Ownership Verified: You'll never believe what it is this time! - 2007 Impreza Wagon

.... Why is the surround on that clear? Is it supposed to illuminate? It doesn't. Did I just find another thing to fix?
 
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Why.
 
This weekend:
I investigated the speakers to see if they were still the awful OEM ones.

They are. Ordered speakers to fix that.

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Also found out another piece of information! The driver's door was once World Rally Blue.

Started working on swapping the rear view mirror for a newer Homelink mirror (autodimming and garage door opening) from the 2015 parts car.
Discovered that, at some point, Subaru switched rear view mirror mount buttons, so it isn't plug-and-play-and-electrify. I removed the button from the parts car, but in the proces caused some weird bubbling on the glass.
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Don't want that to happen on a car that I care about, so I have not removed the one from the good car, and will be calling glass shops tomorrow to see who I can convince to do 15 minutes of work for me.

Incidentally, this crap is why I need to replace the mirror:
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I investigated the stereo install:
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It could be worse. It'll be fine for now. I really need a stereo with a rear AUX to do what I want to do, so we'll revisit this at a future date.


The shifter surround has a clip broken off (I didn't even break it off, it was like that when I got here.

I found a dirty datsun part!
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(Window switches)

Timing kit is due this week.

This car also completely lacks the overhead map/reading light assembly. I dug deep in the ebays to find one from a sunroof car and ordered that (the sunroof switches will be auxiliary switches for other shenanigans later). I guess sunroofs were a rare option because there was like, one available. At all. Versus *endless hundreds* of non-sunroof ones.

The sunroof one appears in the illustration for the sunroof in the Subaru parts catalog, but it says 'see diagram 43498w274u83w29' for the parts reference, which refers to the cabin lights diagram... Which doesn't acknowledge the sunroof one exists at all. So it may not have even been available in the US. Or the parts catalog sucks. One of those.
 
So all my shenanigans were delayed by not having electricity for 7 days and needing to use the car as an air conditioning refuge/phone charger for myself and the dogs. I did attempt to do some light electrical work that should have been doable - speakers and some radio install work - but as it turned out the 'direct fit' speaker brackets don't, so I would have needed power tools, and the radio install work required some wiring diagram digging... To identify that, yes, this is a switched, undimmed interior illumination circuit on this weird extra connector.
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Naturally, on the blindingly-bright blue-LED horseshit radio that's in the car (which I'm leaving for the moment), they did not connect this. In fact, they depinned that pin on the stereo-side connector instead of just taping it off like a reasonable human being. In fact, they removed ALL the unused wires. And Pioneer doesn't actually give you a pinout anywhere, so I have no idea where to actually put it.

Correction: Nope. The installer didn't leave those wires out. Pioneer did. Because this unit *DOES NOT SUPPORT DIMMING WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK*

Okay now I HAVE TO replace it. Fuck.
 
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Why.

So, what this says is.... We use the same back-up light switch "T1" on all 3 models (Regular, WRX, STI).

On the regular model, we plug this into a B24 connector on the harness. It isn't the matching connector but it's close enough for government work.

On the WRX and the STI, we plug it into a T13 connector, which is also not the correct matching connector but it's also close enough. On the WRX, it's wired one way around. On the STI, it's wired the other. For reasons.
That then runs to a T9 cable pinned up one of two different ways to connect to the B128 connector on one of two different sets of pins.... Which then connect to the same-assed place electrically.

In short: 3 different harnesses for NO REASON, multiple redundant connector types.

(Actually, 4 harness variants. The automatic transmission ALSO has a branch from this, but it powers its variation on the circuit from a different fuse)
 
View attachment 3565923

Why.

So, what this says is.... We use the same back-up light switch "T1" on all 3 models (Regular, WRX, STI).

On the regular model, we plug this into a B24 connector on the harness. It isn't the matching connector but it's close enough for government work.

