dbenzmaine

Alright, here's the deal. I drove my 1989 GL Hatch (EA-81) down to Honduras in January, and my brother still has it down in Mexico. I'm now back here in New York doing school junk. I got an email from him yesterday that included this description of car troubles: ok..*** a bit of bad news to start you off.*** so.*** the brakes kinda went and i had to get new pads put on.*** that was fine.. 45 bucks no big deal.*** however when the mecanic... crazy gringo denis who i trust took it for a spin to set the brakes he noticed a rod knocking(loose)*** and that an engine mount is probable broken as well.*** so.*** he suggested to change the oil and use 50 weight single grade oil and to keep the rpms below 2500.*** said it should be fine to make it back to the states like that.*** also said the clutch pressure plate is shot.*** so that's the situation.*** i've changed the oil, and we dove about 250 miles nice and easy with out incident.*** the knocking isn't too noticable.. only when you push it.*** so.. i've got a max speed of about 52 mph.*** so i'm not sure what you're thinking..*** i'm planning on being in flagstaff on friday or saturday..*** can you let sam and jenna know.*** maybe it can be fixed there Back to me in New York. I'm wondering if this is all new. It's never run super-pretty or super-quiet. The clutch has never been great. Could i have had a broken engine mount and fried pressure plate for the last five years and get along fine? I haven't noticed a knocking in the past, so that probably is new. If a rod is loose, how tough is it to tighten up? I've never pulled the engine of this car, but adjusting the lifters on my old beetle back in high school was pretty simple. How tough is this repair? Anyway, I'm hoping to still drive this car to Alaska in August, so it'd be nice if i could get it fixed. I've got a great mechanic whom I trust and who works cheap back in Maine. I don't know if i can advise my brother to drive it all the way back though. Anyone have any ideas or know a good subaru guy in Northern Arizona? Thanks in advance! Dave

Yeah man, the trip rocked! For anyone who hasn't been there, the Pacific coast of Mexico outside of the tourist towns is full of awesome little villages on pristine uncrowded beaches with huge waves. I wish i knew how to surf! I actually really liked the big industrial cities too. There weren't any tourists, and as the only gringos around, we were actually considered interesting. Good stuff. I took a bunch of pictures, but i don't have a website to post them on. Oh well, something to do in the future. Gotta love having a big inverter in your car, dude! I was once offroading with a friend of mine in his 1972 Saab 99 when he somehow managed to get the entire right side of the frame hung up on a 10 inch log lying on the ground. The car was completely stuck. After trying in vain to push or find an anchor for his comealong, we remembered his inverter. He had an electric drill in the trunk, and we plugged the thing in and proceded to drill close to a hundred holes in the middle of this log. Eventually it was so beat up that we were able to kick it in half and work the car off. I love doing stupid things with cars!

Right on. I knew there had to be a way to run it without one CV. I was actually thinking about that two years ago as one of them screamed at me on a drive across the country. And yes, of course it's a 4WD!

Thanks! Cool that the 2wd ones are better since all the subies i saw down there were 2wd. Just got another email from him. Any ideas? Thanks! >ok. so i went to a mechanic here in gualaco. he diagnosed and i agreed that the excess movement and the cause of the clunks wasn't where the axle met the wheel under the cv joint, but in the lowerstrut arm like thing just below the cv. that was dry aswell. after tightening that and adding grease, i tried it and it the sound is gone and appears much better. he didn't have a new boot, and suggested going on to the next town. so what do you think. the boot is torn just about all the way around and was almost dry when i checked it out. so i'm thinkingdoing the duct tape repair and bringing lots more grease and looking for a boot in trujillo. still i'm skeptical and i imagine that damage might be done and i still need to replace the axle. he said i should be able to find a used axle in tegus or san pedro. so what do you think?

Hi everyone, I had a thread in here back in December asking about running leaded gas in an EA-81 during a trip to Central America. The answer turned out to be that you can get unleaded gas easily in both Honduras and Nicaragua. The trip rocked! Anyway, I flew back to continue with that annoying stuff they call school, and my lucky brother stayed in Nicaragua for another couple of months. He's taking his time on his way back and is now in Honduras. I got an email from him yesterday saying that he hears a clicking sound when turning, and the CV boot is torn wide open. So, it's a 1989 EA-81 GL Hatch. Subies do exist in Honduras (i saw them with my own two eyes), and i'm wondering how much flexibility he has in scavenging. Would i be correct to assume that he could make do with a CV from any EA-81 series Subie? He speaks perfect Spanish and loves chilling with mechanics, so getting the work done will not be a problem. I just want to make sure he ends up with something that will work. On a related note, if anyone ever tells you that you're crazy to think about taking a subie across the mountains of Nicaragua to the isolated Atlantic coast when there's no real road and multiple stream fordings are necessary, don't believe them! It has been done! Oh yeah, one other thing. Mexico is full of these huge speedbumps called Topes. They're pretty annoying. However, a GL can handle hitting one at 60 MPH when driving into the rising sun and flying a solid 20 feet before nosing into the pavement and leaving a nice gauge in the pavement and tons of good scrapes on the oil-pan guard Thanks for your help! Dave

I hear ya on the fuel filters. I carry a spare set even here in the states as my tank is corroding into a pile of rust. It's had a slow leak for three years now, and i haven't had the time or initiative to find it (it's above the seam between the tank and the hatch-floor somewhere). Do you mean entire engine rebuild kits? Hopefully that won't be necessary, as my time is a bit limited. I've thought about doing the Weber swap. Sounds like it'd be nice, but the car's getting rusted out to the point that i won't be able to keep it street-legal here in the states for too many more years (that's Maine winters + lots of salt on the roads for ya). It'd still be fun though.

