MTSuby

Well, if it's not one thing it's another lately it seems like... When I've first started my car, if I then, right away, go down a steep hill, I smell gas. Could this just be my carb, or (hopefully not) a rusting gas tank...I've really only noticed it if I go down a hill right after I start it up, it doesn't seem to happen if it's been warm for a while, but maybe I need to experiment a little more..

Ok, I think it's the electric fan...When I turn the engine off but leave the auxilary power on, the noise continues, but the pitch changes..Skip mentioned that meant electric fan. It really only does it when it's hot out. Maybe I'll check new prices & some junkyards for the whole fan assembly. Thanks a lot!

Ok if I'm replacing a bearing in the engine fan...is that it? I just order a bearing and replace it? Or are there some things I need to replace while I'm at it?

Ok, this is not a loud crazy noise, it's just more noisy than (I think) it should be, and only happened once in a great while before the last few days when it really started heating up. I checked under the hood and it seems to be coming from the fan. The pitch does change when I turn the engine off but leave the aux on. Does this just mean a new bearing in the fan?

Thanks Skip. So I should see what happens if I don't turn the car ignition completely off...listen for changes? I have AC but the previous owner told me he disabled it...not completely sure how. I know in my Toyota I could just take the belt off, but Subarus have a lot of other things run off that belt, so that's not it.. Anyway, that gives me some things to check out, thanks.

Every now and then, I think maybe only when it's been warm out (which it hasn't been much since I bought the car) I hear an electric, sort of revved-up sound coming from the engine compartment. When I turn the engine off, it slowly comes to a halt. Not exactly grinds to a halt, but definitely winds down somewhat noisily. Fan bearing? Just regular fan noises? Sorry if this is one of those super common Subaru problems, but I never know quite what to search under.. '87 carbed GL Wagon Thanks!

Alright, thanks everyone. I'll check this stuff out this weekend.

Ok with all these possible culprits, how do I check them? No idea where the distributer vacuum advance is...retarded timing I may be able to do something with...

Air filter was maybe 6 months ago. I could try that.

Just to dummy proof your responses for me: we're talking ingnition COIL and CATalytic converter, right?

Well...sometimes just to get it to move I've got to be a bit heavy footed, but I'm not a racecar driver around town at all, I accelerate from stops at a reasonable speed. I'll try seafoam, thanks.

Not sure not sure and not sure....I've checked all the hoses around the carb/air filter and all are connected, and I've sprayed the carb with cleaner. Haven't checked the coil..

I have some hesitation when I accelerate, especially when it's wet out. My plugs & wires & cap are new within the last 4 or 5 months, and my fuel filter is new within the last 2. Is there something that usually causes this or could it be a million things? I also get terrible gas mileage in town, but great on the highway ( more of a difference between the two than I'd expect ) and in general not much power. '87 GL Wagon, carbed. If you got any ideas, thanks!

Well, I bypassed the heater core, and the coolant smell went away. It's looks like I've stopped losing coolant, but I'm not positive yet. Still no oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil...I'm still planning on getting a compression test at some point, but for now, it's looking good! Thanks to everyone who helped.

Ok, cool. I live in Montana where there's at least supposed to be snow... But I don't get crazy in my car, it's a commuter, road trip car, it will go off road plenty, but I don't search out mud or deep snow, I'm more into rock crawling and steep hills if I do anything crazy..

Ok, I suppose I'll wait until they need to come off, and leave them off. I remember having to take a whole lot of things off before I could get to all the bolts..the main front crank (whatever it's called)...I thought there was more but I've forgotten. Probably since it was my first time it seemed (and was) harder than in needed to be. I agree I'd probably get a peice of something stuck in there if I broke them up. Can I reach all the bolts without removing anything? I could handle that, if I could get them all out then just break it enough to get it around the crank pulley... Well, for now they stay.

Well....because then I'd need to take the air conditioning, alternator, main pulley crank thingy, all that off again...when I could skip all that if the covers were gone..so I'm looking to skip that the next time if I can.

Ok so when I repaced my timing belts I put the covers back on. Now I really have no interest in keeping them on..Can I just bust em up & take em off(carefully of course)? Without getting all the way back in there the way I did it last time?

Alright, thanks a lot. I'll wait until the first chill is in the air this fall to worry about the core, for now I just want to bypass it. I think all my hoses could use replacement, so it's not a bad idea to cut them, but I'd like to use their hose clamps, so I think I'll just take them off. If that ends the leaking and I don't have a cracked head or gasket...

Ok, thanks for all the help so far. Whether or not I've got a cracked head or head gasket, I am getting a lot of coolant in the car, so I have a question on using a bypass to connect the heater hoses. Do they only have coolant in them after the engine is warm & the thermostat has opened? So can I pull them from the firewall & connect them without draining the coolant?

That's been my general philosophy with this car. Noise? You hear a noise? (I then turn up the stereo) How's that? Gone? But of course I like to make sure it's not a safety issue, and I hate drawing attention with all the squeaking..

Whoa, sorry! I completely forgot about this thread. No, but I honestly haven't tried yet.. It seems like Subarus in general have squeaky brakes, but I do need to have the wheels checked, 'cause I hear something coming from the wheel too, speeds up as I do.. I've got bigger problems right now (unless it's my balljoints squeaking..) so it's gone on the backburner. I'll see what sorts of chemicals I can find at the auto store. Although if it's my back brakes, they're drums, so it's not so easy to get something in there, right? I did spray brake cleaner on the fronts and didn't notice a difference..

Alright, thanks! I know the hoses you're talking about. I'll take a closer look and hopefully get the thing figured out by the weekend..

Ok, first of all, no problem, I forget to read and listen all the time. NO oil in coolant, NO coolant in oil (that I can tell so far, it's a little harder to tell). The DRIVERS side rug is wet.........hmmm

Ok and these leaks would not have shown on a pressure test?