daeron

Really??! I have never seen Ethyl rubbing alcohol.... I wonder if it is a state regulation or something

is the alternator on this model internally regulated? If not, then you may have a bad voltage regulator. The replacement alt may be suspect as well. Just some different thoughts on the matter, I am no BRAT expert.

the short answer is that if you simply get your oil tested at five thousand miles, and again at ten, and change the filter at ten, you will know for certain whether or not you "need to change the oil." Eventually, after a few thousand miles of testing and changing, you can develop a routine of changing that fits your vehicle and desires. That is that; any guessing about oil change intervals is exactly that: guessing. Many people get away with changing their oil every 15K, by changing their filter every 7.5K, and they have verified the oil's viability at this mileage point via laboratory testing repeatedly. Other situations are not as ideal. The choice is left to each car owner how thoroughly they want to investigate the matter, and how pre-emptive they want to be in their maintenance.

I believe he is also saying that you need a quarterback for this effort, someone to drum up the needed commitment and be the "go-to" guy on this stuff... when these group buy threads actually DO work, it is because one or more persons get stimulated to carry it through to completion. I would think that there is enough support for this idea to sticky the thread and THEN, if one person takes the chairperson's seat and updates the thread often enough, the needed support comes out of the woodwork and you all get your crap. BUT someone's gotta volunteer to be the Quarterback; to make the phone calls, to receive and transfer the funds... I would like to think that there is a decent amount of universal trust on this forum; all it takes is a paypal account. don't forget to add paypal processing fees into the amount each person needs to pitch in, if you go that route.

Rubbing alcohol is Isopropyl Alcohol and not Ethyl alcohol. totally different stuff, i've heard it called "wood alcohol" but i am not entirely certain why. I have also been told that if you drink it you go blind. Booze is Ethanol or Ethyl alcohol.. methanol is also known as methyl alcohol, and rubbing alcohol is isopropyl. (nice-and-purple)

I will go out on a limb and say probably? (hoping to draw out discussion on this one) How many people are truly that anal retentive about their new subaru purchases WITHOUT being pressed to do so, (ie, engine has problems, overheats because of a demonstrably bad radiator or something along those lines) yet STILL DO find that a 1 row rad is insufficient for a turbo car? Any stories of someone replacing the entire cooling system and discovering that their new 1 row rad didnt cut the mustard? We lack hard data, so the sum and total of our anecdotal experience is all that we can analyze to determine the truth of the matter. This thread seems as good a place as any to hash the debate out fully; lets bring it on! MY only experience is with my 87 NA 3AT, the original 1 row had bad fin rot and a few blocked spots; I replaced it with an apparently new all metal 1 row from the JY and havent had any problems with that. (of course, not once I also went through the whole gamut of problems caused by that weak radiator and an old water pump.. hoses, pump, and finally headgasket each went out in turn; and the entire affair was initially precipitated by a bad thermostat, surprise..) My personal experience isnt very applicable to the thread.. I am just saying that a smaller AT rad is enough for the NA AT car, no surprises there.

misledxcracker hit the nails on the heads. One thing I will point out; this is METRIC sized vacuum hose, so make sure you get the right size () A cheap multimeter is worth its weight in gold, go to harbor frieght and get one if you dont already have one. All of the "jobs" he listed can be done nickel and dime at a time; the single most expensive part is a new radiator, and the single most difficult job is a new water pump/timing belt/seals. The belt/pump/seal job will probably wind up costing more in parts than just the rad, but you can buy a part at a time and believe me, it is WELL worth it. Otherwise you ARE looking at headgaskets being needed down the road.. Subarus do not like to over heat, and after 20 years, 200K miles, and an unknown amnount of use and abuse, the factory equipped cooling system is no longer in good shape. Evaluate it, run your hand over the surface of the hot radiator and look for cool spots (indicating that there are clogged spots in the rad, not good) check for fin rot, and if the radiator doesn't pass ith flying colors replace it. Also, the USRM (top right corner of the screen, click USRM, Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual, user submitted, use at own risk, MAJOR RESOURCE) and the FSMs are much more helpful than the haynes book. I LOVE haynes books in general, but the one for the subarus just plain sucks. http://ch601.org/engines.htm go there, find the two EA82 files and download them. Print them out and stick em in a binder if you can. It is only part of the 89 GL FSM, but its most of the important stuff; engine, fuel injection, electrical, cooling system, etc. Good luck, and happy subaruing!

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-lie... La-la-la-la-la-la-la-lie... (sorry, just singing to the death rattle there.) first guess (just from the subject line) is an exhaust heat shield.. the heat shields that cover the catalytic converter often work loose, many cars are lacking the bottom half but not the top, etc... Very common spot for an unidentified rattle to originate from. Given your post, and your comments regarding the seeming location of the noise, it could be a bad bearing in any of the accessories or idlers turned by the drivebelts, or even a timing belt idler or tensioner going bad. If it is a rattle I doubt it has anything to do with a vacuum leak. Hope this helps, good luck. (BTW I give ten points to anyone else who picks up on the tool reference)

Man, I just finished mowing the lawn (we have had rain here every day off for over a month) and came to check and re read what wires to test, and I am superfluous. Daeron == no help congrats on getting it running though!!! it HAD to be something stupid like that. I think you and me get to share the award for this spring, heh.. longest threads dealing with any one single (idiotic) problem

Cool enough, does the engine have to be hot, does it matter?? leave the disty plugged in in all ways, correct? and I am looking for a pulse or a steady voltage? Will report back my findings

Next tip: antidote for ethylene glycol poisoning == Ethanol. Booze. I was a vet tech for many years, and one day while rummaging found a 30 year old bottle of everclear up in the cabinet, with a Florida tax stamp across the top of the bottle and everything... (Ethanol stronger thant 151* has been banned in Florida for a couple of decades IIRC) The doctor said it was probably there for use in antifreeze poisoning cases, because it catalyzes the ethylene glycol out of your blood.

