Banjo bolt replacement (union screw) for turbo/passenger side AVCS oil feed

J

jackfortune

New member
With 149k on this original turbo ('06 Legacy GT Limited), I pulled the original banjo bolt/filter for inspection. As you know, many Subaru turbos have failed prematurely (infrequent oil changes, poor quality filters, poor quality oil, failure to idle up on start or to idle down on shutdown which causes oil coking in the feed line to the turbo). Now, this vehicle has had Mobil 1 5W30 and Subaru filter changeout every 3750 since coming off the dealer's lot. I was amazed to observe that the banjo bolt filter was not sludged at all! I found one small speck of metal trapped on the inlet side of the filter. This seems to be good empirical evidence that the problem is not with Subaru's turbos/engineering, but rather with operator negligence. I would say never buy a turbo Subaru without pulling out the banjo bolt/filter for inspection....it won't lie. The Subaru part number for the revised banjo bolt is "Union Screw-Filter Assembly #14445AA090"...yes this is a revised part....the filter is made of a better grade screen. Don't forget to replace the two copper crush washers...one on the block side of the union, and one on the bolt side of the union...Subaru part number "Gasket-12x16x1 #803012040. Yes, I replaced the parts, and saved the orginal bolt/filter as an exhibit for the next owner. If you own a turbo Legacy, and want to check out/replace your turbo oil feed filter bolt, feel free to give me a call, and I'll walk you through it. It's a real trip, and large hands are a handicap! You can also go to LegacyGT.com for some very useful tutorials on the removal/replacement procedure:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2-5gt-turbo-oil-supply-banjo-bolt-filter-removal-62371.html?t=62371&highlight=banjo

and

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/passenger-side-turbo-avcs-oil-line-summary-136078.html?p=2921480

If you ask a dealer to do this for you, hold on to your wallet. They hate doing this job....even though it should be done every 60k to err on the safe side. [email protected], (207) 975-6531 (cell), (207) 832-5861 (land line).

An... if you need to verify part numbers, remember that SubaruFAST is a great resource. The following link will provide a tutorial to download and mount SubaruFAST as a virtual CD drive:

http://www.sl-I.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20811

 
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....and those bolts are a royal pain to get to
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One would need midget hands....

 
Many of good turbos have died because of people not checking this. Of course if you change your oil like you should in all theory you shouldn't have to.

 
Surprised you put the filters back in. Most yank them out and put it back together. Its really not needed at all for them to even be there.

 
There are two schools of thought, and much debate, concerning the usefulness of the banjo bolt filters....yes, there is another banjo bolt/filter on the driver side AVCS oil feed line. When I pulled the turbo side banjo bolt/filter I did notice a small piece of metal on the inlet side of the filter which could have gone either to the AVCS or the turbo if the filter had not been present. I think the main argument for using the banjo bolt filter (with the recommended 3750 oil/oil filter change interval using a high grade synthetic oil) is that this 06' turbo has lasted 150k miles. Why question success is my motto. How many miles do you have on your turbos? I'd be interested to hear from anyone with a high mile turbo regarding their use of the banjo bolt filter and their oil service practice.

 
I have a 2005 LGT also. I can tell you that at this point it does have the filters in place. But being close with a dealership (Evergreen Subaru) I can tell you that they have had a rash of LGT's and OBXT's come through in the last year needing turbos and short blocks.

I guess their school of thought on the subject is that any bits of metal that might get caught in the filter, would have no issues passing through the turbo. I mean there are countless other turbo application with high mileage that have no filters in place. I mean if a couple metal bits passing through the turbo shortens the life of the turbo by a little bit, to me its only to be expected. There is a member here with a Bugeye WRX wagon with over 200,000 miles, and he replaced the TD04 in it once. I guess for as cheap as a used replacement turbo is, I wouldn't think twice about shortening the life of a turbo by a few thousand miles, but saving it taking my motor out with it.

 
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