ScottG

Have you changed your PCV valve lately? Those suckers tend to get clogged up and suddenly you have way too much positive pressure in the crankcase. Most of the threads on the board concerning PCV valves, encourage you to get one from the dealer. Board members have been very positive about avoiding aftermarket thermostats & PCV valves. Once you've changed the valve (it's beneath the SPFI, on the winshield side), make sure all your vacuum lines are not clogged. If your vac lines are the originals, here's a good occasion to change them.....you'd be surprised how a few minor vac leaks can adversely effect performance & fuel economy. Hope this helps & good luck! ScottG

Don't feel bad, Spinnaker. I did the same thing last fall - removing the SPFI to adjust the TPS - I reversed the fuel lines & wound up with a situation exactly like yours. (And I've never rebuilt a boat engine, except for a small outboard). As other members have said,....it's easy to reverse some of this stuff, & not recognize what you've done. No need to beat yourself up....It's all part of the Subie learning curve. ScottG

Since you fell the vibrations in your butt & not the steering wheel, I will begin by assuming the problem is in the rear axle or rear tires. (This is a BIG assumption on my part). Start with the easy stuff - the tires. Jack up one side of the rear & carefully go over the tire tread. Make sure there have been no belt separations, etc. look for lumps or bumps. Check the sidewall, too. While the wheel is off the ground, grab the tire at the 12 o'clock & 6 o'clock positions & see if there is any play. Try the same thing with hands holding the tire at the 9 o'clock & 3 o'clock positions. Now lower the car & jack up the other side of the rear & go through the same process. Does the movement (if any) of the tire with hands at the 6 & 12 o'clock postions & hands at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions feel the same as the other side? These little checks & tests should provide some clues as to the problem. I'm not all that familiar with the 4WD system since my GL wagon is FWD. If these checks yield no answers, I must defer to knowledgeable brother members. ScottG

I've got 175R65X13 tires on an 86 GL10 wagon 2WD. My tach reads 3K at 65. I can get 35MPG if I keep it just under 3K....about 61/62 MPH.

I bought an 86 GL10 non-turbo wagon last summer. It had been sitting for 4 years. I had most of the problems members have allready mentioned. The one thing that has been passed over a bit too lightly is the gas tank. I tried draining the tank, adding Seafoam & fresh gas - and the wagon ran great - in the garage. Once I got it out on the road it sputtered & bucked like a mule. I wound up dropping the tank & rinsing it out with a gallon of carb cleaner - the kind you buy in a gallon paint can & it has a tiny bucket in it for soaking carb parts. I sloshed a gallon of that stuff for 20 minutes & you should have seen the crap that came out. After 2 rinses with regular gas, I put it back together & flushed out the pump & lines. With a new fuel filter, it's been running fine for almost 7,000 miles since Aug '07. This occurred in humid Virginia. The dry west may not cause that problem, but it is one more thing to be prepared for. Best of luck. ScottG

Hi Del, What General Disorder wrote is absolutely correct & 'by the book'. However, I'm wondering what sort of symptoms your '88 is showing that would cause you to ask the question. I've had some wiring issues with my '86 SPFI wagon, including the auxiliary fan NOT coming on with the AC. I wound up re-wiring the fan with a fuse & temp sensor from Advance Auto Parts. The temp sensor is adjustable, and I have it set to kick in at 190 degrees (I'm running a 180 thermostat). I added a relay & connected it to the wire that operates the AC compressor clutch. Now when I activate the AC, the relay kicks in the electric fan. So my electric fan does double duty: additional cooling when temperatures rise & AC. By the way, how well does your AC cool in the summer heat? My '86 is pretty marginal. Even with the electric & belt driven fans wailing away & the HVAC system set on 'recirculate or max', the interor temp remains rather warm. I'm trying to figure out how to add an additional condensor in the front to get rid of more heat. It's no big secret that you have to get rid of more heat at the condensor(s) to create more cold at the evaporator. I'm going to do some experimenting in the Spring to see how I can create greater interior cooling for summer driving. It gets REALLY HOT in Richmond in the summer! If you'd like a diagram & pictures of my current electric fan set-up, drop me an e-mail at: fordveight@verizon.net Best of luck ScottG

How long has Bucky been sitting? The amount of crap that can form in the gas tank during a year or 2 of not running is almost unbeleivable. My '86 GL sat from 2003 until last August. It ran great in the garage, but ran like crap as soon as I got it on the road. I damn near ruined the fuel pump trying to clear the tank with seafoam & drygas. I finally dropped the tank, emptied it, then poured in a gallon of carb cleaner (the kind you get with the little parts bucket in it, at the auto parts store). I sloshed it around for 15 minutes, thenn dumped it out - you should have seen all the junk! After re-installing the tank (not a hard job on a 2WD), I proceeded to use compressed air to blow out the fuel lines. I also replaced the fuel filter in the engine compartment. She hasn't missed a beat since - and that was 6,000 miles ago! Hope this helps.........good luck........

