Cj_05OBXT Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 New to forums. Have had a 05 outback xt with 5mt for a while. Engine needs rebuild and am looking for information on where to start. Previous owner had the turbo fail and the dealer only replaced the turbo and changed fluids. I found this out after I had purchased the car. I believe the turbo has failed again. I have evidence of metal in the oil. I want to get the car back in the road and learn about this Subaru community. I want to rebuild this car the right way and not skip any steps. Any advice starting out would be awesome! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Welcome and sorry to hear about the engine. You’ve got choices. What is your budget/DIY skill level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cj_05OBXT Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 (edited) I do not have any budget yet.. This will be my 3rd complete engine rebuild but first Subaru. I do all my own mechanical work and keep a modified 6.0 powerstroke on the road. My plan for the car is to be a quick fun car and to basically turn it into a legacy gt. I understand there is a lot of modifications available to this platform so whatever I do I want to start strong so I can go from there if that makes sense. Edited January 3 by Cj_05OBXT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 It already is a legacy gt just taller and with a different trans (if it’s a manual) lol. It all depends on your goals for the car but get ready to spend some $$$$$. The price to get these things back on the road goes up every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) Sounds like you're able to do the hard yards anyway. @blackobxt is correct tho it is expensive and getting more so. These cars are indeed pretty well supported in the aftermarket, tho not quite as well as the WRX platform.. Budget will dictate what you do, so it's worth considering that first. Best option is new short EJ255/7 or Type RA short block + oil cooler + clean and rebuild head + some say to change the cam controllers (opinions vary) all that + a complete gasket kit, and it your case either a new turbo or have @JmP6889928 rebuild yours so it won't fail again. That is a lot of money.... If the short block can be salvaged, and you can do that rebuild yourself it will take a couple thousand out of the equation, but if you plan on building for power, then you'll want to make damn sure that there is nothing wrong with it. That doesn't seem likely after 2 failed turbos.... It's generally thought to be around ~$5-6K to do a rebuilt right. Plenty enough people saying eff that and throwing a JDM 2.0L EJ20X/Y into their cars when they blow up the EJ25.... Much less money and still a very capable engine.... Edited January 3 by KZJonny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cj_05OBXT Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I do not want to keep the short block I have. I believe that when the first turbo went and it wasn’t taken care of properly that is what caused the problem I am dealing with currently. I do want to set myself up to build for power. This is going to be a fun/project car for spirited driving all year round. The $5k-$6k budget is okay with me, just want to do this once. Sounds like starting point is sourcing a short block. I am going to start looking for a reputable machine shop for the heads. I am in Washington state if anyone has a recommendation my ears are open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) I’m about to jump onto a meeting for work then I’m going to throw a whole bunch of info at you lol. I too have an 05 outback xt 5 speed, bigger turbo, legacy suspension swapped lowered on koni with swift spring, Sti steering rack blah blah blah Edited January 3 by blackobxt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Ok so, with yours being an 05 your engine designation ej255 however the shortblock and heads are exactly the same as the single AVCS Sti ej257. Pistons are the same, crank is the same, rods are the same, b25 heads are the same, cams are the same. If you get a new shortblock from Subaru, you will get the current revision which will include the nitrided crank. If you are planning on rebuilding this yourself, you will find that after machine work, parts and labor (even your own labor is worth money) that it will likely be cheaper to just buy a new short block from Subaru that’s ready to have heads thrown at it. The things you should not skimp on and replace are: oil cooler, AVCS solenoids (I have successfully cleaned these), AVCS gears or send them to outfront motorsports to be cleaned and reassembled on a jig. Oil pump should be disassembled and replaced depending on condition, I’ve seen a lot of these that will have debris impacted into the pump itself. The heads: these things hold an extreme amount of debris and every single oil galley plug will need to be removed and thoroughly cleaned with rifle brushes, many brand new shortblocks have failed quickly due to inadequate head cleaning. Another bear is the valve lash which is done with the buckets that go in-between the cam and the valves, you can either order a bunch of buckets and spend a ton of time swapping them around or a good machine shop can clearance them for you fairly quickly. Inadequate lash leads to burnt and leaky valves which is not uncommon. Also pay close attention to head surfaces where the cam rides for grooving. If it’s not too bad they can be polished out. If they are chewed up, they can be decked down and line honed but at that point I would consider either new or good used heads. When I did mine I also threw in a killer b oil pick up tube (some years the stock tube was prone to cracking, 05 wasn’t