Tom63050

Sending unit would be in the tank, and yes this could well be the problem. I had this issue on my 78 VW bus; solved it by buying an aftermarket VDO gauge with the appropriate sending unit (gauges and sending units are matched as to electrical output/resistance they work with). Took a little experimentation to bend the sending unit's arm to the right angle so it would read accurately. Or you could certainly just use the odometer. Figure the car's worst mileage and then subtract a few miles per gallon so you don't ever run out of gas.

I originally left the covers on when I did my TBs, and split the middle cover to get to the belts in the future without pulling the crankshaft pulley. Finally I said "what the hell" and just pulled the outer covers entirely. I left the inner covers on mainly so there would be reference marks for the pulleys on the heads (although the really manly among us don't need 'em).

Florin, Bine ati venit la acest website! Defapt, Paul vorbeste nu mai extrem de putin limba Romana. Si eu vorbesc putin (dar mai mult decit Paul), si am un dictionar de Romaneste aici in apartamentul meu. Am lucrat in ambasada de SUA in Bucharest pina la anul 1987 de la 1989. Din ne fericire, am uitat prea mult, dar cu dictionar se poate eu pot sa adjut(?) dumneavoastra. In acest website, sint foarte multi persoanele putem sa adjutam daca aveti problemele cu masina. Si e un alta cetateni de Romania care foloseste acest website. Am uitat numele lui. Daca nu stiti cint timing belt a fost schimbat, e un idea bun ca sa schimbati curea. Si alti activitatea: tune-up, ulei (si filtru), curea de fan si alternator, fluid de radiator, et cetera Tom

That outer belt pissed me off because it was hard to keep at the same tension as the inner one, which caused it to squeal, so I removed the outer belt and tensioner; just running on the inner belt. Works fine. I keep a spare new belt in the trunk just in case. I also took off the outer timing belt covers and the mechanical fan, to make it easier to work on whenever I need to adjust or change the belts. Pulling the fan also frees up a little horsepower. I'm not sure that my electrical fan comes on tho, so I keep an eye on the temp gauge if I'm idling for a while.

Do an advanced search on "timing belt replacement". You will find Miles Fox's Timing Belt Procedure EA82, and others that are helpful.

Make sure it's manual transmission, as the automatic ECVT trans is a big problem to fix, both $$$-wise and expertise-wise. I had a 91 GL 4WD 5-speed and loved it! Wish I had kept it. Some 91s may have been carbed, but my GL was fuel injected.

A Subaru 13" alloy would probably weigh about 15 pounds. I checked tirerack.com and found a Kumho 185/80x13 all-season tire (which specs out to 27.6" diameter) that weighs 17 pounds. So I could swap my 52.5 pound tire and wheel combo (see first post) for one weighing about 32 pounds give or take. That can't help but give better mileage and acceleration (at least a little). Even if I had to settle for a 13" steelie there'd be an improvement.

Bump for me and Jack.

I would like to get feedback from you all about wheel and tire weights. Tell us what size tires and wheels you have, and whether steel or alloy, along with the weights. Both combined wheel/tire weight or the weight of each would be useful. (This might be worth stickying in the off-road section.) I'm thinking of trading my steel 14" Mitsubishi rims with Firestone Wilderness tires for 15" alloys with a 75-series tire (either Pug, or six-lug if I decide to convert my hubs), but would like to know whether this would provide significantly lighter weight. If so, my Loyale would have better pickup and gas mileage (I hope). Another question: what are good alloy 6-lug rims to get, in terms of correct offset? Also price and availability info would be nice. 27 x 8.50/14 Firestone Wilderness AT on redrilled Mitsu steel rim: 52.5 pounds

Yeah, that's too low. Should be about 1/3 of max on the gauge when it's warmed up; a little under the middle. Sounds like t-stat sticking open, as you say. Get a new 180 degree thermostat--many people say get one from the Subaru dealer only, but there are differing opinions on this.

I curious, why did you move the battery to the spare tire area? Weight distribution? Or do you have something else where the battery used to be?

