1993 JDM WRX 'Fix' thread

[Martian]

Hi guys,

As the title says, this is more of a fix thread than a build thread.  Ive had the car a short while now, a little under a month.

Its absolutely awesome, i love it, but im now finding all its faults. 

So far ive found out it has a 2" or possibly a 2.25" exhaust system, i have been advised that this is not good for the turbo or in general and am hoping to sort this out asap.

It had an absolutely minging airfilter that quite badly affected the engines performance, ive replaced it with a cosworth flat panel.

and it has a good old oil leak. ive posted a pic of the oil leak, its also left a patch on the drive at work as its parked there for sometimes 12hrs or more at a time. Ive had to top it up twice in about 3 weeks. Ive ordered a rocker gasket set, and am hoping to rent a ramp and a friend and i will hopefully do our two cars in one day. Thats the plan anyway! It could also be the crank oil seal ive been told. but i am rubbish at mechanics and never owned or worked on a subaru before.

A picture of the new Stereo i fitted. I also replaced the speakers, not really happy with the sound but it will do for now.

And a long term plan is to try and get some more comfy seats and see if theres anything i can do to improve my seating position, as i dont think the car was designed for tall people. My feet are just resting on the pedals and my knees are about touching the steering wheel. If the new seats where higher then i think i would have an issue with my knees and steering wheel.

 

Well this is the start of my thread, it will mainly be somewhere to throw some pics, write some thoughts and plan ahead, if anyone wants to comment it would be more than appreciated

[savage bulldogs]

Drivers side cam cover and half moons are a common problem due to heat from the up pipe and turbo making them brittle . If it's the half moons it normally drips oil on the up pipe causing a oil burning smell but not always , so maybe give the area a wipe over to remove the oil and run it up to visually check for leaks . As the rocker gaskets are a bit of a pain to get to when the engines in situ , especially if you have to clean liquid gasket off the head face .

Classic bucket seats are about as low as you can get (other than race buckets) and the newage seats make you sit a bit higher.

I'm 6 ft and although it's a bit tight I'm still comfortable but I have got 2011 sti seats and a momo 330 mm steering wheel.

Make sure that you use oe gaskets ,as cheap ones don't last and make sure they're the right ones for your year (there's at least 2 different types for classics alone ) . Don't over tighten the cam cover bolts either .

All the best

If it's not broke .....upgrade it 😊

[Martian]

Thanks for the heads up mate, I will have to get under and have a proper look on my next day off.

Yeah oem gaskets all the way on bits for engines, especially on cars as faffy as subarus! Bit of a nightmare layout wise lol

The seats i have are in really good nick considering how old they are, they are just not that comfy when you have been sat in it for a little while.  My work involves using my back a lot and it would be nice to have a bit more support and comfort on the drive home aswell.  Thats the only reason i would change them. Im not into race seats in a road car or being so low that people can barely see my head through the window

[JamesJDMwagon]

You can change rocker cover gaskets from the to no need to jack it up. But you will probably need to jack the engine a little because the are very tight to the rails. Just a quick tip. 😊

[Scoobyghost]

I did mine just on ramps. Never needed to shift the engine. Only did the drivers side at the time.

It was fiddly. It was hassle and it took me longer than jt should've but I didn't need to rush. I used a little dab of grease to hold the gasket in place when offering the cover player back up. Cleaning the old sealant was the most difficult part, just gotta take your time. If the swear jar starts to fill up walk away and have a brew.

[JamesJDMwagon]

'Drivers side is the tighter side' sure about that buddy 😉 . 

Anyway good luck I really like seeing people keeping these classics going strong they're such an iconic car my favourite imprezas 😄

[Scoobyghost]

That last bolt at the bottom back end was a pita [emoji23] [emoji23] Walked away from it a few times. Ratchet spanners are the way forward.

[savage bulldogs]

Dunno what you 2 are moaning about it was 1 of the easiest jobs I've done on my scoob [emoji55] .......

