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

[KZJonny]

11 hours ago, SubOperator said:

Today received front plate mounting hardware and put the front plate on JDM bumper. RI requires front plates so have to obey.

Also curious about this one. My province requires front plates as well, which are, of course normally put front and centre on the bumper, impeding air flow.

I was going to install a tow point mount, to move the plate out of the primary airflow path, but am also considering a JDM bumper at some point. I'm assuming that the JDM bumper would be shorter than the USDM one that the plate holder would end up sticking out comically far....?

If so, I could probably shorten and rethread the mount, but I am 98% sure the thread set for my lathe does not include metric.... so, that would probably be more expensive than buying a new one. 

[bobglaub]

I bought some 3d printed thing from "owljdm" off Etsy for mounting my usdm plate on my JDM bumper. Includes hardware and is solid. I've had it on for almost 2 years now and it's been fine.

That's my recommendation.

[SubOperator]

I looked at Etsy before buying what I got and yes there are many different options there. They all address the issue with JDM bumper mounting hardware not matching US plates mount points. And I did not find any solid full size plate brackets which was what I wanted.

Went to Amazon and bought 2 things:

1. 'Front Bumper License Plate Bracket for Subaru + 6 Secure Screws & Wrench Kit :'  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B8OWLIU?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

2. 'Aujen Silicone License Plate Frames Black, 2 Pack Car License Plate Covers' : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YZFM2FQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

The bracket is a full size support bracket which is again what I wanted. The silicon sleeves are a bit more flimsy than I hoped for but good enough to keep the sharp edges of the plate covered so I would not cut myself again washing the car by hand.

Ideally I would like to replace the silicon sleeve with plastic bracket as is on wife's MDX. But for now this will do.

Front view 1:

Front view 2:

 

Left side view:

Right side view:

 

Top view:

MDX plastic bracket:

 

 

 

[seanyb505]

On 9/26/2023 at 11:09 AM, xt2005bonbon said:

Was chasing an annoying rattling sound, which I believe triggered the knock sensor at times. Turned out to be due to a seized lower brake caliper pin (the one with the rubber sleeve). This was on the passenger side. I noticed the rattling was going away each time I braked. To confirm, I used a rubber mallet and hit the PS tire at 12 oclock. Sure enough, the brake caliper was rattling. Removed the seized pin, regreased everything. No more rattling (for now). Will probably regrease the remaining brake caliper pins on the car.

Note: apparently, the purpose of the rubber sleeve on the lower pin is anti-rattling.. Problem is they swell over time if using wrong grease I guess, or if water gets in there.

Really wondering if I've got something similar going on. Need to get the tires off tonight and check. 

[xt2005bonbon]

46 minutes ago, seanyb505 said:

Really wondering if I've got something similar going on. Need to get the tires off tonight and check. 

Before removing the tire, take a rubber mallet and hit the tire multiple times pretty hard around 12oclock, and listen for rattling. Have a helper if possible. The rattling stopped when I began holding the brake hose end (closer to the caliper).

[Rusty9]

on the topic of caliper slide pins, don't forget to clean the cavity that they go into! I use a brass bottle brush on a drill to break up the rust and old grease then hose it out with brake cleaner. The rubber caps/boots are there to keep water out and the greeeeeze in, so it's worth it to get new ones every 10 years or so.

[BoozeRS05]

You suckers with your floating calipers and front license plate laws

[KZJonny]

6 minutes ago, BoozeRS05 said:

You suckers with your floating calipers and front license plate laws

Front plate law?  Meh…

How that CARB/EPA, COBB-killing thing working for ya? 

Brought to you by the land of never having to get another inspection on your car for anything, ever, post purchase…. 

[seanyb505]

South Carolina sees you, and waves hello 

[KZJonny]

59 minutes ago, seanyb505 said:

South Carolina sees you, and waves hello 

That said, I’ve binge watched episodes of ‘Just Rolled In’….

Jaw on the floor when the narrator says ‘customer declined repairs and drove the vehicle away’. 

[WRX USA]

6 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

That said, I’ve binge watched episodes of ‘Just Rolled In’….

Jaw on the floor when the narrator says ‘customer declined repairs and drove the vehicle away’. 

That’s a misconception of California. Yes there is strict smog testing, but that’s it. There is absolutely no safety inspections like some states on the east coast. You’ll see cars driving on the freeway that seem sketch as hell but they are smogged, registered and may even be insured so they are good to go!

