hooziewhatsit

The other bolt on the pulley is a 12mm (you said it was a 13?). Both that hex stud, and the pivot bolt need to be loosened. Then should be able to wrench on the 17mm pivot to tighten it. -dave

'87 wagon, SPFI, dealer wants $3000 (including tax) to fix this list of stuff: one rear bearing, new shoes front caliper/rotors rt front wheel bearing rt front tie rod master cylinder power steering leak new drive belt She was driving, the brakes 'died' and she rear-ended someone at about 10mph. She's fine, and the car has a couple more dents; no big deal. Now, the car is at Camp Subaru, and they have that list of things that 'need repaired'. I also don't know why the brakes died. So, if anyone in the area would like to help fix it, or just buy it for parts, she would sure appreciate it. She's planning her wedding now, so she can use any extra money she can get. Thanks, -Dave edit: oh yea, both of the front axles are virtually brand new, one's 6 months old the other is 1 month old.

I think I had the same problem in my 88 GL a few years back. You should be able to pop the squirter off the hatch, and make sure it's hooked up to the hose inside. I don't think mine was (somehow). -Dave

when driving with some friends, they'll usually ask what it means. So I'll lock all the doors and make the light go out, then say if any other door is unlocked it will turn back on. Usually takes about 0.03 seconds for someone to unlock their door to see

yea, leave the car on the ground and break it loose. Same goes for when you tighten it after you're done. -Dave

thanks for all the replies. I know the engine isn't in the best shape, buuuut it (seemed to) run well when it was pulled. It would also work in a pinch if it had to. maybe this winter I'll pull the heads off and try to see why there's low compression on that side. hmm, marine fogging oil... sounds interesting I'll have to see if any local place carries it. thanks again, -Dave

I recently pulled an SPFI engine from an 87 wagon. Before I pulled it, I checked the compression (140, 140, 140, 115 ) I put a couple splashes of oil in each cylinder and cranked it around a couple times by hand. I've drained all the coolant from it (both heads included). I've put duct tape over all openings from inside to outside (well, not the exhaust, yet). Plugs have anti-seize and are threaded finger tight. It will be stored in an outside shed, no heat, no insulation, etc. So, any other ways to ensure the engine stays in good shape while being stored for who knows how long? Only other engine I've gotten after being stored had badly rusted/pitted cylinder walls, and I'd like to avoid that. Thanks, -Dave

A couple things you could try... none of which are guaranteed to work unfortunitly. Back flush the core - basically swap the two hoses going to it. Might only help if there are large chunks clogging stuff. Use some radiator flush stuff - Tried some of this on a car I used to have, since we thought it was overheating (bad gauge). Didn't help at all. My friend will have to replace the clogged core anyways. Other than those, your best bet is to just replace it. It's not too hard, but time consuming. One of things you can do it three times faster after you've done it the first time. -Dave

ok, that makes sense. This next weekend when I reseal everything I'll clean everything else as well. Can't hurt at least. -Dave

oh yea, forgot to mention that. When it's running, it sounds and runs fine. Getting ~30 MPG. Timing is right on. I haven't done a tuneup on it yet, as I'm about to pull it to replace all the seals. Thanks, -Dave

'91 Loyale, SPFI, 5spd, belonging to my brother-in-law. For the last couple months, this car has had issues starting. Would crank over just fine, but never actually start. First time I looked at it, when it wasn't starting, there was good spark at the coil, bad spark at the plugs. So, new cap & rotor and it was fixed for a week or two. Since then, it's continued to be intermittent. Start some days but not other. Second time I looked at it, was able to get it to start by holding the gas pedal down while cranking (clear flood mode). It did have good spark at the plugs that time. This has worked for my BIL sometimes (clear flood mode), but not always. I currently have a can of seafoam in the gas hoping to clean out the fuel injection system, but it hasn't helped yet (hasn't been driven a ton since then). So, does this sound like a leaky injector? Any other way to diagnose if that's the problem or not? How hard to replace the throttle body/injector (I have a spare). edit: oh yea, I think it's a leaky injector, since it (usually) won't start until cranking several times with the throttle floored. Seems to me the injector is leaking gas into the manifold and flooding it. :shrug: Thanks, -Dave

sounds just like the EGR solenoid on my car :-/ (88GL, SPFI) I've even opened up my ECU looking for anything obviously wrong; didn't see anything. I've also checked continuity in the wires from ECU to solenoid; checked out fine. I've given up, and now check for new codes from time to time -Dave

