TahoeFerrari

The interval wiper funtion in my '89 GL wagon has quit working. I thought it would be an easy job to replace it, but surprize, it's not where I thought it would be! The interval wiper controller in my '87 3-door is easy to get to - it's fastened to the back of the kick panel just to the right of the fuse block. Not so in my '89 wagon. I checked a friends '88 wagon and I can hear the intermittant wiper relay somewhere behind/above the ECU (or below/behind the instrument cluster), but I can't see it. I'm assuming it's in the same location in my '89 wagon. What is the best way to get to it? a) From below by removing ECU and other stuff, From above by removing the instrument cluster, or (I hope) c) Some magic trick that doesn't require dismantling half the car?

For the all around driving you've described, I'd say get a good set of 185/70 R13 snow tires - not "all-season", but tires actually designed for snow. Pretty much everyone up here runs that tire size on EA81s and EA82s so there is generally a large selection in Reno/Sparks if not locally. Modern snow tires wear much better and don't make nearly as much road noise (singing) as those of 20 years ago did. They are generally more available than off-road / AT tires in the size you'll be looking for. I don't know that you'll find much in the Bay Area anyhow. I used to live in Marin and always bought my tires up here or in Reno. A good tire shop in Truckee is Stone's TIre. BTW none of the tire shops have much in the way of snow tires on hand right now. They will be stocking up about October with winter tires. The last 3 sets of this type of tire I've bought are Firestone WinterFire, (Lee, I think) Wintermark Steel Radial HT, and Cooper Weathermaster. I only sometimes go offroad and then generally only on fire roads (none as challenging as what you've described), but these tires all worked well in those condition. I think these tires are all out of production now, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy whatever follow-on models of these brands are being made now. There are at least a half dozen other brands that my friends are using that are probably just as good (some were mentioned in previous posts). I've read most of your posts about your tranny and recall that you said not all of your current tires are shot, so you may be going overboard by buying 6 tires. If a couple of your current tires are in reasonable condition, why not use them as spares?? It's not that big a deal to have different brand / slightly mis-matched tires on part time (d/r 4spd and d/r 5spd) trannied cars as it is on FT4WD/AWD cars - as long as they are all the same size - particularly in height (the 70 part of 185/70). I've been driving 4 Subarus for about 750K miles now and have often mixed tires but have always kept a pretty well matched pair on each axle (differential). I use 4WD quite a bit - mostly in winter or on unpaved roads, but also in the summer when its raining and when hydorplaning might be a problem - and I haven't ruined a differential or transmission yet.

Yea, South Bend is a long way from the big city lights! The "Scosche SU2020B Subaru Multi-Purpose Rack Kit, 81-94" and the "AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL - SBK934 - 1980-1994 UNIVERSAL SUBARU IN-DASH CAR STEREO INSTALLATION KIT" as well as a kit by "Metra" (don't have part number) are not proprietary to any chain store (the Best Buy one is). You can try asking locally. I bought the Scosche because I couldn't find one by Metra - which I heard was a better kit. The Soosche kit looks like it will work for me, though. Your best bet will probably to order something on-line or by phone.

Google "subaru in-dash installation kit DIN" I just bought one of these for my wagon at a local Goodguys store (I haven't installed it yet, tho): Scosche Subaru Multi-Purpose Rack Kit, 81-94 http://www.goodguys.com/adtemplate.asp?invky=370530&catky= I think this is for newer Subarus, but I don't know for sure: Best Buy Subaru Multi In-Dash Installation Kit Model: 99-8900 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=1244530&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08291&id=1051384084088 Here's another: Subaru Kit 1985-up, w/o trip computer, chassis sizes U & E, rack-mount http://www.crutchfield.com/S-1yV1kuaSrq0/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=003SBK930

Left side a/c fan from any EA81 should work.

Ditto on the no need to remove drive shaft as long as it's a manual tranny in neutral and FWD.

I only had one set out of several make it to the factory recommended 60K miles until I started readjusting the tension at 30K. Since I started readjusting at 30K I've had several sets of T belts go the full 60K (knock on wood). I replace cam oil seals with every T-belt change and tensioners at every other change.

