Just bought a 2007 GT spec B - with some questions

[steventhechef]

Hi guys and thanks in advance. New to the forum but been lurking for a while.

I have just bought a 2008 Liberty GT spec B (150,000km) 2.5l 6 speed manual for my wife. This is our 4th Liberty (plus one Outback). Very happy with the cars and they have been super reliable with some topping 420,000km with just one clutch change! but this is the first turbo that I have owned.

It was bought in haste as my son had written off his 2005 Liberty 2.5 on the Wednesday and bought this one from Maryborough on the Saturday!

Normally i research heaps prior but it appeared to be such a good buy and the owner was desperate for a quick sale as they were leaving for an extended holiday that I jumped on the deal without doing the obligatory fact finding mission that I normally do!!. The owner stated that she ran the engine with low oil on a long trip and blew the motor. The owner bought a new second hand motor from a reputable source on the Sunshine Coast with 10,000 km from the same model and it has done 20,00 km since then. The car has 150,000 km on it but the motor has only 30,000 km. A new radiator, clutch and turbo were fitted during the motor change over.

My questions are what concerns should i have with this model if any?

Is the turbo an unnecessary risk (maintenance or issues) considering that it is for my wife (who is a spirited but cautious driver)?

What is the difference between the GT and the GT spec B?

Is there any specific maintenance regarding the turbo model for the turbo itself? I do all of the standard services myself at 10,000km with good oil (semi synth - but I am not going into an oil debate )

The service books were lost in a house shift (apparently) so i need to get an owners manual and service book as well. Any good sources for this or should I just go to Subaru?

I got it for around $13,000. Did I do OK?

I am taking it to Subaru Dealer for a good once over next week. Is there anything that I should ask them to check? I read about the banjo filters for the turbo. Should I get them to check those and where are they?

Thanks again in advance

[dr20t]

Welcome.

You did do well with the 10k purchase if it all stacks up without any glitches in the history / any problems.

My first and honest piece of advice is to actually stay away from a Subaru dealer unless you have the unlikely event of having something specific that requires their input (like re-coding the ecu using SSM). But that's just my humble advice.

I would recommend oil change interval of 5000kms particularly if most driving are short trips <20kms each way.

There are plenty of oil threads on here but I will definitely advise you NEED to run a full synthetic oil. At 150,000kms I would go with a 5w40 for colder months and 10w40 for warmer months.

Check and remove the banjo bolt filters on your turbo oil feed lines. Search banjo bolt filters on this site for details. These have a tendency to clog up (particularly if oil change intervals are extended or left at the factory recommended 15,000kms). Or worse, they collapse on themselves from debris and sludge buildup in the oil. Worst case if either of these scenarios happen, will be a blown engine. At a minimum you will get a blown turbo. And replacing the turbo will result in another blown turbo as you will effectively have left the blood supply vein (oil feed ) to the turbo unattended. I recommend removal and change oil every 5000kms for peace of mind.

Other things to be conscious of:

- Worn / faulty OCV valves - do a search with these terms.
- EJ255 engines suffer from bad factory piston to bore, rod to crank, and main tp crank bearing tolerances. This means they will either chew oil later in their life (so check your oil level regularly) or spit bearings / munch cranks if you're unlucky. I'm painting a very pessimistic view but they're not that bad if looked after and if you are chasing a zillion kw's out of a stock engine.
- Stock clutch at 150,000kms might be starting to wear.
- The factory ecu tune is shit to be quite frank. And im not referring to performance level. im talking about safety and fuel economy. Search this forum for tune details and get one done (for a mild to stock setup I would reccomend kido tuning Matt).


Good luck.

Mick

[dr20t]

Just noticed you edited your post.

13k is still decent

With engine having 30,000kms I would use reputable full synth 5w30 oil

Everything else I advised still applies

Mick

[kiwigene]

Main difference between GT and GT Spec B is the Spec B has Bilstein shocks. Also has different 18" wheels, alloy pedals and different front bar, I think.

[shav]

Main difference between GT and GT Spec B is the Spec B has Bilstein shocks. Also has different 18" wheels, alloy pedals and different front bar, I think.

