Dogbone

Actually, a friend of a friend, who knows I am a Subaru fan, has an early '90s Legacy AWD wagon he wants hauled away from his property. All I know, without seeing it, it is "rusted out", hasn't been started or ran in about 7 or 8 years, but was running good when parked due to cracked windshield or something, it has a 2.2 liter motor, and is AWD. My current Subaru is an EA82 powered Loyale, and honestly I do not know if I would even have a use for this car. :-\ But I would hate to see it scrapped if it does have any potential, or would be useful to any local Virginia members of this good forum. Looking for some feedback, I'll try to at least get a look at the car, or go ahead and pick it up in the next week or so. Thanks.

Replaced temperature sending unit in my '91 Loyale. Now all cluster gauges are working.

Hello from Virginia! I am new to Subarus myself, had my '91 Loyale on the road for about 2 weeks now. I am content to chug along with the stock EA82 myself, ticking and all. But figures, my friend just found me a free early '90s Legacy with @ 100K on the 2.2 (been sitting for awhile though, body rot), so now I'm wondering about the EJ conversion myself. Decisions decisions. Good luck with yours, I'll be following any updates you want to share with interest, should I decide to go that route myself.

Glad it went well, and cooling and heat are working as they should. So please excuse my ignorance, but do most of you folks get parts "from Subaru" from the dealership, or is there a way to get factory parts online or direct? I'm just an old school cheapskate from way back I guess. I don't buy new vehicles, and I buy my auto parts from the local NAPA and Fisher, so I guess I have not much cause to visit dealerships. Thanks.

It's not bad on a Loyale. Unplug the electric fan on the passenger side (2 plugs, fan and temp sensor IIRC), leave the fan and shroud assembly bolted to the radiator. On the driver side, unbolt the four bolts holding the shroud, and remove it. Then take out the four nuts holding on the clutch fan. This part is somewhat of a pain. Remove the fan. Drain the radiator, unhook radiator hoses. Take out two bolts in front of the radiator, and carefully life it out. You may have to work it around a bit, but it will clear (barely) between the engine and front of the engine compartment. Good luck!

Glad to "meet" you as well.

*Bumping this thread from the graveyard* First time Subaru owner here, just got my '91 Loyale on the road this past week. I live in Ruckersville, which is just north of Charlottesville, and work in Elkton. This means that daily I drive Swift Run Gap up through the Shenandoah National Forrest, crossing the summit of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Skyline Drive, and back again. Needless to say, sometimes winter driving can be "interesting", especially a winter like the last one. I'm grateful for this forum getting me well on my way to fixing a few issues with my Loyale, particularly the ones that seem typical to EA82 vehicles. I hope I can keep my Loyale going for a long time. So anyway, good to see other Virginia USMB members. Cell phone pic from last winter:

Loyale is one the road! Slight change of plans though. Basically, didn't bother with the clutch myself, as available overtime at my work made it more appealing to just pay my mechanic to knock it out for me. To be honest, given my lack of garage, that suits me fine. Anyway, I'll take care of the little stuff myself, but without a garage, I'll let the pros handle the bigger stuff. Will change oil tomorrow, and next on the agenda, front brake pads, new timing belts, pulleys, H2O and oil pumps, and valve cover gaskets. Oh, I'll need to throw a stereo in it sometime soon, priorities you know. Got to drive it around town a little this evening. Noticed the temp gauge is not reading, so need to check into that as well. Other than that, smooth sailing and really cool feeling to finally have my first Subie on the road. And I "tested" the 4wd briefly on my sloped gravel driveway as well. Now I'm actually looking forward to the first snow fall to check out what it can do in the white stuff. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for their tips.

Thanks to all for the additional replies. Gotcha regarding the rear seal. I'll inspect it when I pull the flywheel. Unless it's trashed, I'll leave it be. Engine hoist/crane? No, I don't have one. Although I am watching Craigslist and if I catch one for cheap over the next few weeks, I will grab it. Obviously this will be my first Subaru clutch job. After studying the manual, and studying the car, and considering all the other work I want to do in front of the motor, the "motor forward" just made more sense to me, since I wanted to pull the radiator and hoses anyway. All axle boots are in excellent condition, and despite the clutch slipping, the tranny shifts fine, so I'd rather not mess with a good thing if I don't have to. Extra thanks for the youtube video! Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome. I agree, an excellent forum! FYI, if anyone is interested, I started this other thread to update my progress on my Loyale, and inviting suggestions (and help!): http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117158 I hope anyone will feel free to jump in and share their Subaru wisdom and experience, I'll need it.

