Slagathor1

I didn't think it'd be a problem. But let me clarify something; as we already know mine is 4WD but there shouldn't be any problem converting the 4WD parts over to the 2WD tranny correct?? From what I know, about the only difference is the part inline behind the tranny that converts power to the rear driveshaft. That's a seperate piece so I should be able to just bolt it & it's rear driveshaft to the 2WD cars tranny & be ok, yes? No differences in actual tranny length? Of course I have the luxury of both cars being complete. So if it's just a matter of swapping over parts I guess it should be a match unless anyone as a horror story to tell me first. Thanks, Tony

Will an auto tranny from an 89' DL 2WD be a direct replacement for my 92' Loyale 4WD AT? That's the only other comparable Soob in this whole area that I can find in the salvage yards. I know the tranny from the 89' should still be solid because it used to be MY car for about 4 years. Then it had to be retired about 3 years ago due to extreme rust issues & hasn't moved since. The car only had about 150,000 miles on it so there's a good chance it's tranny will be good for many more miles if I can get it. Alternately does anyone know where a guy can find a reasonably priced rebuilt auto tranny. PS..No I'm not going to convert it to manual, even though that would be fun. I need an auto tranny bottom line. Tony

Thanks for the suggestion, I went out today & checked to see if the converter was still attached to the flywheel. It was. Oh well it was worth a shot. Junkyard here I come, unless I can find a company out there that provides these trannys already rebuilt. I will also keep the 5 speed conversion in mind if i come across one. I'm gonna go air the tires up on my bicycle now, i'll likely be using it for the next few weeks.

Point taken. Thanks a bunch for all the info everyone, I really do appreciate it!! Welp, I'm off to find a used tranny in one of the most Subaru-less parts of the USA, southern Illinois!! My best hope is that my old 89' DL that I sold to a guy early this year for a parts car is still in the salvage yard with it's tranny. When I sold it the motor & tranny were strong as ever. The body, frame, & gas tank were so rusted that it had to be retired from the road but the drivetrain was everything that my 92' wishes it had. Hmmmmm.....while i'm there get the motor with the tranny altogether & do a full swap? I Might just have to warm up the ole' cherry picker. If the old car isn't there anymore I may be sunk.

Doesn't sound very hopeful huh? Well regardless let me tell you guys what I found in the tranny pan. It really didn't look that bad at all. Just a little bit of normal sludge in the bottom & the fluid still looked pretty clean. There were no pieces of anything laying in the pan except for extremely tiny bits of metal, the kind that I would expect through normal wear. There wasn't really very much of it at all. I also found a couple pieces of old thin paper gasket material from possibly a pan drop in the past. Someone probably just didn't wanna fish them out of the pan when they dropped in. Anyway I don't know if this changes your mind as far as how bad the tranny is or not. So is this pump not available anymore on the market as far as getting a new one? If a guy was to try putting a new one in is it a pretty easy swap once the tranny is out? I know ya'll said it doesn't look good but i'm sure you understand i'm just weighing every available option right now, mainly because of $$$$$$. The car is in awesome shape & I really don't want to give up on it if I can fix it for cheap.

Ok here's the latest. This may help put our finger on the problem. I ran the car through all the gears & watched the speedometer, and it didn't move. Also I pulled the transmission fluid cooling line off of the radiator and it didn't have any pressure in the line whatsoever with the car running. Which would more likely cause this, the torque converter or the pump? Or both? I'm heading back out now to drain the tranny fluid & see if there are any neat things laying in the tranny pan. P.S. Oh yeah I just remembered: This past summer the tranny did have an audible whining sound to it even with plenty of fluid in it. I changed the fluid & the whining pretty much went away in a few days.

Thanks Nipper. Do you or anyone else know of any online manuals & especially breakdowns/illustrations for this tranny? My trusty old Haynes Subaru manual doesn't get into trannys very deep. Unfortunately, transmissions are just about the only thing on vehicles that i'm not very knowledgeable on. I knew this day would come eventually. GRRRR!!! Also if anyone else has ANY other opinions on this topic i'd appreciate it. Not doubting Nipper at all, just wanting more ideas or personal experiences before I start ripping into this thing & spending more money & time on it. I still think it's awful weird that the engine has been running a little worse at idle ever since this whole thing happened. Coincidence? Ghosts?

