obsolete's 2008 WRX maintenance & mods

Shedding unnecessary parts over time...it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru.

 

Right? Like I know they're put there for a reason to begin with but at some point they're just gonna get removed because a guy can only re-engineer them so many times before it's just a waste of time and effort. Haha.

The pic above is the wife's car and my god was it a pain in the ass getting those ones off the headers. Actually had to drop the exhaust down off the heads because they have the o2 sensor going through a hole in the shield...

 

What are we doing for faded paint/clear coat on the hood scoop? I've been seeing ads for Eastwood 2k color-matched spray cans--too good to be true?

 

Carbon fiber wrap it. Honestly, I thought about the same thing. Sand and respray. Test on something else and compare.

 

Overtake and Grimmspeed both have color matched sprays

 

Overdue for an update. Got the A/C fixed. I guessed the leak was in the condenser and it looks like I was right. There was barely any refrigerant in the system when I opened it up, now it holds vacuum for days. I also replaced the expansion valve and all the o-rings in the engine bay while I was in there.


I couldn't get any R134a out of the self-sealing valve in the Chemours can so I had to use the scary side piercing can tapper:


The valve in the Shop Pro R134a can from AutoZone did work properly, so I was able to get 15.7 oz. of refrigerant into the system, pretty close to the 16-19 oz. the sticker under the hood calls for:


I knew the system had lost some oil from the bright green spots on the driveway when it failed, so I put 2.5 oz. of new PAG 100 in the condenser before I sealed it up. Total guess, but the worst case is that the extra oil just displaces a little refrigerant. Better than not having enough. The pressures seem high: 55 psi on the low side, 225psi on the high side at around 80F. Maybe more like 85F in the engine bay? Might be slightly overcharged but we'll see how it goes. Just nice to have cool air coming out the vents again.

 

So good to see that car get some love. It did sit around more than I wanted it to.

 

Thanks man! I've driven it every day this week and the A/C is working awesome, so I think I'm ready to call that fixed.

Now something in the steering or suspension is creaking/groaning at high steering angles. Sounds like a dry ball joint or tie rod end...maybe strut mount? It's always something.

Hopefully I can win the game of whack-a-mole with this car by September or October and have it ready to sell again.