Project: AWD TURBO Family Hauler (04 Forester 2.5XT)

[ispoonwithmugen]

Hm, that's odd. I had the same sort of deal but not to that extent. I had a burning smell and the passenger side by the glovebox was humming pretty loud. Shut it down and I haven't had a problem with it since.(even though that was yesterday). Maybe something with the heater? Have you changed anything electrical out recently?

[JustinG]

Nope no changes

[davej]

cooking baby mice that made a home in your vent? did it smell like redneck bbq?

[JustinG]

Nah, just smelled like stank. I caught a whiff of burning smell earlier in the week, but just passed it off as the car in front of us, no smoke was involved.
Guess it wasnt the car in front....

[Jeff]

Does your fan work correctly at all speeds?

[JustinG]

Heater or cooling?

[JustinG]

Heater and Cooling fans all work as they should AFAIK.

Looks like it is the VC gasket.

[ScottyB]

it doesn't help with the exhaust running right under the heads. stuff gets brittle. plenty of DIY guides to help you on these.

mine went at 75k on the dot. not a hard job at all, just takes some time to move the plumbing out of the way. do plugs while you're in there.

[Jeff]

Sold a 2000 Outback to a friend of mine and it has been a leaker and smoker as well. These 2.5's can be a bitch to work on. Did a bunch of maintenance to his a few weeks ago. Put stop leak tabs in the coolant to slow an outward head gasket leak, lol. #hoopdizzle

Oh, I was asking about your interior blower motor fan. I was thinking it might be an electrical fire related to the fan motor on the resistor. Glad you got it figured out.

[JustinG]

I need to make some time to get out in the garage......

1. Replace VC gaskets on Driver and Passenger side. Man do I miss the DSM and the Civic, would have been a 10 minute job.
2. Install STi rear sway bar. Upgrades from a 17mm to a 20mm bar. Need to order the hardware to mount this up, approx $30 for everything from the dealership.
3. Order upgraded rear endlinks
4. Snagged the STi Titanium front strut bar from Maeng, need to throw that on.
5. Snagged a 2 piece DP with the cat gutted from a buddy of mine. $75, I couldn't pass on the deal. Need to order an exhaust gasket set so I can throw this on. May have to fab up a cat pipe if it is too loud. High flow cat should run about $65. Way better then paying $500 for a new catted DP.
6. While doing the DP I am going to replace the catted uppipe with a catless STi uppipe.
7. Load stage 2 tune.....
8. Win the daycare rush hour time attack.

[JustinG]

oh, also snagged a used Cobb Heatshield for the DP since you cant use the stock one with the new DP.

[Jeff]

Sweet!

[JustinG]

EDIT: Rear sway bar is going from 17 to 20mm

[WRXtranceformed]

And it begins

[JustinG]

Soooo.....all I'm really doing is adding a dp and a tune. Everything else is OEM Subaru.....that's how I'm justifying it anyways.

[WRXtranceformed]

That's how it starts

[JustinG]

Heatshield arrived, as advertised. It is a really nice looking piece, just needs to be cleaned up.

Also snagged the Whiteline end link bracket support. This is recommended because the forester lower links have a less then ideal tab for mounting the endlinks when upgrading even to an STI sway bar. It is famous for ripping off.



They are just some grade 8 ubolts and a couple of pieces of angle. If I hadnt found them unopened and half price shipped on the NASIOC classifieds, I would have made my own.

Placed an order for all the exhaust gaskets, sway bar hardware, and the stuff to fix my valve covers. I went with OEM replacement parts, no need to cheap out or buy anything super fancy.

Forester has the same endlinks as an STi front and rear stock. Is it worth doing the kartboy endlinks front and rear?

Time to find some garage time, and warm weather.

[ScottyB]

if your links are just a short, straight piece like that, i'd bet you can get away with leaving them for a while and spending the money elsewhere. all the force would just be going straight through the length of the endlink, so I'd imagine the only benefit you'd feel is from the slightly tougher bushing durometer. if they were the WRX-style U-shaped plastic endlinks i'd probably give you a different answer.

i'm still running my stock endlinks at 111k...and that's on a 20mm rear bar too. no cracks in any of them.

[JustinG]

So much want....but cannot haz

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f153/sale-04-05-jdm-sg5-forester-sti-bumper-fog-covers-vented-grille-jbp-224674/">http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin ... bp-224674/</a><!-- m -->



Edit: Just to entertain myself, I emailed them. $1250 + shipping.

[Senor_Taylor]

So much want....but cannot haz

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f153/sale-04-05-jdm-sg5-forester-sti-bumper-fog-covers-vented-grille-jbp-224674/">http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin ... bp-224674/</a><!-- m -->



Edit: Just to entertain myself, I emailed them. $1250 + shipping.

Pfft, pocket change