92 Loyale 3AT 4WD won't shift into any drive gear. It does still lock when it's in park though like it should. The shifter will move just fine like always & the linkage is still attached to the tranny. I was driving down the highway yesterday about 60 MPH & all of a sudden the car just went out of gear. It didn't make ANY funny noises or anything like that at all. I coasted to the side of the highway & reved the motor in every gear but nothing changed. After getting it towed home I checked: 1. tranny fluid, plenty of it & no shavings 2. vacuum line going to the vacuum modulator, hose has vacuum. checked it right at the modulator, so the line definately isn't blocked 3. vacuum modulator, took it out & checked it on another vacuum hose, it didn't seem to be leaking vacuum & did move in & out like it should 4. shift linkage, it seems to be just fine 5. put it into 4WD, still wouldn't move 6. checked front drive axles & joints, nothing busted Now here's the weird part though. Ever since it lost it's drive gears the engine seems to be having a tendancy to run a little funny once it gets warmed up & idles down. I'm at a complete loss on this one. The only things I could even think of is that maybe the vacuum modulator IS bad but I don't think that would make the car lose gears all together would it? I mean there was a tiny little bit of tranny fluid in the vacuum hose in the very end. Not enough to suck up into the engine though. Or........(And I may be just talking out of my butt on this one) Could the kickdown solenoid maybe have went bad, like maybe engaged & not returned back out? Could that knock the car out of gear somehow? I was at a steady cruise on the highway, so I definately didn't engage it by mashing the pedal to the floor. If anyone can pick this one apart i'd appreciate it. I'm confused. Tony

92' Loyale A/T 4WD. I just need to tow a rather lightweight 12 foot aluminum fishing boat & trailer. I know the car won't pull much & the back end won't tolerate a huge amount of weight but this boat won't be a problem. Heck I can pull the boat & trailer across the yard by myself. Suggestions, weblinks, diagrams, pics. Any of this may be helpful. Any suggestions from folks who've added a hitch/towbar etc. before??? I would rather not weld it on anywhere, that'd be my last option. I'd rather bolt it on if possible but i'll take suggestions of either way.

92' Loyale 4WD A/T. I installed a new Accel 8140 coil & coil wire (same as I had on it before) & i'm still getting an orange spark. The spark is consistent, but yet, still it's orange & should be white.......right?? I tested it at the coil wire & not at the spark plug wires, so this has nothing at all to do with the distributor. Here's some info that might lend a clue: The reason I replaced the old coil is because it was starting to leak oil from it's case after only about 3 years of use (about 30,000 miles). When I removed the coil wire from the old coil, I noticed that under the boot the wires sheath was almost burnt completely in two & the wire element WAS burnt in two. Of course this would be part of the reason the car was running like crap, bit still the coil needed replaced regardless. Could this coil & wire have been damaged because it was getting too low of voltage? Could this be caused maybe by the inline resistor below the coil being bad? Maybe that would explain the new coil having a weak orange spark & the car still having about as much power as a lawnmower. By the way, the new coil wire hasn't burnt in two yet so that's not it either.

94' Loyale 4WD A/T. It's been stumbling badly during acceleration while the engine is still cold & this problem has slowly intensified over the past few months. Once it warms up, it's fine for the most part except for occasionaly still having a slight hesitation at steady throttle while at steady speed. I know there's a simple solution but I just haven't had any time lately to dig in & start looking for the cause. So.....I'm looking for suggestions ahead of time since i'm on vacation next week & plan on finally getting my hands dirty again on this thing!!!

