This community is awesome.

[dan.jarvis]

I'll start by introducing myself.

 

I'm Dan. I live in Massachusetts and I drive a 2005 LGT Limited 5MT.

 

Just going to do a TL;DR version of this. I got the car in May 2008 $18,600 with 33k on it. I took pretty good care of it for about 2 years and then I got lazy (also got married had two kids in the last 4 years). The only thing I kept up with were oil changes and tire rotations (or so I thought). Due to my own ignorance I thought I was fine with a 5k OCI (typically castrol syntec 5w30 and whatever filter was on sale).

 

Fast forward to about two weeks ago and my turbo blows with 154K on the car (75% of which is highway). Never changed a banjo bolt filter or OCV because I was being ignorant. I had the clutch and timing belt / water pump done at a family mechanic for $1800 1 week before this happened. The car sat for about a week and it hadn't seen fresh oil in about 5,500 miles. When I got it back it sounded like metal in a blender on the passenger side. CEL also came on with P0011.

 

This post isn't about a blown turbo. I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you. The amount of information in this community is staggering. It saved my car...

 

I had two different mechanics decline doing a turbo replacement on my car (and I'm really glad they did). They both just flat out told me my engine was toast (but the car ran fine, other than the grinding noise on the passenger side). I almost believed them and gave up. I was really close to towing the car to my uncles shop where he would auction it off. Even better, I brought it to the dealership first when the CEL was on. Code was P0011. The tech at the dealership said the code was due to low oil. He put 2 quarts in and sent me on my way because he couldn't find any leaks and apparently he didn't understand the concept of oil burning. He also said the grinding noise was due to a loose timing belt guide. I believed him because I JUST had the timing belt replaced.

 

When the concept of getting rid of this car really hit me... I freaked out a bit. I turned to the internet for help.

 

Shit... this was supposed to be a quick post but its turning into a frigging blog post that nobody is going to read. Let me just finish this up real quick with an actual TL;DR.

 

- turbo blew, mechanics told me to cut my losses and the engine is toast.

- almost put the car up for auction

- debated doing a rebuilt engine for $4500

- debated finding a used engine and doing a swap

- internet to the rescue (specifically the blown turbo wiki at this fantastic website)

- father and i took out turbo

- BARELY ANY DAMAGE. Minor play in the turbine wheel. Some fins were slightly bent, but there were no markings on the housing. Oil was clean, but did two flushes anyways (prior to removing turbo). Dropped Oil pan: clean. Intercooler had a bit of oil, but no metal shavings to be found anywhere.

- not getting rid of this car!

 

I now have the following items sitting in my kitchen waiting for this Saturday:

- BNR 16G

- IP&T Filtered Oil Supply Line

- 2x Oil Control Valves

- OEM Oil Cooler (this hurt, because I probably don't need it... but whatever)

- Invidia Catless Uppipe

- NGX one step colder iridium plugs

- K&N Washable / Reusable Air Filter

- Bunch of gaskets and stuff

- Bunch of fluids and stuff to flush everything.

- Also going to attempt to remove the filter on the driver side banjo

 

Looking forward to getting my car back. I'm going to keep this thing in immaculate condition from here on out. I want to bring it to 300K. I think I can do that with all of this knew knowledge I have thanks to this community. I even got me some vacation pix from 2005.

 

I'll try and grab some pics during the install. I have some from the removal, but I'm too lazy to get up and get my phone right now.

 

Also shouts out to infamous performance. I ordered a bunch of parts but I split it into two separate orders. They refunded me the shipping on the second, less expensive order without me even having to ask. Good dudes over there.

[Zero1]

GL to you man, lot of help around here if you need any too! Take lots of pics, if anything, just for the memories lol

[Gex]

Did you do a compression check? And yes this site is a vast expanse of knowledge about these cars. It is a great resource.

[Gire]

Welcome, Dan. You sound like an LGT.com veteran even though you have one post.

 

I look forward to your future posts on this car and how it turns out.