[xt2005bonbon]

15 hours ago, WRX USA said:

That’s a misconception of California. Yes there is strict smog testing, but that’s it. There is absolutely no safety inspections like some states on the east coast. You’ll see cars driving on the freeway that seem sketch as hell but they are smogged, registered and may even be insured so they are good to go!

I've been going to Cali a few times this year for a couple of surf sessions, and yeah, I've seen some sketch cars for sure! I was surprised, but now I understand I guess.. Lots of fast cars and and lot more Teslas over there though (LA area).

[Febreze Mee]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:34 AM, SubOperator said:

 

 

LegacyOddNends is Ralph from Hawaii. I used his harnesses for the headlights main harness and level motor harness as well. I have his folding mirror harness kit too, half mounted (the switch part is done).

Good quality and workmanship. I decided to reuse the JDM parking bulb socket from original JDM harness - the ones in Ralph's harness were not as long and were difficult to insert as the opening in the back of the light is very deep- hence the original OEM socket being longer. It may just be that the rubber seal is too thick on new connectors, I compared them after cutting and that was the only other difference.

Ralph's instructions are also very helpful and detailed. 5 stars imo.

 

@AW4BYT is his forum handle for anyone attempting to search. 
 

+1 to everything @SubOperator just said!

I just finished wiring up my JDM headlights with one of his harnesses. Next projects are to wire up the leveling switch, and mirrors (also half wired).

Edited September 29, 2023 by Febreze Mee

[snow05gtRI]

On 9/17/2023 at 4:08 PM, xt2005bonbon said:

I am also getting some weird turbo noise at full boost only  (19-20 psi) withe vf52. Almost sounds like tire screeching. Been doing that for a long time. Weird. 

Makes me think of a leak in the intercooler path.  What's your IC setup?  Or a leaky gasket in the UP or exhaust?

Edited September 29, 2023 by snow05gtRI

[pksystems]

Did some boost leak testing.  I can hear a leak under the intercooler but can't seem to find it, so I figured I'd test with the intercooler off the car to see if it leaks.   I cleaned out the factory tmic and jbwelded the seams in the summer. 

It seems to hold 10psi  for several minutes.  Sprayed it down with soapy water.  I am leaking air by my MDF block off flange, so I guess I'll replace that seal when I put the tmic back on car.   When I go to about 15psi  the princessauto tester fires out of my old throttle body coupler (that has a torn rubber sleeve) like a cannon.  I should have a nice bruise on my hand for a couple weeks.

I have a newish perrin silicone throttle body coupler installed on the car with t-bolt clamp that I know isn't leaking on the throttle body, so I didn't want to pull it off to test the top mount.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by pksystems

[KZJonny]

On 9/29/2023 at 10:04 PM, pksystems said:

I am leaking air by my MDF block off flange, so I guess I'll replace that seal when I put the tmic back on car. 

FWIW: 

https://www.amazon.ca/Mr-Gasket-738G-Water-Outlet/dp/B000CMF20O/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3I6460HL1FAQM&keywords=mr+gasket+738&qid=1696257646&sprefix=mr+gasket+738%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.b06bdbbe-20fd-4ebc-88cf-fa04f1ca0da8

Does a better job than the factory o-ring on the turbo side of the IC, and being silicon and aluminium, it tolerates a lot more repeated removeal and re-install.

That's just the first link I could think of, you can definitely find them cheaper if you take a look around. Worked great on my OE TMIC which was tricky to get to seal. Replaced with GS TMIC, so longer a problem, but still good to know.

Edited October 2, 2023 by KZJonny

[tysparks81]

Spent some time this weekend on my back with the car on jack stands so I could replace the transmission mount bushings, transmission mount with a group n transmission mount as well as the front/rear shifter bushings.  Everything came off easy, but I should have picked up a replacement u-joint while I was in there.  Just can't figure out which u-joint I need since the solid one seems to not fit unless someone else can confirm it works for the 07 spec b 6 spd.  

[amptramp]

New tires today!  I replaced the aging and destroyed General Altimax RT43 tires with General Altimax 365AW, so that is an all-season tire replaced by an all-weather tire which is supposedly better.  Now it seems to sit a little taller and grip so much better that it seems like the power steering is having trouble turning them.  It will be interesting to see how these fare over the winter.

