Previous owner replaced Turbo - Have some questions.

I'm not new to cars, but new to LGT's and Subarus.

I bought my 05 LGT Limited a few months ago. A lot of things have been replaced. Belts, hoses, etc.

New Turbo as well. I am the third owner however and it was the first owner that had the turbo replaced.

I have a few questions one of which I know is going to be a little difficult to answer completely.

First - if the turbo has been replaced, what would be the banjo bolt situation? Have they been modified or anything so that they don't cause future failure? Is it acceptable common practice for people to just remove them, or the screen?

Just wondering if it is likely something that I still need to be mindful of.

****EDIT FOR THE NEXT QUESTION**** >>>>> I looked at some pictures of replacement VF40's and they had just flat flanges too so I believe it's probably just a VF40.

Second - After I bought it, I did discover a vacuum / boost leak at the flange where the turbo outlet and intercooler mount together. After removing the intercooler to see why, I discovered that the stock intercooler has a groove in it that a flat style O-ring sits in. The stock turbo likely had this same groove for the other half of the O-ring to sit in but the replacement was simply just a flat flange. So the flat (vertically) O-ring just kind of folded up and left leaks. I managed to make a custom O-ring with this stuff we have at work.

The rest of the car is stock, although there is a Cobb heat shield over the turbo.

Is there a common replacement turbo that isn't from Subaru that this might be?

Not really a huge deal at all but the banjo bolt thing is important.

Thanks for any help!

My 05 has both filters removed.

My 09 has both filters.

The tmic to turbo gasket is also a Chevy v8 thermostat gasket.

If you keep the oil full and change it around 3700 miles you should be fine.

IMO these cars do better when driven for long periods. My DD is 32 miles one-way, most of it highway.

If you drive short distances, IMO you want to drive it on the highway when you can. It get's the oil hot, dry's the water out of it.

The guy's with longer DD's seem to have fewer problems. Like miss-fires.

Thanks!

I have a VERY short drive to work - I hate it. But I do LOVE to drive and my favorite is to hit a lonely two lane highway and cruise. So no problem there.

The Chevy V8 gasket will probably come in handy later. When I found that I was like, "Shit. Well how to deal with this now?" because there's a recess on the intercooler side. So I made two gaskets at work. One to fill the recess and one to seal everything up. Kind of hard to picture maybe but it works!

It must have drove the previous owner mad because it ran like ass. Just like a 2-stroke dirt bike I rode once. Just piss-poor power below 3K rpm and then BOOM... it woke right up. lol

I understand about making a o-ring and gasket. A lot of us have a mechanical background on here.

You'll learn that over time.

As you've learned, its a great ability to have.

BTW, where do you live ? Just saw where you posted in another thread about not having many good places to work in the cars with turbo's.

I live in the Cedar Rapids / Iowa City area in Iowa.

Yeah I don't really have a mechanical background. Well... factory maintenance type stuff but not automobile specific. I just kind of picked up things here and there from forums and trying to do things myself to save a few bucks.

 

If you keep the oil full and change it around 3700 miles you should be fine.

 

IMO these cars do better when driven for long periods. My DD is 32 miles one-way, most of it highway.

 

..............

The guy's with longer DD's seem to have fewer problems. Like miss-fires.

My case is wife but she drives 35 miles each way to work highway 50-80mph. We also use 3750 miles OCI dino oil and have had 152,000 miles trouble free related to motor/turbo.

For the turbo outlet/intercooler inlet interface I recommend the Mr. Gasket #738G. Worked great for me and other members. Available for $14 shipped from a couple ebay sellers.

"Product Description: This Mr. Gasket water outlet gasket fits 1955-88 Chevy 265-400. This gasket is composed of an aluminum carrier with a molded silicone bead to ensure a secure seal. Seals surface irregularities between manifold and water outlet housing. Compatible with all intake manifold materials."

http://mr-gasket.com/media/catalog/product/cache/4/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/7/3/738G.jpg

Sweet! Thanks TRS.

I'll look that up!