Outback '01 2.5 4eat VDC project

So couple years ago i bought myself my first subaru ever and after long time thinking took outback against forester. Didint had budget for newer one so went for some 2nd gen that i found

Top original, lower 2"" lift with BFG TA KO2 215/65 R16

It was 2001 subaru outback 2.5 4eat eith rear LSD and early VDC package. All weather with heated seats, windows, climate control.
It has rear self leveling shocks still ok condition so i left them just put 2" spacer on top. Not sure is it made car harder and less comfy but it can take load very well. But its not soft car to drive fast on bad roads
Then i cut front bumper and put steel skid plate just for engine. Diy it myself from steel sheet from scrapyard

 

[scalman]

that black legacy in my past pic said just uses outback struts front ad back nothing else. it should work as i see it . why not ? CV angles too high , at limit i think , and if you want to go more then put subframe spacers i guess. there is no reason not to make outback from legacy , they made it in factory with just subframe spacers and longer struts. so its same method and its should work i guess.
now im not sure what money i could get yet so still waiting ... maybe all i could affford will be another 2nd gen outback but with less rust and H6 3.0 engine. i wonder how that more power could feel. ? sure i will lift it and put on some good AT tires again . maybe even BFG again . put LPG again too. that half price fuel is no question deal.
so i will stay on subaru ... i know it allready and i know what to look on it and such ,and i will mod it again to hi lift jack too. put same roof rack on other car , lift , AT tires and those bumpers cant stay full too must be half bumpers ... or i will brake them otherwise... this time i will do some extra lights on roof rack i think , will see i have some ideas allready just depends what i can afford, but i dont want 2.5 engine anymore, want more power.

 

[ABFoz]

Nice. You won't be disappointment with a healthy and well-maintained EZ30.

 

[Kevin]

so i will stay on subaru

This is good news!

 

[ABFoz]

It is. We will see more of enthusiastic @scalman builds, photos and posts.

 

[scalman]

yh thanks all depends from money they could give me now ...tried automatic form and it gave me negative answer like they cant give this this loan ... what ??? will go on monday to bank ask whats problem there ?
all because im stupid and spend all my money have no savings ... well all those travels around country and such ... we live once anyway so might as well use it fully

 

[Kevin]

we live once anyway so might as well use it fully

 

[scalman]

^Yes, have a look at this video from MCM, @scalman. It's doable but you have to make sure to put in the Outback driveline and spacers to lift the legacy.

but what about just put outback struts with springs... i mean it will lift , maybe comber will go wrong but thats fixeable , so it wont have subframe spacers , means cv angles will be more stressed but not too extreme as it will lift just 2'' max with struts.. subframe spacers could be added later then no ?

I reckon that's got to be a must if you're converting a liberty.

but what if i first put just struts.. ? we lift outback with 2'' spacers its same as put 2'' longer struts and its still ok . why same thing then wont work on legacy ? just put 2'' longer struts . and subframe spacers just goes in rear , in front outback have like different arm holders or how they called , when i bought them they send me legacy ones and i looked how different they where . but what else in front then different outback from legacy ? there is nothing else there arm and link

that legacy's so what outback has different there in front ?
so found out this spacer that legacy dont have i guess , so is it all that different then ?

im just thinking is there anything like welded there on outback that cant be just bolted on legacy ? hmmm that outback spacer must have space to fitt in does it ?

again i looked what legacy lift kits are and they same as outbacks. can be 2'' even more in rear , like 2-1/2'' in rear and thats they saying for legacy , so spacers then no diff then outback ones, means instead spacers you could do outback struts. cost more sure but you will have more travel i presume as shock will be longer , spring longer .

so which is better ?

it looks now same height and just missing extra plastic fenders , but could look even better that way no ? im doing it for myself try to look how they can look lifted

 

[ABFoz]

If you will do the other spacers yourself, I would go with Outback struts so when you make the spacers, you will just focus on how much total lift you want for the vehicle.

