blinkibus

Hi everybody, 1985 GL Wagon, D/R 5sp, 1.8l Carb., 180K Part 1: I had a good running 1985 GL wagon, one day it started making a noise. Sounded like a loud popping, clunking and grinding from under the front end. I thought it was a CV joint that blew out, or a very bad bearing. It didn't matter whether I was turning or not, it didn't occur at low speeds (under 20 mph), and seemed to get worse when things get warm . I took it immediately to a good shop they diagnosed it as a bad "transaxle bearing", they said they couldn't repair it and it probably wasn't worth fixing ($600 to $1000) I didn't want to hear that so I took it to my usual mechanic. After they looked at it, without any knowledge of what the other mechanic had said, he said the exact same thing, "transaxle bearing" Part 2: I gave the car to a friend of mine who thought he could fix it up on the cheap. He got a used tranny from a wrecking yard and put it in. Same noise (or very similar). He checked the CV joints, the driveline seems good, everything seems tight, but it still pops and clunks. Questions: Does this sound right? Is transaxle bearing a legitimate diagnosis? Are the odds good that a junk yard tranny could have the same problem. Are we barking up the wrong tree? Is there a way to test for this condition before swapping the tranny again? Thanks!

1985 Gl Wagon, 5sp DR, 170K EA82, CA 2bbl roo builders hitachi, stock other than 14" pugs, 185/70 r14 Hi all, On my passenger side exhuast downtube just before the catalytic converter are two 1/8" dia. holes about 1" apart along the bottom center line of the pipe. Naturally this makes the car sound like it has a hole in the muffler. But also it sputters and pops when reving down like a suped up muscle car, and has super sluggish throttle response until it gets into the higher rpms. In fact it almost stalls at first unless I work the clutch, which has become second nature now. When I discovered the holes I plugged them with screws and the result was that the moter choked severely on itself when depressing the throttle until it could work up to higher rpm range (2500+). Any ideas? Thanks! P.S. I can't believe people run 31's on their subes. The 14's I have seem to be already really pushing the limits of the gearing and the little teeny engine!

1985 GL Wagon, 5sp d/r, carburated EA82, 130k, stock. I have already checked the archives and found some good info that I think I will print out and give to the bonehead mechanic who has kidnapped my car. I will try to keep this short, but it is a long story no matter how thin you slice it. If you don’t care about the whole story I have bold faced the Carb related performance problem below. When I got the car I had big plans: A set of pugs (which I still haven’t been able to get ahold of), a lift, a little tuning and trimming and some fun. But then…. Sept. 2nd- I purchase the above vehicle for $800. 130k, 2nd owner, regularly maintained locally, clean, straight, everything works, runs great, leaks oil 5-10 drops at a time, needs front brakes, needs to be smogged (CA). Sept. 12th- Goes into one of the supposedly reputable local smog shops. They are instructed to make a recommendation on the oil leaks, tune it up as needed to pass smog. Oct. 2nd- That’s right three weeks later, despite my prodding, they inform me that upon “tearing into the front of my motor to get at the oil leak” they have discovered that my timing belt is saturated with oil and that several pulleys and other parts need to be replace along with the belt. They go on to state that I must have this done right away because the timing belt is in such bad condition that it could break any time and that would trash my motor. This all will cost me $1100 (and we haven’t even gotten to the smog issue yet). Well I want a second opinion and for that much money or a bit more I could practically have the whole damn thing rebuilt or replaced, so I tell them that they should not do that, rather they should put it back together and get it to smog so at least I can get it registered in my name. Oct. 12th- They tell me they can’t quite get it to smog on the high end, and that they will need to adjust and maybe “overhaul” the carb, with an "overhaul kit". But to do so they will have to take off the carb and drill out such and such and do such and such. So I tell them to go ahead and do so. Oh and they told me that my distributor was installed “backwards”, so they turned it around. Oct. 18th- By the way they never call me to inform me about any progress they are making. I call them and find out that once they got the carb overhauled and put back on the car that it is not running well and that if it is some fault of theirs that I won’t be charged to fix it, and that maybe sometimes some crud can get dislodged and relodged when they were messing with a carb. I call them every couple days to find out what is going on, and to make sure they are working on it. Oct. 24th- They tell me they got it run and smog and that I can come pick it up. I pay $700 (which hurts) for a carb overhaul, a smog certificate, new plugs, and new air filter, (even though I know the air filter was practically brand new), you’ll notice that they didn’t fix the oil leaks. But I am just happy to be done with it, and figure $1500 for this car is still not a bad price locally. I attempt to drive away and discover that the vehicle idles rough and stalls when cold and totally and utterly lacks power. Of course it has been 6 weeks since I have driven it and even then I only had it for a few days, but something is obviously wrong. I drive it directly to my usual mechanic and tell them what is going on. He says he will look at it and make a recommendation on the oil leaks based on how much is leaking where and what will cost what, and that sometimes to get a car to smog you need to run the engine lean and retard the timing which could account for the performance issues, no big deal he will take care of it. Oct. 26th- I pick up the car from my mechanic who determined (as I suspected) that 95% of the oil leakage was coming form the valve covers (easy fix). He also sais that there is nothing wrong with my timing belt and such, and that if the first mechanic was into my carburetor I should take it back to them to fix it which they should do at no cost. He gives me a description of what he sees as the problems to take back to the first mechanic (no fast idle cold, choke circuit needs adjustment, carb idle speed and mixture need adjustment.) Coincidentally I meet the previous owner of the vehicle on the street that same day and tell him what is going on and he is truly dumbfounded that I am having trouble with this car because it was always a great car for him, and that the timing belt was replaced at around 100k, and I trust him. Oct. 28th- I take the car back to the first mechanic and politely in a full waiting room tell him that I don’t appreciate him ****ing with me and that I would like it if he would fix my god damned car correctly and right now, or else, please. (see I am a little bit irritated by now) No calls, no word. I have to call them every couple days to see what the hell is going on, but I am trying to keep my cool, I don’t like having to treat people rudely, but these guys don’t seem to respond without my request being accompanied by some form of verbal abuse. They say they are working on it all the time and can’t figure out what the problem is. Sometime in November- I call and find out that they have my car ready. I go to pick it up, but test drive it first. Starts hard, idles rough, stalls, utterly lacks power until about 3800-4200 rpm’s depending on the rate of acceleration and then, without any action on my part, the thing suddenly opens up with a surprising burst of power, and stutters and pops as it revs down like a suped up muscle car. It does this consistently all around town when cold and after warming up from a mile or two on the highway. I take it back to them and tell them what is wrong, and they promise and apologize and lick my boots and I just tell them to fix it and I leave wondering whether I am being had or am I being cool. Round and round and round…. Dec. 2nd- I call them and literally swear and yell and abuse them on the phone for ten minutes while apologizing that I need to do this, but making it clear to him that he obviously needs it and that he knows I am right, he agrees. December 10th- He calls me and sais they have worked on it and worked on it and can’t fix it. He sais they want to replace the whole carb, but that most locally available rebuilds are crap. He wants to get a carb from someplace called Recarbco in CA and that out of the goodness of his heart he will split with me his dealer cost and replace the carb for $200. He also tries to say that it really isn’t his fault because he was just making it smog and it is against the law for him to adjust the carb back again so that the car actually runs, but may or may not smog. I tell him that this is bull****, that he has totaled my vehicle with his incompetence and that he shouldn’t do anything until I get back to him, thinking that I might run this by you all or that maybe a Roo Builders Carb is cheaper (CA smog?), as some people seem to recommend them (and others say that a Weber is to finicky) and/or that I should do something that I would never normally consider, and which I know nothing about which is go after him in small claims court. After all he has had my car for over two months, during which time this family of 4 has had to cram into a Toyota pickup, which gets much worse gas mileage than the Subaru would, he has already charged my $700 for which I got nothing, not to mention the fact that their meddling has rendered my vehicle inoperable. Oh yeah and they lied to me straight faced about the timing belt thing, and replaced a new air filter. Just to mention a few abuses that he was rendered on my family. If anyone has made it this far: Do you have any recommendations on the specific performance issues that I am having (see bold print above), or ideas of how I should resolve this issue i.e. take it to another mechanic and send the original ******* the bill, take them to court, try fix it myself and forget about it, Weber, Roo builders, Recarbco, local rebuild? Distributor? Insurance fraudJ? Can anyone help me?

