Andy FitzGibbon

The Haynes manual doesn't actually mention retorquing the head, which is surprising to me. A few weeks ago I pulled off the pass. side cover and every bolt I checked was to spec (47 lbs). I'm not sure what kind of gaskets they used, but this was after about 100 miles of driving. Didn't check the driver's side (as we know, much harder to get to) because I figured there was probably a 50/50 chance it would be OK. I'm actually kind of glad they went, because now I will know it's done right and won't have to constantly worry about getting stranded somewhere. Thanks for the tip on the Fel-Pros, I will pick up a set of those. Not having to retorque the heads would be quite a time saver. I'm know these guys didn't have the heads machined and expect they probably didn't even check them for flatness. So even if they did torque them all to spec it was only a matter of time before they went again, probably. The tick went away after I re-changed the oil. Then I ran some ATF through it and it started up again. Ordered new oil pump seals and will inspect pump while I'm doing the gaskets. I'm going to pull the engine out to do all this, I think, so I'll be able to figure out where all the extra bolts go. Thanks, Andy

One let loose today. Oh well, almost made it a month Guess I'm doing it myself this time. Andy

You can shift to any gear you want to with no clutch. As GD says, just match engine speed to transmission speed (same reason a d/r will shift in and out of 4WD hi without using the clutch). Using the tach and knowing what speed the engine should be running to get into the next gear helps, but is not necessary. Even though my cars have clutches I shift all the time without using them- I don't know why, but I've done it on every vehicle I've ever owned. It's kind of nice when I'm in my Ford pickup on a long trip, because the pedal travel in that is about three miles and my leg gets tired. Synchronizers in modern transmissions make clutchless shifting a lot easier, but it's still possible without them. Make sure it's insured- other than that, I'd drive it home without the clutch, as long as something else isn't going to break on the way Andy

I like his quote from the caption of his "benz crank" 90 degree v8 animation: Andy

I'd say that is high, especially for a car with an auto trans. I bought an extremely clean 85 GL dual range wagon with 125K and zero rust (Arizona car) for quite a bit less than that. I can one up that price, though- a car dealer in Charleston WV has a 88 GL auto wagon with 46K original miles, and wants $3500 for it:eek: Andy

I did check the KBB. Their price was right in line with what they want for it (about $2200) and the private sale price was $1750 or so. I didn't check NADA but will do so, thanks for the link. Good point. I was guessing 2WD Subarus don't hold their value well. But, because it's going to be my girlfriend's car, it will most likely be maintained and driven until it's absolutely dead. Resale isn't that big an issue in this case. She just wants to get a car and drive it, not do the "car of the month" like I do. Thanks, Andy

Congratulations! You win three dancing bananas :banana:

My EA82 AA lift kit has a parts list in the instructions. It's not totally accurate, but if the kit you're looking at has one it should give you a general idea. Andy

Oh, OK, I thought you were being serious... sorry. Now it's funny. (rolling eyes at myself here). I think when he said bumper in his post, he meant the side trim, which you can see in the first photo. Didn't mean to get all serious there;) Andy

Well, they want $2250 for it, which isn't too unreasonable. We drove it, and it is a very nice car and extremely clean. Cold AC, lots of power (for a 1.8, anyway). Will need two tires within a year but everything else looks good. Still has manuals, tool kit, ect., and looks like it was probably dealer maintained. And mileage is 105K, not 107K like I said before. GF is thinking about it. I wouldn't want to pay any more than 2K for it, and hopefully less, but it's a possiblilty. I have bought a couple 4Runners from the same lot over the years, so they know me and might cut me a deal. Thanks to everyone for the replies, they have been very helpful. Andy

Assuming no parts have been changed, from the first pic I could tell it was an EA82, not a DL or Loyale, and probably post-1986. I saw that it was an EA82 right away, it wasn't a DL because it has the corner light that DLs never got, that style corner light didn't come around until 86 as far as I know, and Loyales don't have the metal strip on the side trim. And I guessed it was a wagon, because there are more of them than the other body styles. Andy

True. But you still can't see it's a Touring wagon in the first photo, which is what I said:) Andy

You can't see that it's a T Wagon in the first photo.

