What did you do to your 4th gen. Legacy today? Vol - 10

[KZJonny]

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.

[BoozeRS05]

New tires going on today! Trying out some Falken FK510 in a 235/45/17 on my OZ wheels.

[amptramp]

This has been a futile few days.  For the last two oil changes, I have used Amsoil oil filters and they are great, certainly better than the NAPA Wix filters that I can use everywhere else but they unscrew themselves on a Subaru because the engine vibration rotates about a vertical axis and the filter mounts vertically, so Wix is out even though it is the filter I go with for everything else.

Amsoil has this cottage industry distribution system where there is no store that carries them, only a bunch of local mom-and-pop individuals and businesses that are usually out of stock.  I finally found a store that said they had one only to find that it is the short canister version that cannot be installed on a Subaru because there is a heat shield that wraps around about three quarters of the filter and I prefer the long canister for easier installation and more filter material internally.  The best way to spec the filter is to get one for a Mazda Millenia because both engines in all years used the long canister which is about 0.9 inches longer than the one they list and it fits.  I don't want to order directly from the company because who knows what I will get?

I am going to give their distributors one more day to come up with a filter and if not, there may be a K&N oil filter in my future and I know where there are correct ones on the shelf right now.  I would go with Royal Purple but they don't seem to have any presence here in Canada.

[Max Capacity]

I have been a preferred member at Amsoil for 10 years. I order directly from them, I use their EA15K13  filter on both my cars. There is also a member here that sells Amsoil.

[Enlight]

10 hours ago, amptramp said:

The best way to spec the filter is to get one for a Mazda Millenia because both engines in all years used the long canister which is about 0.9 inches longer than the one they list and it fits.

Didn't know this, thank you for sharing.

[NORULZleggy]

11 hours ago, Max Capacity said:

I have been a preferred member at Amsoil for 10 years. I order directly from them, I use their EA15K13  filter on both my cars. There is also a member here that sells Amsoil.

I use the same filter as Max, I am a dealer and we have been out of the EA15k13 for like 8 months now (Still). I am running a Mobile 1 filter now, but just got in a box of the Tokyo Roki filters. If they are telling you they can come up with one they are lying to you, unless they know a guy that has a box of them stashed away. I am going to order a case of them when they are available. 

[seanyb505]

Changed oil last night for the first time with the splash shield back on. Blegh I didn't miss fiddling with that. Then apparently some oil spilled on the shield and dripped off after the first drive, leading me to frantically verify the engine wasn't leaking before driving to work this morning. 

 

I used the amsoil filter. I have like a box of them stashed away. 

 

No jk just the crummy blue one. 

[Scottydunno]

21 hours ago, amptramp said:

This has been a futile few days.  For the last two oil changes, I have used Amsoil oil filters and they are great, certainly better than the NAPA Wix filters that I can use everywhere else but they unscrew themselves on a Subaru because the engine vibration rotates about a vertical axis and the filter mounts vertically, so Wix is out even though it is the filter I go with for everything else.

Amsoil has this cottage industry distribution system where there is no store that carries them, only a bunch of local mom-and-pop individuals and businesses that are usually out of stock.  I finally found a store that said they had one only to find that it is the short canister version that cannot be installed on a Subaru because there is a heat shield that wraps around about three quarters of the filter and I prefer the long canister for easier installation and more filter material internally.  The best way to spec the filter is to get one for a Mazda Millenia because both engines in all years used the long canister which is about 0.9 inches longer than the one they list and it fits.  I don't want to order directly from the company because who knows what I will get?

I am going to give their distributors one more day to come up with a filter and if not, there may be a K&N oil filter in my future and I know where there are correct ones on the shelf right now.  I would go with Royal Purple but they don't seem to have any presence here in Canada.

What year/engine Millenia?? 

[amptramp]

4 hours ago, Scottydunno said:

What year/engine Millenia?? 

Any year will do but I usually ask for 1997 and either the four or the six.

