zyewdall

I know that there used to be a forester on here with a dual range tranny and a lift. But, they aren't that common, for sure. I found this one really cheap because the transmission is toast (4th gear is completely gone, and all the others grind pretty bad). And, I've always liked the older subies better because of the dual range 4wd.... but I'm realizing that I also like the more powerful EJ engines, fuel injection, working air conditioning, nice sound systems, etc that the new subarus have... so it seemed like the perfect chance to take the older transmission and put it in a newer subaru. Same transmission/flywheel adaptor stuff as putting an EJ22 into an old subaru except I won't have to do any wiring. Maybe a custom driveshaft. '93 FWD impreza axles should match the stubs on the old transmission I hear. Some of the guys from CCR in Denver are going to do the swap for me. Style-wize I still like the EA81's better, but the 95-99 Legacies and Imprezas are not bad either (except for the front bumper.... that's going to need a brush guard added I think....) Z

Sounds like the vacuum solenoid that activates the diff lock died -- so even though it's getting a 12 volt signal, it's not letting the vacuum through to activate the diff lock. The other solenoid that deactivates the diff lock is still working, which is why the button still works to deactivate it. This is essentially what just happened to the pushbutton 4wd on my justy -- it will still go into 4wd, but to get out of 4wd, you have to swap the vacuum hoses under the hood. When I tested the two solenoids, the one that should send vacuum to the 2wd vacuum hose doesn't do anything when it gets power. Z

I've had just the low beam relay go out on subaru's before, so the high beams still wrorked, but no low beams (even though the low beam filiments were both still good).

Missing high and low beams, or just one?

The legacy is probably completely different -- it's a much heavier car than the Loyale. Any spring from an '85 and up EA82 4wd (and maybe 2wd ones?) should be the same though. The 88 turbo wagon would qualify Where are you located? Z

The thing is, the roll pin hardly does anything. On my cars at least, the axle won't slide out enough to slide off the transmission stub unless you Really flex the suspension. I've used zip ties in place of the roll pin for a little while. So... roll pin or not, if it fell off, sounds like something else is wrong.

Exactly the same symptoms as mine ('90 legacy). I tried to clean the IAC valve last week, but a friend has been driving it since then, so I don't know if that helped it or not. He's giving it back today, so I'll check. Z

Took the new OBS out on some forest service roads on the way back from work this evening. It did well... not as much clearance as the old GL, but the EJ22 sure does have more torque. It still has the stock transmission in it now -- it's going to be nice with the dual range transmission (there was one or two bumpier sections where I would have liked the low range just to go slower over the rocks). I couldn't feel the wheels slipping at all even in the steepest snowiest stuff (none really steep or really snowy... but still) When I get the dual range transmission in there I'll post a call to see if anyone in Colorado wants to do a switzerland trail run. I'm interested to see how it does compared to the older subies in the snow and off road -- probably not comparable to a lifted GL with an EJ22 swap, but I bet it will do pretty well. And... I completely yoinked the driver's door on it this morning -- pulled into the warehouse bay to unload some stuff, then backing out I didn't notice the driver's door swung open and caught it on a bollard outside the garage door. ack. It looks okay, but it won't close now because the hinges are bent.

A friend of mine wants to sell his jeep and his motorcycle and get a WRX wagon instead. He's already got several 4wd trucks, and an AWD minivan, but he wants a sports car... that could also take a few car seats for the kids, and a bunch of carpentry tools if necessary. Has to be all wheel drive because of the winters up here. WRX is the obvious choice that he came to What is he probably looking at for around $8 to $9k? I don't know alot about them, except that another friend has a '05 Saabaru, that seems to be a very nice car. But, those are a little higher price range, I think. Input?