I used a DFEV on my 86 wagon. Discovered the electric choke clearance issue with the PS reservoir. First I thought about reversing the carb, but then there's the throttle-cable issue. So I converted the choke to manual with a $10 manual choke kit from NAPA. I mounted the choke handle to the right side of the center console, and ran it into the engine bay thru an existing plug in the firewall on the passenger side. This worked fine for me, and I liked the "old school" feel of having a manual choke, like an MGB or something.

Not exactly required, but definitely helpful.

There are universal intermittent-wiper kits that even have variable timing you can dial in. I added this once to my Ford F-100.

Contact info please? Phone #/email?

Don't know of any of these mods for a Loyale, except maybe front mudflaps. Sounds like Brat mods more than anything. Of course slowing down helps--gas mileage decreases exponentially, when air friction gets greater as speed increases. But I want to run a controlled (as much as possible) real-world test on the same car, with and without rear axles. If I find out there's no/very little improvement, that's fine too. It's not good science to want a certain result so much that you lose objectivity.

Are you getting a 2WD Sube free or really cheap? Because otherwise it'd be easier to just buy a 4WD from a Board member. Lots of them up your way.

For sure about checking tire pressure. I'll take the axles off in spring and fill the car with non-winter gas. Both runs will be with the same type of gas, on two days that are as identical as possible regarding wind and temp. And of course I'll put the axles back on in the fall. I haven't used this car off-road, so no getting stuck in the mud.

OK, but the main source of friction probably isn't the driveshaft itself, it's the right-angle turn the rotation makes when it goes through the diff. I'll give it a good fair test--150 highway miles with and 150 highway miles without the rear axles on, and report the results.

You may be right about what you wrote above. When spring comes, I will unhook the rear axles and see what happens, and let the Board know the results. BTW, when I put the PK lift on the Loyale and put on the heavier 14" steel rims with 27" tires, my highway mileage stayed the same at 28. The slower revs canceled out the greater weight the axles were pushing.

Interesting reply, thanks, but not what I expected. Really, this won't save gas? I believe the 3.7 and the 175 tires would about cancel each other out. The shorter 175 tires will spin a llittle faster than 185s, and the 3.7 will spin a little slower than the 3.9. The weight of a rear end, axles and a driveshaft is less than an adult, so that alone shouldn't account for any significant gas savings on the 2WDs. Any other replies? As far as not putting on locking hubs, I think that's more likely a cost-cutting measure, since these cars were never intended to be driven off-road by the factory.

Thinking of taking a long road trip in my Loyale. To save gas, I want to convert it temporarily to 2WD. I think I can do this by simply detaching the rear axles. As I understand it, when the car is in 2WD, the rear wheels drive the axles, which drives the rear diff, which drives the driveshaft going to the transmission. Lotsa unnecessary friction, using up gas. With the rear axles off, as long as I don't put the trans in 4WD, the driveshaft won't spin, right? For that matter, I might as well leave it as 2WD except for in the winter. Feedback please.

If at all possible, get hold of the EA82 intake manifold for your Weber. It has a larger intake at the base of the carb, so it flows more air. Get the Weber kit and adaptor plate for the EA82 manifold, so it all matches. I suspect that the EA81 Weber kit would have leaner jetting due to the smaller airflow of the EA81 manifold.

Whenever I buy a used car, there are a few things I do to it just to make sure everything's OK. Hoses, belts, a tune-up (unless I know it's been done recently), oil & filter change, fuel system cleaner, and fuel filters. Basically all the stuff that would leave you stuck on the side of the road. I get anal with this and buy an extra fuel filter and stick it in the car with whatever tools I need to change it on the side of the road. That has come in handy several times. For the tune-up part, don't forget to change plug wires every 100K miles.

If you do decide to upgrade to the Hitachi or a Weber, consider what manifold to get. For either carb, I recommend getting the intake manifold from the EA82 motor. Then you would of course need the EA82 Hitachi, or the Weber. The reason for using the EA82 carb manifold is that it has a significantly larger intake hole at the base of the carb. More flow. If emissons inspection is not an issue where you live, the Weber is the better choice for power, fuel economy and tunability. You will need an adaptor plate to mate the Weber to the EA82 manifold.