I just ordered most of the stuff needed to reseal an EA82 (already had some stuff). If you buy individual seals rather than the kit, it should run you roughly $75-$85 from 1stsubaruparts.com. I don't know what the entire kit includes, or how much it costs. I also have a list of all the SOA part numbers you'd need, if you want them. -Dave

you (most likely) need to clean/lubricate your IAC valve. (search for "IAC " or idle air control; skip has quite a few good posts about it) I was having a similar problem, especially when the engine was still cold. The IAC is on the front of the engine, has a 5/8" tube going into it from the intake manifold. To take it off, I've used a set of vicegrips to break the 4 bolts loose. After that you can usually get them by hand. I sprayed carb cleaner inside the valve and worked it a few times by hand. Then sprayed some silicon lubricant inside the solenoid portion of it. -Dave

Find a helper, and have them click the button inside while you listen for the 'click' of the solenoids outside. Next you'll want to check vacuum to the solenoids. In that picture, there are two vacuum lines with the plastic thing coiled around them. Those are the two lines that go to the diaphram on the tranny to engage 4wd. Follow those to the two solenoids, and you should be to able to see if there is vacuum there. Also, do the vent controls inside work? (Defrost, bilev, etc) -Dave

Fill the tank all the way up, add gas stabilizer, and run it around the block to get the stabilizer stuff worked in everywhere else. If the tank isn't full, you can get condensation in the tank, and rust

There should be 4 vacuum lines coming off the back on the controller. I believe the bottom one should have the engine vaccum on it. IIRC, the vacuum from the vaccum canister, goes to the driver side of the engine bay, through the rubber grommet near the wiper motor, then across from there to the controller. If you stick your head under the dash it'll probably be too loud to hear a vaccum leak there... -Dave

I don't know how many times I've had this happen, on three different cars even. The screw hole in my car finally got stripped out enough it wouldn't take the screw at all. So, I discovered I could swap the post the rotor bolts to from any other distributor (look down the shaft and see the phillips screwhead). So, I swapped out a keyed post, got a keyed rotor, and will never have that problem again! Glad it worked out for ya, I like simple solutions. -Dave

first things I'd check are the rotor screw, then like GD said, take the side covers off and double check that everything is where it should be. -Dave

looking at the oil pump housing... There's a bolt on the lower right going into the housing at an angle. I think there might be a spring/BB behind that. If that bolt came out, you'd have the BB, and probably a lot of noise also (I could be completely wrong also)

Thanks for the tip! I know I've had to resort to using screwdrivers, and other ugly means when I couldn't find my punch

check out this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56014&highlight=cr-1269 I put the CR-1269 from radiators.com into my (old) '85 turbo wagon. Had to flex it a tiny bit to get the mechanical fan back on, but it fit. If you put a slim electric in there should be no problem at all. -Dave

does anyone know exactly where the ground is for the headlights? Probably have to trace the wire back from the relay to ground, since subaru's use a switched ground system, right? (my 88 GL has the same problem, a dim passenger side headlight)

oohhh, I think I know what you mean now. Yea, that would work pretty well

for the inboard AC, I have a piece of wood about 1/2" x 3/8" I like to use. Basically, that goes between the fan shroud and the power steering pump from the front down onto the pulley/long hex nut. Then I reach around with my other hand and 'jiggle' the pulley back and forth. That lets the pulley slide down into place. Then, keeping tension on the pulley with the stick, I tighten the pivot point with my other hand. So far that's the best method I've found to do this. -Dave