My ‘05 OBXT journal

[RumblyXT]

Just did an oil change on the car for the brother in law and cleaned the Engine air filter element. 5,742 miles later and the ej20x is still working great.

[blackobxt]

Still no tune? Wonder what the learning view looks like

[RumblyXT]

1 minute ago, blackobxt said:

Still no tune? Wonder what the learning view looks like

To be frank, we haven’t done it yet. He’s been keeping the car under boost all this time, driving like an old lady.

Between me not being able to get the full list of monitoring parameters and him not having the funds yet to do it, it had to be postponed, but it’s definitely among the first couple of things to be done, I always remind him.

I also need to replace both axles and repair the rear emergency brakes. 
Funny that as much as I enjoy driving the new Forester, I really miss the Outback and periodically find myself searching for another one..

[RumblyXT]

I was changing the left front axle for the Outback and the freaking lower ball joint pinch bolt was rusted/seized in.. 

After drilling it, much heat and two hours later, we got it out..

Really got to hand it to all of you working on the Northern states and rust belt.. phew.

Now goes the ball joint..

Edit: Father in law got it out!

Edited February 6 by RumblyXT

[xt2005bonbon]

Was your plan to change the balljoint too or just the cv axle? Cause if it was the latter only, then you don't need to touch it.

[RumblyXT]

Yes, I know the axle replacement does not require the ball joint to be removed.

It was just going to be the axle, but the ball joint boot was busted too, didn't make sense to leave it that way.. but the bolt got destroyed in the process, we spent a good two hours working to remove it. For the axle, we had to purchase an impact hammer, it was the only way it came out..

The Outback spent most of its life in Connecticut. Other than the suspension, I'm surprised the rest of the undercarriage is in pretty good shape otherwise.

Edited February 6 by RumblyXT

[xt2005bonbon]

I HATE when a bolt is seized or break. Last week, it literally took me 45 minutes to replace a front wheel bearing. 5 years ago, it took me a whole day. Why? Because a freakin caliper bracket bolt was seized and broke. So much fuuun

That's why I put TONS of anti-seize everywhere. And that's why it took 45 minutes last week to change the wheel bearing!

[RumblyXT]

If you guys have any info on the lower ball joint pinch bolt for our cars, I'd really appreciate it.. I can order it from Amazon, but they no longer deliver the next day. I need to get the car fixed by tomorrow morning.

Edit: Disregard, I found 2 bolts at my local Subaru dealer 20 miles away.. 

 

Edited February 7 by RumblyXT
image

[RumblyXT]

12 minutes ago, xt2005bonbon said:

I HATE when a bolt is seized or break. Last week, it literally took me 45 minutes to replace a front wheel bearing. 5 years ago, it took me a whole day. Why? Because a freakin caliper bracket bolt was seized and broke. So much fuuun

That's why I put TONS of anti-seize everywhere. And that's why it took 45 minutes last week to change the wheel bearing!

Yeah, I always try to avoid cars from up North (most of them are all rusted under). Anti seize helps, but that salt gets every where in the suspension components.. surprisingly this Outback is pretty good considering it's been up North most of its time.

[RumblyXT]

New/er components installed and the Outback is loving it. No more screeching/clocking noises when turning.
oem legacy gt axle, new ball joint/pinch bolt and endlinks. Also fixed the P/S annoying noise issue by replacing the return line O-Ring. 

New Caliper/new brakes coming soon on the left side.

Edited February 8 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

Car started showing this code yesterday.. not sure if it has to do with the O2 sensor now being located behind the Turbo.. Included is also a new LV table, not tuned yet.. engine sound/behaves good otherwise and has been kept below 2K rpms all this time.

Should I worry about the P0133 code? A quick Google search returned this:

Edited March 1 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

I know that timing at 1,650 rpm is looking like..

[Infosecdad]

57 minutes ago, RumblyXT said:

I know that timing at 1,650 rpm is looking like..

with an IAM of 0.125... Is the IAM trying to climb back up from a reset or did it drop from 1.0?

[xt2005bonbon]

I think his IAM has stayed around that value for a while.

