Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post - oHs n0S!!!!1! Teh Scott's C4r is teh f4ll1ng ap4rts!?!?!!1!

sperry · 2003-09-23, 08:46 AM

Alright, here's the low down on the stuff that's going wrong with my car, for the few of you that might care...

#1: CV joint

Looks like this has been coming for a while, since the car's been leaking grease from between the left-front axle and the diff. I took the car to Carson Subaru for warranty repair. The put it up on the lift, saw the exhaust and the rear swaybar, and they saw the saftey inspection sticker from AAX and called Subaru telling them, "the car has racing stickers, aftermarket exhaust and extensive suspension modifications". So Subaur denies my warranty. So I argued with SOA for a week on the phone, and I guess a saftey sticker and a 'B' means I have a track car, a turbo back exhaust makes "significantly" more power than stock even at 4200ft altitude, and a rear swaybar is "extensively" modifing the suspension. Nevermind Federal Law states I can do whatever I want with my car and it's their job to prve that it's what I've done that directly caused the failure before they can deny my warranty. Since the next step is to get a lawyer... fuck it. Subaru wins, I'm not gonna bother to try and get them to fix it. The last thing I want to do is pay money to a dealer to fix my car. They've already raped me on the price of the car, and on the lack of service, I'm taking SOA out of the loop.

So now here's the best part... I brought the car to Independant Automotive, and we looked at it. They think the axle, and the CV's are *fine*. It's just the seal between the CV cup and the axle that's leaking. They told me that this is a KNOWN problem with many older Imprezas... basically the grease they used is too lightweight and tends to leak... as it leaks the CV starts clunking... all they need to do it pull the cup off, repack it with the better grease and reinstall the seal. Shouldn't be more than an hour to do both axles. Isn't that great... my warranty's FUCKED by a $70 repair. I'm glad the techs over at Carson are up on their shit. I guess that's what happens when a bunch of Honda techs try to fix Subarus.

Moral of the story: don't bring your car in for warranty work unless it's BONE STOCK. Even then, the guys there don't have a clue and may make the car worse.

#2: Front Swaybar

First off, my Whiteline front swaybar has never fit quite right... always had some clunking. I've been back and forth with Whiteline looking for a fix, including a while there when I was running wagon endlinks on my sedan (oops!). Finally, I figured out the issue, the steering arm actually hit the bar!! So I sent off an email to Whitline, and they tell me they've got a newer front bar design, and they're gonna send it to me this week! I don't even have to send back my old bar, they're just sending me a new one... from AUSTRALIA!!

[img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Front%20Swaybar/WL%20frontbar%202%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389]

Moral of the story: Whiteline FUCKING ROCKS!

#3: Intercooler Hose

Last Thursday on the way to the meet, I start hearing a TON of noise under boost coming from the motor. Sounds like a big leak in my boost gauge or something. On the way home Matt drove next to me and described the sound as "a big ass balloon letting a ton of air out". So I got home and poked arund under the hood. Sure enough, the hose that runs from the intake manifold to the BOV easily pops off the manifold. Looks like that's my leak. So Matt (my roommate Matt) and I loosen the intercooler so I can wedge my hand under there and reinstall that hose (no easy chore). Finally everything's back together and I go for a test drive.... and it's still making the noise!

So now that it's 11pm, and I don't know what's wrong, and I've got to be in Lovelock the next evening, I have to call in to work and take Friday off. Friday morning, I pull the IC off to find a nice 1.5" long slit on the IC Y hose! That's neato!

[img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Intercooler%20Hose/IC%20hose%20split%203%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389]

I reinstalled the stock IC hoses, changed my oil, worked on the front swaybar, change to my race tires, and packed the car just in time to leave for Lovelock at 7pm. (BTW: with the stock hoses installed, I noticed *no* difference in performance... don't believe the hype y0!)

Talked to Vishnu on Monday, and they're sending me a new IC hose kit! Vishnu rules!

Moral of the story: IC hoses are overrated, but Vishnu still supports 'em! Yay!

