OZ04SubaruForesterXT

hi all

i'll first explain what happened yesterday vs today in regards to my 04 Forester XT

i took it into town and back with no relative problems what-so-ever

came outside the next day, started it up with no problems, began to drive off as usual, but noticed a severe lack of power, i took a quick look at my boost gauge mounted on the dash & quickly realised that the turbo wasn't "spooling" working. the boost gauge was registering vacuum of course [from negative up to zero], but no pressure as such.

limped it to my local so-called subaru specialist & he tells me that the O2 sensor is fine [on the down pipe], the turbo is fine [dont know how he could tell that], but he plugged an exhaust gas gauge into where the O2 sensor was and freely revved the engine & got no response on the gauge. He then tells me that he thinks it's the up-pipe that's blocked & it's gonna be about $1200

i'm like, WTF !!!

was working fine the night before, I'm guessing it's something else...ive done a little reading etc before asking this, but where do you think i should begin looking before passing over the job to them to fix.

any help is hugely appreciated

Dieter
Sydney / AUSTRALIA

Shef

HOw many miles on the forester?

Was it smoking out of the tailpipe at all?

At first it sounds like a dead turbo. The bearings fail for various reasons and then since the turbo canno longer spin you get no more boost.

What does he mean by blocked up pipe? I know the up pipe cat can break apart and go into the turbo basically killing the turbo. This might be what happened. But if so the turbo is probably gone as well so his quote will only go up once he gets it apart...

__________________
04 FXT 18G E85
00 Outback 5MT
8th & 9th Subarus

OZ04SubaruForesterXT

Thread Starter

130K on it now, no smoke at all out of the pipe. very little exhaust pressure out of the tailpipe though. engine not missing a beat. he has diagnosed it as a failed up pipe and it 4000% certain as he has now pulled the up pipe out.

he says i have 3 options,

1, replace it with a new oem up pipe, cost $1300 [wtf]
2, second hand oem up pipe [maybe $400]
3, after market extractors which comes with a new up pipe which is likely to be gutted [which by all of my research is a good thing]

any ideas which was i should go ?

visualsinz

Take it back from this overcharging sob and do it yourself.
Cost should be:
Used STI Uppipe: $60.00
Aftermarket Catless Uppipe: $150.00
Labor (6 hrs at $60): $360.00

This guy isn't even offering lube in his quote (cause he is screwing you).

Anyways, more information.

The cat cannot be 100% clogged or the engine simply would not run. Even if there is some exhaust gas going through the uppipe, you would register positive psi on your gauge. Take the downpipe off and see if you can spin the turbo wheel manually. Sounds to me liked the turbo is locked up and therefore, blown.

I'm bored today so here are some instructions:

Downpipe removal:
Tools- Ratchet, 10mm socket, 12mm socket 14mm socket, 14mm wrench, flathead screwdriver, phillipshead screwdriver, patience.

Remove intercooler.
1. remove bypass valve from intercooler. Do not remove return hose from bypass valve. Take care not to damage gasket.
2. remove intercooler by removing 12mm bolts to intercooler braces on the driver and passenger side. Loosen bands on the throttle body and turbo connections with a screwdriver. Pull intercooler out.

Downpipe:
1. Remove turbo heat shield. Held on by 10mm bolts. The bolts are probably rusted so take the time to spray with PB Blast and let soak in before loosening.
2. Disconnect downpipe from midpipe (2 14mm spring bolts if stock).
3. Loosen 5 14mm downpipe bolts from the turbo. Use PB Blast first.

Pretty easy, just reverse the cycle to install.

If you want to do the uppipe I can add that as well, but you will have to do the steps I've mentioned first. Total time for uppipe should be around 6 hours your first time.