Hi, I searched for info on what to do about the fact that I didn't notice the fact that my newly aquired 85 GL wagon has only lap belts in the rear. There seemed to be only one relevant thread, but it didn't help much. I really like this old wagon and want to know if there are any tricks or tips for mounting some shoulder belts in the rear. Has anyone bothered to do this? I understand that safety equipment is a critical issue, but I am sure that I can way overbuild the new belt connection points so that there is no doubt as to their permanence. Thanks to you all, Patrick blinkibus@hotmail.com

Hi, Thanks for the replies. My neighbor has an 87 or so brat sitting in his front yard collecting leaves, and he would probably let it go for cheap, considering it has some issues. BRATs are very cool, but I failed to mention that I have a couple kids and a wife that need to fit in the car as well. Thing is we are a one car family, with my wife commuting to work and me blazing trails with the kids in the afternoons, in the same vehicle. There is also a 102 year old lady up the street with what looks like a mid 80's baby blue GL wagon, in granny garage condition complete with factory push bar. I was thinking about asking her about whether she was thinking about replacing that old thing, and that I would be happy to dispose of the wagon for her I want a 5 spd, the power of a turbo would be good, but turbo always seemed like something volitile to me, are they reliable? Locking center diff sounds grippy. The two subarus I had in the past were tons of fun to drive, especially in the snow (read power slide). My brother had a 98 or so outback, and I hated it. Which means I tend to favor 4wd over Awd. How do I recognize a dual range tranny?! (be patient I'm still learning) Can I identify whether a vehicle has LSD's without crawling under it? i.e from the VIN or option codes, or number of bolts or something? thanks again, patrick

Hi, I have been dreaming about getting another subaru, and trying to do some research on the web, but I still have some questions, and would really appreciate some expert advice. I want to put together a wagon for a daily driver, AND an off road cruiser for logging roads and exploring. What would be the right stock subie to look for? On what models were LSD's to be had. (the open diffs in my suburban are useless) Dual range tranny? (I still haven't figured out what that means yet). 3.9 vs. 3.7 etc. Are some models more durable or easier to work on/modify than other? I tend toward 80's models personally, but any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated. Thanks, Patrick Former Subarus: 86 hatchback, 91 loyale.