pisces_0

Just adding another data point to the 5-speed trans additive and flush topic. The push-button 4WD 5-speed in my Loyale was never horrible as far as shifting and grinding go, but on colder days it'd be very stiff and downshifting was a chore in itself. 198K will do that to a transmission. So, after doing a little reading in the archives I decided to try my own concoction of fluids in the trans for ~1000 miles to see how it affected the synchros and shifting. Jack up front end slightly and support with jack stands Drain the old gear oil out (fairly fresh, in my case) Clean & replace the drain plug (in a "doh!" moment, I've forgotten it) Pour in 1 quart of Rislone Engine Treatment Top off the transmission with ATF (I used Chrysler ATF+3, but I've got to imagine GM Dex/Merc or Ford Type F/FA would work just as well) I drove the car for ~1000 miles with this little mix in the trans and I could honestly feel it loosen up as the miles went on. When I drained the fluid out it came out fairly dark for the little time it had spent in the trans. Dark reddish-brown to black, but no chunks or metal shavings to speak of. There's definitely something to be said for the detergents in the Rislone and ATF! I then refilled with another quart of Rislone and topped it off with standard Valvoline 80W90 gear oil. The stiff shifting when cold and notchy downshifting is completely gone. I can downshift from 2nd into 1st at just a tick under 20mph with very little pressure on the shifter and no grinding whatsoever. That was virtually impossible before unless the car was at a complete standstill. Needless to say, downshifting into the rest of the gears is cake now. Cliffs Notes: A mix of Rislone and ATF in the trans for ~1000 miles really loosened it up and cured all the stiff shifting and notchiness. Shifting is smooth as butter now!

Good lord, give the poor driver a break! With ~300 hp (assuming it's a 2.5L) that thing must be damn squirrely once you get into it, even with AWD. I've got to imagine he's going easy on it in the vid. Me, I wouldn't even entertain the thought of getting onto something with that much power and no metal around me. Now, put that engine in a car and it's a whole different ballgame... :-p

Just replaced the front passenger's side axle and went through this very process. With the bearings still in the hub, I simply took wheel bearing grease and packed/smeared it into the bearings, spun them a few revolutions and worked the grease into them. Repeat three or four times and then give the bearings a final coating before reinstalling the axle. Can't imagine there's any real rocket science behind this. BTW, I used regular old Valvoline standard wheel bearing grease.

I'd say shoot him $500 and deal from there. $800 isn't horrible if everything is still working as it should, but most older Subies have little idiosyncrasies here and there and certain features don't work. The biggies are the engine (good compression, no leaks), the trans (clutch engagement, "crunchy" shifting) and 4WD (engages properly, axles all good). From there, it's mostly little stuff that can be tinkered with over time. The rust sounds pretty typical of an older snow-bound Subie. My Loyale has a few "speed holes" in him and is quickly creeping up on 200K, but damn if he doesn't start in the coldest of weather and have an amazing 4WD system! The recent snow here in MN has been a riot to be out driving in.

And therein lies the crux of the matter! Just like a car tuned for race gas, running a load of boost on an E85-fueled car limits you to where you can fill up. As the old saying goes, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Fortunately, MN is one of the leading suppliers and distributors of E85 in the nation (behind only IA, I believe). Not a whole lot up in northern MN, but down in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas it's everywhere.

RV "Toad" "A 'toad' is a second vehicle that is towed behind a motorhome. This provides a convenient runabout vehicle for shopping or sightseeing, while leaving the motorhome at the RV park." Had no idea what a "toad" was until I Googled it. I guess you learn something new every day! I'd think that as long as the car was left in neutral and in FWD/2WD mode you'd be fine. "Toad"-away with the Loyale!