[apexi]

Welcome! Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the job

[dan.jarvis]

I misspoke on that parts list. Still waiting on the OCVs to arrive (I hope they come today!).

 

Compression test was fine BTW

[06silvarubiLGT]

Good list of replacement parts, sounds like mine except I went Reman vf40 since Tune isnt in my budget at this time. Still sitting in the garage b/c the Inlet was torn more than my liking and havent got back to it yet, the banjo is easy to get out once the turbo is removed

what part of mass?

[Dujo]

Thanks for reading before posting. Depending on where you are in Massachusetts, you may be reasonably close to Motive Auto Works in Woburn. Even if you're far, this still may be the right place to take it if necessary. Especially if you want to get started yourself on this stuff and then get to a point where you need to stop, step back and get some help. This guy is very friendly to the tuner Subaru community and he really knows his stuff. If you're are a bit more westerly, you may want to check out Underdog (user on this site). I think he's out the Worcester direction. No personal experience with him, but he should pretty aftermarket friendly as well. My personal first choice is always Motive (motiveautoworks.com).

 

Do you have a tuning strategy? Is a 16G supposed to be a drop in replacement with no tune? Looks like you are doing an uppipe (as you should), but not a downpipe. Looking to stay close to stock with reliability, which is a fine choice. If I were you, I would consider a tune with that new turbo, even one that is close to stock. Any time you change the airflow to the engine, you should really think about a tune to dial things in to the new airflow. A tuner can also remedy a lot of the issues with the stock tune and get you better safer power even on a turbo that's close to stock. Basically, you're looking to go stage 1 here, even with an aftermarket turbo. BrenTuning is the tuner I recommend (brentuning.com). He can even give you an opensource road tune for the absolute cheapest protuned option.

 

Skip the K&N filter and just stick with the oem paper filter. It filters better and doesn't have any oil in it. Yes you have to check and replace them (every other oil change or so?), but the K&N has problems you'd rather not get into. Also, if you want to add just a downpipe to that mix you've already listed, you can go stage 2 and really open up the biggest bottleneck in the stock airflow system. This will absolutely require a tune (which you should be doing anyway).

 

Welcome to LGT.com! Questions? Ask away. You've earned it.

[laff79]

strong intro post

[Underdog]

Welcome Dan! Glad to hear you have it sorted out!

 

Thanks for the shout-out Dujo. I appreciate that, especially in the context of being a loyal Motive guy. (I've never met Alberto but have heard nothing but good things and he is a supporting vendor on this forum.)

 

I am located in Ayer and have been a Legacy owner and member since 2006. I opened my business this past January and can supply parts from over 100 manufacturers, as well as help out with maintenance and installs, although it sounds like you've got the mechanical side down-pat! Still, if you ever need help with anything, please don't hesitate to send me a PM.

 

Best,

Rick

[Nrw]

Faith in new members restored

 

 

Looks like you did great research.

 

As mentioned both Motive and Underdog are GREAT choices if you are looking for a mechanic. Just be careful at Underdogs, you may want to spray your car GRP and throw a JDM bumped and a whole bunch of other rare JDM goodies on it

 

Also as mentioned you'll need a tune once you have those parts in. BrenTuning can get you up and running better than ever on that end.

 

BTW welcome aboard, if you need any advice or help feel free to ask.

[GTTuner]

Trust me, the oil cooler is cheap insurance to ensure the job is done correctly. Welcome and good luck with the repair!

 

Also, with the mileage on your car I would strongly recomend having a turbo inlet hose on hand. Chances are good the one in there is going to be brittle and oil soaked.

[dudeondacouch]

I went to HS with someone named Daniel Jarvis.

 

Does the phrase, "Dick's donkey bag" mean anything to you?

 

...or perhaps the phrase, "Pine needles is guilty"?

[Max Capacity]

You may want to leave out the EGT probe, plug that hole with a bolt from the auto parts store.

 

Get the 2.2k ohm resistor from Radio Shack and stick one in where the gray connector came out of.

 

You may want to get a new oil return line too. The auto parts store should have a oil resistent hose ask them.

