1st project completed :o)

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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millarg
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Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:06 pm
Location: St Thomas VI

1st project completed :o)

Post by millarg »

Replaced valve cover and plug tube gaskets/seals ($40 Amazon), new plugs (E3.64, $6 each Amazon) new NGK leads ($45 Amazon), fram filter & Valvoline max life 5W30. On my, new to me, 70k 03 sport auto.

Removed air intake, washer bottle (had to install a new washer pump anyways -$13 eBay), plus battery, all as per you-tube suggested method, also placed on jacks and removed front wheels (wanted to clean wheels,power wash wells and adjust tie rods to straighten off centre steering wheel). Having on jacks definitely made removing (and replacing) the bottom valve cover bolts easier (particularly the drivers aft one).

Turns out I had oil in all of the plug tubes, thought it was just one, (blew oil out with air before removing old plugs, then pushed rags down to soak up what was left.

All looked good under covers, little oil patina, noticed that there appeared to be more heat on the front of each cover as there was a little flaky oil residue there. Amazed by how flat and hard the tube seals were.

The champion plugs I removed were pretty worn out looking and the oil looked slightly milky and reddish (hoping this doesn't mean water! - I'll keep a close eye on it).

i'd cleaned the engine with degreaser, so went for a nice long drive to smoke it off. She definitely felt more peppy (I had been underwhelmed previously) and hoping to see an improvement in mpg from the 16 I got from my first tank of gas. I have removed roof-rack crossbars also (good for 1mpg?) - planning on making a way to fix them to the bed or extender - so I have when needed - which will be fairly often).

Didn't manage to adjust tie rods - they had been tightened by a gorilla on steroids!

Next up will be a mild lift, 1 1/4 inch (2@5/8 spacers). Plus I need to remove and repair rear bumper and running board side trim (think the front bumper is beyond repair and will have to be replaced - clearly the previous owner had difficulty with depth perception). Considering painting the side and rear a slightly darker to give a little lift to the all silver paint scheme - anyone done this?

Anyways, thought I'd share. Hope all had a great weekend.
2003 Silver Baja Sport AT
1978 Porsche 911 SC
2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab V6 manual
1999 Kawasaki KLR 650
tomato_88
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Re: 1st project completed :o)

Post by tomato_88 »

Cool. Pictures?
thenewrick
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Re: 1st project completed :o)

Post by thenewrick »

I'm going to do a lot of similar maintenance soon as well but I'm at 153k miles. I bet it's going to be nasty in there.
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millarg
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Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:06 pm
Location: St Thomas VI

Re: 1st project completed :o)

Post by millarg »

Sorry no pics, had intended to, then got into things and forgot.

Core job was simple and fairly quick, estimate 1 1/2 hrs, all of the extra cleaning I did took me up to about 4hrs total.

Anyone know what the original 03 spark plugs were (wondering if the champions were original), I had two number 4 wires, so have to assume these have been messed with in the past.
2003 Silver Baja Sport AT
1978 Porsche 911 SC
2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab V6 manual
1999 Kawasaki KLR 650
tomato_88
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Posts: 185
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:42 pm

Re: 1st project completed :o)

Post by tomato_88 »

Should have been NGK plugs.
Mark
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Re: 1st project completed :o)

Post by Mark »

Fram filter? Horrible! Anything but Fram man,damn.
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