Steven Romero

Ennio you out there? ./steve

My '86 EA82t with 145k leaks oil, but I haven't had it long enough to know how much yet. The leak appears to be coming from the front seal or the oil pump. I suspect it is the pump though as the valve train is noisy (at least it was last time my car was running...it's dead right now). From what I can tell very little oil is being burnt (yea!) as I just changed the plugs about 3 weeks ago, and they weren't fouled. Also no smoke out the rear...just a little steam from what I suspect to be a cracked exhaust after the turbo. ./steve

For comparison my '86 GL-10 is a Hitachi electronic. Make sure you get the right one. ./steve

I just did this, and experienced great difficulty in getting the bolts off. I was afraid I would shear them so I was very careful about the whole process. Here is what I did: 1) spray liberally with PB Blaster each 17mm bolt in the upper shock mounting bracket 2) use a 1/2 drive extension (about 10" at a minimum), and a breaker bar to turn the bolt. If you have difficulty getting the nut to turn initially you can strike the breaker bar with a ball-peen hammer very lightly, more like a tap. This will break free any corrosion that has built up on the bolt inside the threads. I have also been told that you can heat the bolts with a torch for a minute or two, and then apply a cold water-soaked rag to the bolt head to rapidly cool it off. This has the effect of expanding (heat), and contracting (cold) the bolt inside the threads thus breaking it loose. 3) after you break the nut loose spray more PB Blaster on it, and let soak for a few minutes 4) if you encounter resistance after breaking the bolt free, and turning it a bit, spray more PB blaster on the bolt, and ratchet the bolt all the way back into the bracket. Then ratchet it back out to the point where you were stuck. Repeat this process until you don't experience a lot of resistance. Be patient. The temptation to remove the bolt at this point will be very great because of your success at breaking it free from the mount initially, but if you proceed too quickly here you will shear the bolt. Remember the greatest tools to help you in this process are patience and PB Blaster. Good luck. ./steve

I'm "working" late tonight, so I haven't had time to get the covers off. I only just got the car back into my garage this afternoon. I'll let you guys know as soon as I get them off, and have a chance to tell what is going on with the timing belts, etc.. Thanks! EDIT: I did try to remove the timing belt covers right after the car broke down before I called for a tow, but I wasn't able to get them off because as was mentioned the brass screws are spinning in the plastic...bother. ./steve

I'm not there yet man. I'll let you know if it gets that bad though. Thanks. ./steve

Can you explain a bit more about the keyway. I'm not sure what that is. If someone has a picture, that would help. Thanks. ./steve

SWEET!

As long as someone is on this topic I'd like to ask how do you go about de-pressurizing the A/C system on the car as it would seem you need to remove the A/C components, hoses, etc. when doing an engine pull... Thanks. ./steve

Jude thanks for the input. I may be PM'ing you about those belts and tensioners (and maybe the engine). ./steve

You've got an interesting website there Miles.... Thanks for the tip! ./steve

Thanks for the tip Dean. I'll check there after I get my car running again. It broke down Suunday. See my new thread "subie broke down, need input". Hehe. That's life I guess. ./steve

That's awesome dude! I hope I share your success very soon as I am experiencing a very similar problem to yours, and am probably quite a bit more ignorant about old subarus. Congratulations! ./steve

Wow you guys are awesome for giving me such confident support. Thanks. I think I've decided to have the car towed to my house where I will try to find out what is wrong and go from there. I'm almost positive, as are you all, that the belt is the problem. I guess I'm out the $78 bucks, and the towing fee (good thing I have Sprint Roadside service), but it's better than paying $300 for a simple diagnostic. That's just crazy. You know I wish there were some non-dealer Subaru experts around, but the Subaru hasn't really caught on in the South like it has where you guys are, so there really aren't any specialty shops that I know of in Houston that deal with Subaru. I enjoy the warm weather here in Texas, but when it comes to the Subaru I wish I was up north where there was a bit more local support. Any subaru mechanic worth his salt and a little capital would make a killing by coming to Houston and opening his own specialty shop. If you are out there consider the risk because the newer Subaru's are getting very popular here, and there really isn't a lot of expert knowledge to go around. Thanks again. I'll update this thread in a few days when I have time to look at the car. ./steve

