I wanted to pop back in and offer another little simple thing you can do to help smooth out one issue that does require a bit of attention on those 4.3 vortec engines. Cleaning the throttle body of gunk that might build up, it's pretty simple to pop off, and spray down with break clean or anything that might break down gunk. Takes maybe a half an hour or so and doesn't hurt to check once in awhile. here's a quick video that will walk you right through it.
Which model exactly?
I don't think the model matters much for the firmware side. But yeah I plan on following the book.
I appreciate the video, definitely made it a lot easier to grasp doing that. I think I’ve overcome the fear of fucking something up while doing maintenance on her. I can’t remember how much a pair of nitrile gloves cost but for just the cost of those and a rag, you can save a ton of headache in the future, which is always a plus.
I've flashed maps software onto a car before(they wanted hundreds to unlock out of area maps we wanted for a holiday so I just downloaded them and sideloaded). The process was very similar to flashing/updating an android phone folder layout and things had to be spot on, power on with usb drive connected and it ran the sequence to find the update and apply it, really common thing to do tho with good guides and custom maps to include fixed location speed cameras and things where the stock ones didn't.
because it is
Thanks for the response!
This was just a random firmware for a Forester from a Subaru forum shared to get around someone not having a Subaru Technical Information System(STIS) subscription($35/3days, $300/month, $2500/year).
What makes you think the fluids are mixing? In the pic is pure engine coolant
I know for Fords and Mazdas there's a piece of software called FORScan that lets you fuck with modules in ways even the factory scanners can't. I looked around a little bit for something similar for Subarus but all I could find is software for tuning the ECU and TCU. These all connect via the OBDII port.
You are very likely out in the swamps on this. To do the modifications you're talking about you probably have to go with full-blown hardware hacking. That would be an interesting project to say the least.
FORScan saved my ass when my car started saying "TRANSMISSION FAILURE SERVICE NOW" and my generic OBDII reader wouldn't give me anything.
200k miles isn't that much, the old 90s Merc engines have gone a million+ miles with no rebuild.
FWIW This is a completely stock M273 engine with (I forgot to add) unchanged turbos. To your point, word seems to be that they're very reliable engines, but call me a little paranoid with my car maintenance in general, especially with anything European.
Hydrolock from ingesting water thru the intake, typically the result is shattered pistons, snapped/bent rods. At that point the engine is not worth saving and it's infinitely cheaper to get a scrapyard donor. Does the engine crank and/or run?
I fully support changing oil more often than stipulated in the manual, I was just saying 200k miles isn't a lot for older German engines.
Buying used BMWs from normies is a recipe for disaster. Direct injection is terrible for valve deposits yeah, especially with crankcase blow-by being vented into the intake and being allowed to settle on hot valves. Only way to fix it is to walnut shell or bead blast the intake ports with the valves closed off but it'll come back eventually. Only permanent fix is to bypass PCV and all the other emissions shit so you're not sucking oil vapors into the intake. But that's a guaranteed emissions test fail most likely.