 

I would also suggest a tune, a street tune may be all you need to know everything is safe. In most cases you get mpg too

[rkhousman]

Welcome! I have to agree with the others that have said we have 2 great local mechanics/vendors that are always willing to help in Underdog, and Motive. Both have helped me out in one way or another, as have many members on here. As long as you continue to research before you ask a question that has been answered a million times you will be good to go!

[StoplightAssassin]

That was the TL;DR version?

 

glad you got it sorted

[HAMMER DOWN]

Faith in new members restored

 

 

Looks like you did great research.

 

As mentioned both Motive and Underdog are GREAT choices if you are looking for a mechanic. Just be careful at Underdogs, you may want to spray your car GRP and throw a JDM bumped and a whole bunch of other rare JDM goodies on it

 

Also as mentioned you'll need a tune once you have those parts in. BrenTuning can get you up and running better than ever on that end.

 

BTW welcome aboard, if you need any advice or help feel free to ask.

 

+1 & welcome

[dan.jarvis]

Good list of replacement parts, sounds like mine except I went Reman vf40 since Tune isnt in my budget at this time. Still sitting in the garage b/c the Inlet was torn more than my liking and havent got back to it yet, the banjo is easy to get out once the turbo is removed

what part of mass?

 

I almost went with another stock VF40... but the praise for the BNR 16G that I've read swayed me.

 

About the banjo... I was talking about the bolt on the drivers side. Which doesn't look all to easy to get at.

 

Currently in Ludlow... will be relocating to Westfield / Southwick this summer.

[dan.jarvis]

Thanks for reading before posting. Depending on where you are in Massachusetts, you may be reasonably close to Motive Auto Works in Woburn. Even if you're far, this still may be the right place to take it if necessary. Especially if you want to get started yourself on this stuff and then get to a point where you need to stop, step back and get some help. This guy is very friendly to the tuner Subaru community and he really knows his stuff. If you're are a bit more westerly, you may want to check out Underdog (user on this site). I think he's out the Worcester direction. No personal experience with him, but he should pretty aftermarket friendly as well. My personal first choice is always Motive (motiveautoworks.com).

 

Do you have a tuning strategy? Is a 16G supposed to be a drop in replacement with no tune? Looks like you are doing an uppipe (as you should), but not a downpipe. Looking to stay close to stock with reliability, which is a fine choice. If I were you, I would consider a tune with that new turbo, even one that is close to stock. Any time you change the airflow to the engine, you should really think about a tune to dial things in to the new airflow. A tuner can also remedy a lot of the issues with the stock tune and get you better safer power even on a turbo that's close to stock. Basically, you're looking to go stage 1 here, even with an aftermarket turbo. BrenTuning is the tuner I recommend (brentuning.com). He can even give you an opensource road tune for the absolute cheapest protuned option.

 

Skip the K&N filter and just stick with the oem paper filter. It filters better and doesn't have any oil in it. Yes you have to check and replace them (every other oil change or so?), but the K&N has problems you'd rather not get into. Also, if you want to add just a downpipe to that mix you've already listed, you can go stage 2 and really open up the biggest bottleneck in the stock airflow system. This will absolutely require a tune (which you should be doing anyway).

 

Welcome to LGT.com! Questions? Ask away. You've earned it.

 

I've been thinking about a tuning strategy all night. The 16G is not quite a drop in replacement and definitely needs a tune. I read some forums on some other sites about people running it without a tune... can't seem to find them though.. maybe I was drunk. My budget is super tight right now, so I'm thinking about taking the Tactrix + RomRaider route.

 

Again due to budget, I had to make a decision between a downpipe and the oil cooler... I chose the oil cooler. Hopefully I can find a good deal on one in the near future.

 

I'm curious about the issues with the K&N filter... I'll read up on that, thanks for heads up!

[dan.jarvis]

Going to have to multi quote the rest of this thing...

 

Welcome Dan! Glad to hear you have it sorted out!