#4: Exhaust Leak

So, now it's Sunday morning at the Lovelock autoX... I'm gridiing my car, and I notice the exhaust sounds kinda throaty. Then after the 1st run, It's downright obnoxious! So I'm laying under the car looking for the leak, and I can actually feel the exhaust coming out of the flange that's between the cat and the resinator! So, I finish the day and drive back to Reno in a car that sounds like Gary Sheehan's USTCC WRX

. Once I'm back home and the car's cooled off, I put her up on stands and crawl under there with a slew of 14mm tools to replace that gasket. Turns out the gasket is fine... it's actually the exhaust hanger that broke! The thing tore right out of the pipe, leaving a nickel sized hole in the exhaust!

[img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Exhaust%20Hanger/Hanger%202%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389]

[img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Exhaust%20Hanger/Hole%2012%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389]

I asked Ken at Vishnu when I called about the IC hoses about the exhaust. I told him I'd take it to a shop for repairs if Vishnu footed the bill. Well, the boys over at McVay's muffler had that thing done in about 5 minutes, for a whopping $20! If I'd have figured it would have been such a cheap and painless fix, I wouldn't have even bothered Vishnu with it... I figured that whole section of exhaust would have had to come off... at least an hour of labor... but McVay's is the bomb... they fixed it right on the car.

Moral of the story: Not all welds are welded equally... McVay's should be your 1st and last stop for exhaust work in Reno.

So, I think that's all the shit that's gone wrong over the last week... makes me wanna sell my car and buy an STi... anyone interested in buying all my aftermarket stuff?!? Vishnu Stage 1, good to go! Overkill IC spray system!! A bunch of sets of rims and tires!! EDM lights, STi grill! I only need to sell all my stuff for about $6000 to afford the STi, help a brutha out! Hey Theo, this is your chance to buy me out of STX!

But on the other hand.... these problems aren't that bad. As long as it's not a sign of things to come, I'm still very happy with my car. A set of JIC coilovers and I think I'm faster than Matt and his RICED out STi.

