DaveT

Don't wait for those to leak. If they are over 5 years old replace them. Run low on coolant = new headgaskets. (at a minimum)

The power windows in my 90 quit working a while back. The main 12V feed *wire* that goes from the frame harness to the door switch went open. I just ran a seperate wire in it's place.

I've been running 3ATs since about 1990. In CT. Amsoil synthetic ATF helped the cold shifting considerably. Another thing I've noticed, is that aftermarket vacume modulators seem to shift differently than oem.

I'm looking for the tool / tools to remove the camshaft seals, & front crank seal on a 2001 Forester. (actually, should work on any seal) I've searched online & forums a bit, not much luck other than pics for o-rings and rear main crank seals for engines w/split seals. I saw a mention of a tool from sears in a timing belt thread, but a visit to the sears website drew a blank. I have used pointy screws on other things sucsessfully, but there isn't enough metal around the edge to get a bite. Anyone have the name / model / etc of a good tool for this? Thank you

Could you be talking about the EGR solenoid? Behind the thermostat housing. Under the intake air duct. What code are you getting?

Closest I ever came was our 90 Loyale. Bought it when it was 2 years old. It only had 15K miles. I prefer to let someone else take the big hit on the price, and the higher taxes. With all the older ones, (price range from $150 - $5000) I never had anything wrong that was even close to the difference of buying a used vs new car.

yeah, I was being vague.

As long as the air paths have the same function (w/power & w/o power) it should work. I use these, and they aren't from a Subaru: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/solenoid.html

I've had a few apart, as far as I know they all do.

Anything but a Briggs or similar noisy air cooled engine. My generators: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/gen.html The small one purrs - can hardly hear it inside. The big one is about the same as a big american car on fast idle.

Also check the wheel alignment. The other stuff mentioned needs to be checked first, before bothering with alignmnet..

It must be rare, but the clock in my 90 still works, never broke. This does not apply to any of the other Subaru clocks I have. Including 6 other Loyale / GL and our 01 Forester.

Or do this: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/solenoid.html

Been a long time since I touched anything older than an EA82... A rough / starter idea: Drill & tap into some part of the broken piece, or catch a bolt head on the edge of a passageway in the stuck piece. Use a pry bar against a nut on the bolt. You may need 2 or 3 locations to work it out. It must come straight out or it will bind. Turning the piece might help. I remember some of them being looser & tighter at different angles.

I made one. Rebuilt engine, mount to a spare tranny, fired it up. Makes retorqueing the heads easier.

WD40 is too thin, evaporates. I have used this stuff: http://www.hammerite-automotive.com/ Good on the inside of doors & panels & rockers & fenders. Metal does not have to be clean for it to stop the rust. I have used it on my hitches, years later, when moving the hitch to the next car, no problems with rusted bolts. CT salted roads in winter. I just applied POR15 to some rear end parts. Much more involved process. I'm thinking POR 15 the outside, Waxoyl the inside. One of my cars years ago had the oil leak going on, that side of the car was rust free, but messy.

Assuming it's a no rust body, that's a $2000.00 car that should be reliable for a long while. I'd drop a grand on parts for my "new" 87 if I need to, since it should be around for 10 years. If anything takes it out early, they go into the next one.

One of the pre EA82 engines I ran it in was good, but pretty gunky. I don't remeber how long it was, maybe a year or few, when I took the rocker covers off it was clean! The Amsoil filters are rated for finer filtration and longer change intervals. Warranty? WTF is a warranty? Out of 10 cars, 2 had warranties. After 90 days, I convert. Takes that long to get projects in the que. I'm not running synthetic in my beater, just used oil & cheap oil since it burns over 1qrt / week. Handy way to get rid of old oil. Synthetic or not depends on all the variables. For me, saving the time not doing oil changes makes it worth it.

What I have gathered is that way back when the first attempts with synthetic were made, there were problems with the oil damaging seals. Somethin about the formulation, etc.. As far as I know, this wouldn't apply to current synthetics. I have switched 3 high milage EA82s to synth. 1) 1978 1600 4x4 wagon. 1 loyale - my 1990 was switched when we bought it with 15K miles. I use the Amsoil bypass filter & air cleaner & engine filter also. NEVER changed the oil in that car. Only added ocasionally. Around 170K miles took the engine out to do a reseal. Checked some of the bearings, etc. All well in the standard sizes. Crosshatch still on cylender walls. I don't baby the car. Big loads. Towing. 5-6K RPM getting on highway. OK, you can have the same results with regular oil, 3K changes. But I didn't spend all the time and / or money to do them. I did the math back when, it doesn't take too long to break even on the cost / return on investment. No problem with leaks. Some had leaks, some leaked eventually - years later, like they all do - 190+ degrees doesn't make the seals last forever. No burning oil problems. Never had an engine failure - other than timing belts or electric related. I also use the sythetic ATF & gear lube. Only repair to the much maligned 3AT trasmissions in 4 cars has been the vacuume modulator. Can you drive around for a week with regular oil and water mixed in the crank case? (50/50 by the end - long story, stupid oops) And the engine still runs good after new gaskets. Burns oil, but that was caused by the run-dry overheat that caused the coolant leak... Just things that I have done / seen / experienced with 4 EA 82s over almost 20 years.

The rears on a 4WD are different than the front - they are tapered roller bearings. Here is the tool to unscrew the nut on the inside, that holds the bearings: http://www.etoolcart.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=275

Parts of a bearing: Inner race Rollers / balls Cage - keeps the rollers / balls from touching. Outer race

If you open the system, or it hasn't been working for a long time due to lack of freon, it needs to be vacuumed. Quite a while ago, I posted on how to make your own vacuume pump from an old air conditioner. The dye is a good idea, it makes finding the leak much simpler.

Her's how I deal with that - Take covers off - clean rust off bolts -reasemble with anti-seize. Don't over tourque on assembly. No problem next time in. I have been running my 90 beater car without covers since about mid -06 with no trouble. Street only.

If you are talking about a long right turn, and you take it at a good speed, in a SPFI EA82, there is a Subaru modification kit that fixes this problem.