PonchoCatalina

I really need some advice. I've read a bunch of posts on broken bolt removal, but so far I have had no luck. I replaced the seals & gaskets on my oil pump this weekend, replaced it, snugged down the bolts, torqued to spec...then the last bolt sheared off. It is the lower, right hand bolt (one of the three short ones that surround the impeller portion of the pump). I immediately removed all the bolts and the pump hoping to find something to grab with vice grips, but no such luck - it sheared almost flush with the block. I got out my left-handed drill bits hoping to back it out, but the bits just drilled into the bolt remnant without grabbing. I started with a relatively small bit and worked my way up to 3/16, so now I've just about drilled out the bolt completely. I did try an EZ-out a couple of times along the way, but I was afraid of breaking it off. Now I have a 3/16 hole, virtually no bolt left, and a halo of bolt steel protruding around the hole. What next? Should I drill a little bigger to clear out the last of the old bolt, then tap for a larger bolt? Helicoil? Timesert? Whatever I do, I'm wondering if I need to pull the engine at this point since I can't really turn a tap squarely working from a above or below. I admit, I'm a bit intimidated and discouraged at this point, so any ideas are welcome. Thanks, and sorry for the long post. - Ian

I was working on my '91 Loyale this past weekend replacing all four of the driver-side HLAs. In the course of the project, I removed the distributor and set it aside. When I went to re-install it, I found a small metal disc, a little smaller in diameter than a dime and slightly thicker, lying near the distributor shaft. It looked very much like a wristwatch battery dimensionally (I can post a pic this evening if it helps). Could this be some sort of shim that the distributor shaft rides on to ensure correct gear meshing with the cam? I kind of assumed that it had been adhered to the base of the disty shaft by a film of oil and then fell off, but I'm not sure. I certainly don't want to drop it into the cam case if it isn't supposed to go there! Thanks. - Ian

Thanks, Gary - that was exactly the kind of information I was looking for. The guy at the machine shop who milled my heads had indicated the same thing: a lot of water in the crankcase for any significant duration may result in permanently seized HLAs. I just didn't want to tear everything apart and replace them if it was more likely a case of not giving the MMO time to work. Of course, lucky me, it's the DRIVER'S SIDE (always more fun)! Thanks again. - Ian

I did replace the headgaskets because there was water in my oil, but in fact it wasn't a headgasket problem but a blown freeze plug, so there was *lots* of water in the crankcase (all it would hold, in fact - so much that it backed up the PCV lines and came out my air filter box!).

I know there are at least a million postings about "Tick of Death," and I think I've read most of them, so please don't . I have developed a list of possible causes and fixes, but here's where I am: having just recently worked out a number of issues on my '91 Loyale, including new head gaskets, I still have the never-ending clack-clack-clack of an ineffective HLA (or two). The noise is definitely coming only from the driver's side of the engine. I have only driven the car about 75 miles locally since getting it back on the road, and those miles have all been accumulated on short trips (no more than ten miles). I have a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in my crankcase with fresh 10w40. Only once, while idling in my driveway, did the noise suddenly cease, so I know that it *can* stop clacking. Of course it started doing it again the next time I started the car and it won't go away. Here's my question: how long should I wait for the HLA's to pump up after they were out of the engine for a few a weeks? Is it time to replace a few "spongy" HLA's and reseal the oil pump, or am I jumping the gun? Should I give it a few more weeks, a few more miles, maybe a good 100-mile round trip on the highway before I start tearing back into the engine? I know how to deal with ticking HLA's, but I'm just not sure if I need to do it yet! Thanks. - Ian

The high idle at start up may be caused by a sticky idle air control (IAC) valve. The five flashes from the ECU means everything is okay in the U-check mode, so the computer isn't finding any problems with any of the car's sensors (or the wiring that goes to them). Sometimes a faulty coolant temperature sensor can cause erratic idling, but it should throw a code if its resistance is out of spec. The idle air control valve can be cleaned, but I'll leave it up to someone else to officially endorse a recommended cleaning product (although carb cleaner seemed to work just fine for me with no ill effects). Good luck. - Ian

I thought of that too, but the differential dipstick showed "full" and the gear oil looked good and clean.

