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Tom63050

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Everything posted by Tom63050

  1. I bought some PVC pipe and cut it to different lengths, to use as spacers, to help pull the axle through. I just put the PVC in there and screwed the nut on; then had to use a shorter piece of PVC to get it closer, etc.
  2. Your best bet, honestly, is to find a 5-speed Justy and put the good parts from your car into it (and/or keep the ECVT Justy as a parts car). I say this because apparently no one knows how to work on the ECVT Justy trans, or can find parts for it, even here in the States. And you're on a little island, so parts must be tougher and expensiver to come by.
  3. I've heard that retarding the ignition will help it pass too.
  4. A new coil? Is it aftermarket and if so, what brand? I have tried several aftermarket coils and had problems with most. Sometimes the problem was intermittent, on other coils the car just ran like it was on 3 cylinders. If yours is aftermarket, do a search for "jegs coil" to find a good coil writeup. You should be able to hear the pump come alive when you turn on the ignition--a whirring sound. EDIT: the thread you want is called "coil problems...what's going on?"
  5. 1. Spark: See if there's spark to the plugs; pull off a plug wire and hold it near the motor, have a friend crank it over. If there's spark then your problem is either fuel, air or timing. 2. Air: check to see your air filter isn't clogged with something. At the other end, check to see that someone hasn't stuck a potato or something in your tailpipe. Well, not your tailpipe, but the car's. 3. Timing: no valve timing issues since it's a pushrod motor; only ignition timing to consider. Is the distributor tightened down well, so timing can't slip? 4. Fuel: Non-functioning fuel pump. or a clogged fuel filter. These things have two fuel filters I believe, one by the fuel pump and one in the engine bay. Always carry spare fuel filters and the tools to change them out, with carbed cars.
  6. Yeah, that's what I was talking about--the exhaust flanges where they attach to the motor. Plus that other bolt, then the exhaust is only held up by the rubber donuts farther back, which is fine. I also don't have any flanges behind the cat. I cut the pipe there in order to inspect the cat, then reconnected the pipe with a short connector piece and two u-bolts. But I didn't need to take the pipe apart to do the clutch.
  7. Actually it won't be a problem. When Gloyale and I (OK, mostly him) put a clutch in my Loyale, he just had to undo the eexhaust flange nuts, and a 14mm nut a foot or two behind the cat. The exhaust just hung down. You might have to cut your O2 sensor wire, or pull the sensor, if the wire's too short. Mine was long enough because I had just spliced in a new sensor and had more wire than stock.
  8. I'm using Kumho 185/80x13 tires. They're called 795 Touring A/S. Inexpensive, 70K miles warranty, good all-around tires. Raise the body up about an inch. http://www.kumhousa.com will have a dealer locator. But lots of places can order any tire, if you just ask.
  9. The hole in the cat might well cause the puh X 3 sound, but I can't imagine that would have anything to do with the shaking. I would think that a plugged-up exhaust would just make the car underpowered or not run at all, if sufficiently plugged. But Board members with more experience might think otherwise... Are you absolutely sure the belt on the driver's side isn't a tooth or two off? That would of course affect ignition timing. The passenger side belt might cause shaking if it's off a bit too.
  10. Temporary ghetto fix: heavy plastic, like a quart-size food storage bag or even a small trashcan liner, and duct tape to keep some grease in and not get it contaminated.
  11. Is it a stock coil? What's the mileage on the car? I've experienced intermittent spark failure from a variety of aftermarket coils. There are good ones though.
  12. Great. But my point was for a new owner to establish a maintenance baseline, so that he/she knows the condition of the major systems of the car. In going over it this way, the owner gets to know it a lot better, even if not everything I mentioned needs doing immediately. I would add: make sure the thermostat is from the Sube dealer, and check the condition of the brakes too.
  13. Bearing in mind that (a) it's 20 years old and (2) it costs $250, hopefully you have decent mechanical skills, or have friends who do. That being said, you will get great support here and they are pretty easy to work on. Don't expect fantastic mileage--high 20s to low 30s would be about it. For used cars I budget about $100 in immediate maintenance, unless these items have recently been done: tuneup (air filter, cap, rotor, plugs (NGK), wires, PCV valve); thermostat, fresh coolant, oil/filter change; belts & hoses. I do this to eliminate the most common problems that will leave you stuck by the side of the road. Keep a log of when you did stuff to it. Throw in some fuel system cleaner, and some oil sludge loosener before you change the oil. Also very important--change the fuel filter and keep a spare in the car, along with a couple of tools to change it out on the road. This is a very good idea for carbureted cars, whose fuel filters often last only 10K miles. This practice has saved my butt more than once. Twice on road trips, in fact. Maybe you know all this stuff already, but now for sure you do.
