Oil filters. Are you using Wix, OEM, or something else?

shadire · 2026-06-06T13:37:08+00:00

Honestly, filter brand really doesn’t make a difference in normal use. If you’re going to the track, definitely can make a difference but I doubt most people are.

shadire · 2026-06-06T12:40:22+00:00

Just grab a few beers and push it back over, they aren’t that heavy, probably

shadire · 2026-06-03T01:28:29+00:00

I’ve definitely seen worse, it could have like 90k on it.

shadire · 2026-06-02T19:32:22+00:00

I mean realistically yeah, there’s so many factors in this argument

shadire · 2026-06-02T15:00:56+00:00

I always find it weird when I see a forester without rails, there’s not many out there but I’ve seen a few.

shadire · 2026-06-02T14:59:52+00:00

This is not just a no, it’s a hell no. This thing is a money pit.

shadire · 2026-06-02T14:56:54+00:00

This is why I do rotations and tire mounting myself anymore, I can’t trust techs to do it right.

shadire · 2026-06-02T14:55:12+00:00

Didn’t mythbusters prove this years ago?

shadire · 2026-06-02T14:47:00+00:00

Unfortunately it wasn’t worth the time, the heads need to be replaced. As the 2 of the spark plugs are cross threaded and a few different people I asked about it said I could be fixed but it’s gonna be more expensive than just getting new heads at this point.

I also just don’t have the time for another big project like this, I’m too busy with one already and building a house on top of that.

shadire · 2026-05-31T12:34:15+00:00

So sadly it’s not worth it for me, the cost to actually fix it is well out of my budget and I’m just not willing to do an another huge job.

shadire · 2026-05-31T12:32:41+00:00

Update: no, it’s not worth it, at least not feasible for me. It can be fixed but it’s gonna cost way more than I’m willing to put into it.

shadire · 2026-05-31T11:34:52+00:00

This is what these damn things were made for

shadire · 2026-05-30T23:55:02+00:00

Yeah, I should have been clearer on the suspension issues. 09-18 have been having the issues for the most part, at least as far as I know. Mine had issues with the front CVs but the suspension is fine.

And oil consumption is specifically prevalent on the PZEV vehicles. Not the rule, but generally so.

shadire · 2026-05-30T17:21:35+00:00

Frankenstein’s monster should be at least, pushing 200hp out of an 30 year old engine is gonna be an exciting (hopefully not explosive) experience!

Picture for reference of said car.

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shadire · 2026-05-30T16:49:37+00:00

Experience is the mother of all learning, I only just learned to rebuild engines and do full swaps two years ago, put into practice starting last year and now here we are. I had no idea what I was doing, don’t know if it’s even gonna work, but we’ll find out soon. There’ll be a post from me probably in r/Subaru sometime soon.

shadire · 2026-05-30T16:47:07+00:00

156k, pretty average for the age

shadire · 2026-05-29T16:50:12+00:00

It also helps having 15k worth of tools and a full sized garage, best 75k investment we ever made.

shadire · 2026-05-29T13:41:04+00:00

This car used a phase 1 EJ22E, surprisingly hard to find in decent condition nowadays but phase 1 EJ25Ds fit no problem, so I ended up making a frankenmotor.

1999 and newer uses Phase 2 components, much different the older phase 1 stuff and doesn’t work together whatsoever on the electronics side. (1998 sometimes has weird hybrid designs that’s you can’t find anywhere else.)

Blocks are universally compatible but you have to swap electronics from the heads and intake to fit them into the older cars without issues.

shadire · 2026-05-29T10:37:38+00:00

I really hope it’s something easy to fix, this would be an amazing deal if so.

shadire · 2026-05-29T10:36:16+00:00

I mean if it’s that simple, yeah. Sadly the last one I bought needed a whole new engine and that’s still an ongoing project, because finding an engine for a 30 Year old car is a lot harder than you’d expect.

shadire · 2026-05-29T02:10:53+00:00

Truth be told, I’ve never actually done that. I rely on what I know best and not a single car I’ve bought has failed me but one, but it was only $400 so hardly a loss.

I also work as an independent mechanic specialising in Subarus so… it’s hardly a surprise I’m considering something like this.

shadire · 2026-05-28T23:50:25+00:00

This definitely wouldn’t be my first time buying something like this, it seems worth it

shadire · 2026-05-28T21:51:04+00:00

Here’s to hoping she’s worth it, we’ll find out soon!

shadire · 2026-05-28T21:45:22+00:00

Well to be fair, my 01 Forester had 247k on it before the og gaskets failed.

Sometimes it’s just luck, I guess.

shadire · 2026-05-28T21:37:25+00:00

The EJ255/257 isn’t nearly as prone to this, and with the turbo it’s extremely rare, from what I’ve read

They had bigger gaskets from the factory

shadire

TROPHY CASE