To continue the story: I checked with the place that got me the last two filters and they said there was no stock at Amsoil, so that was out.  I looked at K&N and Mobil 1 and decided on Mobil 1 because there was a total of four threads that it mounted by compared with the three on the K&N.  I thought this would lead to the same problem I had with Wix of filters unscrewing themselves, so four threads was the winner.  I had lost half a litre of oil per year with the Wix filters before and they can be tightened but I didn't want to get under the car in winter just to tighten a filter.  Now that Wix is owned by Mann/Hummel, I don't know if the filters have degraded to the Mann level (which is basically a Purolator filter).

[KZJonny]

‘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.

[MajorWood]

Installed new piece, used of course, of rear driver side door glass that a Portland feral human decided o knock out a couple of weeks ago.   Cost was $60.   Used the A1 Auto youtube vid as a guide.  Also did both rear door handles that had broken while I was in there.  Got them from Amazon awhile back and they were ever so slightly out of whack, needed a little sanding of the lower edge seal to open up the gap in the clips, and the rear screw hole was about a mm too high so I had to bend that tab up just a smidge.  #2 went way faster than #1

[PtPixel]

Test drove some Audi S4s over the weekend... Thinking of selling and upgrading 

Probably hard to gauge with NZ vs US market, but what would a good condition '08 Spec B with 180k miles on it go for in the US? Searching around NZ it looks like it might be somewhere around 10-14k NZD (6-9k USD) but hard to know. They're not that common here, definitely not with 280,000 km on them. Might have to wait for the right buyer. 

[Infosecdad]

Drove it for about 600 miles last week, found that at ~65 mph I can get ~29 mpg with that split-case 6mt; which makes her the most fuel-efficient car in my fleet of five 

Have JDM headlights and matching wiring harness for lights and levelers that need to be installed. But I'm not sure I have time before classes start again for the fall.

[Scottydunno]

3 hours ago, Infosecdad said:

Drove it for about 600 miles last week, found that at ~65 mph I can get ~29 mpg with that split-case 6mt; which makes her the most fuel-efficient car in my fleet of five 

Have JDM headlights and matching wiring harness for lights and levelers that need to be installed. But I'm not sure I have time before classes start again for the fall.

Horey shet! 29mpg.. then again at 65 though... I can't do that. I'll stick with 25/27 mpg at 70/75! I can't drive that slow, absolutely no patience! What's your setup? I definitely need to get a newer AP and better tune.. 

[Infosecdad]

1 hour ago, Scottydunno said:

Horey shet! 29mpg.. then again at 65 though... I can't do that. I'll stick with 25/27 mpg at 70/75! I can't drive that slow, absolutely no patience! What's your setup? I definitely need to get a newer AP and better tune.. 

I was traveling with another car and traffic was crazy, so I set it at 65 to just drive with the semis and not have to deal with whether someone could keep up with dodging through traffic. I definitely prefer the 26-27mpg at 75mpg for travelling. I think I could break 30mpg if I stayed consistent for the full tank.

TL:DR on my setup. JMP VF-52, DW 750 injectors, GS TMIC and intake, TA Tune that's been customized.  One day I need to make a build page, just haven't had the time to sit down and lay it all out.

 

[Scottydunno]

3 hours ago, Infosecdad said:

I was traveling with another car and traffic was crazy, so I set it at 65 to just drive with the semis and not have to deal with whether someone could keep up with dodging through traffic. I definitely prefer the 26-27mpg at 75mpg for travelling. I think I could break 30mpg if I stayed consistent for the full tank.

TL:DR on my setup. JMP VF-52, DW 750 injectors, GS TMIC and intake, TA Tune that's been customized.  One day I need to make a build page, just haven't had the time to sit down and lay it all out.

 

That's what I'm basically planning to do to mine when I have the funds again. I already have a better/metal top mount, top feed tgv deletes with ID 1k injectors, gotta pick up a VF52 then save again for a tune. It's fun being the breadwinner and car enthusiast at the same time. It's good to see that setup is also fuel friendly. 

 

What's the butt-o-meter tell you for HP?

