robm

I am not sure about using MoS2 in engine oil. I suspect a lot of it winds up clogging the filter. If it is really fine so it goes through, maybe it will be effective, but I have no experience. I do like moly grease for bicycle bearings, the old fashioned loose style. I don't recall ever having cup or cone failure due to fatigue damage in a wheel or bottom bracket lubed with moly grease. Much better than white lithium. My lube and wear prof at university had a story about a jar of a moly additive someone gave him, sort of as a joke. His opinion of these "miracles in a bottle" was uniformly "pure snake oil, I wouldn't put it in a lawnmower". However, one day he ran out of chain lube for his chainsaw, and tried this stuff, pure. He was surprised at how the chainsaw took off. It did seem to be effective in reducing friction under these conditions. I don't believe he ever repeated the experience, though. I found moly powder, sold as a dry lubricant, very effective in door locks. My locks on the house were very tight and hard to turn. One puff of this stuff, and the locks became so easy to turn, it was night and day. Still effective, 12 years later.

Blew a headgasket on a major road trip, Terrace to Vancouver. It was running fine until I got to Agassiz (90% of the way), then I noticed the temperature gauge was running at 50% instead of 25-30% as normal. And it wouldn't drop when coasting or sitting idle or anything. Today, all cooled down, I added a couple quarts of water to the rad and filled the reservoir. Started it, let it warm for about a minute, and filled the carport with steam. I am not sure I can even use it around town. The old Athens Queen has 353000 km, has been run out of oil once (leaky drain plug), hit a huge rock on the highway at 60 mph (hence the nickname, google Stan Rogers "Athens Queen" for the reason), and was run out of water (leaky heater hose) last winter. I guess the headgasket was just waiting to happen after its last little disaster. It is a miracle it didn't blow at the time. I think it is time for a new one. I sure wish there were more to choose from around here. At least it happened here in town, and not out in the boonies. If it happened at home, I might consider replacing the gaskets, but without tools, and given the state of the body (see-through) it is time to send her to the recycler.

The way it always jumps 2 teeth at the cam makes me think it is jumping one tooth at the crank. I would check those sprockets closely.

Sounds more like torque bind.

Bungy cord to hold the shift lever and gear in place? I have seen this used, on a beater Ford bush beast.

I am at 2 for 2 with belt failures at less than 50,000 miles with no covers. With covers on, 2 for 2, running to 55,000 miles without any problem. Mind you, I suspect the first failure was due to a seized oil pump. The second one showed itself as a sudden lack of teeth, cause unknown. Idlers etc. all in good shape, with maybe 40,000 miles. I was noticing the last time that the sprockets were looking kind of worn. Worn sprockets on a chain drive cause the chain to wear prematurely, or even slip, so perhaps it happens with timing belt drives as well? I wonder if this is a factor in both my and Torxx's experiences? The high RPM's are likely part of the problem. He may never see that kind of problem if he keeps it below 5K. Getting stuck in the mud is another kind of problem.

Especially in Canada. We can import a car or truck made in Canada from Hawaii and it will still cost less than from the dealer down the street. Including the shipping!

How about worn sprockets? And having slipped once (or more) the timing belt teeth may not be all that great either. The fact that it always slips 2 teeth would seem to indicate it is slipping one tooth at the crank. I find that open belts don't last as long. I have yet to get 90,000 km (recommended change interval) from open belts. Maybe a climate thing, I live in a similar climate to you (cool/wet, snowy/cold).

Close the loop with an O2 sensor? There might be a limit to how much adjustment it can make to the PW.

No, the rears are completely different. 2WD or 4 WD? Again, completely different from each other. The fronts are easy, the rears are a lot more work.

1993 Loyale, 350,000 km close enough. Recently, I have been getting really terrible gas mileage. Less than 400 km to a tank, that is like 19 MPG! Even highway miles don't improve it much. The original t-stat got stuck open in the winter, and the only way I could get the engine up to temperature was by blocking the rad with cardboard. I made an 800 mile trip like that just after Christmas, got decent mileage (30- 31) even with the cold weather, snow, etc. In January, I got a new T-stat. It is made by Tama (OEM). The engine now gets up to temperature without the cardboard, the temp. gauge sits where it always has, but the gas mileage has taken a dive. I suspect this is may be due to moving the wiring on the CTS, which is right in the way when replacing the T-stat. I have read the accounts of the corroded wiring, etc. Could this be the problem? Is the problem on the sensor side of the connector, or the other side? I had a look at the non-sensor side wiring. It all looked to be in good condition. Is the corrosion something that is visible from outside, or is it buried deep in the wire, under insulation? No codes. But I did get a chance to learn how to read and clear them, playing around with the connectors. I provoked a CEL by unplugging both the sensor and the purge solenoid, but they cleared when plugged back in. Any good ideas on how to fix this? I have to make that 800 mile trip again soon, and gas is $5 a gallon around here.

