Ugh!

[BlueRu]

Ok so here is the deal; I am about to undertake something I have never done before. I need to know how to do these things and how hard they are to do. I want to change the rear diff. oil, the power stearing fluid, and the brake fluid. How? How hard are said projects? Think I can do them all in a day tops?

[UP2MTNS]

Ok so here is the deal; I am about to undertake something I have never done before. I need to know how to do these things and how hard they are to do. I want to change the rear diff. oil, the power stearing fluid, and the brake fluid. How? How hard are said projects? Think I can do them all in a day tops?

Rear diff....easy. use a 1/2" breaker bar to get those strange looking bolts out. (the male socket part fits in perfectly)

Drain it.....then fill it. I highly recommend redline superlight shock proof, or regular redline 75W90NS. LIttle trickier to fill, but you can get a 'pump' from a Kragen or whatever to fill it. .8Liters to fill.

Brake fluid....you'll want to bleed all 4 lines for a complete change. Use one of the blue race fluids so you can see when the line is swapped out. Just remember to keep topping off the reservoir.

Power steering fluid....why are you changing that? I've never done it....didn't know it needed to be done.

[409industries]

Blue... you know better! post in the right forum... lolz.

Up2mtns is right on the money about the rear diff. Some extra tips (ive done the rear diff probably about 5x since i had suspected damage in there).

1) break loose the top plug first (this is the filler hole) if you cant get this one out for any reason, it would suck to have the diff drained with no way to fill it up. Use the 1/2 breaker bar. You might need a cheater pipe too to get more leverage since the factory / dealer really cranks that thing down.

2) invest in a decent hand pump for the gear oil. People that try to get gear oil into the top hole with a turkey baster are crazy, like to make a mess, and enjoy wasting time. youll be happy you got a pump.

3) if you want to go bomb-proof on the gear oil, this is what to get. I swear by the stuff. it fixed all my clunking and grinding i got from doing 70 mph 360's in my car.

http://www.cuscoracing.com/img/products/oil_lsd-r.gif

L.S.D. OIL 80W-140
For rear L.S.D which is exposed by high load and heat with high performance engine, tire and suspension. Fit for 4WD rear L.S.D & FR rear L.S.D. Also good for use in High temperature region and Hot Summer. For all mechanical L.S.D.


Brakes is a bit more work, you can check out the video i made with HSPN for a complete how to (by the end of the videos, youll be changing brakes like a pro!)

Part 1: http://www.hspn.tv/?videoid=44&catid=14
Part 2: http://www.hspn.tv/?videoid=45&catid=14
Part 3: http://www.hspn.tv/?videoid=46&catid=14

indeed, make sure the reservoir stays full!

Powersteering: I too have never done this, but would like to know how, ill probably do some searching in the near future. However i have over 50K on the STi and havent changed it once...

[BlueRu]

Power steering fluid....why are you changing that? I've never done it....didn't know it needed to be done.
Powersteering: I too have never done this, but would like to know how, ill probably do some searching in the near future. However i have over 50K on the STi and havent changed it once...
The only reasons I want to change the power stearing is this; It is brownish/pink colored. It is supposed to be a pinkish/red color. And second it is full of gritt. It feels like oil that has been in a pan for a year then run for 9k miles. It is thicker then it should be too. No joke! It is desturbing. I hope to find out how to do it soon before I mess something up. On top of this all we have a few problems in the radiator region. I have at least 3 holes in the black plastic part of the radiator and the main line to it is collapsing. I can still drive it, and havent overheated yet, but I have to fill it up w/ water and coolant every day. I was planing on using the redline stuff. I have yet to find somewhere that sells it though. The brakes are the same way as the stearing fluid. Eky! I dont want to pay someone to do it because I need to learn how to do it. Anyway I will probably do this on Fri. or Sat.

[UP2MTNS]

Power steering fluid....why are you changing that? I've never done it....didn't know it needed to be done.
Powersteering: I too have never done this, but would like to know how, ill probably do some searching in the near future. However i have over 50K on the STi and havent changed it once...
The only reasons I want to change the power stearing is this; It is brownish/pink colored. It is supposed to be a pinkish/red color. And second it is full of gritt. It feels like oil that has been in a pan for a year then run for 9k miles. It is thicker then it should be too. No joke! It is desturbing. I hope to find out how to do it soon before I mess something up. On top of this all we have a few problems in the radiator region. I have at least 3 holes in the black plastic part of the radiator and the main line to it is collapsing. I can still drive it, and havent overheated yet, but I have to fill it up w/ water and coolant every day. I was planing on using the redline stuff. I have yet to find somewhere that sells it though. The brakes are the same way as the stearing fluid. Eky! I dont want to pay someone to do it because I need to learn how to do it. Anyway I will probably do this on Fri. or Sat.]

ok, so I've done the power steering fluid once. Its a pita, but I guess I can tell you the secret:

There is no f'ing secret. No drail hole, no plug. you just have to get the reservoir loose.....clamp the hoses, try to flip it over, pull the hoses off, then take the reservoir out....empty it, then put it all back together, then fill it.