 

[scalman]

now i see that is some problem to find here subarus on EZ30 , and about healthy and well maintained its another question , how could you know that. well they should had less problems then 2.5 engines to begin with so thats good.
found one legacy 3.0 says it has small coolant leak, and its water pump problem, not head gaskets... well if thats true then maybe its not so bad , just change water pump i could do that myself i guess. Really nothing much to choose from here localy, and couple other 3.0 models that was they gone so fast , someones bought them fast even for higher price.
about legacy lifting again i saw that black legacy lifted , man said that its not just on outback struts but its on 1'' spacers too.
it shows that line goes almost on rims center or even more higher. my outback with almost 6cm lift had only same line there.

i think that is lift allready enough if put there larger tires like 215/65 or maybe even 215/70 on R16 rim

normal 2004-2009 legacy vs normal same year outback vs legacy on outback struts alone vs lifted outback

 

[ABFoz]

When I buy vehicles, I usually just do visual checking and feeling the engine. If you have pre-purchase inspection from a Subaru mechanic there, it won't hurt as they usually do deep SSM scanning and pressure testing. They usually test the cooling system, oil and transmission system pressure with all the visual checking. If you feel the engine is performing fine, you can go ahead with it.

Regarding that water pump think on that EZ30 you're looking at, it can be tricky as that may mean there is neglect from the current owner. Engines with timing chain will have to replace their water pumps still and it is much cheaper than doing so with an engine with a timing belt. Maybe you can find something much more healthy? Cheers.

 

[scalman]

Well can be neglectic or can be no fixing this problem because MOT is ending in december so just wanna sell it because dont wanna spend money im not sure. Some people do that. Sure i need to drive it and feel it myself. Would be good to find better car but then other cars that are imported so they bought from someone in other country so you dont know stuff about that car at all there. It can be small problems still. It can drive fine too. Its just so small number of cars here that are 2004-2009 legacys or outback that would be 3.0 models. There are couple more but for too high price so thats no for me.
Its hard to find good new car that you want and without problems so i can go to some compromise here because i need found one in one month not longer.

and just wonder what reasons are that engine starts to leak coolant from pomp or from head gaskets... another car appeared for sell , cheap sure and owner saying coolant leaks a little via head gakets... how he knows its head gaskets for sure ? well maybe he knows but what causes those head gaskets on H6 engine to leak coolant , and why not oil but just coolant ? can i still drive such car for some time ? we still can drive those leaking head gaskets on H4 engines no problem.

 

[ABFoz]

Stay away from that H6 with that leaking head gasket. It's not supposed to have done that with proper maintenance.

When I was younger, I worked at a garage and I was in charge of... head gasket replacements and it can easily be said that any car can have such a problem if:

• The car is overheated, usually for quite a long time. In some cases people just pour cold water immediately upon being able to open the radiator
• Cylinders get so much wobble because of the open head-deck design - Newer cars are guilty of this.
• Composite head gaskets where used - 90's
• Bad cooling system design and metallurgy - 3VZ-FE
• Unsafe downshifting

I have worked on almost many engine types, even diesels. Older Hondas have really good engines but still, people manage to blow head gaskets. The thing is, they have good metallurgy so the heads don't warp that easily. The 3VZ-FE is a nightmare, though. Imagine having an engine from what is supposed to be the most reliable brand in the world and the engine just blows up head gaskets to the point that even the most experienced mechanics get in a state of shock when seeing one. Diesels have much higher compression in the pistons and replacing head gaskets is just more of a preventive or regular maintenance. That way they can go millions of kilometres. An unhealthy diesel head gasket usually blows more oil than usual. many people don't really care about replacement but it's truly just regular maintenance in higher kms.

That H6 may have been badly overheated. Look for something that has a healthier engine as the flat engine layout poses huge challenges to the mechanic, especially if he/she is not familiar with the design. Cheers.

 

[scalman]

Yh that car with bad head gaskets allready gone. Just one with kinda bad water pump remains . Somehow noone touching that and maybe because its dont have lpg on it.because its extra 1k euros to put lpg. Hmm maybe i should at least see that car.
Can you maybe point where water pump leakage should be vs head gaskets, i heard its some kind of special hole there where water pump if leaking runs out? Some pic would be perfect
Found some pic myself just that older gen h6 engine

Is it same place on newer h6 3.0 engines?

