Two weeks ago I received the rack that I bought from SGUAP, installed it that night and found it was garbage. I'm still waiting on the replacement and they will not refund since they have a replacement in stock (actually they have about a dozen racks in stock). They will not ship the replacement until they receive the returned rack, which is annoying, but understandable from a business perspective I guess. It should finally get there this Friday. They are based out of Florida so Irma and Jose caused further delays. They are now without power/internet in their warehouse, but they agreed to fully test my replacement rack today, prior to shipping it out Friday. These delays, slow communication, etc are why I would have really preferred to just return the rack and get a refund. Whadayado. I still really want to do a 15+ rack and might make the upgrade in the future. For now, I'll just run the 05-07 rack...as long as it's not pissing PS fluid all over the place. My attempt at a rebuild was not successful. You may remember from a while back, I broke a fitting off of my original rack body so I used this junk rack as a guinea pig to see what all is involved in a rebuild. I couldn't get the "plug" that holds the pinion gear to unscrew...or even budge for that matter. I has 4 pin holes to grip onto to spin it off...in theory. Subaru has a special socket for this, but I tried improvising... You can see the 4 holes here. This is a spanner wrench for a cut off wheel I believe that I had laying around, but was just a hair short. Then I drilled and tapped holes in this chunk of metal (passenger side TMIC bracket) and threaded some m6 bolts in. This bracket has a nice curve to it that allows it to go around the pinion shaft so I thought it was going to work nicely. Nope. Ended up just bending the bolts...that sucker is on there. I need a pinned spanner wrench like this (or the actual specialty Subaru tool), but I don't want to spend $40-50 just for this job. I'll probably sell my leaky rack with the rebuild kit included...unless I can find the right tool for the job. Hopefully next week I'll have a new-to-me-used rack installed and leak free.
Rack #3 received, rack #3 leaking. This is like some never ending steering rack nightmare. I'm beginning to wonder now if it's my pump that's putting out too much pressure?? SGUAP said they tested this rack under pressure before shipping it out and it didn't leak...but they might be lying...or my pump is fubar'd. Not sure, it's frustrating. It's been 3 weeks since I pulled my original leaking rack (which I bought used on ebay) to replace it with the first rack from SGUAP. I'm planning on driving my car down to Subaru Nationals on Sept 29th so I need to figure something out... (created new thread for rack issues: https://mnsubaru.com/threads/steering-rack-woes.52999/ )
Thought about it, but I'd really rather not. Plus I have some money tied up in the Chase Bays PS kit. Finally talked to SGUAP and they are going to pay shipping to have this rack sent back and refund me once the receive it...so that's good. I ordered a brand new 15+ rack from the local dealer and should be able to get it Saturday. I ordered a new (shorter) high pressure line and two new fittings to mate the new high pressure line and the return line to the new rack hard line fittings. Also going to have to shorten my return line and put a new hose to AN fitting on it. I should be able to reuse the one that's on it or I think I have a couple laying around from my fuel lines. P.T.F.E, Braided Stainless Steel, 90 Degree, 42 in., -6 AN Female, -6 AN Female (new feed) -6 AN Hose End to 14mm x 1.5 Female (feed line to hard feed line fitting on rack) -6 AN Hose End to 16mm x 1.5 Female (return line to hard return line fitting on rack) That should work as far as lines and fittings go. I'll have to open up the cross member hole where the pinion comes through it to make room for the new rack, but shouldn't be too bad. Also need to figure out a spacer (approx .4 " thick) that goes between the offset mount on the rack and the GD subframe. The rest should bolt right in...in theory. I'm still not 100% sure I don't have a pump issue of some sort that's causing it to output too much pressure. Is that even a thing? Not sure.
Put a guage on it... not sure what output pressure is supposed to be but 3 racks would have me looking at the pump
13:1 ratio 15+ STi rack is in! I replaced the pump with a reman pump too. Seems to be functioning as expected, no leaks, no pump screaming. I wasn't able to even get the car off the jack stands yet, because I blew my back out as I was taking wheels on and off while adjusting the alignment...hopefully feel better by the end of the work day today so I can finish up and test drive it. Updated 7/27/18...realized I never went into detail which fittings I used to adapt the 15+ STi power steering rack hard lines to -6 AN fittings. 04+ STi should all use the same fittings...possibly the same with WRX and other models as well, but cannot confirm... The high pressure line (stainless line shown in my pic below) is the 14mmx1.5 to -6AN fitting (high pressure from the PS Pump to rack) The low pressure return line (black nylon hose shown below) is the 16mmx1.5 to -6AN fitting (goes to the PS fluid reservoir)
Finally got the car aligned yesterday. My PS pump seems to be extra noisy after I've been driving it now for a while. I think it might be the PS pump feed. It's just a hose that's clamped to the inlet. I ordered a 10AN fitting for the PS Pump feed from Tigwerks and that should hopefully be here by this weekend. Hopefully that should help with the pump noise. Tonight I'll finally be installing my sway bars lol. My back is still a little sore so we'll see how it goes. She needs an oil change and a wash and we'll be ready for the trip to Subaru Nationals this Friday!
