club.liberty.asn.au

Afternoon all.

My name is Mike - recently came into possession of a 2004 2.5i NA Liberty Wagon in pearl white. Rear passenger central locking doesn't work, boot stuts need gas, sunroof doesn't work, there is a slight vibration coming from the front passenger wheel but I have already fallen in love with the car. The lines, the colour, the leathers, the ride. She's mine. Yesterday afternoon the missus slammed the boot a little too hard and I don't know what came over me but I let her have an ear full. She says it wasn't her fault, that it's because there is no gas in the struts and the door got too heavy. A likely story I told her.

Looking through the forums have left me with more questions than answers.

To start, I believe mine is a pre FL model (vin starts with JF1BP), anyway to confirm?

I'd like to change the head unit but at the same time keep the factor look (even with the cassette tape player) - I have seen posts regarding "macintosh" and I assume this has to do more with the type of plug and nothing to do with a fruit company? Are there plug and play options in regards to a factory unit (with more options like Bluetooth) from another model? The missus drives a Mazda 3 Neo and I know you can take the Boss units from the SP23/25 and install them into the Neo.

I would like to get a tune, nothing aggressive, just to make it more zippy and fun to drive. Is my ECU tunable? How do I confirm? I know that there is a tuning specific sub forum so this post is more to find out about my car from the people who have a better idea than I do. I will make a better and more informed decision once I have the right information.

Regarding the sunroof - I assume this is a common issue (and not just with Subarus). Has anyone successfully self fixed their sun roof? when I try to open it the front glass tilts up and the rear glass doesn't roll back. Then when I close it the front glass doesn't close. I've taken the glass off and manually closed it (no the shade doesn't close all the way ) but it would be good to have a working sunroof.

I would imagine that a wheel alignment is required - it would be the most likely answer. She's done about 260,000KMs (ex fleet it seems). Any known issues with wheel bearings? The vibrations start at around 50-60km/h.

I'd like to turn this car into something that looks nice and fun and enjoyable to drive. Not after a track car or anything. I have a R33 GTST that sits in the garage that the missus wants me to sell. Don't want to get into all that again. Don't have alot of time or the budget for it.

List of mods will be;

* window tinting
* CCFL and HID lights
* chrome rims
* nice OEM stereo system (nothing doof doof worthy though)
* GT bonnet
* front lip
* front and rear sway bars
* bilstien shocks from the GT?
* 7inch android caddy mod
* and possibly a smallish exhaust - nothing too rice, just enough so you can hear that distinctive Subaru sound

As you can probably tell, I'm not big on after market. I think the wagon itself has great lines, it just need a few bits hear and there to make it look more aggressive.

Hope to hear from you all.

- Mike

Welcome mate,

2004 if pre facelift, post facelift started in late 2006 with the my07 model

the Macintosh headunit was in the premium models such as the 3.0rb and gtb, if you want to upgrade head unit you could put in a Macintosh but they have their problems and are quite limited with upgrade options

Yes you can get your car tuned, the most popular option is Matt from kido tuning. The tuning sub forum is here and kido enquiry thread is here keep in mind Matt is quite busy so just be patient.

Can't help with sunroof unfortunately

I would say it would be wheel bearing causing your vibrations as it is a fairly common issue

Chrome wheels? I would try gunmetal grey or something similar
Gt bonnet might look a bit try hard so maybe an outback bonnet (it has two ridges in it for a bit of character)
The bilstein shocks are decent but after about 100 000kms they start to age so if you're buying used keep that in mind
2" or 2 1/4" catback will probably give you what you want but depending how loud you want it you might just need an axle back or you might need headers as well

Welcome again, Bryce

Thanks Bryce

Wow,did I really say chrome? I meant shadow chrome or matte black or yeah, gunmetal grey.

Thanks for the info on the HU. I guess maybe if I cant get some sort of OEM upgrade I will have to go for a full on after market replacement. I would imagine there would be pics from other forum members of their HU replacements.

I saw that tuning thread but wasn't sure until now that it could apply to my car. Thanks for confirming.

I took the sunroof apart again tonight and saw that it was the left hand side rail that was stuff. So looks like ill be keeping an eye out of replacement rails.

I was hoping that it would not be the bearings. Are they easy enough to replace? Do I need any specialised parts? I've replaced a set of bearings on a Ford previously but that was a long time ago and with a mechanic friend giving me instructions.

I know what you are saying about too try hard. Not sure if the outback bonnet is aggressive enough for my liking though.

2004 Outback
2004 Liberty/Legacy wagon
2004 Liberty GT Wagon

I guess if I install a GT bonnet it would be like the GTS-t boys putting on a GT-R sticker...

Not 100% sure about the exhaust yet - don't want to look like the RX ricers.

- Mike

Welcome Mike

Personally I wouldn't go the GT Bonnet either. Spoils the lines in my opinion . A sports grille of some kind will give you a more aggressive look, or even consider plasti-dipping the chrome bits on the grille for a budget option.

Search the forums here for a DIY fix on the door actuator, also will save you $$$.

I've done a reasonable bit of reading on the exhaust thread and come to the conclusion that just for a bit more aural pleasure you'd be looking at retaining the exhaust resonator to reduce droning and just replacing the mufflers and Y pipe section - maybe the rear cat if you're after any performance gain. Brand choice is up to what muffler gives you the sound you like. Quad tips seem to be popular too, but the original chrome tips on the 2004 pre-FL models are a much higher quality designed and finished tip than what the later post-FL Liberty's got, and look great I reckon. Have a look at some later Gen IV Liberty's to see what I mean.

Enjoy!