136 replies to this topic

[Barbbachello]

Ive never seen them get past the knocking stage as people fix them. Sucks that its on a new kit. Maybe whip the covers off while the engine is running and eyeball it all

[El_Freddo]

Yeah I checked it out last night with the passenger's side c

[El_Freddo]

Yeah I checked it out last night with the passenger's side cover removed - no movement of the tensioner up and down.

But the noise was very prominent from the tensioner with the stethoscope on it.

It drove to Bendigo ok and once there I couldn't hear the noise. Weird.

I haven't told sister about it yet but should notify her to keep an ear out if anything changes.

I didn't get to drive it properly after the alignment which was a bit disappointing. Can't wait to hear what sis reckons!

Pics to come when I can get time on the computer.

Thanks for the help again Barbachello I'll get that tensioner swapped as soon as I can.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Here's some pics of the worn bushes and that work in progress:

 

Trailing arm front bush:

 

 

Upper control arm outer bush:

 

 

Upper control arm inner bush:

 

 

Rear lower control arm inner bush:

 

 

Needless to say these bushes are shot!

 

The rear lower control arm outer bush was probably the only one in good condition that could've been kept - but all bushes were changed while we were there.

 

Trailing arm out of the vehicle:

 

 

This is what the work in progress looks like:

 

 

Once we were in the middle of the work of the above pic we were off and racing.  I don't have any other pics of the work done from here - I'll have to grab some pics of the new bushes when I see Basil again in about two weeks.  Nice red shiny bushes always look good!  One thing that I was really pleased to see is that Subaru had the wisdom to make the brake lines and ABS wiring simply unbolt from the trailing arm - no need to split the brake line and create more work.

 

Sis and BF have given a very positive response to the work done and the wheel alignment.

 

Now to sort the knock sensor, belt tensioner (not cheap!!) and the steering knuckle...

 

Cheers

Bennie

[motoboy76]

Wow Bennie some epic work going on here.....

[duncanm]

great stuff - please share any pointers for getting those bushes in and out.

 

My rear end is as loose as a two cent hooker -- just pricing up all new bushes from partsouq so I can get stuck into them.

[applegeek897]

Good stuff, I need to do a complete overhaul of mine, something to do very soon for sure.

[El_Freddo]

***Lots of bush warning***

We went with the Nolathane bushes, most were the three piece and went in easy once the old bushes were removed.

To remove the old bushes dad used a drill bit to drill out as much of the rubber as possible to help break what was left of the rubber's adhesion (for want of a better word) with further hitting of the centre piece out - some fell out after the arm was removed from the vehicle :/

Drilling was also good for another reason - it would chew out a section of the outer case's wall which effectively weakened it. A pin pinch could get a lip out then a big chisel was used to hammer it out the rest of the way while being careful not to scrape the arm's mounting surface for the new bush.

Sometimes a dremel was used to wear down the outer casing of the bush - then it was hammered out.

The bushes on the front lower control arm were easily tapped out. We used two different sized sockets - one *slightly* smaller than the bush's outer case to hit the bush out with. The second was a larger socket to hit the bush into without then lodging the bush in the socket. Worked a treat!

The pressed bushes that came in the kits ($520 worth for all rear bushes except swaybar) were pressed in with a make shift press - a horizontally positioned hydraulic jack on dad's log splitter (not operational due to "mods" but is set up for this work too).

I highly recommend having a bearing press on hand for the job, especially if you're going with stock bushes which will all need to be pressed in.

I can't wait for the 29th to come around! I'll be prying the keys from my sister's finger to take it for a drive and to grab some pics of the work and the car in general!

I should see if we can get the whole group of subarus from my family to the BBQ day... Might be possible!

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Ok so I'm thinking we may have an issue.

Yesterday after a long drive it started leaking coolant out of the overflow bottle (I think). There was a lot of it!

Topped up and drove like a champion, not getting hot and performing as usual. Once back home (half hour on the freeway at speed), pulled up no issues.

Sis went for a drive into town, a few km, coolant on the ground again.

I'm going to get a new rad cap and see if that fixes anything. Following the liberty after yesterday's episode it didn't drop any coolant while on the move.

