STI powered FXT

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Background: I bought my 2009 Forester XT Limited in December 2014. July 4th 2015 I was heading to BC on HWY1 and it spun #4 bearing in Kaninaskis Country. $712 to get it towed to Calgary, then got it to Kipp Scott Subaru who pulled it for diagnosis.. pretty bad. Oil pump cavitated and starved the bearings.

I've been posting updates on this build since the 22nd of July on Subaru forums, forgot about dear old Beyond :P I come here to bitch about TWD

July 22nd post:
Today I have ordered an EJ257 shortblock and the whole timing belt system, all the oil parts, and W25 heads with a 2011 STI intake.. next stop, VF48 & STI TMIC

July 27th post:
Yep, another 09 dies from bad bearings. Seems to be a very common failure point in the 09 FXT, 08/09 WRX & STI. I've owned it for 7 months, and its my first Subaru..

Here's half the bearing:


I bought an OEM EJ257 short block from Heuberger Subaru. Hoping for a later model unit. Also everything to replace the oiling & timing systems is coming, gaskets & bolts.
Sourced complete W25 heads (cams, buckets, valves etc) & intake manifold (TGV, injectors, harness, throttle, etc) off a crashed 2011 STI with 15,000 miles.

I gave consideration to a VF52 swap, but would do a bigger IC and needs protune anyway, I may as well put the money towards the STI parts and have the full swap. In the long run it wouldnt save me much.

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August 4th post:
Most of the parts are here.. the last two pieces of the puzzle were sourced on the weekend. 2014 take off





Still waiting on water pump, oil pan, BOV (seems FXT ones too small) and cam seals.. have the AVCS delete figured out for the exhuast cams, and timing figured out Also grabbed a Walbro 225lph pump. Should be a pretty decent upgrade over stock
Airboy in Calgary will be doing the break in tune, and dynoing it when she's ready.

August 10th post:
So is anyones following this or interested..

TMIC & VF48 are take offs from a 2014. Got some stuff coming but should be here today or tomorrow.


Spent the weekend cleaning the heads & cams. Need a hone in the cam bearings on the right, bit tight, so off the machinists today for that.
Needed to lap the TGV's, mating surface got damaged in transit. Changed the injector seals while I was at it, and new TGV gaskets obviously. Shaved ~0.25mm off the surfaces.
Hot tanked the valve covers too, but thats not too exciting.
Did the re-indexing on the exhaust sprockets, cleaned the AVCS gears.


Seems the oil cooler isnt stock on an 09 FXT; ordered all the parts I needed to install the OEM oil cooler this morning. Getting sick of not having my car so I'm not holding up engine building for that, will temp fit with the filter direct fit connector.

I've also engaged a tuner for a break in map to suit a local guy, it'll go on his dyno once its broken in

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August 13th post:
Tonight we're assembling the long block. Still waiting on all the ancillaries to install the oil cooler, and the bypass valve.. but we're going to assemble everything that we do have, block any holes, and use the coolerless filter mount until the rest arrives.
HOPEFULLY aside from that we have everything we need to get this project finished. I'd like to see the engine mounted in the car by this weekend.

On a side note my tuner (Airboy Tuning | [email protected]) sent the break in map to get the 257 running in the SH yesterday, so its loaded into the AP and ready to install.

Ah and if anyone is wondering about the dual AVCS into a single AVCS this.. We're using the Forester cam gears on the STI exhaust cams. 4x 10/32" thread locked and RTV'd set screws will be blocking the oil ports on the cams themselves. D-AVCS exhaust cams arent set the same as non-AVCS, so we're turning back the cams 2 notch counter-clockwise to get the correct -53* on the exhaust cams. The exhaust AVCS solenoid stays in place, disconnected, as does the cam angle sensor. That was the cam gets the oiling it needs, and there's no leaks
My tuners "zero'd out" the exhaust AVCS section of the map.

August 17th post:
Went at it pretty hard all weekend.. had help from a buddy Friday night & Saturday afternoon.

So this is how it started Friday night. A brand new bare 705 casting EJ257 short block


Then we stopped for dinner once the the oil pan, baffle, pickup & oil pump were installed.


Blurry cell photo, sorry guys.. W25 heads from a 2011 STI wreck. 25,000km on these.


By 11:30 we had one head on and torqued to spec (OEM gasket, new head bolts), cams loaded in, and called it quits for Friday night.



Saturday afternoon we installed the other head, popped on new timing gear, water pump, mounted everything up. Here we're timing the cams with a big socket :P


By 7 Saturday night it was timed, coolant crossover installed and I was trying to figure out how to fix the clearance issue with the secondary air pump.. (fixed it by making blanking plates and removing it)


This is where it was left at on Saturday night.


