3crows

Thanks guys

This is on ebay; $50 Beck Arnley 180-0247 Distributor Ignition Pickup & Module The others on ebay are nearly $300 and up. Makes me think that there's a difference that I didn't recognize. For the price of the ignition module, I think I'll be looking for the Hitachi distributors. Don't know for sure what the specs are. Think it was 2.01ohms for the primary and 8-12 for the secondary. Think I read somewhere in the forums that the fwd rigs had Nippon- Denso distributors and the 4wd rigs had Hitachi distributors. I've got three 4wd's, an '86' and two '87's' and they all have Nippon- Denso distributors. ferp420, tell me more about the msd ignition system. Also, don't think I ever got a response on how to upload pictures to my threads. I tried 'drag and drop' and got a message saying, '2mb max'. That was with only one pic. I've seen multiple pics on threads. What am I doing wrong?

Just received a 'Spectra C624' coil that I bought on ebay for my '87' GL 4wd wagon which was listed under compatible vehicles. That little thing that sometimes goes off in my head did so so I did a search for this particular coil application. Said it was for 'L' series with Hitachi ignition system. My distributor is a Nippon Denso, not a Hitachi and has a different looking ignition module than the Hitachi module distributor. The Hitachi modules are around $40 on ebay. The Nippon Denso was around $100. I REALLY don't want to smoke my ignition module by using the wrong coil. Can I use this coil or should I return it? Anyone recommend a coil?

Was going to pull the fuel pump off one of my other Subaru's that run good to see if that was the problem. When I dropped the pump on this one I noticed that the hose going to the pump was kinked, being too long. So if fuel starving was the problem, as naru2 said, I figured that could be the cause. I cut off several inches and put the spring clamp where it had been kinked and put it back together, took a drive up the hill and it seemed to run OK. Has anyone installed a universal fuel pump on one of these guys? I saw one on ebay for $13. The regular Subaru pump was $43 and up. If it's just a matter of changing the electrical plug, that's a good deal. But if they're junk, it's not.

Did the same adjustment on the Weber on my '87' but still have problems with it. Seems to drive fine on flat or mild inclines but as the incline gets steeper, it starts to cut out, slow down and sometimes backfire through the carb. It's maybe a half mile out of town on an uphill grade to the freeway. I get about half way up it before it starts to cut out. It doesn't stall. When I push in the clutch and feather the gas peddle the engine smooths out. But I'm limping up the hill out of town at 35 mph in a 50 mph speed zone. I've checked the timing, vacuum advance, coil, and spark plug wires with a timing light ( steady blinking ). But then It runs fine when it's in the barn. There is a slight hesitation when I stomp on the accelerator. It only gets squirly under a load.

I'd never used the suction gun method before and as a one man operation it sounded great. It may have been working but to see all those air bubbles was a bit disconcerting. Decided to stick with the old tried and true.

Started OK. Just had to back off the fast idle screw some. I'll do it again tomorrow morning too.

Well, it's done. Put the car up on 4 stands and pulled off tires. You can reach the bleeders without having to lay down on the concrete. Went around about 4 times with the suction tool and like Dave said, you're always going to get air bubbles and I did. I ended up just using the catchment cup and clear tubing ( similar to Steptoe's method ). I put the catchment cup into a puka I drilled in a 5"x5" piece of plywood then put it on top of an inverted 5 gal. bucket and a piece of 4x4 on top of that so the clear hose would be arched up and I could see any air bubbles in the arched tubing. I also used a piece of tie wire hooked to the coil spring then around the tubing to hold the arch up. I'd crack the bleeder screw about half a turn then go and pump the brake peddle a few quick shots then scurry back to check the tubing. Went around twice to be sure. I also found that the bleeders in front are 10mm and the back are 8mm. Anyway, it was lengthy but successful. I'm a one man operation. I've found for the most part that it just ain't worth getting pissed off at the wife ( frustrated ) because she doesn't understand what I want her to do most of the time even though she's willing to help. I'll keep an eye on that brake hose. If that wheel heats up I'll replace it. And as usual, thanks for the responses.