Numbchux touched on it, but retrofitting an E85 fuel system is most advantageous on a forced induction setup. The octane level is in the neighborhood of 100-107 (depending upon the mix of ethanol & gas at that particular station) and is cheaper than 87 octane more often than naught. Doesn't get as good of mileage as gas due to the increased volume needed, but running ridiculous boost levels on fuel available at a normal gas station is quite nice. I've seen it done on many DSMs, and I know the WRX/STi guys are jumping on this bandwagon too.

I too had to run without a thermostat a few years back due to the OEM unit sticking shut (it had ~150K on it at the time, it was due for a replacement). February in northern MN without a thermostat makes for a few days of COLD driving! That's when all this hoo-hah with aftermarket thermostats and overcooling began. Haven't been able to get the car up to temp or the heat to blow as hot as it should ever since. So, it's back to the OE Subie thermost! Back on-topic, G.D. and nipper are spot-on with their statements. The disappearing coolant from the overflow tank has to be going somewhere, and that's into the combustion chamber. Time for a new headgasket(s).

Running a car on E85 that's not designed for it (namely the ECU calibration) or hasn't been retrofitted for it can definitely have some adverse effects. As compared to gasoline, you need about 27%-33% more E85 by volume at cruise and WOT. I don't know the ins and outs of the SPFI ECU, but I can almost guarantee it can't adjust the fuel trims enough to compensate for the needed extra fuel. Just not that much flexibility in the ECU and with the single injector. You're going to run quite lean, even if all your sensors (mainly the O2 sensor) are working as they should. Lean enough to cause damage? I'm not sure, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the one to test this out. As a counterpoint, a friend and I have very successfully ran E85 in his Eclipse GSX. A much bigger pump was installed, along with bigger injectors and a way to properly control the injectors through the ECU. The car runs bloody fast and has absolutely no knock!

Since the radiator cap seems to be the variable here, have you tried replacing it? Cheap enough item, so it'd be worth a shot. On a side note, can I have some of your engine temp? I seem to have the only EA82 that overcools! Now that its winter the engine temp gauge barely gets over the lowest tick mark and above the "C." The heat is hardly lukewarm and makes for a chilly drive most mornings. I've tried three different aftermarket parts store thermostats and all three gave me the same temp. Back to an OE Subaru thermostat!

Not sure I can help ya out much on that system. It seems to be quite different from the one in my Loyale. I basically learned by digging in to it all. That's about the best advice I can give you.

Haven't seen a cruise setup like that in a Subie yet. I'm assuming it's similar to many of the late '80s to early '90s GMs where the main on/off switch and the set/resume/accel switches are integrated into a stalk coming off of the steering column. If that's the case, there's got to be a way to remove it and check continuity across the different pins on the switches. Shouldn't be too Earth-shattering to get it out of there, just have to do a little detective work. Outside of that, I've got to imagine that the rest of the system should be similar to what I described above.

I have no idea how different the cruise control systems are across the different years of wagons, hatches, XTs, etc. I can't imagine they'd be all that dissimilar though. The dash & steering wheel switches may vary between the years but the general concept should be the same for the most part.

All the wiring should be in the car already, you'd just have to add the components. Off the cuff, here's what you'd probably have to pull off of a junkyard car: Steering wheel switches "Cruise" on/off switch on left side of gauge cluster Vacuum diaphragm on gas pedal Brake & clutch switches Vacuum canisters & check valve From there, it'd just be a matter of plugging in the switches, adjusting the brake & clutch switches, mounting the vacuum diaphragm & plumbing the vacuum lines. As cruise components are probably not on the top of junkyards' lists, you could probably score the whole setup for a song.

