robertwheeler

Just a quick update. I now own this car. Its gonna need a bit of work but its better then the Buick I just junked. Robert

You were right about the gasket. I examined very closely the new but failed gasket and the gasket that Napa offers. The material in both is very similar but the Napa gasket is just a hair thicker and there is a metal seal around the inner part of the gasket.... to give it strength. The Other Gasket didn't have this last part and was just too weak and very unforgiving of thread problems. I went out to buy some new bolts as per the Specifications mentioned on this thread a few posts back..... and I made a somewhat Unusual discovery. My Brother when he tried to tap these bolt holes forgot to take into account the depth of the original threads and when he tried to tap it... he used a smaller tap then the original threads and I think it has left most of the original thread intact... if not 100% perfect... still there. He ended up chasing the threads but with an SAE Tap I got this car over the weekend and registered it today. It needs a bit of work but Its quite drivable... with a bit of care. Needs 3 tires.... rear brakes and rotors.. and of course the exhaust work... and I think I have a handle on that.... in no small part with help from here Robert

That would be great. Im thinking there might be a way to use the 2 extra holes to add some strength to the original bolts.... maybe i can get a universal flange and put it over and fit it to those bolts or maybe some big fender washers... I think I will eventualy try to tapp these things out the right way.. but its too cold these days... and no garage Robert

Does anyone know the specifications for the original bolts? Thanks Robert

Hi Just a small silly question here..... is there a donut for this flange? He is using aftermarket gaskets and they keep blowing out.... A missing donut would explain this. Thanks for your comments Robert

Drat. I guess I wasnt thinking.... the flange is a solid pipe.... so it would need to be cut and then welded.... anyone ever use helicoil on these? Robert

It would be great if the threads are intact... but I would be happy even if I had to tap it myself. The nice thing about the spare bolt holes.... I can make sure the threads are OK and all that.... and I don't think I need to drop the flange that's on there now at all... until i'm ready at least. Lets assume the threads are good.... and I use thread lock... It seems these just come lose again.... Seems this would be a great place to convert to stud's and if I had an ark welder these could be neatly tacked on... Ive seen how fast that gasket blows out if its loose... the after market manufacturer's gasket is pretty bad... is the original any better? Thanks Robert

Hey there In a week or 2 this car will be mine My brother decided (against my advice) to try and tap the bolt holes on the exhaust manifolds for slightly larger bolts.... I told him the threads still felt good.. but the bolts shake loose.... try thread lock (hi temp)... instead he destroyed the threads. My Brother says there seems to be an extra set of bolt holes on the manifold.. at least on the driver side... I havent had a chance to follow this up yet... but is there a backup set of bolt holes on this manifold? Thanks Robert

Thanks for all of your help! Most of all reading your notes gave me the confidence to do this job... and while it certainly did solve one problem it also proved another one. Working off the ground with Basic tools this took me about 3 hours... And it turns out the hub assembly.. if in fact it can be called that is connected to the bottom of the strut and the ball joint.. on the bottom. Just a brief outline for future reference... in case someone else needs it. Remove Cotter pin and lose CV Nut. Jack up car.. block it solid. Remove the wheel. Remove the entire disk brake assembly. Remove the Cotter pin and nut for Outer tie-rod end. Using the right tool.. loose the ball joint. Undo one end of the Stabilizer link. Remove the nut and gently push the CV shaft back. Unfasten the 3 nuts at the top of the strut... Wont have to re-align. Gently pry the Ball joint out... Push the CV out as you pull the assembly free. (remove the Outer hub and brake disc as convenient). Take it to your bench. Remove both Seals... these are either great or poorly designed and were hard to get out. The old bearings came out surprising easy for me... Catch the middle part tween the bearings. You will need it. Cleans this up and lightly grease it. Bearings go in so the open side is outboard. Don't forget the Middle part. The new seals aren't too bad... but I tried to put one on backwards first. I did figure it out in the end. Lots of grease... Clean any burrs on the CV shaft and grease it too. Reinsert the top of the strut... fasten just enough so it stays there. Pry just enough to reinsert the ball joint. As I didnt change the Ball joint I had to put my spare jack under it and push it up so the joint wouldn't spin.. Nut on ball joint. Put the Outer tie rod end back.... get a new Cotter pin. Put Disc and rotor on.... you may have to pull the shaft through in stages but ultimately you don't want to forget to put the hardware on exactly as it came off... Be sure the Outer part of the CV shaft seats fully after its all tight. Fully tighten all the nuts at the top of the strut. Put the disk brake assembly back on.... don't let the rear pad fall off... Take a deep breath and see if you have any extra parts. You will want to be sure that the Emergency brake cable isn't at the wrong angle to the CV shaft... in this case it went over and around. This is a great time to look at the hoses... Put the wheel back on.... and lower the car... Tighten the CV nut... Use a new cotter pin here. I don't have any air tools or torque wrenches.. I do however have a six foot piece of pipe that serves. Test drive... and if your good.. your done. I inspected the old bearing's and they didn't look so bad.... but it did take a shimmy out of the wheel and it seems to handle much better then before. Also we are now sure the rebuilt CV shaft has a problem.. but that isn't a critical down check.. yet at least. Oddly enough when this was over... I found I had enjoyed doing it... a dirty nasty job.. off the floor... but fulfilling. If you have any tips that could have made this better or maybe I did something that I didn't have to do... Please feel free to comment. Thanks Again Robert

