Subarian

I'm not sure about your spark problem, but you shouldn't have gotten 18 volts from putting in a bigger battery. The battery is 12 volts; a bigger battery just means more cold cranking amps, the amount of reserve power in the battery. If you're getting 18 volts, you still have a problem with your alternator.

I paid 1200 for an 86 GL wagon 4wd about 10 years ago. It now has 252,000 miles and I drive it every day. Keep it tuned, change the oil, don't beat it too much, and it will last almost forever (unless you live where they like to rust away).

Since you say you have 90hp, I assume you have the carbed version. You can put on a Weber 32/36, upgrade to SPFI, or go all out with a turbo. The stock engine just doesn't do all that much.

I've owned 8 soobs and only one had a clock that worked, and that one only worked if the planets were aligned. All EA 82s, by the way.

But are you really willing to give up that marvelous piece of electrical engineering that Subaru thinks is a clock?

Oh, and you must be patient, grasshopper.

OK, it can get a little confusing, but it's really pretty simple. Your car is the same as the 85-up DL, GL, and GL-10 wagon. The letter designations refer to different trim levels. Some of the earlier engines were carbureted, while all the later ones are fuel injected. All of the overhead cam engines are EA82s. EA82T refers to the turbocharged version. Most of the parts on these cars are interchangeable with little modification. If I remember from your earlier post, you have a SPFI (single point fuel injection, or throttle body injection) EA82 with a pushbutton 4WD. Some popular upgrades you can get from donor vehicles would be a dual range 5 speed (it has a 4wd hi and 4wd lo range) and rear disk brakes from a turbo wagon.

It's a belt tensioner, and subaru used two different kinds. One has a long bolt that runs more or less vertically that adjusts the tension. The other type has two bolts, one that acts as a pivot and has a hex below it and one that locks the tensioner in place. The second type is far more robust, as the long skinny bolt on the first type tends to seize and snap in two. In either case, it's binding the belt. Remove it from the engine and check to make sure it turns freely. If it's just tight, you can try penetrating oil on it. If that doesn't work, you'll need to replace it. If the bearing is loose, you need to replace it.

Cool. Just make sure you keep the cylinders lubed now. Good luck.

Sorry, good catch. But if it WERE an EA82....

...it's truly yours. If it doesn't.... ...hunt it down and kill it!

It's possible having too much gear oil in your trans could make some noise. As subiemech said, air in the cooling system will definitely cause some noise, but it will be up by the heater core. Of course, it's sometimes hard to locate noises when you're in the driver's seat. Whenever I have a noise I'm trying to isolate, I have someone else drive while I poke around. If it is coming from the heater core, it's an easy fix. You just need to get the air out of the system. To do that, take the cap off and squeeze and release the upper radiator hose, kind of like milking it. Slowly add coolant as you get the air out. It works better if you have the nose of the car pointed uphill. Also make sure your overflow bottle has coolant in it, the hose between the radiator and the bottle is good, and you've got a good cap.

You also might need to tap the hole for the sensor.

It's not a dual range, according to the pics. Swapping in a dual range trans is not a difficult job, and if you intend to off-road, it's a worthwhile upgrade. One error in your original post is all wheel drive. It's actually not all wheel drive; it's 4 wheel drive. The difference is that 4wd is intended only for off-road or low traction conditions like ice and snow. It doesn't have a center differential, so driving it on dry roads in 4wd is not recommended, as it will give you handling problems and lead to premature parts failures. As far as what to look for, the timing belts, any leaks, and you might want to do something to halt the rust. By the way, welcome to the wonderful world of Subaru.

The first thing to do, if you can, is to get it as clean as possible. Take it to a car wash and get it clean so you can really get a good look at where the oil is coming from. There are two likely candidates on that side. The first, as I said earlier, is the valve cover gasket. The second would be the camshaft seal. Depending on where the oil is coming from, you'll need to perform the appropriate repair. The valve cover is on the very end of the engine, and it's held on by 4 or 5 10mm bolts. The gasket itself is a rubber gasket that fits in a groove on the valve cover. There are also rubber grommets that go under the bolts. It's a pretty easy repair, except for the fact that the space is kind of tight. If it's the camshaft seal, the oil will be coming from right behind the plastic timing belt cover. If that's the case, you'll have to remove the plastic covers, the timing belts, and the cam sprocket. Replace the belts with new belts, which is something you should do about every 60,000 miles anyway. I hope this helps.

Just out of curiosity, is it possible that your trans is overfilled?

I don't know, but if you post your question as a new topic, you'll get some people who do.

If it's coming from the side, I would suspect the valve cover. They have a bad tendency to leak. Fixing it isn't difficult, but it's in kind of a tight spot.

I'd start by replacing the plugs. Then you need to tune your carb.

You're right about that. It does automatically lower ride height above a certain speed, but I can't remember what that speed is.

The only way you're going to get that much extra mileage out of a car is to only drive it downhill. Seriously, the stoichiometric value for burning gasoline is approximately 14.7:1, which means it will burn completely at the point where you mix 14.7 parts air to 1 part gasoline. That ratio can't be changed, which is why the 200 MPG carbs are fairy tales. You can run a little leaner, but performance will suffer proportionally. Putting something like a Weber on your engine improves performance and mileage slightly, but only because it allows the engine to breathe a little more efficiently. Given the basic layout of the Subaru, 30 MPG, which is what some people are claiming to get, is really good mileage. To do that, you have to drive very conservatively, which is the single biggest thing most people can do to improve their gas mileage.

In response to your original question, it's not the same as electronic ride control. Its purpose is to allow you to raise or lower the car from the inside by means of a pneumatic system. But it doesn't have sensors that adjust to road conditions like electronic ride control does. I used to have one, and the ritual every morning was to start the car and then wait for it to raise itself before I took off.

I agree. If they have to ask in the first place, they're still not going to get it. It looks nice, though.

I thought of sending them a letter to see if maybe I could at least get a free case of mentos out of it.

You can use a hammer to get it out, but if you do, reverse the castle nut and run it almost all the way onto the axle to protect the threads. To get the new one one, you can slide it in as far as it will go, and then use the castle nut to draw it all the way in.