I never saw that CEL code before. From a quick Google search, looks like either the 02 sensor has issue, or the wiring is faulty? Check connections? I am not sure if the fact that the o2 sensor is after the turbo is correlated with the CEL. Worth asking this question to the tuner.

Interestingly, your long term fuel trims look fine too.

Edited March 1 by xt2005bonbon

[blackobxt]

Y’all need to get that thing tuned before you’re doing a ej20 swap 2.0 thread.

[RumblyXT]

2 hours ago, xt2005bonbon said:

I think his IAM has stayed around that value for a while.

I never saw that CEL code before. From a quick Google search, looks like either the 02 sensor has issue, or the wiring is faulty? Check connections? I am not sure if the fact that the o2 sensor is after the turbo is correlated with the CEL. Worth asking this question to the tuner.

Interestingly, your long term fuel trims look fine too.

Not sure.. O2 sensor is OEM and brand new when I installed the motor. 

[blackobxt]

so the O2 sensor pictured in the downpipe is what would normally be the pre-turbo O2 sensor? If so i dont recall ever seeing a denso with yellow sheathing.  

[xt2005bonbon]

Mine is yellow (original 19 years old oem). But I did buy a brand new OEM one a couple of years back and it came with blue sheathing. have not installed that one yet.

OP, I'd be surprised that the o2 sensor would be bad. That's strange.

[RumblyXT]

2 hours ago, blackobxt said:

so the O2 sensor pictured in the downpipe is what would normally be the pre-turbo O2 sensor? If so i dont recall ever seeing a denso with yellow sheathing.  

Correct. I honestly don't know what the color it should be. Although it looks a lot like the one the old ej255 had on, but a bit discolored through use.

This new O2 sensor seems to have been working fine ever since I completed the swap and the work I did never brought up a check engine light till now. I'm not sure if an ej20x uses a different O2 sensor though..

Both the ej20X and the ej255 are very similar engines, except the jdm one is 2.0L and dual AVCS. But all sensors above it and even the injectors should be exactly the same.

I bought the usdm OEM O2 sensor because all the components I used, except for the (long block, turbo and exhaust manifold), remained usdm: ECU, I/M, injectors, not sure if you remember I even swapped the Intake Cam Sprockets over to make it as close as possible to it being an ej255. More like a hybris ej255 I know lol yeah this was quite the experiment.. Hey, but it's been working fine so far and hasn't blown up.. yet.. fingers crossed.

So, I'm not sure if the fact this usdm O2 sensor is now located further back on the DP, the ECU is getting confused an/or getting late readings from the gases getting to it a bit later.

This may all go away once it's "properly" tuned, we really got to get around to doing that.

[RumblyXT]

So I know we got more pressing matters with this car, ie: tuning the ECU. But I was wondering if you guys can offer any tips on eliminating hard steering/loud P/S Pump belt whining..

I’ve already replaced both the suction hose and the O-Ring, it got a little better, but the noise comes back eventually, especially on start up when the engine is cold and when turning at very low speeds..

What else could it be? The belt seems to have the right tension.. but I see dust from it being worn and spreading on the alternator..

[KZJonny]

Belt maybe too loose. Slipping when there is lots of load on the pump? Would explain the dust.

Thorough burping of the system as well can’t hurt. Going lock to lock a few times (wheels in the air if stationary, or in a large parking lot?) might help.

I’ve seem people do this on two peices of cardboard/old tiles with grease in between to prevent grinding their tires.

[RumblyXT]

3 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Belt maybe too loose. Slipping when there is lots of load on the pump? Would explain the dust.

Thorough burping of the system as well can’t hurt. Going lock to lock a few times (wheels in the air if stationary, or in a large parking lot?) might help.

I’ve seem people do this on two peices of cardboard/old tiles with grease in between to prevent grinding their tires.

Hmm.. Belt too lose, ok.. I don't have a gauge to check tension on it. All I do is bending the belt 90 degrees from its resting position and seeing what resistance it offers.

Yes, both front wheels were up in the air when I repeated the lock to lock movements 6-7 times. It seemed to have burped system well, and didn't whine then but now noise is back now when turning wheels while driving at low speeds. 

Edited March 6 by RumblyXT