Topic: The Goon and The Darkness

[blame]

So the snow melted and I got a day off work, had a chance to throw a base map on The Darkness



It's not our friendly neighborhood RockThePylon's tune, for some reason I can't for the life of me figure out how to set the Carberry definitions.. I'll figure it out but I needed something I knew would work just to get me moving. I didn't drive it hard, but car seems to be misfiring a bit. One more thing to track down

But then today was remote start party day!





First I had to pull this little majigger out of there



It's a transponder starter kill unit that needs a special key fob for the car to start. Like an aftermarket version of chip keys I newer cars. No idea why someone would put one in a car that didn't come with it

Then I got to work



And after all that it turns out that the main unit is pooched. Won't do nothing. I even pulled the main unit (same brand, same wiring) out of my friend's car to try in mine to see if it was my wiring, but here sprang to life right away, and my unit was dead in the water in her car too. No idea if I still have the receipt for it, I bought t at the end of last winter. I'll have to look 

And as if that wasn't bad enough.. when I finally put everything back together to head back home for the night I am greeted with a belt howl of the damned.

I pop the hood to see if I'm low on ps fluid or something and I see belt dust all over my alternator



This thing is literally brand new. Has maybe 20km on it. Gonna have to see what my boy at Napa can do

Two steps forward and who knows how many back

[seat safety switch]

Alternators for me tend to be an infant mortality sort of deal. I have had perfect luck with junkyard alternators but like 1/3 of the new ones I've put in have died immediately.

[RockThePylon]

I can't for the life of me figure out how to set the Carberry definition

For RomRaider, or ECUflash?

[blame]

Alternators for me tend to be an infant mortality sort of deal. I have had perfect luck with junkyard alternators but like 1/3 of the new ones I've put in have died immediately.

I don't think I have ever had a new (or reman) alt or starter be D.O.A. before, I have actually had pretty good luck with most of my cars and their accessories.  This is a little frustrating

For RomRaider, or ECUflash?

Kinda both.  I can get your tune to load in ECUflash but it doesn't seem right, can't see any of the parameters.



And it won't load at all in RomRaider, just gives an "ECU definition not found" error, no matter what defs I have loaded, or what order I put them in.  I'm sure I will figure it out, just been too busy to really devote a lot of time to it.

In other news, I miraculously found my receipt for the remote start and exchanged the brain for a new one



But there's still something uckyfay going on.  I can actually get it to remote start every time (which is the point I guess), but it won't unlock the doors (when I first set it up it would lock only, now it doesn't do that either), and the lights don't flash at all.  Yesterday when I checked my wiring with my friend's unit, the lights flashed no problem..  I guess when I get a chance I'll have to go over the wiring again

After that partial victory I needed a change of pace so I switched to something simple that I knew I wouldn't uckfay up: putting the winter rims on SuperJeep



Mmmmm those 15" front rotors are as big as the wheels on The Goon ha ha

So now The Darkness sits as such: alternatorless, with a partially functional remote start, charging the battery in case I need to move her or something.



I really should have started this project sooner.  I hate working in the cold

[blame]

H'okay. So.

Being from the deep north has many disadvantages. Winter hitting before everywhere else is one of them.

So far we have been getting hammered with winter



Car hole


Set her free for some slipping and sliding




And then somehow today we managed to get freezing rain at -14c.. I don't think I've ever seen that before (not Subaru, SuperJeep)




The Goon is on vacation, lent out to a friend until she can get parts to fix her 4runner. The lot is looking empty without her..

[blame]

Oh God. It's happening again..

[jellynuts]

Lucky. We're above zero all week

[SubieRoo]

Lucky. We're above zero all week

Stupid roads won't stay frozen. Car looks disgusting. Would much rather that snow.. 10x over.

[blame]

Well winter is a slow time for updates and mods, spring will probably be bringing more of that.

But for now: The Darkness has gold shoes. They're the stock 17's from Roo, painted a long-assay time ago. The tires on them kind of suck







And The Goon is just Gooning around. In this case, on a frozen lake

[blame]

This is a post about The Darkness.  I have done many things.