Now using JY connectors to tap into the wiring to modify things is more to my liking!! You must be using the FSM - I'm only using Haynes & Chiltons and they show how things are functionally connected, but not the actual physical routing like the FSM does. I've just got to get an FSM! The 120ma is the 7ma (clock + radio (probably)) + the 110 for the power window relay. The power window relay is energized anytime the car is in start or run according to the wiring diagrams I have (and by actual test - I could hear it) and in turn supplies power to the all the switches and motors for the widows directly from a fusable link. I agree that it is not an ideal situation to have that much ignition-off drain. I was just saying that it would not run you battery down for many days if you left the switch in the F10-F19 jumper in the ON position.

Re: microswitch Yes, I think you are all right about it being some kind of milage trigger - this is a CA car from day 1 and the micro switch is tripped by a cam that looks like is geared about 2:1 from the odometer shaft - that is 1 pulse every 2 miles which could never be used for VSS. You have also pretty much answered my next question: "What does VSS look like". I've access to 2 same-year donor cars (both GL-10s with digi instruments) as my 3-door and I'm going to try to retrofit my 3-door with cruise from one of them, but my '87 has analog instruments. My only real concern is the VSS part of it all.

What Cougar said. When I measured the current draw of the power window relay at F10, I also measured the total current drain at the battery with and without the jumper from F19 to F10 installed. The current without the jumper was 7ma (5 of which is the Loyale clock keep alive and the rest is probably the radio memory keep alive). With the jumper the load was approx 120ma, an increase which agrees with the current I measured at F10 for the power window relay alone. While not insignificant, it is low enough that it would not run the battery down for many days if a non-switched jumper was installed or the switch was not turned off. Since my last post I've thought about this some more and added a caution about the backup lights running down batteries to my last post. Cougar's solution is good as well. I just personally prefer not to alter the stock wiring by cutting or splicing in any way - if possible (I also have an aversion to removing seats and snaking wiring under carpets), prefering instead to try to come up with "plug-n-play" electrical mods that can be quickly removed to restore things to "stock" if there is any question about their operation.

It's not a dealer installed a/c system (outboard compressor), is it? I recently had what sounds like a similar experience with a friends '88 wagon. The original belt broke and is out gracing the side of an Interstate somewhere, so the replacement belt I got was from Napa and correct according to their books (# 9480) for the outboard mounted compressor configuration. The first belt I got wouldn't go on even with the adjuster at its all the way "in" limit. So I went and got one 0.5 inch longer and it went on, but when I tried to adjust it there wasn't enough adjustment to get it tight. So I went back to the first belt that I had tried and managed to "roll" it on and then adjust it. The adjuster wound up very nearly at it's limit. It's been about a month now and I haven't heard of any problems from my friend, but I told her to listen for a squeal ( indicating a slipping belt) whenever she turns on her a/c (which has been a lot lately).

OK, I've looked at the back of the fuse block and taken some meter readings. Here's what I've come up with. Thanks loyalewithcheese for getting my interest going on this again. I've been wanting to do it for some time and keep putting if off. Who knows how long it would have been until I got to it if not for your post. All of the following was determined by looking at my '89 GL wagon, it's owner's manual, and the wiring diagrams in the Haynes 1600-1800 (through '94) manual (not to mention my own electronics/electric engineering skills). I believe it will also be true for all of the Loyale/Leone bodied cars except maybe a few of the very early '85s which I've been told have a hybrid EA81/EA82 electrical system. F10 also supplies power to the back-up lights and turn signals. My thoughts as described in my earlier (updated) posted are essentially correct. First of all, there is really not any benefit that I can see by cutting into the wiring behind the fuse block. There is only one wire (grn/wht) on F10. The splices to the back-up lights and directional signals are most likely inaccessable in the wiring harness. If you want to supply power to only the power window relay, you'd have to do it at the relay - somewhere under the driver's seat I think. FYI everyone: on the EA82 fuse block for all the fuses, the bus (or supply) side is the bottom and the circuit (or load) side is the top of the fuse. My earlier post said you could run a jumper with an in-line 15A fuse from the bus side of F19 to the circuit side of F10 via fuse taps with a blown fuse in F10 to prevent voltage from being supplied back to the fuse the bus side of F10. Which, btw, would supply voltage everything on F11 and F12. Things such as the ignition coil and fuel pump which should definitely not have 24/7 power to them! You can still do that, but you can also jumper from the CIRCUIT side of F19 (protected by the 20A door lock fuse) to the circuit side of F10 (still with the dummy/blown fuse in F10) without the inline fuse. Here's why. 1) The power window relay only draws 0.10A (100ma). 2) The backup lights draw 3.7A. 3) The turn signals draw about 5A max - pulsating current. So even if you left your car in reverse, with a turn signal on, and operate the door locks, I doubt you'll blow the 20A door lock fuse. If you do, well just don't do it again!! You could also add a switch somewhere in the jumper to turn off the window relay (and other stuff on F10), but there is a disadvantage to doing this. If the switch is off while you're driving, you will not have backup lights (you don't drive very fast in reverse, do you?) and you will not have any turn signals. Maybe not a problem for you, but could be to someone else driving your car. CAUTION: If you do not use a switch or use a switch and forget to turn it off and leave the car parked with the transmission in reverse you can run your battery down over the course of a day or two because the backup lights will be ON and they are a significant load (about 3.5A in my '89 wagon). Note that you cannot use a momentary switch because it needs to be on while you are driving if you wish to use your turn signals! Because of these potential problems, I've come up with a more elegant solution involving a headlight relay to supply voltage to the F10 circuit whenever the ignition is on and a momentary switch to enable the windows at other times. It is plug and play - none of the existing wires need to be cut or spliced. This post is long enough already, so PM me if you want details for that. Sorry all for the long, detailed post - I just can't help myself, I've been trained as an engineer/scientist and I just can't seem to help it. For something else I learned, check this http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40124