Mind you I think the engine was on the kitchen table at the time [emoji23]

I'm sure you'll be fine fella [emoji106]

if it's due spark plugs soon it might be worth fitting those at the same time [emoji6]

If it's not broke .....upgrade it 😊

[JamesJDMwagon]

My gf won't let me bring my toys in the house 😢 Especially after I rebuilt my drive shafts in the lounge who knew grease doesn't come out of carpet 😂 

[Martian]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Its a bit daunting, tbh, but ill get there! I cant afford to keep running to the mechanic especially with the prices ive seen people say they have been charged because subarus are really faffy.  Ive got loads i need to do aswell, the gear linkage, clutch, oil leak, change all the oils, spark plugs (they were on the list, the rocker kit comes with little spark plug things ), exhaust and hopefully nothing else essential!!

This little wagon has really grown on me, i love my classics and i dont think ill get rid of this one now, i did doubt when i first got it and noticed the faults, but its really grown on me

[quit]

I got a good mechanic it's cheaper letting him do it than doing it myself sometimes 

 

been taking Scoobs to him for over 10 years 

[Martian]

I have managed to source a cheap stainless steel exhaust, which im really pleased about, as i reckon im being strangled about 40 ponies with the exhaust thats on there. Im just keeping up with my friends stock vectra SRI turbo thats got 175bhp.

I have decided to get it fitted by a recommended mechanic who works on my friends subaru, while its on the ramps i will be able to get a good look underneath with an extra more knowledgeable pair of eyes and find the source of the oil leak, i dont know what to hope for lol crank oil seal or rocker gaskets!

Ive bought a second hand sti gear linkage set and a new spring for a bargain price, so will fit that asap.

Ive also got some newage coil packs with the pig tail thingymijigs, i have to make them myself and the instructions have left me crosseyed   Im going to wait until they turn up and hope the diagrams make more sense! I have just remembered i will need to order spark plugs aswell.

Thats it for the moment, just waiting for bits to come in the post and to find the source of the leak, i did have a look but couldnt tell myself as its all pretty dirty and apart from an oil trail i dont know what to look for, but i do know it needs a good clean!

 

 

[Martian]

Hi again,

Its been a while, ive been really busy and every spare moment ive had ive just wanted to chill. But heres an update....

I have spent far too much money on the car in the two months ive owned her and i can tell im going to spend  a whole lot more

I have fitted a stainless steel cat back system which has noticeably improved things, both audibly and responsively, nothing major but a definite improvement. I did try to do the downpipe at the same time but couldnt shift the 5 nuts on the turbo, i got one off but that was it. I had to use a tap as an extension lol

I started with the most difficult bit and got stuck so just ended up doing the cat back, but that was another mess.

I think i counted about 4 gaskets and 3 flanges. That went from 2.5" to 2" pipe.

This is it now, much tidier. The weld on the stainless part is very messy but solid.

My first turbo car and its obligatory chav whistle   This gives me no end of amusement. I can see how it gets annoying but for the moment its staying.

So at this point i took my car to my mechanic. He tried the turbo\downpipe bolts with an extension and ratchet, then added heat and barely got any movement, so we decided to leave it until i had bought some replacements incase things broke. He then went looking for my oil leak and is 90% sure it is a seal at the back of the engine by the clutch which means the gearbox and clutch need moving to get to it. So this means a new clutch and possibly flywheel aswell, which isnt so bad as i have clutch judder which is really annoying.  Also to aid in resolving my gear change issues, i have bought an sti gearlinkage, a resistance spring for the gear stick (i think) and will be getting the gearbox oil replaced.  At the same time i will also be getting the diff oils changed.

I have bought a fuel filter, oil filter and spark plugs and the newage coil packs are now here.

That is the end of mechanical work and preparation.

This is the beginning of what is turning out to be expensive audio madness.

So my wrx is called an SA.  Which ive forgotten what the A means but the S is Sport, it has aircon and electric windows and a Stereo, but thats it, the only thing in the doors was one tiny tiny little bit of matting no bigger than my mobile phone which is normal sized, in the centre of the door. There is no soundproofing or heat shielding anywhere that i have found. No complaints, it means its light.  But i like my music and i wasnt satisfied with what i had, I had upgraded the head unit and replaced all four speakers with 5.25" vibe coaxials and was really disappointed. So i thought about working on it myself, but was ill at the time and fired off some messages to audio centres around here and got quotes back around the £2000 mark for a bit of sound proofing and some good speakers and an amp. Well that was off the table so i bought some dynamat, 3 sheets and got to work

yes i know about the crappy fitting job, i bought some advertised 1993 wrx speaker adaptors and they didnt fit. so bodged these for the moment, and yes the wiring leaves a lot to be desired but they are not staying long.

