Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

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Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby Bayliss » Tue Mar 07, 2017 1:43 pm

Back in november I bought my second car and my first subi. A 2004 Subaru Liberty GT Wagon, auto. I did want a manual but they were so hard to come by. I was watching Carsales and Gumtree for 8 months before giving up and buying an auto, thinking that I could do a transmission swap later down the line. When I first went to STechnic and asked about pricing and what they could help me with I was told a transmission swap is almost impossible due to the extensive canbus use and also that I can't really do anything to these autos in terms of modifications. A main reason being that they apparently use a custom turbo mount unique to the auto.

Fast forward to January the car starts making a noise above 2k rpm. Can't really describe it. Ended up spending a few hours getting the turbo out and its just gone. Like, the blades were wrecked, a lot of shaft play. The little nut on the end of the turbine shaft wasn't attached, it was just whizzin about. Probs what the noise was.

Haven't driven the car since. As I don't have much money and still have my old ford ute which I haven't had an issue with. But I still love my Subi and now have some cash to get it back on the road.

My question is, what turbos are available for the auto? Is the unique thing strictly true? I can't just buy a new spindle and shaft as the housing is also in bad shape. I definitely can't afford the OEM VF38. I don't need something good, it only needs to last me until next year.

Cheers, your neighbourhood car noob.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby stocko » Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:07 pm

Hey mate

This is a massive topic for all preface liberty owners it's been covered quite a bit.
Your best options include
Try and find a second hand vf38
Look online and get the mamba/kinugawa turbo
Get your 38 rebuilt with either the same internals or upgrade
Try and find a vf44/vf45 online they are the jdm turbos for our motors
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby Adrian2627 » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:21 am

The pre-facelift auto and manual do run different turbos, the auto being the VF38 and the manual being the TD04HLA. The HLA variant being specific to the Legacy/Liberty. They are physically interchangeable and swapping the VF38 out for the slightly better breathing TD04 was a popular mod here in Japan. You will need a retune to get the best out of the swap though. There are a couple of companies doing TD04HLAs with bigger rear housings as direct replacement for the stock versions, Kinugawa and there was another but I can't remember the name right now. You wil definitely need a tune with these.
THe later model JDM 2.0 cars ran the VF44/45 on both the auto and manual but were tuned for different power outputs. Apparently these will bolt on as a direct replacement to the earlier models and flow is similar to the TD04HLA. You can find used VF44s on Yahoo Japan Auctions for around AU$400 but you'll need someone here to send it to you. Jesse Streeter is the go-to guy for that. The Vf45 is a little harder to find as it was only used one year and then again on the S402. It's basically a ball bearing version of the VF44.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby Bayliss » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:40 am

Thanks guys, i saw other threads but they didn't really mention the thing that the guys at STechic told me so I needed clarification. The vf44/45 sounds promising, just need some connections.

cheers
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby stocko » Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:52 am

What is it that stechnic were telling you bro I get most of my work done through them but I've been a little put off lately. Another member on here has done the manual conversion from perth Jslayz might be worth hitting him up
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby jslayz » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:04 am

Yep it is possible but expensive.
Just track down a VF38 if you want bolt on
CURRENT - ATP GTX 3576 - 22psi - 283.7awkw
OLD - Dom 1.5Xtr - Last dyno 254ahkw, previous 238ahkw, first 224awkw.
My journey thread: http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15523
My Lib Pics here: http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15523&start=570#p370656
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby Bayliss » Sun Mar 12, 2017 10:06 pm

stocko wrote:What is it that stechnic were telling you bro I get most of my work done through them but I've been a little put off lately. Another member on here has done the manual conversion from perth Jslayz might be worth hitting him up


They told me a manual swap was impossible unless I could find a Subaru Auto-electrician that knows the pre-facelift liberty canbus, which they said is basically impossible. They also said the turbos on the Auto pre-facelift libs have unique turbos so I can't change the turbo. He basically told me to sell it and get a post-facelift manual GT wagon. Which I can't really do as I live in Perth and they pretty much don't exist here, also I don't have $25k for when one does pop up.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby Bayliss » Sun Mar 12, 2017 10:07 pm

I ordered a Mamba turbo, not too confident as it is really cheap but only needs to last me til the end of the year.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby stocko » Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:01 pm

Bayliss wrote:
stocko wrote:What is it that stechnic were telling you bro I get most of my work done through them but I've been a little put off lately. Another member on here has done the manual conversion from perth Jslayz might be worth hitting him up


They told me a manual swap was impossible unless I could find a Subaru Auto-electrician that knows the pre-facelift liberty canbus, which they said is basically impossible. They also said the turbos on the Auto pre-facelift libs have unique turbos so I can't change the turbo. He basically told me to sell it and get a post-facelift manual GT wagon. Which I can't really do as I live in Perth and they pretty much don't exist here, also I don't have $25k for when one does pop up.


Yeah I really really hate that attitude, it's not constructive and one of the reasons I've stopped going to them. You can do anything you want mate the limit is money. Both j and I are in perth have you got the perth liberty page on Facebook I've got a preface and there are always other options.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby spool. » Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:44 pm

Bayliss wrote:
stocko wrote:What is it that stechnic were telling you bro I get most of my work done through them but I've been a little put off lately. Another member on here has done the manual conversion from perth Jslayz might be worth hitting him up

They also said the turbos on the Auto pre-facelift libs have unique turbos so I can't change the turbo.


This is correct, Preface lift is a twin scroll system much like the WRX STI spec C but different flanges on both the dump and the up pipe and the turbo is slightly tilted. the primary and secondary headers are also a smaller diameter.
There are very limited bolt on options available, I ended up swapping to the spec C headers, turbo and dump to keep the twin scroll system as there are a lot more options available for the spec C type setup.

On that note I have a TD04HLA for sale that will bolt on (will require a re-tune)
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby stocko » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:36 am

Hey spool

Where did you source your stuff for the spec c setup, I've contemplated this path myself as I like twinscroll
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby HardwareBoB » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:39 pm

stocko wrote:Hey spool

Where did you source your stuff for the spec c setup, I've contemplated this path myself as I like twinscroll

It's just any JDM STi - they are all twin scroll.

You can get them from japan or you can buy tomei headers from your favourite supplier.
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby stocko » Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:31 pm

What turbo do they run
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Re: Please help. Automatic Liberty GT, need new turbo.

Postby HardwareBoB » Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:17 pm

stocko wrote:What turbo do they run


VF36 VF37, VF49, maybe some others. I've personally got a MAMBA twin entry (so not true twin scroll) GTX3071R.

I used to have a VF36, and tbh, probably better turbo for a normal street car, the transient response was incredible.
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