Category Archives: AWD

AWD, Ej20, EJ25, EJ257, Intake, STi, Turbo, WRX

Intake manifold bolts loose on a Subaru STi:

Video

Intake manifold bolts loose on a Subaru STi:

Don’t forget to tighten down your intake manifold bolts down to the correct torque values.

Intake manifold Subaru STi: Make sure to tighten down the bolts.

 

Otherwise you’ll end up with a broken sounding engine like this:

Luckily forgetting to tighten down the intake manifold bolts didn’t cause any permanent damage, but I wouldn’t go driving around like this either.

If you do TGV deletes like in this post. Make sure to use new intake gaskets where the TGV’s and the intake manifold meet up. What’s even more important is to make sure you tighten down those intake manifold bolts that hold the intake manifold to the TGV’s.

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AWD, Drivetrain, Impreza, Subaru, Tuning, WRX

Stainless Steel Brake Lines install 02-07 WRX/STi:

Stainless Steel Brake Lines install 02-07 WRX/STi:

This is a step by step guide on installing stainless steel brake lines on your 02-07 WRX/STi.

1.) Get the car safely in the air and remove the wheels.

Stainless Steel Brake Lines: Get the front of your Subaru Impreza up on jack stands.

2.) Start with the front wheel. First thing to do is clean all the fittings that will be loosened to prevent dirt from getting in the stainless steel brake lines. Use compressed air then some brake cleaner to do the job.

3.)Then, remove the 12mm bolt holding the line to the strut.

Stainless Steel Brake Line: Remove the 12mm bolt holding the line to the strut.
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AWD, STi, Subaru, Suspension, USDM

ALK (Anti-Lift Kit) install on 02-07 Subaru WRX/STi:

ALK (Anti-Lift Kit)install on 02-07 Subaru WRX/STi:

This is a step by step guide on how to install a Anti-Lift Kit (ALK) onto a 02-07 WRX/STi. These ALK (Anti-Lift Kits) are designed to be used with the STi’s aluminum control arms.

1.) First unpackage your Anti-Lift Kit (ALK) it’ll look something like this.

Anti-Lift Kit (ALK): This is all the components you’ll get with this kit.

2.)  Get your tools ready and mount the car up properly on jack stands to prevent the car falling down on you. Get as much clearance as you can as you’ll need a lot of room to work with.

Anti-Lift Kit (ALK): Get the front of your STi up on jack stands.

3.) Make sure you have a decent breaker bar. I’ve destroyed a breaker bar doing this before. Do not use a 3/8 inch drive. Use a 1/2 inch drive so you don’t break a breaker bar and a socket.

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AWD, EJ257, STi, Subaru, Suspension

Sway bar (front) and endlinks install on GD STi:

Front sway bar and endlinks install on 02-07 STi:

This is a step by step guide in installing a front sway bar with aftermarket endlinks on a 04-07 Subaru STi.

1.) Get the car in the air and be sure to secure the car. I used jack stands in the cutouts on the side of the car’s lower frame. It may be easier to use ramps since you will need to tighten the sway bar mounting bolts when the suspension is “loaded,” that is when the full weight of the car is on the wheels/tires.

2.) Remove the front lower cover (splash guard). There are five bolts that require a 12 mm socket, three in the front and two toward the rear. There are two pop fasteners on each side as well. These can be removed by using a small flat bladed screwdriver to pop up the center round plastic piece about a quarter of an inch then pulling/wriggling out the entire fastener.

3.) Remove the jack plate. There are four bolts in the center area to remove and two nuts on each side.

Front sway bar and endlinks: Remove splash guard and skid plate.

4.) The sub-frame is an odd looking, approximately C shaped, bracket under the front part of the car. The opening of the C is toward the rear of the car. It helps to remove this to make it easier to get to the bolts that hold the sway bar onto the frame.

The sub-frame has five bolts on each leg of the C and two toward the front of the car. The two rearmost bolts require a 14mm socket, the other three on each side require a 17mm socket and the two on the front require a 12mm socket. Start by removing a plastic cover on each side that is held in place by two pop fasteners.

