Tom63050

Maybe with a stock airbox. But I drilled out the bottom first. Unless you really want to spend the money on a K&N and never replace a filter again, I'd say just do the free fix and open up the airbox. You can also get 25-50% more use out of a paper filter by just vacuuming it!

I second this! Go for it. My situation: 91 Loyale 4WD 5-speed wagon. Trailer, trailer load, and car load equaled 2000 lbs. Drove from Oregon to Virginia, no problems. Important to have the tongue weight right, so it handles OK. Max tongue weight is 200 lbs. My rule of thumb is, if picking up the tongue feels like a heavy toolbox and I can do it with one hand, or just barely need two, then the load balance is about right Trailer hitch was a Dalan, model # 217367. Might be different for a GL, due to different bumper.

I would still say that they DO need tensioning every 20K. I had one break at 20K after I put it on. No oil leaks either. Much later I found out that they should be re-tensioned since the belt tensioners are manually adjusted, not hydraulic. The belt will either break, or it will slip teeth on the camshaft sprocket, due to stretching. Then the car will run poorly or not at all, depending on how many teeth it slipped, because ignition timing will be off. And my pulleys were fine. Also, even if it doesn't break or slip teeth, as the belt stretches it retards the ignition timing. I discovered this once when I adjusted the belts about 10K after installing new belts, and got noticeably more power. For those who don't know, the driver-side (in the USA) belt also drives the distributor, through the rear of the driver-side camshaft. So belt stretch will change timing. Anyway, it's good to get in there and take a look at things every 10K, just on general principles. The first time you do the belts, you will have to take off the outer timing-belt covers. Leave 'em off, and anything you need to do in there afterwards will be a lot easier. Also, when you put any kind of belt on, put it on with the writing on the belt facing you, so if you have to take belts off and reinstall them, you know which way they went.

Isn't there some seal-rejuvenator stuff made for manual transmissions that you could add to the trans oil to at least get it to leak slower?

bump

Also, for more jetting info, see my post "Weber jetting at high altitudes". (I just bumped it.)

Sounds like you might have an air leak, probably at the base of the carb. Squirt some carb cleaner at the base to see if the idle settles down.

I got my O2 sensor off with an 8-point 7/8" box wrench (probably 22mm equivalent?). Had to cut the wire anyway to splice in a new one (or you can add male & female connectors). Threaded the wrench down over the wire onto the sensor, then just wrenched it off. Didn't take off the exhaust--don't know why it would be more at risk to strip the threads in the cat if the exhaust is left on. Seemed like an easy job (helps if the vehicle is lifted or on ramps of course). Chase the cat's threads with the appropriate tap, and put some anti-seize on the new sensor's threads before installing it.

I'm also running 185/80/13s, but mine are Kumho Touring 795 AT, Very happy with them, and they are cheap too. 70,000-mile tires. Website is http://www.kumhousa.com, which also has a dealer locator. My car is a 91 Loyale wagon with 3" lift. These tires don't really fill up the wheel well, but on 13" aluminum wheel each tire/wheel combo is 20 pounds lighter than the BFG Wildernesses I had before on steel wheels. On a non-lifted car, I don't think you would have clearance problems with these tires.

I drilled 25 holes in bottom of Loyale airbox about three years ago, which I calculate doubled the airbox's capability to admit air, and noticed a big improvement in upper-RPM breathing...I don't care what anyone says. Below 4000, the same; above 4K, much better. I also bought a K&N filter recently. No improvement. The stock filter seems to let in all the air that the intake can handle, even with the airbox opened up. Since this mod only affects upper-RPM breathing, if you continue to drive conservatively there is no change in gas mileage.

Right, I know about the speedo/odometer slowing down. My 185/80x13 tires are only about 8% taller than stock 175/70x13, and I'm allowing for that. Going from 27 to 21 mpg is about a 23% drop. My tires are 2.9 lbs heavier than the same tire in stock size, but that is more than offset by using aluminum rims. And anyway, with the former 14" steel rim/BFG Wilderness setup, which was 20 pounds heavier per wheel/tire, I got a true 27 mpg after correcting for odometer error. So, anyone know whether any sensor failures could result in poorer mileage?

