john in KY

Look for a white cannister looking thing over on the passenger side of the firewall. Good chance one of its vaccum lines has cracked. lose this component and none of the interior vacuum powered switch will work. Losing exhaust gaskets because the nuts are loosing. Have you tried brass exhaust nuts? The boot is being ripped either because something is catching it after it is installed or it is ripped during the installation. Really the only 2 possible reasons.

It's the radiator.

That single cylinder miss only at low rpms is probably an intake manifold leak. Check that small vacuum line close to #1 cylinder. If cracked or disconnected it will cause what you describe.

No.

I've been told a timing belt on the verge of breaking will cause the sound you described.

Mike is right about the radiator. Even if the problem is learned to be something else, your radiator is junk. After 20 years at least 70% of those little cooling tubes are now clogged. Someday I am going to buy a 20-year old Subaru radiator, pull the tank and take a picture of the internal tubes.

If not the battery then suspect popped diodes in the alternator. Once they go current can backflow from the battery giving you a dead battery.

I did this once but went the other way converting a FWD into an AWD. Swapping the tailhousing solves most of the problems. Only other problem is the internal wiring harnesses between the 2 are different. One has an external VSS and the other (the FWD) has it internally inside the housing or was it the other way around? Got to drop the pan to change the harnesses. Forgot to mention the rear mount is different so get the one on the FWD 4EAT.

Really sounds like the starter. Bet it gets pretty hot when you attempt to crank the engine.

Car was originally pearl white. Didn't like it all that much because even though I prefer white over almost any other color, it was just too white for me. A door was damaged so I had MAACO repaint it in a flatter shade of white. Huge mistake. Paint has recently started to flake off in large sections. MAACO never primed the car even though I payed extra for it. Think it was also $50 extra to remove the decals. Right. About a year after the paint job I was waxing the car and discovered all the decals are still in place. MAACO just took my money and painted over them. Still have overspray on all the black trim pieces. Total bill was around $800. For $800 I ended up with a no more than $100 paint job. Recently been thinking about this royal screwing. Still have all the paperwork and written lifetime guarantee. Will have no problem proving the decals were never removed and the car was never primed. My problem is I will NEVER allow MAACO to touch a car of mine. Been kicking around the idea of just going straight to small claims court for a full refund plus the cost of removing this crappy paint job. No way it can ever be just repainted over this crap. edit: Notice that white streak between the bumper and front fender? What you see there is a streak of the original paint. MAACO's finest paint job in my case hasn't held up very well.

Nice notion but I somehow really doubt that.

My guess is you blew one or more diodes in the alternator. This can explain the dash lighting up but not the no-start problem. Does the fuel pump still work? Another guess is if it doesn't then the ECU has been damaged. Would first physically check all the fusible links for damage before going any further with this. And I have welded on stuff without touching the battery or ECU and got away without any problems..

89XT6/parking lot.jpg DSCN0075.jpg Just attempting to learn how to post photos. Well, that didn't work.

I have a FWD XT6 FWD 4EAT out in the shed I bought years ago for a spare. It still has the rear mount and bracket. Don't know if it is the same as that used on the AWD but I could take a picture if that would help.

Don't think he ever did. Hard to remember after 6-7 years. Do recall Greg broke the tailhousing on his 89 XT6. Someone gave him another tail section from a 1st generation Legacy and that is when it was learned the mounting pads were different. Original poster has a couple of options. Could find a tailhousing from an early 4EAT. (Someone on ebay last wek was selling parts from an early 4EAT.) Other option would be to cut the center section out of a newer crossmember and use it to replace a section of the Loyale crossmember. Just FYI I would think a 4EAT crossmember from an XT or XT6 would bolt into the Loyale.

88 through 90 had that transmission. Be advised you still may have a rear mount problem when you eventually find these parts. Guessing you are using a "newer" 4EAT. Subaru changed the tailhousing mount in the early 1990s. Knew a person that used a "newer" tailhousing on his 88 or 89 4EAT transmission and discovered the mounting holes/angle didn't match. Probably justed confused you but it's early in the morning and I need some coffee.

Bad idea tinkering with the idle screw. Problem is air is entering the intake manifold by bypassing the throttle body. Check all those small hoses attached to the air intake tube and then look at the IAS.

Timing belt? Rotor button loose? IAS stuck in fully open position? The O2 and knock sensors will not produce this problem.

TC lock-up function malfunctioning? Just a wag.

After posting I also thought about the 215. Had one in a 44 Jeep I butchered many, many years ago. Actually ran very well. Lots of fun until I rolled it one afternoon duck hunting. That was like 35 years ago and I've never even sat in a Jeep since then. I don't think the "6" engine is all that much heavier then what you now have but what do I know. Good friend had a GT6 and another a TR2. Always liked the former better. Another friend had a worked over AH 3000. Now that was a real car.

Why not just look for an engine out of a newer GT6 keeping it all English?

Might want to check the vacuum modulator before replacing the transmission. If it stops working you end up with no up shifts.

I would be curious to know how much vaccum this engine is producing.

Single fan is stock for this model. Dollars to doughnuts the only problem with this car was a broken timing belt. Easy to ascertain by just cranking the engine and watching the rotor button.

Seems likely to me this new problem is nothing more than a major vacuum leak. Good chance during/after replacing those gaskets one or more vacuum lines were overlooked or came apart. If the engine can pull air downstream of the AFM, it will and since the ECU sees little airflow through the AFM it thinks the engine is at idle.