Bessie II - Enlight's '05 6mt Matte Blacke Wagon

lol, the car came with the screws. I have the proper screws on their way from Fred Beans right now. That blue wire is actually the Denso O2 sensor. What I'm actually wondering about is the kink in the black intake hose closer to the front of the car, before it connects into the blue Perrin hose (turbo inlet hose?).

On the MAF Harness, is that not an additional single black wire taped to it? Might just be an optical illusion.

That little kink doesn't look that bad to me.

Hmm, I don't know. I will try to see where it leads when I get a chance.

On the MAF Harness, is that not an additional single black wire taped to it? Might just be an optical illusion.

 

Turns out what appears to be a wire is just electrical tape folded over itself.

 

That little kink doesn't look that bad to me.

 

Ok, thanks. I might play around with it a little more.

I ran a VIN check on Bessie I (my first 4th gen.) and thought the results were interesting enough to post. Everything happening after "Bayside" was after I sold the car.

I Miss my old car! lol, glad it went to a good home. definitely not as fun as a nissan leaf!

I Miss my old car! lol, glad it went to a good home. definitely not as fun as a nissan leaf!

 

She's running strong! Planning another road trip this summer, thinking about heading to The South.

Latest report from Blackstone Labs. Mainly wanted to see whether there was any coolant in the oil, things look ok.

On the MAF Harness, is that not an additional single black wire taped to it? Might just be an optical illusion.

 

dang, good eyes.

Dyno tune from Mike at Tuning Alliance:

Nice i have been in touch with him about adjusting my tune. We kinda hijacked your cars dyno run on facebook.

Hey folks, I'm about to pull the trigger on Whiteline bushings for the control arms all around but thought I'd open it up to second opinions before I do.

 

The reason I'm replacing them is because I have torn bushings in the front and rear. I chose Whiteline because Mike from AZP reported no increases in NVH from numerous customers. I intend on using Energy Suspension Lube (https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspension-9-11104-Formula-Prelube/dp/B000CN7B4I) with the bushings.

 

Are there any other bushings I should be considering for longevity and minimal maintenance re: greasing?

 

P.S. I considered Group N's but they don't have Rear Upper Control Arm bushings. Also, I'm intending on getting the front anti-lift and rear camber bushings from Whiteline

 

 

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

Gonna try posting again in my own thread before I clutter the rest of the forum.

 

I ordered some aluminum Spec B arms from yahoo auctions Japan and am having trouble removing the old wheel bearing from the rear trailing arm. I want to remove everything from the arm so I can drop it off at the shop to have the old bushings replaced.

 

You can see my progress in the pictures below. The wheel bearings still don't want to come off - do I need to just bang on it or is there something I'm missing?

Spray them with PB Blaster and let it sit while you have lunch and or diner and wake up in the morning. Its just rust holding them in there once the 4 bolts are out.

 

See the rear wheel bearing thread in the DIY forum.

 

A little AFT and Acetone mixed at 50/50 is also good for that.

Nice, thanks. I was able to find that thread and downloaded the PDF. I sprayed some Aerokroil in there and it came right out.

Yep that stuff is pretty good.

Finished changing out both inner and outer tie rods yesterday for Moog units.

 

Impetus was there was a clunking sound coming from the passenger side when driving over bumps. Didn't seem to be coming from sway bars and the ball joints were just replaced recently.

 

Tie rods seemed ok at initial inspection when it was up on the QuickJack, but after loading the suspension, I heard some noises coming from the inner tie rod with a few whacks with the hammer. The car is gonna stay on the QuickJack for a bit longer while I try to isolate electrical problems with the gauge pack.

 

I'll have to wait a bit longer before I find out whether the tie rods were the culprit.

 

The Moog units are nice with zerk fittings. Picked up Amsoil NLGI #2 Truck grease and a Lucas grease gun to service them. Greased up the front sway bars while I was at it.

I was defeated again today trying to isolate this sound I tried diagnosing in my other thread. From here on out I'm going to keep all of my questions contained in this here log.

 

 

With my inexperience this repair has been very slow going. Last week I purchased a sawzall to remove seized midpipe bolts that's defeated me the week before. With only one day a week to work on Bessie, the pattern that's emerged has been attempt one method (i.e. nut splitter), fail, and attempt another strategy next week (buying tools in between).

