Snowman

I'll take one. I can't send the check until january 10th though. I hope that's okay.

Thanks guys. Awesome diagram Skip. I tested the power to the solenoid and was getting about .25 volts. Definitely not enough to activate the starter. Right now I just spliced a new wire going to the solenoid straight from the hot wire coming from the ignition "start" position. No relay or anything. Is this going to be bad? It starts just fine, but could it cause problems down the road by either frying something or sucking so much power so that other things don't get enough juice? I don't think the solenoid uses that much power, but maybe I'm wrong, and the wire I tapped into was quite beefy (probably 10 gauge). It also would appear that it was originally set up without a relay. I may be selling the car tomorrow, so I need to get this worked out pretty quickly. So, do I need a relay, or is it okay like this?

My mom's running Toyos on her outback. I think they're 800 Ultras or something like that. Great traction in dirt/on pavement and quite good in snow (no trouble going through dry snow coming over the hood). However, they kinda suck on ice, but that may just be relative to the awesome tires I've got on my car. My ONE piece of advice for tires that will see any snow or ice action is get the narrowest tires that you can mount on your rims. It makes such a difference in traction, and your car won't get thrown around or try to plane on top of slush or heavy snow. And subarus are light enough that you can get away with running relatively narrow tires in the summer as well and maintain good handling characteristics.

I've got 'em on Roxanne, they actually came with it from the factory on an otherwise bare-bones car. (If you want some, I will be taking mine off in a few months when I get my lift and larger tires. I would part with them for like five bucks plus shipping.)

1988 SPFI 4wd wagon Started doing this intermittantly, but now all the time. It refuses to crank by turning the key. I can turn it to the "start" position, and something clicks about once every second, but no cranking whatsoever. I can get it to start just fine by jumping a wire from the starter motor positive to the solenoid positive, but that's the only way it will start. If I wasn't selling the car, I would just put in a pushbutton switch directly providing current to the solenoid, but that's not really an option because it would decrease the value of the car. What could be going on?

Dang, I wish it was that cold here in Haines! We lost almost all of our snow down in the valley to torrential rains early last week, so the sledding sucks and snowmachining is out of the question without a 30 mile drive on bad roads to get there. Anybody who says Alaska is too cold hasn't really seen Alaska. It's worth putting up with the temperatures and the five hours of daylight during the winter. Check this out if you want to see what AK is all about (at least for me). I know it's actually Canadian, but it's right next door to us. http://www.yukonpowderhounds.com

Hey skip, what does your strut brace attach to and have you noticed if it makes any difference in handling? Just wondering, since mine is attached to the innermost strut bolts and I can't really tell from the picture where yours goes to.

Torque sticks are only accurate if the impact gun is calibrated for your air pressure. If it's off, your torque values will be too. I think you're better off spending the money on a quality torque wrench.

Compression could also be the culprit. Mine has 75 psi in the #1 cylinder due to bad rings and 150 in the others, and even with a Weber, gutted cat, and hot coil she still won't go over 80. Yours could be similar.

"Expensive" is a relative term. I would much rather be experimenting with a totally bada$$ brat like that one than just spending the money on a new car.

Run Chevron Techron fuel additive in it for two tanks. That stuff works MIRACLES. In my mom's old subaru, the fuel economy had gone down to like 15mph. After one tank with that stuff in it, it was back up to 30 or better. I now use it religiously at every oil change. I would agree that your mileage will probably drop over time, but it definitely couldn't hurt to try this stuff, as well the changin the oxygen sensor and things.

I would agree that Mobil 1 is the best synthetic. They pioneered it and have been developing their oil for a long time. Castrol is probably the best for dino oils.

i second the

Sweet! This is why I love the subaru community. People you haven't met in person will drive several hours in subarctic conditions to help you out.

Thanks Matt, I shouldn't have any trouble, but that makes me feel a lot more secure. And yes, I have a BUNCH of stuff with me. Shovel, 8000 pound winch, a coupld hundred feet of rope, an absurd amount of tools, extra food, water, cold-weather clothes, and a sleeping bag rated for like 30 below. Oh yeah, and your driveway DEFINITELY looks like it would be interesting with some ice on it or with a few feet of snow.

Even with less than half compression in the #1 cylinder, Roxanne made the 800 mile trip no problem last night, through the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness, in temperatures 20 below zero, through a foot of snow, and driving overnight for fourteen and a half hours straight. Due to the rings being bad, the fuel economy sucked, at around 15-18mpg, and she did use two quarts of oil, but despite that she didn't complain once. There aren't very many cars that I would trust to do something like this. Another example of subaru dependability.

Nomad, You said the 225s rubbed a bit. Where did they rub? Was it on fenders that could be trimmed, or stuff that is permanent like suspension parts?

All four of mine tend to get condensation in the left headlight as well. It must be a design flaw that makes that one lose its seal over time.

Hey Matt, If you wanna plow your driveway, just buy a little Kubota tractor! Those things are so much fun, and probably the one thing that goes through snow better than a subaru. And I can't imagine that much weight on the front of your brat would be good for it. You might check into one of those plows that have a steel edge and frame, but the entire moldboard is made of plexiglass. Those are probably a lot lighter.

While walking on Providence drive about an hour ago, I saw driving by drumroll please.... An ea82 wagon with a SNORKEL! Have you seen this car? We should keep an eye out for this guy and try to get him on the board.

I just said "screw it" and bought a pair of 55 watt driving lights that I turn on any time it's dark.

Does this car have 3.7 axle gears? If so, you could probably swap in 3.9s from a non-turbo manual transmission model. That would help compensate for the larger tires.

Probably the best motor to get for this would be either the EJ20 turbo from a WRX, or the EJ22 turbo from a turbo legacy. There are probably enough wrecked WRXs in yards by now (with the way lots of people drive them) to get a complete donor car for a reasonable price. And there's a crapload of aftermarket stuff for the WRX engine.

Now I'm REALLY confused. Today I put the pump back on, and just for s***s and giggles turned the key, and it started right up! Runs fine ever since. I'm gonna go check the fuel pump relay, and test the voltage at the pump again to try to figure out what was going wrong. Maybe Alice was just not happy with me last week for some reason.

EA82 Running whatever jets came in the carb from Redline. Stock fuel pump, with return line. Since right now my engine is basically running on 3 1/2 cylinders due to very low compression in #1, my fuel economy sucks and performance isn't great. But the weber definitely is an improvement over the hitachi. No real difference in fuel economy, but performance is way up, and the only problem I'm still ironing out is cold start.