Tax return/leave payout season came and I ordered a mountain of parts:







But before installing the good stuff I busted out my shop press that I bought like 2 years ago on sale at CT.  Wheel bearings are hard.





First order of business was to get rid of this garbage



And replace it with some pretty and space-saving IAG rails and lines.









They came with this nifty adapter to use the stock FPR



So much room for activities! And now removing the intake mani isn't a task from hell.



Next up was timing belt and water pump. I don't know why I didn't do this while the engine was on a stand last fall.. It never even crossed my mind.  I am a dumb.



While pulling all the old stuff off, one of the water pump bolts decided to bring a little extra with it..





It must have been over-torqued the last time it was done (which probably wasn't that long ago. The old timing belt still looked in really good shape)

So I drilled it out and put a helicoil in. 



New oem wp went in nice and tight



The belt was annoying to do while in the car.  Karma for being absent minded I guess







Next up I wanted to swap the front subframe from my old '06.  The aluminum LCA's that I put in a while ago have a narrower bushing where they attach to the subframe and I have never been happy with the janky washer spacer setup I put in.  The '06 wrx came with aluminum LCA's, so the subframe has the proper mounts for them

Out with the old



In with the new



Added a couple more goodies while everything was apart



And then it was coilover time



At this point only the fronts are done



Steamrollaaa



It is obvious that some more camber and a hearty fender roll is necessary





So now that she is back on solid ground, I put the rad and fluids in, and fired her up



I was rewarded with fuel gushing out around the top of one of the injectors where it goes into the rail on the passenger side.  No problem, pull the rail off and inspect (something that would have been a nightmare with the stock fuel system)

Oh. A pinched o-ring and a dicked bushing.





So I pulled a good 0-ring and bushing off the old injectors. Good to go



Running like a champ, no leaks



Minor crisis averted, it was time to do the rear coilovers



Boy, these things are pretty. I had BC Racing BR coilovers on the '06 for years, and those were pretty darn decent for the money, but these are just nicer all around







Took all the new stuff for a quick test run (to get the mail)





Plenty of rubbing, as to be expected

So I busted out the trusty tee-ball bat and heat gun



And also added some negative camber to the front, and dropped the rear another 1/2 inch

Made quite the difference







At some point I had the interior all ripped out in the back to check the shock towers for the dreaded wagon rust.. Not a speck of it. At all. Very happy.  So with a smile on my face I put it all back together.



I think her interior is in pretty nice shape for her age



This whole flurry of activity was to get The ol' trusty Darkness race ready for next weekend.  A couple of times a year a group of us northern rednecks rent out a kart track in Quesnel BC and spend the weekend camping and racing and drinking (in that order)

It seems like this car has been apart more than it has been on the road, but hopefully not anymore. I don't have any more big plans for the rest of the summer.  Winter on the other hand.. She sure does need a makeover.

[deedz]

And replace it with some pretty and space-saving IAG rails and lines.

It must have been over-torqued the last time it was done (which probably wasn't that long ago. The old timing belt still looked in really good shape)

So I drilled it out and put a helicoil in. 

I was rewarded with fuel gushing out around the top of one of the injectors where it goes into the rail on the passenger side.  No problem, pull the rail off and inspect (something that would have been a nightmare with the stock fuel system)

Oh. A pinched o-ring and a dicked bushing.

So I pulled a good 0-ring and bushing off the old injectors. Good to go

Running like a champ, no leaks

The IAG fuel rails/lines are quite the upgrade for not a whole lot more money than the cost of OEM replacements. I don't have any yet on any of my Subaru's, but I've been extremely impressed with all of my IAG products.

I must have put 5 heli-coils in the new re-man block for my Forester when I put it together. Frustrating when I'm super strict about using the proper torque specs and end up pulling threads like that before even getting to spec.

I had this same thing happen when I reassembled the engine in my 02 WRX Wagon. All new bushings, seals, and o-rings, but I forgot to lube the o-ring prior to putting the fuel rails on. Completely ridiculous being an Instrumentation Tech. Always lube o-rings. I use Molykote 55 on most o-rings it swells the material slightly to provide an even better seal.