Front sway bar and endlinks install on 02-07 STi: The sub-frame is an odd looking, approximately C shaped, bracket under the front part of the car. The opening of the C is toward the rear of the car. It helps to remove this to make it easier to get to the bolts that hold the sway bar onto the frame.

5.) Remove another pop fastener on each side of the sub-frame.

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AWD, STi, Subaru, Suspension, TMIC, Tuning, WRX

Strut Tower Brace front install WRX/STi

Strut tower front brace install WRX/STi:

This strut tower brace guide should work on both 04 and 05’s just fine (mine is an 05). I’m not sure about the 06s’ since they relocated the AC line and it looks like Whiteline makes the only strut bar that will work on an 06. A little bit of modification with the 06+ model cars might be necessary. These are also specific to the JDM Spec-C Titanium Strut Bar but should work as a general guide for any strut bar on an STi.

1.) Remove alarm horn bar from passenger strut tower bolts which are 12mm. Disconnect the horn and put it aside for now. We’ll screw the horn into the side of the strut tower once we’ve installed the strut bar.

Strut tower brace: Removing the alarm horn bracket. Some models did not come with the alarm horn option so you do not need to do this.

2.)Lower the AC line bracket down a screw. This is the AC Bracket you need to unscrew (use a philips head screw driver or 10mm ratchet). You’ll need to remove the bolt that connects the AC line to the bracket and also the bracket where it connects to the firewall. Remount the bracket down a screw by mounting the upper hole where the bottom screw hole on the firewall is. The bracket is the copper colored metal piece.

Strut Tower Brace: Remove the copper bracket off of it’s mount on the firewall.

3.) Install Strut Bar.

First remove the bolts holding the struts to the strut walls. Bolts are 12mm. They should come off pretty easily since they are only torqued down to 14.5ft-lbs.

I found it was easiest to unscrew the strut bar into 3 pieces, the 2 parts that connect to the strut tower and then the actual bar itself (bolts/screws are 12mm). I put the round strut tower parts on first and loosely bolted them down. Then I placed the strut bar on top and loosely screwed down the strut bar to the strut tower connection pieces.

Strut tower brace: Passenger side strut bar end installed.
Strut Tower Brace: Driver’s side strut bar end installed.
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AWD, EJ257, STi, Subaru, USDM

Brembo Caliper Rebuild Subaru STi:

Brembo Caliper Rebuild Subaru STi:

A step by step guide to rebuilding a Brembo caliper with rebuild kits. This guide includes separating the calipers as well if you want to go that route:

1.) If you have not yet removed calipers from the car remove them, I cleaned mine prior to starting. You will need to disconnect the brake lines and unbolt them from the hub. Also remove the pads, to remove the pads there are 2 pull pin clips thru a set of long pins. The pins hold the pad and metal bracket in place. Remove the 2 pull pins and slide out the 2 longer pins and everything will fall out. Keep in mind there are small plates on the back sides of the brake pads where the pistons hit the pad, these can be easily lost and are marked with arrows for direction.

2.) You then need to split the calipers apart, to do this I used a impact wrench but if you have some good strength it is possible to break the bolts. Pretty sure the bolts on the front are a 13mm and the rears use a allen wrench style bolt which i believe is a size 6.

Brembo Caliper: Separating the Brembo Calipers and getting ready for the rebuild.

3.) You will want to pop the pistons out. In order to do this I used, for the rear a inch by 5 inch block of wood, for the front you will need a little thicker of a block. Place the block where the rotor would sit so that the piston doesn’t shoot out and kill someone. (trust me these things will FLY) After doing this i made sure my bolts were very lightly tightened into place, I did this because if you leave the gap the pistons will put force in the way of least resistance which basically means its going to shoot the caliper apart and split it which could cause some pain.

Brembo Caliper: Pistons pushed out of the caliper.

4.)  After splitting the calipers and popping the pistons I removed the rubber seal between the 2 pieces as it is small and could very easily be lost. Don’t remove the o-ring prior to step 3 or step 3 is pretty much impossible.

