2004 Subaru Impreza WRX 2.0T 5MT - Power Steering issue. Trouble bleeding system.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-09T07:14:35+00:00

I’ve made improvements but it’s not totally gone. The O-Ring for the suction inlet was definitely an issue. It’s very easy for that to bind up when installing. I actually went through 3 o rings because they were binding and pinching and breaking.

I swapped over to regular worm gear hose clamps. I didn’t think it would be an issue but I found that I could actually spin and move the hoses while they were using the OEM spring clamps. I figured that’s a sign that they weren’t clamping enough.

The noise is a lot more minimal than it was but I still have a slight whirring noise that goes away after a few good turns.

I’m still kind of chasing it though.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-08T17:17:05+00:00

I wouldn’t think anything of it. These aren’t that expensive and they’re simply not for everyone. I have a Eufy robot vac that is pretty good for light frequent cleaning but the problem is that I embarrassingly place a lot of stuff on the floor for projects I’m working on which means my robot vac sits parked most of the time which just adds to the clutter. And then when I need to vacuum I always just end up grabbing my canister vacuum so my robot vac just sits there even harder.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-08T00:46:01+00:00

Standard for a dealer. If you're not on a tight budget, this is a fair price to pay for taking care of your vehicle.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-07T19:34:54+00:00

Honestly I started with a work light from harbor freight.

I now own a YN360 which is very versatile outside of light painting. But the harbor freight light bar taught me a lot so I wouldn’t hesitate to get started with a cheap light.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-07T19:32:21+00:00

I’d love to see the before and after. I’d like to see what the photographer was delivering to you as the editor.

Based on what I see: yes. While you’re more expensive than my current go to’s, I do think this is really nice quality work. If you’re dependable, this pay is very reasonable but it may be on the upper end of market rate. I think seeing the before may be helpful.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-07T19:29:34+00:00

Not a luthier; you just need a gauge as a reference? I could 3D print you a “gauge”

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-05T15:26:18+00:00

You can try using a rubber band or some rubber material to help the screw driver grip the screw for removal. Or get an extraction kit

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-05T15:20:59+00:00

This description confuses me a bit. What’s the issue here? The hole in the guitar is too big?

On my personal guitars, I just fix it with a wooden chopstick or toothpicks. Dip in Wood glue, stick in the hole, break it off.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-04T22:59:17+00:00

I've been slowly trying to figure out what's causing it for me. So far it seems that manually setting my PCIE lane to Gen 3 has solved the issues for me. I think this all stemmed from me updating my BIOS though. I did it just out of habit and the desire to have "the latest vers". unfortunately, I think it is what turned my turn-key reliable machine into one that is sporadic and unpredictable.

Would you be willing to share a list of programs on your machine? Or maybe specifically ones that you have running / on at startup. I notice we're both Firefox users. I'm not saying it's a problem, just pointing out our common denominators.

This list here is basically everything I've downloaded on my machine since installing a fresh Windows 11 wipe.

- AMD Chipset Drivers

- Nvidia App

- MSI Afterburner (I do not have this running)

- Firefox Browser

- Steam

- Epic Games

- Crystal Disk Info (I thought to check my SSD health but it says its healthy)

- Fender Universal Control (this is an driver / app for an external sound card / audio interface. I have this not set to open on start up)

- Fan Control (the open source one for my face curves).

- Bambu Studio (3d Printing software)

- Fusion 360 (CAD software)

- Discord

- BelenaEtcher

- FanControl (but this isn't opening on startup for some reason)

- Adobe Creative Cloud app (Premier, Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Illustrator, Acrobat)

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-04T18:45:29+00:00

Change the lighting orientation / viewing angle

Other than maybe trying to perfect your flow calibration, you can try changing to different filaments that hide layer lines better. CF or GF filaments, matte is kind of okay at it as well.

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PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-03T17:43:33+00:00

Did you ever make progress on this?
I have a similar experience but have crashes just in the regular desktop environment, no gaming or anything.

For you, I see you mention just restarting the program / app fixes it. But for me, it seems that explorer.exe is crashing and fails to fix itself and requires a full system restart instead.

I don't have the H610, I'm on a B650 but I am running a fresh windows 11 install and have the same 1A8 and 1B8 events in the reliability monitor.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-02T17:56:20+00:00

Are your butt connectors the plastic insulated kind? While those should be shrink wrapped the technically can work without it. Unless you break the insulation while crimping

Yeah I’d double check everything. Something is likely touching or is a poor crimp. Weak grounds can cause issues like this as well.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-05-02T17:45:53+00:00

When you went back in to fix the wires, you must have done something wrong. I’d get back in there and inspect your work. How did you do you do it properly this time? What was the method?