Anything else I should be looking into as well?

I'm hoping it's not a HG so soon...

Cheers

Bennie

[Barbbachello]

Odd that its intermittent.

Gen 3s generally leak externally rather than interally. +1 try a new rad cap and a good bleed maybe

[El_Freddo]

Interesting to know about the external leak.

New rad cap fitted and a bleed done on ramps. It's done a run into Melbs and back but my unobservant sister didn't notice any fluid leaking - and the weather doesn't really help with it being wet...

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Ok so we thought we had this thing licked. Not the case.

Sis drove it as far as Bendigo, all was well until she hit traffic. Called me, she let it cool down then topped it up with water and limped it across town to my mother inlaw's where it's now awaiting it's personal Subaru service crew (aka me) to check it out/fix it.

After speaking with sis it seems that it's not a HG. She hadn't told me about the spray jet of coolant previously. She showed me on the L's EJ roughly where it's coming from and pointed at the area below the cam covers on the passenger's side. Radiator hose immediately came to mind

Or the thermostat housing but I've never heard of them being an issue before.

I can't wait for Friday after work now - home, off to benders, fix subi then back home in said subi. Come Sunday I can then trade this for my beloved brumby. I'm kind of missing it!

So finder's crossed that it's just this rad hose!

Cheers

Bennie

[duncanm]

the other sneaky thing gen3's do is have small leaks from that spot which fall into the drip tray.  They don't make it to the ground when parked, so you don't notice any coolant leaking like you normally would.

 

After a while the coolant gets low enough to cause an overheat all of a sudden and you wonder what went wrong.

 

Get her to keep an eye on the level in the reservoir when cold.

[motoboy76]

Hope you can track it down mate...

[El_Freddo]

Not a Head Gasket!

And not the lower radiator hose. It was the heater circuit hose at the water pump. One small little hole.

A new hose was made up from a Holden statesman one. I'll be able to use the rest of the hose for the brumby if I ever need it (also the heater hose at the water pump).

Happy days.

Now to find out what's floating around between the rear left disc and dust shield... It's metal and it's flat from what I can see. Thoughts are that the hand brake mechanism might have fallen apart.

Time will tell.

Cheers

Bennie

[motoboy76]

Nice glad you got it sorted Bennie....

[El_Freddo]

Nice glad you got it sorted Bennie....

Sis is too! Relatively cheap. "Swapped out" the coolant for fresh stuff since we put all sorts of water in the last mix!

Found out what was between the dust shield and disc on the rear left - a random piece of steel. It looks oddly familiar but I can't pick where it's from - probably somewhere around the farm. It's a piece about 1.5 inches long by half an inch wide and a quarter inch thick - and it's got a hole in the centre. Like I said, random.

It was found on the rear side that the dust shield was touching the disc after we did the suspension work. I asked the tyre joint that did the alignment to sort it out but I doubt they used a piece of steel like this or left it in place behind the disc. 10ish thousand k's later and we just find it.

I'm enjoying driving it to and from work so far - I've got it for the week for a shake down

So far I've noticed some clicking and popping in the front end. I need to track this down and sort it before I send it off back to Sis.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Ok - latest in the Basil "saga":

I found the clicking/popping before I sent it off to Sis last time - loose strut mount bolts up top. Sorted that easy!

Sis reported a noise a few weeks back, I thought it was brake pads so legged it up to 'khuna to sort that out. Found a caliper pin issue - was locked solid. That's sorted and new pads are on. It also got an oil change.

The noise wasn't brake related though. It's in the gearbox :/ at idle under the car using the socket extension rod as a stethoscope I can hear a dead bearing in there. Now it's a matter of time until it gots pop. More oil was added to the gearbox but the damage was already done. Between moving house to benders I'll be looking out for a decent cheap gearbox from another Gen3 of the same era. I don't know if they swapped from diff stub axle to the male shaft setup between revisions but I need the diff stub axle style to make this a see less transition/swap when the time comes

In other news I hope everyone is having a safe festive season

Cheers

Bennie

[Barbbachello]

Dont think they went to the male fronts until gen 4 ish so should be fine.

[El_Freddo]

Awesome, thanks Barbs