92' Loyale 4WD A/T. A couple days ago I pulled the hood release inside the car to do my usual weekly inspection. To my surprise, this time the release pulled out like usual but it stayed out & won't go back in. It's just kinda hanging there now & what's worse, the hood didn't open & of course still won't. Obviously the hood release linkage came loose under the hood, but to fix it I have to get the hood open. See where i'm going with this?? How the heck do I get the hood open to fix the first problem!!!!????? The only thing I can think of is going in through the front of the grill or somehow pulling the grill off to get inside. I'm not sure the grill can be removed from the front without damage though, & I definately don't wanna do that!! Any suggestions??

92' Loyale 4wd A/T. Where can I get a new oil pump assembly for a good price?? I looked on "1st Subaru Parts" website & they had them for about $108 but i'm looking for a MUCH better price than that if at all possible. Any Ideas??

I went to that site & they do look pretty promising. Good price too!! Anybody else have anymore ideas just for good measure??

92' Loyale A/T 4wd. I know I can get the lash adjusters from the local parts stores, but they're WAY too high. Like about $42 apiece. No way i'm paying that much especially when I want 4 of them!! I need some options on cheaper ones that are still of good quality. Maybe some places that some of you have gotten them from & had good luck with.

HEY GUESS WHAT!!! The cam timing marks were perfectly centered on 6 & 12 with the pointer on the middle of the three marks on the flywheel. I checked & rotated, checked & rotated,etc. They're perfect down to the tooth!! OK now i'm officially thoroughly confused!! I buttoned everything back up, checked my firing order, confirmed the rotor position in the disty at #1 cylinder with the 0 degree mark on the flywheel, made sure it was on the firing stroke, checked my plugs for fire, plug wires for fire, checked the firing order 5 more times with the suby manual, rotated the disty back & forth with engine running. Everything is perfect!! WHAT GIVES?? While the engine was running, I even pulled one plug wire off at a time to see if there was any change in the running. AHAAAAAAA!!! The passenger side bank was running fine. When I got to the drivers side (the side I originally had torn apart down to the lash adjusters) I found that the whole bank is dead even though the plugs were firing strong. I even switched the drivers side plug wires in case they were backwards. Whoops, nope thats not it, now the engine REALLY hates me judging by what it told me out of the exhaust pipe!! Basically the engine is running on two cylinders. Once again I just don't get it. What else could possibly have gone wrong. I did have the lash adjusters out & cleaned them very good inside & out. Could it be they're not pumping up & the cam isn't even opening the valves now?? That sounds kinda far out but who knows. Any suggestions???

Yep, I definately spun it 180 degrees without a doubt. I'll bet I just moved the cam a little while installing the belts. I'll find out tommorrow.

I lined the 3 marks up when I timed the cams. I lined the 0 degree mark when I timed the disty. So everything is fine there. I think all the symptoms are still pointing to the fact that I probably just missed the cam timing by a tooth or two. I was kind of rushing to get it back together this time. After I got the timing belts back on I didn't bother rotating the engine several times to make sure the belts settled in where they were supposed to be. I usually do that for good measure but not this time. OOOPS. Guess i'll find out tommorrow whats wrong, i'm gonna rip it all open 1 more time & see what I can find.

I'm sure I had them lined up with the marks but I agree I must've missed them by a little bit. I've done timing belts twice before & always hit the timing right on the nose. So just being even 1 tooth off can affect the operation this much??? I've always kind of wondered about that.

92 Loyale A/T 4WD. Yesterday I finished up the long task of removing the drivers side cam cage so I could pull the lifters & clean them (trying to get rid of the "tick of death"). Well everything is back together & the tick is almost unoticable now BUT the car is running like an old tractor & puffing erradicaly through the exhaust. It's not backfiring & it will idle without having to give it very much extra gas but it's running like 1 or 2 cylinders aren't firing correctly. Today I pulled the spark plugs & they tested fine & so did the plug wires. I set the timing again by turning the flywheel timing marks to zero & making sure the disty rotor was pointing to the #1 cylinder contact. It still ran the same. I even turned the rotor 180 degrees to make sure I wasn't firing on the exhaust stroke. Nope that's not it either. The plug wires are definately on the disty in the correct firing order also. Whats so weird about all this is the car ran fine before the tear down. Is it possible that when I replaced my timing belts, I set the cam timing off a little?? When I timed the cams I put the passenger side mark straight up, then rotated the engine 180 degrees & installed the drivers side with the mark straight up. Afterwards the marks were at 12 & 6 like they should be. BUT I suppose there is the possibility that they weren't exactly at 6 & 12 & may be a tooth or 2 or 3 off. Would that cause this erradic behavior?? Any other ideas??