Correct. Everything else is identical.

[chris12]

Main difference between GT and GT Spec B is the Spec B has Bilstein shocks. Also has different 18" wheels, alloy pedals and different front bar, I think.

Correct. Everything else is identical.

Spec B also gets rear vents and passenger electric seat, IIRC.

[steventhechef]

Great info Mick, thanks. Just the things that I needed.

I will cancel the dealer service especially after talking to them. Not very confidence inspiring really. I asked them if they could service the banjo filter for the turbo and there was a significant pregnant pause I mentioned where i thought it was located and the advice on several forums. He told me not to take advice from the world wide interweb as they lie, lie, lie

I'll do the searches for the other bits thanks.

I phoned KiDo tuning and they will be up in Brisbane in the next 6 weeks so I have asked Matt to contact me so that I can upload a better tune. I will do the oil and filter myself on the weekend. I will investigate the banjo filters as well as soon as I find them! I read on another forum regarding an upgrade but it appears a bit convoluted. Is it worthwhile looking at the upgrade? I'll do a search as well

My wife drives 100 km 3 days a week to work and shorter trip for the kids on the other days. I'll see how the oil looks after 5000 km

I appreciate the information on the differences guys Thanks. It must be a spec B as it has all of those goodies. It is such a great car especially after having driven her Gen4 2.5 standard wagon. I had already put Bilstien suspension on it when i bought it 5 years ago along with the Spec B wheels. It handles similarly but the turbo kick just makes me smile - heaps. Much better than my Tarago!

[kiwigene]

Main difference between GT and GT Spec B is the Spec B has Bilstein shocks. Also has different 18" wheels, alloy pedals and different front bar, I think.

Correct. Everything else is identical.

Spec B also gets rear vents and passenger electric seat, IIRC.

That's the difference between 2007 and 2008, not a difference between GT and Spec B.

[McDoof]

Not sure if it is the same in Aus, but in NZ the GT gets 17" wheels, the manual gets a 5 speed that is pretty much like the pre-facelift, softer and higher suspension, chrome "wing Grill"
Spec-B gets 18" wheels, a 6 Speed box based on the STi box and a honeycomb grill.

Then there is also the difference between JDM and ADM cars. The most obvious externally is the absence of headlight washers on the JDM cars and the addition of a rear wiper on the sedan. Once you get inside the JDM cars also have a speedo that only goes to 180 instead of 260 because all cars in Japan are limited to 180km/h from the factory by law. JDM Post facelift cars also retain the EJ20 where ADM cars moved to a EJ255 from 2007.

This is the GT


This is the Spec B (JDM)


I know one is sedan and one is a wagon, but the idea is there.

[Shaheenis]

Honeycomb grille does not come on the 2007 GTB so perhaps another variation with 2008.

[McDoof]

Honeycomb grille does not come on the 2007 GTB so perhaps another variation with 2008.

Could be a JDM thing too. We get a lot of those here so pretty much all of the SpecB models have the Honeycomb grill going.

[BigBCalais]

Honeycomb grille does not come on the 2007 GTB so perhaps another variation with 2008.

I'm pretty sure honeycomb grille was a factory option on post fl

[steventhechef]

I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow when I get some time.

I noted that the dash has some cracking and honeycombing (cracking in neat little sections). I spoke to a dash repair guy and he stated that it was common with the Libertys (he named a few others) if you use Armor All to "protect" your dash. I normal don't use because of the petrochemicals in the formula and have a dash mat but I'll look at replacing it in the near future - now I need to search replacing dash!

I found a few spares around the place and will look at getting them shipped next week. This included a black GTB boot with the spoiler for $200 and a complete dash for $200.

I ride a 2006 Triumph Thruxton and the different models around the planet are just a variant but sometimes it is difficult to understand why they blend the models except to empty a parts bin for special runs. It adds a uniqueness and talking point of difference I suppose

[steventhechef]

Sorry about the crappy phone photos. I'll post a couple more tomorrow. No honeycomb grill

[steventhechef]

Much better!