zyewdall

Well. Head gaskets went today. It did awesome in the 3 feet of snow we had last weekend, was the only thing I could get out for a while (not through the whole three feet, but even plowed roads were slick and nasty and covered with crap). But now.... all of a sudden the oil is two quarts low, and the antifreeze looks like shaving cream. Ugh. Didn't overheat above 2/3 on the gauge though, so maybe still fixeable. It was a fun car while it lasted Still got my 99 outback though.

The old F150 did not like -18F and shredded it's serpentine belt when I started it, so subaru got pressed into hauling a little firewood. It was up to about -6F when doing the wood.

I'm thinking the combination switch may be bad and that may be the issue with the lights. I don't have running lights either (but I do through the switch on the top of the steering wheel, just not when I turn the headlights on with that switch). Hmmmm.

What manufacturer would I look for? I don't see any part numbers with 770 or 642 in them. Looking at Fel-Pro and a number of other brands that claim multilayer steel gasket. But I've only ever done head gaskets on an EA82 before, a long time ago....

Ah.... This was a Vermont car for a while before it came to Colorado, so yes, way way rustier than I'm used to seeing. Though not nearly as bad as on some Pittsburgh ones I've seen. Dimmer doesn't have any effect on the dash lights... thought of that too. Just had a shop take a look at it to see what else wrong there might be (mostly to check for stuff that's easier on the lift like cv's and tie rods and balljoints and whatnot), and they say the oil leak is coming from the head gasket, not just valve covers.... either the previous owner was lying, or wherever did the head gasket job did a crappy job of it. Still runs fine and no overheating evidence yet... but that sucks.

Just got this one. newest subaru I've ever owned 2.5x, automatic transmission (not my favorite, but it'll get me around) Mostly, it's a 18 year old subaru, so it doesn't look great (photo looks way better than reality unfortunately) and it runs through snow great, which is what I got it for. Needs new snow tires for sure... the fronts are almost bald, and it was still going through the snow fairly well, but would not steer well... Getting a set of Sumitomo ice edges studded up next week. 206k miles. Previous owner said the head gaskets were done about 3 years ago. Biggest issues so far is the horrible smell -- previous owner was a cigarette smoker, so I need to shampoo the interior, then do an ozone treatment on it, to see if I can get the stench to go away. But next two issues are no lights on the dashboard at night, and drivers side window does not go up or down. I cannot find any blown fuses, so am wondering what to check next for the lights. All the other lights that I can see work, but none of the dash lights -- gauges, hvac controls, etc. It has an aftermarket radio, so maybe someone did something when installing that? For the window regulator, how hard is it to just replace that? if it's that, and not just a switch issue. Thanks Zeke

Just got a new subaru (new to me 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback 5MT This is my 11th subaru I think (mostly 80's stuff, but also had some other legacies over the years). It's already had a head gasket job done, and runs pretty good. But, the odometer and speedometer are intermittent. When they work, they work fine -- no wiggly needles or anything. But then they just stop working sometimes (about 2/3 of the time it seems) -- odometer doesn't turn at all and speedometer stays at zero. Any ideas on whether this is likely to be a cable issue, or in the gauge itself? Driving on washboard for a few miles actually made it start working. Had to hit a few trails on the way home. Nothing severe but it did pretty well. New General Grabber AT2 tires, 205/75/R15. Nice and quiet on the highway, and seem pretty good offroad too. Thanks. Zeke

It'll be weekend before I can get pictures. Been leaving for work before dawn and getting back after dark this week.

Ward, Colorado.

My neighbor has three gl wagons that he's going to scrap very soon. An 80 with a bad tranny, 81 with bad head gaskets and another parts '81. Not bad rust on any of tHem, but some of course and dents and such. All 4wd manual transmission. Anyone want to save them for like $75 each (scrap price?). Wish I had room.

Thinking about this..... Work trucks I've had before: 1998 Ford Ranger 4wd 1994 F250 diesel ex-cab 4wd 1984 Mitsubishi diesel 4x4 truck with tool topper 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab 4wd hemi 1989 Subaru GL wagon 1956 2 ton chevy 16' flatbed (only when really needed because it gets 4mpg). I do solar electric work -- and will be switching to more off grid remote stuff, and less in town grid-tie stuff. Most of the time, I'm hauling a bunch of electrical tools, some ladders, and maybe 500lbs or less of materials. Some long 10 foot stuff so a roof rack or a 10 foot+ flatbed is good. 4wd is essential. The 3/4 ton truck was nice because you could haul LOTS of stuff... but honestly, I only used it's real capacity a few times a year, and it got 14mpg and was a pain to park anywhere. And I do a lot of driving on dirt roads, and the subies (I've owned about a dozen of them) ride so much better on dirt roads -- you still have your teeth and spinal disks after a day working out in the boonies The mitsubishi was my favorite, but it wore out and they don't make them any more.... the ranger was nice, but didn't get great mileage, and also wore out. The old GL suby was actually fairly good work truck, but sometimes I wished I had an "outside" pickup bed because of hauling old leaking batteries and such. The new dodge is the current one, but it's a company truck, not mine, and it's really kind of big as well for most days -- still hard to park in town. I'm looking at starting my own venture, so would need my own truck... price of the used baja's is about in the range. I like the idea of getting 20's for mileage instead of teens, and I do have other trucks for the few days a year when I need to haul 8,000lbs or something. Anyone out there who has used a baja (or outback) as a work truck got feedback on this? Thanks Zeke

