Kootenays kid Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Alright, I'm a new Subaru owner. I have a 1991 Loyale 4wd. Bought it with 133km and have put over 9k on it in a month. Basically everything is original from my guess because everything seems to be breaking down. Most recently the altinator went. Since than the 4wd is no longer functioning. I am having trouble finding information in the Haynes manual as well as online, any information would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 What kind of transmission? Auto / manual / speeds?Try to find a factory service manual, on ebay for example. There is no substitute for a FSM. There is some information on here. With more details, it's likely someone can give you help with trouble shooting. I've had several of these cars, the alternators pretty much need rebuild at 150,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenays kid Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Yah my bad, manual transmission, 5 speed. Well while I was stranded I limped the car around the island as much as I could, at one point I tried the 4wd to see if it would run better, or worse. Not sure if trying to use 4wd while the car lacked power would ruin anything. ATM I am doing front end work, but I figured I'd join the club on here to see if I could get some info, or help resolving the problem. Possibly any pictures. The only post I located on here had some useful information regarding the vacume lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Using 4wd with the lack of power wouldn't hurt anything I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 using 4wd while down on power is just going to slow you down. What exactly is it you are trying to find out? And how are you so certain the 4wd is not functioning? 9k miles in a lot is like...an unbelievably high amount of mileage. Especially for a car that has spent 75 percent of it's life sleeping. Things are going to break. You can't just pull a car out of hibernation and drive it 1/3 of the way around the world and not expect problems. You need to first and foremost change the gear oil. Ask me how I know. I grabbed a low mileage GL (87 gl 46k on it in 2012) and drove it across the united states. Twice. I ruined something in the trans because I didn't change the gear oil. *Change your gear oil* it is old and not really oil anymore so much as thin dirty liquid. Go through your coolant lines. Upper and lower rad lines should be changed with new. Belts. Tires, probably. Expect bearings to fail. Water pump shaft bearings. Replace the water pump. It all depends on how preventative you want to be and how prepared you are for something to break. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 The 4WD on yours is vacuum operated. I can see where if it hasn't been shifted in/out of 4WD for quite some time, the gummy build-up in the transmition can stop things from moving. Owned an '88 XT6 with center diff lock that had same issue when I 1st got it. Same vac system to lock/unlock center diff. Get the car up in the air, all 4 tires. Please use proper jack stands..... Drain the lube out of the trans, put the drain plug back in after it drains.... Put 4 quarts of ATF in the trans, start engine and let it run. Shift the trans thru the gears, no need to rev engine doing so. Shut engine off, let things set for a bit. Repeat above. Try shifting in/out of 4WD while doing the 2nd run. If it don't shift then. Shut the engine off. Get under the car and shift it manually using large adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. Do the in/out a few times. Now start engine and try to do it by the switch. If all is good, drain ATF out and refill with proper gear lube. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I'll add this - if the 2 radiator hoses are due for replacement, replace the other 5 smaller cooling system hoses. They are likely in worse shape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenays kid Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Deadly, thanks for the advice! I've done belts timing, head gasket changed gear oils, plus more. I'll inspect the coolant lines though, all of them. I won't have the car running for a week or so yet. What's the purpose of the atf fluid? The 4wd worked fine before. And yeah it's had some kilometers logged that's for sure! I'm just trying to figure out why it stopped. I'll try to manually engage it as well when the car is up and running. Thank you for advice! This forum is great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 ATF is a good cleaning agent for the internals of a manual transmition. Won't make the parts "look new", but it does a good job of cleaning them up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kootenays kid Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Thank you for all the advice, after investigation I found a hose that was bumped in removing and installing the fuel filter in the grocer store parking lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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