 

Thanks for the shout-out Dujo. I appreciate that, especially in the context of being a loyal Motive guy. (I've never met Alberto but have heard nothing but good things and he is a supporting vendor on this forum.)

 

I am located in Ayer and have been a Legacy owner and member since 2006. I opened my business this past January and can supply parts from over 100 manufacturers, as well as help out with maintenance and installs, although it sounds like you've got the mechanical side down-pat! Still, if you ever need help with anything, please don't hesitate to send me a PM.

 

Best,

Rick

 

I'm in Ludlow... which according to google is 1hr 20mins from Ayer. Not too bad. I have AAA so the next time I'm in a bind I can tow it right to you!

 

Trust me, the oil cooler is cheap insurance to ensure the job is done correctly. Welcome and good luck with the repair!

 

Also, with the mileage on your car I would strongly recomend having a turbo inlet hose on hand. Chances are good the one in there is going to be brittle and oil soaked.

 

Thanks for confirming my choice on that oil cooler. I didn't really take the time to inspect the inlet hose... hmmmm...

 

I went to HS with someone named Daniel Jarvis.

 

Does the phrase, "Dick's donkey bag" mean anything to you?

 

...or perhaps the phrase, "Pine needles is guilty"?

 

Neither of these phrases mean anything to me... but you should definitely elaborate because I'm curious.

 

You may want to leave out the EGT probe, plug that hole with a bolt from the auto parts store.

 

Get the 2.2k ohm resistor from Radio Shack and stick one in where the gray connector came out of.

 

You may want to get a new oil return line too. The auto parts store should have a oil resistent hose ask them.

 

I would also suggest a tune, a street tune may be all you need to know everything is safe. In most cases you get mpg too

 

I ended grabbing a new oil return line after reading this reply As for the tune I think I'm going to go tactrix + romraider.. unless of course anyone on here makes a strong case for not going that route, budget is a factor.

 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.

[Dujo]

So here's the thing ... you don't technically need to own an Accessport or a Tactrix cable to get protuned in person. Your tuner will likely have an opensource (or some other proprietary) option with his own cable to get you going. That being said, either one is a good logging tool going forward to help you monitor your car's health, but you can get tuned without one. Now you're just talking about the cost of the tune (either dyno or just straight road tune). A non-dyno, road-only tune will be the cheaper of those two options because you won't need to rent dyno time.

 

However, if you would prefer to get an etune or an off the self tune delivered over the internet in some way, you will need some method of your own to load the file onto the car's computer yourself, which means you would need to buy an AP or Tactrix. eTunes and off the shelf tunes are cheaper than the protuning options (though by a lesser margin). Now you're talking the cable/tuner hardware plus the cost of the tune.

 

From there you're talking about combinations of AP or opensource plus dyno protuning.

 

From cheapest to most expensive (approximate) ...

- Protune Road Tune (no hardware purchased)

- Protune Dyno Tune (no hardware purchased)

- Tactrix + etune (does anybody do it this way? BrenTuning requires an AP for etuning, what about Infamous? Cryo?)

- Tactrix + Protune Road Tune

- Tactrix + Protune Dyno Tune

- Accessport + etune

- Accessport + Protune Road Tune

- Accessport + Protune Dyno Tune

 

Again, the AP/Tactrix is not a prerequisite to get a tune unless you must load it yourself. That said, don't underestimate the benefits of having one around to help you monitor the health of your engine over time. In the cheap department, something else to consider is a vag-com cable for logging. You have an '05, so I believe it works with your car. I think the 08+ have to get a Tactrix or AP. The vagcom solution is a little more flaky than the AP or Tactrix, but you can't beat the price. They are super cheap. Still gives you the ability to log without dropping a bunch of dough. Up to you whether the $90 of difference between the vagcom and the Tactrix is worth the hassle to you. AP is obviously easiest to use and if you have one, your tuner (whether you see him in person or get one via the Internet) will use it, but it is of course the most expensive option (by far).

 

My personal choice? Dyno tuned by BrenTuning in person. I own a Tactrix for logging, but Bren didn't need to use my Tactrix at all during the tune to hook his laptop up to my car. I just use it now for my own Learning View snapshots and logging (which I could really stand to do a little more of).

