This is going to be an info dump / repository of important maintanence or modding info I've found doing stuff on my 2005 Forester XT
Keep in mind, I've gone to 2yrs at an Automotive Trade School, and have 10+ ASE EL certifications
I generally know a thing, but have little experience actually doing it lol
Most of this pertains to most Subaru makes/models from pre-CANBUS era (circa 2008).
My current project is a little bit of a lofty one. Turn my daily 2005 Subaru Forester into a rally capable machine!
It's kinda a ship of thesues situation going on.
Current Mods:
Tein 6k/5k CoilOvers | Rear SwayBar | Gravel-able Tires | Half-Decent OE Size Brakes |
TGV Deletes | Cat-less UpPipe | Wideband | 3 Port EBCS | Complete Intake | Invidia Cat-Back |
As of now, I haven't started any major project on the Foz. But, such is changing soon.
It need a motor! We lost cannon (cylinder) #1 due to knocking while lugging it in low RPMs. I was attempting to tune the wastegate for good throttle response, but because it's a four speed automatic, unless you go above a solid 40% throttle input going up a hill, it trys it's damn hardest to not shift! This meant I was at about 3k RPM, making 8-10psi, while under a decent amount of load! A few pings under those conditions cracked the 200,000 mile piston's ringlands (I assume).
Fortunately, it's not horribly dead, it just misfires to hell and back at idle, and otherwise has cyl 1 just not make much power when driving. I've since set it to max out at 8psi of boost, and retarded the timing across the board. The 13mpg it gets now, and the inability to make an overtake at highway speeds might have almost gotten me killed, but it's so far gone 6,000 more miles since it likely happened! It doesn't burn oil (luckily), and only occasionally flips the MIL/CEL and therefor turns off the cruise control.
I already have aquired a Legacy GT's 5 speed manual, with rear LSD, driveshaft, clutch system, whole shabang. Currently I've been working out what motor to put into it, or it's worth rebuilding the current one. I'm likely going to cheap out and stuff an EJ205X/Y into it, and retain my EJ255V1 's intake and TD04 turbo setup so that I don't have to deal with twinscroll goober turbo.