Great advice all and much appreciated ... but there has to be someway that the hub assembly attaches to the strut assembly... I know there is a grooved sub hub assembly.... but something has to support the hub as it doesnt just fall off after you pull the CV shaft. Robert

I just had a thought. the inner bearing must be somehow connected to the strut asembly.... once I pull the CV shaft there must be something that hold it on... unlike a spindle on a rear wheel drive car.... a cv shaft cant support all this by itself. By any chance.... does anyone have a Pic or a link that shows the hub assembly (loosely termed.. as I expect there is more to this)... it would be a great deal of help. I do find the idea of a screen door on a sub... interesting.. I suppose its ok.. as long as its on the outside of the water tight hatch and its closed before you dive. Any comments welcome.. gotta be more then I know by myself. Robert

Interesting... it really sounds a lot like the typical front wheel bearing on a rear wheel drive car.... except of course this is a cv shaft not a spindle. Thanks Robert

I have a pair of front wheel bearings that are going bad... I think I can get most of it apart... as it isnt all that differant that changeing a balljoint and cv shaft and a strut all combined. But what I dont know is exactly what to do with the bearing itself... does a machine shop have to press it (them) or can it just be worked out? Thanks Robert

My brother had a chance to use the 4wd in the snow a couple of days ago. He was going up a steep hill as easy as you like while all the new cars and the occasional pickup truck tried to get up the hill. He said most of these people looked really aggravated and not happy to be shown up by and old Subaru Robert

My Brother has had this car for 2 or 3 years... and last winter the 4wd worked fine... I likely need to climb under there and see if there are any obvious problems with the rear driver train. Sorry I didn't add it to the title.. it is a turbo Robert

Thanks Just what I needed to know Robert

Hi Just wondering.... if this car is in 2 wheel drive does it use the front or the rear wheels? This car has a serious problem in 4 wheel drive.... it doesnt want to move... almost like a brake is dragging... but the drag is gone when you go back to 2 wheel. Robert

The wheel seems to be working ok... but my brother says it feels harder to turn... I think he may have either banged it out of alignment or slipped a tread... I have to go over it really good on friday... as he plans to drive about 300 miles up and back to niagara falls. Sadly he recently lost two friends in a nasty wreck... I think he intends to throw some flowers into the falls... basicly there is just no way he cant go. And yeah... this worries me too. Maybe the proper washer will solve this issue. This car has had a problem where either the power steering pump jams or the rack... but it has been a non issue for a long time.... maybe its rearing its ugly head again. Thanks Robert