This applies to those underprivilaged souls driving EA82's without power door locks. Those of you with power door locks will just have to look elsewhere for your freebies! I searched for something relavant to this and got no hits, so here goes: I discovered something rather interesting while researching a solution to supplying power to power windows when the ignition is off (see http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40086). Fuse 19 (power door locks) has power supplied to it all the time in cars with power door locks - which is well known. What may not be so well known is that it exists and has power EVEN IN CARS WITHOUT POWER DOOR LOCKS!! So you have a source for an extra circuit - up to the 20A the door locks used - without doing any work! I've checked this in several non-power door lock cars and it seems to hold up. Some of the cars I checked even had the 20A fuse installed. I hope this saves someone some work.

I've just begun to research that very thing for my '89 wagon. All my other cars have manual windows except my '66 cad which has an "emergency override" switch to allow the driver to operate the windows with the ignition off. It makes be a bit crazy to park somewhere, turn the ign off, put my keys in my pocket, and then realize I forgot to close the windows. I want to do something similar to my wagon as the switch in my caddy. So far I've checked the owners manual (look in the index for "fuses and circuits") and it shows that the power window relay is controlled by fuse 12. The owner's manual is wrong. I pulled fuse 12 and the windows still worked. According to the wiring diagrams in my Haynes, it's fuse 10. So I pulled fuse 10 and bingo, no power windows! Thats as far as I've gotten. I haven't pulled the fuse block to see what wires are on the back of fuse 10. Now you could just jumper some power to the circuit (vs bus) side of Fuse 10 with fuse taps (Napa/Belden p/n 784601) from say the bus side of the power door lock fuse (don't have number for that right now) which is always hot, but Fuse 10 also goes to some other things that you might not want to apply power to with the ign off. I'll probably be able to finish my research on this tomorrow and at least figure out what needs to be done to enable the power windows without screwing something else up. I expect I'll put a switch in to replicate the "emergency overide" functionality of my caddy. I'll try to remember to update this or add an additonal post tomorrow or maybe Monday. CORRECTION: Above I said that one could install a jumper from the bus side of the door lock fuse (which is F19, btw) to the circuit side of the power window fuse (F10) with fuse taps. If you choose to do this, you must also do the following: 1) Install a dummy (BLOWN) fuse in F10 to prevent power being applied back through the fuse to the bus side of F10 and everything that is attached to the bus (other fuses/circuits). 2) Install an in-line 15A fuse in the new jumper between the bus side of F19 and the circuit side of F10 to take the place of the dummy fuse you've put in F10. An "Add-a-Ckt" in F19 would work well for this to provide the jumper as well as hold the new fuse. I don't have a p/n for this but Pep-Boys has them (Napa also carries this, but wants twice as much). I still haven't verified what else is on F10, owner's manaul says "Turn signal, Back-up lights, AT control unit" AT = ???? Automatic Transmission? If that's all, I'd say it would be OK to install the jumper as described with or without a switch. Sorry about the initial bad advice on the jumper - it was the end of a long, hot Saturday. I'm much better at this if I do it early in the AM as I'm now doing. BTW - I mentioned the power door lock fuse which is hot all the time. This was another anoyance to me. I'm generally a solo driver and it just bugged me that the door locks for all the doors operated every time I locked/unlocked the driver's door. So I added a switch to the circuit to enable/disable the power door locks. I did it without cutting any wires by using an "add-a-circuit" fuse holder to add my wiring to the FRONT side of the fuse block and without modifiying the stock wiring at all.