 

I was ready to be frustrated again today after breaking both carrier bolts, even after hitting them with aerokroil, until I realized I had already removed the driveshaft. Now I can work on extracting the bolts (never attempted this before) while I have a new driveshaft fabbed up. The shop I'm deciding to go with is an hour from where I live.

 

Before I do, how does this driveshaft look? The carrier bushing itself is not torn, but it pretty easy to flex by hand.

 

Really hoping not to have to learn how to tap new threads. Any recommendations for screw extractor sets?

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogkqp-QckwE]Produce - YouTube[/ame]

Edited December 17, 2017 by Enlight

If you're getting a new driveshaft made I'd just get a solid one piece one that doesn't need a carrier bearing.

If you're getting a new driveshaft made I'd just get a solid one piece one that doesn't need a carrier bearing.

 

That's a good point...

Wonder what the cost on a custom aluminum shaft would be as new OE is 450+?

If you're getting a new driveshaft made I'd just get a solid one piece one that doesn't need a carrier bearing.

 

And if you do, please measure the one you have and let us know the length. I’ve been considering a one-piece carbon fiber one from the Driveshaft Shop and they also sell aluminum ones.

 

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/import-driveshafts/subaru

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/driveshaft-measurement

Edited December 18, 2017 by WRX USA

 

 

 

Really hoping not to have to learn how to tap new threads. Any recommendations for screw extractor sets?

 

 

 

All you can really do is get some very sharp and strong drill bits and starting drilling them out. Drill a small hole in the center of the bolt and hope you find an extracor small enough for that size.

 

Do you have an impact wrench? I’m assuming you broke these using a regular socket wrench? An impact wrench and heat are your best friends for working on rusted bolts, but obviously it’s a little too late for that

If you're getting a new driveshaft made I'd just get a solid one piece one that doesn't need a carrier bearing.

 

So I looked did some research on this and found this informative article. Some considerations are:

 

• Eliminating the carrier bearing lowers the critical speed of the driveshaft
  
• A single piece might have to have thicker walls (possibly not if aluminum), which will increase the diameter of the driveshaft
  
• A single piece can increase NVH. Is it enough to be perceptible? I don't know.
  

 

My wants for Bessie is to be a road trip vehicle in which I could enjoy great driving roads, but also get me through lots of seat time when the roads are not so great. After swapping in a Group N transmission mount I got a fuller appreciation of minimizing NVH.

 

Also, the geometry of a two-piece set up will probably be better if I ever go the air suspension route. I would have to ask the driveshaft shop whether this is the case or not.

 

For those reasons I'm probably going to go the two-piece route. However, I am going to ask them to put in serviceable components with Zerk fittings etc.

 

That's a good point...

Wonder what the cost on a custom aluminum shaft would be as new OE is 450+?

 

$450 looks about right. And it's still non-serviceable.

 

And if you do, please measure the one you have and let us know the length. I’ve been considering a one-piece carbon fiber one from the Driveshaft Shop and they also sell aluminum ones.

 

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/import-driveshafts/subaru

http://www.driveshaftshop.com/driveshaft-measurement

 

I have transmission out of an '08 STi and a WRC rear diff. so my measurements probably wouldn't work for you, but I found a pretty cool YouTube video that gives you good pointers. It's something that I think you can do yourself - just ask the Driveshaft Shop what information they need.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw-VrpYmuz0]How High Performance Driveshafts Are Made - YouTube[/ame]

 

All you can really do is get some very sharp and strong drill bits and starting drilling them out. Drill a small hole in the center of the bolt and hope you find an extracor small enough for that size.

 

Do you have an impact wrench? I’m assuming you broke these using a regular socket wrench? An impact wrench and heat are your best friends for working on rusted bolts, but obviously it’s a little too late for that

 

I just ordered an Irwin 35 piece bolt extractor set that will hopefully do the job.

 

Yeah, I broke the bolt using my breaker bar . The funny thing is I actually switched to the breaker bar from my impact wrench for fear that the impact would break the bolt. Turns out that the instantaneous impact can loosen the corrosion and is less likely to shear a bolt than a constant force. Lesson learned. In addition to the extractor set I'm also going to heat/cool/hammer the area to try and loosen that corrosion and create space for penetrant to enter.

 

Thanks a lot for the late advice!!!

Just a heads up, the drill bits in that extractor set are most likely left handed. Just a friendly warning so you don’t go to town trying to drill in the normal right hand direction and wonder why you aren’t getting anywhere.