jdub

Should/can I simply replace the solenoid for cheap money, or is this a fool's errand, and I ought to just have the item rebuilt locally? Or, is there a good place to swap this as core for a rebuilt unit? Many thanks, John EDIT: I was saving the Big F Hammer for the axles...

Park car, return, turn key, no joy: not even a click from the solenoid. Car is on a small grade with 2feet of forward room. Put in 2nd and ease clutch out to free starter pinion from trans ring gear, but no good, still no click. Pull spare, stare at starter, check connections. All good. Hmm. Guy comes outside "Hey I used to be a Subaru Tech., what's up?" He gets a pair of hammers, puts the handle to the starter body, strikes top of hammer with second hammer a few times, car starts just fine. So, was it a pinion stuck to the ring gear or is my solenoid going south? Or, is there a brush/winding assembly, and striking the starter made the brushes unhang? Many thanks. I am wondering if I ought to have the starter rebuilt to be safe or ? John

Yes, please post a detailed breakdown of the parts removed and any bypass work. Very much appreciated!! Jw

It may be that the heat buildup from the engine is causing problems with the heater resistor? Mine was replaced by the PO at a cost of about $50.00. Jw

A clogged screen or filter in the fuel lines, but you seem to be getting solid pressure at the carb so that seems out. Fuel filter put in backward (can that happen?). The vaccum from a gas cap that is not venting. That is a classic. A clogged catalytic converter or recently-damaged exhaust pipe (kinked). Timing has slipped and/or distributor is not advancing correctly (check with timing light). Strange but true: emergency brake is hanging up the brakes (drive w/out using brakes and touch rotor/drums for heat buildup). Carb butterfly is hanging up, maybe spray the heck out of it with carb cleaner? Jw

Keith makes a good point on this, and you probably would have suddenly noticed a difference in the running of your engine should this have happened. Then your post would have asked if these engines are non-interference or whattheheck is that rattling sound! One thing I am still not getting is if you are not finding your timing mark at idle or when you rev the engine to find full advance. Which is it? If advance, you ought to be looking at leaks or a blown diaphragm (sp?) in the pod on the side of your dist. Apples and Oranges so let us know what you are seeing that tells you something is wrong. Jw

All of my dist. work has been on other cars but God hates a coward, so here's my take... Set the car to TDC (on #1 of course). Confirm this via timing mark at crankcase. To be extra sure, remove #1 plug and note if, with finger over hole, compression is felt: this indicates two closed valves. Now pull the dist. cap and, hopefully, Subaru has marked a small notch on the dist. that should orient with your rotor. In your case, should the dist. be off as we have postulated, that mark will *not* line up with the rotor. Your job is to align the rotor by essentially moving the body of the dist. Since you can't do that (you are out of room) you will now need to remove the dist and turn it as needed to align that rotor with the notch on the dist body. Since most all dists use a near-worm type gear, you will be putting the dist. in and the rotor will turn as the gear engages with the camshaft end. You may need to try this a few times to bring your dist into spec. Really, the thing to remember is to set the car exactly to TDC and then bring the dist., by removal and turning, into a usable range of rotation again. This is typically noted by the rotor/notch relation. This is the way the Bosch and Lucas distributors work. I have never taken a look at a Soobs so I am a bit in the dark here, but surely some *real* mechanic on this 'board will chime in with concrete knowledge. Best of luck, John

Had some fun polishing the lip edge and bead of the Premier alloy wheel and wet-sanding/tripoli/rouge on the center caps. I then masked the rim edge and sprayed the stripped wheel with a hammered alum. finish. This covered the imperfections I found when I had stripped the original factory paint on the wheel (it is like a sandblasted surface under the paint - it would have been a BEAR to sand/polish that out!). It's a nice look. Now all I need is a set of nice tires for cheap! John

How many fuel filters in my carb'd '87 Wagon? I had thought a single one in the engine bay? Is there a second item back near the pump? Many thanks! John

Total longshot...is the diaphragm in the advance pod attached to the side of your dist. dead? Could this be preventing the car from advancing? (If you are adjusting/checking for advance...). Or are you stuck not being able to get proper timing at idle? That would be strange and related to the dist. *maybe* being a single tooth off against the camshaft? I am not sure here - better minds than mine will hopefully chime in. Best of luck, John

I have the same setup. Just proceed with care and cleanliness and you will be just fine. I am not familiar with the Hitachi (yet, anyways!) but if there are any mating surfaces you are going to want to be sure they are flat against one another, and not warped. That might require a bit of 400 grit and a flat surface offered by a piece of glass. I have rebuilt Solex, the dreaded three-plate Zeniths, Strombergs, SUs, Amal, Mikuni, and others. In all instances, I use butcher paper from a roll at one end of my bench, unwinding the paper and working on fresh paper on a regular basis. This is what prevents bits from jamming jets or hanging up floats. Just be clean and get a good manual and you are home free. Finally, never drill out a venturi or jet. You will NEVER get the flashing off the rim of the new hole or get the hole set to the proper dimension or angle. Trust me on this one! Best of luck, John EDIT: It should take you a long afternoon. More with beer.

