What did you do to your 4th gen. Legacy today? Vol - 10

Tried to find someone to replace my lower control arm bushings if the arm was removed. After finally finding someone who would (two shops said no) I was quoted 200-300 for two arms - i need 4 done. Thats a bit higher then I was expecting and is more then enough to warrant buying a press and the Avo tools - or should I leave it to someone who's done it before? They made it seem like its super difficult - one set of arms is brand new (but is aluminum), one set is 9 years old but rust free. Considering I would be using the correct sized press sockets shouldnt this be a fairly easy job?

I spent about the same at two different shops to have WL bushings installed in my front control arms, rear trailing arms, linkages, etc (I brought the bushings and the arms to the shop, no R&R for them). It's an easy job if you have the right size bushing tool/socket. You have to be more careful with aluminum than e.g. steel control arms because aluminum is soft and easy to mar. In other words, you can get away with slightly mismatched sockets on steel since there's less chance of screwing up the control arm with misalignment). The first shop (same place I went to for head rebuild, supposed to be the best Subaru shop in the area) didn't even touch half of the arms I brought in since they didn't have the correct sized bushing tools.

If I had the space, I would have bought a press and done it myself. It's not a job that's $100+ difficult, unless you're doing the R&R of the arms from the chassis. I wasn't happy with how much I spent just to swap bushings, but that's the way it goes when you're cheap and go to a shop

Tried to find someone to replace my lower control arm bushings if the arm was removed. After finally finding someone who would (two shops said no) I was quoted 200-300 for two arms - i need 4 done. Thats a bit higher then I was expecting and is more then enough to warrant buying a press and the Avo tools - or should I leave it to someone who's done it before? They made it seem like its super difficult - one set of arms is brand new (but is aluminum), one set is 9 years old but rust free. Considering I would be using the correct sized press sockets shouldnt this be a fairly easy job?

Wow! I paid something like $160 if I remember correctly, maybe less. Let me double check my receipt once I get home.

Can anyone confirm what the throttle position duty % should read on the AP?

Mine fluctuates radically and is never a constant value regardless of throttle input.

I spent about the same at two different shops to have WL bushings installed in my front control arms, rear trailing arms, linkages, etc (I brought the bushings and the arms to the shop, no R&R for them). It's an easy job if you have the right size bushing tool/socket. You have to be more careful with aluminum than e.g. steel control arms because aluminum is soft and easy to mar. In other words, you can get away with slightly mismatched sockets on steel since there's less chance of screwing up the control arm with misalignment). The first shop (same place I went to for head rebuild, supposed to be the best Subaru shop in the area) didn't even touch half of the arms I brought in since they didn't have the correct sized bushing tools.

 

If I had the space, I would have bought a press and done it myself. It's not a job that's $100+ difficult, unless you're doing the R&R of the arms from the chassis. I wasn't happy with how much I spent just to swap bushings, but that's the way it goes when you're cheap and go to a shop

I did the front LCA rear bushings on the ole terd Spec B with an air saw, air hammer, large sockets, and a BFH.

Wasn't worth going over to my buddy's place to retrieve the janky HF 12 ton press that I have had for years.

Can anyone confirm what the throttle position duty % should read on the AP?

 

Mine fluctuates radically and is never a constant value regardless of throttle input.

Throttle position is not the same as accelerator position. Your SI-Drive maps (I, S, S#) map Accelerator position to a "Requested Torque" based on RPM, and then the ECU uses the "Requested Torque" number along with other things to set throttle position. Even pedal to the floor, you may not be at 100% throttle opening, based on how your tune is setup. That said, it should be pretty smooth for smooth pedal inputs.

On-topic: Apparently I've forgotten how to tighten up my TB-IC hose. Bought a new clamp, clamped down the hose to the IC, and went for a spin. Couple of mid-boost pulls, about the 3rd or 4th one in, heard another POP and lost power again. Pulled over and this time the throttle-body side popped off. Finagled it back on loosely, came back home, pulled the IC and did everything from scratch. Went for another spin and popped the hose off the IC again. Gave up for the night since it was dark and the car was hot. IC hoses are still pretty oily on the inside, but that's been normal for as long as I've owned the car.