I haven't detected any other symptoms - the car drives just fine. The transmission seems to shift smoothly. There doesn't seem to be any slipping of the clutch. It's just noisy, and gets noisier as the gears get higher. It's bad enough that it's clearly audible over my very pronounced lifter clatter!

I recently got my '91 Loyale running and have been driving it around town some. I had detected a sort of "roaring" or "growling" noise at higher speeds which I attributed to a possible wheel bearing issue. Today I put the front end on jackstands and "drove" the car to see if I could figure out where the noise was coming from. Instead of wheel bearings, the noise seems to be coming from the bellhousing when the car is in gear. Oddly, the grinding becomes more pronounced in higher gears; it is almost inaudible in first, and at its worst in fifth. Just to clarify, this isn't a sound that occurs when putting the car into gear (like bad synchros would produce), but rather a steady grinding sound while the car is running in gear. It stops as soon as the clutch is depressed. I have no idea what could be going on. Corrosion on the flywheel? Mis-adjusted clutch cable? One other piece of information: the previous owner had a complete clutch replacement including flywheel resurfacing at 94,000 miles (the car has 153,000 now). 60,000 miles doesn't seem like much for a clutch, unless it was really abused. I welcome any ideas! Thanks. - Ian

Don't get too worried. My CTS went out about two weeks ago (confirmed with my handy multimeter). My local parts store quoted me $104, and it was special order only. I went to the only wrecking yard in town that has an EA82 Subaru and got the sensor for $5 ($5.40 with tax). Check your local yard, or see if anyone on the board has one for sale, if in fact yours is bad (versus a wiring issue).

GD, My mud guards are sound, but where are the leading rod bushings located? Thanks.

Should I wear a silly hat and hum Yankee Doodle Dandy while counting the bounces? Actually, I went ahead and checked all corners and didn't detect any excessive bouncing that one would expect from bad shocks / struts, so I think I can rule that out. I think it's time to jack up the front end and start wiggling the wheels around. Thanks for the laugh, Nipper!

I would say more of a muffled thump (my wife concurs). It's almost like something is bottoming out - maybe a bad strut? Tire wear looks okay - no uneven wear, cupping, etc. that I can detect.

Nipper, I could not reproduce the sound by bouncing the fenders - only a slight rubbery squeaking on both sides which I took to be the anti-sway bar bushings flexing. Definitely no banging. P.S. - Now I have a mental image of Nipper laughing out loud and saying "Hey - I just got some idiot in Texas to go outside in the dark and bounce up and down on the hood of his car - man, the internet is great!!!"

Well, I'll definitely try the pry test before I write off the ball joints. I can say that the car tracks very true - I can take my hands off the wheel and it doesn't wander a bit. The bang coming "down" a speed bump is very pronounced and repeatable, though, so I'll look at the entire suspension for anything loose, worn bushings, etc. Thanks again for all the feedback. - Ian

Thanks for the feedback! The idea about ball joints causing the banging sound makes a lot of sense to me. I'm thinking it might be sensible to just replace inner and outer wheel bearings, tie-rod ends, and ball joints while I've got the whole thing apart. From searching posts, I've discovered that Autozone's Timken bearings are a great price-meets-quality item, but what about ball joints and tie-rod ends - any recommendations for sourcing? Thanks again! - Ian

I have been working on my 91 Loyale wagon (4WD) for the last six months, gradually fixing things. I finally got everything working satisfactorily to pass my safety inspection this weekend, however, I have now discovered something new (potentially) to contend with. Since I now have a nice new inspection sticker in the window, I actually have been able to drive the car beyond my immediate neighborhood. So, while driving with my wife, she started noticing noises I probably would have been content to ignore. The first thing she pointed out was kind of a roaring noise, seemingly from the driver's side front, when we got above 30 mph. I'm thinking the wheel bearing is shot. The other thing she pointed out was that when driving over speed bumps, the front end made a banging noise everytime we crossed a bump (on the "descent" side of the bump). This too seemed to be from the driver's side, but I'm not entirely sure. Could the banging also be caused by a bad wheel bearing, or is there something more likely I should look at, like a worn axle joint? I'm just looking for any tips that might help me diagnose these noises. This is my first foray into the realm of Subaru supsensions. Thanks!