I finally bit the bullet and took the instrument cluster apart to get to the speedo. Found the cause of the problem. Some grease from the speedo cable had worked its way up into the speedo head. The grease had filled the air gap between the spinning armature (attached to the cable) and rotor (attached to the speed indicating needle) and so the grease was acting as a torque transmission medium and actually "dragging" the rotor to cause the high readings (I think that normally the spinning armature moves the rotor across the airgap by magnetism). Kind of hard to explain unless you've seen it, but cleaning out the grease corrected the problem. Not a repair for the faint at heart - you've got to disassemble the speedo to do this!! It took me two tries and 4-5 hours to get it right. But it would have taken me about that much time to drive 80 miles round trip to my nearest JY, plus the cost of gas, maybe $20 for a different head that might or might not work (if I could find the right one), and then the time to swap the units, so I'd call it a push. In addition the odo still reads the same so my little book of milage vs. maint. items is still accurate without adding/subtracting some fudge factor. While doing all of this, I noticed something that has me a bit puzzled. On the left side of the odometer shaft (to the right of the 100Ks digit when looking at the speedo from the back) is a set of gears and a cam that operates a micro switch which has two wires that exit the instrument cluster through the printed circuit board. The colors of the wires are lt. green and blue/green stripe. I cannot find these wires on any diagrams I have (but I don't have a FSM). Anyone know what this is for?? The car is my '87 3-door spfi.

If you still want to put an electric in place of the mechanical fan and do it inexpensively, get an old JY ea81 left side fan. It's only about 2" thick and requires minimal work to mount. II just did it to two spfi ea82's and wired it into the a/c fan relay (and took the right side fan off the a/c relay) so now right side fan runs with radiator thermo switch or manual switch and left side ea81 fan runs with a/c fan relay or manual switch. Only disadvantage is the ea81 fan is not all that powerfull - it only uses about 90 watts of power (6a @ 14v) instead of the 120w that the right fan uses. (If anyone reading this knows of another JY obtainable fan that is less than 2.5" thick that will work for the left side of ea82s, please let me know.) I've havn't clocked too many miles on them yet, but on 90-95 degree days with the a/c off, neither fan runs as long as I'm moving at 25-30 mph with only minimal slow downs (stop signs). With the a/c on at freeway speeds (and 95 degree day), left side fans run when a/c systems tells them to - usually when a/c comp. is running and the right side fan doesn't run at all unless I'm going up a significant hill and then I might get 2/3 to the red. I usually turn the a/c off on a long uphill though because the a/c takes too much power and slows me down.