Sunday was a pretty big day.. deleted the secondary air pump system, got the crossover pipes done, TGV, injectors, rails, manifold, DBW, wiring, mounting brackets all done. IC mocked into place


Got the up pipe installed, cooling & oiling installed.. couldnt mount the turbo, engine stands in the way. Couldnt do engine mounts either, same issue.



Tip 1: STI coolant crossover pipe is NOT the same as the "Legacy style" XT & WRX. Either you'll be doing some fab work like I did, or save the heart ache and buy the right one.
Tip 2: Do a secondary air pump delete. Just do it. Get your tuner to kill the CEL's for it.
Tip 3: You'll need the XT upper throttle coolant hose.
Tip 4: 09 XT dont come with an oil cooler, order the parts to fit one so you're not waiting around for more damned parts.

So far so good..

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August 20th post:
OK so its off the stand now.. fabbed up a lifting bracket for the front from 1/4" stainless RHS. Attached the exhaust, turbo, engine mounts & flex plate then ran out of steam.
Tonight, hopefully, we install the engine, install the break in map, and I can finally drive it again! Breaking in with Rotella T Triple 15W40 if anyones interested.




More Tips..
Tip 5: STI top coolant tank is not the same as XT/WRX, pipes are in different places and the mounts dont line up. STI PN (21132AA140).
Tip 6: XT turbo top oil feed doesnt line up, you'll need to bend it to get it to mate up. Or buy the STI one.
Tip 7: The Subaru master gasket set doesnt include either of the up pipe or the down pipe gaskets.
Tip 8: XT heat shield doesnt fit without being cut in the front. TBH I think you're better off buying an aftermarket one.

August 21st post:
Yeah its all installed and running ! Sunny @ Airboy got me a break in map, started first turn of the key and zero CEL, running pretty nice.
Did a 20km break in run and dumped some slurry looking oil



But no swaps without issues.. there's a gas line leak, which I believes under the turbo intake. Solenoid seal on one of the AVCS spools is leaking oil. Also need new up pipe gaskets.

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August 24th post:
Monday morning update!



- Fabricated bracket for alternator cover & coolant tank
- Replaced two suspect EFI hoses, leaks resolved
- AVCS spool had a hairline crack at the solenoid, bottom left one. Fitted spool from old heads, leaks resolved
- Secondary air blocking plate leaked on the right head.. fabricated a new one, leaks resolved
- Cam angle sensor on Bank 1 started acting up, replaced that and its resolved

To Do List:
- Replace OEM heatshield. A custom one is being made
- Intercooler duct needs modifying to fit STI IC
- Gas pump needs upgrading
- Still waiting on parts for the oil cooler

August 24th post #2:

Heat shield is done ! I'm super stoked on this

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August 27th post:

So last night I buttoned up a few outstanding bits
- Installed an oil cooler. FXT dont come with them stock? New STI unit
- New thermo-stat, gasket & housing
- New collector to up pipe, up pipe to turbo, turbo to DP & DP to cat-back gaskets
- Custom turbo heat shield installed, needed custom bracket work
- Replaced the AC & PS/alt belts. We'd temped in the old ones but they were beat, nice to start without a squeel this morning

Basically all thats left is fitting the Walbro 255lph. I'm getting a buddy to fab a scoop to IC duct from fibreglass.

Then its just waiting around for a delivery on the brakes ;D Fitting Centric premium blanks, Centric ceramic pads & Goodridge SS braided lines.

[KRyn]

What did your stock short block cost you?
There are a lot of good companies building short blocks that use quality parts that don't cost much more than an OEM units and can handle a lot more power (although the dollar likely makes them more expensive right now).

Are Killer-B oil pickups still required or has Subaru finally fixed this issue?

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$2500 Canadian for the OEM short block out of Colorado. I want reliable daily driver, and I'm not real sure how happy forged pistons are at -30.
You can still get Killer B products, I went with OEM. Old one has 5 years & 123,000 on it and its not cracked.

[KRyn]

Originally posted by Tezzating
$2500 Canadian for the OEM short block out of Colorado. I want reliable daily driver, and I'm not real sure how happy forged pistons are at -30.
You can still get Killer B products, I went with OEM. Old one has 5 years & 123,000 on it and its not cracked.

I swear mine made funny sounds until they warmed up, even then I always thought my engine was about to explode.

Wow, that is really affordable. I will never trust another OEM EJ257 after all the people I know that have spun bearings or had ring land failures.

Your XT must be a blast to drive. Looking forward to updates after break in. Hope you get those rings to seat tight and your engine doesn't burn much oil!

