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Picking up a 1986 gl-10 turbo wagon.


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So picking up a gl10 turbo, it's complete but doesn't run. Been sitting since 2002, or at least when the tags expired. Should be a fun project for the winter. No clue what the issue is. I have had the Subaru itch since I traded away my 96', legacy. ???? Don't know guess that all this post is about. Lol.

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You know I have no clue what is wrong with it.  It is complete, it has the auto trans so it is a push button if I am getting things strait.  The guy I am getting it from, got it from somebody else, and it was not running when he got it.  However he owns a body shop and has just had it sitting in his storage yard, he wants the space now, so its for sale.  The engine looks good no real oil, or anything the wiring harness seems to be in good shape, and it appears to have zero mods.  Seems like a good start, and it was only 80$.  the motor turns, so hopefully it won't be to crazy hard to get running again.  According to him, he hasn't even tried to get it started or anything.  Having picked up a lot of projects in the past I am guessing he has tried, who knows, the dude has like 50 vehicles.  the interior is a bit dirty but not tore up, the body is in nice shape, just oxidized paint, no read damage.  Has the all digital dash, no spare tire, and 4 different rim/tires.  however they all hold air.  lol  I should have it at my house on Tuesday, and will update with some pics of how I got it. Kinda' funny you mention you would rather have the turbo, I would rather have the carb.  lol  Oh well.  These older fuel injected vehicles, are hard to keep working right sometimes because of part availability.  I just swapped a 22re, too a 22r, by replacing the intake, because the wiring harness was so cracked up.  Webers just so easy. post-30473-0-79605400-1480718148_thumb.jpg   post-30473-0-53305200-1480718167_thumb.jpg

Edited by Schnayke
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The biggest thing o know of the turbo, is keeping the cooling system at 100 percent. It's barely adiquate for the nonturbo engines.

Yeah dave, the first thing I do with a new project is a total re-haul of the cooling system.  I warped two heads on two honda's many years ago, which has made me super worried about cooling engines.  Is there a better radiator people often swap into these?

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The turbo is supposed to have a 2 row radiator. I have used turbo radiators in my non turbos since 1988 to get a little extra capacity. But the turbo radiators are hard to find now. This reminds me, I have some old radiators I have to get re cored, probably custom..

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When you give up trying to get it running, I will buy it from you.  If you ever get it running, you need to run similar tires on all four, otherwise it tears apart the transmission when you shift out of 4WD.  My 86 gl10 turbo has over 440,000 miles and I have already found and resolved every problem that they could have.

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When you give up trying to get it running, I will buy it from you.  If you ever get it running, you need to run similar tires on all four, otherwise it tears apart the transmission when you shift out of 4WD.  My 86 gl10 turbo has over 440,000 miles and I have already found and resolved every problem that they could have.

Can do, the tires will have to be replaced for sure.  I'm just glad they hold air for now.  lol  I figured for 80$, I might as well pick it up and give it a shot.  My 96' legacy was a fun project till it was just working fine, then I traded it for a basket case 1983 toyota trailblazer, then got that all good, and traded it for a 1987 Toyota r63 4x4, which I plan to keep.  lov'in it.  If this gets up and running I am going to be using it as a pet taxi for my local shelter.  Although traveling near the whole length of oregon seems a bit far to come.  As I live in medford.  

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Well I got the thing home.  Its got some dehumidifier buckets in it, and its tarped off.  I was able to get three matching rims for it.  so now I need one more, the spare is on it so, I almost have a full set.  Woo!  The hood is unbolted but latched, and the cable is broke.   :(  So I haven't had a chance to really give it a better look.  Looks like one of the heads had a oil leak, probably why it was parked, it has 131,000 miles.  We will see, if it had mixed fluids this whole time it maybe a pull the motor style project.     My other projects final parts came in so I need to finish that and get my daily driver back on the road, but should tare into this next week. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay well still haven't got started on this really, but got the hood opened.  Turns out it has not spark plugs in it.  So I plan to do the marvel mystery oil thing, and then see if I can get it too turn over.  Looking like a pull engine, and rebuild kinda job so far.   Anyhow that is where I am at, and possibly next week or the week after I should get more into this thing. 

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If there is rust in the crankcase, it's toast.  It Might run for maybe 2000 miles before it starts making a lot of bearing noises.

Yeah I am going to try and see inside, not sure how long the plugs have been removed.  Could have been oiled when they where I suppose?  However yeah looks like a pull engine rebuild job, the more I look, and I have hardly looked into it.  lol  I'm fine with that.  However I would still prefer to just get it rolling down the road if possible though.  Of course right?  haha.

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Okay well got home with enough time to look at it during the day. Has like double the fluid it should. So looks like head gasket failure. The plugs are under the hood and not dusty like everything else so I think they have been out for a short time. Got some mystery oil in the cyclenders. From what I could see through the holes no rust but who knows. Guess I will figure out when the head is off. . They had disconnected the fuel line. So probably turned it over, already though. I have tomorrow off however we are forecasted for snow so not sure if I will get a day to play with it or not.

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Looks like MPFI to me.  Turbo compresses air before it hits the throttle body / manifold, no?

 

I think the turbo would be to the left & rear of the air tube in your picture, kind of hard to miss.

Yeah no turbo no place for it. Looks like it was swaped at some point. Started the tare down between snow flurries today. Looks like it won't take too many man hours to tare down and remove. Not sure what parts are going to be salvaged. All the rubber is solid cracks and crumbles. Cold temps are not helping with the brittle nature of the rubber. More pictures to come as I tare it down.
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MPFI non turbo.

 

If it was turbo a good hint would be a "scalloped" section in the engine crossmember under the RHS head. This is for the up pipe to the turbo. They would've had to have changed the exhaust from the turbo setup too.

 

It may never have been a turbo unit - the old fella might've had it as a turbo conversion project...

 

Either way it'll have a "factory" oil leak between the head and the cam box, usually about 5 mins after you've resealed it!

 

The push button 4wd with the auto engages a set of clutch packs to engage the rear end. If these are flogged out you'll only get drive to the front wheels. It'll be obvious whether it's working or not.

 

The MPFI system is pretty good for power and efficiency once you've got it going.

 

If there's rust on the bores either rebuild it or find a replacement engine - even a good carb block will do the job with the MPFI heads fitted. The only difference in the block is a crank case breather near the bellhousing on the RHS of the block. Everything else will bolt up once the MPFI heads are fitted (direct bolt on too).

 

It should be a good little runner once you've got it sorted ;)

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

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