Ok so I got in contact with the mechanic, and told him I was going to back out. Even though the bill is only up to $78 now, he said that they think that the timing belt slipped, and that there is some sort of noise coming from the drivers side which makes him think that the cam is broken or that a "valve may be bent or broken", and thus the noise. Now he's offering the initial diagnostic fee of $300, and he told me that I could make payment arrangements to make it easier to pay. I'm very split on what to do from this point. I could have it towed all the way back, and then try to fix it myself, but if I have to pull the engine to do some sort of valve or head job, I'm screwed. I have no room or time for that, and my fiance would kill me if I told her I was going to do that. So my choices now are: 1) have them tell me what is wrong with the car for $300, and then go from there :-\ 2) have the car towed, and try to find out what is wrong with it myself, and maybe repair it 3) tell the mechanic to find a salvage yard that wants to buy it :-\ 4) offer it up for sale on this board I'm sorry I'm dumping here guys/gals, but I'm really confused about what to do now, and need to use you as a sounding board... Damn, and this car was running great only 2 nights ago... thanks. ./steve

I agree. I think this is starting to get dumb real quick. $300.00 to look. That's frickin' nuts. I'm really pissed about this. I know it would only cost me around $100 in parts to do the same job, and it would probably only take me a day considering I've never done it before, but I'm familiar with the procedure and know that it cannot be that hard. I can't believe this. ./steve

Things are going great now....the mechanic says he won't know anything until he takes of the cam covers, and that will only cost $300.00 . He says that they have to do this in order to find out what is wrong because they can't tell, but they think it may be a broken cam ???? This is starting to get too expensive... On top of that great news I just found out that someone opened a credit card account in my name and made an 8,500.00 balance transfer ./steve

Thanks for the input. The mechanic said they eliminated the possibility of fuel issues, and that the spark plugs are getting spark now. In my frustration I might have had the dizzy cap off when I tested this initially, hence no spark...duh! The rotor is missing a screw, but it was before, and the rotor shaft is notched where the rotor fits into place, so it will turn without it. I know this isn't optimal, but its the best I could do, and it did run before without said screw. I think you are right about the timing belt, although from looking at it from under car after prying open the cam cover on the driver's side it looks to be moving, but it is awfully loose, and it appears to have moved off-center from the cam gears/idler pully. It probably is missing a tooth or something, or maybe it just got really loose. Man I really would have liked to get my hands on this problem. I know I could have fixed it myself, and I could have learned so much, but the fiance is already starting to get a little p-o'd that I'm spending time with this car. She's actually started referring the car as another woman...bother. :-\ I hope it doesn't give me too many problems in the future because I won't be able to work on it near as much as I would like, and paying somebody else to is just dumb when I know I can fix it myself. ./steve

Yeah I was sort of afraid that would be the answer. I just replaced the plugs, wires, distributor cap, so I don't think those components have failed. Could this be a bad rotor. I hope my distributor isn't fried. What else could cause the spark plugs not to fire.

That rocks! Thanks for the laughs...

Experts, I need some input. My subaru was finally on the road after some minor maitenance, and now she's dead in the water. She was running great, and I had just given her a nice SeaFoam treatment. The only problem I had with her was a coolant leak, and a slightly rough idle while the car was in gear. Then yesterday I was sitting at a light, and she died. I couldn't get her started, but I managed to push her into a paved lot, and started troubleshooting. I tried the coil and that was good. I then removed a plug, and there was no spark. Hmmmm...so I pulled the disty cap, and saw that the rotor was moving very erratically while a friend tried to crank her. This prompted me to think it may be a timing belt issue, but after prying the bottom of the cam covers open I could not see any broken belts. The top drivers side belt was really loose, but the bottom of the belt (under the tensioner) felt tight. Is this normal? I'm thinking the belts must have slipped because they were loose. Would bad timing cause a spark plug not to fire? My thinking is it would fire regardless of timing as long as the distributor was good, but just not in right sequence. I started running out of daylight (and tools and knowledge), so I had it towed to my mechanic. Can anyone share their loose/broken timing belt experiences with me, so I can make a comparison with my situation. I'm really worried this is going to cost me quite a bit. Could this be a problem with: 1) the belts 2) the distributor or 3) the starter Thanks. ./steve

You certainly seem to be maintaining a cheery attitude despite all your troubles. That's good. I don't think I'd be handling it as well as you. Let me tell you, if you ever need to replace the back shocks make sure you PB blast the hell out of the mounting bolts, and then work them in and out over and over again, or you'll break those off too. I just did a replacement of my rear shocks, and almost broke the bolts. They just didn't want to come off. Did you ever get the pinch bolt out of the steering knuckle, and remove the ball joint? ./steve

Experts, I'm doing a SeaFoam treatment to my GL-10 this weekend, and want to avoid hyrdo-locking my motor. What's your experience with this? How sensitive are the GL-10s to this. Should I worry? Thanks. ./steve

I didn't realize there was a throttle adjustment for MPFI. I wouldn't be worried about the 750 RPM - as you said 800 is the spec - but the engine really chugs when things are going this slow...it sounds like my subie is really gasping... ./steve

Yeah I've been warned about the flush, but I how else do I get all the old fluid out of the torque converter? Ignorance is grand...please enlighten me. ./steve