My '86 sat for 4 years prior to my buying it, and the fuel pump did the same thing. You have no idea how much crap forms in a gas tank over the years. I wound up removing the tank (not a hard job on a 2WD), & cleaning it out w/ a gallon of carb parts cleaner (the kind you buy in a gallon paint can & has a little metal basket for soaking carb parts). Before removing the tank, I tried removing the pump from the mounting plate & removing the wiring, but leaving the hose connections attached. I applied 12 volts from a jumper box & got it to run. It lasted for 1/2 hour's operation then quit again. That's when I gave up & removed the tak for cleaning. After putting the clean tank back in, I connected the jump box again (directly to the pump) & got halting operation. I checked the fuel filter & found it plugged up. I also tried running the pump backwards a few seconds at a time(reversing the jump box connections) a few times, & that seemed to help. A clean tank & fuel filter seem to be the best antidote to fuel pump trouble. Hope my experience has been helpful. ScottG

I had a similar problem when I first put my '86 wagon on the road (last August). I found that mice had built a huge nest in the air plenium under the wipers & every time I turned the blower on high, it sucked in some more of the nest. Step 1 is to check that plenum & make sure it's cleaned out. As has already been suggested, take out the 3 philips screws & remove the blower motor. (you'll need to remove the plastic shield across the lower dash to get at it). There are 2 plugs to undo & the blower assembly sorta comes right out (with a bit of finagling). The plate that controls the speeds is attached to the very bottom screw & you'll have to wiggle it past that during removal & re-assembly The motor really doesn't come apart, but you can get an oil needle to the bearings. Top is simple - just remove the squirrel cage. You can get to the bottom bearing throught the hole where the rubber tube from the air box goes in. (Be sure to re-connect that rubber tube during reassembly - your blower motor will burn up if it's not cooled) Use oil wth PTFE or Moly If oiling fails to resussitate the motor, check junkyards. I found that a mid '80s Toyota Corolla blower motor fit my Suby perfectly - it even used the same female plug. While your blower assembly is out, this is a good time to clean out your heater or A/C. Put a curved piece of 3/4" heater hose on the end of your vacuum cleaner hose & stick it (gently) into the area that accepts the air pressure from the blower. I was able to vacuum pine needles, leaves, & tons of mouse nest crap out of mine. This action restored air flow through the system (and we all know how marginal an '8os Suby A/C is on a 90 plus degree day). Hope my experience will be helpful. Good luck! ScottG

I've had good luck with a prodict called EXTEND, which I think is made by Union Carbide. it's been around for some time...I think I first used it on rust in my VW Camper (no longer have it) back in the mid 80s. I bought an underbody spray rustproofing kit from J C Whitney around 1998 and used EXTEND in it(I bought a gollon of the stuff at NAPA for $78) & sprayed the underside of my Isuzu diesel pickup (no longer have it). I also did the inside of the doors & inside the frame rails. I credit EXTEND with lengthening the life of my truck, which had extensive rust on the underside of the cab, including some rust-through. Scott

Check out the EA performance page under '80s', by SubieMech. I followed his advice on the muffler for my '86 wagon, and am very satisfied. Just a nice burble outside and a bit of a hum inside (I can still hear the fuel pump). Big Bonus: I had terrible pinging under load (had to reset timing to 18 degrees)... it disappeared after the muffler change(was able to go back to 20 degrees). I got a THRUSH muffler from Advanced Auto Parts.....I think it was 26 or 27 bucks. Now I have a little more low end torque, no pinging, and I'm clearing 33 and 34 MPG (Important, now that our gas is nearing 3 bucks a gallon in central VA). I'm always looking for posts that discuss methods of increasing one's fuel milage......anyone seen anything new??

Don't know if this is a 'no-no', but try removing the air cleaner top and squirting a couple shots of starting fluid (ether) into the carb. Replace the air cleaner top before you crank....this stuff is very volatile! This won't fix anything, but it will indicate if it might be a fuel delivery problem. If it starts right up, at least you will know there is a fuel problem of some sort.