Wow! All sorts of good input. HTI - It's sort of for both fun and school. I'm doing an elective in which i'll work at a hospital in Honduras for three weeks. Should be an amazing experience. Baja - I've heard lots of good things about the Weber carbs. I've also heard they're hard to find though. Is it something that a hack like me would be able to install, or is it hooked up to lots of sensors and an ECU like the Hitachi is? Morgan - What's Sea Foam? NorthWet - I hear you on the clean air thing, and I agree. If i can do this without getting rid of the cat, that's the best option. On a related note, i've heard lots about how catalytic converters essentially run out of catalyst and become useless after 5 or 10 years worth of driving. Urban legend? Mine's got close to 200,000 miles on it. Is it doing anything anymore?

It should be about 10,000 miles total. Maine to Flagstaff, Arizona. Arizona to Nicaragua. Nicaragua back to Maine. It comes out to less than that, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of side trips. I'm certain that unleaded gasoline will be available in Mexico, Guatamala, and Honduras. That means that the leaded portion will be limited to Nicaragua. If i just go in to Managua and back, that'd be less than two tanks of gas. However, if i want to explore the country (the car will be there for at least two months) that total could be greatly increased.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds easy enough to follow. I don't think i'll be using leaded for much of the trip, so it seems like i won't run into too much trouble. All the input is appreciated.

Hmmmm, that would suck if it messed with the O2 sensor. Do you know any way around this? The nozzle issue is easily bypassed by sticking a screwdriver in to hold the little springloaded lid thing open. Do you have any experience with the O2 sensor issue though?

Sounds good. Nice to know that i won't screw up the way it runs. I don't mind the noise at all either, i just don't want to attract too much attention from the cops when i'm driving around here in the states. Some of my repair jobs make it tough to claim that "I only just noticed the problem this morning!" Did you notice any power difference, or does it not affect air-flow that much?

Thanks Fishy! I'm definitely looking forward to the trip. I've been to Belize but none of the other countries down there. I figure the road trip through Mexico will be a blast too. In terms of spare parts, luckily i've got an EA-81 so no timing belt, but i'm definitely going to bring a lot of stuff. Did you have any experience with the mechanics down there in case i get in over my head?

Thanks! So you didn't have any problems with the O2 sensor and other emissions control stuff that supposedly controls the carb? Interesting thought on how fast it would clog the cat. I won't be in Nicaragua for more than a couple months, and i don't know how much driving is going to happen. Did you notice much of a noise change after punching through the cat? Mine's already kinda loud after i repaired the pipe with some dryer tubing and a couple of clamps!

So here's how it is. I'm driving down to Central America next month to spend some time in Honduras and Nicaragua. People tell me that unleaded gas is not available in Nicaragua, so I'm wondering what I can do about that. I have a 1989 GL Hatchback with an EA-81 and a Hitachi carb. I know that leaded gas clogs the catalytic converter, so i'd either have to punch a hole in it or remove it. However, I think the O2 sensor is on the cat... haven't actually done any work on that though. If i mess that up, is my carb going to go haywire? Anyone have experience with either jamming some re-bar through the ceramic or actually taking the whole thing out? Also, will running leaded gas have any effects on the rest of the engine besides the cat? How much of a pain is this going to be? I live in a state that doesn't have emissions testing, so i could get away with still running it in the states when i get back as long as it doesn't look too different from the outside. Am I crazy? Any recommendations? Thanks! Dave

Thanks for your help everyone! I just got back inside after playing with the pitch screw. I still couldn't get anything out of it. I'm pretty sure that my car only has one horn though. It's mounted halfway up the verticle bar directly in front of the radiator. The only things that i could find behind my bumper and fenders were light fixtures. Looks like i'll be doing some junkyard exploring tomorrow, but it's good to know i don't have to find my exact car. Thanks again! Dave

Hmmmm, i wasn't aware that there were two. I get nothing at all when i push the horn. I checked my leads to the horn mounted in front of the radiator. I get the plus 12 current and the ground out. The contacts are clean, but the horn does nothing. I didn't try adjusting the screw though. Is the horn mounted in front of the radiator somehow a high and low pitch unit, or is there a second one somewhere else? Thanks for the info though!

I've got a 1989 GL Hatch (EA-81) with a dead horn. I'm going to scour the junkyards for a replacement tomorrow. Will a horn off of an EA-82 work for me, or do i have to find one specific to the older generation? Thanks!