Subaru surgery, Alternator saga from the Grumpy thread figured out (page 3) weird fault uncovered......

[Marina door handles]

Finally I can post a conclusion to this saga and its ever so slightly embarrassing!!!

After fitting the new pump, things really hadn't improved. No amount of bleeding helped so I decided to get the old rack refurbed. I ended up sending the rack to SSL who did a lovely job and turned it around really quickly. I also had ordered a new high pressure pipe which arrived a day before my rack returned. 

I duly got the car back over the pit and pulled out the old rack, a little voice in my head kept questioning whether I had missed anything else? It occurred to me I hadn't checked the steering column...  To be honest to try and keep the wheel in the correct position I had never attempted to move the column independently of the rack because that is definitely a recipe for wonky steering. Having said that a wonky wheel is a price worth paying if the steering is actually fixed and not seizing up though! 

So this time once the rack was disconnected I wiggled the steering wheel and everything seemed okay, then I looked at the UJs, the Forester has 2 universal joints on the end the the column. Checked the top one, moved in both directions as expected, checked the bottom one moves okay in one direction but in the other, utterly seized....... 

This could explain everything.. I removed the UJs and left it soaking in oil overnight. The following day I attacked it with plus gas then lithium grease and after working at it with a bar, got it from seized, to moving with prejudice and a noticeable crunch, to smooth easy movement.

I then  fitted the re con rack and new pipe. Re fitted the UJs, re filled the reservoir with Dextron and then decided to see how free the steering felt by turning it from the Ujs, hmmmm nice and smooth! Oh you are kidding me!

I then bled up the system and test drove. The steering is finally sorted, feels really good, just need to ignore the steering wheel being on the piss! (I will sort that).

So to sum up I have thrown cheap second hand parts at this (rack and pump), I think I got a bit of a false positive when I changed the rack the first time. I suspect the UJ was seizing up causing the issue but the act of freeing it from the original rack may have temporarily free'ed up the action, so the positive effect of the new 2nd hand rack seemed short lived as the UJ re seized causing all manner of issues and a breakdown.

So although I have avoided for the most part  new Subaru parts, I have spent  wasted nearly a grand sorting this issue. Oh well I think I have future proofed the steering gear! 

So that really is it, the Forester is back in action until the next bit of it fails.......

Thanks for reading! 

[Marina door handles]

Earlier this month it was MOT time again for the jacked up estate from Fuji Heavy industries....... It managed to fail on a rust hole in the floor pan by the driver's sill. I felt a tad daft that I hadn't spotted it but to be fair I think it was a recent happening and I hadn't been able to get the car over my pit for a quick pre Mot Inspection (mostly because the pit is more of a water feature at the mo and had a Rover stuck on top of it!).

Anyway I welded it up in a rush and managed to get a free re test and a pass but not after a brief wind up....

Tester "err your repair has under seal on it - so that's a fail!"

Me ...Okay I will scrape it off then...

Tester "What kind of weld is it?"

Me....  Err MIG  and its a continuous run all around the repair panel....

Tester... "Ok you shouldn't have sealed it but I was only kidding, its a pass!"

Queue much laughter from the workshop..... Bastards! That will teach me to get it MOT'ed at work! 

Sadly (or possibly not if you don't like weldy body worky pics)  no pictures were taken because of the rush.

To celebrate scrapping a pass, I thought I would tackle some issues and give myself another chance to seize defeat from the jaws of victory...... 

  Firstly the front shocks are really knackered (but not an MOT issue apparently) and on one side I new one of the bolts holding the steering knuckle to the shock was a bit seized stopping you do any camber adjustment.  So I figured I would start on that side. Bloody hell it is now properly seized and has take some utter brutality to remove! 

 

I ended up having to remove the knuckle after chopping and grinding both ends of the bolt away to free the old shocker..

Then I used my ball joint remover to force the remains out... Useful bit of of kit that, especially as I don't have a press.

Tada!

I think part of the reason this car suffers so much with corroded suspension parts is one Subaru suspension parts quality, pretty sure they come pre rusted and the fact I do use it as a swimming machine! Well it has a 50 cm wading depth and in my neck of the woods that is really useful! Thanks to lack of drainage maintenance by the brassic local council and the current climate we keep getting flooded sections of roads and I do take advantage of its abilities.....

Whilst I was on a roll I replaced the ball joint, I had ruined the rubber gaitor removing it and I cannot remember when it was last changed so a new one was duly fitted.  I did have to clean up the threads as the bolt really did not want to go back in...

Then onto the shocks, I know this is technically the dangerous bit but I laugh in the face of danger! Although that might just be nerves.....

Nearly there just got to re fit and torque up all the relevant bits and bleed the brakes (you have to undo the brake lines to free the shocks because Subaru?).  I would do this tomorrow but we are off to Oulton park for some Rallying so it will have to wait....

 

 

[Marina door handles]

Subaru update, after putting everything back together I found that I wasn't really happy with the old bucket. The tracking felt a bit out, possibly because the rear end in sitting a bit higher had changed the angle of the dangle relative to the front suspension and the new shocks on the front may well have had an effect too. Worse than that though, the ABS had suddenly become really intrusive, triggering every time I touched the pedal as if I was always braking on a diesel spill! 

The tracking is just a matter of booking it in at a suitably equipped garage as I don't have any lasers or strings....