Thanks.... IL check the washer and make sure its subaru.... Wasnt sure what convex was in terms of washers.... but this helps. I did call my brother early this am and explained exactly what was said in here. He says fo far no problem.. but is going to be very carefull and only local driving.. as he does have to get to work.... if I hadnt done this he would still be driving it..even as bad as it was. that is.... the nut all the way out to the cotter pin. This was a definate first for me... I have been changing CV shafts for years and never had this happen... though to be sure.. there were signs that I thought were just the bearing going... The threads arent totaly gone... they look a bit flat but it still spins on and seems to hold... the new cotter pin trys to keep the nut from comming loose enough to break the pin. Understand... this is far from an optimal solution.... but this has got to be safer then having the nut run out all the way to the cotter pin and have the wheel rock 3 degree's to either side. might even be more then 3 degree's.. it was hitting the inner fender on a turn. I learned something in here.... and I will be putting that knowlage to use as soon as we get the new nut. 3 days Thanks Robert

Ok... taken under advisment.... I cant say for sure if the original washer is even a subaru washer... Il have to get a closer look at it.... As I understand it.... but i am by no means sure... the washer should curve slight out from the wheel at its outer edges? I should be able to see this if I set it on a flat surface? Thanks for the info. Robert

Well he did order the nut.... the washer is almost the same.... maybe 1/64 of an inch wider... or less... just enough to make the pin a bit snugger. Not totaly stripped yet... but it will hold for a bit i think.... either way I cant stop him from driving it. Robert

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have gotten to know this car quite well and I figure its mine when he gets tired of it... Its is a high Maintenence car though.... brakes/alternator/hoses/cv shafts (front only) , fan sensor , Fan.... and more... At least the fan sensor is easy to find... hey its in the radiator My sister had a late 70's Subaru sports car.... first one i ever found a bad fan sensor on. Robert

I guess I really should have stopped in here first. I dont own a Subaru but I do a lot of work on my brothers 87 Gl Wagon. Im am 44 and a more or less lifelong resident of New Jersey... save a few years in the navy. My brother is 37 and while a hell of a Guy (and this is his name) he is about as unmechanical as a person can be. He trys hard and I think i managed to help him learn a bit over the years. I suspect i will someday own this car. I like the way the car is made... the chassis seems to be over engeneered to protect the engine... and the engine itself is a nice piece of engenerring.. not without its problems of course... hoses.. minor oil leaks and stuff like that. Oh and ya gotta love the front brakes... It took me a while to realize that the calipers spin out to engage.. and thats how the emergency brake works on a car that has it on the front. I spent much to much time changing a ball joint on this car.... simply because I was trying to treat it like your average family sedan.... too easy on it... all I really had to do with the ball joint was remove the bolt and spread the chassis where it holds the joint with a chisel ... but once I realized how tough the car is it was over in no time flat. The car is a bit of a rattle trap but it keeps going and going.. with a bit of tlc of course. I think I have him convinced to change the stableiser bushing links... after 2 years. Im really not a mechanic... at least nothing on paper... I consider myself to be more of a tinker... I can take it apart.. figure how it works and then.. fix it... But in this.. I suspect im in good company here. Hey.. Nice to meet you all Robert

I guess I should have known I would wind up in here again. My brother owns an 87 suburu wagon that I have frequently worked on. Most recently he took a small side trip to Niagara falls and on the way back it seemed he lost the wheel bearing on the front driver side... I was prepared to pull the part of the chasis that houses the bearing's on that side of the car but we got a some what confusing but welcome suprise. The bearing , while it does show some marginal wear...was fine... What happened was that the nut at the end of the axle has stripped and when he hit a bump it was loosing threads.... But while my brother found it extremely disconcerting and not a little scarey... the cotter pin stopped the outter hub (not sure if this is right) and the entire wheel from flying off. We have been able to order the new nut from our local suburu dealer for just over 6$ and he will get it on friday.... For the time being i was able to repack the original bearing.... well at least part way... and put a slightly thicker washer on the inside of the nut and snugged it up enough so that the new cotter pin would block the bad nut from going out as bad as before. With the caution that if the wheeler seems to be loose he should call me and I will see what I can do.. until the new nut arrives. Not a perfect solution as a cotter pin is only supposed to stop the nut from spinning.... but this extra thick cotter pin should hold for a few days. The threads on the outer part of the CV shart look like new... I guess the nut is really soft... By design I guess. I have changed several CV shafts over the years and this is the first time Ive ever seen an Axle nut strip like this... what Im wondering... is this common to subaru's and has this happened to you before? Thanks Robert

Thanks! Il pass this on to my brother Robert