Thanks for this info. Particularly the info regarding these seals. That's EXACTLY the kind of advice I need! I posted more info on my first "Welcome" post regarding my Loyale and my plans, so for this discussion I'll quickly summarize: Just bought it, 1991 Loyale 4WD, $200, 3rd owner, my first Subaru. 200K+ miles, clutch slipping. Right now, car on jackstands, radiator, hoses, alternator, etc. removed in preparation for "motor forward" clutch replacement. Also will do: timing belts and pulleys, oil pump, water pump, accessory belts, cooling hoses. Also I will put in helicoil inserts and install exhaust studs (size recommendations and tips appreciated, metric, SAE, ARP studs or something less $$, etc????) So, there's that. Thanks again to everyone for their help.

I was pretty surprised to see the prices for the "ebay" timing belt kits, and to see so many folks on this forum seem to use them, so I was just wondering if there was an equivalent "ebay clutch kit" that I should be looking at. Does the Autozone kit come with the alignment tool? If so, I'd probably just as well go that route. The deeper I look, it seems the <$100 clutch kits on ebay are for 2WD Loyales. 4WD Loyale clutch kits, $150 and up, and then there's the shipping $$.

Well, I'm not sure about any of these, but these prices sure beat the $750 I was quoted by several local garages, and the $300 plus Subaru kit I priced online. Anyway, here's a few I'll throw out for comparison: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Standard-Clutch-Kit-Subaru-4-cyl-1800-Loyale-XT-/7984169267?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1dbe4c133 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Exedy-Clutch-Kit-1985-94-1-8L-Subaru-Loyale-4WD-/350166940467?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5187937b33 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-92-Subaru-Loyale-1-8-1-8L-New-OE-Clutch-Kit-/310258331154?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item483cd66e12

1991 Loyale 4WD. I recently purchased this car knowing the clutch was slipping and needing replaced. My problem, what do I want to purchase? From searching the forums, I see lots of folks are using "ebay kits", particularly the timing belt kits. So would one of these "clutch kits" I see on ebay be okay? If so, which one? Lots to choose from, so I'm looking for advice. Thanks in advance for your helpful suggestions.

Thanks for the welcomes, and nice to see another forum member in Virginia. I will certainly post as often as I can, especially when I need advice, parts, suggestsions, and to give an occasional update now and then. I don't have a garage, so progress will be determined by the weather and my work (and play) schedule. This past weekend Subaru work was postponed so I could help my oldest son replace the heater core in his Dodge van. Anyway, thanks again for the warm welcome.

New Subaru owner here. First one ever for me, 1991 Loyale 4WD. I'm the third owner. Bought it needing a clutch (slipping), but was able to drive it home okay. Interesting for a car this old, seems everything else "works" on the car, power windows, A/C, heat, lights, 4wd, etc. Just some rust spots showing on a couple of the fenders. For a car with over 200k miles, this is a good testimony to Subaru in my book. Paid $200 for the car and drove it home, so I'm not too afraid to put a little money in it to bring it back up to daily driver/winter duty. Engine has some oil leaks, and very noisy lifters. Much thanks to this site, I'm now aware of the oil pump sealing issues, and have come up with a plan. So, now I have the car on jackstands, have pulled the radiator and am preparing to due an "motor forward" clutch replacement. I'll also replace the oil pump, water pump, timing belts, accesory belts, hoses, and whatever nickel and dime things I come across as well. Also, considering the two row radiator upgrade ('89 turbo auto wagon rad?) that I read about on this site, although the original radiator seems in good shape. And I will do the helicoil install with exhaust studs (are ARP studs overkill?), just not sure what size to go with (the oddball OEM metric or a more common SAE size). Anyway, just a shadetree mechanic here, but I'm not 'skeered to turn wrenches or get my hands dirty (industrial electrician by trade . I will check in often as questions arise, and (hopefully) update my progress over the next month or so. Thanks for making this already such an informative site for owners like myself. Rob