I hope it's not the pump. We've had very nearly 100% failure rate on aftermarket reman pumps lately...
It could very well be. It does have a lifetime warranty, but I'm not at all too excited to change it out on a weekly basis. I'm going double check all of my fittings are tight tonight and then hopefully have the new pump feed fitting this week. Steering feels good, the pump is just loud...
Yea, lifetime warranty doesn't help much when most don't make it around the block if they make it out of the shop. Had one last week for a Mustang, complete failure (black and shiny fluid, zero power assist) on the test drive. Less than a mile after install. Put a Motorcraft (thank goodness Ford offers factory reman pumps) one in, and good to go. Hopefully the debris in the fluid doesn't wreck the rack. When I put an aftermarket pump in my Celica many years ago, I put a filter in the return line, and that was before all these problems. I would highly recommend doing that so you don't ruin that nice new rack.
That would seriously be my luck. Where would the debris come from? Think I would have been better off rebuilding the OEM pump myself with an o-ring kit (still have it because the core was only $5 so I kept it)? A brand new oem pump is like $450 so that's not really an option.
If the pump gets air in it and cavitates, there's no lubrication to the moving parts, and they start to chew themselves apart. On subaru parts, the impeller is steel, and housing is aluminum. I would definitely rebuild it myself. If there's damage, it's easy to spot. Subaru offers a seal kit for most pumps, and it's usually pretty cheap. The bearing on the shaft isn't available from Subaru, but it's nothing unique, so if you need one, it's not usually hard to find.
Makes sense Chux, thanks for the explanation. After I pulled my stock pump, I tore it down and didn't see anything concerning, although I don't really know what to look for. Initially, I was hesitant to rebuild my OEM pump because I wasn't sure if it was putting out too much pressure and I don't know what governs that nor how to fix it. Last night did find my pump feed fitting on the reservoir was a bit loose - loose enough for fluid to be weeping out onto the fitting so I tightened that down. I haven't driven the car yet to see if that improved it at all. I won't have my new pump feed fitting until next week it looks like. Once I get that new fitting installed, if the pump doesn't sound any better I'll have to see what I can find for an OEM pump.
I installed front and rear 25mm Hotchkis sway bars and Hotchkis adjustable end links last night. What a difference that made when driving/cornering! I thought the car seemed pretty stable with just the coilovers and no sways, but now it feels like it's on rails. Looking forward to Subaru Nationals this weekend! I still have to change oil and give her a bath tonight...
Yea, I don't know about the high pressure. IIRC there's a ball and spring on the output fitting that probably helps regulate the pressure. Might want to take that apart and make sure everything is in good shape. A loose fitting definitely will cause noise, though....maybe that's it
Good choice. I had Hotchkis sways on my G37 and that boat turned into a sports car lol around corners. I didn't upgrade the endlinks though. I figured I'd do that when they actually broke.
Apparently both fittings on the reservoir were a bit loose. I got those tightened up and really improved the pump noise, but it's still faint. I'm hoping the new pump feed fitting will take care of it. They seem pretty stout. The STi donor car had them so I just had to buy new bushings and endlinks, then throw them in. I wanted to strip and paint/coat them, but never got around to it. The bars are kinda rough looking, but will suffice for now.
Nationals was a blast! We had 3 cars drive 600+ miles round trip, each of us ran our cars down the track, and nobody broke! This was my very first time ever on a drag strip with any car. My first pass I ran a 12.7 @ 120mph, but I missed 2nd. My best pass of the day was 11.5 @ 121mph and it still wasn't as clean as it could have been. I am extremely happy with how the car performed. Now I just need that driver mod to get lower into the 11's and maaaybe dip into the 10's. 11.5 was enough to qualify 4th in the Stock Location Upgraded class. I got knocked out in the first round of eliminations with a 12.0 pass We had a ton of fun, met some awesome people and saw some amazing cars! I would highly recommend going next year! We'll be making the trip again for sure.