I no longer agree with Tin Soldier about the outboard mounted EA82 alternators! I had a few minutes this morning to stop by my local JY Autoparts store to check out the P7157 alternator situation with regard to SPFI EA82s (didn't check any turbos). I'd caution you all that I didn't have enough time to really evaluate this, but the following is my first impression. (So don't spend any money on my say so at this point - check it out yourself). I found the alternator on a Caddy - WOW! is that a monster - and took some measurements. Sadly, I don't think it will easily fit on an EA82 with the inboard Hitachi a/c compressor. Mostly this is due to the fact that both the alternator pivot point and the belt tension adjustment arm for the stock alternator are part of the a/c comp mount casting and thus have a fixed distance between them. The alt pivot point is also at the top inboard of the alternator instead of below the alternator which limits the amount of usable space. There is no easy way to increase the distance between the alt pivot point and the adjusing arm. I think there is enough (just) physical space between the a/c and the battery for the GM alternator to fit, but you'd have to probably cut the old belt tension adjust arm off the casting and fabricate a new one. The GM alternator case would also come awfully close to the water pump inlet pipe, but I my eyeballs tell me it would clear it - but my eyes aren't what they uesed to be!! I don't think there is any way at all that the GM alt could be used with an outboard mounted a/c compressor (inboard alt). There is just not enough room between the a/c compressor and the power steering pump. There may be a solution to this, however (I have this configuration on my wagon and would really like a bigger alt.). See below. I couldn't find a Subie with an inboard mounted Matsus.h.i.ta/Panasonic compressor so I don't know about this case. If the stock alternator in this configuration has a pivoting sloted arm (unlike the case with the curved cast in arm on the Hitachi), it would probably fit though you might have to fab a longer pivoting adjusting arm which should not be very difficult. Which brings me the a possible solution for the outboard mounted a/c compressor. If the preceding paragraph turns out to be true, then you could get the mounting subframe and a/c hoses and move the outboard mounted a/c compressor inboard and have room for the GM alternator outboard. Of course replacing the a/c hoses would mean the a/c would have to be recharged, but that can be done for less than $50 and be changed to R134a while you're at it (I just did the conversion on a friends Subie with a bad a/c compressor - nothing to it). Stay tuned, I don't know when I'm going to have time to persue this, but I would really like a bigger alt on my wagon. So I'm going to keep at it until I either find a way to do it or decide it's too much trouble.

Now that's good info for those of us using JY Autoparts Inc. Thanks Mike. I concur with Tin Soldier about the ea82 a/c issue. Probably world work with any inboard mounted a/c - both Hitachi and Matsus.h.i.t.a/Panasonic - but might not with the outboard mounted a/c - which is limited to the Matsus.h.i.t.a/Panasonics and I think is how the dealer add-on a/c's were installed. I have an '89 with the (dealer installed) outboard a/c. If someone will tell me the case diameter of the P7157 alt., I'll check it out. Other wise, I'll try to pick one of these alts up on my next visit to JY.

I think that is at least part of your problem. The electric fan should run at least part time anytime the a/c is on. I believe this is an attempt to get a "jump" on getting more air flow through the radiator before it builds up too much heat from the increased load of driving the a/c compressor. I have two spfi ea82s - one with a Hitachi a/c compressor ('87) and one with a Mitsu************a (Panasonic) compressor ('89) - which pretty much covers the different a/c configurations available in the EA82 engined cars. With both, there is a fan relay in parallel with the radiator-mounted thermoswitch for the electric fan. This relay is controlled by a "pressure switch" in the a/c system. With the Hitachi system the electric fan seems to cycle on and off when the a/c is turned on. The hotter it gets, the longer it stays on. With the Mitsu************a system, the electric fan comes on full time when the a/c is on. In both cases this is done by the fan relay (unless, of course, the fan has already been turned on by the thermoswitch). NOTE: With the Hitachi compressor, the fan usually will NOT come on immediately when the a/c is turned on like the Mitsu************a compressored system will, but may take as long as 5-10 minutes depending on how hot it is (air temp). The a/c fan relay is located on the right (passenger) side up behind the strut tower. It's next to the 15 amp fuse for the a/c system (look for a fuse holder cover with "15A" on it or just a blue 15A fuse if the cover is missing). The relay is the outboard one and has a yellow wire with a white stripe on it. If you ground that wire, the fan will run. So you might have bad relay or maybe the afore mentioned "pressure switch" is bad. My vote is for the relay - I think it's just regular headlight relay. I've never had to figure out where that switch is, but it may be up in the right front corner of engine compartment where a/c line passes in front of the charcoal canister and goes into the a/c accumulator. According to the wiring diagram, the pressure switch has 12v on one side and nothing on the other when the a/c is not running. When the a/c system is pressurized, it supplies 12v to the a/c relay which in turn supplies ground to the electric fan. Check it out! Isn't censorship wonderful? Won't let me type Mitsu*s*h*i*t*a without resorting to a little trickery!!! So now it stands out much better. Good grief! Mitsu************a Mitsu************a Mitsu************a. HA HA. Panasonic, Panasonic, Panasonic.

Sounds like the attorneys at Fuji Heavy Industries are just making sure their butts are covered to me.

Try searching on the board for "small block chevy" I recall seeing somewhere that small block chevies use 54 mm thermostats - same size as Subaru.