So... the Justy is not happy. It died on the road the other day, and the local suby shop looked at it. It's a 1991 Fuel injected 4wd 5 speed btw. Symptoms have been an intermittent CEL for crank angle sensor for a while -- then I replaced the distributor about a year ago, and it has had a constant crank angle sensor code since then. But it still ran and drove. A little bit of high rpm hesitation sometimes, and lousy gas mileage though -- like 29mpg, and it usually got more like 33 to 36 before the CEL. Then, all of a sudden, it wouldn't rev at all -- would idle okay though, and limp along at 5mph at idle. But the slightest bit of throttle would make it almost die instead of revving up. I suspected bad fuel filter, as it was acting like fuel starvation, but filter seems to pass fuel. Oddly, I got it run much better by advancing the distributor quite a bit -- enough to get up to 40mph or so. The shop looked at it and said it needs a new distributor, engine temperature sensor for the computer, O2 sensor, and they also found a vacuum leak which they did replace. $800+ to replace all of that, so I just drove it home instead. I'll get the parts and do it myself... the question is, what parts, and could it still be something else? Sensors are cheap if I do them myself, so that's a no brainer, but the distributor is the worrisome one. In particular, I'm worried that its the distributor wiring harness, not the distributor itself that is bad, because replacing the distributor once didn't help. My parts car is a carbureted one, so different disty, so I can't try that. I guess I could go back to the original disty and see if it goes back to an intermittent CEL. Oh... and one more not so good thing, I think. After it's all up to temp, the oil pressure light flickers and goes on at idle. I need to put a real mechanical gauge on there to see what it really is, whether it's really bad oil pressure at idle, or bad sender or light. Only about 30k on a rebuilt engine. But, if it really does have bad oil pressure at idle, is it worth fixing the other issues... and why would it be bad after only 30k. What do you think?

I might have a chance to get one for free.... except it's 700 miles from me, so wondering if I could resell it to be worth the hassle of picking it up. It's a late 70's subaru FE coupe, no rust or bad dents, missing the windshield, ran when it was parked about 10 years ago, but needed brakes, apparently. Interior is not great shape since it's been sitting outdoors with no windshield for a while (in Arizona). Wondering if this would be worth 5 or 6 hundred maybe, to be worth the hassle of going to get it. Z

Good ideas. It definitely sounds like it's misfiring when warming up and only running on all four cylinders later. I have a friend in town who also has an '81 GL, and his has had a lot of problems with shorts in the wiring

My 1981 GL wagon is suddenly displaying a lack of low end power. It's completely stock, except for an MSD ignition. New plugs and wires last year. It runs decently, though always was rough till it warmed up. 240k on it, so everything's pretty old... The last two weeks we've been driving it a lot more because of the floods -- it handles the mud and bad roads a lot better than the prius It just started having issues and running out of power if you try to accelerate under 2000rpm. Above 2000 it still seems okay, but under, it seems to drop off very suddenly. There's one hill on a jeep trail that it used to happily crawl up in 1st low, or zoom up in 1st high if you gave it more gas... now you have to keep the rpms up at 2500rpm or more in 1st low to even get up it, and no chance of getting up in 1st hi. Also, an odd smell when it bogs down... kind of in between fuel and something getting too hot. Ideas on what to check? Another possible symptom is a lot of backfiring in the exhaust when going downhill under engine braking. It always used to do this some, but it seems like more now. Though not as bad as my '76 ford courier pickup... that backfired so bad in the exhaust that it split the muffler apart. And, I went through a big stream/puddle about a foot or a little more deep, and it wasn't happy.... wasn't water in the disty which is what I suspected, but the idle got really rough and it really lacked power for a minute or two after that. But... I went through the same puddle three more times, and it was okay those times.... Thanks Zeke

Wondering if this is anyone on the board. Looks like a divorced t-case and yota axles maybe? I'm wondering what engine is in it. A friend posted a picture of it on facebook.

