Bill90Loyale

Caleb- While we're on a strut subject, can you tell me what the general symptons are for struts going bad? So far as I know, mine are original (see vehicle description below). I don't have clunking. The only thing I seem to have is a steering wheel shudder at speeds above 70 mph. Struts? Thanks.

If you haven't done it yet, I'd give it the full Seafoam treatment (feed four or five ounces into the intake manifold via PCV line, four ounces in fuel tank, four in engine oil). The intake manifold is probably carboned up pretty good, and the fuel tank and lines might be varnished up too. Good luck. Stick with it.

Rick- Count your blessings. The splash guard behind the rear drums, and of course the rocker panels etc just go to hell with the salt on the winter roads here. I have my car "hot oiled" once a year. They probably don't allow this in Oregon, but here, the first time you go, the guy literally drills holes in all the doors and rear gate compartments, sprays inside with hot oil, and puts plastic plugs in the holes till you bring the car back for another treatment. With this, and the decent new paint job that the Vo-Tech boys did and my fourteen year old looks very good. But those splash guards can begin to mimic failed wheel bearings. When this happened to me recently, I checked the torque on my axel nut (which was basically fine) and then found that it was that rusted splash guard. Pull the rubbing section off, and noise gone.

Stock horizontal mount?

Why was that? I've read the Accel threads, and this seems to be part of the "horizontal mount" issue - insulating oil somehow pumps its way into the coil wire? It's my understanding that a properly functioning coil runs not cold, nor hot, but warm. I assume that the coil failure involves overheating. My Accel - horizontally mounted in the stock position, runs warm (and fine - so far). Your theory?

Try jacking it up on the "click" side, and spinning the wheel. Could just be a rusted piece of the splash guard on the inboard side of the brake drum making contact and creating noise in turns.

Dave- Check out this thread. It's all there. I haven't bothered to do the PCV mod (yet), and don't know if I'll ever bother. It only effects me on hard uphill freeway merging situations, and I just take it slow and stay in the breakdown lane with my hazard flasher on. I think most motorists take one look at my old jalopy and assume that it's on its last legs. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/printthread.php?t=16162 Edit: If link above doesn't work, try this: http://home.comcast.net/~c.moe/pvc_mod.pdf

I replaced the rear wheel bearings in my two-wheel drive Loyale about 3K miles ago. Timken bearings, high temp grease. All was well until a couple days ago, when I started to hear a low volume crunching/scraping during right turns from the right rear. For bearing install, I followed Haynes on the axel nut: 30 lbs. torque, then back it off a quarter, then hand tight, then bend the retainer washer. Anyone have experience with whether or not these axel nuts need re-torquing, or am I definitely looking at a crispy new bearing? Thanks in advance. UPDATE: Axel nut was fine. Turned out to be rusted, bent splash guard on the inboard side of the brake drum rubbing on the drum in turns. Pulled off rusted portions of splash guard. Problem solved.

Giving up on the 90 wagon??? Oh No:-\ Best of luck with all that new hardware.

new oil pump, seals, valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, seafoam treatment and it won't tick much or leak much.

Joe- Have you tried the Seafoam treatment? I just did mine (the full Monty - intake header through the PCV, some in the oil, and some in the gas tank). Very noticeable improvement in idling and engine power. If you're unfamiliar with this product, search the Old Gen forum on Seafoam and you'll find plenty of input. Get back to me if you have questions.

Lisa- Dude makes a good point here. On your upper air filter housing (the thing you lift up to put in a new air filter - and the thing that holds your MAF sensor), there is a black rubber hose that plugs into the engine side of the plastic housing. Make sure that hose is plugged all the way on to the housing. Sometimes it can be loosened or pulled off when the air filter is replaced.

The FSM says that the test for the thermosensor is to put it in water at three different temperatures and measure the resistance with a multimeter at each temp. 14 degrees F = 7 to 11.5 k ohms 68 degrees = 2 to 3 k ohms 122 degrees = 700 to 1000 ohms "If the resistance value is too much out of these ranges, replace the thermosensor with a new one." The Haynes check is an on-engine check and is simpler: "Disconnect the electrical connector at the sender and connect an ohmmeeter between the sender's terminal and an engine ground. When the engine is at ambient temperature (122 degrees F) resistance should be 130 to 170 ohms. As the engine warms up, the sender's resisance should drop, and at full operating temperature (212 degrees F) should read between 25 to 30 ohms." If you remove the sensor, do it when the engine is cold. Be ready to catch some coolant. Use PTF tape on the threads to reinstall or put in a new one.