Don't know how to upload pics. Drag and drop didn't work. Don't know how to reduce the size

I'll try to get some pics up this week. One of the things that saddens me about these guys is that it keeps getting harder to find parts. Back in the old days there were always several old Soob's at one of the You-Pull-it yards. Now they send me emails for 25%, 40% and 50% off parts but they don't have any Subaru's of my DL/GL vintage.

On my '86' GL wagon, I drove it into the barn and put it up on stands to replace the front axles and struts ( flapping sound). By the time I got all the parts and got it together a month or more had passed. When I took it out for a test drive it seemed to lack power. When I got back that little thing that sometimes goes off in my head said 'check the wheels'. All were fine except the front right. It was too hot to hold my hand against. Put it back on stands and found the brake pads fried and bound up. They were half the thickness of the driver side pads which looked pretty good with minimal wear. Don't think I drove over a mile that way but it was plenty hot. Been driving this guy for awhile and never noticed any problem with the brakes before now. Got some new pads and tried to turn in the piston. Couldn't move it. Took off the caliper and put it in my vise but still couldn't get it to turn. Just bent the tool. Ended up ordering new calipers and got it all back together today. Spent about 20 min. trying to bleed the brakes with my $27 Harbor Freight brake suction pump and it seems it's still sucking out a whole lot of air bubbles. Never had this much trouble bleeding brakes either. Aren't those caliper pistons supposed to torn in? Seems that last time I did front brakes on one of these I was able to screw it in. It wasn't easy but it was doable without having to pull the calipers off. Maybe I'm just getting too weak in my old age.

Been working on the front brakes on my "86' Soob today and in between I did some carb adjusting. I think I'm doing pretty much the same as you're doing. at operating temp. I readjusted the choke so the butterflies were all the way open but loose enough so they could be wiggled and set the idle at 800 RPM's. I turn the air screw counter clockwise until the engine starts to stumble. Then I turn it clockwise until it starts to stumble, then center it between those two points. Just have to adjust the fast idle in the morning when it's cold. Hope all this makes a difference.Thanks for the response.

No, don't have any pics. They're just old rigs. They're not too 'pretty', just 'plain Jane's' with a few dings an wows. But I do have an aversion to rust. I'm a utilitarian kind of guy mostly. My main concern is how they run. The mechanics and reliability are what is important to me. If I can't fix it I can't own it. That's why they're all carbureted and no computers. I used to ride BMW Motorcycles so the boxer Subaru engine was a major draw plus the 4wd that you don't need a ladder to get into your friggin' rig was appealing. I'm not real happy with the Weber carbs I have on 2 of them. They are hard starting SOB's whereas the '87' with the Hitachi starts fine every time in all weather. Thinking now I should have left them stock but got sucked in by the Weber hype. I have gotten lots of help from these forums and I really appreciate that members are willing to offer advise to us less experienced.

I posted this in the past but I couldn't find the responses so I'll ask again. I have 3 Subaru 4wd wagons; one '86' and 2 '87's'. One '87' still has the Hitachi carb and starts and runs fine with no problems. I replaced the Hitachi carbs on the other '87' and the '86' with used DGEV Weber's and they are both hard starting. Once they start they run fine but I have to pump like crazy and crank the started for about 6 to 8 seconds 3 times before they'll start, even in warm weather. I've also tried pumping a couple times and then just holding the gas peddle to the floor but still end up pumping the bejesus out of them to get them to start. Initially they idle at about 1200 to 1500 RPM but once they warm up and I kick them down from the fast idle they idle at 800 RPM and there's no hesitation on quick acceleration. They have electric chokes and the butterflies are closed when starting. Could I have them set too lean? I don't want to have to use starter fluid and I don't want to burn up my starters. The '87' does have a stumble at about 3500 RPM's but that goes away when it reaches operating temp. I drove to the Woodland Walmart ( about 5 mi. ) and was in the store for about 30 min. and had to crank it over several times before it would start. It was 70 degrees out. Frustrating!

