New Family Wagon: Legacy 3.0 R Spec B

[Cambs_Stuart]

So, a minor issue with the legacy.
The key had started to become more reluctant to open the car, until one night it stopped working completely. A trip out in the clio for a CR1620 battery and still it wouldn't open.



It was utterly dead, no alarm, no lights, nothing.
Fortunately I've got a good charger. Hooking that up confirmed the battery was dead, but charging no problem.



After a good few hours the battery was back to 95%. Reconnecting everything revealed the issue. Someone had left the interior lights on.
Time to do an idle re-learn.

[S100HP]

I left my interior lights on the other night whilst on a 12hr Nightshift. Thankfully the car started but I was bricking it!

Is the idle relearn thing with doing?

[Cambs_Stuart]

S100HP said:

I left my interior lights on the other night whilst on a 12hr Nightshift. Thankfully the car started but I was bricking it!

Is the idle relearn thing with doing?

It might be worth doing if you've got issues at idle, beyond the usual cold weather/fast idle that all subarus have. Or if you've disconnected the battery recently. But I've not noticed any difference since doing it.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Another year, another (relatively) clean bill of health from the MOT:



The disc issue is mainly from the car sitting around looking like this before the MOT:



I think a decent, spirited drive should clean them up.

Interestingly Subarus have one of the highest first time pass rates for MOTs. Not sure if that reflects build quality, careful ownership or is a statistical fluke as there aren't many around...

[boholoblanka]

Cambs_Stuart said:

Another year, another (relatively) clean bill of health from the MOT:



The disc issue is mainly from the car sitting around looking like this before the MOT:



I think a decent, spirited drive should clean them up.

Interestingly Subarus have one of the highest first time pass rates for MOTs. Not sure if that reflects build quality, careful ownership or is a statistical fluke as there aren't many around...

Our neighbour behind us here in central switzerland is an MOT tester was talking to me about my legacy (2013 2.5i) about how

1. subaru is known as the farmers porsche
2. Farmers are not big on maintenance alot of the time.
3. Subarus fail due to pure neglect in alot of cases but these are usually rectifiable... so you get 15 year old Legacies rambling around the place looking shot but with decent mechanical integrity. The issue is that the remedial work is done post MFK/MOT and then the pass us gained and no maintenance is done until the next MFK.. The New Holland in the yard gets more love.

Parts are cheap here and easily sources as every other village has either a subaru dealership or an approved subaru repair garage.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I've spent a fair amount of time in Switzerland, mainly around Lenzburg and Egliswil. It's a beautiful place, the factory there has the best view of any in my group!
But I can see the need for a robust AWD system in the winter.

[boholoblanka]

Cambs_Stuart said:

I've spent a fair amount of time in Switzerland, mainly around Lenzburg and Egliswil. It's a beautiful place, the factory there has the best view of any in my group!
But I can see the need for a robust AWD system in the winter.

The castle there is fantastic. We went with the kids a while back and its really beautiful. fascinating spot. I saw all the industrial units there on the way up to the carpark. I work in Zug so not too far away either. Zug is a german marque town, but where i live is definitely subaru country. they had a farmers fair recently and a garage took along a new soltera so gauge reactions. it was positive they'll move a few alright.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Last time it.was cold the subaru almost shrugged it off without incident. The only issue was that the doors froze.
So, based on memories of my one my favourite build threads (for the love of WRX wagon on scoobynet) I've just gone round all dor door seals with gummi pfledge.




I'm not sure what is in it, but it smells really strong. Definitely not something for indoor use.

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Sunday 16th July 17:12

[d_a_n1979]

Cambs_Stuart said:

Last time it.was cold the subaru almost shrugged it off without incident. The only issue was that the doors froze.
So, based on memories of my one my favourite build threads (for the love of WRX wagon on scoobynet) I've just gone round all dor door seals with gummi pfledge.




I'm not what is in it, but it smells really strong. Definitely not something for indoor use.

Good stuff though and keeps the door seals in rude health too

[Cambs_Stuart]

The "bodgeification" of the exhaust last summer had lasted pretty well. The y pipe resonator after the cats had fallen apart during the clutch change. Tim Famer had got it back together, but it needed to be sorted.



This has become a bit more urgent. I'd been getting an oily, sulphurous smell in traffic and after parking up. Looking underneath the leak is obvious.



