JonnieBlue

Well.. im still workin on the front speakers, but i just did my 'test' with the back ones and ... I cant tell you (though im sure many know) how good it felt to turn on the car, here the cd, then have the radio work too!! - Ive been without music for a long time.. Subynut: If i use the existing front speaker wires, wont it be all messed up still because of that common ground or whatever? If not, great! but i want to be sure im not F'n everything up. BTW, the auto antenna removal went pretty well. Has anyone ever fixed theirs? Right now the antenna and plastic white inside thing with the ball stopper on the end is seperate from the motor, is fixing it fairly simple? I think ill tackle that next weekend. Thanks for all your advice and support!1 JB

Well.. i AM going the route of re-wiring.. so far so good, but what i need to know is (especially if youve done this before) how to wire the front (door) speakers. It looks like a giant PITA to feed through the thing were the wires are now (the black door to body tube-ish thing). Is there a better / easier way to do this? Also, the wires have, i swear, no apparent color matching or anything. One side of the radio wire harness the wires are one color, the continuation on the other plug is a different color. The wires at the speaker are a different color than they are at the plug, and there arent any coresponding or opposite wires (like blue and blue/black etc), so re-wiring is definately the way to go, not to mention that stupid common connections crap . The back speakers i have already wired, so everything should be good to go except the front speakers - pending a board members reply or me finding a way . So for now, i may just go with a two (back) speaker setup. Im also swapping out the auto antenna with a regular old antenna. the auto is a real piece, and isnt workin well anyway so its gonna be gone. i dont forsee any problems with this swap, but then again i havent been having the best luck lately long story short, let me know if you got some advice on the front speakers. TIA JB

Hey.. Interestingly, i was juast thinking about this swap, since my window doesnt work (and barely stays all the way up now - thats annoying in a almost constantly raining town). Would you mind posting a write-up on what you did and how you did it for those of us interested but just need instructions?? Also, are you just gonna get the mechanism from the junkyard or what? Thanks Alot JB

well.. i decided f*** it, im gonna re-wire it. but i was hoping that somone could tell me for sure which the "important", or non-speaker wires are which. So far, i think (based on a 'typical' diagram) that: White = Hot at all times Grn/White = Auto Antenna Red = Lighting Switch Blue / Yellow = Hot on Run & Acc. On the new CD player, the book doesnt say anything bout a Lighting Switch, but it does say Constant Pwer Supply, Accessory/Switched Pwr, and Power antenna turn on. So what do i do with the Lighting Switch wire? Also, there were to black wires on the old harness, both next to eachother - are they both grounds? Also, cd player only has one ground wire, so is it okay to just pick one for a ground or what?? Thanks Again! JB

Does anybody know which wires are which in the stereo wiring harness in an 86 XT Coupe?? The harness has these wires: NONE -- Ylw/Blk -- Ylw/Wte -- Grn -- Ylw ----- Rd/Grn -- Blk ORNG -- GRAY ----- White -- NONE -- Ylw/Red -- Red -- Blue The blue wire on the end has a 5A Fuse If have exhausted my resources, so hopefully someone here has gone through this and can help. There arent any adapters available (that i have found), and i dont have the time or know-how to re-wire everything. I cut the male wire plug off the old stereo, so i can connect the plug off the new stereo wire to wire with the old. I would REALLY like to have my new one in.. so any help greatly appreciated. THanks JB

Thanks guys! Once again, the board rocks !! Yeah, them local part store guys musta not known what they were talkin about. They told me that the one they gave me WAS stock, so i must not know whats goin on, or must not have the stock. So i brought in the muffler, put it on the counter, and said gimme one of these. They stood there scratchin there rump roast, and eventually tried to look it up and said they werent any made like that (1 pipe in, 2 out). Im like WTF?!? So i got my money back (twice - they sold me 2 different ones, saying they had to be it) and now im goin to NAPA. Partsman: I looked up that part on the NAPA website, no picture, so i guess ill take your word on that one and head in to NAPA tomorrow morning see if they have it, or if it needs to be ordered. Thanks again! JB

Will someone tell me whether the drawing i put in the origional post is really the stock muffler?? I just got back from the parts store, and there "stock muffler" for my car is COMPLETELY different - The metal hangar arms that go through the rubber hangers are in very different spots, so im wondering if their idea of 'stock' is skewed, or is my current muffler not stock. My current muffler has one pipe in, two pipes out (refer to drawing) and they said there arent any mufflers like that. Im gonna try ( key word there is try) to hang this new one wihtout gettin it too dirty, or they wont let me return it, but please let me know on the stock vs not-stock issue, or if any other XT owners have experienced this, how did you hang it? Thanks Again, JB

Okay, 1986 Xt-GL Coupe non-turbo Right at the muffler / exhaust pipe connection where that 'u-bend with two bolts' joint is completely rusted out. As in the front of the muffler to out is completely disconnected. What is the best way to go about fixing this without spending tons of money? I dont have welding or fab equipment available, so unless is really minor, a homemade solution may not be possible. Also, theres a lot of loose junk (rusted exhausted pipe chips i assume) inside the muffler, whats the best way to get it out, or is shaking it out the only way? -------(tail pipe)--| muffler | ________ -------(tail pipe)--|_muffler| the rusted out joint thing ... /|\ there Thanks in advance JB

You are an: Old beat up 80's wagon! HAHA! RAD! You kill it everywhere, talk crap to kids in Hondas with snowboard racks, and probably have at least 10 zip ties on your car!