Did you lube the new o-ring that replaced the pinched one?  If not be attentive to the possibility of the leak happening again. My 02 ran for a day or so prior to leaking. I started it after work and the injector for Cylinder #3 started pissing down by the turbo. I was lucky that it happened in the parking lot at work and not when I was up to temperature in traffic.   

By the way cool Wagon, I'm all about the older GG's! I also used to live up in Fort St. John, from January 04 to July 08. There was only two noteworthy Subaru's around town back then and not much of a car scene. What do you do up there?

[blame]

The IAG fuel rails/lines

Yeah they make a real decent product.  These rails had the option to add a pulsation damper on each rail in between the injectors.  That's the silver unit that you can see on the bottom of mine.  Plus running the rails in parallel instead of series is great.

Did you lube the new o-ring that replaced the pinched one?

I just spit on them lol.  Been doing it for decades. Comparing the o-rings, the one coming off had stretched out and wasn't sitting tight against the injector body.  The replacement one was nice and snug   

By the way cool Wagon, I'm all about the older GG's! I also used to live up in Fort St. John, from January 04 to July 08. There was only two noteworthy Subaru's around town back then and not much of a car scene. What do you do up there?

Nice man! I got up here around 2010.  It was the same deal when I got here, only a few decent cars around and nothing even remotely organized.  Now we have a half decent scene and have organized autocross events, track days, drag events, meets etc.  There's a facebook page and whatever, but I gave up on facebook a couple years ago.  I work in the tower at the airport here yelling at planes

[deedz]

Yeah they make a real decent product.  These rails had the option to add a pulsation damper on each rail in between the injectors.  That's the silver unit that you can see on the bottom of mine.  Plus running the rails in parallel instead of series is great.

I just spit on them lol.  Been doing it for decades. Comparing the o-rings, the one coming off had stretched out and wasn't sitting tight against the injector body.  The replacement one was nice and snug   

Nice man! I got up here around 2010.  It was the same deal when I got here, only a few decent cars around and nothing even remotely organized.  Now we have a half decent scene and have organized autocross events, track days, drag events, meets etc.  There's a facebook page and whatever, but I gave up on facebook a couple years ago.  I work in the tower at the airport here yelling at planes

Yeah I bet, I was actually reading up on that at on point.

Hahaha beauty! I never thought of that, cheaper and less toxic than the Molykote. I know many people use vaseline too. Many handy applications for both of those simpler options hahaha!

That's great to here. I got more into the outdoors up there due to the lack of automotive stuffs. Ah yes, after reading this thread in full I do remember you being here before and recall your previous build. I think I had even previously asked you what you were up to there, as I recall you mentioning it before.

Good to see you back, I just recently returned myself. For a few years now I was pretty much only logging in to check for parts for sale hahaha! Beyond work being quite crazy I've been busy with our first kid, as well as fixing broken Subaru's or more so one Subaru.

[blame]

I just read your thread on the foz, that has been a hell of a journey..

[jellynuts]

I recommend getting some neoprene sleeves for those FEALS.  They will get rusty in the winter

[blame]

I recommend getting some neoprene sleeves for those FEALS.  They will get rusty in the winter

Definitely thinking about it. My last coilovers on the '06 didn't have rust problems, but that is because I swapped out for stock suspension every season. That is just too much work.

[deedz]

I just read your thread on the foz, that has been a hell of a journey..

Indeed it has been. Hopefully things stay good for a while now. The car feels better than in ever has. I'll be getting re-tuned within a months time, so it will be good to see where things are at when they do the pre-inspection. I'm planning for two MAP's, a daily that will drop the current boost from 18 psi down to 16ish, and one back around 18+ psi with Boostane additive in the mix.

Definitely thinking about it. My last coilovers on the '06 didn't have rust problems, but that is because I swapped out for stock suspension every season. That is just too much work.

