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ya, normally that would be a pump sound

In Seattle? There should be plenty of good mechanics!! I'd stop at an autoparts store and pick up a haynes manual or something and read up on the trouble shooting tips for power steering, perhaps that will point you in the right direction.

oh, I guess you didn't ask about the pump, I sorta misread your post... I can see how somebody might not be familiar with the term rack. but its still going to be a tough one to trouble shoot... you might find it easier finding somebody that knows alittle about cars to look at it... like an aquaintence that you don't really know, but think you might sucker them into looking at it... thats always the fun part Good luck.

Rack is the actual hydraulic driven steering mechanism... the pump is what provides the hudraulic pressure to assist the racks movements. No offense, but if you are not familiar with the difference, you may find it hard to trouble shoot this.

although normally fairly obvious... is it possible your belts are slipping? Greased perhaps? I would try idling then popping the hood and listening or watching your tach then turn the wheel. If the engine bogs and the tach drops then its atleast trying. I had a steering rack that was bad internally with the valve network and sometimes it would assist, other times it wouldn't do anything. Not sure how you would identify if it was the pump or the rack though... maybe somebody else has good insight into that! At a quick glance the rack doesn't look TOO difficult to do.

Any luck with that heater core problem? I am having a similar problem and am at the end of my rope. Now it doesn't hit -40 here in maine often, -25 some, but -40 is extreme, but we are at like 30's and I'm getting warm air at best.

Ok, I'm going really crazy again. I have flushed the heater core and it allowed water to go through it both ways, topped off the coolant, replaced the thermostat, checked all the hoses, and it still will not produce constant heat inside the car!!! I find that the heater core lines have hot line on one side and cooler on the otherside... One is farily hot, the other is warm... which leads me to believe that the heat is going someplace inside the car, but its not comming out the vents and certainly is not heating up the interior. The engine is heating up till the thermostat opens, but it doesn't go super high on the temp gauge... little below half way. Any thoughts will be GREATLY appreciated!!

Ok, thanks! Power steering level was good anyways, I really didn't loose much at all, just enough to annoy me Heat is still kinda wimpy. Definitley warmer then it was, but yet wimpy. Would mice crap in the ducts force the air around the core or something? If so how hard would it be to get in there to take a look? And do we have a write up on that... can't say as I remember seeing one. Also, this thing is running 100% better now that I have changed all the ignition, but I still get sometimes a dead spot on the pedal... almost like I have choked it out with air. If I let off alittle it normally catches and goes, other times if I push harder it will cough a couple times, give me whiplash, then take off. Should I run some injector cleaner through this bad boy? By the by, this is a sweet little car, for all its little troubles, I'm really beginning to like it.

Ok, so I replaced plugs, wires, cap and roter and its much better. All of them should have been replaced once I inspected them, so I did. Checked timing too, its dead on. well, 20 degres plus 2 btdc at 700 rpm. Still having trouble with heat. I flushed the heater core and water would go through both ways just fine, but once I put it back together it was still cold. So I ran to the store to get some coolant cause I didn't have any. It took about a 1/4 a gallon of that over some time. It felt warmer on the ride home, but as soon as I put it on defrost and the ac kicked on it was cold. I also noticed that the engine didn't heat up as far with more coolant in it. It took longer to get to warm, and stayed lower once it got there. Air comming out of vents also smells kinda stale, almost like it has amonia or urine in it. Air flow seems good and no real noises, but would heater core blockage be likely? I checked the heater control linkage for the flu there and it is set all the way open when in heat position.

wouldn't it smoke and carbon up if it wasnt' firing? I probably should replace the plugs and wires anyways... and stop being a cheap bastard... just that I bought this car for couple hundred bucks and plan on not caring if it gets wrecked in pot holes and crap that we have up here in maine winters. I was going to take a plug out, but my socket didn't fit well, it fit the plug, but the plugs are so close to the same size as the hole that the socket wouldn't go all the way onto the plug... I was afraid I would strip it or bung it up so I just left it. They look kinda dirty though. Any thoughts on that... somebody put the wrong plugs in maybe?

Oh, also, I have no heat. Car doesn't overheat like in the stuff I have read on here, but the heat just doesn't ever heat up. Car heats up fine, and if I leave the selector at off for a while then turn it on I get a blast of heat for like 5 seconds then it turns cold. Sounds like a plugged heater core to me. This common? Can I just run some water through it backwards?

Shes ALIVE!!!! Ok, for all those who said that was an hour job, your either season veterans at changing them on yours and everything is allready half out, or my car is just a pain. One thing is for sure, bolts were tight as they should be, but as soon as they broke loose, they were finger loose. Everything came out well, I had a heck of a time getting the ac compressor loose... the manual failed to mention two bolts at the bottom behind the engine fan. That plus the stupid fan itself posed to be the most difficult. But, I did find what was wrong with the car. It did have brand new timing belts, but the drivers side tensioner was shot and it ate the belt. So it took me a while but I found a tensioner and put it in, and now it runs fine. I have a high pitch whine every once in a while from it now, I think maybe power steering? I accidentally pulled the bolts for the reservoir not knowing that it would leak and stuff, I just wasn't paying attention I guess. I'll check that, I'm assuming just normal power steering fluid will make her happy right? Ok, so I am fairly impressed with this little car. It seems to be well put together, but maybe there is something wrong with mine but the engine seems to vibrate alot during accelleration, and it seems to have very little power. (but it was like that before) Any thoughts on that?