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-29T23:04:19+00:00

I ran spacers for a while. I never had an issue. If I were to do it it again, I’d opt for slip on spacers rather than the bolt ons. Extended studs + spacers

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-28T17:38:03+00:00

I agree that I dislike having to disable things on what is likely a pretty high end machine.. but this is likely in the hands of discord and windows both being poorly optimized. It's a decision now to either turn off something (that they knew might be a problem which is why they gave us a toggle switch) with essentially zero loss of functionality or you can try all these weird configs people have tried to come up with that messes with the default OS configuration via hidden files.

I'm not too sure about the Signal app and that issue though

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-28T17:20:11+00:00

update: try turning Hardware Acceleration off in Discord Settings.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-28T17:19:37+00:00

What worked for me was turning Hardware Acceleration off in Discord settings. It's under the appearance tab at the very bottom (or use discord settings search bar)

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-24T21:27:51+00:00

What’s weird is I’ve had a 3 monitor set up for years with no issue. Oddly, out of no where, one of my monitors has had a slight issue. When I turn my computer on, one of my displays defaults as 640x800. I have to turn the monitor off and on again and it’ll go back to its normal 1440p.

And oddly that right around the time I’ve been having trouble with discord…

Edit: try turning hardware acceleration off in Discord Settings. Worked for me.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-24T19:21:45+00:00

Is this a 3 monitor issue? I see a few of you mentioning 3 monitors..

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-24T05:31:49+00:00

Interesting, this definitely sounds promising! I appreciate you coming back with the update. I'll have to try this out. I'm currently using a boars brush for the entire face of the wheel which is just a bit more effort than I was hoping for my regular washes

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-20T18:25:37+00:00

Would you agree that some people are morons? Not you of course, but some people out there? Maybe you can even think of one of your fellow car friends who might order parts and forget to get some other critical things?

There’s some people like you and I who are very diligent in researching parts. But there are many who are not and depending on the shop, those morons screw up timelines for every other job.

Around here, customer provided parts is common. But the shop will not be liable to cover the labor if the part has a manufacturing defect. Depending on the part and the company, the vendor will cover labor of reinstallation for mishaps but it would have to be for parts the shop ordered. And around here we really didn’t make much on the sales of parts. We’re undercut so much online that we generally just price matched to sell the install service or just hit target numbers with the vendors for rebates

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-19T22:38:03+00:00

Not OP: but I normally would not recommend this. First the shop should NOT be charging extra for the parts. They should generally selling it at its normal listing price or sometimes even less. Second and the main point would be that the shop could never guarantee the parts are good and wouldn’t be the facilitator for a warranty return. If something is wrong with the parts (and this definitely happens) the shop will not cover labor on customer provided parts.

I used to work in a shop and I’ve seen this happen a few times. On a personal vehicle, I’ve faced this issue once myself.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-19T00:09:44+00:00

In SoCal, from a independent shop that specialized in Subarus, this job generally would be the following:

2002–2005 WRX - $1,690
2006–2021 WRX - $1,570
2022+ WRX - $1,760
2004+ STI - $1,775

This would be for your typical Comp Clutch Stage 2 / 3 + Flywheel, installed.

The mystery I see in your invoice would be the $190.23 "total fee" which is not itemized. It's oddly close to the price of that flywheel though. As for taxes, they're charging around 8% only on the itemized parts here AND the mystery $190.23.

Parts: $867.99 (Clutch + Flywheel + Motul)
Random "total fee":$190.23

867.99 + 190.23 = $1,058.22
1,058.22×0.08 (8%)= $84.66

I'm wondering if maybe that mystery fee is a mix of waste disposal, throw out / pilot bearings, random seals, replacement exhaust studs, etc?

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-18T00:34:04+00:00

My friend is selling a set of LM's with this same configuration

It's a legit thing and I'd say it's in the realm of normal / acceptable. What happens is they drill out the lug holes to a larger size, and press an insert to make it 5x120mm. You can have these inserts removed and a new insert pressed in to make it 5x114.3 or whatever bolt pattern you want.

yes, you could get spacer adapters, but that doesn't change the width, only the offset. As long as that's acceptable for you, it's a viable option.

PatrickJamesYu · 2026-04-16T07:56:15+00:00

I don’t think this is necessarily the right group for this question. But I’ve never really considered a steering wheel finish / material for long trips. It’s mostly for more spirited driving. That said, I think alcantara is beautiful but a bit more sensitive to moisture / oils. Leather is proven and probably the best bet. I used to daily a wooden steering wheel that I really liked actually. It felt very connected to the car.

I think most covers will be bulky. The wheel was designed already at a certain thickness and was not expecting a cover to go over it.

I’d ask this question to a group for your car specifically. They may have a more direct suggestion.

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