The ABS issue was a head scratcher, no warning on the dash, so maybe it was a mechanical issue? Well after a bit of rummaging I found the driver's front speed wheel was the original part and funnily enough was a lot more corroded than the rest. So much so it was virtually flat in places. Could this be the issue?

So back in early December I removed the steering knuckle and split the hub, here we go again........

The old knuckle actually cracked during the process, so a new after market one was ordered and a new ABS ring.

Compare and contrast...

I was going to re use the original hub but I got a bit careless with the  grinder getting the remains of the old bearing off and took a chunk out of the hub, I was quite annoyed with my self.  The new steering knuckle arrived in good time but the hub I ordered a day later didn't show up when expected. The bearing was pressed into place in preparation for the new hub...

In mid January the hub finally turned up but by this time I was a bit distracted by a new Freelander shaped purchase.

Finally whilst bored on Thursday night I pulled my finger out and got back in the garage...

Hub pressed in.

Damn it looks good, such a shame its going to be hidden away under the car.

Today, all back together on the car.

Test drive went well, the ABS fault is gone, just need to sort the tracking and maybe get it a new clutch...... I now have two 4wd daily drivers to swap between until one of them breaks again! 

 

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, Marina door handles said:

Subaru update, after putting everything back together I found that I wasn't really happy with the old bucket. The tracking felt a bit out, possibly because the rear end in sitting a bit higher had changed the angle of the dangle relative to the front suspension and the new shocks on the front may well have had an effect too. Worse than that though, the ABS had suddenly become really intrusive, triggering every time I touched the pedal as if I was always braking on a diesel spill! 

The tracking is just a matter of booking it in at a suitably equipped garage as I don't have any lasers or strings....

The ABS issue was a head scratcher, no warning on the dash, so maybe it was a mechanical issue? Well after a bit of rummaging I found the driver's front speed wheel was the original part and funnily enough was a lot more corroded than the rest. So much so it was virtually flat in places. Could this be the issue?

So back in early December I removed the steering knuckle and split the hub, here we go again........

The old knuckle actually cracked during the process, so a new after market one was ordered and a new ABS ring.

Compare and contrast...

I was going to re use the original hub but I got a bit careless with the  grinder getting the remains of the old bearing off and took a chunk out of the hub, I was quite annoyed with my self.  The new steering knuckle arrived in good time but the hub I ordered a day later didn't show up when expected. The bearing was pressed into place in preparation for the new hub...

In mid January the hub finally turned up but by this time I was a bit distracted by a new Freelander shaped purchase.

Finally whilst bored on Thursday night I pulled my finger out and got back in the garage...

Hub pressed in.

Damn it looks good, such a shame its going to be hidden away under the car.

Today, all back together on the car.

Test drive went well, the ABS fault is gone, just need to sort the tracking and maybe get it a new clutch...... I now have two 4wd daily drivers to swap between until one of them breaks again! 

 

I’m not sure how it works but the speed sensor for the ABS seems to be affected by knackered wheel bearings. I had a similar thing with my Impreza.

[Marina door handles]

7 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I’m not sure how it works but the speed sensor for the ABS seems to be affected by knackered wheel bearings. I had a similar thing with my Impreza.

If its the later type, the speed wheel is a magnetic ring in the bearing it self rather than trad separate part. 

[Marina door handles]

A bit of an update from a post in the grumpy thread (seemed slightly wrong to continue the saga in that thread!).  Anyway the Subaru was suffering from weak starting and I had replaced the old alternator with a seemingly duff brand new item. The new one was a cheap one off Autodoc branded AS (Auto Scheiße maybe??) . And yes it is a cheapish off brand unit mostly because I am a bit fed up with spending out too much on this car..

Autodoc happily sent me a replacement unit and we all lived happily ever after......

Well err no got exactly the same result.... Honestly WTF?  I re checked all the connections, all seemed okay. I started to suspect that the battery maybe had a bad cell, which was causing resistance and dropping the incoming volts? Maybe I am clutching at straws because I hate electrics? I had a brain wave, how to test the battery against a different alternator.... Swap it with the one in my Rover 800? 

First I checked the Rover's own battery alternator combo - purring along at 14.8 volts.. Then swap the Subaru's battery into the Rover, fire it up and............

......14.8 volts, so it wasn't the battery... Well what the Father Christmas is causing the issue then? I swapped the battery back into the Subaru started it again, checked the readings... Tried raising the revs to 2k Rpm..... No difference.

Then Mrs MDH appeared and enquired as to how things were going and asked if I was certain everything was off on the car and and if there maybe anything causing a load/resistance. So as not to cause offence I hoped into the car and demonstrated how everything was off, no lights no heater fan, no radio.... The only electrical things on were the door open warning light (because I had a door open) and the brake warning as the handbrake was on. 

For some reason I decided to take the hand brake off just to put the light out obviously it would make no difference...........

As I lowered the handle, the revs dipped and rose again? Seriously? I checked the multimeter...

What the hell! I put the handbrake back on and back down to 12.3 the volts sank. Take it back off again and 14.6!!

So err there may not have been an issue with the alternator at all but it does appear I have high resistance some were in the handbrake wiring circuit.... I was not expecting that.  I think I will ignore the issue and bypass it by avoiding using the handbrake for the moment.....