Alexx

These cars that are leaving a lot of oil, could that just be an oil pump leak? Seems a shame to prematurely assume there's something wrong with the engine if its just the oil pump. I'm closing in on 260,000 original engine, 81 DL wagon.

Is there a "failsafe" fuse tester, or do they all have flaws?

The mechanic had a some type of continuity tester with a small light bulb on one end that lit up when he touched it to either sides of the fuse holder.

But why would the fuse tester "light-up", meaning the fuse was passing a signal, yet not until the fuse was replaced did the brake lights and horn start working? A loose wire should have meant that the fuse would not have passed voltage, right?

Maybe that would make an interesting new board, carb to fuel injection makeovers.

I kind of think it could be a really cool "cottage industry" to offer fuel injection make-overs for carbed cars. I would gladly spend the bucks. I would slowly get the money back over time with increased fuel economy and I'm saving money driving an older car anyway, I'd love to have the choice. I talked to a subaru repair shop, both dealer and non-dealer, and they showed visible disdain at the idea of doing a fuel injection conversion.

My brake lights stopped working and my horn wasn't working either. According to the test the mechanic did the fuses were fine. He replaced them anyway and the brake lights started working and so did the horn. If you can't trust a fuse tester, what can you trust?

My 81 DL's defroster didn't work until I actually had the heater control unit replaced, now all the defroster "ribs" work.

SPFI stands for??? (I assume the FI is Fuel Injection?) I wanted to do the same on my 81 subaru and all I got was fear from the people I asked. Sensors have to be put in a bunch of spots and the claim was the car could just shut off and not work while one was driving on the freeway.

Are you referring to your heater control unit? I just purchased one for $35.00 from used-carparts.com (plus 2 day shipping) and had my mechanic install it. Apparently, you can actually order a new one from Subaru for around $199.00. I'm glad I had the whole heater control unit replaced because now I also have a working cigarette lighter (I don't smoke) so I can actually use the lighter as a battery charger! The mechanic tried to convince me to replace the fan because it didn't blow super fast, but I figure if the car doesn't run really hot so if the fan runs any faster it still won't blow any hotter.

Yeah, in the winter 10/40 makes sense, unless you live on the West Coast.

When I first bought my 81 Subaru back in 1988, I changed the oil every 2,500 miles. Since I was a driver at the time I was changing my oil every six weeks! After about 10 years, um, actually it was about 10 months but it felt like 10 years I began to lengthen the time between oil changes. My ultimate solution was to switch to 20-50 weight and now I let the oil go 5,000-10,000 miles between changes. The key point to remember is as older cars burn and leak more oil than newer cars, the car is continuously going through an oil change AS LONG AS YOU DON'T LET THE OIL GET LOW! Never lower than a quart down then put another quart in and you're good to go for a while. Just hit 257,000 miles on the original engine.

I heard that once the Subaru name is actually put on the Purolator oil filter it improves it. Santa Claus lives!

I was thinking the same thing. They should have an "estimated crush date". I'm in the process of suggesting that to them.

I am pleased to report that I was easily able to find a Heater/AC control unit for my 81 Subaru. http://www.car-part.com/index.htm WARNING! The parts come and go quickly as the parts are on Subies (and other makes of cars) destined to be crushed. Here today, Crushed tomorrow. You can sort your choices by geography, year, or cost. Quite cool and useful.

The 81 Subaru's had a too short clearance from the back of the radio to where the stick shift is. Most radios are at least an inch longer than the clearance in the 81 subaru's. I've asked the installer about possibly mounting the radio vertically, or taking out the whole console and starting from scratch. Option three is repair the Clarion radio that actually was already installed and that fit. What have others done? It's so strange that with all the cool things I like about my subaru they really messed up on the radio clearance and the radio that came with the subaru was basically a joke.

My Drivers seat doesn't go straight up enough on my 81 Subaru Wagon DL. What are my replacement choices?

Dang this dropped off the first page within just a few hours. Should I buy a used one or a new one? A new one costs $199.00, a used one around $40-60.00

How interchangeable are the Subaru Heater Control Units? Will a 1988 Heater control unit work in a 1981. Will a GL version work in a DL? Will an 81 GL version work in an 81 DL? Will a non AC version work in an AC version and visa-versa? Tell me all you know.

This could also explain why the car idles so slowly when I first start it, it can't generate heat quickly because the water is circulating from the get go. Now if only I hadn't left my car at the mechanics this weekend I could actually check all of this out.

Interesting Theory. What you are saying is if the water is always free flowing then the radiator is doing a super good job of keeping the water cool so it never heats up as much when it circulates into the engine. Plus the radiator is only a two years old so maybe it is displacing more heat than the old one it replaced. It's been so long since I replaced the thermostat I forgot where it's located. Since I did have the radiator replaced perhaps I'm driving around without a thermostat??? Although the thermostat is located elsewhere I think. If I take the radiator cap off and start the car and I see the water already circulating then that would mean there is no thermostat in the car??? But then the final question is, isn't the car running cooler actually a good thing in terms of engine longevity? In a warmer climate like California is the thermostat actually necessary?

I have an 81 Subaru DL wagon. The car passes smog easily and gets about 25-27 miles per gallon. My mechanic says the car runs cool. I thought the temperature guage was just aging and that was why it barely goes above the cold line even when it's warmed up. Could my car be running cooler as it ages even though it seems to be burning the fuel, or is the catalytic convertor masking the unburnt fuel by burning it before it reaches the tail pipe? Can a cat running too hot cause the rest of the car run too cool?

What's the little cubby thing? What radio did you install? Thanks for the info! Thanks for the ebay links. thanks thanks thanks.

Hmmm, I have removed the non-functioning radio and left the console off. There sure seems to be a lot of room under the console. Does the console serve any useful purpose besides the radio and ashtray? There seems to be a lot of extra space inside the console.

you mean DL does not stand for DELUXE!!! OK, so if I want a speaker in each door I have to get an aftermarket radio and put it near the bottom of the dash just above the carpeting. I did that, but that radio, a Clarion 8024R, stopped working. So my options are either ebay or buying a new radio from an inventory source that my installer knows about, at a premium price because it's really just overstock of an item no longer made.