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I looked at a tonne of options.. rebuilt, used, rebuilding my 255 with forged, a Crawford "street" short block, ended up being cheaper to just buy W25 heads & the OEM block option.
The only parts I used off the old engine were the ex. cam gears, an AVCS solenoid, cam & crank angle sensors, temp sensor & coolant crossover.

Did a 20km oil change the night we got it running, the 500km oil change Wednesday, in 1500km its switching to synthetic then in for tune. Doing my best to seat these piston rings and break it in properly!

Its a lot of fun to drive and a real sleeper. Stock exhaust is whisper quiet, and its debadged. Only thing that gives the game away is the scoop

[heavyD]

Nice write-up. The EJ527's is an engine designed for a good time not a long time but one bonus is that new short blocks are really cheap compared to short blocks of comparable engines.

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Well my EJ255 was in my possession for 7 months before dying.. I hope this one lasts a bit longer than that. 5 years would be just fine with me

I just noticed I botched the title of this thread, should be STI powered FXT

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Brake upgrade time! I can't afford Brembo, Willwood or Endless in a kit. STI Brembo's would need custom 5x100 rotors, brackets & handbrake change. '06 STI direct fit with 5x100 but would need a rebuild for sure. Plus its a DD
So Centric Premium coated rotors, PosiStop ceramic pads & Goodridge SS lines it is

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Installed the fuel pump 2 weekends ago. Its a "Racers Edge" Walbro clone which I snagged off a buddy for $50 BNIB. I followed these instructions http://www.iwsti.com/forums/diy-mods...i-wrx-lgt.html which lead to long cranks, failures to start & excessively noisey priming, so out it came again last weekend and here's my additions to that post.

First, the correct sized O-ring is a Viton 203 (5/16 x 9/16 x 1/8) and you'll want two. I got mine from Fluid Power in Edmonton.
Secondly, you need to modify the pump & housing more than they show in that thread for a good fit.
Thirdly, yes a 341 will fit and using the OEM sock. Just keep the sock out of the way of the pickup line while re-assembling.




Off to Airboy on Monday for dyno tune.. plots to come

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Nice Foz, on its way to being a FSTI! This is why I avoided subaru for so long haha, super fun if you like wrenching on your own car but I work on them every day for a living so I was excited to see the new FA20 in my generation.

Can we get a video clip of it once its tuned and good to go? Is it really quiet compared to a STI?

[Ca_Silvia13]

Very cool build. I definitely want to see some actual car pics!

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Thanks Mods for changing the title for a start

@AE92_TreunoSC - The compressor noise from the VF48 is pretty loud with a bellmouth DP, but the exhaust and intake are pretty quiet. I can definitely live with it daily working on getting a video put together this weekend!

@Ca_Silvia13 - Posted some pix below. It looks pretty stock and sedate


Its fully broken in and I went to see Sunny @ Airboy to get this tuned yesterday!
Still running the stock exhaust, air intake & 4EAT with Shell 91 & 17.5PSI target boost. I dont want to re-live the blown engine experience again.




Here's some pix of the car, it's a good sleeper

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Whoops been ignoring you guys.. let me get some updates up here.
If anyones interested I can post a full break down, but the short & skinny of it is to build this EJ257, getting it into the FXT running, broken in and tuned @ Airboy $8208.93.

Here's a video of the brake upgrade. Very substantial over stock which frankly I found scary..
I used regular DOT3 fluid, approx. 800ml to bleed the MC, ABS & all 6 slave cylinders. I went with DOT3 for its performance in winter.. this aint a track car, I need to stop at -30 :P



Long Story Short; erratic wiring fault fixed
1. Grounding harness to intake manifold fixed P1572, P1578, bad idle, flaky cruise control & immobilizer
2. Fuse 33 is important. Without it you get P0600 & P0700
3. Accessport cant clear TCU so P0700 keeps coming back
4. Autel MaxiScan can clear TCU so goodbye P0700

Also installed a PAC SNI-1 to get rid of a whistle in the stereo, now I only have turbo whistle :P

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Did some other bits.. just window dressing now

STI Gauges:




STI multi-function display:


License plate delete


Custom alt. cover



Gauges from '13 STI, MFD as well. Immobilizer needs programming @ dealership to make car start with new gauges as part of the immob. lives inside the cluster.
iData ADS (remote start bypass) needed replacing & new key clone as immob. code changed.
MFD needed changing 'cos XT one wouldnt "talk" to STI gauges, avg. MPG & outside temp didnt work.

Alt. cover was $21 & plates $14 @ Lasermann Cuts in RD

[pf0sh0]

This is sweet