FIXED!! Just to wrap this thread up, I figure I'd share my findings with the cruise control on EA82s and how I finally ended up fixing it. Vacuum Hoses & Vacuum System Check all the hoses to make sure they're not cracked, rotted or disconnected somewhere. The newest EA82s are upwards of 13 years old now. These things are no spring chickens anymore! Remove, inspect and/or replace the lines as needed around the passenger's side vacuum canisters, across the firewall and down into the body on the driver's side (this is where one of my problems was). Check the vacuum canisters & check-valves on the passenger's side of the engine bay by the firewall. The big, round plastic ball on the passenger's side is a vacuum reserve canister. There's a check-valve in front of it and if you disconnect the line right off of this canister you should hear a rush of air sucking into it. If nothing happens either the check-valve in front of it is bad or the canister has a leak in it somewhere. Also, the white canister up by the strut tower that's roughly the size of a soup can has a check-valve built into it. You should be able to blow into one of the ports, but not the other. Check the actuator that's attached to the gas pedal & its accompanying vacuum line. The actuator is controlled by vacuum via the large vacuum line that runs across the length of the firewall. You should be able to remove the vacuum line where it connects into one of the vacuum canisters on the passenger's side, suck into it and it should hold vacuum. If not, check to make sure that the vacuum line isn't cracked somewhere or the diaphragm on the actuator isn't ruptured. Clutch & Brake Pedal Switches Check to make sure there's continuity between the pins on the brake & clutch pedal switches when the pedals aren't depressed & no continuity when the pedals are depressed. If I remember right one is set up as mentioned previously, and the other is set up the opposite (no continuity when the pedal isn't depressed & continuity when the pedal is depressed). This was one of the fixes I had to do a few years back to get the cruise working again & my memory is a bit hazy on this point. Removing the panel under the steering wheel and unbolting, but not completely removing, the ECU makes getting at the switches a ton easier. Bust out the multi-meter and check continuity between the pins on the switches. If one needs to be adjusted it's a simple procedure of loosening the lock nut, turning the switch a few threads in to bring it closer to the pedal and tightening down the lock nut. Dash & Steering Wheel Switches Pull the trim piece that surrounds the gauge cluster & holds the climate control switches. With a little finaggling you should be able to remove the three switches on the far left that house the rear defrost and cruise on/off switches. The "Cruise" switch has three pins; two pins should have continuity between them when the switch is pressed and the third pin is for the light on the switch that illuminates when it's on. Remove the steering wheel pad to check the "Resume" and "Set/Coast" switches. IIRR, four phillips-head screws hold the pad on & it pulls up and out. The three-wire connector for the switches combines the ground for both and a seperate signal wire for each switch. Remove the connector where it plugs into the steering wheel and check continuity between the ground & signal wires as each switch is depressed. In my car I had to close the gap on the contacts of two of the terminals. The switches were getting an intermittent signal and causing the cruise to work ~20% of the time (my second problem). Also, if you're really feeling saucy you can remove the switch altogether from the steering wheel pad to check it. I went this route and checked continuity all the way back to the solder joints just to be 110% sure I was covering my bases. The hole where the switch passes through the pad looked like it was cut with a dull butter knife by a Ritalin-addled howler monkey! Granted, the hole doesn't have to be overly pretty as the switch housing is covering it anyway, but damn I could've chewed a cleaner hole than that! Just a funny little point to look for if you decide to take the switch completely out. If, after all that, the system still doesn't work the reed switch in the gauge cluster is probably bad. I'm not sure if it's replaceable or not in these cars, so you may end up having to snag a whole new cluster from the junkyard. And then, as you know, it can be a crap shoot. After checking everything out and making a few fixes here and there I buttoned up the car and took it out for a cruise. Once I hit 55 MPH I pushed the "Cruise" button and it lit up signaling the system was on; one hurdle cleared. I apprehensively pressed the "Set/Coast" button on the steering wheel, held my breath and slowly pulled my foot back from the gas pedal...and the car stayed at 55 MPH! Just thought I'd do a quick write-up on what I went through to get the cruise control back and working correctly in my car as I'm sure there are others out there wanting a little relief for the longer road trips.

