edrach

Last night I was prepping my '91 Legacy for a trip to Portland. It was sitting in my driveway just idling and I was moving tools and stuff for the trip. Suddenly, huge amounts of white smoke came out the exhaust....I mean huge....enough to cover the car behind me. I shut off the engine thinking head gaskets. I let it sit for an hour while I made a trip to PAP. When I got back, I checked the coolent...just fine. I started up the car with the radiator cap off and got no bubbles or coolent out the radiator but still had massive amounts of white smoke. It didn't smell like coolent, more like the acrid smell one gets from burned oil. The car still runs and idles normally but I didn't get a chance to test drive it (getting dark) but I'll run it more when I get home Friday. Two weeks ago we installed a new timing belt and replaced a bad water pump. Two days ago I installed a new PCV since I was loosing oil (about a quart every 1000 miles) and I thought it might be time (car has 153K on the odo). I haven't had a CEL for a week and didn't have one now. Any thoughts as to what caused this or what I should check next. Thanks.

I believe the Nokian website carries a list of dealers in the US and Canada.

If you're 180 degrees out, you will be half a tooth out and only have half the hole available. A skinny cotter pin will go through but not the roll pin.

I'm about to hit 50K on my Nokian WRs. Still sufficient tread left and even last winter they did well in the little snow we had here. For Seattle conditions the all season WRs are outstanding. Regarding the comment about the testing giving the Nokian the lowest rating; that may be true when the tires are brand new....I read that in one of the posts on the Nokian website a few years ago. The difference becomes glaring after 20% of the tread is worn off; the Nokians performed just about the same as when new, the other tires dropped off significantly. I would expect decent snow tires from a country that has snow on the ground 6 months of the year. Back in the day when I was active in rallying, the tire of choice for winter events was the Hakkipollitta (bought out by Nokia since then). Since they were not DOT approved the only way to get them in the USA was through a rally competition place in Michigan who got them from a tire place in upper NY state who brought them over from Canada. They were sold as "for competition use only" and you can bet we paid dearly for them after going through multiple sales.

Check www.nokian.com. Tires are made in Finnland and probably the best snowtires in the world. I'm partial to studless snow tires since there's not enough snow in Seattle to justify the disadvantage of studs and the Nokias have the advantage of lasting multiple seasons for me as well as retaining their traction in snow past the first year.

No problem; I'm glad you had the 'phone number; just put it into craigslist's search function and went right to the listing. I thought that was pretty clever for an old guy!

Ross, is correct. You should pull the axle off the tranny stub axle again and rotate the DOJ 1/2 turn and line up the holes again. Note the small bevel on the stub axle and the bevel on the DOJ...they should be aligned before trying to re-install the roll pin. Doing this is easier than you think. Remove the wheel, remove the one long bolt holding the lower swingarm to the frame. This will allow you to move the strut just enough to let the DOJ come off the stub axle, rotate it and re-install it in the right orientation. When you re-install the long bolt just get the nut on and started; do not tighten the nut yet! Re-install the wheel and let the car back down onto the ground and let the suspension travel normally. Now you can crawl under the car and tighten the nut on the long bolt. Good luck.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/101225691.html

Alterntor for an XT6 is 90A and fits in your car; you might need to change the pulley.

Thanks, I'll look for the second one.

Try Spalding's or Pick a Part (across the street from Spalding's).

If the temp sensor code comes up againg after clearing the codes, I'd certainly do that.

No, I didn't pick up on that; getting slower now. I might stop by the Lynnwood store next time I'm up at the local PAP and say hello. Glad to see you're still around; good luck with the project....looks scary to me but certainly do-able.

I have a pair of fronts off an '88 RX which I believe will fit (might need different molding). I can send you pix and I will figure out a save way of shipping. $50 for the pair plus shipping if you're interested in them. Drop me a PM and I can send pix.

Did you ever post this?

Great idea, but it must be bad on T-shirts!

Now that the rains might abate long enough for me to disconnect the battery, I can clear the codes and see. For the time being I've tweaked the idle slightly by adjusting the throttle stop screw about a quarter turn. I've pulled a purge solenoid from a PAP car, but I can't believe the electrical part is bad; I think I'll make sure the used one I pulled is clean and working and install it. It's certainly easier than the IAC on the throttle body. I don't have a problem with the temp sensor since the temp guage always comes up to the same spot when the engine is warm and never does anything "funky." I'll also be checking/insuring the ground connections on the engine. Thanks for the feedback.

Geoff, are you the Geoff I think you are? Were one of the originals on the USMB and "gone" for a while; changed career paths and now a computer "geek" for a living? If so, welcome back.

Sorry, I just hopped in here at the end. You're in Tacoma; why not just go over to the Pull a Part yard (off the Steele St. exit of SR512), and pull a starter motor off a wreck? It would likely be under $20 and if it doesn't work for you, it's returnable (with receipt) within 30 days or you can exhange it for another.

1800 is the engine size regardless of model....1.8 liter. DL is the model designation and is the more "economy" version of the car. GL is the "fancy" version with nicer interior and more accessories. My son's DL Brat has no t-tops, no tach, less guages; my Brat is a GL with all those "extras." Both the DL and the GL had the same EA81 engine for 1983.

There's a '85 GL Hatch at Lynnwood PAP which would likely have the glass you're looking for (windshield is missing already). And aside from the seats being blue, they look like they are in much better condition than what you have there. Good luck with it; hopefully, it doesn't scare you too much.

Timely write up for me; I was planning to do the dash on my son's Brat and found out recently that the heater core is bad. I spent the last three days (a couple of hours each day) pulling the heater box out of a low mileage '85 hatch at the local PAP. Heater box and new dash will go in as soon as Turbone and I find a mutually acceptable time to do the job.

Oddly enough, I might have accidently discovered a reason. Three days ago it started raining (not unusual for Seattle) and I clicked on the Defrost/Heat on the front panel. Idle increased to around 800 (where it really belongs) and smoothed out due to the fact that the A/C is kicked in during Defrost. I haven't had a CEL in three days now! Looks like the idle control code might have somehow caused all the errors. Now to either kick up the idle or maybe look for a idle control device (Austin suggested the IAC). I'll post whatever success I have with the solution.

Austin, it's a 4 door manual tranny, 2WD:mad:, EJ18, '94 and it's bright red. It has around 120K on the odo and ran into something hard with the left front. Passenger seat is quite nice. Driver's seat looks okay but is very dirty. What do you need? Probably best to email me or PM at this point.

In My Opinion; short for IMHO (In My Humble Opinion). Last time I sold a set of 15" pugs, I got $125 plus shipping for four. Just for your information.