On the WRX and the STI, we plug it into a T13 connector, which is also not the correct matching connector but it's also close enough. On the WRX, it's wired one way around. On the STI, it's wired the other. For reasons.
That then runs to a T9 cable pinned up one of two different ways to connect to the B128 connector on one of two different sets of pins.... Which then connect to the same-assed place electrically.

In short: 3 different harnesses for NO REASON, multiple redundant connector types.

(Actually, 4 harness variants. The automatic transmission ALSO has a branch from this, but it powers its variation on the circuit from a different fuse)

That’s amazing….
 
Current state of affairs: 7000 mile roadtrip. Things broke. Mayhem was caused.
Got home.
Tore into it for the timing belt.
Current state of affairs: Car is still apart for timing belt because everything that could go wrong with the job did.

I leave for another 7 to 10 thousand mile roadtrip Monday night.

So situation normal for an EyeMWing vehicle.
 
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Current state of affairs: 7000 mile roadtrip. Things broke. Mayhem was caused.
Got home.
Tore into it for the timing belt.
Current state of affairs: Car is still apart for timing belt because everything that could go wrong with the job did.

I leave for another 7 to 10 thousand mile roadtrip Monday night.

So situation normal for an EyeMWing vehicle.
Sounds like a discovery channel car show😁
 
You should make a YouTube channel, but people wouldn't believe it wasn't scripted. :D
 
You should make a YouTube channel, but people wouldn't believe it wasn't scripted. :D


Or that someone is that unhinged.
 
$80 repair ($60 helicoil kit, $20 drill bit) on a $10 bracket because the bracket can't be had before Tuesday.

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Note *I* didn't strip this. Previous guy who did the timing cross threaded the shit out of it.
 
I have solved the mystery of why I am always breaking crankshaft holding spanners.
The bloody manual is wrong about the torque on the harmonic balancer bolt, so everyone overtightens the shit out of them.

So, the JDM STI's have a special harmonic balancer bolt with a torque spec of 133ftlb (or, more correctly, 133ftlb but that must be between 65 and 75 degrees of rotation from 35ftlb or the bolt is trash)
All other JDM cars and all US market cars period, however, use a lower spec bolt that torques to 95.

Japanese factory service manuals have a whole paragraph explaining the two part numbers and giving the correct torque procedures for each.

The US service manuals are mistranslated - they correctly omit the uprated part, but use its torque spec instead.

I figured this out when I was reefing on the bastard to tighten it and it just started feeling *wrong* at around 30 degrees or so.
 
TIIIIMEWARP:
Outbound leg of the trip I took a few weeks ago, climbing out of Denver, CO westbound on I-70.
Heavy stop and go traffic.

The charge light starts coming on below 2500RPM.
I start holding the engine RPMs up when I'm stopped and clutch dumping.
Get off at the next (last for quite some time) town and run into the auto parts store.

Alternator is, when all is well, charging at about 13v. Fuck. Charge light comes on below 13, so it's definitely intermittently worse.

They have an alternator but want a frankly astonishing sum of money for it. I buy a battery just in case I need to swap batteries and limp back to buy that alternator or something.

After the traffic lets up, the alternator seems to come back to normal. I idle it all night long for air conditioning because it's hot as fuck. All seems to be well.

.... Until the next day, when there's another traffic jam in the middle of Nevada. Things start going south again, with the alt dropping out below 3000RPM now. Wheee. At least it's flatter, so the neutral drops suck less.

Then the rain starts. The lowered temperatures help the alternator calm down. This is good, because I end up parked in the mojave for several hours waiting for snow plows and front end loaders to make the roads passable again. Because floods. In the desert. I, apparently, may not drive west through that desert and have the weather be desertlike, because last time it was a snowstorm.

Be forewarned, California - I am coming again in just a few days!

Anyway, I make it into LA. All is well until the next day when.... Suddenly, no alternator below 5000RPM. Then, no alternator *AT ALL*

So I bought one, and swapped it and the battery. Shitty parts store no-name reman.

Worked great.