Also, still a decent amount of smoke under the hood after I got back the first time, along with the same burning smell (that I still think is PS fluid). The smoke is white in color, always originates from below the turbo (leads me to believe it's something burning on the up/down-pipe). Also a little smoke coming out of the oil-filler cap when running (which I've heard is either troubling or completely normal from different things I've read). PCV valve was replaced 16k miles ago. Some of the breather hoses are stiff and mildly cracked on the ends, but I don't think there are any leaks there.

Throttle position is not the same as accelerator position. Your SI-Drive maps (I, S, S#) map Accelerator position to a "Requested Torque" based on RPM, and then the ECU uses the "Requested Torque" number along with other things to set throttle position. Even pedal to the floor, you may not be at 100% throttle opening, based on how your tune is setup. That said, it should be pretty smooth for smooth pedal inputs.

 

On-topic: Apparently I've forgotten how to tighten up my TB-IC hose. Bought a new clamp, clamped down the hose to the IC, and went for a spin. Couple of mid-boost pulls, about the 3rd or 4th one in, heard another POP and lost power again. Pulled over and this time the throttle-body side popped off. Finagled it back on loosely, came back home, pulled the IC and did everything from scratch. Went for another spin and popped the hose off the IC again. Gave up for the night since it was dark and the car was hot. IC hoses are still pretty oily on the inside, but that's been normal for as long as I've owned the car.

 

Also, still a decent amount of smoke under the hood after I got back the first time, along with the same burning smell (that I still think is PS fluid). The smoke is white in color, always originates from below the turbo (leads me to believe it's something burning on the up/down-pipe). Also a little smoke coming out of the oil-filler cap when running (which I've heard is either troubling or completely normal from different things I've read). PCV valve was replaced 16k miles ago. Some of the breather hoses are stiff and mildly cracked on the ends, but I don't think there are any leaks there.

I get that but I was asking about TPS duty. It is never a constant value and varies wildly regardless of that the APP or throttle are doing. It's also a parameter I have never viewed before this debacle.

As for your hoses popping off... are you using a screw driver or socket/ratchet to tighten? Ever since I ditched the screw driver mine hasn't popped off. Also noticed that the throttle body only has the bead on half of the opening that the hose goes over making it much easier to slip off.

I get that but I was asking about TPS duty. It is never a constant value and varies wildly regardless of that the APP or throttle are doing. It's also a parameter I have never viewed before this debacle.

 

As for your hoses popping off... are you using a screw driver or socket/ratchet to tighten? Ever since I ditched the screw driver mine hasn't popped off. Also noticed that the throttle body only has the bead on half of the opening that the hose goes over making it much easier to slip off.

Oh huh, I've actually never looked at that. Judging from the name, though, it wouldn't surprise me if it's a little bouncy. That's the amount of "duty" the ECU is applying to the throttle motor to hit its target position, according to Cobb. How do your STFTs look?

As for the clamps, yup, using a 1/4" ratchet with an 8mm socket for all clamps. I think I just haven't gotten it correctly clocked on the TB, so it's not fully flush on the IC like it is supposed to be. Some patience will fix this for me, no doubt

Not sure of anything when it comes to that parameter. That pic was taken with the car off and not touching the accelerator pedal.

It varies like that always, but seems to loosely correspond with pressing the accelerator.

That's why I was hoping someone could pull it up on their AP and confirm the odd behavior.

Forecast had no rain for today so took the car to work. It was 66 early morning when I was going and the road was empty so yeah WOT felt pretty good. Car was tuned in the fall so colder air does wonders to it.

On my leak issue running water from the hose over the windshield top does not show any leaks. So it's not the the molding or the glue. Meaning I DO have to take the roof liner out. Yay....

Finally got my injectors back from DW today.

They tested the eight stocker injectors within 1.2% of each other for the lot, which really surprised me (and them).

Because of some communication problems and such with them, they gave me a discount on a fresh set of 740s.

