paulpicard

Hi, all. Finally replaced my 84 fwd wagon with a decent 92 Loyale, 5-speed 4wd, and I have (naturally) a small shopping list for you all. 1) Where's the horn located? It doesn't work, and doesn't seem to exist. 2) One door lock is extremely stiff, and the inside lock button is broken in half. Lube or linkage damage? 3) Tilt wheel lever is immoveable. (Top release lever workes fine) Where to start looking? 4) Heater fan has resistor problem (no slow speed) Where to find the resistor? And last but not least I wouldn't mind finding a schematic online. I have run a search on these issues, and apart from the resistor haven't dug up the info. Thanks people.

Well, I do appreciate the good advice, folks. I drove the car tonight. Body is rattier than expected. Front fenders were replaced with rust-free ones and rattlecanned black. W/shield is toast, cat has been gutted, performs OK but not any more powerful than my old carbed 84. Rotors are warped, rear susp. bushing (over the diff?) is bad, rad and water pump are brand new, t-belts done recently along with front brakes and one bearing. Clutch and trans OK. A/C blows cold, heater core is sludged up and not too warm. No one item is a deal-breaker but just too many, plus if my wife won't drive it (too beat-up) no sense buying it. I now know lots more than I did about EA82 cars and I'm gonna keep looking. Thanks again

My 84 "rust n' white" wagon is toast. I'm going to look at a 200,000 KM (120,000 mile) 92 Loyale with what appears to be a lifted suspension, and described as a well-maintained, 4wd, 5-speed, wagon with working A/C, and very little rust!!! Aside from the usual drivetrain cautions (I have done brakes, rad, and C/V's on the old one) what would I look for here? I know the 92 engine is different, but not sure of the details.

Gotta love this stuff - keep it going people:D

OK, better late than never. Pulled the top off the carb and found that the power jet assy. had unscrewed itself at least 2 full turns. No idea whether a backfire could cause this, but I did notice that the Haynes manual says the power jet should be staked in place. Anyway, tightened it down, and it runs fine. Any comments on this?

Don't think I can top those tales - good stuff!! But (Of course there's a but!) last week I was driving my nephew to the 'Hound station some 60 miles north of home when there was a very loud noise from the vicinity of the hood. As there was an unloaded logging truck ahead, I thought he had got on a very loud Jake brake (you NW guys will know what I'm talking about) But nephew says " Uncle, that racket is coming from your car, not the truck" Long story short, #4 spark plug departed the EA81 and I drove the thing very loudly about 15 miles more in time for the nephew's bus. Sounded like an air compressor with a broken hose, and had about as much power. A new plug screwed in and I drove home with no problems. Can't figure out why it still had threads left, but it did. Viva Subaru!!

OK, monstaru, yes, when I rebuilt, the float was carefully set as per the gauge in the kit, and the fuel level as seen through the sight glass is within spec. Desert, yeah that's a valid scenario. Trying for an on-car fix, of course. Does everyone agree that the fuel percolating out of the air bleed jet is not normal? I don't really know what the normal aqppearance would be, since when I rebuilt, it ran fine and I had no reason to stare into the carb and watch the show:brow:

Float level right in the middle of the sight glass. Don't have a Weber hanging around. (I wish!) Anyone else??

Seems I mis-diagnosed my fuel problem (Bang!Dead! July 24) The carb is over-rich - not starving. Raw fuel is visible percolating out of the slow-speed air bleed jet beside the primary venturi, at anything from off-idle to secondary opening. Blubbers, stinks, and barely runs. I'm assuming this isn't normal. Car ran fine before a large backfire last week. (Carb was rebuilt by me recently with no issues since Debris from backfire? Power valve damage? Where to start? )

It runs! The culprit seems to be the rearmost vent or airbleed I described. If I connect it to a vacuum-controlled solenoid it runs fine until full-throttle. Vac. drops,(needs about 10" to open) solenoid closes, carb starves for fuel. (The vent/airbleed next to the fuel inlet is connected to atmosphere with a .050" orifice restrictor plugged into the line.) I can't find out what the proper plumbing should be for this rear vent. I'm guessing that the vac. solenoid has a restricted orifice as well, since the car runs very ragged if this is open to atmosphere. GD, had a chance to look in FSM? Anyone? Please, please???

Definitely no ECU - just the empty mounting bracket. A brown 6-pin and white 4-pin plug are tied off and not connected to anything. Assume they are A/C and cruise harnesses, as the car has neither. I remember also when I installed the manual choke there were no electrical connections left over to wonder about.

GD, I'm not sure - it's a Can. car so maybe not. Tell me where to look under the dash - my Haynes manual is not clear on this nor the vac. line routings and purposes. There is a flat metal container around 4" sq. with a harness under driver's side above fuze box. That it?

OK, let me try and describe what I'm looking at and see if anyone has the answer. Standing in front of the car, looking down on the carb. There are (on my 84 Hitachi EA81) 4 vent lines, all pointing to my right (driver's fender) I need to know where the rearmost one (located on the right rear backside of the top section of the carb), and the next one(located just above and behind the fuel inlet and return lines entry) go, and what they are connected to, as well as what exactly they affect. The other 2, one from beside the bowl vent solenoid and one from the front of the carb, haven't been disturbed. If I connect the rearmost one to the vac. solenoid, the car starves and dies. Open it to atmosphere, and I have good idle and full throttle, poor to no part-throttle response. The second one is connected to a .050" orifice, then atmosphere, and seems to have no effect on things. Anyone? (GenDis - I'm not discounting your needle-seat theory, just trying to work around that next move. SubGuru, your comments seem to maybe point to the same thing, but I don't have a yard within 20 miles. And I still need to know where the h--l these lines go and do.) Anyone??