I'm running a 160 thermostat in my '86 GL 2WD wagon. The air conditioner (formerly not cool enough to write home about), began to cool the wagon much better - not so much heat from the engine compartment blasting through. Simple physics: create less heat from the engine & you'll feel much more comfortable in the passenger compartment - at least in the summer heat. Fuel milage is unchanged from the former 180 thermostat. I'm your basic 'try it And see if it works' guy. Got my 160 from Advance Auto. They let me go back in the stacks & dig through all their stats.......I found the 160 SuperStant. Like you, I'd been seeking a 170...but there was not one to be found. I think the 160 is great - but then winter's not here yet and it can get pretty cold in Richmond, VA. Lesson: don't throw the old 180 away!

I bought an '86 GL 2WD wagon that had been sitting for 4 years - lots of minor electrical glitches. I finally pulled all the fuses & sprayed them with electrical contact cleaner, then sprayed the fuse panel with the same stuff. Then I used 600 grit sandpaper to clean all the fuse blades and the receiving sections in the fuse panel. It's been right as rain ever since. Check every ground under the hood, under the carpet, & under the dash. Use sandpaper & electrical contact cleaner on each one. Trace that engine monitor wire from both sides of the fuse panel. The hot side may have grounded somewhere. 20 plus year old wiring can get some brittle covering under some conditions.

Hi Daeron, Send me your e-mail address, & I'll send you the photocopy of the CC wiring diagram from the "87 FSM. SG

Hi WJM, I am beholding to you for the note about making Cruise Controls on EA81s & 2s work in Soobs where the ATs have been swapped for MTs. You saved my life & my leg with your note on removing the jumper from the big console receptical plug to make the dash think it was no longer in neutral. It sure worked for me! Now to business: I have a factory or dealer CC from an '88 Loyale coupe. It includes the vacuum hoses, the dash mounted control box (goes in the opening to the rigjht of the steering wheel, where I have a factory mounted power mirror control on my '86 GL wagon), all the wiring and the 'brain box' that mounts above the hood release handle (it uses the same mounting bolts as the hood release). I also have the brake switch (I copped the clutch switch for my wagon). It also includes the little round thingy from the shock tower under the hood - has 3 or 4 wires going to it and a vacuum hose that goes to the gas pedal vac solenoid. I do not have the black plastic bubble (vac storage unit, I think) that was attached to the passenger side shock tower, and I do not have the vacuum solenoid the pulls the accelerator.....everything else is there..... Make me an offer I can't refuse!! email me at: fordveight@earthlink.net (And be patient....my spamblocker takes a while to get through) SG

WJM,.....YOU ARE A GENIUS!!! I've been tearing my hair out over the CC on my '86 GL wagon.....the one where I had swapped out the AT for an MT...& wound up with nothing...including no hair! That is, until I read your note on the big female plug on the console that the auto shft selector once plugged into. You are absolutely right in that you have to find the wires for the neutal safety switch (on the '86, it's the black w/yellow stripe and the black w/white stripe....next to each other on the female plug on the console). Make a jumper for that & the car starts.....BUT THE CC WILL NOT WORK!! This morning, after getting underway, I pulled off into a parking lot & with the engine running, pulled the jumper I'd made for the neutral safety switch. I pulled back on to the roadway, got up to 40mph, & pressed the button on the end of the turn signal lever.....and WHAALAAA...it held 40 when I removed my size 12 from the accelerator. I found the accel & coast functions to work perfectly....and all due to WJM. THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!! Here is my thinking: It matters NOT if the CC unit in your Sooby came from an MT or an AT donor. The most important thing to know is that the jumper needed on neutral safety switch of the AT selector plug must be removed for the CC to work. (if you're working with a Soob that was originally AT equipped) I'm going to put a rocker switch in the faceplate of the radio (where the trip computer would go, if I had one), and connect it to the b/y and b/w wires I mentioned a few paragaphs back. Not only will it serve as a neutral safety switch bypass when in the 'on' position, but will serve as the CC 'on' button when 'off'. And here's something kinda neat::::if you leave the car with than switch on the 'off' position, it will serve as a security system for your Soob...for unless the person at the wheel knows to press that rocker to 'on', the Soob will never start! Again, many thanks, WJM, for solving the problem with my formerly non working CC. I would never have thought of that.......and I've been through every stinkin' wire and every stinkin' vacuum hose in the CC system too many times to count. BTW, Carfreak 85, the next 2 wires beyond the b/y and b/w controlling the neutral safety switch, is another (smaller) b/w wire and a green wire. These are the backup light connections. Jump those 2 terminals & your Soob back ups will light up. I ran a wire from the small b/w and another from the green from the console plug to the white plug on the MT. And WHALAH, I had backup lights every time I shifted into reverse. I hope I've shed some light on your situation. SG