So, dhise, what kind of fuel consumption do you get with that rig?

Use this as a threat to get them to do it cheaper!

Yep, 350 nm of torque. Looks like an STI drivetrain will be needed. Clutch, trannie, differentials, etc. Maybe $6k? Getting close to being not worth it. If it could be done for 50% of the cost of an XV, it would be worth trying.

I rigged up a vacuum bleeder for a Chevy Vega I had, that would not bleed when replacing the master cylinder. (For some reason, it would only do one squirt, then no pump no more.) I found that the vacuum bleeder could suck air in around the threads of the bleed screw. So I sucked on it till clean fluid came through, then gave it a couple of half squirts, not to the floor, at each corner. The result was clear fluid with no bubbles in the last half-squirts, and no mush in the pedal.

Hmm. $2500 for a Loyale in good shape. $5000 for an EE20 $2500 to put it together. (May need a newer transmission) $10,000 total. Bargain!! Who needs an XV?

Diesel? What diesel? Sorry, folks, all we are getting in North America is the gas version. May be we could gray-market one from Central America.... I sure wouldn't want to have to pull the timing cover off that diesel.

Most who do it want the extra HP. If they use it, they will pay for it... Even if they hyper-mile it, I can't see a larger engine providing more fuel economy. It is possible, as the EA-82 is pretty poorly designed for efficiency, but I doubt it will happen in practice. But I am just guessing. Has anyone dropped this cannon ball? Put an EJ-22 into a standard Loyale, not lifted, and run it on the highway and/or around town at the speed limit or a bit under?

Full time 4WD or, in other words All Wheel Drive, was not offered in the Loyale, it was a pre-1990 option. On-demand pushbutton 4WD is all that was offered in the Loyale. I think the last year for the the turbo was 1990, and who wants one of them anyway? The EA82 is reliable, except for the timing belts, which are a bit of a Rube Goldberg set-up, and the turbo model, which increase horsepower at the expense of reliability (head gaskets) and fuel consumption. The EA-81 may be a better design, but they are getting so old that age will be making them unreliable and scarce. It will be easier to find a good Loyale than a good EA-81. The EJ engines are not much more efficient, just bigger displacement, more HP and a more reliable design (timing belts). They do not get as good fuel consumption as the smaller 1800 engines, not that I have ever heard, anyway.

To make sure he is really dead, and not faking it?

Found out more about it. The Canadian version (maybe US too?) will have 17" wheels, with extra large brakes. All of a sudden this is starting to sound very expensive...17" snow tires and wheels will probably be required, no getting by with cheaper, narrower but taller (and more effective in the snow) snowies on smaller steel wheels from an older model. Remember when Subarus were inexpensive, and built to stay that way?

What does the age of the car have to do with registration costs? The car takes up just as much room on the road, and it costs just as much to keep track of it as if it were brand new. Insurance is a different story. Since they will just write off these old beasts anyway, it should be cheaper for own-damage insurance, assuming anyone is nuts enough to buy it!

Rebuild it yourself? That way you know it is right. I wonder if a big part of the problem is not being able to get parts. The rebuilders can't do a good job, if there are no parts. (But then they shouldn't try, or let you know, or at least reuse the old one, not leave it out!) Carbs are dinosaur technology, like a lot of things that used to be common as dirt. I have a hard time finding tires for my Loyale, and I won't even try to talk about how hard it is to find new parts for my bicycle!

Count on 2 hours for axles, the first time. It gets easier with experience, some times!

Finally, a replacement for the Loyale. It is basically an Impreza with a 2" lift kit from the factory. It probably doesn't have as much room inside as the Loyale, though. I don't think it is long enough to sleep in the back. I want to wait a year or two before getting too enthused about it. Let's see if this one ghostwalks, like the Outbacks of infamous memory. And I would like to see what the vision out if it is like. (Many cars these days are criminally hard to see out of. Good thing those fat pillars have airbags in them, 'cause you're going to need them when you hit something hiding behind them!) I would like to see some real-life fuel consumption numbers too. If it is essentially a new Impreza, any word on how hard they are to work on, yet? Any horror stories on plugs, air filters, wheel bearings, etc?