Ugh, I know what you mean here. With how short our summer is it seems like a guy is always swapping suspension when going this route. The work is one thing, but I hate paying for the alignments when they typically wouldn't be required otherwise.

[blame]

So.

This past weekend was a wonderful Quesnel race weekend.  I started prepping the car on Thursday, doing alignment etc.  During a shakedown drive I noticed coolant leaking from the water pump. Yes, the brand new oem pump that I just put in.  So I guess I am pulling it all apart again.


But this time I was going to make sure it was not going to spill a drop.



As tedious as the job is, all went well.



Until I went to put the rad back in and saw this



My brand new fancy Mishimoto rad hose had been chewed up by my rad fan.. [/sadpanda]

So in goes the ugly old one



The water pump rtv wants 24 hours to set, so I waited til the next morning to add juice



And to pack up



Everything was running ship shape with no visible leaks, so I head out to my buddy's place to start our convoy south





First stop was in Chetwynd, where not a drop of premium gas was to be found



We had filled up before leaving, and should have no problem making it to Prince George



So we got some people fuel and kept on er



About half way to PG, right at the summit of the Pine Pass I noticed my temps climbing. Not spiking or becoming worrisome, but i was keeping my eye on them.  Once they got to 100-110 degrees, I pulled over to add some water.  It took some, but not a huge amount.  I let myself dismiss it as maybe an improper burping job after filling the system that morning. I kept my eye on the temps like a hawk after that and they were cool as a cucumber for the whole rest of the trip.



Rolled into PG for some supplies and gas



And found out that the chevrons had no 94 octane.  Man, this is starting to suck.  I guess I will be staying on my 91 map this weekend

Shortly after PG (only an hour or so) we pulled up to the track in Quesnel



And found some other participants had already arrived



So we unloaded and started setting up camp





And then after a long day it was time for some beers and burgers



That night sucked, I had managed to melt a hole in my air mattress with the exhaust of a generator, and the duct tape fix only lasted so long.

But then morning was here and it was race day!







There were a ton of subarus at this event, a large number of them having been brought by Stu Ford of BXR PWR racing

This RA he brought was amazing. So fast, but so silent.







My buddy Jeff may have been trying to blend in..



The cars involved ranged from bone stock to fully race prepped





With mine falling somewhere in between



So it was time to get out and do some laps



After which I see that I am again leaking coolant from the water pump..

So up the ramps The Darkness goes so my fat assay can wiggle under and try to figure out what is going on


(special appearance by Lexus the Wonder Pup)

The little 90 hose that comes off the pump going to the hard line to the oil cooler appears to be dripping, and changing out the ittshay spring clamp for a worm clamp doesn't seem to help.  I snag a ride into town to pick up a heater hose I can make work and get it all together and filled up for the 900th time.

More laps



More failures,



Same spot.

How, you ask? The nearest I can figure is that the coolant is coming out of the base of the fitting where it is pressed into the cast pump. So i will have to pull out the brand new OEM pump and put the old one back in

The rest of the event was still a lot of fun, got to do some ride alongs and drive other people's cars, but mine wasn't able to get back out while leaking coolant.  I only ended up getting 3 runs in on the first day, but I was super impressed with the car.  It was my first time out with a lot of new stuff, and just getting a feel for the car had me dropping about a second off my time each run.  Even with only 3 runs I was in the top third for times, and I feel like I could have taken another second or so off and narrowed the gap.



We all had a great time with no major incidents.  I have a local autocross next week that I hope to have my leak sorted out for, then another Quesnel weekend in about a month and a half, so I should be plenty ready and really see what this whip can do.

As for the drive home: there were no temp issues.  A boat would have been a better vehicle

[blame]

Hello water pump, my old friend..



It would appear that the coolant is not coming out around the oil cooler fitting as I thought (that was all I could see while it was on the car), but it is coming out some random-assay hole above the oil cooler fitting.





The old pump does have the same hole, but it doesn't look like coolant had ever been coming out of it. Nothing connects here, so I can't imagine what this hole is for. But it appears that on the new pump it goes all the way through (at least a pinhole or so) when it shouldn't.



