All_talk

Coils are designed to work with or without a ballast resistor and dont mix well with the wrong type ignition system. I dont believe the stock Subie system uses a ballast resistor, you could add one I guess, or there should be a similar coil that doesn't require one. The origins of the ballast resistor root in the days when cars were switching from 6 volt to 12 volt, I think that running without it will supply a higher than designed input voltage risking VERY high output voltage (personal injury) and coil burnout (product damage). I know that when switching the old VWs to 12 volt you can run the 6 volt coil for a while... but sooner ot later it would leave you on the side of the road. Gary

Good catch Pat. (I was in the reply screen... it doesn't show sigs ) In such a case, try it with and without adding throttle, the accelerator pump will add fuel when you give it pedal. If more fuel helps it could be vapor lock… or fuel pump (can you hear it), maybe clogged fuel filter. If it starts better with no pedal, its rich, could need some carb tuning, and check the choke adjustment. Just some ideas Gary

Does it crank hard or just spin without firing? If its cranking hard the timming may be to advanced. If its rich on hot start (as Bill90Loyale suggests), it should give a bit of smoke as it fires and clears its self. I doubt its "vapor lock" unless its VERY hot. I'm assuming its fuel injected given the "92" in your name, diagnosis will differ if its carbed. Gary

Welcome to the site Hendrik. Gary

The cardboard over the radiator may work even if the T-stat is closed, as it will block airflow through the engine compartment. I know from experience that a Subie engine (EA-82 anyway) needs very little radiator in cold weather, the airflow over the engine does a lot of cooling. Last winter my ’87 wagon ran fine with an almost completely plugged radiator, which I only noticed as the temps warmed up in the spring, all but about 6 rows (4 top, 2 bottom) were dead cold. In fact I’m nursing a semi-plugged rad in my RX right now, in the mornings (28-35F) it does fine. On the ride home in the afternoon (40-50F) it heats up pulling the pass, cranking up the heat and cracking a window keeps it in the normal range. Gary

Yeah, think about the strain thats gonna put on your front diff and the rest of your drive train, probably do more harm than you would just running them as is. I'd look into getting it shaved down to match. Gary

Well technically Miracle Whip is a "bread spead", so it must be Hellman's. :-p Gary P.S. I've never noticed it in my Subes, but like taprackready, all my AC VeeWees did it, gotta be that extended filler.

I think he's asking if he can turn up the boost? Maybe? Gary

Assuming NO coolant loss, I’d guess your car sees a lot of short trips... short drive to work maybe? Like archemitis said, cause it cold and damp. As your engine cools it draws in the moist air, normally the next time you run the car the engine gets hot enough, for long enough, to evaporate the moisture. But, if you make short trips where the engine doesn’t get up to temp long enough it just keeps getting wetter inside. Take it out for a long freeway run and see if it doesn’t clear up. Gary

On my '87 GL wagon with power locks, hit the botton on the drivers door, all doors lock, shut the door and all stay locked. On my '87 RX with manual locks I have to hold the handle up or it unlocks, Its akward to do that so I just use the key. Gary P.S. On my '74 Datsun Z I have to hold the handle up, I use the key on that one too.

I’ve got the sane trouble with My RX, the speedo is VERY slow to react at times, especially around 65-70mph, I know lots of others have it to. Typically these things work with a magnet in the spinning part the reacts with a magnet or piece of iron in the needle part, the faster the magnet spins the more it pulls in the needle. I think something in these old Subes gets gummed up and slows the needles reaction. I haven’t had mine apart yet to see, but I’m very aware of it and if I think its being screwy I check the tach, I pretty much know where the tach should be for 65, 70 ,70, 80mph in 5th gear. Gary

Could be worse... three weeks ago my '97 Suburban blew the tranny, even doing the R&R myself and getting the "good guy" price from my brother at the tranny shop it was still $2400, truns out it had been running broken and was trashed inside. THEN, two days after getting it back together the intake gasket starts leaking (a common problem with these things and the gaskets were replaced when I bought it less than 18,000 miles ago). So back into my shop for about 10 more hours of work, I wanted to push it off a cliff. In the midst of doing the manifold gaskets I remembered some wisdom my daughter had imparted on me that she had learned from a teacher... Its not "have to", its "get to". Some people dont even have a car to work on, its all about perspective. Trust in Karma Gary

I've started my '87 RX down into the middle teens (degF) without trouble, good driveability without warmup (tho I normaly give it a few minutes). Runs on high idle tell about the time the temp gauge starts to move. Is you're high idle working (auxiliary air valve)? Next thing I would check out is the ECU temp sensor. Good luck Gary BTW, wind chill has NO effect on inanimate objects (no matter how much you love your Sube, its not alive :-p ), its the apparent temperature felt by warm blooded creatures. Tho, if you're driving into the wind the extra air flow may effect cooling.

