Tomas.

I found a used steering rack out of an STI Impreza that will be a direct swap. It has low kms on it which is nice. The only way I am getting a "new" or reman rack is if I order directly from Japan as it is a right hand drive vehicle. Prices and shipping on those things are outrageous. One of the benefits to putting this STI rack in is it is a tighter steering ratio. Another benefit is that I will have a rack in it and I can trying putting the seals in her old one. I already have the seals and they were $50. But that way I won't be stressed out worrying about getting her car back on the road as soon as possible.

I hope I am at least a little mechanically inclined lol. My dad owned a transmission shop for the first 2/3rds of my life. Unfortunately most of those years I was too young and stupid so I didn't learn 90% of what I should have but I did learn quite a bit. He also didn't really want me to take over because he saw where the trade was headed and wanted better for me. So I really showed him by moving out west and getting my millwright ticket! Lmao. Unfortunately even though I am a millwright, I am in a shitty situation. I got my ticket through a company I still work for that doesn't really let me do millwright work. I do general plant maintenance for a steel fab shop. I was able to get my ticket because for the first time in my life, I did really well in school as well as because of my upbringing I had a solid mechanical background. Last Saturday I did oil change, spark plugs, fuel filter, timing belt and water pump on this thing. Air box and washer fluid has to be pulled to do the plugs and rad has to be pulled to do the timing lol. Fucking Subarus lol. My wife drove an 05 escape V6 before this and the alternator went. I called around to two shops and the dealer and they all quoted me $1400. I said fuck that and did it myself. The alternator was $200 and they were qouting $1200 in labour because you had to drop the subframe on the left side to access the alternator. Fucking Ford lol. She has been keeping it topped up for a few months while the weather got nice. I have a garage that I can work in but it is nice not to have the car dripping on my face because it is covered in snow lol. My buddy used to have a 08 A4 with no dipstick. Computer said his oil level was 100%. Reality was it wasn't anywhere close to full and took it the timing chain out of it which destroyed the rest of the engine. So wreaking yard engine went in. What is nice about the '97 WRX I drive is even though it is a manual, Subaru back then thought it was a good idea to put a dipstick on them.

Found a guy selling a complete rack out of a 2001 STI with 76,000 kms for $300. I may go pick it up.

That makes it look not too bad

What is people's opinion of using a stop leak for now till I can find a rack? Will it ruin all the other seals and I will be replacing the whole system?

I am not one to shy away from working on my own stuff. Last weekend I did a timing belt and water pump on the Forester.

I would much rather put a new rack in. Unfortunately this is pretty much the only part on this entire vehicle that isn't a straight swap from JDM to usdm. I have found that 2002-2004 WRX/STI Impreza racks are a direct swap with the added bonus of a tighter steering ratio. I am hoping that someone has one of those available. I know in theory that it should be just simple oil seals but here is the "by the book way" of doing it.

Ugh, reading the manual and all the special tools required makes me want to abort mission lol.

A service manual was a good idea. Unfortunately it lists all kinds of special tools that I don't have at all lmao. I called a local shop that specializes in steering racks and they said they don't do small stuff very often and it would probably cost to much to get them to look at it. Yup, on the ground. I will be pulling the whole rack out and working off a table though.

So I am going to pull the steering rack out of my other half's 2004 Forester on Friday. It is leaking from the top where the input shaft is. I have a seal kit and I am probably going to attempt to change the seals. Has anyone ever done this before? I cannot find any info online for this particular job.

Japanese domestic market cars ftmfw!!

Was a fantastic time. Wish I could do it more often.

Well I am back home from the mountains. Here is some pictures from yesterday. Managed to clip a tree branch which broke my windshield and brake line. Made for an interesting 30km ride back to the truck lol. Side note, if anyone has or knows someone with a chrome windshield off of an 08 Dragon they are looking to sell, let me know lol

McBride BC

Beautiful day for a walk. The beavers are hard at work

Doing very well, thank you!

Just got back in from a walk.

https://www.freedomsledder.com/index.php?/topic/37337-is-mainecat-a-piece-of-shit/

I recently installed grips and what worked good was spraying the inside of the grip with a little brake clean then quickly sliding them on. Had enough lubrication to make installation easy then quickly dried and left no residue while also helping the rubber adhere to the element. Also for my 08 switchback, I went to the dealer for an element. They tried to sell me a universal kit for $100. I gave them the factory part number for the element and they had a couple in stock for $40. Came with the factory plug an everything. Didn't have to fuck around to change my stuff to accommodate the universal kit plug ends.

Well that sucks, I got twofiddy lmao edit: that is Canadian rubles as well lol.