Tlag

What symptoms are you getting that have pointed you towards head gaskets?

I've tried the brake cleaner trick, found a couple of leaks. Tightened those and things improved but not perfect. I've not found any other leaks but my back is limiting me in what I can do. Seeing a neurosurgeon on 2nd October and things are improving slowly so hopefully not out of action for too much longer. Cheers for asking :)

It still has the MAF at the moment. Once it's run in and the full map done, I will be mafless

It was probably a couple of minutes after a cold start. Once at normal temp, the revs rise and drop a tad which I think is still an air leak in the intake/IC pipework, but I can't find it . Anyway, the mot is booked for Monday morning so we will see what happens with a few miles on it. :)

On the radiator is the coolant expansion tank, to the right of the rad cap. It has a yellow plastic cap. Make sure the coolant is topped up to normal levels. In the expansion tank, that's quite low. It has a mark on the outside of the tank. Go for a drive. As soon as the temp starts to rise above the normal, pull over and open the bonnet. Pull the yellow lid off the expansion tank. If you can see a obviously raised level of coolant and its bubbling, it's worth going to a garage and getting a sniff test done. It's possible the head gaskets have gone and the sniff test detects combustion gasses in the coolant if they have (generally, Subarus don't mix their oil with water when the gaskets go)

Is it the actual silencer box that won't fit because of the curved metal plate above it? If so, I wouldn't advise removing it. It's there to keep the heat on the boot floor down. Trimming a it off it may be ok if it's only a small amount. If it's the metal bar that goes across the width of the car, behind the bumper, that's basically your crash protection. To make it quieter, not something I hear too many requests for :), you can get a bung which goes in the end. Measure the hole size and see if you can get one online somewhere. My Jap exhaust actually came with one and it's my option to leave it out, although I put it in when the dogs are in the car.

Sorry, other way round. Got myself confused for a second :)

It may be that the centre pipe of the NA is smaller in diameter to the back box of the turbo so that could be the reason.

Should do. All things being equal and not messed around with, they will fit

Smart as! The white writing is a bit subtle on the yellow but that could be the light

Next step is mot. Hopefully this week if he can fit me in. Then the running in can begin :)

Well, the mapper paid a visit and re wrote the map to the ecu. Re calibrated the injectors and turned the key. And from the back; The exhaust note is not too impressive to be honest but I'm only stuck with this system until after the mot ;) So, got a bit more fettling to do yet before mot, but it isn't far away now :)

Looks great, you just need to lower it a tad now :)

It's the same on the Legacies. The fuel filler pipe has such poor protection they just rot through. Thankfully it's only a 10 min job to change them

Good news! I heard it running properly for the first time today. :) I had the mapper call in and sort the base map out. The fuelling was all over the place but that got sorted. Now I'm left with an air leak somewhere in the IC pipework. With all the work that's gone in to this, that's a minor issue in my book. Hopefully, depending how my fitness is next week, I can get this sorted and on the road. It sounds awesome and with so much more to come, it's getting to the fun bit. :)

I don't know of it's the same with Imprezas as Legacies, it probably is. To a certain extent, you can make your ecu learn about minor changes. I suspect the ecu dosnt like the air filter change having learnt how to cope with the aftermarket one. In a Legacy, the way to make it re-learn is as follows. Disconnect the battery for an hour, then re-connect. Go for a steady drive off boost. Make sure you use all 5 gears. Turn engine off, re start and it should have learnt. You can't do any harm doing this and it may work.

That makes me old then and I'm defiantly not old yet. :) Nice fozzy. Great choice of colour too.

I have no idea on this. I've only ever fitted what was supposed to be fitted. I have a feeling the answer is yes, but I wouldn't want you to spend money on that assumption.

Water pump is a good call. It won't cost much extra to have it done at the same time as it's all apart already.

If you force it too much, it will break. Worse than that, it actually sits in a bracket that is part of the oil pump casting and you really don't want to break that. Once in a while I find one like this that has probably been there since new and refuses to budge, no matter what. The way I do it is to soak it in wd40 overnight then try again in the morning. If that fails, it's time to get serious and really commit to removing it. Apply more force in the turning action. Sometimes with the extra force, they will move. More often, the top breaks off. At that point, you have to carry on. I would normally use a pair of pliers and gradually pull bits out but what you will be left with is the outside case of the sensor still stuck in the bracket. I then get a very slim, small flat blade screwdriver and try and get it down between the brack and the sensor case. The case is a much softer metal and should give quite easily. Once you have a gap down the side, get a pair of long nose pliers in it, one prong in the gap and the other in the sensor, grip tightly and turn the pliers so you screw the sensor cap up. Then it's just a matter of patience and fiddling to get it out.

I'm not sure how old the car is. If it's 1999/2000 shape, look at the round brake vacuum cylinder on the bulkhead. You should see some wiring directly in front of it running in a bottom to top direction. A plug in the middle of the wires should be clearly visible. Unplug it and go for a drive. Those cars had a system that made the steering really light at low speeds and stiffened it up at higher speeds. With the plug unplugged, you should find the steering to be at the higher speed setting which is still easily good enough for low speed manoeuvring. If this does as above, it will put the power steering light on on the dash. I'm afraid I don't know exactly how to fix it but it must be to do with a worn sensor that can't figure out what speed it's at. The only one I have experience of did as you described but only until the power steering warmed up. It was fine after that. Hope that helps.

Cam position sensor or crank sensor will also inhibit the pump. Both of those will throw a code so checking the codes would be the next thing I would do. Another thing I would check would be earthing. Look at all the earth leads from the body to the engine. Usually get them from the suspension turret area to the inlet manifold plus some from the heads to the chassis rails.

I agree. A 4 wheel alignment will always prove beneficial anyway. It will reduce tyre wear and give better handling. I've fitted Impreza suspension onto a Fozzy and that needs rear camber bolts as well but I've not fitted coilys so not sure how it would feel

Oh no, that's bad news. At least you have 2 options to get yourself out of it though. Good luck with the test drive

The two black plugs (one wire to each) are in front of where your left knee would be whilst driving. Get a torch and look up behind the dash in that area. You should see a whole clump of wires and plugs. You should see the black ones, some green ones, a yellow one and a pink one at least. If they have never been used before, they may still be taped all together. Once you have the black ones, plug them together. Turn the key in the ignition until the lights come on the dash. The check engine light will flash. Long flashes count 10 and short ones count as 1. It will flash the code and then the next code until it has shown them all and then repeat so it's worth taking the time to watch it go through a couple of times to make sure you have them. There is no OBD on these older Legacies.