Me again - spoke too soon. Went to town (5 miles) had to pull the vent hose off as it starved again. Ran ************ty with the vent open, except for idle or into the secondary. Can these little dollar-sized vac. solenoids be damaged by a backfire? In reverse order, GenDis - I concur re:stuck float needle. The carb got a Niehoff kit 3 years ago Shouldn't need another by now, should it? SubGuru, changed out front & rear filters last year to solve high-speed starvation. AZ, no I don't, but then again there seems to be more and more things I don't remember. PM me and remind me.

Well, ignition, distributor, fuel flow, vacuum hoses all checked out. I was baffled. So I disconnected a controlled vent line - the one that exits the top of the carb at the driver's side rear. She farted and started, cleared itself out in a minute or so, and settled down to it's normal 600-700 RPM idle. Hooked the line back up and all seems fine. I'm GUESSING the backfire somehow affected this vent and caused the float to hang up - although there was always fuel from the accelerator pump. This vent line is hooked to a vacuum solenoid and in turn vents to atmosphere through a small orifice (I think!!) Not sure if it's normally open or closed. Any Hitachi experts out there care to comment?

hti, good tip on the distributor. I'll check that. Gas gauge has never worked in this car. I just don't go past 600 km before filling up and zeroing the trip meter. Never ran out yet. Had 180 km on this (full) tank.

Well, now! That's what I call a response. I'll try to answer some of the issues raised, starting with my general experience. I started playing with cars by stuffing a 265 Chev into my pal's 47 Ford. That was before there was a 283, 327, 350, or any other V-8 Chevy. You other O.F.'s will know what I'm talking about. But this old bucket has been here for 5 years now and impressed the hell out of me by it's simplicity and toughness. Not to mention easy to work on. The cam is a gear drive as I see in the Haynes manual. I'll start by doing the timing light/distributor check, then fuel flow after the vapor separator. Assuming the pump will operate when the ign. is hot. The tank was 3/4 full when it backfired and quit, but not today - someone siphoned it dry where I left it yesterday. The backfire was just that - not a mechanical noise, and I would say it was on the exhaust side, not the intake. The ASV is a new one on me, and I'll definitely check that out. Nipper, your comments are noted with thanks. I concur. By the way it has the same symtoms with some replacement gas today. Thanks, we'll see what we find out tomorrow.

84 5-sp. Hitachi carbed wagon. Coming down steep hill today in 2nd. Shift to 3rd at bottom, feed some gas, BANG! backfired and stumbled as if running out of fuel Made it a couple hundred yards and it died. Wouldn't re-start except if cranked at full throttle, and then would barely run, and die if throttle backed off. No evidence of flooding so I think it's fuel starvation. Yes there's gas in the tank. Hot (40C/100F) day today but car runs cool. This carb has worked fine since re-build a couple of years ago, once I sorted out a mis-routed vent hose, and rigged a manual choke. It does backfire slightly during upshifts if I let the throttle close completely during the shift. I hadda leave it where it died till I know where to start looking. This is a pushrod engine so I don't suspect a cam drive problem. Any ideas?

Well, that's pretty unanimous! More specifically, any comments about any particular issues with the 90-94 n.a Legacies apart from the auto trans, which I wouldn't want anyway. For instance I see a motorized shoulder belt in some pics. U.S. market only? Can they be retrofitted to a normal belt? Are the 2.2 n.a. engines all 4-cam 16 valve engines? Is the 4-wheel drive part-time or full-time? Thanks for all your comments, folks, and for the link to the Legacy forum, manarius.

OK, now that I know just how good these Subaru's can be, as well as easy to work on (being an old hot rodder, that's important!!) AND now that the price of gas is what it is, we're thinking seriously of getting an early to mid 90's 5-sp. wagon to replace the Jimmy 4x4. My old rustbucket 84 has taught me a lot, but I need some input from you folks regarding the plus's and minus's of Loyale vs. Legacy models. What to look for, what not to worry about, etc. etc. We live in the Okanagan Valley, BC so we have lots of product to pick from judging from craigslist, etc. We'd lean toward the larger Legacy so fire away and tell us what you think and what to look for. (Rust and worn CV joints no longer bother me!!)

Thanx to all. It's sorted out about as well as can be with the crappy tires/wheels plus I found an 85 4wd/4speed hatch without rust (imagine !!) that might wind up as a replacement. Time to wheel and deal!

AND!!! Be sure you get the various carb vent hoses connected to their respective vacuum-controlled check valves. I can't be more specific, except to say that it took me a year to figure out which went where and cure the intermittent fuel starvation/flooding problems. Maybe someone here has the correct illustrations for this and can post them:confused:

bgd73, interesting tip, but the rump roast end of Mr. Rusto already sits up higher than the front. So I don't think I wanna drop it any more.

OK, toe-in was off some, camber on dr. side is maxed, pass. side in spec. Swapped tires back-to-front. Can't detect any play in leading rod bushings but I may not have wiggled them the right way. Alignment guy said the shake would almost always be tire/wheel related as both ball joints are tight and no looseness detected elsewhere.(All 4 tires are worn on the outside tread, and the rims are very rusty) The shake is much less noticeable now, and not until 120 kmh (75 mph). So I guess I'll live with it until a set of wheels and tires falls into my lap. Any comments?

Car is an 84 1800 cc bare-bones 5-speed wagon. This particular shake wasn't affected by the new driver-side axle and ball-joint. I'll check out the other tips today and report. Thanx people.