I think someone back in this thread also said - or at least implied - that coasting can damage transmissions but I can't find it right now to quote, so here goes anyway: I seriously doubt that this is true in all, if not most cases. Specifically in the case of manual 2wd and manual non-FT 4wd transmissions. As I said in my first post on this tread, I've coasted many, many miles in neutral with this type of transmission in my lifetime - Subies, Fords, Chevies, Triumph, MG, and probably a few others. I'd estimate at least 100k miles and maybe as much as 200k miles - often for distances of 10 miles or more at a time. Even have done some coasting with auto trannys, but I don't do that any more - see the first post. You also would not see so many manual transmissoned 2wd and non-FT 4wd cars and trucks being used as toads if it was trashing the transmissions. Even with 2wd and non-FT 4wd auto trannies, I believe that most can be safely coasted with the condition that the engine is left running. The reason is that when the engine is running, the input shaft to the transmission is being driven and thus the internal pumps are running and transmission fluid is being circulated and able to do its job lubricating and keeping internal valves in the right postition to enable/disable internal workings of the tranny. With the engine off, all bets are off. Many (most or all?) owners manuals have a prohibition against towing with all four or even 2 wheels on the ground. They do not say anything about coasting in neutral. This has become much more prevalent since the advent of FT 4WD / AWD. From the owners manual for an '88 Jeep Cherokee: "Commerical Tow Truck Hookup. Always tow with the front wheels turned all the way to the right and lifted off the ground." (I don't understand why - see the following) NOTE: Selec-trac is FT 4wd auto tranny only and Command-trac is PT 4wd "Recreational Towing (Behind Motorhome, etc.): Selec-Trac: 1) trans in N(eutral), transfer case in N, shift trans to D(rive) and make sure there is no vehicle movement, shift trans into P(ark) Warning: With the transfer case in N, the vehicle could roll unexpectedly..." Command-Trac: xfer case to 2H and make sure front axle is unlocked. Then trans to N, xfer case to N, and finally shift manual trans into gear or auto trans into park. Warning: same as for Selec-Trac). and finally "Towing a disabled vehicle: If towed with front or rear wheels off the ground, limit speed to 30mph and distance to 15 miles" So you can tow it forever at any speed behind an RV with all four wheels on the ground but cannot tow it with two wheels off the ground over 30mph for longer than 15 miles???????? (I'll grant you that this is a bit of apples and oranges here - with the transfer cases in neutral, the transmission is completely disconnected from the rest of the drive train. I don't think I'd want do do that while coasting down a hill. BTW: I think most of you know there is a spot with the d/r 5spd - and maybe 4s -shifter in Subies between 4H and 4L that disconnects the trans from the diffs - just no detent or any way of keeping it there) From owners manuals for '87 & '89 Subies: (all you EA82 owners know this, right?) No quotes here - it's pretty wordy but boils down to the following. FWD - put in N and don't tow auto trannies over 20 mph or longer than 6 miles without raising front wheels. No restrictions on manual tranies other than to put in neutral. selective 4WD - put manual tranny in FWD and N - no speed/distance restriction. Auto tranny, put in FWD with tranny in N. Never exceed 20mph/6 miles without raising front wheels. FT 4WD precautions: manual tranny with all 4 wheels on the ground - make sure diff lock is off and the diff is actually unlocked (gives procedure). "When towing with a rope or with 2 wheels raised, unlock the diff" and don't exceed 20mph/30 miles. Auto tranny - with all 4 wheels on the ground, trans in N, put a spare fuse in FWD connector, and never exceed 20 mph/6 miles. I couldn't find anything about use as a toad. But from the preceding, it looks ok except for auto trannies. And, finally (right??), from '82 Subie owner's manual: Well, it pretty much says the same as '87/'89s except oviously no mention of FT 4WD. I'd say this stuff supports my opinion that rolling down the pike in neutral with a manual ranny is OK from a mechanical stand point, but not with automatic trannies. It even looks like it would be OK with a manual tranny FT 4wd Subie as long as the diff is not locked. Don't know about newer AWD though - but this is the Old Gen. forum, right? I can't believe I'm doing this much research - I've got waaaayyyy too much time on my hands. I need to find a job and get back to work.

