portlandpiddler

Hello Subaru Geniuses, I have a 91 Subaru Loyale, Wagon, with power windows and automatic seatbelts. For the past month or so, the automatic seatbelts AND the power windows will simply not function when I start the car up - and they stopped working together. At first it happened once, then went back to normal, but now they don't work pretty much all the time. That is, the seat belt will stay in the forward position when the door is closed and the key is in, and the window will not roll up or down. About half of the time they will both start working after anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours worth of driving. When it kicks back in, the seat belt will move to the back position and I can then roll down the window as well. There may - I'm not sure - be a connection between them not working and very hot weather (which is most of the time here in Arizona). Any ideas? Why would both the belts and seatbelts fail/work in sync? I've checked all fuses, and they are fine. Is there a relay that needs replacing? Where would one start troubleshooting this? Thanks, PP

Wanted to share this in case someone has a similar problem - 91 Loyale, Manual, 4X4, 160k plus miles After driving along a curvy river road, made a sharp left hand turn and heard a kind of knocking sound coming from the rear wheels that sounded sort of like a small rock was lodged in the tire, or like a rock was caught in the inside of the wheel, or some such nonsense, but that wasn't the case. It went away after a bit, but when I got into town and made some more 90 degree turns, it came back; was pronounced when in 1st through 3rd gears and seemed to go away in 4th and 5th. Ended up driving a total of 300 miles and when I got to my destination and slowed down it was very clearly the rear left wheel - clunkaclunkaclunka with every revolution. Borrowed a torque wrench to tighten things up, and as I was pulling the cotter pin out on the axle nut, noticed that the axle nut was wiggling - less than finger tight. Ah-ha! The wheel basically was wobbling on the axle, if slightly. Wrenching it to 145 ft. lbs seems to have solved the problem. Checked the bearings and splines and everything still seems solid. Question is, for any experts out there, how the heck can a nut that's torqued down tight and has a cotter pin run through it come that loose? The threads and all the other metal looked in perfect condition. Edit: I should add that this is a relevant discussion - just want to link the "knocking" issue to the castle nut discussion: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34364

Dangit, I was after that car too! Good Luck! PP

Thanks - putting the y-pipe took care of it, and it started right up. Will try to be more precise next time. Took a while for the HLAs to get pumped up and now is running real quiet. Thanks!

I should have mentioned that I didn't put the y-pipe on yet, so maybe the backpressure explains the sound? I just assumed that, like tractors, you can run the things without an exhaust on them. I'll put it on and see if that makes a difference, and it looks like there's more room for fluid in the radiator so I'll add more there. Didn't try cranking it for too long (probably 5 or 6 times for 20-30 secs each time, once I got the distributor in right - I had it firing on the exhaust stroke the first time around), it ignited very briefly a couple of times but didn't catch.

So I put the engine on my 91 Loyale (EA82) back together yesterday and today, and when I got to starting it, when it turns it sounds like it is gargling, "bloop bloop bloop", or trying to run under water...I guess something is forcing big bunches of air through either water or oil (sounds more like water). I think I got the distributor and the timing figured out right, but don't want to keep cranking if something is wrong ... What could this be? Sound familiar to anyone? What I did: I replaced the drivers' side head gasket, seals in the front (cams and crank and oil pump), and timing belts. Changed oil in the process and filled in 4 quarts, and added water and radiator flush to the motor and radiator. I read somewhere about filling the engine with water before filling the radiator, so I did that, thinking that would take care of any air bubbles. I suppose not - what is the best strategy to get that air out of there? There's only uncombusted gasoline coming out of the exhaust chambers of the heads (no water or oil) after cranking, so I don't think any system's continuity has been broken.

If you go the tool route, many auto shops have the alignment tools for around 3 bucks - but make sure you get the one that fits your clutch, as there are at least two sizes out there

Had a guy at a parts store tell me the same thing happened to him - took forever to get it unstuck.