My 91 Loyale 4WD 5-speed wagon used to get about 27 mpg, no matter what. Now it's getting about 21! Mods: 1. 3" lift, with aluminum 13" rims and 80-series Kumhos (These are 20 lbs lighter than the 14" steel rims and BFG Wilderness tires I had on before; at that time I was getting 27 mpg) 2. 40,000 volt coil, enlarged gap on stock plugs 3. new generic Bosch O2 sensor in cat I thought that the above mods would if anything increase mileage, but no. I pulled the disty cap; its contacts and the rotor's appeared pretty worn/pitted. So I'll replace these and see what happens. If this doesn't do it, any suggestions? Maybe some engine sensor went south, for example. Mileage is about 170K, so maybe the cat is getting plugged.

Take your car to an auto parts store. Most of them have a section of miscellaneous parts in red packaging, called "Help!". They probably have a half dozen or so window cranks. The ones I saw were all metal. See if any fit--don't be misled by the fact that they are for Chevys or Fords; often the splines will fit other cars too.

Two other possible leak points: 1. Did you replace the rubber o-ring on the pipe that connects the water pump to the lower radiator hose? If you need to replace it, lube the o-ring with a little grease or oil to get it to slip into the water pump easier. 2. There are two little hoses on the intake manifold, one on each side, that transfers coolant from one side of the motor to the other. They may develop a leak. Replace these hoses with OEM ones from the dealer, or gas-line hose.

Stick with an OEM thermostat from the dealer. Many people here seem to think they are more reliable than parts-store ones.

Glad you got it! I miss my '91 GL, a 4-door 4WD in dark gray. I made a cargo cover for it by making a cardboard template, then cutting out a cover from fiberboard. I reinforced the bottom with a couple of thin boards and covered it with dark gray loop carpet. Looked great and was strong enough to hold my toolbox. Might want to think about putting in a new oil pump, as a preventative measure.

Yeah, remove the fender. It's actually pretty straightforward.

The EA82 intake manifold, where it connects to the carb, has a larger intake hole than the EA81 manifold's. Thus it flows more air, therefore more power if the carb you put on it flows more air too. I'm guessing/hoping you are upgrading to a Weber, or have one already that will go on this car. In which case you just need the EA82 manifold adaptor plate. Of course, the EA81 carb won't fit on the EA82 manifold without a custom adaptor plate, but that carb probably will flow less air than the EA82 carb, simply because its bottom hole is smaller, to fit the EA81 manifold.

How do you tune for highway & ethanol?

I agree. The only thing we can easily and cheaply do is get more air into the airbox somehow, or toss the airbox and install a cone filter. To me the cone is overkill without modifications to the rest of the intake--either larger holes, or forced induction. The best you can do with the stock airbox is to equal or slightly exceed the total diameter of the holes bringing air into the box, compared to air exiting the box toward the motor.

The stock airbox intake is certainly the major culprit, which is why the airbox needs to be opened up. While I don't have a dyno or flowmeter, I did the airbox mod with an impartial mindset. The motor most definitely breathed significantly better after drilling a bunch of holes in the bottom of the airbox. As I'm sure you know, many cars have too-restrictive airboxes to keep noise down, to the detriment of performance. As for the K&N, there may be a further flow improvement with the airbox already opened up, but honestly I'm not sure. An interesting set of tests would be: 1. with the stock airbox, with new paper filter, all the way through the intake manifold 2. same as above, but with modified airbox 3. same as above, with K&N filter added. Any chance you could do this?

My 91 Loyale 5-speed towed ONE TON worth of trailer and cargo from Oregon to Virginia, 3500 miles. To do this with an auto tranny you'd need a tranny oil cooler, and cross your fingers.

It depends on the degree of airflow you are testing. My Loyale with stock airbox was starved for air above 4000 RPM. The airbox intake is ridiculously restrictive--compare its little oval cross-section to the larger round cross-section on the other end of the airbox cover, above the filter. After drilling a couple dozen holes on the bottom of the airbox, the motor easily went to redline. So below 4K RPM, yes you're right, but at higher RPMs there is noticeable difference. Wouldn't hurt to put in a K&N filter too; probable 2-3 horsepower gain.

If you have the time and money, put some good belts on now and throw the Chinese belts in the trunk as emergency spares. Belts always break when it's inconvenient. Better yet, toss the Chinese belts and put new spares in the trunk; why put on a crappy used spare? Also, adjust the belts every 10K miles, since as the driver's-side belt stretches, it retards the ignition timing.

How do you hook up a mechanical gauge on an EA81 or EA82 Sube? How do you keep it from leaking at either end of the tube? Any special adaptors needed that don't come standard with the gauge kit?