The prop seal is dripping onto the pipes, which are held together with sleeves, rust and weld. So I don't fancy my chances of taking them apart and putting them back together.

So a trip to Dot work (in Bury st Edmunds) and a few hundred pounds later and I've got some new pipework and one less resonator. It's not made much difference to the noise of the car, but at least now I should be able to sort that seal out.

[Scoobydrew95]

Cambs_Stuart said:

The "bodgeification" of the exhaust last summer had lasted pretty well. The y pipe resonator after the cats had fallen apart during the clutch change. Tim Famer had got it back together, but it needed to be sorted.



This has become a bit more urgent. I'd been getting an oily, sulphurous smell in traffic and after parking up. Looking underneath the leak is obvious.



The prop seal is dripping onto the pipes, which are held together with sleeves, rust and weld. So I don't fancy my chances of taking them apart and putting them back together.

So a trip to Dot work (in Bury st Edmunds) and a few hundred pounds later and I've got some new pipework and one less resonator. It's not made much difference to the noise of the car, but at least now I should be able to sort that seal out.

Wowsa, that bodge is particularly fantastic. Almost professional. Least it wasn't held together with screws like my old downpipes.

[cornershop]

I like that exhaust fix especially if no drone is introduced. I have an aftermarket stainless on my 3.0 outback, I am (was) slightly concerned ( about the passengers) with the resonator removed.

[cornershop]

Some Lanoguard would be beneficial on those rusty brackets

[Cambs_Stuart]

cornershop said:

Some Lanoguard would be beneficial on those rusty brackets

I know. On the to do list is to get a high lift jack and soak the underside in bilt hamber followed by a lanogaurd (or similar) product.

[darkyoung1000]

Splendid thread about a very capable load lugger, nice to see how reliable (sorry if I’ve jinxed it…) they can be if the regular things are kept on top of.
Sounds like a lovely smooth lump as well, and if the main consumable is super-unleaded….then I always think that’s a small price to pay (relatively speaking).
The new exhaust section looks good, how much of a pain is the prop shaft seal to do?

[markiii]

for what they do the fuel is a small price to pay, selling the wifes soon, will be sad to see it go

[Cambs_Stuart]

darkyoung1000 said:

Splendid thread about a very capable load lugger, nice to see how reliable (sorry if I’ve jinxed it…) they can be if the regular things are kept on top of.
Sounds like a lovely smooth lump as well, and if the main consumable is super-unleaded….then I always think that’s a small price to pay (relatively speaking).
The new exhaust section looks good, how much of a pain is the prop shaft seal to do?

Given that most of the bits came off to fit the clutch, I'm hoping nothing is too rusted/seized in place. In theory it's a couple of hours, and according to the YouTube video I watched it's not that hard. Take the exhaust and heat shields off, unbolt the prop from the flange at the rear diff, take off the center support, pull the prop out from the gearbox, replace seal and reassemble.
But I suspect doing it on my back, on the driveway with the car on stands won't be the most fun Saturday I've had...

[cornershop]

Cambs_Stuart said:

cornershop said:

Some Lanoguard would be beneficial on those rusty brackets

I know. On the to do list is to get a high lift jack and soak the underside in bilt hamber followed by a lanogaurd (or similar) product.

I wouldn’t bother with BH (unless you’ve dismantled to component level) just go straight at it with LG - mine has been on a few weeks less than a year and it’s still jetwash resistant/proof and it looks the same as it did a few days after application. I reckon there’s an easy 24 months protection there at least, which mitigates the cost comparison with BH. Less (zero) prep too in comparison.

[Spinakerr]

Bilt Hamber is great if you can strip and coat compenents conpletely, off the car if possible. Have not tried Lanoguard by repory look ok for 'in situ' coatings.

Good luck with the jacks/axle stands/wriggling on back maneuveres.

[Cambs_Stuart]

The legacy has let me down. Driving out to the countryside to see a new premises for my wife, the battery died when we tried to leave.
I suspected it was low as it was getting a bit sluggish to start, but put that down to not using the car recently. I thought a long drive would fix it. However, it just didn't have the power to turn over. RAC would have been many hours so a few calls later I managed to get a friend to collect me, drive to to GSF (who had a battery in stock) and take me back.
On the plus side, it starts much more eagerly now.

Old Varta vs new Yuasa

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Saturday 25th March 16:30

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Saturday 25th March 16:31