stephenw22

There is no EA-85 motor type. In 1985, it is probably an EA-82, like yours. I'm not as familiar with U.S. models, but they did make Canadian EA-81 models in 1985 as well. I haven't done a weber swap myself, so I can't help you with any of the finer details.

Thanks Ed! Any idea about the interior or glass? Will it swap over too?

Hi, I may have the opportunity to buy a couple of cheap, totaled Subarus to put together a good one. Forester #1 - 1998, rolled, but interior and most of the glass are still good Forester #2 - 2001, vandalized, entire interior was slashed, outside was keyed all over, and a couple of windows were smashed. Will the interior and glass of the '98 will fit into the '01? Is there anything else I should grab (for spare parts) from the '98 before I send it to the crusher? Thanks!!

We're thinking about taking the plunge and getting a '93 Legacy to replace the '92 Loyale. I've never dealt with this "generation" of Subarus before - how are they to work on? On par with the DL/GL/Loyale? Thanks!

see update at top

The mechies at work are thinking of a silicone/grafoil combo. I have a couple of them puzzling about it at least. I should have a workable solution to try in a few days. I'll keep updating the thread as I get more info.

Ultra Grey is what I've used in the past - it seems to work for about 2 years before I start to see drips again. I have a tube of anaerobic sealant in my shop. Maybe I'll try 1 side with ultra grey and 1 side with anaerobic to compare. Or, maybe o-ring 1 side, and use anaerobic on the other. AAAARGHH! I know there has to be a way to do this to make these engines just a little more bulletproof.

I'm doing my 'scheduled' 2-year maintenance on my loyale, and I was thinking about the cam cases (and how they started to leak again). Has anyone thought about (or tried) to replace the silicone in the cam case groove with a long strand of o-ring material? Maybe cutting a piece to length, and leaving a small gap at the top of the case, where oil isn't likely to leak? I would think that you could have a much better seal with an o-ring there, than with silicone. However, before I go out and try it, I keep thinking that those Subaru engineers must have had a reason for not using an o-ring there. Any ideas? Does anyone have a cam case lying around that they could measure for me? I need to know the width and depth of the groove in the cam case, and my car won't be at that point for a few more days. I could take the dimensions to work and ask a few mechanical engineers about o-ring sizing and material choices. Maybe even score a free o-ring or two from the mechanics. ***UPDATE*** I talked to the guys at work, and I have the materials to try a couple of things. On one side, I'm going to try using a gore-tex cord to seal the cam case. It's rated for 600F, same as Ultra Grey. On the other side, I'm going to use a combination of the gore-tex, and a coppery silicone gasket material (not ultra copper, but something else). For other gaskets, I'm going to use something called "the right stuff". Our mechanics shop swears by it. Hopefully I'll have everything together this weekend, and then in the car by next weekend. I'll let you all know how it works.

For me, a 47 ohm, 4-watt resistor made the CEL light go away and never come back. Maybe the wiring harness condition has something to do with it as well. When I originally did it, I just bent the resistor leads into little loops, and then plugged the resistor into the plug on the wiring harness. I was planning on wrapping it with some tape, but I never got around to it. That was about 2 years ago, and still no problems.

I never take the car offroad - it's the on-road stuff that makes me particularly want the BYB lift. My daily drive to work requires me to only make 3 lefts and 2 rights. The problem is that in the spring and fall, I'm travelling down a mucky-muck road made of gummy clay. I need the rough suspension to shake the clay off my car and in particular, out of the wheel wells. The suspension was way too soft stock, and all I did was pack the wheel wells full until would literally lock up my wheels. I had to stop every mile and dig out my wheel wells. The rough ride of the accord springs and adjustable struts is the only thing that keeps me moving. I guess I could cut coils to get the height back down and give myself an even harsher ride, but I'd rather just do a pure body lift if I could. I realize the SJR lift is beefy (those strut tower extensions look SCARY strong) but I really want to keep the same suspension geometry that I have now.

Are these kits sold anymore? ozified.com isn't doing lift kits right now, and e-mail to the BYB site keeps bouncing back to me. I like the BYB kit because it keeps my suspension where it is right now. I already have a suspension lift (adjustable struts up front, accord springs in the back) and I don't want any more.

I kinda figured it might be a dead spot in the motor, or a bad brush connection that only acts up in the cold. Oh well... At least I can get it running again. I have a pump I could rip off a donor car, but I don't know if it would last that much longer. Thanks for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinions!

I have a goofy problem that I need a second opinion on. Yesterday afternoon, I went to start my Loyale, and it started up just fine. I turned it off after a few minutes of idling, and then it wouldn't start again. I connected the green test connectors and turned the key on, and the fuel pump didn't cycle. I could hear the relay clicking, but no whirring fuel pump. I checked all of the fuses and fusible links, all good. I spent part of the afternoon looking up replacement fuel pumps on the internet. This morning, I tried cranking the car over, just for kicks... It starts up right away, no problems. I let it idle for a couple of minutes, then turn it off, and it starts right up again when I crank it. The problem seems to have disappeared. So, opinions on the problem - is it fuel pump wiring, or fuel pump? Or, is it something else?