[Infosecdad]

58 minutes ago, Scottydunno said:

That's what I'm basically planning to do to mine when I have the funds again. I already have a better/metal top mount, top feed tgv deletes with ID 1k injectors, gotta pick up a VF52 then save again for a tune. It's fun being the breadwinner and car enthusiast at the same time. It's good to see that setup is also fuel friendly. 

 

What's the butt-o-meter tell you for HP?

From what I read and virtual dyno tested; I should be around 300hp at the wheels. Which is a lot of fun, but still reliable.

[Enlight]

Switched out a wheel bearing and luckily guessed the offending one. I had a few "genius" moments today. First, I brought my hub and bearing to a local shop to have it pressed, only to have the manager tell me that the bearing was already seated properly . At least I was able to leave some years old exposed gasoline (read: varnish) and broken gas can.

Second, I had my hub all mounted when I realized I put the brake shield on the wrong way. This time, I was able to remove the bearing without removing the entire hub.

Last, on my test drive to verify the roaring sound was gone, I forgot my McGard key on a nut and lost it somewhere on the 6-mile round trip. I saw that key on there multiple times and I knew I was going to forget it on there. After looking around and confirming my stupidity, I took her back out and found the key in the middle of a highway on-ramp intersection.

That about sums it up.

Last week: figured out the reason my EDM HVAC controls weren't working was because I didn't have a properly wired i88 harness. At least I cleaned up some bad grounds and lowered one chassis point from 8ohms down to <1ohm.

I wasn't here for the Hicksta years, but is this anywhere close?

 

[jaylew]

So, I have ordered the fuel pump access gasket and looking forward to no more leaking at the top of my gas tank. I have ~3k on the car so far this season which is double last. With all the miles I have 2 major considerations.

1) Get new Type RA short Block this winter to refresh the remaining part of the car

2) I am now turned on by the idea of the split case 6 speed. Basically its our 5 speed, with a taller gear on top. That is super enticing(cruising at 80 and ~2800rpm). I know that because of the design they are just as weak as the 5 speed but my 5 speed has 249k miles. Just don't be a dick to it and it'll be fine.

 

Finally, thank you to those that ported over the forum. I see now all my photos have moved as well as my signature staying in tack! Greatly appreciated

[BoozeRS05]

Sent an order for one of those Whiteline hardened trans mount inserts the other day. Only like $32 shipped on amazon for anyone looking to spend money on their car

 

Reviews look great and install is supposed to be stupid easy

[KZJonny]

2 hours ago, BoozeRS05 said:

Sent an order for one of those Whiteline hardened trans mount inserts the other day. Only like $32 shipped on amazon for anyone looking to spend money on their car

 

Reviews look great and install is supposed to be stupid easy

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….. =/

[KZJonny]

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.

[NORULZleggy]

On 7/25/2022 at 9:08 AM, jaylew said:

So, I have ordered the fuel pump access gasket and looking forward to no more leaking at the top of my gas tank. I have ~3k on the car so far this season which is double last. With all the miles I have 2 major considerations.

1) Get new Type RA short Block this winter to refresh the remaining part of the car

2) I am now turned on by the idea of the split case 6 speed. Basically its our 5 speed, with a taller gear on top. That is super enticing(cruising at 80 and ~2800rpm). I know that because of the design they are just as weak as the 5 speed but my 5 speed has 249k miles. Just don't be a dick to it and it'll be fine.

 

I have herd different about the 5MT in our cars. I know they are not strong, but i was told they would hold get power. it's just that 5 and something about revese gear. I like the split case but i need that 6MT from the STI.

[jaylew]

For me, its more that I used the car as a Grand Touring car and not a track car so the strength benefits of the sti/ spec b 6 speed don't out way the highway cruising gearing of the split case 6 speed. Also this is all just wish list stuff since any new trani purchase is not in the near future

[Code]

20 hours ago, jaylew said:

For me, its more that I used the car as a Grand Touring car and not a track car so the strength benefits of the sti/ spec b 6 speed don't out way the highway cruising gearing of the split case 6 speed. Also this is all just wish list stuff since any new trani purchase is not in the near future

It’s the front LSD that make a sti 6mt so good (aside from strength/durability) 

 

the diff makes the car handle so much better