I know I could do better with EV14 or similar, but school is in full swing and I'm plenty busy with teaching courses and my consulting work that I can't really allocate the time for a while.

Time to swap the injectors, for better or worse I've now done this so often that I can swap them all out in approx 30 min start to finish.

New tip to me, I hadn't seen this one before.

Look at that, a number scribed in the underside of the connector that matches the flow sheet. How lovely

On a related note, the eight stock injectors that were tested all have numbers scribed in them as well to match their test data.

So I can reasonably conclude that if an injector has been through DW, it'll most likely have scribe marks.

Also related, the seller got really quiet when I asked about the missing scribe marks in the "740" injectors he sent me, and eBay just let me know they ruled in my favor so I can get a refund once I return the injectors to him.

They are getting dropped off in the morning...

I hate eBay drama, it stresses me out

Updated the tune with the starting numbers for scale and latency from utc_pyro, and it's running smooth. Gonna drive it for a few days and see how it settles out.

Oh huh, I've actually never looked at that. Judging from the name, though, it wouldn't surprise me if it's a little bouncy. That's the amount of "duty" the ECU is applying to the throttle motor to hit its target position, according to Cobb. How do your STFTs look?

 

As for the clamps, yup, using a 1/4" ratchet with an 8mm socket for all clamps. I think I just haven't gotten it correctly clocked on the TB, so it's not fully flush on the IC like it is supposed to be. Some patience will fix this for me, no doubt

Clean the crap out of the house and off the TB. Spray hairspray on the inside of the hose. Clamp it down. That will keep it on. Cheaper the better. I use aqua-net for all my hose needs. Read that on a forum somewhere when my TB hose helpt popping off. Haven't had it pop off since.

Aquanet is also the best potato gun fuel, in the correct ratio to air of course. Off topic, sorry.

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Tried to find someone to replace my lower control arm bushings if the arm was removed. After finally finding someone who would (two shops said no) I was quoted 200-300 for two arms - i need 4 done. Thats a bit higher then I was expecting and is more then enough to warrant buying a press and the Avo tools - or should I leave it to someone who's done it before? They made it seem like its super difficult - one set of arms is brand new (but is aluminum), one set is 9 years old but rust free. Considering I would be using the correct sized press sockets shouldnt this be a fairly easy job?

You can find plenty of videos about this on youtube. The level of difficulty depends on how rusted the bolts are. From what you are saying, it would be fairly easy on the front with a few more things to install on the rear but if you have a press, it goes like this:

You don't actually need a press - there is a long bolt method where you use a socket on one end that is big enough to grab the outer rim of the bushing and on the other end that is big enough to let the entire bushing pass through and with a long bolt and strategically placed washers, you just put a nut on the bolt and screw it together until it drives the bushing out of one end. Reassembly works the same way but urethane bushings go together easier because only light pressure (sometimes thumb pressure) is needed to install them.

It can be a long job but if you do one corner at a time, you can keep the down time to a few hours (on four separate occasions). Do yourself a favour and blast the bolts with penetrating oil a day before you start then just as you start. You may need heat to get the bolts off.

After finally finding someone who would (two shops said no)

I wonder why they said no? I mean, part of me gets it, but it also seems like easy money.

I've had the same thing happen to me with various things, really caught me off guard. Asked a shop about installing my new tires, they refused, the owner got a little mad by me asking it seemed. I typically wouldn't bring parts to a shop, but I don't know, I guess I thought tires might be an exception.

I also asked a different shop about removing a broken bolt for me, talked to the person in the office about it since the techs were at lunch, never heard back. Yeah removing broken bolts sucks, I get it, but I was hoping to at least get a call back..

Bought a new black 06 5MT on Saturday. Towed it back from upstate NY and almost had the tow rig's brakes fade out from the hilly descent. Fun experience!

Will update with a proper thread eventually, but the car's alright. Rusty suspension but the shell is incredibly clean and there is absolutely no rust anywhere except at the bottom of the driver's door. Under tray is hardly even scratched and it still has all of the body clips. Sat for 2 ish years after the clutch or tranny failed, so I figured I'd chase down the issue and get it driving again. Pulled my old 5MT from the silver 06 and checking around for a suitable clutch, just have to figure out what the new car needs.

