Post Your Requests For How To's Here

[TK-421]

(Mods I think this should be a sticky)

If most of you have read my How To Install an Aftermarket BPV, then you will know that, I am a plethora of information, with many tools and equipment at my disposal.

I would like to utilize, both my knowledge and tools/equipment to bring detailed "How To's" to the community, so everyone may see what each job or task entails, and whether or not they feel they have the technical know how and or tools, equipment or specialty tools to accomplish the task at hand.

As I mentioned in my other thread, I do not want to make any other write ups of things that have already been previously covered, unless requested for an updated or more detailed reiteration of the current standing form.

So I would like to start this thread, as a place that anyone can request a how to write up from me for anything ranging from Clutch Replacement, to complete Engine Teardown and Rebuilding, to scaling your Wastegate Duty Cycle Maps to work with your 3Port EBCS, and tuning your larger injectors so you can get to the dyno.

I have degree's from High Performance Academy, Universal Technical Institute, and FASTuun school for Cobb AccessPORT EFI Calibration.

I will do my absolute best, to provide the most indepth and informative guides for all requests.

Please note, that this forum is something I come to on my nights and weekends, during my free time, so depending on the request, and difficulty of labor intensive work, it could be either 1 to 3 days for a Guide to be written, all the way up to 1 to 3 months. Please keep that in mind.

So without further ado, please post your requests for a How To Install, How to Replace, How to (in general) below.

And as always, happy modding...

TK-421

 

[Alin]

Not so much as a how to, but a request for more knowledge on things that arent commonly asked. For example, in one thread yesterday i found out our oil cooler was the piece that the oil filter threads on. Why havent i ever seen anything about it before?

Surely there must be more uncommon quircks like these with the car that a majority dont know. Im not sure what else there is, but i bet you have a way better idea as to possibilities that fit this genre.

:tup:

 

[Spamby]

Nice, though I hope you plan to make a separate thread for each of your how to's otherwise I think it would get rather muddled under this one thread.

 

[TK-421]

Nice, though I hope you plan to make a separate thread for each of your how to's otherwise I think it would get rather muddled under this one thread.

The actual "How to's" themselves will not be posted here. Just a thread people can come to, and ask if I would be willing to do a write up for a particular scenario. Otherwise yes I wholeheartedly agree, that this thread would become quite jammed up if all of the write ups were posted here.

 

[TK-421]

Not so much as a how to, but a request for more knowledge on things that arent commonly asked. For example, in one thread yesterday i found out our oil cooler was the piece that the oil filter threads on. Why havent i ever seen anything about it before?

Surely there must be more uncommon quircks like these with the car that a majority dont know. Im not sure what else there is, but i bet you have a way better idea as to possibilities that fit this genre.

:tup:

Most factory turbocharged cars have the oil cooler built into the oil filter union, mostly as a way to keep engineering costs down, which is why aftermarket oil coolers that position the actual cooler in an area that receives a constant cooler air charge, much like installing a front mount intercooler, are popular add on's for our cars. The stock piece is efficient for a stock to mildly Stage 2 set up vehicle, it does show some signs of complete and total uselessness at a track day, where the car is pushed hard and sustains constant elevated levels of heat, which accelerates the shear point of the oil. Hence why many people will change their oil and filter after a hard track day event. Even though adding an aftermarket oil cooler is a smart idea, because it relocates the heat exchanger to an area less prone to heat soak, it really isn't a needed part on a car that is daily driven with normal traffic. But then again their are some folks who prefer to add every part they can to their car, some do it because so and so's car at SEMA or Subiefest had it and the car just looked cool or got a lot of attention. And then there are some who are influenced by others saying "I did it you should too". That necessarily isn't the right course of action. It all depends on how the car is used/driven and what the actual conditions are, ie. the datalogs, and wear and tear of internal parts that require constant lubrication.

So if the car is daily driven, and has the occasional track day, the stock oil cooler will suffice just fine. If your going to build a Touge monster, that's a different story.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Thread is stickified

 

[TK-421]

Since I've seen an influx of threads about shifter bushings recently, and I have a car scheduled next week for front and rear shifter bushings, I figured that would be the next write up I would do.

It's a commonly replaced item, and it's not a very hard task to do, so I feel that most who are DIY capable can perform that task, and since I've done countless and countless and countless amounts of them over the past years, I'd offer any hints tips and tricks along with the write up. Since everyone knows how vague a Subaru Factory Service Manual can be.

 

[TK-421]

Was thinking also of starting a how to section just for newbies, things like how to jack up your car, changing oil, other fluids and other maintenance items, one thing I've definitely seen over the years is lack of maintenance on cars, mostly due to shops and dealers charging an arm and a leg to perform these services that can easily be done at home in a driveway or garage.

If anyone has any other suggestions gimme a shout, I really love helping everyone out by writing these installs.

 

[IGOTASTi]

Was thinking also of starting a how to section just for newbies, things like how to jack up your car, changing oil, other fluids and other maintenance items, one thing I've definitely seen over the years is lack of maintenance on cars, mostly due to shops and dealers charging an arm and a leg to perform these services that can easily be done at home in a driveway or garage.

If anyone has any other suggestions gimme a shout, I really love helping everyone out by writing these installs.

That would be awesome!

If you need anything let us know.

 

[Grinder34]

In a similar vein, "how-to"s on all the services that need to be done (ie 30k: Trans/Diff Fluid, serpintine belts, cabin air filter, etc...)

 

[IGOTASTi]

So do you want a new forum for this [MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION]?

 

[TK-421]

So do you want a new forum for this [MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION]?