That particular boot seems to be a problem on every subaru I've owned or worked on (EA81's, EA82's, legacies, impreza's, everything....). I think it's because it's right over the where the y-pipe comes together in the cat, and it gets cooked. When it does go, it helpfully throws grease on the cat, to make horrible smells

If hauling stuff is a major reason, the legacy wagon or legacy outback might be a better bet -- they do have a bit more space than the impreza based models. But, I just got a '97 OBS because I didn't want something as large as the legacy, and it's pretty fun. Ridiculously fast (keep in mind that I've been driving 80's subaru's for years, and am used to having to keep them floored 80% of the time just to keep the speed limit -- the OBS you actually get in trouble if you keep it floored all the time, even on hills). It feels faster than the '07 outback wagons that we have for company cars, but those are automatics. It does feel like a very dense car compared to the older subarus, or even the 1st gen legacies. I haven't driven it enough to get a check on the mileage yet and I suspect it's kind of bad right now since I'm missing 4th gear and the transmission is grinding horribly (new dual range transmission going in soon). But I'm hoping if I can keep my foot out of it that it'll do at least 30 highway and 24ish around town (the old GL wagon got 30 highway and 26 around town, and a 1st gen legacy I have gets 30 highway and 24ish around town)

I'm running that size on my '97 impreza outback right now -- seems to do great. They are a tad bigger than the 15" low profile tires that are stock. EDIT: Actually, they are 195/75/R14's I'm running. I have run the 185/75/R14's on a '90 legacy and they are a little taller than stock, but work fine too. Z

Yeah. $20 each for 14 and 15" steelies from Superrupair in Boulder. I just got a set for my impreza's snow tires. I don't know if they'll ship them or not.

Be careful it's for an EA82 and not an EA81... wasn't the hatch produced till '89, with the EA81??

There isn't anywhere specializing in subaru's back east? Here in Boulder, steelies are $80 a set, and they have piles of them, at the subaru shop.

Why not just buy a pre-'84 toyota corolla if you want a cute old japanese wagon with rwd?

If it happens to have more weight on the front tires than the rear tires, torque bind would show up as the rear tire skipping on turns, even though it really has nothing to do with the rear end. It's just that the different ends are wanting to turn different speeds and can't due to the torque bind, and the rear is the one that skips first.

They're selling for twice that in that condition (maybe less dents and rust) here. Check for torque bind... if there isn't any signs of that, it sounds good.

So.... it just started doing this a few weeks ago -- when you do a cold start (anytime engine has sat overnight, doesn't have to be a cold morning, though it's a little worse on days below freezing) it will start immediately, like always, and rev up to maybe 1500-1800rpm. Then it will cut out and almost die (400rpm) then, rev back up, then almost die, then rev up. It does this alternate revving up and almost dieing every 2 or 3 seconds for a few minutes till it warms up enough. It runs great other than that (30mpg highway, 25mpgish around town), and has never failed to start... just can't warm up very well. Is this related to the idle air control maybe (what exactly is that anyway??) or cold start enrichment (which is what I'd suspect if it wouldn't warm up at all, but the on-off nature of it doesn't seem to be a failing temp sensor). One other piece of info that may or may not be relevant is that the y-pipe has a fairly good exhaust leak, so the oxygen sensor in the cat may not be seeing everything... but I'd think that would affect it more in closed loop after it warmed up, rather than open loop when it first started ?? EDIT: more info: No check engine light (except once when I forded a deep stream, and it went away when the engine dried out). manual transmission. About 140k miles on the engine (190k on the body). New air filter, but I haven't looked at the plugs or wires or anything -- runs great once it's warmed up so I haven't suspected them. Thanks

I've seen that behavior on alot of my subarus..... other cars, I'm not sure about, since none of them even have a voltmeter

I had 195/75/R14's on my '89 GL wagon, and only minor rubbing issues. Anything larger than that, and you'd need some modifications.... I also stuck them on my '82 wagon and they looked about the same, but it doesn't have an engine, so I couldnt' actually try it out.

Yeah... compared to doing them on a VW the subaru's are easy to disconnect from the transmission. Just remove the roll pin and slide them off the stub. It's getting them back through the hub that's the pain.... Z

It is the engine code, but most of us use it to refer to the body style, since in the US at least, it is fairly consistent which engines were used in which bodies. The Loyales are the EA82

I just call them all station wagons.... people love it when you call their $60k mercedes SUV a station wagon

The low range on a subaru is actually a planetary gearset on the input shaft of the transmission, rather than a reducer on the output of the transmission -- completely different end of it. It's not nearly as low as having an external transfer case like the jeep, but it's nice to be able to shift in and out of low range and 4wd at any speeds.