Also chasing down a rough idle and P2101/P2102 (throttle position sensor and throttle control circuit actuator low) codes on the new car. Cleaned the throttle body, which had some pretty thick carbon deposits and will probably swap out my MAF for the spare one tomorrow, as well as fresh fuel (there is still a small amount of old fuel in the tank, hoping it's not too severely contaminated. Oh well.) Going to make sure the throttle is recalibrated and see if it'll run a bit better. Only had those two codes when I checked the ECU so gonna try to resolve that and go from there.

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I wonder why they said no? I mean, part of me gets it, but it also seems like easy money.

 

I've had the same thing happen to me with various things, really caught me off guard. Asked a shop about installing my new tires, they refused, the owner got a little mad by me asking it seemed. I typically wouldn't bring parts to a shop, but I don't know, I guess I thought tires might be an exception.

 

I also asked a different shop about removing a broken bolt for me, talked to the person in the office about it since the techs were at lunch, never heard back. Yeah removing broken bolts sucks, I get it, but I was hoping to at least get a call back..

I often have "bad experiences" at shops or more often part stores (since I try and do most the work myself). One recent one that irked me was the parts guy trying to give me A/C UV Leak detector when I asked for Combustion leak test fluid. Only then to find out that Autozone doesnt even carry it, but you can rent the tester! Or the alignment shop not knowing the difference between 1.0 and 0.1 degrees.

I thought I was doing them a favor and they would be more inclined to assist if I brought just the arm and the bushing. One shop said "we just buy a new arm with new bushings already installed." That does no good if you intend to install whiteline bushings. At Heuberger the people I normally work with werent there but I have heard that they no longer install anything after market and was just flat told no. Probably ask someone I know just to verify because I'm pretty sure I was told when I had them do my timing belt "Be sure to bring it to us because we have all the right press cups to make sure we dont damage the aluminum arms".

I found a new Subaru specialty shop thats opening up next week - I'll see what he'll charge if he will even do it. If in fact Heuberger will not, and the new shop wont or wants to charge too much then I'll buy a press and some cups. It doesnt seem as difficult as some make it seem - also seems like theres a big market of subaru bushing replacement I can maybe corner . The only downside is I'll have to set the press up at my grandmas but thankfully have two cars so I can work on it and not be too concerned with the downtime.

Yeah, I've done plenty of bushings with just a vice. All that's really important for the aluminum arms is having the right sized cups.

I second this.

I do bushings and bearings with a vice at work all the time. Just be gentle/patient.

I wonder why they said no? I mean, part of me gets it, but it also seems like easy money.

 

I've had the same thing happen to me with various things, really caught me off guard. Asked a shop about installing my new tires, they refused, the owner got a little mad by me asking it seemed. I typically wouldn't bring parts to a shop, but I don't know, I guess I thought tires might be an exception.

 

I also asked a different shop about removing a broken bolt for me, talked to the person in the office about it since the techs were at lunch, never heard back. Yeah removing broken bolts sucks, I get it, but I was hoping to at least get a call back..

I'm finding most shops these days just want straightforward wrenching. Anything that's diagnostic or seems like a "project" has a really tough time getting someone to agree to the work. On one side, I don't get it because whatever just charge me the labor for the work you do, you're still getting paid. On the other side, I get they want to crank through other jobs and can probably make more on jobs where they can charge for the full kit and caboodle of parts, labor, etc..

Just seems like they'd prefer the high volume turnover versus a job that needs more hours.

I had an awesome machine shop down on the coast that I took the Spec B arms (F/R) to, along with the replacement WL bushes, and for $20.00/bush, pressed them all out and pressed the new bits back in. They dressed the 6MT flywheel for $50.00. I was OTD for less than $200.00 even with the tip I gave the guy. Since I was installing everything myself, it just made more sense to go this route.

I've heard there's some good machine shops local to me, but haven't investigated or inquired yet. On the to-do list though.