Just replaced the head gasket on driver's side, three questions resulting: 1) I was able to pull two of the HLAs out by hand (the two end ones), but the others rotated, but wouldn't pull out, and I wasn't about to put pliers on 'em. Since I didn't need to get the HLAs out to get to the head bolts I left them there, but am wondering, is this a problem? I think one of them is ticking, but just a hair, and the engine ran fine. 2) Do folks put RTV on the valve cover seals, or is this excessive? Haynes manual didn't say anything, but the folks at Schucks Auto Parts seemed to think it would be a good idea. 3) Do you have to go to the dealer to get the camshaft cover/assembly oil passage o-ring (the small flat oring between the camshaft assembly and the head)? Schucks said so but I'm not so sure. Thanks! PP

Thanks! - good to know on the 80,000ths and the hill holder adjustment - Car's a 4x4, double checked with Baxter's and the clutch is a 4x4 clutch too. I re-double checked the free play and all on the clutch cable before taking out the clutch and it was fine - 10mm freeplay and then tried it again looser - and the clutch was still slipping. Hunch is that I didn't get the pressure plate on there completely tight when I installed it (one of the alignment pegs is a hair crooked), but I want to eliminate all else first.

A week ago I posted this question, as my new (self-installed) clutch was slipping a lot (read: going max 4mph on flat ground in first gear, and giving off clutch smoke), and I thought I'd burned it up, and one thought people had was that I'd overtightened the hill holder, causing the clutch to slip, and then tried driving up a hill: ... but when I got in there yesterday, THE CLUTCH WAS FINE! Ooops. The clutch showed just (barely) a smidgin of wear, no oil on it, and the machining marks on the pressure plate and flywheel were fine, and no sign of overheating or anything. There's no reason to suspect the transmission (I hope) as the fluid level was right, and it worked fine before I replaced the clutch. I took the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel to Baxter Auto Parts' machine shop, and the guy measured the specs: 820,000ths for the step on the fly wheel, and he measured up the pressure plate and the clutch, and said there was an extra 100,000ths (i.e., thickness of pressure plate plus clutch equals 920,000ths). My questions are: does anyone know if 100,000ths of extra thickness in clutch and pp (over the depth of the flywheel step) are enough to create enough pressure to keep the clutch from slipping? Also, Baxter's machinist said that the book calls for 900,000ths of step in the flywheel, but the step on my flywheel was only 820,000ths - however, if anything, this would have kept the clutch from slipping, not caused it to slip. Does anyone have any ideas? I double-checked that Baxters gave me the right parts according to their computer system, all the thicknesses of the new pp and clutch match up to the old pp and clutch and throwout bearing. As far as I can tell, the tranny, flywheel, engine (EA82) housings, etc. are original. Thanks for your collective brain power!

Ok, then it is a two stage - but I watched him resurface it and he measured the step according to specs and ground both surfaces, so I think that's out. Good thought on the varnish- Though I didn't sand, the instructions said to use brake cleaner and wipe it off, which I did thoroughly (the incidental loss of brain cells from the acetone may explain why I didn't read up on HH cable adjustment ) .... spent the morning calling a bunch of Sub dealers' mechanics, and they agreed that if you overtighten the HH cable, it would fry the clutch; however, one also said the aftermarket pressure plates are often not up to specs, and I remember the PP fingers being level, rather than sticking out, which may provide another explanation. The mystery deepens. That said, I'll post again when I get in there (think I'll go the engine route) and see if there are any clues.

Heartfelt thanks for the advice, all. I guess I'll give it another go and write off the time and (hopefully) $50 for a new clutch to experience. Any more ideas on whether anything else might be wrong would be greatly welcome. Follow-up question: Just to replace the clutch, which is easier, taking out the transaxle or lifting the motor out? How strong a hoist do you need to lift it out of there (I think its an EA82, could be wrong)? Or do you even need a hoist? When I did it before, we went the transaxle route, but that was because I had a pit to work on it then, and now I only have a garage, and am not that excited about crawling around down there. Thanks, PP

>>> If the hill holder cable was so tight that it was keeping the clutch from engaging all the way, then it could have burned the clutch out. But it would also have been keeping the brakes from disengaging because the other end is pulling on the hill holder cylinder. >>>Was the hillholder working before you tightened it? After you adjusted the clutch freeplay, does it adjust very close to the top, or well towards the bottom of the pedal stroke? I think overtightening the hillholder may explain, though I don't understand the mechanics of how it could have kept the pressure plate from engaging all the way, as I thought it only pulled on the throwout arm/bearing in the opposite direction. But I definitely did tighten the HH up. When I re-adjusted the clutch cable I tightened the hill holder cable almost all the way, thinking this would make sure that the release bearing would always stay off of the pressure plate when the clutch wasn't depressed. However, I didn't notice any change in the hillholder, didn't actually notice the HH either before or after I adjusted the HH/clutch cable assembly - but it may be that something else with the hill holder is broken. The clutch pedal adjusts pretty much to the top of the pedal stroke - which I think is normal, right?