Needless to say, as easy as that sounds, I ended up spilling ps fluid all over the place, etc, etc, etc. Have fun :shootsself:

[409industries]

Power steering fluid....why are you changing that? I've never done it....didn't know it needed to be done.
Powersteering: I too have never done this, but would like to know how, ill probably do some searching in the near future. However i have over 50K on the STi and havent changed it once...
The only reasons I want to change the power stearing is this; It is brownish/pink colored. It is supposed to be a pinkish/red color. And second it is full of gritt. It feels like oil that has been in a pan for a year then run for 9k miles. It is thicker then it should be too. No joke! It is desturbing. I hope to find out how to do it soon before I mess something up. On top of this all we have a few problems in the radiator region. I have at least 3 holes in the black plastic part of the radiator and the main line to it is collapsing. I can still drive it, and havent overheated yet, but I have to fill it up w/ water and coolant every day. I was planing on using the redline stuff. I have yet to find somewhere that sells it though. The brakes are the same way as the stearing fluid. Eky! I dont want to pay someone to do it because I need to learn how to do it. Anyway I will probably do this on Fri. or Sat.]

ok, so I've done the power steering fluid once. Its a pita, but I guess I can tell you the secret:

There is no f'ing secret. No drail hole, no plug. you just have to get the reservoir loose.....clamp the hoses, try to flip it over, pull the hoses off, then take the reservoir out....empty it, then put it all back together, then fill it.

Needless to say, as easy as that sounds, I ended up spilling ps fluid all over the place, etc, etc, etc. Have fun :shootsself:

What about the remaining fluid in the system (hoses, steering components, etc). Is swapping out what is held in the reservoir enough to replace the majority of the PS fluid?

[UP2MTNS]

Power steering fluid....why are you changing that? I've never done it....didn't know it needed to be done.
Powersteering: I too have never done this, but would like to know how, ill probably do some searching in the near future. However i have over 50K on the STi and havent changed it once...
The only reasons I want to change the power stearing is this; It is brownish/pink colored. It is supposed to be a pinkish/red color. And second it is full of gritt. It feels like oil that has been in a pan for a year then run for 9k miles. It is thicker then it should be too. No joke! It is desturbing. I hope to find out how to do it soon before I mess something up. On top of this all we have a few problems in the radiator region. I have at least 3 holes in the black plastic part of the radiator and the main line to it is collapsing. I can still drive it, and havent overheated yet, but I have to fill it up w/ water and coolant every day. I was planing on using the redline stuff. I have yet to find somewhere that sells it though. The brakes are the same way as the stearing fluid. Eky! I dont want to pay someone to do it because I need to learn how to do it. Anyway I will probably do this on Fri. or Sat.]

ok, so I've done the power steering fluid once. Its a pita, but I guess I can tell you the secret:

There is no f'ing secret. No drail hole, no plug. you just have to get the reservoir loose.....clamp the hoses, try to flip it over, pull the hoses off, then take the reservoir out....empty it, then put it all back together, then fill it.

Needless to say, as easy as that sounds, I ended up spilling ps fluid all over the place, etc, etc, etc. Have fun :shootsself:

What about the remaining fluid in the system (hoses, steering components, etc). Is swapping out what is held in the reservoir enough to replace the majority of the PS fluid?

no idea. I don't know if there's a way to 'bleed' that out of the system. unless I missed a bleeder valve or something.

[409industries]

no idea. I don't know if there's a way to 'bleed' that out of the system. unless I missed a bleeder valve or something.

The quotes are getting out of hand! Here is a link to the Power Steering Fluid page in the 2004 STi service manual.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/documents/2004_STi_Power%20Steering%20Fluid.pdf

Regarding Fluid Replacement:


1) Lift up the vehicle.
2) Remove the jack up plate.
3) Remove the pipe joint in center of gear box, and
then install the vinyl hose to pipe and joint. Drain
the fluid while turning steering wheel.
4) Set the ST on top of reservoir tank and fill it
about half way with the specified fluid.
ST 34199AE040 OIL CHARGE
5) Continue to turn the steering wheel slowly from
lock to lock until bubbles stop appearing on oil surface
while keeping the fluid at that level.
6) If turning the steering wheel in low fluid level
condition, air will be sucked in pipe. In this case,
leave it about half an hour and then do the step 5)
again.
7) Lift up the vehicle, start the engine and let it idle.
8) Continue to turn the steering wheel slowly from
lock to lock again until bubbles stop appearing on
oil surface while keeping the fluid at that level.
It is normal that bubbles stop appearing after three
times turning of steering wheel from lock to lock.
9) In case the bubbles do not stop appearing in the
tank, leave it about half an hour and then do the
step 4) all over again.
10) Lower the vehicle, and then idle the engine.
11) Continue to turn the steering wheel from lock to
lock until bubbles stop appearing and change of the
fluid level is within 3 mm (0.12 in).
12) In case the following happens, leave it about
half an hour and then do step 8) to 11) again.
(1) The fluid level changes over 3 mm (0.12 in).
(2) Bubbles remain on the upper surface of the
fluid.
(3) Grinding noise is generated from oil pump.
13) Check the fluid leakage after turning steering
wheel from lock to lock with engine running.


I figure this would be similar across all the Impreza models.

[BlueRu]

Thanks for the help on this beast of a project! I hope to say that I did it and all works fine again.

[UP2MTNS]

Thanks for the help on this beast of a project! I hope to say that I did it and all works fine again.

yeah, good luck with that. A 12 step process to change out the steering wheel fluid? ****, installing my coilovers didn't take 12 steps. :shootsself: Although, that was a pretty good find, Aaron!