[dan.jarvis]

So here's the thing ... you don't technically need to own an Accessport or a Tactrix cable to get protuned in person. Your tuner will likely have an opensource (or some other proprietary) option with his own cable to get you going. That being said, either one is a good logging tool going forward to help you monitor your car's health, but you can get tuned without one. Now you're just talking about the cost of the tune (either dyno or just straight road tune). A non-dyno, road-only tune will be the cheaper of those two options because you won't need to rent dyno time.

 

However, if you would prefer to get an etune or an off the self tune delivered over the internet in some way, you will need some method of your own to load the file onto the car's computer yourself, which means you would need to buy an AP or Tactrix. eTunes and off the shelf tunes are cheaper than the protuning options (though by a lesser margin). Now you're talking the cable/tuner hardware plus the cost of the tune.

 

From there you're talking about combinations of AP or opensource plus dyno protuning.

 

From cheapest to most expensive (approximate) ...

- Protune Road Tune (no hardware purchased)

- Protune Dyno Tune (no hardware purchased)

- Tactrix + etune (does anybody do it this way? BrenTuning requires an AP for etuning, what about Infamous? Cryo?)

- Tactrix + Protune Road Tune

- Tactrix + Protune Dyno Tune

- Accessport + etune

- Accessport + Protune Road Tune

- Accessport + Protune Dyno Tune

 

Again, the AP/Tactrix is not a prerequisite to get a tune unless you must load it yourself. That said, don't underestimate the benefits of having one around to help you monitor the health of your engine over time. In the cheap department, something else to consider is a vag-com cable for logging. You have an '05, so I believe it works with your car. I think the 08+ have to get a Tactrix or AP. The vagcom solution is a little more flaky than the AP or Tactrix, but you can't beat the price. They are super cheap. Still gives you the ability to log without dropping a bunch of dough. Up to you whether the $90 of difference between the vagcom and the Tactrix is worth the hassle to you. AP is obviously easiest to use and if you have one, your tuner (whether you see him in person or get one via the Internet) will use it, but it is of course the most expensive option (by far).

 

My personal choice? Dyno tuned by BrenTuning in person. I own a Tactrix for logging, but Bren didn't need to use my Tactrix at all during the tune to hook his laptop up to my car. I just use it now for my own Learning View snapshots and logging (which I could really stand to do a little more of).

 

Thanks for breaking this down. I just did a bit more reading on romraider dot com and it looks like I misunderstood some details. Since I'm completely new to tuning, I was under the impression that I could just buy the Tactrix cable and load a pre-configured open source (as in free) ROM based on my parts list. Meaning I would only have to pay for the cable. I've been so focused on getting everything else right that I completely overlooked the tuning aspect!

 

So.... that said, I just sent an e-mail to BrenTuning to see if I can get in there on Monday or Tuesday. I wonder if they have ever tuned a car with two car seats in the back?

[dudeondacouch]

Neither of these phrases mean anything to me... but you should definitely elaborate because I'm curious.

 

Damnit.

 

I'll expound tomorrow, if I remember...

[Zero1]

Damnit.

 

I'll expound tomorrow, if I remember...

 

 

Drunk responses are generally more entertaining

[Dujo]

Thanks for breaking this down. I just did a bit more reading on romraider dot com and it looks like I misunderstood some details. Since I'm completely new to tuning, I was under the impression that I could just buy the Tactrix cable and load a pre-configured open source (as in free) ROM based on my parts list. Meaning I would only have to pay for the cable. I've been so focused on getting everything else right that I completely overlooked the tuning aspect!

 

So.... that said, I just sent an e-mail to BrenTuning to see if I can get in there on Monday or Tuesday. I wonder if they have ever tuned a car with two car seats in the back?

 

Can't remember if I had my carseats in the car when it was tuned. Probably not since our carseats float between our cars based on who has the kids at the time. My stage 2 wagon usually has 2 carseats in it though.