified cars, so I will rely on myself to get it close, and maybe even good to hook.

MOST of the electrical connections are made, and I don't think there are any mysteries left in that respect, although the front O2 sensor doesn't seem to connect anywhere obvious.  I might get power on it tomorrow, since I bought a new battery today.  Interestingly (to me), the battery it came with is not the right one for the car, according Walmart's magic computer.  I'm not a big Walmart shopper, but their Johnson Controls batteries get good reviews, and I use them in my other vehicles.

I still have a couple of mysteries in vacuum and coolant lines to hook up, and good Lord willing I won't mix them up.  Once I solve one of those mysteries I can install the alternator and torque the power steering pump and refrigerant pump and put the belts on.  And once those are in place, I can replace the radiator and put the fans in.  The power steering pump supply hose from the reservoir has been leaking, but I think it was just that I tweaked it when moving it around, since the leak was right at the join to the short pipe near the reservoir.  I don't see any further leaking once I reseated the hose and clamp, but I left a shop towel under it tonight to see if there is any further leaking.

It seems my clutch reservoir is done - the lid won't clamp, and the plastic ears appear to be chewed up.  Another parts order going in, I expect.  Won't affect start-up, but will affect driving.

Speaking of start-up, I got my order in before the holiday weekend with the tuner but I don't have a start-up map yet, so that is still to come.  If I can get power on it in the next couple of days I intend to verify what I can, codes and lights and operation-wise, with just accessory power, and then hopefully de-power the fuel pump and crank the motor to move the oil around.

And if I don't waste a lot of time making those final engine connections, I expect I can put it on the ground and work on the alignment, at least.  I removed and replaced almost every part, either with JDM Spec B parts or aftermarket parts (mainly Whiteline), so I expect there is a lot to do to prevent me crabbing and scrubbing my way down the street.

There's also a difference, in the same direction, between the OBXT and a recent STi dipstick.  I am going to compare to see which one to run with my aftermarket oil pan.  Currently I filled the pan to its stated capacity, but without running the engine yet there is no oil in the filter, cooler, passages, etc.  Hopefully one of them will have a reasonable level once that happens.  The stick can always be marked to show the full level as where you want it to be.

Starting to decipher the rat's nest of electrical wires and hoses that sit on top of the engine.  TGVs mounted, air intake mated to the turbo - that was the easy part.  I left a lot of the hoses connected at least at one end, thank goodness.  And there is no way that this eBay package of silicone hoses replaces every one.  Not sure if I got my money's worth out of that decision yet.  It would be nice to replace everything, and the hardest of the old hoses are gone, but some of these are still flexible, and if I can't make a match out of the remaining silicone set, I am putting them back on, ready to monitor for leaks.  I bypassed the throttle body coolant connection, for whatever it's worth - probably nothing, but one fewer hose to be a potential leak source.  Down south here we don't need Blizzaks and I doubt I'll miss heating my compressed air a bit more.

I thought about my separated front swaybar endlink and I have just about talked myself into just replacing them.  Lots of people do, and why struggle to put on a compromised 60k mile part (they say, on average) when I can put on new and forget about it?  People seem to like Kartboy, but there are other options.  And Memorial Day is this weekend, maybe there will be a sale.

AFR wideband probe installed in the new downpipe at the factory-provided bung.

Ball joints connected - finally a job for these hammers I have lying around.  Actually, hanging on pegboard.

However, the front sway bar arrived on the pallet pulled from the JDM car with the driver's side uplink popped off, for whatever reason.  I am starting to despair of popping it back on in situ.  I will have to consult the google to see if there are any helpful suggestions.  That is one wriggly son of a gun to try to keep lined up to be pressed back into place.

I'm getting closer every day to finding out!  I recall that picture as being "before", and I further seated the seal, but now it's behind the flywheel with the transmission installed.  Unfortunately I have experience of a mis-installed RMS from previous work on the Audi, so I will recognize the symptoms if they appear.

I have some of the Company 23 special tools for manipulating the cam gears and harmonic balancer, but I think everyone who works on cars is frequently deciding when to buy a special tool and when to adapt others.  There are special tools for all of the rotating shaft seals on the engine and transmission - cams, axles and driveshaft in addition to the front and rear crankshaft seals.  There are also Schedule 40 PVC pipe end caps, sockets, and other ways to attempt to apply even pressure around the circumference so that the seal goes on straight.

Job 1 for me at the first engine start will be to check for leaks of every liquid and gas.  And I will have no one else to blame for any leaks but myself and the decisions I made all along the way.

It wasn't just me on the creeper, as it turns out.  I pressed the wife into service and put her at the rear of the car to simultaneously grab the tow frame and press with her feet on the exhaust piping, pushing it forward so that I could start the springbolts in the nuts at the join of the downpipe and catback at the middle of the car.  It was an adventure for her, as she only spent about two minutes on it.

I also got the fuel injectors changed out.  The driver's side retainer rings look newer than the passenger side, and the screws' T25 interfaces were a bit chewed up.  I ended up stripping one, and had to use an extractor to get it out.  Maybe someone used threadlocker before?  Anyway, those are some expensive little screws for what they are.

Wow, that downpipe install was a chore.  I had to quit and go to bed defeated, which I hate to do.  Cobb's opinion of where the hanger should be was not quite in line with Subaru's JDM Spec B opinion, but in the end Subaru bent.  Tried lots of options about what to leave loose and what to tighten first, and most of the time I was on my back underneath.  Don't talk to me about flying in from the coast, working over your head all the time will make your arms tired.  On a lift would still be over your head, but there is a lot more room for getting angles and leverage that way, which I didn't have.

Still, it's on and tight.  Cobb's pipe takes the place of a couple of Subaru pipes, which contributes to the inflexibility.  I hung the catback exhaust (original to the car, or at least the one that was there when I bought it, and it does not look new in any way).  The rearmost 4 rubber hangers went on pretty easily, but the fifth one, near the differential, looks a good inch or more away when the forward section of pipe hits something.  These are new replacement hangers; maybe I ordered the wrong one, and the right one looks like a banana.  I will have to check Opposed Forces.

Now I just have to mate the new catted downpipe to the old catback.  I have a couple of gaskets and the adapter that came with the Cobb and the old springbolt setup that I took off (in 2020!), so it's just a matter of gritting my teeth and getting back on the creeper.  I will have a big smile on my face when I put that creeper into long-term storage.

Well, that's not all I have to do, but that will finish the exhaust system from engine block to tailpipe for now.  A new exhaust would be a nice future project, but a man's got to know his limitations.  Next up are front suspension trial assembly, intake and fuel, hose and electrical connections, belt-driven accessories and radiator.  I didn't expect to have spent 6 hours on the downpipe.  I would starve as a shop technician.

Again if I'm reading the diagram from the shop manual properly, what's coming directly from the water pump is going into the cylinder jacket.  The coolant then travels into the cylinder head, which the new port you've (well, we've, since I am doing it too) added is now venting, and the cylinder block and out into the cross pipe on top, from where it feeds the throttle body, the upper radiator hose and the heater core (but not for you now) via the upper rear pipe.  The lower rear pipe that your U-turn connects to also drains the throttle body and gets sucked back to the intake of the water pump.  Without taking measurements in a running engine I can't be sure, but it seems like the flow direction will be out of the cylinder 4 end of the head into your heater core bypass and forward across the LH side top of the engine then down by the dipstick tube to the pump intake, where it will mix with the cooled liquid coming from the lower radiator hose.