briankk

I've re-read the EA/EJ upgrade docs again. Think I'll take your advice and enjoy what I have..

My '90 Loyale, with EA82, is a bit weak. I've looked at the docs for the EJ upgrade, seems to be a huge PITA. How hard would it be to install an EA82T? I'd need a different radiator, for sure, but what about exhaust/cats and the ECU/wiring issues? I guess it would bolt up to my push-button 4WD 5 speed and motor mounts, but what else would have to be changed/hacked? Not trying to build a power wagon, just something that can get out of the way...

The aviation community has gotten over the Soob engine. The EA81 had some benefits, but the EA82 is just heavier, larger, and more complicated than the EA81, makes no more HP. Growing consensus, the old Corvair engine is better than either, in the 100hp class of airplanes..

You might ditch the carb on that EA82 and go SPFI, Recently, on my new to me '91 Loyale, I fixed some FI issues, fixed the cooling system, changed the plugs and the oil, drove out to my local Pick'nPull to see what they had. 40 miles out, 40 miles back, mostly straight back road, held 3k RPM, where the cars seems to want to cruise, got 39.6 mpg. This last weekend, had to go to a funeral, mostly freeway at about 80 mph, 3 people in the car, "no mercy" driving, including about 10 miles uphill with foot to the floor, 405.3 miles, 29.93 mpg.. The PO had warned me that the car overheats on long uphill pulls, but a T-stat and new radiator cap fixed that completely, it did the long grade flat out, needle never went above the 1st third of the gauge. You might ditch the Weber and try the EFI, it doesn't make a lot of power, but I'm impressed with the mileage. At the current price of gasoline and diesel, my Soob is cheaper to operate than my Mercedes 240D, and gets better mileage to boot. The Soob will revert to iron oxide and the Merc will still be running, but not on my watch...

Ya know, I'd completely forgotten about that. But, as you say, reverse rotation cam would not be a real big deal. I do wonder about the valve rockers, I've heard that actual Corvair ones are getting hard to find, GM recommending SBC rockers, which bugger up the geometry. Fortunately, I have the right ones.. One thing that would be an advantage would be that you couldn't damage the cooling system offroad in some desert somewhere, and wear bits and pieces would be widely available, kragens, O'Reiley. Autozone, etc..

Forgot to mention adding thermostat and rad cap, now the system holds pressure, needle never more than 2 widths above the peg.. No idea what gear this thing has, but it indicates 65 mph at 3000 rpm, which is where it seems to like to run. Acceleration progressively weaker over 4k, I wound it 5 once to see what would happen. Not much. But with this mileage, who cares? Next, belts and oil pump re-seal, and try to find some road tires to replace the snow tires it came with. This is going to be a long term project, I think...

OK, so far done some light chassis work, and the following engine work: Changed out the AC plugs for the recommended NGK plugs. Replaced the dicey FI temp sending sensor with a new one. Changed out the goop in the crankcase. Prior to any of this, I drove out to my "local" pick 'n pull to see what they had. 80 mile round trip, got 27 mpg. After above improvements, same trip, got 39.6 mpg, yesterday. Pleased with this, not only better mileage than my Mercedes diesel, but the fuel cost 34 cents/ga less...

Screwdriver was my first idea too, but I decided that there wasn't room to turn the thing after I stabbed the filter.. Waiting to see if the honey that was in there was an attempt to avoid fixing the oil leak. Couple of hundred miles, so far so good, seems to leak about the same with the Rotella in there..

The thing has a bunch of fuses, most of which are blue 15 amp and a couple of yellow 20 (?) amp. I thought I pulled the right fuse, according to the layout shown on the fuse cover, but obviously got the wrong fuse, thought it was the fuse labeled as the fuel pump fuse... Gave up and went to plan B..

The hose seems to be in very good condition, not hard, cracked or anything. I'd been thinking of a shot of Kroil.. Local AP store has a Beck-Arnley oil pump seal kit for $22 bucks, seems to have all that's required. But, looks like I'll have to pull the belts and covers to do the work, I guess that will mean the radiator and all too. That will give me a look at the belts and cam seals while I'm in there. Engine is so much quiter with the 15-40 oil. TOD seems much less... When I took the old oil for recycling today, it poured from the jug like thick syrup..

Bought oil and fuel filters this am, to do something easy on the '90 Loyale. Decided to do fuel filter first, doesn't require getting underneath the car. Manual says pull fuel pump fuse, run motor 'till it dies. Pulled the fuse, started the car, about 20 min later, shut off the motor, replaced the fuse, undid he hose clamps for the fuel filter, but couldn't pull the hose off the filter. Either end. Tried pliers, vise grips, water pump pliers, prying with screwdrivers, found I could destroy the hose in place by several means, but couldn't get it o let go of the fuel filter. Beginning to wonder if its glued on... Come on, how hard is to pull the hose off a filter? Pretty hard. An hour later, gave up and drained the oil. Found the oil leak all over the oil pump.. couldn't get the old oil filter off. None of the six different filter wrenches I have are that size. Drove 20 miles to the AP store, bought 7th filter wrench, that fits Soob filters. Replaced Fram filter with Wix, replaced NAPA 20-50 oil with Shell Rotella T 15-40. Engine noticeably quieter. Still sounds like a box of rocks, but a much smaller box of rocks... I looks to me like the oil pump could be pulled from under the car, without raising engine, pulling radiator, etc. Just have to find all those O-rings and the gasket, nearest Soob dealer near to 50 miles from here..

Hmmm.. As of July 11, 11, they show NO 13" tires in this model...