affected but why not), a new oil pan which was cheap and I wish I would have considered some baffling. I also did the TIC fu cam bolts since the stock bolts like to get chewed up during their unnecessarily difficult removal and I also replaced the non-AVCS cam gears since they are made out of plastic and while they are extremely strong I have seen them fail which is catastrophic. Make sure you research banjo bolt filter removal and up pipe cat failures. Subaru doesn’t even use the filters anymore and 99% of people will recommend that you also remove yours. Get yourself either an aftermarket catless up pipe or an oem catless up pipe, the cats are known for coming apart and tearing up turbos and causing restrictions resulting in damage. Also research on the front cam cap installation, they require liquid gasket and I’ve seen many times where people unknowingly seal the oil ports for the AVCS gears which results in a lot of issues, some of which can be catastrophic. If your power goals include anything north of 300whp you’re going to want to look into some different pistons. The ringlands are the usual failure point in these motors and have even cracked at stock power levels. If that’s the case I would recommend looking into something like the IAG 550 which is honestly a pretty decently priced shortblock for what you get. sorry, I know this isn’t put together the best and I basically just regurgitated a bunch of random info at you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. These are good fun stout motors when put together right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cj_05OBXT Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I do not want to keep the short block I have. I believe that when the first turbo went and it wasn’t taken care of properly that is what caused the problem I am dealing with currently. I do want to set myself up to build for power. This is going to be a fun/project car for spirited driving all year round. The $5k-$6k budget is okay with me, just want to do this once. Sounds like starting point is sourcing a short block. I am going to start looking for a reputable machine shop for the heads. I am in Washington state if anyone has a recommendation my ears are open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cj_05OBXT Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 (edited) Thank you so much. This is a great list and some stuff I can now look up and get parts moving. I will update this as I get started on the project for sure. Blackobxt it’s a lot of info and I am excited. I have wanted to do something with this but was nervous and overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. This gives me enough to get started. I like the way you think about the why not your in there already and I would say our philosophies are very similar on that. I think that the IAG short block might be the direction is head. I am sure I will have more questions. Thank you and happy new year to all Edited January 3 by Cj_05OBXT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) Yeah I don’t like doing things twice lol. The car was originally put together with longevity and reliability in mind since it was originally for my wife but when we moved to az she decided she didn’t like clutching in stop and go interstate traffic and it became mine. If I would have known this was going to happen I would have changed the recipe a little bit for a good bit of more power but hey it’s no slouch with the turbo it’s got for now. But feel free to ask any questions you want, this is a pretty supportive community with a lot of good knowledge. And don’t be intimidated by these motors, you will probably step back and laugh when you realize how simple they are. If you know what you’re doing, you can have a motor out in well under an hour. out of curiosity, are you manual or auto? Edited January 3 by blackobxt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cj_05OBXT Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 Black on black with a 5 speed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subisubisu Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Welcome, nice looking OBXT! I just rebuilt a 2005 OBXT I bought exactly for that project. I don't have near the experience of y'all who are talking above, and even less when I started it, but I wanted it. It had no compression on #4 due to an exhaust valve problem, but still on the original turbo so I rebuilt my own block with forged pistons and had a machine shop do the decking and rebuild the heads. A variation that I did was the 6MT swap from a JDM Spec B - there is some chatter in forums about the 5MT being overcome at higher power levels than stock. I also pulled the spacers that made the OBXT taller than LGT and used LGT-height springs and shocks. I also have the 2015 STi steering rack and Killer B oil pickup and pan, plus a Koyorad aluminum radiator. I bumped up to the 11mm oil pump with the extra sump capacity of the Killer B pan, and the gauge I put in is showing high 90's oil pressure when cold and under load. And I have a JMP VF39 and the Grimmspeed TMIC and DW740 injectors, which made a tune necessary. I do not want to go total all that up, but it's all googleable at current prices in case any of those options interest you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, Cj_05OBXT said: Black on black with a 5 speed Looks exactly the same as mine. 2005 outback xt limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Old pic, it’s lower now but you get the idea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Is the hawkeye Rex in the background also yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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