  14. Same here. I had a left front wheel bearing in my 78 VW bus going out on me, and it sounded like a big propellor was in the bus with me! Noise went away when I made left turns, because weight transferred off the left wheel and onto the right one.
  15. Apparently roll pins don't like wedgies any more than we do. I had trouble getting a used roll pin back in. Didn't want to drive all the way to the Sube dealer so I went to the hardware store instead. Took the roll pin along for sizing. Bought some long screws and Nylock nuts, just slightly smaller diameter than the roll pin. Went in fine, no problems a couple years later. Sorry if this is dorky but it worked. I've got two or three in the various axles now.
  16. Yeah, I removed the inner belt too because it was annoying trying to keep it properly tensioned. I have the outboard-alternator, inboard-a/c compressor setup. It worked fine that way, since the outer belt ran everything. I also bought a spare belt and stuck it in the trunk just in case one belt wasn't strong enough to do the job; but I never needed it. Later I tossed all the a/c stuff because it wasn't working & I didn't want to bother with charging/repairing it. Had to leave the a/c compressor on because it was inboard, and the alt's top bracket was bolted to the compressor. Recently I bought the correct brackets for a non-a/c car from a Board member, so I could ditch the a/c compressor and move the alt inboard. Looks much cleaner that way, and easier to get at the front driver's spark plug. I had to go buy a shorter belt, because now the alt is closer; and also with the new brackets it wants to use the inner pulley.
  17. OK, I'll get to it tomorrow. No tophat though, it's two bolts. They're tight.
  18. My left rear strut is broken, but I doubt that's the problem here because of how the noise occurs. And when I rocked the car up and down right over that strut, it didn't produce any noise other than a sucking-shock noise. No clunks.
  19. Yeah, when it was suggested I didn't even think about the fact that the e-brake operates the front brakes. I just removed the driver's rear halfshaft, which removes it and the driveshaft from the equation (open diff). Took it for a spin, the noise is still there. That's good news in a way--no driveshaft work. I thought 171K was too soon for driveshaft problems anyway. I had an 86 wagon with 220K when I sold it, never a driveshaft problem. Since it no longer seems drivetrain-related I'm not so worried. Next (maybe tomorrow) I'll get under there and check the tightness of every bolt. But what still gets me is that the clunking rate of speed is in direct proportion to vehicle speed. Nor does it matter whether I'm in gear or coasting in neutral. Maybe I'll pull off the passenger side rear halfshaft too, but I really doubt that's the issue.
  20. The carrier bearing is my best guess as to the problem. Transmission mount is OK I think, no reason to think otherwise. 4WD is disengaged.
  21. It's manual 4WD, pushbutton. Sounds solid (I think). No LSD. Drum brakes, about 12K miles on 'em. Braking with foot has no effect, probably parking brake doesn't either, but I never tried. There's also a squeaky-rubber sound to it, at lower speeds. I wonder if it's a rear halfshaft? Thinking about removing the rear half of the driveshaft and driving it that way, to see if the sounds go away. Do you think this could cause a problem, with only the front half of the driveshaft in place, held in place by the carrier bearing?
  22. More good ideas! I think it may well be the driveshaft carrier bearing. I got under there and rotated the driveshaft about 1/8 - 1/4 turn or so, but didn't notice any unusual play, like side play, in the u-joints themselves. But I'm not sure what to look for. Any tips? Regarding the lift kit, later I will jack it up and see if anything's loose. But I doubt that's it, because it seems to me that you wouldn't get the clunking from a loose lifting block or shock extension while just going down a smooth road, because weight is on it. Especially since the clunking increases or decreases directly in relation to vehicle speed. But I'll check. A temporary fix would be to just remove one rear halfshaft, to prevent the driveshaft from rotating. Or to remove the rear half of the driveshaft itself, leaving the front half and the carrier bearing. That way I could test to see that it was really there that the noise is coming from. But if I do need to eventually replace the carrier bearing or u-joints, how do I go about it? I can remove the driveshaft of course and take it someplace, but can I reasonably do the bearing and/or u-joints myself? And what is the typical lifespan range for the carrier bearing/u-joints? Also, I have a spare driveshaft that came with the D/R 5-speed I bought off a guy. IIRC it would be an exact replacement for my stock Loyale S/R 5-speed driveshaft. True or false?
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