All_talk

If your going JY, what about one of the Holley throttle body EFI setups from a K-car, pretty simple and self contained... crap, but simple and self contained crap. Sorry to go OT Gary

Something like this?... Q: How do you know when your Subaru is out of oil? A: When you can't smell it burning off the exhaust anymore. Gary

Nope, regular boot, requires disassembly, but that gives you a chance to clean everything and inspect. Gary

The engine turns the right way, its the trans thats backward. Not many choices, I can only think of two off hand, both German... VW Vanagon Syncro and the Porsche 911 AWD... good luck finding one and bring your check book. I think its been done with a modified Porsche 5 speed 2WD box fitted with a custom secondary shaft. I'm right there with you though, I'd love to put a rear engine 4WD set up in my fiberglass dune buggy, I've got a couple of ideas but they need more development time. Gary

From what I've read/heard the only problem with the "lifetime reman axles" is that you may be replacing them regularly... for your lifetime.:-p Gary

Not coming from the old school subies I can see why you left out FULL TIME 4WD as came in some GLs and the RX. Open, but lockable, gear type center diff, when locked its 50/50. The RX has a spring loaded clutch type LSD (not the viscous type in the later Subes) and I believe it funtions as a 2 way. Gary

Maybe I'm the odd man out here, but I check my boots pretty regularly, this maybe due to the fact I've had great luck rebooting axles, and a $20 boot and a couple hours of my time is WAY cheaper than a new axle. For best results you need to catch them be for they go dry (they get very hot) or full of crap. But when I bought my RX is had four bad boots (on 3 axles) and they looked like they had been that way for some time, I took a chance and rebooted them (cause I was broke, as always), that was 25,000 miles ago... Gary

Could be a dirty filter.... try a fluid & filter change. Or a sticky valvebody, not much you can do other than a rebuild, but... I've had some luck with the auto trans snake oil, Lucas brand. Also, try running up the RPMs in park or neutral to around 4000 for 4 or 5 seconds (builds pressure in the pump), then idle down BEFORE you shift into gear. Good Luck Gary

Yep, I'd check fuel pressure first. I think 36psi over manifold pressure is the stock number. Gary

Yeah, that arrangement does seem a bit odd. Just to be clear... Its 2 cylinders on one port and 1 cylinder with a port all to its self? Or do all 3 connect internally, like a "log" style manifold, 3 in and 2 out? Seems the later might make more since? I'm not sure you would see uneven back pressure (or wear) due to this design though. If the engineers did it right the port that exhausts two cylinders would have the firing sequence of those two cylinders timed in such a way that only one cylinder is using the port at a time, and enough dwell time between them to dissipate and local high pressure. None of the stock exhaust systems use tuned lengths so the length (time) from valve to convergent point is of little importance. Gary

Just call me industrious... If you note any mistakes or have more information to make it more complete let me know. Gary

So I guess the question is how do the currently available "RX" units compare with the original RX struts? Same dampening? Same as all other L series? Something completely different? Gary

Yep XT 4WD and XT6 are missing... but lookie here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17428&highlight=xt6+spring+rate+sway I asked (and recieved) the info to fill out the chart awhile back, turns out the late RX struts are stiffer by far than anything else Subaru used on the EA cars. If someone was really industrious they could modify the chart to include all the data. Gary

I've got mine ('87 RX) set at factory spec (600rpm I think), turning on the A/C (or defrost when the A/C compressor is cycling) will bump it up about 200 more. My AAV works fine on cold start, but there is a point about a minute after start when it will idle as high as 2500rpm, then it slowly proceeds to normal as it comes up to temp. I dont think there is any adjustment for the AAV, maybe I should put a restriction in the AAV line to the manifold, I'd like to keep it under 1500rpm. Drivability is good right off the coldest start so maybe I'll just let it be. Sounds like your AAV may be holding open, have you checked the circiut and coil resistance? Try pinching off the line from the AAV to the manifold and see if the RPMs drop. Gary