Before nationals I ordered an 10AN PS pump inlet fitting from Tigwerks. I tried making it work with the existing hose that came with my Chase Bays kit, but it wasn't the correct style to use with hose end type fittings. The hose they included was a corrugated plastic hose instead of a PTFE hose. It just clamped to the oem PS pump inlet...it never really sealed well. I had to order 3ft of 10AN PTFE braided hose. I was able to reuse the 90* 10AN fitting coming from the bottom of the reservoir. and then I ordered a 120* 10AN fitting to mate the hose to the Tigwerks pump fitting. It looks and seals much better now! The pump seemed quieter just idling in the garage. Will have to drive it a bit and get all the air out to see if it really quiets down more.
3k miles on the new motor and time to change over to Motul 5w30 X-cess *knocks on wood* I'm going to try to either make it down to Cedar Falls for test and tune on Saturday or to Rock Falls on Sunday for their Sport Compact only race. Weather permitting depending which one. Probably the last race weekend of the season. I'm still not sure what plans I have for the car for the winter. Bodywork and/or change the turbo setup a bit...or just leave it alone for a while
I had a chance to go down to Cedar Falls on Saturday for test and tune. Luckily the rain held off all day. It was cool and overcast and the track was a bit slick. Regardless, I ran a new personal best: 11.25 @ 124mph. I really think the car has a 10.9 second pass in it with this setup. If I can get that 60' down into the 1.5 range and get consistent with flat foot shifting, I think it can do it. I never attempted FFS until last night when I was out playing around. A video of the 11.24 pass A video of a slower pass (11.49), but with a decent burn out
Last night I upgraded my OEM STi short throw shifter to a Kartboy short throw that came on the donor STi. I've had this laying around for a while, but have been to lazy to install it. I didn't realize it was that much shorter than the OEM short shifter till I had them next to each other. Will take some getting used to, but I like it.
The fun stuff hasn't showed up yet so finding other things to tinker with in the meantime. In addition to larger injectors, I have some other fuel system changes coming this winter as well so in preparation of that I wired up a Hobbs switch and a second relay for second fuel pump. The Hobbs will kick on the 2nd pump when boost hits 10psi. I have some better 10AWG power wire coming Friday so I'm going to rewire my first pump as I wire the second pump in. The fuel pumps will be in a Radium dual pump hanger and running through the stock hard fuel lines. Two 450's should give me plenty of head room. The big change that is coming (if my previous post's cheesy hint wasn't obvious) is the turbo change to a FP Black! They are backordered on turbo inlets from Black Friday, but hopefully it will get shipped this week . I'm really excited for next season already and it's only December Installed new ID1700x injectors last night...
This shiny jewel showed up yesterday My excitement was followed by several hours worth of bruised knuckles, cussing and questioning life trying to get this thing to fit. I thought the DOM 3.0XTR with the 2.4" compressor inlet was a pain in the ass, well this FP Black with an 84mm (3.3") compressor inlet is a whole 'nother animal. (not so much the turbo fitment, but the fitting the inlet to the turbo) With a heat gun, I was able to stretch the offset 3" AMR coupler over the monster 84mm compressor, it wasn't easy, but I got it on... Then quickly realized it wasn't going to work. With the coupler stretched around the compressor as much as it was, once I put the cast inlet into the other side, it was distorting the coupler. The coupler just isn't a thick enough material and it wanted to basically collapse on itself. I really wanted to keep the 3" AMR inlet that I had due to aesthetics and fitment, but I wasn't able to get it to work. FP makes their own 84mm turbo inlet to fit these turbos so I ordered one with the turbo, in case the AMR wouldn't work. So the idea of keeping the AMR inlet went out the window and it was onto trying to fit the behemoth FP silicon inlet instead. I had to trim the inlet slightly at an angle at the turbo to get it to fit properly. The inlet wanted to go onto the turbo at an angle mostly because of the TGV to IM flange (which I slightly shaved to gain a few mm of clearance as well), so the slight angle allowed the inlet to fully seat onto the turbo compressor. I probably shortened it about 1/2" so that it wasn't sticking so far out the front and hitting the PS pump. Aside from needing to run to the store tonight to get a larger hose clamp to clamp the inlet to the turbo (FP included 2 hose clamps that barely fit on the 84mm side of the inlet with it out of the car...not even close when it's wrapped around the turbo), it's in. I want to cut the inlet straight where it couples to the intake pipe just because it comes out at kind of an angle and looks goofy. Still have a few odds and ends to finish up with the turbo install then finish wiring the fuel pumps. Fuel pump hanger should be here in a couple of weeks. Then I'll have to find something else to keep me busy for a while.
He's running a front mount anyway... Is it really that different? That massive turbo is going to be laggy any way you hack it lol.