The sound difference is amazing! And quite possibly i would be content with this and my sub from my old car. But whilst ill i was curious about the package i was offered for two grand and how much i could do it for.  I fell in lust or love im not quite sure until i get it wired up lol, with a Hertz mpk pro 6.5" component set and found an amp to  power them with two channels spare for any future upgrade, so bought them and a wiring kit   The saving is immense, but i have to take into consideration im going to use my own active sub aswell and im doing my own work and im following the only 75% of the door needs to be dynamatted theory. I did slightly run out on the second door lol but its fine. Im going to buy more and do the rear wheel arches and a bit of the boot so will use any off cuts if i think its needed.

You can see my sub in the top corner.  I cant wait until its done, but im loving playing with this car, although its not the easiest to work on by far!

Im going to have to run new speaker wire into the doors and its proving to be a pig of a job, the channel the factory wiring takes is tiny, and goes in S shapes everywhere.

So thats a job for tomorrow.   Oh i almost forgot, i bought and fitted clear side lights and clear indicators for the front bumper. I fitted the side lights earlier.

Much better i think.

Well thats it for now, ill update if, when i get something else done.

Cheers!

[kayzarh]

nice work so far man, its gonna be super expensive, no one here is going to tell you otherwise haha.

just at the end of the day knowledge > money and how much have you learnt :P

[Martian]

Cheers fella, ive bought a few tools and plan to do as much as possible myself. The ratchet spanners have already proved to be there weight in gold! Awesome bit of kit!

Yeah knowledge over money any day, and i have very little of both but im finding the biggest stumbling block is confidence, once you get over your hesitation because of lack of confidence, ive found things easier than i expected. Despite not being able to complete things because i didnt have the correct tools or tools to make the job easier or knowing the tricks of the trade, the actual jobs were easy once you had a look.  The worst bit for me was the 5 nuts holding on the downpipe, they would not shift for love nor money, 4hrs and i got one off!

[kayzarh]

5 minutes ago, Martian said:

Cheers fella, ive bought a few tools and plan to do as much as possible myself. The ratchet spanners have already proved to be there weight in gold! Awesome bit of kit!

Yeah knowledge over money any day, and i have very little of both but im finding the biggest stumbling block is confidence, once you get over your hesitation because of lack of confidence, ive found things easier than i expected. Despite not being able to complete things because i didnt have the correct tools or tools to make the job easier or knowing the tricks of the trade, the actual jobs were easy once you had a look.  The worst bit for me was the 5 nuts holding on the downpipe, they would not shift for love nor money, 4hrs and i got one off!

haha yeh, confidence is the biggest obstacle! are downpipes are made to cramp hands into a cobra shape for 48hrs its all part of boxer bruv haha

[Martian]

Well thankfully im getting my mechanic to fit my stainless steel downpipe and sport cat at the same time as he replaces the clutch and fixes my oil leak as he would have to take it off anyway. 

But im discovering there are places in the boxer engine my hands just werent built to go lol, i actually got stuck trying to recover a dropped socket lol it well hurt pulling my hand back out minus the socket

[savage bulldogs]

I've got hands like shovels so bought a decent 1/4 drive socket set and some rachet spanners as soon as I opened the bonnet of my first scoob lol .

If it's not broke .....upgrade it 😊

[Martian]

I havent written anything for a while, things have been quite hectic recently. A support worker job i started about 6 months ago has gone belly up, i had to report two people i work with for neglect and financial abuse, then the office gave those two people permission to take the same two residents out to a gig they have no interest in. I couldnt let this go so had to go into the office and calmly and tactfully tell them how wrong they were, all the time knowing i was still on probation and hadnt fully got the job.  They then informed me that i had been overpayed since i had been there and owed the company £1300.  A few days later my car overheated.

As you look at it from the front the leak is on the left (airfilter side), but i cant tell any more than that, other than its a fairly big leak. It took nearly 4 litres to get home and then about 2 litres once it had got home.  Im hoping its just a pipe thats split but going to have to get a friend over with his halogen torch and ramps to find out.