I use to think carbs were rocket science... but I dont hesitate a second to tear into one these days. About the only part of a car I haven't been through yet in an auto trans (and facing the price of the rebuild for my Suburban I'm considering it :-\ ). Its amazing what you can learn to fix when you cant aford to pay somebody to do it. As to your cold start/high idle adjustment, (as stated in my orginal post in this thread :-p ), there is a independant adjustment screw that acts on the fast idle cam, once the choke is full open the normal idle screw takes over. If I had my manual here I would scan the page for you, but if you look at the mechanism you will find it. Along with adjusting the throttle opening (high idle screw) you can also fine tune the timming of the fast idle cam (earler or later in the choke cycle) by tweeking the linkage rod between the cam and the ckoke mechanism. Hope this helps Gary

Not really, you'll find 5 or 6 under there and they all look the same (actually two diff part#s as I remember), wire color is the only diff, big black with white stripe are head lights (right/left) and I think the heater blower is green something, thats all I remember. A FSM wiring diagram would really help, all I have is a Chiltons and I've found it less than reliable on wire color. Gary

There is a relay under the dash (one of the round metal cans), find the right one and check it for power in/out and the trigger voltage fron the switch. You could "borrow" one of the other relays to do some testing. Gary

You could probably piece it together but I would just look for a good seat bottom (most likely form a pass side seat), and replace the whole piece (or the whole seat bottom if the fabric matches). Gary

Assuming its SPFI, here's what the '98 FSM says. Hope that helps Gary

Hey Lucky Sounds like your Air Bypass Valve (for cold start) may not be closing. It uses an electricly heated bi-metal spring to close, check the connector and for power, I'm not sure what the restance of thr heatting coil should measure but if its bad it will most likely be open. I dont know where it is on the SPFI, but its on the thermostat housing in the MPFI/turbo cars. Or it could be a vacuum leak, take a good look around for losse or cracked hoses. Lastly, is the throttle returning all the way to the stop/is the idle screw mis-adjusted? First thoughts Gary

Before you pull the dizzy, get a timming light and see where its at now, I would think the timming would have to be WAY off and effecting drivabilty to hurt the mileage much. Bad carb float/inlet needle? Look down the carb at idle, is the main jet dripping? (carb rebuild time) How does it feel for power, maybe some other engine troubles? Do you have the AT3 tranny, my '87 cadb wagon with the AT3 only gets 22mpg with mostly freeway running, I'm sure with a lot of around town running it would get 19mpg or worse. (why I bought the RX.... 5 speed = 26+mpg) Gary

May be time for a carb rebuild, but first check the choke, did the bad mileage start (or get worse) with the colder weather? If the heating element in the choke doesn't work it will hang closed and run VERY rich, you can check the element with a multi-meter or test light, the coil gets old and breaks. Check to see if its getting power too (Note: it only gets power when the car is running, not just with the key on). I had a bad element in my '87 wagon, it never caused a problem in the summer because that under hood temp was high enough to open the ckoke. But when winter set in it would get cold enough while out on the freeway that the choke would almost close completely and flood the engine. Gary

yep, the CV has a big hole and a small hole, also make sure the end of the pin isn't a hammered up. Gary

Wow, if your are actully blowing them up they may be getting to extreme angles and binding, REALLY bad mounts might do that. Does your engine jump around a lot. You can check buy opening the hood and watching the engine, lock the park brake and try and take off (easy now), the engine shouldn't move much, try reverse too. Gary

I would contend that split boots are the #1 cause of axle failures, I have re-booted many and all are still running, I did four on my RX when I bought it, I have no idea how long it had been driven with them like that, but I’ve put 25,000 miles on it since with no problems. The right front inner does seem common and I’m sure it is due to the exhaust. I have had some trouble getting the right boots from the parts house (turbo 4WD rears seems the most problematic), but I have received some of the nicer silicone type at Car Quest. Just my experience Gary