After watching several You Tube vids I removed the windshield and had a guy come out and replace it. I cleaned all the old caulking off and treated and primed all the rusty parts around the edge which I don't think the cheap shops do. Cost $200 On to other problems. And as usual, thanks for responses!

As far as I was able to find out, no one makes 4wd front struts for Subaru's of this vintage anymore and 3 of the Ebay sellers I contacted couldn't even get the fwd strut for the passenger side, and the ones that could were mostly too expensive. But I did buy the one for $47+ + shipping and the job is done. Just wanted to let people know that these are getting hard to find.

I'm in the process of replacing the front axles and struts on my '86' GL 4wd wagon. I know that most of you know that KYB struts for 4wd Subaru's are no longer available but the fwd struts will work. What I didn't expect was that the passenger side KYB strut, # 233022 is nearly impossible to find. I ordered a set from a vendor on ebay and received two of the driver side struts, 233023.I ordered a set from Shockwarehouse.com. They sent me an email saying 'thanks for my order' and ten days later I hadn't heard anything from them. I called Napa and they said they couldn't get it. I've communicated with three other ebay vendors and only one says he has it. That was this morning so I'm waiting to get an email saying it's been sent. Meanwhile my car has been up on jack stands for a month and I'll have to send one of the driver side struts back. The driver side strut was $54. The passenger side that I ordered was over $60 with shipping ( if they really have it).

Well, whoda thunk! I took my 'new to me' '87' out for a spin, (aye, the one with the wobbly front wheels that I fixed) and found that it made a similar sound as the'86'. I replaced the axles and struts in it and one or both solved the problem. I just got another set of axles and I'm waiting for new struts and I'll go to work on the '86'. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

The quandary. If it was an exhaust leak from a blown exhaust header gasket, wouldn't it get louder when I accelerate? Somewhere in my aged memory banks I can vaguely remember a blown exhaust header gasket but I think it made a put put sound rather than a flapping sound. I get the vibration and flapping when I accelerate going uphill on my driveway road and I step down on the accelerator. It's not all that steep and I'm still only going around 15 mph. Once I get over 20 mph I can't feel any more vibration or hear any more flapping. The reason I was thinking about a broken motor mount was because in my younger days I rode BMW motorcycles and when you rev them standing still you get an anti clockwise torque which you don't get when you're riding and might be the cause of the flapping and vibration at low speed under pressure. It also handles fine at regular speeds between, say, 25 and 75 mph. I get no vibrations or shimmy in the steering and there's no uneven wear on the tires, just the bouncing from the dead shocks in the front struts. I bought an '87' last year and on the way home I couldn't drive over 45 mph on the freeway because the front end was shimmying and vibrating so badly. When I got home I found that the axle nuts were only on hand tight. I destroyed the 2 front tires. The steel belting was showing in several places. The front end on this guy seems tight. There's no slop in the steering and it tracks fine. The only thing that I'm reasonably sure of is that the front struts are had it. And it looks like I've got no other choice but to replace them with fwd struts. When I get into that I my find out more.

I've called several parts places for front struts for this guy but all they have is fwd struts. Will they work in a 4wd GL wagon? I think Subaru has them but the price I saw online was $120 each. OUCH!!!!!! I'm going to check the belts and boots but they're all less than a year old. I'll also check for exhaust header gasket leak. The last time I posted these questions on the forum I mentioned maybe a broken motor mount.

XXX

They're after market. I don't think it's the CV axles 'cause I replaced them not all that long ago. But they clicked, not flapped, and only clicked when turning, not when going straight so I'm thinking it's got to be something else. I posted this awhile back but got no response so I thought I'd try again. I don't remember when I first noticed it but it's been going on for awhile. It must not be too common a problem. If I can find some struts I'll redo the bearings and axles too. You may be right.

Spose I should say Howzit. Been here for awhile but not this formal. I'm a NW native from Portland living in SWWA ( Oregon territory) now. Hi to all you Subaru addicts.

If that's short for Mitchell Then somewhere back there we're related! Hi Cuz!