I'll get better pics up... I was leading my buddy in his toyota pickup ('94 or so) on a jeep trail up peaceful valley, and he gave up and parked before I did Maybe it was that y rocker panels are already rusted out so I don't care too much about occasionally hitting them on rocks. I've been teaching my girlfriend to drive it offroad -- so far, other than stalling it a few times on steep hills and driving right over the bumpiest rocks, she's doing quite well. She took her mom offroading last week.

1981 GL, 4wd wagon, EA81 engine MSD module is a 5200 -- came on a 1967 landrover that's going to disel so I don't need it there any more. I'm wondering if I could put it on the suby. We're talking about selling the '99 and using the '81 as the daily driver instead (finances.....one of the two has to go, and the '81 actually handles the winters up here better -- low range in the snow). So trying to get the stock '81 running as well as possible. Z

I test drove the 2012 impreza too... pretty nice. The new 2.0 liter engine is supposed to get quite a bit better mileage... like 35+ highway (the new ratings are a little odd... giving a range of 33 to 39 for the 5MT, instead of just a single number -- probably more realistic...) It was too expensive though... I didn't have a down payment or trade, so it was going to be $309/mo) Z

That's totalled? Wow. My '99 legacy must be really totaled (uninsured driver and no police response so I was out of luck). My B pillar is mashed back at least and inch and a half and neither door closes quite properly. But I've been driving it like that for 9 months because I don't have an option. If I was up in WA, I'd buy it from you, salvage title and all, for the difference between what they offered for a total vs keep it. FYI, when I wrecked my '97 OBS a few years ago, and the other parties insurance totaled it, I only got $2600 for it... around blue book for 240k miles, but still not really what I was hoping for (considering it had a dual range transmission in it... Z

NICE!! I've done that trail in the Ford Sasquatch a few times, and a Discovery once, but that's gutsy doing the lake crossing in a suby... I always wanted to take my '81 GL wagon up there though. I took the stock Justy a good mile or so in from the Beaver Resevoir gate once too No low range so I couldn't go farther (jeep in front of me was going too slow).

I'll check the big vacuum hose again... There is a CEL, but this started happening before that... I'll pull the codes (I'm pretty certain it's a rear O2 sensor code) Good question on the plugs and wires... I thought I replaced them about a year and a half ago, but that might have been a different suby now that I think about it (the problem with having several....)

This is driving me nuts.... 1999 Legacy Brighton wagon, 2.2 phase II, 5MT. Around 160k. It has developed an intermittent dead spot on the throttle -- it idles fine and does not stall, and if you floor it, it pulls very nicesly -- but it in between, it will just cut out when you are driving, then cut back in if you push the accelerator farther down... let it up a little, and it cuts out again. It jerks the whole car when it's doing this (whiplash anyone? Sometimes it doesn't do it at all.... (usually when I'm doing a test drive to try to figure it out...) and sometimes it seems like it only has off and floored as options... which is really obnoxious driving on flatter roads where it doesn't need to be floored. So far.... I've replaced the TPS, and cleaned the MAF -- that seemed to help for a few days, then it was back. It's been doing it for about a year now, and getting progressively worse. It seems to be worse when it's first started, and better after an hour or two of driving (we did a 3,000 mile trip in it recently). I haven't replaced the fuel filter, but it's not acting like a bad filter, because it runs fine when you floor it, but not in between. I'd expect a bad filter to be worst under the highest throttle (or at least when I've had them before, they behave that way) Got any ideas? I'm going to try to get a used MAF and try that... but other than that, I'm stumped.

Update... still doing it.... replaced the TPS, and no effect (used TPS). I cleaned the MAF and it got better for about a week, then back to normal.... hmmmm..... Just drove it for a 3000 mile road trip, and it did okay, but it's still doing it. Mileage averaged around 25mpg -- low was 20mpg tank at 80mph, air conditioner blasting, going from Yakima to Spokane. High was 33mpg at 45mph touring through Yellowstone with the windows open.

That 2.2 liter engine is good, if the maintenance was kept up. One of subaru's best engines according to most people. I got 330k on one of them before it starting going out, and 240k on another one (was still running fine when it was wrecked). On the other hand, I have one now that only has 160k that is smoking (poor maintenance history...) and a friend blew hers up at less than 100k (driving it on the highway in 2nd gear, 8,000 rpm). With good maintenance, I'd expect over 200k at the very least. Is it a manual or automatic? The one impreza I've owned had the manual tranny go out around 200k, but I've had better luck with the manual legacy trannys (which might be the same, I might have just gotten a bad one). For an automatic, the big thing to check is torque bind... if it hops when going in a tight circle, it probably has torque bind, which is not good -- usually a sign of running mismatched tires on it. All imprezas are full time all wheel drive -- I don't know of any that had selectable two wheel drive.