ya, its definitely the drivers side belt, but I'm doing both saturday hopefully. Bolts are rusty, but the few I took out on covers came with little resistance. I find your starter and socket funny, I have only heard one other with that idea, and it worked slick, but I prefer to try breaker bar myself first. Oh, you guys hold the crank from turning how? Haynes wants me to remove starter and use the flywheel... I think thats dumb... I was thinking fifth gear and that crazy front wheel ebrake should do the trick.

wow, you guys make it sound too easy! Hope it ends up being the way for me. I'm planing on hitting it up this saturday, I'll check out that other write up in the mean time!!! Thanks again.

Ok, I will try that this weekend then. Side note. I did pull the top bolts on the two covers(I now see how the covers work.. I was looking at them wrong.) and passengers side belt is fine, but drivers is blown... I will replace both hopefully this weekend. Thanks a million guys!!

if you're confused and think the a/c or alternator is in the way then you need someone else to work on it for you. Ouch! In the 10 minutes I have had to look the thing over since my 6 am fiasco, the alternator and ac compressor appear in the way, not to mention the book very specifically states that you have to remove them both to get at the cover (although I realize that they are often overkill on removing things). I assure you I am expirienced enough to change timing belts, I have done it several times, but I will admit that I am not expirienced or familiar with the seemingly backwards manufacturing of subarus, which not ment as a slam, but rather everything that is on this car appears to be exact opposite of how my american cars are built (exp. spare tire, e-brake, trunk latch, and whats with not having an exhaust manafold anyways ). Well long story short, atleast the drivers side timing belt is toast... don't know about the passengers yet, but that doesn't matter until I get in there anyways, at which point I would be a rather dumb mechanic to not replace both anyways. Thanks guys for your help, I am still looking for info on how to do the engine codes... I unplugged that brown(I think) test connector, and turned the key on and it did nothing and the check engine light never came on. so I plugged it back in and turned the key on and the red light flashed 5 shorts for the car type... I must be missing something. Any thoughts there?

it seemed to be working fine before just dieing. It does sound alittle like a sewing machine, and it seems to have a knock or two. Mostly I have concluded that it just absolutely has 0 power whatsoever, but that maybe because I'm used to my summer car with a farily high hp to weight ratio. Those covers appear to dissapear under the crank pully.. I can't see how I can get them off without taking out atleast the ac and alternator, perhaps even the fans. Oh, I am assuming by the way we have been discussing this, this is a non-interfearence motor. thanks!

Maine is a rough state on inspection... its all tree huggers for government here. When I changed the oil, as soon as I pulled the plug, it overshoots that little access hole through the skid plate and lands on the other side of the hole, evenly distributing oil all over the underside of the engine and skid plate as well as my arms, close, creeper, and floor. Needless to day, I was alittle pissed off. I have been a big time american car buyer for many reasons, but I decided to take this car as a chance to see first hand the "longevity and reliability of foreign cars" Taking the covers off looks harder then just a few bolts... I can't even get my hands in there let alone remove the covers. Upon quick inspection this morning I conclude that somebody has had it all off before as the 10 mm bolts you speak of are not fully in, and the fan's also have bolts not all the way in. I wonder if somebody beat the piss out of this thing and didn't know how to fix broken crap. I won't have time till this weekend atleast to try to take the covers off, but I will try then. Thanks!!!

Ok, so I purchased a 93 loyale in july to use as my winter car this year. Thing was in pretty good shape minus some serious outer shell rust. I picked away at the body and got that nice and clean. I replaced the drive axle on the front left (twice due to a bad part). So I go to get it inspected, it fails twice for oil on oil pan(which I feel is due to the skid plate which I'm sure your all aware of) a small pinhole in the exhast which I never heard or saw, blown rear strut which I never saw, a ball joint which we couldn't get to shake... so I got some of those fixed (not the ball joint, they were just looking for business I think) and took it to the 3rd place and they poped it on their immediately. Sweet! But then I went to drive it home... 2 hours into the drive it dies on the side of the highway. After getting a truck and flatbed to move it the rest of the way, getting the stupid truck and trailer with my loyale in it stuck in the mud and getting the state popo's to pull it out, I got home at 6 am. So, now whats wrong with the friggin thing? It just sputtered a few times and died out... I suspect timing belt. Does this sound right, and what are we looking at for a job. I have looked at the job in my haynes, but anything else I would look for? Any way to tell if its the belt? I suppose I could check compression. Also, it had the check engine light on in it which I figured was for either bad battery which it had, or o2 sensor or something. I followed the instructions in the haynes on reading the codes off the 02 light in the ecm, but all I could get it to do is puls the 5 short flashes for car type. I'm sorry I know some of this could probly be found with alittle more searching, I have done alittle, but I am really pressed for time right now. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I should cut bait now or keep with it. I have heard they are really good cars, but I have done nothing but fix stuff since I got it. The heat also blows hot sometimes, I think there is a clog in the heater core. Thanks!