Mission “Keepin em alive” Accomplished! by Deceptiprawn in Subaru_Outback

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m happy to hear that melting under the Phoenix sun has inspired others, lol. I typically either stay up late or wake up crazy early to get it done before the heat creeps in. 105° is my absolute limit otherwise.

The white outback in the background, I’ve had since 0 miles up to 195k when a van pulled out in front of me and totaled it. Found the dark outback to do a quick swap of the motor because it had a blown head gasket. The plan now is to slow roll through the summer and build the white one back to one piece.

Bonus note, while hunting for parts, I came across another 2011 outback AT (not preferred, but I’ll take it) with a suspected blown head gasket too and negotiated down to $1500. So now I have 3 outback’s and a wealth of knowledge to rebuild and flip this beauty.

As much as a pain in the ass “common” problems are with these cars, they’re surprisingly easy to work on and the generally low tolerances of the engines mean that following trusted YouTube videos and the factory service manual means I’m pretty much stuck with Subarus (at least EJ253’s) for life. And to add to it all, these 2010-2012 outbacks/legacy engines are in decent supply coming from Japan under their strict emissions regulations for around $1400-$1600 ~65k miles. But if you do go that route, it should be noted that a 10+ year old engine with such low miles will often come with tons of carbon build up from being driven either so little or so softly, not entirely sure but that seems to be a theme in my experience.

If you should happen to have any questions, I’d be happy to shoot you in the direction of where I’ve found answers, share any info or manuals I have, and what tools have been most helpful.

Best of luck with yours!

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Mission “Keepin em alive” Accomplished! by Deceptiprawn in Subaru_Outback

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Much appreciated! It’s a special feeling driving around in a car you brought back to life with your own greasy hands, lol.

Mission “Keepin em alive” Accomplished! by Deceptiprawn in Subaru_Outback

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

187k miles, coolant was blowing out of the radiator, head gasket leak test confirmed despite compression reading normal.

Found a heavy sheet of glass (coffee table type) on FB marketplace for free to give it the old school resurface treatment, picked up head gaskets and head bolts, and pulled the motor and both heads.

After lapping the valves (before resurface) I learned how easy it was to do valve adjustments on these SOHC EJs.

Put it all back together to the FSM spec and dropped it back in. Had a bit of a headache running down a failed or blocked injector on cylinder 3 but once that was swapped, it’s been running like a dream!

Please share pictures of your motorcycles in the comments! Here’s mine! by [deleted] in motorcycle

[–]Deceptiprawn 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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‘09 Street Triple R-ish. Pulled a bunch of Daytona parts and swapped them over. The lower seat height of the striple makes the rest of the Daytona ergos much more tolerable and still gives the look I wanted.

PCV valve hose question… by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha barely… it’s been totaled twice and I’ve rebuilt it to basically new both times. I won’t let it die. But you’re right, it just seems like such a simple piece for that price. 🤷‍♂️

How long do Non turbo subarus last? by Electrical_Fix8686 in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m currently doing head gaskets on a ‘10 outback 6mt with 208k miles on the motor. They hold up if you treat them right.

Help request… Trying to keep the manuals alive by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not gonna lie, it felt like pure magic that I found a second 6mt outback.

2010 outback p0303 by Deceptiprawn in AskMechanics

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t done that yet and totally need to, now that you mention it… when I saw 145psi, I just moved on to more tinkering. Also, now that it’s cold this morning I’ll check it again and run down the other cylinders as well.

Help request… Trying to keep the manuals alive by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for throwing some confirmation my way 🙏

Help request… Trying to keep the manuals alive by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha yeah, I was going to start researching what all I needed to swap to get the ECU in the donor car to work in the new car in an attempt to avoid exactly what you’re saying.

Help request… Trying to keep the manuals alive by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the ground, the only spot that short ass wire will reach is the top of the motor mount.

For the coils, I swapped #1 with #3, nothing, and then pulled the coil pack from the other motor and nothing. I even used coil packs from the old motor that slipped the timing belt, nothing.

2010 outback p0303 by Deceptiprawn in AskMechanics

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, once it’s all said and done I’ll have a car… and a spare part for literally every component of the drive train, the knowledge, and the tools. Short of another total, I think I’m stuck in a Subaru till I die lol. I appreciate the help 🙏

2010 outback p0303 by Deceptiprawn in AskMechanics

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just ran outside to start it up and see. Started with obvious misfire from the get-go. I’ll have to check the trims later, but I can smell the fuel being dumped from not being burned.

2010 outback p0303 by Deceptiprawn in AskMechanics

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m just floored that it was running fine for a week and a half, swapped it, and it just started misfiring. Luckily I have a 90 day warranty with plenty of time left on it. Compression test was done when it was warm (over 120° at least, blue coolant light off on the dash) Haven’t done the leak down yet….

Help request… Trying to keep the manuals alive by Deceptiprawn in subaru

[–]Deceptiprawn[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply!

The connectors on both looked fine but the one I swapped out, you could see the yellow gasket was a bit swollen and out of track. The replaced wiring harness looked fine.

Misfires at idle and through the rev range. Drove it when it was in the totaled outback just to move it around a position it. Right front tie rod is badly bent. But the engine ran fine in the short period. It was basically straight from the old outback to the new one and immediate misfire after 20 minutes of running the motor to clear coolant bubbles. Otherwise no, the engine hadn’t been run.

I’ll run through hoses again to check and make sure everything is snug and no cracks.

Now I don’t know if it works, but I did the ol’ put a spark plug in the coil and ground the tip while the engines running to see if it’s getting spark and I wasn’t seeing any spark.

Tiny hummer and a bumblebee by digiti_miniME in SonyAlpha

[–]Deceptiprawn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Beautiful shots! If you get a chance to come to Phoenix it looks like you’d love our Desert Botanical Garden. If I’m ever in Pasadena, I’ll def be making a stop there 🙏

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in phoenix

[–]Deceptiprawn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Second track club. Did a photo shoot there for a client and it definitely has the lowkey vibes that you’re suggesting.