You can loosen the lug nuts a turn or 2 from fully tight, then let the car down onto the tires. If they haven't broken loose yet, push on the car and rock it sideways. If that doesn't work, slowly drive around the block with loose lugnuts. A prybar that's the right shape can also pry the rusty rims off. When putting the rims back on, either coat the mating surfaces with old grease, or with some anti-seize. That will keep them loose enough for the next time you take the rims off.

A crimped connection will hold up better under vibration than a soldered connection. A crimped butt splice is the best way to go for longevity. Just make sure you have the right crimp tool. If dirt/dust is a concern, you can get watertight splices from any water pump shop. It's a bare metal butt splice with a special heat shrink sleeve. The heat shrink has a hot glue layer in it that will seal the heat shrink on watertight. Just remember to check resistance on the lead after you splice, but before you shrink the sleeves on.

Have you opened the wiper motor gearbox to inspect the contacts on the gears? My first soob ('85 Turbo Wagon) had adjustable intermittent wipers that wouldn't work (and also stopped instantly wherever you turned the switch off). To fix it, I opened the wiper motor gearbox cover (3 screws I think). Inside there were 2 or 3 contact arms that pressed down on the main gear in the gearbox. The main gear had metal traces embedded into parts of it so that at certain parts of the revolution, different contact arms were touching metal. One of the arms had jammed and bent. I bent it back carefully, and my wipers started working perfectly.

Just to let you all know what I've been up to lately... Honda Accord springs in the back, brand new adjustable struts up front, and some studded 185-75R14s all around. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=941

I'd say maybe... You need to think about what you're normally running. If you normally blast the fan, use the rear window defroster, have the stereo cranked, and have your regular driving lights on, then I'd say you're pretty well loaded up. What speed would you be running the fog lights at? On the highway (at 3500rpm) the alt won't have a problem punching out 40 or 50A, but if you're cruising around in town (low RPMs), the alt might have problems. Also, what wattage of lights? A 55w set might be fine @ 8A, but a 100w set is 14A (at 14V). Take a look at how you use the electrical system, and then decide based on that. If the lights will be for highway driving, and you're easy on the other electrics while you're driving, then you'd be fine. Also, if you want to upgrade the stereo later, or add more lights, then you'd definitely want to look at doing the upgrade.

You need to go in and clean out the grease that's causing the problem. Those parts (from what I remember) are lubed up with a grease that gets really thick when it's cold. My '92 loyale has a similar problem at really low temps (-40). I just stop using my signal lights when it's that cold.

Use spit. Seriously. It works. Just spit into the hose, and on the pipe. Smear it around, and then slide the hose on. You don't need a big sticky glob of snot or anything, just a little saliva. BTW this also works fantastic for putting handlebar ends on bicycles. It was a bicycle shop that told me to try this.

I'm a fan of the strap-tow myself. I've shuttled lots of vehicles back and forth between my farm and the city (15 miles). I'd keep the speed below 30mph if I was using the Subaru to pull. As long as the person in the towed vehicle knows what they're doing, I wouldn't worry about a 100-mile tow with a strap. However, if the person in the back doesn't know what they're doing, it's horribly frustrating and dangerous. Scariest tow ever - being towed in a 1/2 ton by my dad's 1/2 ton - all we had was a 10-ft rope. By the time it was secure on both ends, there was about 5' between trucks. Then, my dad proceeded to go along at about 40mph down the gravel roads to our farm. That said, I'd still rather do a 100 mile tow with my dad than a 3-block tow with my wife.

My 1992 Loyale's "CHECK ENGINE" light comes on after about 2-3 minutes of driving when the engine is cold. It then goes away a few minutes later. The light doesn't come on if the car is already warmed up. According to my wife, it has been acting this way for a few months now. Anyways, when I was the light come on, I pulled the car over and turned it off. I turned the ignition 'on', and checked the ECU for codes. The only code it's giving is 5. I get five short pulses, then a long space, then 5 short pulses, etc... Any ideas?

Sambars have a 660CC 3-cylinder engine. I believe they're supercharged, as well.

So... I just had my first timing belt failure on the Hornet, about 1 mile away from my house. I walked home, got my truck and tools, and had it fixed in about 30 minutes. The idler pulley on the drivers' side belt had semi-seized. It looks like the seals in the bearing had disintegrated some time ago. With all the gravel roads I'm on, it was just a matter of time before enough grit worked into the bearing to wreck it. Indirectly, this is due to me running without covers. Having a cover would slow the dust from getting into the bearing, but it wouldn't have stopped it completely. However, having no cover definitely accelerated any wear that would have been happening. That said, I'm still convinced that having no covers is the way to go. It took me 5 minutes to get an almost-new idler pulley off a parts car of mine (the parts car has no covers on the t-belts), and another 25 minutes to install the pulley and 2 timing belts on the Hornet. With covers on everything, it would have taken me all night to take stuff off the cars and put it all back together.

I remember in my owners manual that it said to not use more than 10% ethanol-blended fuel. I'm not sure exactly why - fuel is used as a lubrcant for the fuel pump and injectors. Maybe those parts will wear out faster.