That got me interested enough to go look up the actual numbers for an '83 W123 240D. 64hp, 101 ft/lb torque... And mines an automatic... Don't understand "flow restriction" as used here. You mean possible cat or exhaust plug or damage? Air filter is new.

When I drove my "new" '90 Loyale away from the POs house, I noticed several things. The temp guage seemed dead, the car stuttered when accelerating with part throttle, and it didn't seem real fast, even for an 1800 cc car. My daily driver for several years has been a 4 cylinder Mercedes diesel, 69 rampant horsepower, usually faster than many VW vans... I'm saying that my standard for "fast" is pretty low to start with, and even at that the Soob seemed no screamer. I checked the thermostat, none there. Installed 195 degree Stant, now the needle moves up about cold, goes no further. Replaced the AC plugs with the proper NGKs, fixed the part throttle stutter, still not very fast, seemed to have flat spots from 3 to 4k RPM, doesn't want to go any faster. Cleaned the temps sensor connector, removed the ECU sensor to test, the wires broke away from the unit as I unscrewed it... Ordered a new one. Hundred dollar part, may be here Monday. Afraid to try to test the TPS, it's a 200 dollar part.. bk

For the time being, the EA82 is going to get a "freshening" and left alone till next summer. You might be misinformed about Corvair engines, have a look around: http://www.flycorvair.com/ Development of that engine has been going on since 1960, and the end product is a pretty good piece.. bk

Normally, I'd worry about smog, but hereabouts you smog on sale only, no 2 year inspection. I'm about 2 miles N of West Point, about a block from Higdon & Hwy 26.. How much does the EJ engine weigh? The Monza motor weighs about what the EA81 does.. Bought this car from a fellow lives abt 3-5 miles from where Jesus Maria meets the road from RR flat to Mtn. Ranch... bk

I bought my Loyale without knowing much about Subarus generally, it was just the cheapest running 4WD vehicle withing a hundred miles, and I need something that will climb my snowy driveway in the winter. The darn thing grew on me. It's about the flimsiest motor vehicle I've ever owned, and is mechanically downright peculiar. I has all the issues you would expect in an old high milage car, I'm dealing with them one at a time. Next up, replace frozen driver side front caliper, then the rear wheel bearings.. It has an old, noisy EA82 engine, that has the issues expected in that engine, a re-build is in order, but... Back in the '90s, I was on a mail list called "AirSOOB", dedicated to adapting the EA 81 engine to use in small aircraft, still have some of the books and manuals from back then, but, after quite a lot of study, came to the conclusion that the Soob motor was not the best 100 hp engine for that job. Then came the EA82, bigger heavier, about the same hp and so even worse P/W ratio, and I found the Corvair engine, slightly better power and none of the downside of the Soob engine. I bought 2, still have one out in the shed, a late '69 Monza motor. Mr. Tape Measure tells me that that Monze engine would go in the hole left if I pulled the EA82. I'd have to fab up an adapter for the tranny, and an exhaust system, but otherwise not a big deal... Anybody ever done anything like this? Not only would the Soob engine issues go away, so would the cooling system and the chev would give better low speed torque in off road situations.. Dreaming on... bk

Thanks for the help.... I recently had a neighbor try to sell me a Peugeot his son had abandoned near his house, I remember thinking it had pretty wheels, but I'm sure they were 5 lug 15" alloys... Off to pick 'n pull to look for steel Pug wheels.. bk

I have some nice 14 inch Nokian studded snow tires. Any such thing as a 4 bolt 14 inch wheel that will bolt up to my '91 Loyale? bk

Anybody ever O-ring the heads on a Soob, whatever year/engine? bk

Got some big ol' cracks. Is this a DIY deal, or do you give it to a shop? If DIY, what other bits, gizmos and tools are needed? bk '90 Loyale wagon

I new this thing was running 20-50 when I bought it, I assumed that the high mileage engine was loose enough to rattle on thinner stuff. Then I bought a Chilton manual, says run 20-50 if temp is over 32 degrees... I run Rotella T 15-40 in everything else I own, I'm going to switch at first oil change... When working on an engine I've never seen before, I prefer to have it out where I can see it, for one thing, and it has a noisy throwout bearing for another.. The engine isn't enough of a current problem to require immediate attention, first I'm going to replace the drivers side front caliper, (the parking brake is a rusted lump), and the driver side rear wheel bearing is about gone. Online sources show a Timken replacement bearing, is it worth the expense? Prices seem to be in $75-95 range. bk

Should have mentioned: Manual 5-spd. The tranny is overfilled by an inch, I thought perhaps PO had done this to compensated for front mainseal leak Now wondering if overfilling is causing the front mainseal leak...... Engine clatters like a lawnmower on startup, has tick of death, goes away when engine warmed up Sometime just barely there when engine is hot idle. Car has 45 lb oil pressure hot, perhaps 30 at idle. Also had crummy cam cover seal, big blue bead of silicone that oil leaks through. Car is running Napa 20/50, has fresh oil and filter when I bought it. Oil overfilled also, perhaps to compensate for leaking cam covers.. Engine not totally smooth, I don't mean the odd "beat" that Soobs have, rather sounds like ragged pickup on acceleration, new plugs to come soon.. High mileage car, shows 369,700.4 miles standing out in the driveway. More than either of my diesel Mercedes that only have a couple of hundred k on 'em... How hard to pull engine? If I need to do the cam tower thing and change lifters, better out of the car, I think. TIA bk

Took my old (90) Loyale 80 miles down the road at a reasonable pace, returned 25 mgp. Is this reasonable/typical, or awful? Which of the EFI sensors most effect fuel economy? I've heard the it's the oxygen sensor and EGR valve, but have no experience with either... TIA bk