teasdam

one of the cylinders was scored bad enough that the machinist recommended I bore it out and use oversized pistons otherwise blow-by could be a problem...but this was my first attempt at a rebuild and and I didn't want to get that involved in an endeavor that I wasn't sure I could actually pull off in the first place so I didn't bother, just honed em :-p . It's a safe bet blow-by is something I did and not bad parts. I'll take a look at the plugs again (I could use some quick release plugs on this car as often as I do this). No misfiring or anything like that, just no go. Urp, don't like the sound of the bad cat option, but that will be plan B. Is there a quick way to test the fuel pump? I can hear it running (groaning) so it had crossed my mind that it's dying, but then again it's always done that. Looks like it would be easy to replace, I'd just rather not drop the money. thanks for replies

this car has been getting around 23-27mpg, depending on where I've been driving...city vs. highway. Lately mpg has been more like 20-23. Also noticed that power seems to be decent at lower speeds (no access to a similar car to compare, might just be typical for this engine), but once I get to about 50-55mph acceleration takes a nose dive. Last time I checked on a relatively flat length of the highway it took me 22 seconds to get from 55mph to 65. Also can barely hold 65 if there is any incline at all. Otherwise the car runs well. I think I've done everything that has been suggested in past threads. I rebuilt the engine in March and replaced all filters, fluids, plugs, wires, o2 sensor, etc. and timing is still good. I'm running regular gas so octane can't be too high. Any suggestions of other things to look for? No idea how to navigate the emissions stuff but maybe that's the culprit? No sign of a vacuum leak anywhere...I went over the lines/hoses a month ago. I'm just trying to think of what would affect power @ higher speeds but not slower. Can fuel pumps wear out gradually or is it an "all-or-nothing" component? I am getting a lot of blow-by...would lost compression produce this?

this thing... never mind...picture won't attach

I just picked up a cheapo blower motor which appears to be more or less the same as my old one, except that it doesn't have a spot for the small hose to connect. I'm assuming this hose is intended to provide air movement over the motor parts. How important is this? Besides that, the motor is working fine. My car came with a/c, although it's not hooked up and probably never will be...in case it matters.

doh! ...good to know before I go scrounging through junkyards for a resistor without any "corrosion". Knocks my corrosion short theory out of the running, though.

in the process of removing the motor, I had to remove the resistor block so I happened to stumble across the resistor last night. The last 2 of the 3 coils were broken, explaining why settings 1 and 2 were out. The remaining coil had come corrosion stuff caked on it which I assume was acting as a short so there was less resistance than there should have been, explaining why settings 3 and 4 were about the same. (The carfax report showed that the car used to reside on the east coast, so it is a bona fide rust bucket.) When I said I could control the "speed" I meant I could control the power level going to the motor...so yes skip there is voltage. Also, turning off the vents altogether cuts power to the motor, so the relay must be working. Fuses were the first thing I checked and they're all good. (Part of the problem is that the Chilton wiring diagram is similar, but not the same.) So, as I see it, the resistor need to be replaced so I can have all my speeds back, and the motor needs to be replaced so I can have anything at all. Called two automotive electronics places and they both recommended just replacing the motor instead of trying to replace the brushes or messing with anything like that. Advance has motors for $47 but no resistors. May be time for a u-pull-it job. thanks for the replies...I didn't make it too far the other day without the defroster.

There are two wires going to the motor. I can control the voltage through them using the switch as before...no power on 1 or 2, while both 3 and 4 are up at 12 volts (I never could tell much difference between the two settings.) Does this tell me that the resistor is still broken, but not the reason the motor won't go at all? Where is the resistor? I haven't been able to follow the wires far enough to find it. Still need to drop the blower to check for squirrels and the like, but so far I see no signs of uninvited denizens. Maybe brushes are bad as mentioned?

blower settings 1 and 2 have never worked in this car, but 3 and 4 have sufficed so far. All of sudden, nothing works...just as the first real snow has started to fall too. Looking at the wiring diagram I'm thinking the order to check for continuity is the relay, the motor itself, resistor, the finally the setting switch. So, where is the relay? Do I have to check anything on the resistor or does that all just depend on the switch position? Anything tips/tricks I should be aware of? Since settings 1 and 2 have never worked, I'm thinking its probably a faulty switch so maybe I should start there.

well, I'm the one who rebuilt the engine...so it's quite possible the rings are screwed up :cool: thanks for the replies, I'll see what I can find

well, as for the idling...I had a helluva time trying to figure out why my car suddenly started idling rough. Check all the vac lines, ignition stuff, etc. Finally sprayed some ether in spots and the engine would surge so I knew there was a vac leak somewhere. Turned out to be a bad intake manifold gasket letting in excess air. Replaced the gaskets and now I'm back on the drag strip again The computer did give me a lot of false codes throughout the process (due to the rough idling I presume) sending me on a few wild goose chases. I'm skeptical that the code is relevant. As for the other problems...I don't know what to tell you. I guess start over and redo the timing belts, timing procedure, etc.