2003-09-23, 08:46 AM	#1
sperry The Doink Real Name: Scott Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 20,335 Car: '09 OBXT, '02 WRX, '96 Miata Class: PDX/TT-6 The way out is through	oHs n0S!!!!1! Teh Scott's C4r is teh f4ll1ng ap4rts!?!?!!1! Alright, here's the low down on the stuff that's going wrong with my car, for the few of you that might care... #1: CV joint Looks like this has been coming for a while, since the car's been leaking grease from between the left-front axle and the diff. I took the car to Carson Subaru for warranty repair. The put it up on the lift, saw the exhaust and the rear swaybar, and they saw the saftey inspection sticker from AAX and called Subaru telling them, "the car has racing stickers, aftermarket exhaust and extensive suspension modifications". So Subaur denies my warranty. So I argued with SOA for a week on the phone, and I guess a saftey sticker and a 'B' means I have a track car, a turbo back exhaust makes "significantly" more power than stock even at 4200ft altitude, and a rear swaybar is "extensively" modifing the suspension. Nevermind Federal Law states I can do whatever I want with my car and it's their job to prve that it's what I've done that directly caused the failure before they can deny my warranty. Since the next step is to get a lawyer... fuck it. Subaru wins, I'm not gonna bother to try and get them to fix it. The last thing I want to do is pay money to a dealer to fix my car. They've already raped me on the price of the car, and on the lack of service, I'm taking SOA out of the loop. So now here's the best part... I brought the car to Independant Automotive, and we looked at it. They think the axle, and the CV's are fine. It's just the seal between the CV cup and the axle that's leaking. They told me that this is a KNOWN problem with many older Imprezas... basically the grease they used is too lightweight and tends to leak... as it leaks the CV starts clunking... all they need to do it pull the cup off, repack it with the better grease and reinstall the seal. Shouldn't be more than an hour to do both axles. Isn't that great... my warranty's FUCKED by a $70 repair. I'm glad the techs over at Carson are up on their shit. I guess that's what happens when a bunch of Honda techs try to fix Subarus. Moral of the story: don't bring your car in for warranty work unless it's BONE STOCK. Even then, the guys there don't have a clue and may make the car worse. #2: Front Swaybar First off, my Whiteline front swaybar has never fit quite right... always had some clunking. I've been back and forth with Whiteline looking for a fix, including a while there when I was running wagon endlinks on my sedan (oops!). Finally, I figured out the issue, the steering arm actually hit the bar!! So I sent off an email to Whitline, and they tell me they've got a newer front bar design, and they're gonna send it to me this week! I don't even have to send back my old bar, they're just sending me a new one... from AUSTRALIA!! [img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Front%20Swaybar/WL%20frontbar%202%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389] Moral of the story: Whiteline FUCKING ROCKS! #3: Intercooler Hose Last Thursday on the way to the meet, I start hearing a TON of noise under boost coming from the motor. Sounds like a big leak in my boost gauge or something. On the way home Matt drove next to me and described the sound as "a big ass balloon letting a ton of air out". So I got home and poked arund under the hood. Sure enough, the hose that runs from the intake manifold to the BOV easily pops off the manifold. Looks like that's my leak. So Matt (my roommate Matt) and I loosen the intercooler so I can wedge my hand under there and reinstall that hose (no easy chore). Finally everything's back together and I go for a test drive.... and it's still making the noise! So now that it's 11pm, and I don't know what's wrong, and I've got to be in Lovelock the next evening, I have to call in to work and take Friday off. Friday morning, I pull the IC off to find a nice 1.5" long slit on the IC Y hose! That's neato! [img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Intercooler%20Hose/IC%20hose%20split%203%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389] I reinstalled the stock IC hoses, changed my oil, worked on the front swaybar, change to my race tires, and packed the car just in time to leave for Lovelock at 7pm. (BTW: with the stock hoses installed, I noticed no difference in performance... don't believe the hype y0!) Talked to Vishnu on Monday, and they're sending me a new IC hose kit! Vishnu rules! Moral of the story: IC hoses are overrated, but Vishnu still supports 'em! Yay! #4: Exhaust Leak So, now it's Sunday morning at the Lovelock autoX... I'm gridiing my car, and I notice the exhaust sounds kinda throaty. Then after the 1st run, It's downright obnoxious! So I'm laying under the car looking for the leak, and I can actually feel the exhaust coming out of the flange that's between the cat and the resinator! So, I finish the day and drive back to Reno in a car that sounds like Gary Sheehan's USTCC WRX . Once I'm back home and the car's cooled off, I put her up on stands and crawl under there with a slew of 14mm tools to replace that gasket. Turns out the gasket is fine... it's actually the exhaust hanger that broke! The thing tore right out of the pipe, leaving a nickel sized hole in the exhaust! [img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Exhaust%20Hanger/Hanger%202%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389] [img:94cd35a389=300]http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Doink%20WRX/Broken%20Stuff/Exhaust%20Hanger/Hole%2012%20small.jpg[/img:94cd35a389] I asked Ken at Vishnu when I called about the IC hoses about the exhaust. I told him I'd take it to a shop for repairs if Vishnu footed the bill. Well, the boys over at McVay's muffler had that thing done in about 5 minutes, for a whopping $20! If I'd have figured it would have been such a cheap and painless fix, I wouldn't have even bothered Vishnu with it... I figured that whole section of exhaust would have had to come off... at least an hour of labor... but McVay's is the bomb... they fixed it right on the car. Moral of the story: Not all welds are welded equally... McVay's should be your 1st and last stop for exhaust work in Reno. So, I think that's all the shit that's gone wrong over the last week... makes me wanna sell my car and buy an STi... anyone interested in buying all my aftermarket stuff?!? Vishnu Stage 1, good to go! Overkill IC spray system!! A bunch of sets of rims and tires!! EDM lights, STi grill! I only need to sell all my stuff for about $6000 to afford the STi, help a brutha out! Hey Theo, this is your chance to buy me out of STX! But on the other hand.... these problems aren't that bad. As long as it's not a sign of things to come, I'm still very happy with my car. A set of JIC coilovers and I think I'm faster than Matt and his RICED out STi. __________________ Is you is, or is you ain't, my con-stit-u-ints?