I don't worry about those ratings too much. My other "car" is a 1986 diesel Suburban. I feel very safe surrounded by almost three tons of Detroit steel with about six feet of crumple zone up front, about eight feet behind, and six-inch-thick doors, but according to the safety ratings, "The Behemoth" (at least the identical 1987 model) fared as badly for the driver and worse for the passenger than the '87 GL in testing! I guess now my choice in the morning is: which deathtrap should I drive today - the big one or the little one? - Ian

Sorry to hijack, but this might be relevant. I've got a '91 Loyale and a D/R transmission ready to swap in, but I haven't got around to installing it yet. How did you deal with the neutral switch when doing your swap? My D/R is from an '87 wagon, so there is no allowance for the switch on the tranny case. Thanks.

Daeron is spot-on about checking the pulser. I think the reason my compressor clutch was disengaging as the belt slipped is because the slippage caused the compressor to turn slower than engine RPMs, thus signalling clutch disengagement. The pulser measures compressor RPMs somehow and (I assume) the ECU compares engine RPM values to compressor RPM values, and if the two are too far out of synch, voltage is stopped at the clutch. Supposedly this is to protect the belt from breakage if the compressor locks up? In any case, as Daeron indicated, a pulser too far from, too close to, or not parallel with the clutch face could cause erratic cutting-out of the clutch. For a clearer description of pulser operation on a Subaru, check out: http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/pdf/vent/tech.pdf - Ian

This may be a bit of a long shot, but here goes...My '91 Loyale needed a recharge and had already been converted to R134. I charged it up and found that the compressor would run fine for a while, then start to squeal, and then stop completely. Turning the AC system off and back on at the dash would get it restarted. I began to fear that the compressor was suffering from lack of lubrication and that it was locking up (thus the squealing). It turned out to be a simple fix: the belt was not tight enough. I re-tensioned the belt and the occasional squealing/stopping thing did not re-occur. My Loyale is now consistently blowing 38 degree air on an 85 degree day (47 degrees below ambient with R134 - I'll take that any day!). Anyway, hope this might help. Good luck! - Ian

Are you getting a check engine light? If so, what's the code? MAF is code 23. If it's not throwing a MAF code I would look for other sources of the problem. My 91 Loyale was giving me a code 23, but my voltage / resistance measurements seemed within spec. I replaced mine with a junkyard MAF and no more error code and no more stalling, so the computer "knew" when the MAF was bad. To get the code, the car didn't need to be running either - just turn the ignition to the "on" position and read the blinking light under the dash.

Another great source for a vacuum pump is Autozone. They loan 'em out for free (as long as you return them - I think the deposit is like $200). They pull a much stronger vacuum than the Harbor Freight venturi pump is capable of, and they don't require that you have an air compressor. The one thing I may caution you about, however, is that every time I've borrowed one from AZ, the thing is virtually empty of oil, and Autozone doesn't sell the stuff. I bought a quart of it at NAPA (ask for vacuum pump oil) for less than $10, and I still have at least half of the container left. - Ian

I'm not getting a lot of heat out of my '91 Loyale and I'm pretty sure from reading other posts that my heater core is "congested." When the engine is warmed up and I turn on the heat I get a quick, warm blast initially followed by steady cool air. I would like to try flushing the core as my first step, but I want to make sure I backflush first to avoid driving gunk deeper into the core. So, my question is: which way does the coolant flow at the core? Which port is the inlet and which is the outlet? Thanks!

I'd definitely check out those freeze plugs in the heads (three in each head). My Loyale had one pop from simple corrosion - any water poured into the radiator went straight to the oil pan. When the oil pan got too full, it backed up the PCV lines and ran down the air intake hose and out the filter box. Messy!