All Activity

(A few months later, 'cause I had to clean out enough of the garage to get the car in over the pit and buy a Warn Pullzall (110VAC comealong - got a smokin' deal on it) to pull it in, then wait for a break in the weather, since the garage is unheated...) But now the cover's off and I've confirmed that the driver's side chain broke. Since the driver's side chain drives the passenger side chain, what sounded to me like just the crank and no cams cranking was in fact just the crank and no cams cranking. It's not clear whether the chain broke on its own, or whether it was caused by a guide fragmenting, and there are some loose plastic bits in there. Doesn't matter much, timing kit is en route from Rock. As for whether anything got hit, jury's still out. It's so damn tight along the sides of the engine that I'm not sure I can get a compression gauge in there. But I'm also replacing the steering rack while it's over the pit, so I'll be dropping the exhaust and can take a peek up at the valves. Otherwise, I'll just see how things behave once the new kit is installed. I do have an untested junkyard motor on the shelf (bought as a spare a couple of years ago), so I can draw upon that if necessary. But I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Definitely an automatic transmission.

I found a $7 walmart oil filter socket (the many-sided polygon that fits certain brand oil filters) that was the perfect size for my gen2 wheel seals, and the thin wall fit around the seal lip perfectly. I've never done gen3 seals, but it's an idea you might check for a seal driver.

I'd recommend buying the sealed wheel bearings. Then you remove one seal from each bearing and face the unsealed sides inside the knuckle. Pack the inside of the knuckle with grease like normal. That way you don't have to worry about installing the seals. Installing the front bearings with the right tools is a cake walk. Installing the seals can be a challenge. Unless you're a heavy equipment tech, I don't know who'd have sockets that large to install the seals.

Yes, that temporary wire should work to crank the engine. Just a note of caution: If doing this on a Manual Transmission (MT), make 100% certain that the gear-shift is in Neutral (otherwise the car might leap forward)

No, the fronts are not adjustable. If you have play, and the axle nut is not loose, you need new wheel bearings. If they only lasted 10 years, they either didn't have enough grease, weren't repacked often enough, or got water in them from bad wheel seals.

I haven't resolved the starter motor not cranking when I turn the key, so I put a female connector on a wire and hooked it to the spade connector on the solenoid so that I can crank the engine by touching it to the positive terminal of the battery. It cranks beautifully but the engine doesn't start. As far as I know this should start the engine when the key is on, correct? It seems like the problem is greater than just the starter.

You give good advice. I should have listened to you years ago when you told me I was operating off a dead platform. But I still soldier on against the odds. Unfortunately the older gentleman at my local parts store retired a few years ago. He used to start putting huge, dusty parts catalogues on the counter when he saw me walk in the door. Now I rely on you guys.

I have a couple of dual range MTs from '88 DL and '83 DL.

Hello people. Long time, no problems with the old GL. Can I take the play out of front wheel bearings on my '88 GL by tightening the axle nut? Is that what that sleeve inside the hub is for? For the bearing to tighten against? Bearings were replaced ten years ago..

Thanks. Looks like a pushbutton 5 speed will have to do for now. This morning we towed home an '87 GL turbo parts car and that is what it has. Hopefully with the parts car the turbo swap will just be a lot of "doing" and not so much figuring out what to do and how.

Have driven the Impreza a bit more and the bottom radiator temp sensor continues to be at ambient temperature the majority of the time. One time after I was only stopped for ten or fifteen minutes it and the intake air temp had soaked up to about 50F and stayed there for the short drive home. It seems that the ultimate temperature it reaches is in the 190sF at the top of the radiator and 220sF at the top of the engine. That sensor on the engine is probably less accurately calibrated and generally just reads 10F or so higher than the ones in the radiator even when the car's been parked overnight. I bumped up the temps the fans are coming on at so they're not running all the time once the car warms up. 220F on the engine temp sensor is basically when the temp gauge just starts to creep up above the middle. Have now seen a temperature drop of 180F across the radiator (it's been cold here lately), so I think the radiator is doing its job. I rebuilt the rear struts in B's Forester. No major issues, mainly changed the dirty shock oil, replaced a couple little things. B replaced the rear suspension bushing that was shot and went over a few other things on his car.