I second that. This level of clarity is rare. I hope GD will author and illustrate a similarly clear presentation on electrical troubleshooting with a multimeter someday.

Goat- Check out the "similar threads" listed at the bottom of this page. Basically, the resistors in the clock circuit board get crispy. They can and have been repaired by some people, but I've so far failed to find the right resistor for mine. Removal and reinstallation is fairly simple. 1. Using a trim removal tool or thin flat blade screwdriver, gently pry the clock at the outside edge of its black border. The whole clock will pop out - sort of. 2. The wire behind the clock is four inches long, and can be disconnected at that point. To disconnect, open your glove box, pinch the glove box retainer inward toward the middle to cause the box to drop all the way down and out of your way. Stick a flashlite beam up in there, and you'll see the white connector for the clock. Disconnect, and the clock is out. 3. Go to junkyard, find old subie, remove clock, and see if the junkyard will take it back if it doesn't work. Or sell it to you real cheap. Install and see if it works. If it doesn't, feel free to send it to me. I still need a resistor out of it. Bill

For James Thomas, I recommend a 90 Loyale wagon. Should last him at least until his 16th birthday. Congratulations and best wishes...

STOP. Do not add 75W-90. That is gear oil for your standard transmission. You want to add one quart Automatic Transmission Fluid to your engine oil, not gear oil.

My new cam cover/valve cover gaskets also have about 5k on 'em and are not leaking. I cleaned up the metal gasket surfaces real well, used no RTV, and tried to be careful staggering the torques on the rubber thingy nuts (which get torqued down all the way to stop) as I torqued 'em all down. Are both sides leaking, or just one?

Thank you Russell. Any noticeable improvements in reducing surge, idle or any other performance improvements with the new EGR solonoid?

Thank you Rallyruss. Actually, I was sort of hoping that someone with your knowledge WOULD sit there typing all day and come up with a multimeter/subie guide on testing the solonoids and other electrical stuff that tends to cause mischief on our older vehicles. Could post the result in our "Repair Manual" section to encourage others to learn this stuff. I'll check out the volt drop link, and thanks again.

Thank you Morgan and Archemitus. Morgan, I take it that your first setting is to test the WIRE for continuity/power, then the second (ohms) is to test the individual device. Makes sense. How common is it for the wiring in these old cars to go bad?

Micky- A bad Throttle Body Gasket can cause these symptoms. Bill

Wish I really knew. Have worked on the Sub for years in near absolute ignorance of electrical troubleshooting. Tired of the ignorance. Just bought a Craftsman digital multimeter ($39). Paid another $10 for the cool-looking "simple and comprehensive guide" to its use. The booklet is written in a language I don't understand, and is not really helpful in a practical sense. I've searched the threads to see if anyone ever published a practical tutorial. Didn't find one. Let me know if there's a good down-to-earth one on the WWW somewhere. Multiple suggestions to put the ohm meter on a part, but no instructions for the ignorant. For example: "Test the EGR solonoid for resistance." Well, ok. Can you test it in place? With one or more wires removed? Have to remove the solonoid first? It would help me alot (and I would guess a few others) if a veteran multimeter user could post a tutorial on what and how a multimeter can be used on our Subies to solve electrical problems. And what they CAN'T do. Apologies for the long post, and thank you in advance to all.

Hey Bro- Search and find this thread: P/S pump is noisy........should I replace? Meanwhile, I just added about 2 teaspoons of p/s fluid to my loyale. Only because I finally checked the level for the first time in about 5 years. You've got a leak. Pump seals or hoses. Haynes manual is pretty good on pump removal steps. I think the seals in the pump can be renewed, but I've never done it. Then there's the junkyard option. Then there's the do-nothing option. There are actually people out there who have simply disconnected the p/s belt (thus gaining a boost in power from reduced load on the engine) automatically converting their car into a non-power steering vehicle. Consensus seems to be that it's not a safety issue, as you will retain steering control even if there is complete failure of the pump. Personally, I'd find and fix the leak. Bill

And a third from a cheap Vermonter. I got inspired enough by this thread to become a USMB donor today. OK, so I only donated $3 (so far), but that's the way Shawn has this thing set up. You don't have to donate a penny. You can just suck up all the good stuff for free. But if any of you catholics out there are feeling some guilt, just look at (and click on) the "How to donate to USMB" icon at the top of both the old and the new generation threads. It's easy. And it makes you feel like you have a new oil pump or egr solonoid (I don't really know how it feels to have a new egr solonoid, but I bet it feels good).