Back some time ago, when I connected the diagnostic wires the LED would flash what I think was code 11, IIRC. My code list doesn't start until code 12 so I asked pretty much the same question. The answer was that the computer will flash a default code identifying itself as one model or another (or something like that)...but it really just means everything is OK with no errors to report. I assume that is what you're getting. Are you getting the CEL even without the diagnostics turned on? If so, then I'd suggest disconnecting the battery for awhile and trying again. The "clear modes" configuration never seems to work for me, but the battery trick does.

my car has always stunk like there was exhaust getting in somehow. I haven't been able to tell any difference between when the vents are on or not either. Smell goes away when the car is moving and I do mostly highway driving, so it's been more of a nuisance than anything so far. We had the first real cold (well, in the 20's I guess) moring here. I started the car and let it warm up while blasting the defrost to clear up the windshield. After 10 mins or so I got in to drive to work and the interior of the car was very smoky and full of exhaust. A couple blocks driving with the windows down and I could breath again, but why was it so bad that morning? It hasn't happened since, but then, it hasn't been quite as cold either. I'm not at all familiar with the ventilation/climate control system, so I have no where the vents draw air from or what might be happening. I know the engine has significant blowby and there is palpable air movement from the oil filler tube. Is there some way that the blowby exhaust could find its way through the vents? While I'm on the subject...do you think its better to have the oil filler cap sealed tight? or loose so the exhaust has an escape? I was thinking I could force the blowby back through the PCV to contain it, but then I decided it would be better to leave the cap loose enough to provide the pressure with an easy escape.

I've never quite understood when a guy should use gasket sealer and when not to... I've just located a leak in one of the gaskets on the intake manifold (which would answer my last post as to why my car is idling poorly.) I put the paper gaskets on dry last time, but I was thinking I would slather some of that copper sealer on them to be sure this time. Should these gaskets work by themselves? i.e. did I torque this wrong or something? Or should I be in the habit of using sealer all the time?

hmmmm.... so where is the purge solenoid? and how can I tell if it's stuck open?

you could try spraying ether in very specific locations around the engine and on the lines. If the engine surges, you know ether has entered the system...then you can at least have an idea of where the leak is.

Why did my stupid car just start idling funny?! It's not so much idling rough, but more loping, low RPM, like it's about to stall causing the whole car to shake. Just watching the engine you can see it rocking/shaking as it idles, but smooths out with gas. Idle RPM (in gear) hangs out around 500, within the range from about 400-600. I've also noticed that when I first start the car, the engine will rev up to about 2000 RPM, then after a few seconds it drops to 1200, then revs back up to 2000, and does this a few times before finally deciding on a cold idle speed...don't know if that's related or not. I've checked the plugs, wires, cap and rotor...the ignition side of things seems to be OK. Timing is right where it should be as well. Then I thought it might be a fuel problem, but the engine runs great any time I give it any gas at all...acceleration and cruising with no problem. IAC is the only thing I can think of that would affect idle performance when the engine runs fine at all other times. I blasted some WD-40 down the top of the IAC to see if that would loosen things up or something, but that had no effect. Also checked all the vacuum lines and blasted them with brake cleaner to clear any blockage. No codes to speak of from the computer, but could this be a sensor problem? What kind of things besides IAC affect idle performance but not driving?

actually, I was hoping you could provide me with those values. I don't have any books for this car...too new for Haynes, I guess. Any place on the web I can pull those? and thanks for the quick reply

Our 2003 Outback occasionally says it's running hot - between 3/4 and red on the gauge. As far as I can tell, the coolant is circulating OK and we are not losing coolant, so i figure the sensor itself is bad. I have a multimeter but don't know the actual procedure or what to look for. Can anyone help me get started? Also...just in case...any tricks for ensuring that there are no air bubbles trapped in the system on this model?

which cable? (...our car just started doing about the same thing)

my front diff is leaking from the axle seals...any tricks to fixing this without actually getting in there to replace the seals? I haven't seen any diff stop leak products at the store. How heavy can a guy go with the gear oil viscosity?