Hey busdriver Are the traces on glass damaged? Unhook the power from the grid and test it with an Ohm meter, you can also check trace by trace. Good Luck Gary

Sounds like its not self-exciting, might be a problem with your dual battery system, did it work normaly with this system before? I had the same problem with a dual battery system in my '65 Pontiac, Just gave her a rev and lived with it for years. NorthWet, I've got a Subie alternator apart on the bench, you can stop and take a look next time your in E-burg if ya like. And while you're here you can check out my new shop toy... Its got lots of levers and cranks and turns bigger bits of metal into littler ones. Gary

Hey guys Sorry for the late response, I don’t get to the computer much on the weekends. That paragraph I posted was copied from a PDF version of the ’89 FSM I found online. As others have suggested, I now believe it to be incorrect and I have never found a second pressure switch on my ’87. I too would like a better understanding of the “boost control solenoid”, Here’s what the ’89 FSM has to say (same one with the bad info on the pressure switch :-\ ), apparently it has something to do with altitude compensation… Gary

Check the linked thread... somebody else had the sane thought. Gary

From the '89 FSM, worth a 1000 words and all... Gary

I believe the ECU coolant sensor is forward and slightly to the left (standing in front of the car) from the knock sensor, its down deep under the area where the upper coolant line goes back to the turbo. It has a two wire connector. Gary

Yep, on the input shaft. Check this thread for the "inside" scoop. :-p http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15410&highlight=inside+tranny Gary

From the 1989 FSM 5MT 1 – 3.636 2 – 1.950 3 – 1.344 4 – 0.971 5 – 0.783 R – 3.583 Diff – 3.90 5MT D/R 1 – 3.545 2 – 1.947 3 – 1.366 4 – 0.972 5 – 0.780 R – 3.416 Lo – 1.592 Diff – 3.90 5MT F/T (&D/R) 1 – 3.545 2 – 2.111 3 – 1.448 4 – 1.088 5 – 0.871 R – 3.416 Lo – 1.96 (RX only) Diff – 3.70 No note of different ratios between 2WD and 4WD Gary

The injectors from the Datsun 280Z FI look like a direct fit, though I haven’t confirmed that yet, I’ve got the Datsun ones (complete 280Z manifold), but don’t feel like pulling one out of my RX just now to check (daily driver). Anybody got an old subie injector I can spec out? The 280Z/ZX N/A (green?) ones are rated 188cc @ ?psi, the later turbo ones (brown) are 265cc @ 45psi, not sure about flow of the 300ZX/T ones (but I know a site to search). This pic may add some information. Note: the ZXT injector uses a different holder, we might need these to mount them on the Sube. Might be an option for slightly higher than stock boost and I think idle and off boost richness might be solved with some FPR tweaks. If we adjusted FPR so the flow of the bigger injector was very near stock at idle we might get the stock ECU to work. Might need a progressive rate FPR to get the higher flow on boost. Does anyone know of a FPR that give you adjustment of both pressure offset and rate? Side note: From all I’ve seen the stock ECU goes very rich under boost, this is for charge cooling no doubt. But if an IC is added to keep charge temps down, we should be able to add some boost to make more efficient use of this extra fuel without going to lean… maybe 10-12psi? I guess you could add the IC and jack the boost tell it pings, then back it off a bit (if you can get passed the fuel cut). Just some thoughts Gary

(RBH5-)VF-12 is the EJ22G (early Legacy) turbo, right? Gary

I'm assuming you'll be sticking to the west side of the mountains, but if you end up in central WA feel free to look me up. Gary

I don’t recognize it, but here are the pics… Gary