For the archives, if anyone is searching... For the entire 4+ years I've owned my Loyale the clock had always been dim and never really kept time. I didn't worry too much about it since the CD player has a built-in clock and just kinda ignored the stock clock. Today I bumped across a thread by NorthWet where he mentioned that a resistor usually loses continuity on one of the solder joints thus causing the clock to become finicky. So, with soldering iron and fine solder in-hand I popped the clock out of the dash to have a look at it. Sure enough, the large 750 ohm/2 watt resistor had both solder joints burned and cracked where it connected to the PCB. I de-soldered and removed the resistor, cleaned up the contacts on the circuit board and re-soldered the resistor. Plugged 'er back in and VOILA it was bright as day-one and kept perfect time again! The long and short of it: before ditching the clock on your EA82 pop it out and have a look at the guts of it. Easy fix!

Yep that wiring method makes complete sense, especially triggering the relay via the temp sensor ground. Looks like I'll be doing a little rewiring on the newly installed fan. Thanks for the input Skip, much appreciated!

Was doing some searching and bumped across a thread that's relevant to one of my newer additions to the Subie. I just removed the mechanical fan off of my '94 Loyale and installed an electric pusher fan in front of the radiator. I wired it up so it kicks on exactly like the stock electric fan. The ground is tied in to the fan temperature switch on the passenger's side of the radiator and the power goes up to the "+" side of the ignition coil. According to Skip this is a no-no? I can easily toss in some relays to protect the temp switch and coil/MPI relay/fuse if need-be. Any recommendations on wiring the additional fan so it kicks on with the stock fan and doesn't damage any of the other electricals?

If anyone has an FSM diagram of the wiring and vacuum hose routing for the cruise control system on an EA82-equipped car please post it up here. I don't need an explanation of how it all works or a "typical" cruise setup (as mentioned above; I've seen that diagram also), I need to see the actual Subaru-specific diagrams. I'm pulling my hair out trying to get the cruise fixed on my '94 Loyale wagon and have covered what seems to be every base. Can anyone help me out and come through with the needed manual pages?

I'll be replacing my O2 sensor in the next week or so and have been doing a little searching on this topic. I've noticed gas mileage slowly decreasing and being that I haven't touched the O2 sensor in 4+ years I'm assuming its starting to die. All the heat sheilding on the exhaust has rusted or fallen off so the O2 sensor is much easier to access. I'm curious if anyone has tried this on an older Subie. It seems to make a lot of sense, as opposed to the single wire O2 sensor that relies on exhaust temp to heat it up. A quick Google search didn't come up with much.

Thanks for the info on the EA82T, guys. For reliability and daily driving I just may keep my eye out for an EJ22T-equipped vehicle. I know they're a bit rarer, but I've got patience. On the subject of EA82s, I dove into the engine last night and replaced the oil pump seals, removed, cleaned and pumped up the lash adjusters with fresh oil and replaced both timing belts. For the first time in two years, the car is tick free! And yes, the "Mickey Mouse" gasket was blown out. Where I used to be able to determine RPMs by ticking speed, I now have to check the tach constantly to make sure the car is still running! I love the quiet!

A quick intro first. I'm fairly new to the board, but I've had my '94 Loyale 4WD as a daily driver for three years now and it's still getting me from point A to point B reliably even after 195K miles. Just like the USPS motto, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this Subaru from reaching its destination. I can't tell you how glad I am that I found this board as the info I've found here is priceless. Now on to the question. Which models of older Subarus used the EA82T engine? Don't get me wrong, I love my Loyale to death, but I sure wouldn't argue with having that little extra get-up-and-go every once in a while that a turbo engine can deliver. I've been into DSMs (Talon, Eclipse, Laser & Galant VR-4) for years and years and am in so far I don't think I'll ever be able get out. I've currently got a '92 Talon TSi AWD that's fairly built up so mass airflow sensor-equipped turbo engines are my bread and butter. I realize the EA82T will have a tough time cranking out the numbers that can be generated with a 4G63T, but I'd love to tinker around with an older fuel injected turbo Subie. Any recommendations? Thanks a ton for the info, guys. I look forward to broadening my Subie knowledge!