Tom63050

Anyone?

Hi Scott, Tom upstairs. I used a hose clamp, the good kind with the worm gear, on my Toyota boot as an emergency fix. Still on there 10K miles later and works fine.

Two questions about my 91 Loyale: Lately when on the highway I get a weird whining sound from the dash. Sounds like a huge mosquito. Comes on consistently at about 60 MPH and gets louder the faster I go. Not an RPM issue--in either 4th or 5th, it starts at 60 MPH. I'm thinking either speedo cable or the speedo itself. Any comments? A/C comes on nice and cold, then craps out in a minute or two. Mechanic thinks it's a bad switch on the dash. I know these Loyale dashes are a pain to deal with. Any way I can make a toggle switch work without disassembling the dash?? I'm thinking, push the stock AC button on the dash, then flip the toggle switch. Thanks, Tom

Go to http://www.redlineoil.com . There you will find a list of dealers.

Meek, here's the address and phone number: Sonny's Auto Parts 12256 Rixeyville Road, Culpepper (540) 825-2571 Right now I work every weekend, but that may soon change. Tom

Meek, I'll get back to you on this. It's called Sunny's; I just drove to Culpepper and axed directions. I can meet you there if it's on a Monday or Tuesday. Tom

Ed, I know what you're saying. Frankly I had that same question myself, but it works anyway. When I flushed my MR2's clutch hydraulics to put in new brake fluid, I did it as I described & it worked fine. But yeah, it seems you would suck in air on the pedal's upstroke; but that's the point of holding it down on the last pump, so the guy underneath (me) can tighten the screw, and the other pumps don't matter. What little air you suck in is expelled on that last pump, I guess. Of course, slow pumping. Shoulda specified that.

...on any car, the principle is that you go from longest brake line to shortest. So if your master cylinder is on the driver-side (left-hand drive) firewall, you do right rear, left rear, right front, and lastly left front. The bleeder screw has a hose you just attached to it, going into a bottle of brake fluid. This is how you keep air out of the bleeding process. Make sure the bottle can't tip over. A clear hose is best, as then you can tell when the old brake fluid is gone and only new fluid is in there. You will be under the car, loosening and tightening the bleeder screw as needed. You friend should pump the pedal about 5 times while you have the bleeder screw loose, holding the pedal down on the last pump. You then tighten the screw. He/she tops off the master cylinder. Repeat until you see only clear fluid AND friend tells you the pedal effort has increased a lot. Then go to next brake. Edit: Dang, Blue Train, you posted while I was writing mine!

...buy a 4x4 wagon or hatch; lift it if it isn't already; take off the doors and rear hatch, remove all glass. Pull out carpets and do what Subarubrat did to his floors. Put on bigger wheels/tires. Pull rear seat to save more weight if you just want a two-person ride. Save stuff you took off in case you need it for winter use, or sell it off to make the car cheaper. You could use an Airgate or similar webbed tailgate to hold stuff in.

Glad to hear it all worked out. Now you're all ready for the snow season...

My Loyale had newly-greased and booted original axles on it when I bought it. The right side DOJ clicks when turning under load, but not when coasting. I've put a good 15K miles on it since I bought it, of which 3500 was dragging a loaded utility trailer (1800 lbs gross, plus a couple hundred lbs in the car) from Oregon to Virginia. No problemo. Clutch didn't complain either, even over the Rockies. I'm trying to wear out my MR2, which needs a clutch badly. After I put that in, tho, it should go to 300K miles. Only 209K on it now. I just drive the Soobs once a week or so to keep the fluids circulating, but am basically using them as snow cars and a backup for the Mister Two.

What's a good safe number to advance the timing to?

Meek, At a JY called Sunny's in Culpepper, VA there are several EA81 cars with motors in 'em. Howz about we meet there to pull a motor? I'm free on Mondays & Tuesdays. Or find one nearer you and pay the JY guy $10 to help you lift it out once you've disconnected everything. By the way, I work in the same building as Scott (Subarubrat). Purely by chance--we didn't know each other before. I had been to his website many times before I found out he worked here too! Tom in Centreville (west of DC)

Mummer, This is Tom in Virginia. I'm the guy who looked at the car for you and advised to buy it. I go back and forth about my Loyale too, but always decide to keep it. Excellent cheap transportation, easy repairs (mostly). Buy a used truck. If one vehicle breaks down you have the other one as a backup. Who needs a new truck anyway, if it's being used for hauling stuff? As Click and Clack say, it's always cheaper to repair your old car than buy a new one.

Also changing the oil and a new air filter are supposed to help.

There is a conversion kit available from http://www.piercemanifolds.com that converts either electric or water choke to manual choke. Look under "Linkage and Fuel Components".

...but cheaper. $900 is just the starting point. I bought a nice 91 with about 150K on it for $1200. Needed tires and timing belts. Put the belts on myself, bought tires. Especialy if someone on the board can hook you up with a newer motor (and maybe a D/R 5-speed!), this would be nice to have for about $500-700.

When I lived in Oregon, I sold a truck to an acquaintance who was a practicing alcolohic (not the AA variety). I didn't bother to send in the notification of sale (never have before). But in Oregon, plates go with the vehicle so it's more important to notify the gummint. A few weeks later I got a parking ticket in the mail. Turned out he had his license suspended so wasn't allowed to drive; didn't want to let DMV know he had a vehicle. I set the DMV straight real quick!

what the title sez.

bump

bump

Thanx Scott (Subarubrat), I'll take you up on the welding job. It's a when-I-get-around-to-it priority. Tom

John, I have a lifted 84 D/R wagon with 28" tires. I'm thinking about having you make me up a custom tow hitch for it. Since the lift is effectively 6" (3" body and 3" taller-radius tires), it ball would need to drop down 5 or 6 inches to work with my trailer, which has only 12" tires. Is this feasible and could you do it if I brought the car out that way, maybe next spring? Tom

I have an 84 D/R wagon with a new Weber, in Virginia at sea level. I haven't finalized the jetting yet, but it runs well with the jets I have in there now. Might try to optimize for gas mileage, but I'll see how necessary that is when I get thru this tank of gas and can check the mileage. It also has 28" tires, so at 62 MPH it's idling along at about 2000 RPM. My current jetting is: .............................Primary........Secondary Main (fuel)...............140.............140 Idle.........................60...............55 Air correction...........165.............160 As I understand it, "normal" jetting is good from sea level to 5000 feet. Question: If I move to someplace like Vail, Colorado which is at about 9000 feet, what jetting changes will I need to make?

Great reply, Andrew! Just the info I needed, thanx.