[KZJonny]

17 minutes ago, tysparks81 said:

Spent some time this weekend on my back with the car on jack stands so I could replace the transmission mount bushings, transmission mount with a group n transmission mount as well as the front/rear shifter bushings.  Everything came off easy, but I should have picked up a replacement u-joint while I was in there.  Just can't figure out which u-joint I need since the solid one seems to not fit unless someone else can confirm it works for the 07 spec b 6 spd.  

Did you have a rebuildable prop shaft made up? The OE drive shaft on any 4th gen doesn't have replaceable u-joints. You CAN push the old ones out with press, and use a set of u-joints that have the retainer set inside the yoke....

But I also know how much hrspr you've got under your hood... I don't think you are a candidate for that kind of messing around. I did it on my NA Outback and ended up buying a used OE driveshaft becuase I just didn't love how the snap rings seated against the inside of the yoke. (It was never meant to have the caps retained from the inside....)

Pretty sure a 4EAT shaft fits a 6MT car, but that is just something I read somewhere, you'd need to confirm...

There is an old thread here about someone from our neck of the woods, or at least GTA that took his to a shop around Mississauga or something, and they either machined the yokes to accept replacement u-joints, or built him a new one for a decent price. I forget the outcome, but will have a look around for it.

[WRX USA]

52 minutes ago, tysparks81 said:

Spent some time this weekend on my back with the car on jack stands so I could replace the transmission mount bushings, transmission mount with a group n transmission mount as well as the front/rear shifter bushings.  Everything came off easy, but I should have picked up a replacement u-joint while I was in there.  Just can't figure out which u-joint I need since the solid one seems to not fit unless someone else can confirm it works for the 07 spec b 6 spd.  

I’ve been tempted to go with one of these: https://throtl.com/products/dss-carbon-imp-driveshafts-dsssush17-c

[xt2005bonbon]

21 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

Did you have a rebuildable prop shaft made up? The OE drive shaft on any 4th gen doesn't have replaceable u-joints. You CAN push the old ones out with press, and use a set of u-joints that have the retainer set inside the yoke....

But I also know how much hrspr you've got under your hood... I don't think you are a candidate for that kind of messing around. I did it on my NA Outback and ended up buying a used OE driveshaft becuase I just didn't love how the snap rings seated against the inside of the yoke. (It was never meant to have the caps retained from the inside....)

 

I actually did replace the front and rear driveshaft ujoints with some Duralast ujoints in 2019. It's now been 60K. Has not exploded on me yet .

Just checked my logs: part number was duralast 2-0430dl. 5 spd though. Not 6.

[KZJonny]

1 hour ago, xt2005bonbon said:

 

I actually did replace the front and rear driveshaft ujoints with some Duralast ujoints in 2019. It's now been 60K. Has not exploded on me yet .

Just checked my logs: part number was duralast 2-0430dl. 5 spd though. Not 6.

Good to hear they're holding up! I think I just worried too much about it, and found a scrapyard propshaft that had a better carrier bearing as well, so decided to go that route.

@tysparks81 is somewhere approaching 400hp tho maybe? Not saying that the alternate parts won't work, I guess I just figure with the amount of time and money he has into his car, why not go the full monty and get the driveshaft machined or have a new one made.

Of course, it's easy to spend someone else's money! 

[bemani]

My sunroof ended up looking like this after a road trip, had the whole rail replaced.  Looks like a plastic guide broke.  I don't even open the sunroof anymore.  But I figure better fix it the right way while the parts are still available since I'm keeping the car forever.

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by bemani

[MoleMan]

1 hour ago, bemani said:

My sunroof ended up looking like this after a road trip, had the whole rail replaced.  Looks like a plastic guide broke.  I don't even open the sunroof anymore.  But I figure better fix it the right way while the parts are still available since I'm keeping the car forever.

 

I had a VW Corrado do the same thing to me. At the time it was so expensive to fix that I just kept the roof shut.  Looking back should have kept that Car..

[BoozeRS05]

If I ever take my headliner out I’ll also be painting it black at the same time. I’ve heard good things about using paint at least, or there’s a good upholstery shop near me. Regardless I’ve always wanted to black out the rest of my interior.

Drove and washed my wagon today. 199,855 miles