I guess the only reasonable thing to do is to put the old pump back in. If I didn't have an autocross in 3 days I might try to warranty the new oem pump

[GrantC]

It's a weep hole.

So that if a seal is leaking and letting water into the bearings it can escape w/o ruining the bearings, or just filling the timing cover with coolant.

Still means the pump is NFG...

[blame]

It's a weep hole.

Ah gotcha, thanks for the info. Probably a great thing to have to avoid such issues as you stated, but you are right one that is constantly weeping is nfg.

However: I put the old pump back on and she isn't leaking a drop. 



So I got that goin' for me, I guess.

But now my A/C compressor isn't kicking on.  It was working great all the way to Quesnel and back. At least this issue is less vital..

Lessons learned:
- Brand new OEM parts are not infallible
- I can now do a timing belt and water pump in a dark alley with my eyes closed
- In Japan if you are arrested for being drunk and disorderly, the police will get a futon and roll you into a little burrito

(not all lessons were learned first hand)

[blame]

Jeez, why doesn't coolant ever want to stay in this car?



Fuel line clamp seems to do the trick



This car is really showing her age, but I still think she is just the neatest. Autocross tomorrow, hopefully it will be less gross out

[jellynuts]

This car is really showing her age, but I still think she is just the neatest. Autocross tomorrow, hopefully it will be less gross out

You might have an advantage if it's gross out

[blame]

You might have an advantage if it's gross out

Indeed I would have, but it's still not as fun when it is rainy. We separate into groups and half drive while the other half spot the course and shag cones then switch.

The Darkness is such a little monster, I love it. She was neck and neck for 2nd place with my buddy's single turbo fd on r-compounds and an m3 on full race tires (while running my 340 tread wear conti's).

That is, of course, until she started puking coolant again. I swear to sweet baby jebus this car hates coolant. She has a vendetta against it. Wants nothing to do with it.



Tracked it down this time to the lower turbo coolant hose. All these old loose hoses and weak spring clips are just not doing the job any more



I have ordered an ancillary hose kit, but who knows when that will show up.

In the mean time: worm clamps for everybody





Hopefully that will hold for a bit at least. Then I get to do it all over again when the hoses show up

[blame]

After a pretty dismal and wet June and July, August has finally brought some decent weather. I find myself playing with my bike a lot. I like it.





But also I have had the chance to give some much needed attention to The Goon.



(who I noticed the other day has more ground clearance than a jeep. Lawl)

The Goon's clutch has been at the end of its life for a good 3 years now. I keep telling myself I need to get on that and then I never do.. Until now.







There's some pretty good hot spots, but honestly it is not bad for 3 years of intermittent slipping.. I didn't resurface, The Goon ain't care.



New pilot and throw out bearings, obvs



Just a cheapo oem replacement. Both of The Goon's horsepowers will be reined in effectively



I wish the pressure plate was a little stiffer. I hate a weak pedal feel. But oh well, not racecar.



Back in she goes



I didn't have a stopwatch running or anything but I think it was about 4 hours from driving into position to engine back in. If I didn't have to wait for my buddy to get home from work in the evening before getting my engine hoist back from him, I would have been able to drive her with the new clutch same day. So much less to do on a non-turbo

I took the opportunity to do a bunch of other general maintenance, coolant/oil/trans fluid etc. Spark plugs. She drives great now. Cable clutches are so easy to adjust (and no bleeding)

I am getting more deeply into the tuning aspect of The Darkness



It is a hell of a steep learning curve. So much to know. But I'm plugging through it. I found a good starting block, an XPT tune for ej205 with provision for sti pinks and vf39. I've adjusted injector scaling and latency for my wrx blues and she is running pretty great, but she'll be getting better and better as I get more into it.

Also because there is autocross tomorrow, she got a bath





Ain't she just the cutest?

Next weekend is a Quesnel race weekend again, so I am hoping to have her a little more dialed in by then.

And just for fun: a little clip of my buddy driving The Darkness during a horrid wet gross watercross

https://imgur.com/a/OLrtXam

(I don't know how to embed a video)