I'd say make a sub section in the newbie section, I'll make it just a how to guide for newbies, people wanting to know the basic service procedures that are new to Subaru's.

Anything else I write up can be continued to be posted here, things like aftermarket mods, like my BPV and Shifter bushing write up.

Now with the service maintenance items, I have Factory Service Manuals for all years makes and model Subaru's from a base Impreza all the way up to a STi Limited. I'm going to show how things would be done in the proper fashion at a proper dealership or specialty shop, not the "hack" way some place like jiffy lube or Firestone would service the car. It'll save people money to do it themselves and it will give them the satisfaction of saying "Hey I did that and it was done right and by the book"

The more detailed information I can provide and better step by step instruction, even for the small simple things, the better the experience and the better this forum becomes and grows for all of us, that's just my personal opinion. Forums are a great place, but one thing I have noticed in the other forums is that, the lack of qualified mechanics writing up how to's using some real questionable methods, and expecting them to work for other people. Sure there is a different way to do everything in life, but those service manual procedures are there for a reason. Not everyone has access to a service manual, and half the time these service manuals don't paint a very clear picture. I see plenty of people on YouTube making detailed how to DIY videos such as, Eric The Car Guy, Mighty Car Mods and Fixing Cars and Stuff. But I have yet to run across a forum or YouTube channel of a factory trained Subaru Service Technician or someone of equivalent training or experience do any sort of specific how to DIY for our vehicles. I've been factory trained by Subaru, I spent my apprenticeship years at a Subaru dealership. And now I work on Subaru's, Mitsubishi's, Nissan's, pretty much any factory turbo/supercharged performance based vehicle. I would love to give my knowledge and experience back to this community, best damn Subaru forum I've ever been on. So any install/how to/DIY will be written up with proper steps, using proper tools, and proper methods. There will be no steps of "take a 2x4 piece of wood and wedge it....." Granted not everyone may have the tools that I have, but it gives them a chance to see what all is involved and whether or not they would like to tackle the project themselves or take it to a reputable Subaru shop and seeing the process will also help them understand why they are paying what they are paying for that labor charge.

We all enjoy these cars very much, these DIY's I will be writing will help everyone continue to enjoy them, whether it gives them insight into how much they need to budget for labor and parts, or if they want to do it themselves, how long it will take them to do it.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of saying yep did all that myself and I'm damn proud of it, I'd just like to help everyone get to that goal, by showing them the right way the first time, so there are no "Oh man I have no clue what I'm doing" moments or "Hey this looks a lot different than it did on my old car" situations.

 

[IGOTASTi]

Created it. Called it How To Section *For Newbies* you like or does it need changed? Also give us a short description and we can add that also.

 

[TK-421]

Created it. Called it How To Section *For Newbies* you like or does it need changed? Also give us a short description and we can add that also.

That'll be good, I'll get in there and make a thread describing what people can see in there, and anyone else can add to it, but if you don't feel your up to the task or have the right tools, just leave it to me. I'll start with the basics of oil change, tire rotation, safely jacking the car up, things like that, very basic stuff. And then I'll move into slightly more advanced stuff, replacing bulbs, fuses, gearbox oil, diff oil, and so forth.

 

[IGOTASTi]

That'll be good, I'll get in there and make a thread describing what people can see in there, and anyone else can add to it, but if you don't feel your up to the task or have the right tools, just leave it to me. I'll start with the basics of oil change, tire rotation, safely jacking the car up, things like that, very basic stuff. And then I'll move into slightly more advanced stuff, replacing bulbs, fuses, gearbox oil, diff oil, and so forth.

We also added this as the description. "Basic how to's for first time owners of the Subaru Imperza WRX STi"

Thanks again for what you're doing. We love it!

 

[TK-421]

We also added this as the description. "Basic how to's for first time owners of the Subaru Imperza WRX STi"

Thanks again for what you're doing. We love it!

Perfect.

 

[Grinder34]

ABS Diagnostics.

My light's on. I found a write-up on a different forum, but it'd be nice to see one here. If my problem isnt the same as the guy's in the other writeup, I wont know what to do (but I'll take lots of pictures!)

 

[TK-421]

ABS diagnostics will require the use of a bi-directional Scan Tool. I can do a write up, but I'll be using tools and equipment the average enthusiast or at home DIYer wouldn't have.

 

[OldManSTI]

I see a how to for a "vacuum leak test", but how about a boost leak test? I only mention it as I think I saw it as one of the requirements for receiving an e-tune. Or perhaps I'm ignorant and these are the same thing?
[MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION]

 

[TK-421]

I see a how to for a "vacuum leak test", but how about a boost leak test? I only mention it as I think I saw it as one of the requirements for receiving an e-tune. Or perhaps I'm ignorant and these are the same thing?
[MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION]

No no your not ignorant sir, your learning, and I take solace in your questions, instead of jumping head first into something and learning by the seat of your pants.

A boost leak test is similar to a vac leak test. The main difference is your pressurizing the intake system to check for leaking areas while under pressure. While checking for vacuum leaks has no added pressure to the intake tract.

To preform a boost leak test, you can either A purchase premanufatured boost leak tester kits or B make your own for a few bucks.

You'll need access to an air compressor and you will remove the AirBox assembly and pressurize the intake system at the turbo inlet pipe that runs under your intake manifold. You will increase the air pressure slowly to your maximum boost pressure you are currently running. You don't want to just pump in 19 or 20 psi of air all at once. Once the system is pressurized you can use soapy water to spray around the joints of each connection ie. Intercooler to turbo coupler. And if you see significant bubbling, you more than likely have a boost leak in that area and it could be a matter of tightening the clamp or replacing the coupler.

I hope this small amount of insight helps you.