From the California Motor Vehicle Code: "Coasting Prohibited 21710. The driver of a motor vehicle when traveling on down grade upon any highway shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral." That's it. The complete section 21710. It doesn't say a anything about coasting on the flats or uphill - only downhill. Doesn't say why. and from the California Commercial drivers license handbook: "Turns As you approach the turn: * Use turn signals to warn others of your turn. * Slow down smoothly, change gears as needed to keep power, but do not coast unsafely. Unsafe coasting occurs when your vehicle is out of gear for more than the length of your vehicle." Doesn't reference any section of he motor vehicle code, but does define "unsafe coasting" I think most states have something like this in the Vehicle Codes. Originally I kind of thought - like some others have mentioned - that the prohibition on coasting was a relic of some bygone era when vehicles had band brakes and later on had undersized drum brakes. I still think that when it comes to personal transportation vehicles - that is motorcycles, cars, and light trucks. But I think we all would agree that it would not be a good idea for busses and heavy trucks to be screaming down a 5 or 6 percent freeway grade at 70+ mph in neutral! (Although I've been passed while going downhill at 75 by semis on interstate 80 in the Sierra Mountains - usually in the middle of the night. Pretty scary). Also this: A friend of mines son was recently failed on his drivers test for putting the car in neutral while waiting at a traffic light. It happened somewhere in the San Francisco area. The DMV examiner didn't say why you shouldn't do this - only that the clutch should be held in and the car left in gear. I don't know about where the rest of you live, but around some parts of California there are some pretty long lights - long enough to give you a cramp if you keep holding the clutch in (even in a Subie, not to mention something with a really beefy clutch). I certainly don't suscribe to the no nuetral at a traffic light - but it's in the back of my mind to pass on to kids, nieces, nephews, etc. at the right time. I would also like to ammend my earlier statment about only using compression braking on long, steep downhills and in city traffic. In the winter I live by compression braking. Best thing you can do when driving in lots of snow and ice (we get 20+ FEET of snow here in the winter - sometimes 3 or more feet at a time) is pretend you don't have brakes. Never get going too fast and always use the engine compression to slow down. "Sorry officer. I just don't know why this darned think keeps jumping out of gear. Only seems to do it when going downhill or when the transmission is lightly loaded!"

Yes, still have stock thermoswitch in both. Thermostats are not stock 192s, however. I put in 180's instead - both new with the fan mod. In addition, since I wanted to have a clean starting point - and almost everything was out of the way - I pulled both radiators (aluminum finned of unknown age in the wagon from a JY '92 loyale and several year old copper finned in the 3-door that really should be replaced) and back flushed them and really straightened and cleaned the fins with a vacuum and then by blowing air and water through from the back side (be careful if you do this - especially if you have a copper-finned radiator that is turning pink - you can do a lot of damage with too much air or water pressure). There was quite a bit of crud in both of them - feathers, grass, dust, dirt, and small stones. I've backflushed before but never pulled a radiator out to clean the fins. I think I might start doing it as a routine everytime I replace timing belts (every 60K) since everything will already be out of the way. Maybe you shoud take a look at the front of your radiator - pretty easy to do by pulling the grill. You didn't say if you were driving your turbo or not - both of mine are spfi. I would expect a turbo engine to create more heat, but not much at a like cruising speed. It takes only so much power to move at a certain speed so heat load should be pretty similar. Under acceleration / full power, though, the turbo is going to create a lot more heat I would think. Forget the last - I just re-read your post and see that the GL is an '81 and thus not EA82 so you must be talking turbo.

I've run both EA81s (240Ks) and EA82s spfi (260Ks) well into the mid 200Ks and they were still running when I retired them but were getting low on power (compression - they probably just needed rings, but it was cheaper to replace them with JY specials). I prefer the EA82s - more power, NO trouble or maintenance with spfi except an occasional bad sensor which the ECU is very accurate in tell you about. Down side is the timing belts which can be a pain (broke a few out in the boonies) until you learn how to adjust and then replace them and actually replace them when they are due. Oil pump gasket issue is a hassle but a minor anoyance to me. EA81s are very good engines (still got a hatch I'm going to maybe do something offroad with). Down side is carbs - I've had the '82 era weber-(something) carb and the other carb (Hitachi?) and had problems with both. Weber ran better though. Also the engines I've had were pre-hydro lifter era, so adjusting valves was a nuisance. No experience with anything newer. If anyone wants to donate an EJxx for me to play with let me know!!