Another issue I have noticed is that the radiator fans come on when you turn on the ignition. I believe the fans should not come on if the engine is cold. So I thought maybe a bad coolant temperature sensor. I swapped it out but no change. Maybe this is related to the starter problem?

All these 3 must be satisfied, to energize the starter solenoid: - Ignition switch to 'Start'; - Starter-relay energized; - If MT: clutch-pedal depressed to close clutch safety-switch; or if AT: in park (or neutral) to close start-inhibitor safety-switch. These 3 are all in a 'series' circuit/logic; this requires that all 3 work, before the starter is energized. On my 2002, these devices are all in challenging locations to reach. May be easier on your 2009.

Can’t tell you where the relay is that you’re chasing - I wanted to share with you a common mod on the Gen1s in the early 90’s. Often with an issue like this ppl would add a horn relay to the system. This would hive direct power from the battery to the starter solenoid by using the start wire as the rely trigger reference. Worked a treat and might be something that will work for you. Just ensure there’s no rodent damage to the start wire to the starter solenoid.

At first the starter would engage and turn the engine over a couple times and then quit. After trying a few times it was only silent, not even a click. I replaced the starter motor but the solenoid does not appear to be receiving power from the signal wire. I looked at the owner's manual list of fuses and for the fuse and relays in the engine compartment and it says something like "except starter motor.". The passenger compartment fuse list in the owner's manual says fuse 21 is the starter relay but the fuse is still good. Somewhere I think I read that the blue boxes to the right of the small fuses are relays and one of them might be for the starter. Can someone tell me where to look? My battery is good and the voltage at the positive connection on the starter motor is the same voltage as the battery.

Its at the very bottom

No listing for the Brat though.

Thanks. We are thankful. Tuition, dorms, meals, all covered. It was multiple round of interviews over the phone and in person. Quite a bit more effort (and driving) compared to all the others submitted online or write an essay, etc.

Whoah an educational "free ride" and a Subaru rust free ride! Graduating debt free is liberating. Congrats to your daughter.

Congrats on All!

Found this website for brochures of every Subaru https://autocatalogarchive.com/subaru/

Most of it is for the Sedan but I'd love some scans of the Leone Estate/ GL Wagon. Here are some of the highest I could find myself. Also have some scans of EA82 manuals and some cute paper craft of the Justy I found.

Resolved, replaced both converters. Thanks Brusbrother. Got this car from Georgia for my daughter, so it's rust free, I'm sure you can appreciate that. Concern is what caused this and hoping it doesn't destroy the new ones - oil level was increasing and bad mileage, pretty sure running rich. Found and replaced one cracked injector while chasing the clogged converter issue. Time will tell. Runs great, looks great, ready for college next year, she got a free ride at her top private school pre-med and was the first player in school history to be named first team all state twice as a junior and senior. Not bad from a rural public school with very poor academic options. /end proud dad brag

We finally got the secondary fuel tank project finished. Added one fitting to each cover plate of the stock fuel tank. Ran a fuel resistant hose down the side with the main pickup. Mounted, plumbed, and wired the fuel pumps in the spare tire well. It will probably take about ten minutes to fill or empty the tank. Seems to work in both directions by watching the clear fuel filters, listening, and watching the fuel gauge. Definitely looking forward to putting the extended range to use. I rewired the fans. Two small puller fans are on the main circuit. Two pusher fans are on the sub fan circuit on a larger fuse and relay. Main goal here is to push less debris into the condenser and radiator. Another potential benefit is not blowing the fan fuse when driving in deep water. I also wired in the temp sensors we added to the radiator earlier this year. Only drove it to the grocery store and back, which is maybe a ten minute drive, but I found the results interesting. The bottom radiator temperature is basically always around 20F higher than ambient, similar to the intake air temperature. It did read much lower when unplugged and does vary a bit so I'm pretty sure that sensor is working. The top radiator temperature kept slowly increasing but was generally 40F lower than the coolant temp sensor on the engine (by the top engine water neck maybe 6" from the radiator sensor). The ones on the radiator are probably a more accurate calibration. The top ones did get within about 20F by the end and after sitting for a bit. Also means the radiator is producing up to a 120F temperature drop even parked at idle with the fans off which I found impressive. Also we worked on B's Forester a bit. Narrowed down which rear bushing needs to be replaced, replaced a wheel stud, and adjusted the parking brake.