Ed mentioned a distributor rebuild shop Portland-ways. I am thinking of sending mine out for a rebuild. Anyone know of a reputable shop to rebuild my EA-82 dist. from an '87 GL Wagon 4WD? Many thanks! Jw

Hey folks: Before I print this thing, I'd like to know if the information in the 1989 EA-82 manual at this URL is useful for the 1987? Did the cars progress far enough from the '87 spec. that this won't work for my car? Thanks mightily, John

Yes, you are right -- it would be a car taken only on camping trips and up to the mountains to ski. Hard-charging on the dirt is not in the cards for this car. And the "primitive" is a good point - it ought to be somewhat plush for the family. Now what is a D/R? Many thanks, John

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/7onyourside/wabc_111303_7onyourside_carfaxinfo.html John

I am starting a new post: If you had $3,000.00, what Subaru 4WD station wagon would you buy and why? http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7218 John

I hope this is a useful thread for others... I have a 1987 GL Wagon, 4WD that appears to be giving up the ghost. I may have about $3,500.00 to spend on another Subaru 4WD station wagon (wife's marching orders...). So what car should I get? What car should I avoid? I figured an early '90's Loyale or maybe a Legacy, but I could really use your collective expertise to determine 1) what car to get and 2) how much to hold in reserve to cover typical maint./trouble spots. Much appreciated! Jw

Not to offend others, but my gosh are all 1987 GL Wagons with 125K on the odometer as gutless as my Hitachi-carb'd baby? Or should I perform a leakdown and comp. on this car? This is a serious question guys, hills seem to pose real problems for my wagon and I am sort of shocked... Many thanks, Jw

Who'd have thunk it? The best deal I could find on wires was at G. I. Joes, using a 20% off coupon for Autolite wires. They (Autolite) may not be the very best (Magnecors) but they serve the purpose. Jw

I do anticipate the Independent calling and telling me the bearing will have to be replaced. I am just sick about this, esp. since I diagnosed a bad miss on #1 and successfully R&R'd a valve spring in a '90 Golf that was given to me and sold that for a nice tidy profit. I was on a roll friends and neighbors! It kills me to go to a shop to have something done, but it is even worse when they have to remedy what appears to be a total screwup on the owner's part. They have me over a barrel and I am dreading The Call this AM! Reminds me of the time, 20 years ago, when I tried to pull the harmonic balancer off a TR4 and unknown to me the woodruf key had gone sidewasy in the crankshaft slot. Days later, torched, we split the balancer from top to bottom and peeled it from the 'shaft. Live and learn. I shot some great pool later in the day. Life's little mysteries keep us on our toes.... Jw TROGDOR: Oh yes, that little item came right out. I have a pin tool set I am very proud of and the use of the proper pin tool at the edge of the split cone washer drops it like butta!

see http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6945. Absolute disaster. Beware the interference fit! Jw

Hey all: Well, armed with instructions I went ahead and tackled the front driverside axle R&R on my 4WD GL Wagon. Total disaster. 36mm comes off not problem, lift car, all set to go. Pin came out of DOJ no problem, undid pivot for lower control and sway bar link from control arm as well just to play it safe. Slipped axle off stub at the trans easy as you please. Hung the axle via bungee, floating free. Then I turned to the axle end at the outboard side. Tried small hammer with wood. Tried sledge with wood. Tried gear puller. Tried sledge directly on end. No, no, and no again. The axle will not move, period. It is now scrap. So, for all thinking of doing this procedure, do youself a favor and take a good hard look at that axle in the rotor/hub side. For example, if the rotor and hub look heavily rusted, consider finding out early if the axle is not going to come out by trying to slip the rotor off the car by undoing the caliper and hanging it off to the side. Chances are that, if the rotor/hub is not slipping off by hand or by careful tapping via rubber mallet. you probably are going to need to use an OxyAcet setup to heat cycle the hub with plenty of PB Blaster or similar. Mine is not going anywhere. I buttoned everything back up and now the car is at an independent Subaru shop and I am really, really disappointed I am going to have to shell out big bucks to have someone else do it. Jw

I'm in the Seattle area, Kenmore to be precise. Many thanks! John

'87GLWagon, 4wd. Very, very typical question guys, but I have never done this...I'm in the Seattle area BTW. Driverside front axle is clacking on hard curves. I assume I need a new axle. How tough is this to R&R? I have mucho experience on cars but can't get a clear picture on this: do I need to remove the axle from the bushing? I wouldn't think so, but? Any help here much appreciated. Do we have a procedure for this? I do have Larry Evan's "How to...Alive" book. Many, many thanks. John PS: Anyone in the Seattle area have a set of four wagon wheels for sale?