it was a complete rebuild last March. What the deal was, one of the cylinders was scored kinda bad. The machinist recommended boring it out and getting oversize pistons but I didn't want to drop that kind of money. He said I could expect to burn a little oil but that was OK with me. As far as I can tell, this problem developed after tapping out the plug hole for the thread insert. Could some shavings have dropped into the cylinder and thrashed the rings? I tried to minimize this possibility and sucked everything up with a vacuum hose..but still, just weird how this started right after doing this. I ran some of that John Deere break-in oil when I first started driving and things have been fine up till now, so things should be well set. For this compressions test, are you saying get a fitting so that I can apply air pressure through the plug hole and listen for air escaping through the filler tube? Is there a way to tell if it's a head gasket vs. rings?

My car has been stumbling a bit lately, but nothing serious...one of the plugs tends to foul up and just needs replacing. The other day I swapped in a new plug, but I managed to crossthread the new plug and mess up the threads. I bought one of those helicoil type kits and installed a thread insert...no problems. So I go to start up the car and try out my new setup today and it wouldn't start for a long time. For some reason, it was acting like it was flooded and disconnecting the injector would clear things up and the engine would run momentarily. It took a while for that to go away, but it did...don't know if this has anything to do with the problem. Now, the car will start and run pretty well..about as well as when I first started this ordeal. The problem now is that the oil filler tube puffs smoke like it's an exhaust pipe or something. The "smoke" goes away at higher rpm, but it puffs like a coal train at idle (with white smoke). I also noticed that pressing the palm of my hand against the filler tube opening (to block the exhaust) causes the engine rpm to drop. I'm also getting several codes...off the top of my head I think they were 12, 31, 32, 33, 51, and 61....to name a few. The "smoke" coming from the filler tube is not blue like burning oil, or sweet like burning coolant, also no signs of coolant in the oil...so I assume, for whatever reason, I'm suddenly getting an extraordinary amount of exhaust blow-by on one of the cylinders. Anyone have any idea what the hell happened? I just rebuilt the engine a few months ago and the only problem so far has been a minor oil-burning in one cylinder which the machinist warned me might develop..but he never hinted something like this might happen. Is this a head gasket problem or bad rings or what? Compression test the next step? I can't imagine this much smoke is from a plugged PCV or something simple.

My car has been stumbling a bit lately, but nothing serious...one of the plugs tends to foul up and just needs replacing. The other day I swapped in a new plug, but I managed to crossthread the new plug and mess up the threads. I bought one of those helicoil type kits and installed a thread insert...no problems. So I go to start up the car and try out my new setup today and it wouldn't start for a long time. For some reason, it was acting like it was flooded and disconnecting the injector would clear things up and the engine would run momentarily. It took a while for that to go away, but it did...don't know if this has anything to do with the problem. Now, the car will start and run pretty well..about as well as when I first started this ordeal. The problem now is that the oil filler tube puffs smoke like it's an exhaust pipe or something. The "smoke" goes away at higher rpm, but it puffs like a coal train at idle (with white smoke). I also noticed that pressing the palm of my hand against the filler tube opening (to block the exhaust) causes the engine rpm to drop. I'm also getting several codes...off the top of my head I think they were 12, 31, 32, 33, 51, and 61....to name a few. The "smoke" coming from the filler tube is not blue like burning oil, or sweet like burning coolant, also no signs of coolant in the oil...so I assume, for whatever reason, I'm suddenly getting an extraordinary amount of exhaust blow-by on one of the cylinders. Anyone have any idea what the hell happened? I just rebuilt the engine a few months ago and the only problem so far has been a minor oil-burning in one cylinder which the machinist warned me might develop..but he never hinted something like this might happen. Is this a head gasket problem or bad rings or what? Compression test the next step? I can't imagine this much smoke is from a plugged PCV or something simple.

speaking of which...I need to retap a plug hole and I have some question. What size and thread tap do I need? What do you do about shavings that drop into the cylinder? Anyone know a good place to order a tap? (I had a helluva time trying to find the right size/thread for the head bolts...I finally gave up.)

I have one plug that keeps fouling up from oil getting past the rings. I had this problem in my truck and I switched to 10-40 weight oil which seems to have fixed the problem in the truck, but this isn't working for the car I just rebuilt the engine and I was half expecting this problem...I didn't want to drop the money to bore out the cylinders and get new pistons...but I'm reluctant to go any thicker with the oil. Given that the rest of the engine is "new" and functioning as it should, would it be unwise to bump up to the next weight? How heavy do you guys go? This is a not turbo BTW.