Compression check came back: (Looking from front) LR:170 --- RR:165 LF:165 --- RF:165 Theres no major differences, and none seem too low, so im guessin its good?? I didnt add any 'squirts of oil' since the psi seemed pretty reasonable. I DO know theres an exhaust leak - exhaust coming out from under the car, so as soon as it stops snowin, ill put it up and see where it is... how much am i lookin at to fix it, and do i 'fix' it or replace entire system for something.. newer..?? I did change out plugs and wires (one wire was completely rusted on the harness in the boot), and it feels like it runs better, except for exhaust. PS Thanks for all the help so far and putting up with my 'newbieness', this board rocks !! I only wish i would have been back from vacation in time to place a sweathsirt order... I guess (hope) theres always next time! ________ JB

when you say crank engine, just turn key and "start"?? or do something manually?

Can someone give me a fairly detailed runthrough on how to preform the compression check - like, i know this is a very sad newb question, but block throttle open, do that using throttle valve? and crank over, how exactly..??.. all help apreciated

temp seems about right.. after warming up generally remains at slightly above the midpoint.. oil pressure runs average, drops down when ideling, but ive always had to keep track of the oil (it IS a 86 soob afterall ).. About the compression check, i dont have the equipment, and cant afford to take it in, so is there anything quick and easy i can do? ALSO: When i was listenin and revin the the engine up - there was a fairly prominent almost highpitched whisteling comin from the front - dont know what that meay point to, but it is a new development.. Thanks Again

Well, i was leavin school today, and the 86 XT started actin up. When i started it, it was really loud and 'growled' i guess. Within a few feet, it started smellin funny, but not sure what it was. Also, it seemed like there was fairly big loss in power, and when the engine reved, it was 3 times as loud as usual, but like 1/2 the power. When i let go of the accelerator on the highway, it slowed Drastically, and made the sound of a baseball card in bike spokes (which after getting home and listening outside determined came from exhaust). Also, while ideling, you hear an almost uneven, loud, running like a boats outboard motor sound. Also, there was lots of exhaust (more than usual), didnt appear to dark usually, except when starting from complete stop; it was a bit darker from complete stop. It is currently 34degF, snowy/slushyish- but i dont think its the weather, seems like a developing problem. Any suggestions, or am i just screwed?? _____ JB

dont know if this will work for your situation, but i heard recently people have been renting tows from U-haul, seemed a pretty reasonable price, and you wont have to worry about mech problems 600mi from home.. JB

sure do.. but its bein a sh!t JB

im kinda a newb at this.. how should i solve the runnin hot issue? just cooler plug?- or does this show un underlyin problem? JB

Okay.. here are some questions.. what causes this feeling of 'lurching' or jumping forward? It almost always happens in low gear (i get really crappy low gear preformance at like 10 - 25 mph) and now started happening in higher gears while keeping steady on the accelerator. next - i checked my Man. Trans. Lub. level a few mos ago, was at right height ondipstick but appeared 'bubbly', checked it today it was at completely low line (very bottom line).. what caused it to run out so much? - i dont know if this is related, but the spark plugs appeared to be running hot (plugs were white), and one of the metal connector harness things inside the rubber boot was rusted all over, but the other wires were fine.. what do i need to do about this? finally - when im driving, there is a very coins in a can like sound, can be affected by the accelerator, but not completely dependent on it.. it is becomming more common of a condition.. when the car is running (idling) and i listen at the back near the exhaust, it sounds like (best i can describe it) a boat running - no smooth operation sounds, but kind of a low soft 'boam boam boam' continuously. also, when i start it, sometimes it revs (according to tach guage in dash) at .9-1k, others its 2-2.2k -- whats causing this change and how do isolve it Sry for the large amount of questions, but they all apear to have come up at the same time - i noticed the noises and checked it over: air filter fine, distr fine and not moveable, plugs were a bit white, wires fine (except rusted one), fuel filter changed, belts are fine, fluids are fine when i add to them, battery and alt are all fine, distr isnt cracked or anything... any help appreciated JB

would i need to swap with a STi Transmission as well? Any other troubles i might run into? Dr. X - I cant buy anything until i move outta here and get to washingtion - but thanks for info

In another forum, someone pointed out that this 'project car' would end up being fairly expensive job after putting in a 2.5L Turbocharged STi engine, and wouldnt be able to resell.. That kind of dashed my hopes for my subie... Is it really going to be that big of a loss, or would you just go for it? It would be a great little car when im done with.. Any comments appreciated

How would you go about doing a homemade convertable 'conversion' on a old suby? im assuming it could be done on a coupe relativly easily, or am i wrong?

Okay, for anyone that may have seen my other post, im scrapping the idea of buying a new car, and instead going to make my current car a 'project car' (way more fun!!). The first thing i want to do is get a different engine. The goal here is speed and preformance. I was thinking about a EJ20T.. any other suggestions to consider? Also, does anyone know of a good sight to research this, so far its been a pain. 86 Sub XT GL COUPE Thnx !

Its hard to tell form what you described, but i started hearing a new sound, like coins or rocks in a soda can which i can hear when i accelerate. if its sounding, and i let off the accelerator, it stops. I dont know if this is related, but i also notice an Occasional 'lag' in acceleration. for example, i'll shift into third, and ill hear the engine rev (clutch is completely out at this point) but it wont feel like there is any pulling from the front wheel drive. this will eventually go away and the car will jerk. Any suggestions? -- 86 XT GL Coupe (no turbo)