IMG] Hi, I have a copy of the CC wiring diagram from the '87 Field Service manual that I'd be pleased to send you. Please send me your e-mail address. (I can't figure out how to attach an image here in the postings) SG fordveight@earthlink.net

Thanks, GD. Appreciate the input...and that gets me a little further down the path toward where I want to be (with a working cruise control) A couple of other thoughts & questions: 1. What's the difference between a CC for an MT and a CC for an AT?? Seems to me (and I'm really stretching this one and revealing my ignorance) that the only difference would be the additional switch for the clutch (to kill the CC when the clutch is depressed). Although I replaced the AT with an MT, I found an additional white 2 prong plug in the wiring harness, near the clutch pedal. It is the exact size & shape for a clutch switch (which I have, but have not yet installed). I found a thread somewhere that stated the 'brain' above the hood release handle had one color of tape or paint on it for AT, and another color paint or tape for an MT. Any confirmation on that, and does it apply to the '86, specifiacally. What were the colors & which trans did each apply to?? 2. For the clutch & brake switches: they should be hot all the time, except when the brake and/or clutch is depressed....right? If that's so, then if a jumper wire were to be installed in each of the 2 plugs in the wiring harness, instead of plugging them into the clutch & brake switches, the cruise would work, but not shut off when either brake or clutch was pressed....right?? I may try this just as an experiment & be ready to turn the key off to kill the system. .............Or are these 2 circuits supposed to be off all the time and activated (closed) when the clutch/brake is depressed. I tested the brake switch & got continuity on my multimeter when the brake pedal was depressed. If this is true, then removing the plugs from the brake & clutch switches would make the cruise work all the time no matter which pedal was pressed....right? 3. If the clutch & brake switches check out...either makes or breaks the circuit when pressed, and the vacuum to the accelerator works, what tests can be run on the rest of the system? Should one of the pins in the plug that conects to the end of the turn signal lever be hot all the time?? Which one(s)?? If I pull the 'brain' down from its post above the hood release handle and pull the long flat plug out of it, what electrical tests can I run from there?/ One of those wires has got to be hot all the time the engine's running. Which wire might that be?? GD, if you have any of this info.......or if anyone else does.......it would be greatly appreciated.......And I'd still like an '86 FSM CC vacuum/wiring diagram & troubleshooting chart.......thanks in advance........ SG

Hi, This is my first post, so bear wih me. I bought my soob, an '86 GL wagon (Sooby-Doo) a couple of months back, from my chiropractor who'd bought it for parts. Later, he found the body & frame in such good condition that we worked together to install another engine & MT (the AT was junk). It was such a hoot that I bought the car. Long story short, it has full power + the cruise control on the end of the turn signal lever that you've been discussing. I have not been able to get that thing to work. I finally found the CC brain above the hood release (in fact, it uses the hood release mounting screws ). There sure are a lot of wires to the brain. I'd be very interested in obtaining the wiring diagram for this unit. I think the problem is electrical, because I can apply vacuum to the rubber tube coming off the little black round thingy on the passenger side shock tower, and the engine immediately roars. So the tubing and the vac solenoid attached to the accelerator is OK. Does that yellow wire attached to the coil, go on the negative or positive side? That may be my problem. Also, is there any light to indicate that the unit is 'on'? I've looked through several posts that mention a light when the unit is on, but I think they are newer cars. If there's no light, how do you know if the thing's on? If there is a light, where is it? I was able to get a wiring diagram of an '87 CC fom the local dealer's FSM. However, it is completely different....has its own vac pump & a couiple of relays that I haven't found on mine. If anyone needs that diagram, let me know. After reading through 11 pages in the 'cruise control' link, this is the first discussion I've found specific to the '86 CC with the control on the end of the turn signal lever. I like to find out more about the operation, controls, & (especially) troubleshooting. Anyone else have an '85 or '86 with the control on the turn signal lever? What problems have you had & how were they resolved??