brokebill

thanks, yeah walking/pushing sux. if you could see under my hood you'd be amazed it even runs. i dont know how many hands it went through before it got to me but there are mystery wires and hoses everywhere. i'm shadetree but its unreal. i respliced some of the wires under the hood today (careful to restart it after every change) and hopefully that will help. already checked around in case i need an alternator an looks like autozone has the best price at $65 and supposedly keep em in stock.think i'd have to reuse my pulley which probably sux to get off without bending it but maybe i wont have to. as usual thanks all for the feedback and advice . this place keeps a lot of people from going nuts.

as long as the alternator isn't totally fried or i get a jump to put a little juice in the battery it probably will get me home since it never goes more than a few miles. true it needs electricity to run but with no radio heater etc. on it dont take much juice to keep the motor running a few miles. ive always drove older cars and have been in that situation many times but yeah i do need to have it tested since i dont have a meter to test it myself.

its an 86 GL 5spd front wheel drive wagon. seems to have no charging issues just dead gauge. i can live without it since i drive it very little at night and i have plenty of hills to park on to roll start it if i do develop charging problems but its comforting to have all those gauges to keep me informed. update: well voltmeter came back to life, so probably a wire loose or something, will clean and check all connections when the weather lets up. thanks

im sure this has been covered many times so if there is a thread i'm not finding just point it out. electrical is my weakest point so really need help. my voltmeter died. where does it attach in the engine compartment? what color wire etc. only threads i could find deal with the cluster inside and before i pull all that apart (if i can figur that out) just wanna make sure something didn't come loose under the hood. thanks.

finally found the right part at autozone.part #3150. had em in stock too! thanks for the feedback. on to the next mission.

the advance rotors were the YH141249 wearever brand. i found a crossreference rotor chart online and it looks like maybe what they gave me goes on an 83 ,84. is this correct? surely somebody knows. help!

bought new rotors for my 86 GL wagon from advance, went to put them on, where the rotor bolts to the hub is wider than the old one. dont have enough clearance to install the caliper mounting bracket. called them and got nothing but duhhh. help please before i order another wrong rotor through them. part they gave me was YH141249. looks right on paper but will not fit .WTF?? also new rotors are a little smaller in diameter 9" compared to 9.5". also the back is slotted/vented entirely different. anybody with similar car put any on lately and still have your receipt with part # ? napa, autozone, advance, anywhere as long as it was the correct application.

thanks.also a killer junkyard in newport called raceway. has anybody dealt with a place called subarus r us near asheville nc ? i pass it on the interstate but have never stopped. looks like they have a lot of stuff. as parts are getting harder to get maybe someone smarter than me could start a thread showing good junkyards around the country. thanks for the feedback.

probably not your problem but in my 86 5spd wagon the shifter suddenly dropped straight down as i was shifting gears.where the shifter braces underneath had come undone allowing it to just hang free.twisted a coathanger(and ductape) around and holds it fine. think maybe something like that has slid it to the right where your gearshifer is against the side of the hole in the floor?probably not but its nice when it turns out to be something simple.

when my oil filler cap is tightened all the way it rattles from the motor idling. i can back it off a little and feel it get snug and the rattle stops. is it just wore out or is it some subaru engineering brilliance beyond my minds capabilities?

so should i plug em for accuracy?

when setting the timing on my carbed 86 GL, after unhooking the hoses for my vacuum advance do i plug them or just let em suck?

Well, turned disty back to where it was originally,pulled it back apart and sure enough was 1 tooth off on left side. put it back together(checking and rechecking all marks as i did) and it runs great. appreciate you all. with older cars getting harder to find parts and info for the knowledge shared here is priceless.thanks again

appreciate all the feedback.sunday i'll turn the disty back to original position(never removed it , just turned it out of desperation) and then i'll pull belts back off and redo it all. since outer timing covers are off it shouldn't take too long. i think its probably off a tooth . live and learn. again thanks everyone for the help and i'll let yall know how it turns out.

thanks. didn't remove crank pulleys(sprockets).left belt went off and on fine over sprocket for right belt so didnt see the need.

plug wires fine i just took them off 1 at a time when i changed plugs which i actually did after initial startup when it idled fine but ran out real rough.didn't change cars performance though. then i turned the disty eventually all the way clockwise and it idled great and ran out pretty close to right temporarily. maybe a dumb question but can i set the disty back to original position by sight since the shiny impressions left by the hold down bolts from years of being in the same place is real obvious?i know it will need fine tuned but maybe for a decent starting point. also i keep hearing 1 holddown bolt for removal or adjustment of disty and mine has two. 1 on the back side of disty and the other on the left(drivers) side of disty. wisdom appreciated

probably right about being 1 tooth off. be a couple days till i can pull it apart and redo it and i'll post the outcome. i just joined but have been checking out the advice on here a while. its really great to have experienced feedback on troubleshooting for subarus.they are a different kind of animal but hard to beat.thanks again all

86 GL wagon 1.8 carb straight drive. idler pulley on timing belt bearings went. cover held it in so it made it home with the left belt still spinning on broken pulley running rough but running.replaced both belts, pulley, and tensioners .lined up valve timing marks on flywheel (not ignition marks) lined up timing mark on left cam sprocket put on belt and set tension.rotated flywheel 360 degrees and relined timing marks on it. lined up timing mark on right side cam sprocket put on belt set tension. put it back together (without busted front cover for now) . started up and idled fine. started to pull out and had very little power. no timing light so decided to turn distributor a little to see if it helped. it did but had to turn it all the way clockwise.ran about 90% right. drove a couple hours and it started running real rough. tried moving dist. back counter clockwise a little and it would die. TDC on the flywheel(ignition marks) and the rotor points to number 1. timing cover is off so i can see the cam sprockets and they look right(when ones at 12 the other is at 6) .also put in new plugs when did work. anybody have any advice? i tried to be detailed so you know exactly what was done. ran fine before so any help would be appreciated. thanks