Exactly what voltage, where, when? If you can give me a plain and simple answer on that, then I will check it. I should have plenty of time to do this Tuesday; I am off and it shouldn't take any more than five minutes.

Does anyone who does this regularly own a digital camera that might be able to take good photos of the process to get the point across? I would try, but my camera is el cheapo (no optical zoom) and can't do the whole "close-up" thing in focus. I referred to doing this in my relay write up, and some photos to add to it would be sweet.

Okay, here is an easier (and I think better) option. The metal terminals that compose that plug in the photograph are held in place into a plastic plug body. The Terminals look like everyday female spade terminals, but have a small wedge stamped into them, which is bent outwards. This wedge acts as a barb; when the terminal is slid into the palstic plug body, it stays there. However, you can examine the plug, and possibly use a precision screwdriver (the tiny eyeglass-type screwdrivers) to reach in and pry that locking tab flat, allowing you to slide out the corroded, poorly conducting terminal. You can do likewise on your plug that you have and find one re usable terminal, and splice just the wires needed into your harness rather than the entire plug. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge sourcing new terminals is virtually impossible for the typical consumer; but I hope to someday be proven wrong on that count.

I would agree.. The stock battery cable terminals are a joke after 10 or 15 years, and ALL of these cars are older than that at this point. 10-15 bucks for two battery cables is a good investment for a fuel injected vehicle, just dont get cables any longer or thinner than what you have stock, and try to buy one positive cable with an extra lead on it for the wire going to the fusible link block. It is ALSO possible that you got a poorly rebuilt starter...? I say this because if you hadn't already installed a "new" starter, the data would immediately point to a bad solenoid. Try removing the starter, holding it down solidly, connecting the booster pack to the battery cable terminals of the starter (negative to starter body ground) and run a jumper wire from the positive connector to the solenoid, and see if the starter functions outside of the vehicle. BE CAREFUL about this, but I have done it countless times with no problems. just be careful and you should be okay.

I suppose attending the WCSS just for the EJ wiring harness tutorial is out of the question?

+6 million points, can anyone host something like this (in a size that would be worthwhile) posted online? would we be able to keep it in the USRM?? If all else fails, a low-dough just enough to cover cost of reproduction might be in order.

One thing that I will say.. About a year ago I had a thread asking about the more economical way to coast to a redlight; leave it in gear and engine brake, or pop it inot neutral and just coast. Leaving it in gear is the better way, because as has been said already here, at zero throttle, the SPFI injects zero fuel. Since then I have GREATLY altered my driving habits, based on the in-gear coast to redlights.. and have at the same time, increased my average trip time. If you can do your best to notice a redlight as far down the road as possible, and lose speed sooner than you would think to, then I have found that you can VERY VERY FREQUENTLY wind up not coming to a complete stop at all. If the lane was empty, you can simply gas it through the intersection and get ahead of that prosche that blew by you 2 miles back simply because he stopped, and you never did. I hope my anecdote gets its point across; NOT stopping for redlights is another excellent thing that you can do for fuel economy.

your car is just jealous of the newly repaired (or replaced) computer, thats all. Thats why it came on so suddenly

I'm sorry to have derailed the thread, man. My lame and obscure sense of humor got the better of me late one night; what more can I say. At least, with all this attention if the balls WERE critical someone would have made us all shut our traps by now I just wish my joke had been funnier :-\

they're the bearings from your turn signal blinkers; its an indication that you havent been changing your blinker fluid often enough. This can cause premature wear of the blinker mechanism. hey, muffler bearings and blinker fluid go hand in hand, if you ask me.

See, I am the opposite. In all of my problems I was having recently, I had left the plastic trim piece over the driver's feet off, and the wire harness attached to the ignition switch kinda drooped down onto my leg occasionally. It was always hot if the car had been running for a little while; SO I am contemplating installing a high amperage relay for the "on" circuit of the ignition switch as well; along with a change in wire after the relay... Whatever, if I do that I will post about it. My point is, I would RATHER go and install another relay, now that I am thoroughly familiar with how they work and how to utilize them from a design standpoint.

I'm sorry, but this photo shows the package best IMHO. if you have a problem with me posting this picture from your photobucket I apologize and will edit. I just liked that one the best, and wondered why you hadn't posted it

this is what I get for trying a joke from a movie that my friends and I quote all the time. In the movie, "The Three Amigos" there is a scene where a small biplane flies over the heads of Martin Short, Chevy Chase, and Steve Martin.. and Martin Short says "I think its a mail plane..didn't you see the little balls?" too obscure. thats how i like my humor. If you were my friend down the street, you would have laughed your head off.. trust me SORRY buzzcon, I will go sit in my corner now :-p

This isn't a US market, RHD vehicle is it? (I know they made legacies like that for postal carriers..) I was just thinking, it might've been a mail vehicle. You're saying you're seeing little balls... (3 amigos FTW )