Brembo Caliper: O-Ring removed.
Brembo Caliper: O-ring location in a brembo caliper.
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AWD, STi, Subaru, Suspension, USDM, WRX

Rear Differential Bushings install Subaru WRX/STi

Rear Differential Bushings install Subaru WRX/STi:

This rear differential bushing install process took all of about an hour and a half. What you will need is:

Rear Diff Bushings:

Whiteline KDT905 Rear Differential Support Bushing

Whiteline W92835 Rear Differential Mount Bushing

 

I used a 3/8″ drive set
17mm Medium Depth socket
17mm Open ended Wrench
Swivel For socket (optional) i didnt need this
Torque Wrench (specs for all of these nuts and bolts are 51.6ft lbs)
Couple of screwdrivers or Pry bars ( i prefer Prybars)
C-clamp
Hammer (optional)
Transmission lift (to hold up the rear diff when the bolts are out, you will also need this to lower the diff down to get the outside bolts over the rear axles)

1.)
Get the vehicle in the air some how, this is easiest if you have access to a garage with a lift. Which i did that only costs about $2.00 an hour. Once its on the lift go ahead and locate the area with the bolts and make sure you unplug the rear diff sensor and ground.

2.)
Unbolt the two outer nuts, you will notice that the bolt goes in from the axle side. Make sure to put them back the same way.

3.)

Now that the outside bolts are out, what you need to do it take the nuts that you have taken off from the outside and thread them over the two inner bolts that hold on the rear diff. What this does is make it able for you to take out the bolt that is directly screwed into the diff. Make sure you thread it all the way, and once they are tight, using your open ended wrench start to back off the inner nut, and it might turn a little bit without the whole thing moving but thats ok, a few turns and the whole thing will break free. ( be carefull for the rear diff sensor)

4.)
Once you get the two studs holding the rear differential in place you should be able to let down your transmission stand a little bit to move the axles out of the way and pull the studs out of the outside two bushings.

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AWD, STi, Subaru, Transmission, USDM, WRX

Short Shifter Install on 04-07/08-11+ Subaru STi:

Short Shifter Install on 04-07 Subaru STi:

A step by step guide on installing a short shifter for a 04-07 Subaru STi and 08-11+ Subaru STi/Legacy.

OEM Short shifter: Installed and ready to go.

Tools needed:
10, 12, 14, 17mm wrenches
Jack Stands
Jack
Needle nose pliers

Short Shifters used:

Subaru OEM Short Shifter 04-07 STi:

Genuine Subaru STI Short Throw Shifter – 6MT

Subaru OEM Short Shifter 08-11 STi, WRX, Legacy:

Genuine Subaru C1010AG001 STI Short Throw Shifter

 

Step 1: Once the car is up on jack stands / a lift, you want to support the transmission and remove the rear cross member. You will need to remove it later anyway, it also makes it much easier to work without it in the way. I used a bottle jack and block of wood to support the tranny, but im sure a transmission jack would work much better if you have one.
This picture shows the cross member removed.

Short shifter: This picture shows the cross member removed.

Step 2: Once the cross member is unbolted you will need to unplug the 02 sensor, and unclip its harness from the cross member. It is held by two plastic clips that can be pushed out of the holes in the member without much trouble.

Short Shifter: O2 sensor is held by two plastic clips that can be pushed out of the holes in the member without much trouble.

Step 3: Remove the bolt from the lower rod, I believe it is a 14mm. The nut on the other side is attached to the bracket, so you don’t need a wrench on it. I found that ratcheting wrenches work best for most of these bolts.
The bolt that needs to be removed is the one going through the rubber bushing shown in the upper right of this picture.

Short Shifter: The bolt that needs to be removed is the one going through the rubber bushing shown in the upper right of this picture.

Step 4: Now you can disconnect the reverse lockout cable. It is held in with a pin that can be pulled out with a pair of pliers. I stuck an Allen wrench through the cam as shown in the Cobb short shifter install when I removed it just in case. There is a washer on the lockout cable that may be stuck in the grease, you will want to take it off and set it aside so it doesn’t get lost. The lockout cable can be seen on the left side of the picture above. You can now move the lower rod down, and move the lockout cable out of the way.

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