Drove home. 3500 miles in one thermal cycle - I idled the car all night every night on the way home because it was hot as the fucking sun.
No complaints from the alternator... Until I got home.

The charge light blinked.
And there's a new, very dramatic moaning noise from under the hood.

So, I figured I'd order the uprated STI alternator, just in case. They still make them new, so I got one of those. The case is a bit deeper, but worse case I'll need to relocate the vapor canister purge valve which mounts right behind the alternator (it's not attached to anything there, just kinda bolted to the intake manifold in that spot because it needs to go *somewhere*).


While I took everything apart for the timing, I checked all the pulleys for possibly making that noise. The A/C idler sounds like shit so I swapped that. Changed all the timing idlers.

There are no other idlers... Just business pulleys.



PRESENT DAY:
While I'm burping the coolant after the timing job, I grabbed the mechanic's stethoscope and started poking around.

A/C compressor: Sounds fine. Nice and smooth.
Engine block: Sounds normal.
Power steering pump: Sounds fine.
Alternator: CHUNKACHUNKACHUNKA

Very cool.


Anyway, timing is done. Coolant is burped. I don't think anything is leaking but god knows I spilled enough coolant I can't really be certain (I forgot to pull the hose out of the overflow bottle so once the fill level rose above the level of the top of the overflow bottle.....)

Gotta test drive, change oil, check transmission fluid tomorrow (lost a lot of transmission fluid out of the cooler lines). Will probably change the alternator, too....
 
.... So if I'm changing the alternator from the 90A original for the 110A STI unit, I obviously need headroom in the charging fuse between it and the battery.
Factory service manual says 100A for the non-turbo, 120A for the turbo. So there should be a 100A in there, so I should have to upgrade.

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Parts catalog says the correct part for this car and trim is...
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Car physically has a 120A.

This manual is... Certainly a thing.
 
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Car is together. 70 miles of test drive down.

Alternator is "doing very weird things" per the diagnostic at the parts store, so I guess I'm gonna go ahead and stuff the new one in tonight.
 
Interestingly, the DRLs vanished at some point today.
This is weird and implies either a dimming resistor or relay failure (given the other headlight modes still work and thus the switches can't be at fault).
 
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Roadtrip #2 in the bag.

6969 miles (nice.)

Current squawk list:
Crunchy feeling and noises from rear diff turning at full lock
Small evap leak check engine light. I guess I'm going to have to actually chase it down...

Need to get it emissions inspected by the end of the month, too, so that's unhelpful.

Beginning to plan for the future again. Currently, using it as a camper, running the aircon or heat at night consumes about $20 in fuel, kills the planet, and adds god knows how much wear to the engine.

Thinking about something like this....
 
Oh. I never updated this thread.
So... After the last road trip, I drove it around as a daily.... Until November. With 8513 miles on the clock since last service, plus 70 or more idle hours....When the oil pressure light came on and the noises of Uncle Rodney were apparent. 3+ quarts low. Pulled an oil sample and sent it off for analysis:

Refilled the engine, continued with life.


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When the report came in.... Well, that's alarming. High aluminum: The whole engine is aluminum - and there is *A FUCKLOAD* of that. High chrome, iron, copper, molybdenum, nickel. Bearings are made of those, and there's more than there should be - but at the same time, the oil was run for 8000 miles and the averages are calibrated for 5000. So a bit high isn't all *that* worrying. Silicon is puzzling. So I've reworked my plans: The engine swap due for the Legacy is now going into *THIS* car, and the Legacy shall continue to be lawn art for now. So I ordered some parts towards that end.

Fast forward to today, when I have made precisely no progress towards actually achieving that.

4000 miles on the oil, so I went to go change it. 1.5 quarts in the sump. Oops.

But this time I looked around and, yeah, every single seam in the engine is leaking oil, and the oil filter had backed off to finger tight. So even if the engine is okay, it needs an engine-out reseal. Another sample off to the lab to see if, I dunno, I accidentally a fistful of aluminum shavings into the last sample or something.


On the plus side, the evap leak issue disappeared!
 

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