Just curious... I saw them in an old brochure I was looking at, but I've never actually seen one on a car. Anybody got one? Thanks, Andy

You should post in the Older Gen forum, that's generally where all EA82 questions go. Horn is in the center of the steering wheel Sorry, not trying to be funny, it is there. I can't remember off the top of my head what it looks like, but I can look at mine tomorrow. I think there is probably resistor replacement info in the USMB. Good luck, Andy

Does the car have AC, and does it have a water pump driven fan, or just the electric fan? You could check the fan thermo swich, perhaps it's wearing out and getting out of range. Could just be a bad gauge sending unit, too. According to the gauge, my '85 GL has always run hotter than my Loyale. Not sure if it's actually hotter, or just a sending unit variation. Andy

Well, the thread is no longer strictly VA-WV... but it's still all east coast Thanks to everyone for the replies. I will probably go over and test drive it tomorrow, and find out what kind of unreasonably high price they want for it If you want to talk about unreasonably high prices for Subarus... online I found a 1988 GL automatic wagon in Charleston, WV, at a used car lot. 46K original miles. Had me excited, until they told me they wanted $3500 for it. I think I may drive my cherry no rust Arizona '85 GL down there and explain that I paid over $1000 less for it, and it's not an automatic. Thanks again, Andy

It's definitely not the fuel inlet- that runs lower along the uniframe and is a much larger line. It tees directly into that line, however, so I figure it's gotta be a return. I don't have any strong desire to unhook it, as it's working fine. Just was wondering if my guess as to what it was for was right. Thanks, Andy

They're not valve cover bolts, though two were missing when I first fired it up, and oil puked all over the floor of the shop. I feel the same way about the bracket, it looks like an electrical plug of some sort should fit into it. Heck, it may not even be for my car. Still no issues, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Andy

Yeah, I think the 2WD aspect would be my big bargaining chip on this one. And, I have bought a couple 4Runners from this place over the years, so that might help too. Her budget is about 2K, so we want to stay as much under that as possible. The same lot has a 2 door Impreza sedan for sale. I don't know what year it is, but it has an EJ22 and auto trans, and is AWD. It is much rougher than the 2WD. Interior is dirty, pass side has been hit and repaired badly, needs tires and rear wheel bearings, and mileage is about 180K. It does have sweet AutoZone wheel covers, though:lol: . They told me $1500 for that one, as-is, which I of course was not about to pay. I'm sure they could have been talked down but I didn't persue it because I knew I could find a nicer one that wasn't ridden so hard. Thanks for the comments, gives me a better idea of what mindset to go in there with when we test drive it. And wow- so far this thread is Virginia and West Virginia only... Andy

My girlfriend is looking for a car and I found a 1994 Impreza 4 door sedan at a local lot. It's FWD only (not AWD), white, nice interior, stick shift, 107K on the odometer. I looked at it briefly this evening when they weren't open, so I don't really know much about it other than that it looks fairly clean. I don't have any experience with new gen cars (all I've ever had is EA82s). Can anyone comment on this particular model and year? Major problems, average selling price, ect. Thanks a lot, Andy

I'm pretty sure I checked around and got at least most of the inner timing cover bolts in. I was sort of in a hurry to get it done and out of there, however, so maybe I missed more than I thought I did. The dipstick tube is all in place correctly, and so are all the bolts for the timing belt tensioners. It could be that they used bolts that were not original to the car for some things, and therefore had these left over. So far, I've driven the car around a lot and nothing has fallen off:lol: Thanks for the ID work. Best, Andy

Here's what's left: The bolts on the right are the type used for the timing belt covers. I had to leave a couple out because the inserts in the cover were stripped, but I didn't leave out five. Are these used anywhere else on the car? The bracket next to them I don't have a clue on. The bolts on the far left I suspect don't go with my car, and the ones between them and the bracket do, but I don't know where. Ideas are appreciated. Thanks, Andy

As GD says, not in practice. Due to the high gearing (and other factors, described below), the engine is being overworked. So, even though it's running at lower RPM (which, in the right situation, equals fuel savings) it's having to work so hard that it uses more fuel. A good example is the 1962 Chevy C50 wrecker a friend used to use. It originally had a 292 Chevy six- they swapped to a 350 after a few years, then went to a 454. Each engine change improved their fuel mileage, even though they were increasing engine size. Of course, being a 454, the mileage was still horrendous:grin: Increased tire diameter isn't the only thing contributing to the engine having to work harder- add in the increased rolling resistance of the aggressive tread pattern, along with the increased weight of the larger wheel/tire combo, and the poor little boxer ends up with quite a job to do. Lifting a vehicle increases it's wind resistance too, so that has to be factored in. Even if you lived in a totally flat area, had 31" tires with the same tread pattern as the stock tires, and magically lightened your wheel/tire combo to match the weight of the stockers, you'd most likely still get worse mileage than stock. Andy

According to Caboobaroo, that's what the middle line is. It's not connected to anything any more, being that my charcoal canister has been removed. I'm talking about the line on the right, which joins with the fuel line at a tee fitting near the carb. Andy