On a plus side i have been applying for work and think i have found a considerably better job with considerably better pay! Ive passed an interview and was told i was the best candidate so far and the job was as good as mine, they even told me what they were looking for and how to pass the next stage. I have a further interview and assessment on tuesday. If i get this job this 'fix thread' becomes Classic Wagon 2.0 - Rise of the Battle Wagon

Complete my above plans to get it running smoothly again and then get it to a safe every day use 300bhp. Which should be pretty monster in a lightweight SA estate.

[Scoobyghost]

Regards to your leak. Check the top rad pipe as over time and die to age they start to split in the bends. Gently squeeze it from the outside of the bend and you may feel the split inside. It may be a pin hole leak but u see pressure soon spits all the water out and evaporates leaving now trace of the leak.

[Martian]

Quote

Regards to your leak. Check the top tad pipe as over time and die to age tgey start to split in the bends. Gently squeeze it from the outside of the bend and you may feel the split inside. It may be a pin hole leak but u see pressure soon spits all the water out and evaporates leaving now trace of the leak.

Cheers mate, will do.

[Gambit]

Coming on nicely mate will pin it for you like I have done the others 

[Martian]

Cheers Gambit

No pressure on me to compete then

Quick update, I have found the leak, its my radiator.  I really wanted to get an alloy upgrade, but ended up getting a normal replacement, the top big radiator hose feels like its going to split in the near future so ive bought a black hose replacement kit which i was really suprised to find was more expensive than the blue or red versions.

I have got a few jobs I need to do sooner rather than later but its just finding the time.  I already have all the parts I need, Im going to attempt to do all this between now and the end of the weekend. Replace the radiator, Spark plugs, coil pack upgrade and oil and filter. Although regarding the coil pack upgrade, Ive just had a thought, I may just sell on the pigtails I have and buy new HT leads as a precaution, I will still change the plugs tho.

Oh and I am now the proud owner of some STI wagon spoilers   Genuine or replica im not sure.  The wrong colour silver... yes.  And the top spoiler needs a minor repair job but im still really pleased.

The crank oil seal will have to wait for another day,

 

[Martian]

Well I fixed the radiator as the bottom corner had basically rusted and fallen out, it was dumping water just as quick as I could get it in by the time the radiator I had ordered turned up. 

Then literally 3 days later on the way to work loooooads of steam pouring out of the bonnet while stopped at some traffic lights, cars behind me started reversing and the car in front pulled forwards, I just acted like nothing was happening and then drove off as soon as traffic started moving, thankfully work wasnt far away so I just drove there. The top hose had split so had to replace that. I didnt do it at the same time as the rad because they hadn't arrived in time. Turns out it was also slightly the wrong shape and needed chopping and the jubilee clip bust a day later and it started leaking and spraying steam, The old clip came out of the bin and problem sorted!

The oil and filter where changed and spark plugs done too, that's a full service minus the diff oils and gearbox oil which I hope to get done soon.

I haven't been very happy with my dump valve, it leaks air at about 60mph and im concerned about the bore wash people talk about so I took it off, and managed to find a second hand HKS resonator delete and mushroom filter, loving the noises! As soon as I can afford it tho im going to get an Apexi pod filter as I dont like the HKS, but overall I would prefer a resonator delete that allows me to use my original airbox, but until then this will do.

The list of immediate jobs, include

new clutch and crank oil seal,

diff and gearbox oils,

STI gear linkage,

fixing, spraying and fitting the STI spoilers,

new brakes all round, but i am holding out as i would like 17" alloys and to do the four pot conversion on the front and two pot on the rear.

The future list contains Td05 turbo upgrade, fuel pump upgrade, fitting my sports cat and turbo downpipe, turbo up pipe, fitting an esl and getting a remap.

Also finding a nice interior as this one needs to go.

[savage bulldogs]

Imo Maintenance is never that much fun[emoji19] but it is a necessity and can sometimes lead to a cheeky upgrade [emoji6]

Although i dont know much about wagon spec , Being a v1 it should have individual coil packs on top of each spark plug ?

If so they don't run ht leads and either a newage coilpack conversion or new classic coilpacks are the only way to refresh the sparks [emoji57]

Good news is most v1 & v2 jdm imprezas have the top entry tdo5 16g as standard . As it was only the uk versions that had a top entry tdo4 (well on the saloons anyways ) [emoji6] .