Ok I finally got those lash adjusters out after several tries & lots of dirty words!! Man were those things stuck!! I found that two of them were siezed to the point of being rock hard. So as an experiment I used a pair of large channel locks & squeezed them down. It took a LOT of pressure & about 5 minutes each but they finally emptied all of the oil. The oil that came out looked like it'd been inside them for quite some time. After they softened up I immersed them in solvent & started squeezing them in & out rapidly for several minutes each. They aren't siezed up at all now so i've put them back in & we'll see tommorow if they work or not. If they do work, I think i've somewhat disproved the theory that siezed lifters are junk. Let's hope my experiment works.

Alright these lash adjusters aren't coming out of their bores!!!!!!! This is getting rediculous. So far i've only gotten 1 out, the other 3 can be spun around freely in their bores but they sure ain't coming out!! That makes NO sense to me!!! I've even tried spraying solvent around them to unstick them but apparently that ain't the problem. Ok I have an idea & tell me if this is possible or way off. Could it be that they're stuck in their bores because of suction behind them, which to me would mean that the oil galleys inside the head, which feed their bores, are clogged. Which in turn would also explain the lack of oil getting to them & causing the terrible ticking? HMMMMMMMMMMM

So basically the HLA's shouldn't be squishy & shouldn't give way easily but they shouldn't be rock hard either?? Hmmm, looks like I've got two of each example. I'm heading out to see if I can get those things out of their bores, they were stuck pretty bad when I tried yesterday & wouldn't budge at all. I just hope I can do something to fix the existing ones because I really can't let the car sit for several days while i'm waiting for a shipment of new ones from "who knows where", I need my wheels. The local Napa parts store said they could get me some by monday but they were $42 each & there's no way in hell i'm paying that much for them. There aren't any suby's in the junk yards in this part of the country either so getting used ones is out of the question.

92' Loyale A/T 4WD. Alright this thing has me about ready to send it to the scrap yard, i've officially had enough!!!! !!!! The oil pump pressure is fine, i've replaced the oil relief valve spring on both banks of the engine, replaced the oil pump gaskets etc, ran all sorts of sea foam etc., trans fluid, & everything else I could think of through the engine. Now I have the cam cage pulled off & i've checked all the oil galleys for obstructions including the oil holes on the cam, & they're all fine. I'm now going to replace the o-ring between the cam cage & head, which seems to give a lot of folks problems, to see if that fixes it. The o-ring doesn't seem to be very deteriorated but i'm gonna replace it anyway. While I was in there, I pushed down on the slack adjusters to test their resistance & the middle two gave way fairly easily but the outer two were absolutely unmovable. Could this be part of the problem?? I tested them while they were still located in the head since I couldn't pull them out, I tried. The "ticking" is only coming from the drivers side bank of the engine, which is the side I have torn apart right now. While I have the cam cage off, are there any suggestions other than the o-ring that I need to do?? Basically this is the LAST (4th) time i'm tearing this car down. If this doesn't fix it, it's getting sent to the tuna can factory or sold to somebody that likes loud cars. A terrible fate for a near mint condition car that only has 128,000 miles on it!!! I WANT MY 89' DL BACK!!!!!!

92' Loyale 4WD A/T 128,000 miles. I was wondering approximately where my oil pressure should be at idle & at highway speed after the engine has been warmed up. It seems to run around 40-45 psi on the highway & at idle it gets very low, like around 10 psi. Of course when the car is cold my pressure is much higher, but i'm more concerned with the "warmed up" pressure. Seems to me the oil pump may be gettin' pretty worn out.