 

[ABFoz]

@scalman, I completely overlooked your post.

In that photo, the water pump is just at 4:00 of the crankshaft. There is a weep hole hole at the bottom of the cover for monitoring. Sometimes, the weep hole would collect/release more water than usual and that's the time to replace the water pump.

As far as I know, the water pump placement is the same with newer H6s. You can actually see the weep hole at the bottom and it goes right through the block.

The good thing about this engine is that the coolant is much more isolated than the ones in the EJs and that's why head gasket failures can only happen when the engine is overheated extensively. The failure/leak will still be at the head gasket area like in the EJ25s. Cheers.

One of the best tests to check the health of the engine including the head gaskets is to do a compression test. The compression figures/numbers will come from the manufacturer. Even if components are not blown, poor oil change or general engine maintenance can wear the components down if they are below the compression threshold, they will need a rebuild even if there are no signs of leaks. Cheers.

EDIT: Added the compression test suggestion.

 

[scalman]

Cool i will see to that.. person allready gave legacy to service to repair water pump. So now i will wait until it repairs it and then i wonder will that be good enough for fixing. Like in service theh should look and check all other stuff too there check and change like those bushings and such rubber rings . But car will cost more now after fixing understandable. He said like +600 more. Maybe thats not bad. I could fix that for less i think but he said leak was so bad that car couldnt drive 100km it would need reffil coolant.
Its sad that i dont have a choice from more cars. Some outbacks 3.0 2005-2009 here they asking over 4 or 5k , and this legacy would be some 2.4k .
I found that legacy is better looking for me without those extra fenders

And then make it black grill and black rims and its even more cool. Just instead lower it i would lift it

 

[scalman]

That legacy was not pump but head gaskets after all. So yh duno will owner will fix that or not. I think he dont want to. But if they checked pump its not much to change gaskets now from there. Instead owner lowered price more and put it for sell still.. guess hes not fixing it. Might be more problems after all is it? Like why those gaskets started to leak anyway.
Guess i need to look more cars. Hope something new will appear on 3.0
Duno why im so stuborn for that 3.0 auto, most people like manuals as they give more like dynamic drive , somehow i think that 3.0 must feel much better and maybe its really not

 

[Kevin]

That's disappointing! I think a 3.0 auto would be great off-road!

 

[scalman]

Hes still seeling it now for 1650 euros but now head gaskets need to be changed . He said in service they said job is from 700 .. from so it csn go higher. so hes not fixing car anymore will try sell it as that. I kinda not want it anymore i guess. I could find me some 2 5 manual outback but i want to try that 3.0 power.

Still that 1650 its tempting price when yoy think of it. Only if that would solve all problems. Even if repair would cost lets say 1k still car is for 2600 then and you wont find legacy 3.0 for that price here. But how to know if head gaskets solve all problems and then car will be fine and run for long time.

 

[ABFoz]

That's disappointing. To be able to ruin the head gasket of an EZ30, it must have been unmaintained to a nasty degree. I would walk away. Unless they can do a stellar job, they may not be able to bring the integrity of the heads back.

I can see why you want the 3.0 auto. That VTD centre diff is delightful to use on- and off-road.

 

[scalman]

Yes and power. And 5 speed auto instead 4eat , how much fuel i will save go on highways and maybe going faster. Thinking of keeping sway bars this time even with lift. I will make extension plates if needed but i think i will keep sway bars or makes it somehow fast disconect on them. As i drive much on good roads would be nice kinda have good street car as well.
Yes im not looking at that legacy anymore. Too much work and too long i want drive car the day i bought it.

about that bad head gasket legacy again ... what if its only head gaskets and it would be fine ... go for long time and such ... like what if for sure ? just change those with some other rubbers and such and call it a day and then enjoy amazing 3.0 car... what if is not all so complicated.'
ok this car is from person who used it . other cars are imported and you dont know like anything about them until you buy them and drive them.. what is better then .. you cant be sure cant you ?