Just passing time during the end of holidays so thought I would look around and found this Subaru group. Am curious about the "care" with which people approach their "pets" here! So thought some might be interested in my experience with an older hard working Subaru which has definitely not been "babied" and has proven to be a very strong and reliable workhorse.
My1992 fleet work general staff use runabout. Company bought it 1995 at 66k mainly for its awd/4wd capabilities to service rural contracts. Some off road and much gravel use. Equipped for towing (extra transmission cooler fitted). Motor standard EJ20T except took out the cat and fitted a freeflow manifold without the exhaust manifold restrictor. Also removed the feedback restrictor on the turbo. (Looked at chipping the ECU but was not successful as was told it already has the factory twin chip ECU fitted) Has the 4EAT gearbox user selectable option with the management chip which auto-selects whichever gear keeps it nearest to 7000rpm for peak peformance which does get used on secondary roads. (Supposed to be 240HP). IOW its been hammered at times. Changed belts at 100K and 200K. Oil and filter every 12.5K. Semi-synthetic.Spark plugs done at 200K and 400K. From 200K we decided to run it into the ground due no commercial value but it never died. No service work from 200K to 400K (except oil + filter) Does not use any oil between changes. Now at 400K and still no apparent loss of performance. Never failed a 6-monthly warrant of fitness. Expected the belt to snap and destroy the motor but hasn't happened yet. Things we did: Relocated then replaced knock sensor at 250K with a static resistor due false codes issue (probably over sensitive sensor due motor getting noisy with age). Slight chatter on 91 fuel when knock sensor removed but goes good on 95. Someone tried a turbo booster at 210K out of curiosity. Generated too much power for general street driving (could spin the wheels from 70kph on winter gravel) and snapped 2x flexiplate in a neat circle around the crankshaft bolts. I felt it was dangerous temptation for general staff road use so made them restore it. Had a period of several years where the battery would randomly go flat overnight or if running the wipers at night with the headlights on. Tests indcated leakage was only 30mA so no explanation was ever found. Changed the alternator and batteries a few times but did not fix the random nature of the problem. The boys just got used to jump-starting it those mornings. Started missing under load and extreme acceleration so had a service recently (400K) where they replaced 3 faulty ignition coils and gave it a new set of spark plugs which fixed the miss. They also replaced the starter motor as it was sticking and sometimes had to wait a few minutes to attempt a restart. Starts good again and never had a flat battery since. Looks like the random flat battery issue was also something to do with the sticky starter motor. On a recent run across the plains averaged 9.3L/100km but typically
10L/100km hill country.Have other fleet vehicles of all models and ages to compare it with including a 1996 twin turbo Legacy GT @ 130K which is supposedly rated at
280HP. The 1992 single turbo leaves it behind in terms of performance. Must have a look at the 1996 to see why it is so poor but its also in use every day. Its returning 10L/100km on the plains. Not good. The book says 8.3L/100Km so it must have a problem.We probably will not get another Subaru as the job requirements have changed and the new prices are not cost effective for business compared to what else is available. But it has been a lot of fun to have owned the old Subaru and despite everything we have done to it, we were not able to kill it!