burden2

Well, the old girl is at home and looking very sad on the roadside. Due to time constraints (bloody overtime, no rest for the wicked) and the fact that duckshooting season starts this weekend and she will be required to carry all of the alcohol,armaments and ammunition for two solid days of shooting in the direction of assorted ducks and other denizens of the sky I have had to go the garage route and pay to have it done-ouch! $532 odd but thats Pacific Pesos so to you Americans thats about $US260, I guess thats a reasonable price judging from the prices I have seen for different jobs done by paid mechanics over there. Advice from the mechanic doing the job was definitely replace the tensioner unless it is absolutely necessary to save a few bucks but only as a temporary measure as once the wear starts and a little play develops it pretty soon eats into the new belts and can leave you right back where you started from. And he is not a Subie mechanic looking to pad out the bill! Thanks for all of the input though, nice to know a bloke can get help just by asking! Cheers!

Cheers there Snowman, that takes a bit of a load of my addled mind. I have organised a trailer to tow it home, got 100 miles or so to get home and haven't got squat here in the way of tools so safest to drag it home and do it there-at least I have got a booze cabinet full of liquid perspective to help out when the going gets tough!! I'm assuming that like most belt jobs I will need to do both belts but what about the tensioner, I had heard that it needed to be replaced with the belts as a matter of course but it sounds like a marketing plan by some parts store to me!! Thanks again Roy

Guys Driving home last night in my '87 EA82 and without any warning the engine dies. Oil light came on, revs died away, power faded off. Quickly checked the rear vision mirror and no sign of the dreaded smoke cloud. Stopped quickly, gave it a quick try on the starter-turned over but no ignition, didn't want to push it with no oil pressure. Managed to coast around the corner and down the hill to where I stay. Checked the engine as far as I could, plenty of oil in the crankcase, no sign of oil in water or water in oil, no suspicious holes or oil patches anywhere so engine is still sealed.I suspect it is a timing belt broken, due to the fading light I couldn't investigate any further. Is it a major to change timing belts, do I need any special tools-I have read the manual from here and it mentions a "tension wrench" for the belt tensioner, any suggestions as to a suitable replacement? Cheers Roy

I've just given away my old Soob to my sister, '84 Leone 5 speed manual EA71, been a great car. 260,000kms, the paint survived a volcanic eruption but came off second best after the ash got wet while it sat on it so the silver kinda faded to a mushy grey. Hasnt cost me a cent in two years of 350 miles per week of hard highway driving to and from work and it only let me down once when a CV joint boot split and got a stone in it-my fault of course!! Otherwise it was a strong little engine, ran out of puff on a couple of very steep hills but had plenty of cogs to choose from so always made it up. It consumed oil at a fairly high rate (1 litre per 1000km's) but to be expected I guess, it seemed to have a small oil leak at the pump which may have explained the drip and the low oil pressure. It was inspected last week and the mechanic who did the inspection asked me how much I wanted for it-just when I had agreed to give it away. He thought the rattle from deep in the depths wasn't anything to worry about and the zero oil pressure on idle was more likely a faulty sender than genuine pressure loss. Gonna miss it but have gone up in the world to an 87 EA82! Much classier!!

Just downloaded the manuals and what do I find-the one piece of info I really need is missing-thesection dealing with carburettor! Does anyone happen to have this particular section?? Would appreciate it muchly. Roy

Guys Hate to chuck cold water on the foam theory but its a real b***h of a stuff, I did a car of mine a couple of years ago. It made an excellent job of filling in the gap and was a really convincing sounding body panel when it came inspection time but within a month it has started rusting again but further along from the repair (I filled the sills). The dam stuff actually holds the moisture against the sheetmetal and gives it a great atmosphere for rust to grow!!

Cheers Boz Well, I havent got any pics yet but the car is right hand drive 4 door sedan, front drive, non turbo. The XX designation is a bit confusing, haven't found any reference to that particular model anywhere. I did check for numbers and all I could find was a number stamped at the top of the firewall to the right of the master cylinder. Is there anywhere else that may have ident numbers? As for the rumble: it is more of a vibration than noise, no erratic behaviour from engine or gearbox just a high frequency vibration that only lasts as long as its in the 2200-2250 range and then its gone. Normal driving means you are through it pretty quick so its not that noticable but now I know its there its like a hole in ya teeth you just gotta play with it! It doesnt come through the steering or suspension, I did wonder if it may have been a slipping clutch at first but only happening at that revs kinda ruled it out,same for any of the driveline components. When the engine is not loaded there is a very faint vibration but unless you really concentrate you wouldn't know it. The only extra work that the car has had apart from the usual tyres etc. as far as I can tell-almost all of the documentation was with the car-is a replaced exhaust system but cant see how that would bear any relation as its not a leak noise but a vibration. Will search the old posts here for lifter fixes-maybe just new oil will settle it, who knows!! Thanks for the assist! Roy

If you do have to go down the road of welding your gas tank - avoid if possible - here is a quick easy purge method that works in a pinch and costs nothing but a bit of time. Take out the tank and empty any gas out. Using a garden hose give it a flush out for a while, until the sheen isnt coming out on the water is a good indication that all the loose gas is out. Sit it on a saw stool or workbench with the filler facing down. Using a decent sized hose pushed into the filler neck and taped on-leave a small gap between the hose and the neck- connect the hose to the exhaust of another vehicle-diesel would be best but petrol engines produce carbon monoxide too! Start the vehicle and leave it idling for a while, 10 - 15 mins should be ample. The exhaust gas is basically an inert gas purge and even if there are fumes still in the tank it will be enough to prevent them exploding. You can keep the car running while you weld the hole but you will need to remove any tape you use on the hose as it will quickly pressurise and blow the hose out once the hole is closed by the patch. AND KEEP YOURSELF WELL VENTILATED!!! Another method if you have to gas weld it is to flush then fill the tank with water until it is almost at the level of the repair, this minimises the volume that can hold fumes and reduces any chance of explosion. Not so good if you are using electric welding but for the old flame jobs its perfect! All you need to watch is your heat, the water does absorb a hell of a lot of heat so to get a good weld you will need to jazz up the flame a bit. If you need to weld in a patch try to cut one that you can fit to the inside of the hole and weld it from the outside, it will make sure that the patch is welded to the skin of the tank and wont leave edges that will rust out over time. ______ [_____________/ \_______________]

Hey guys Just got my latest Soob to replace my soon to be departed/wrecked/dismantled '84 EA71 Leone, have just scored an '87 XX (??Thats what it says on the back! Any clues?) EA82 carb, 230,000kms. Price-500 Pacific Pesos (NZ Dollars) or about $US280 all paperwork complete and in reasonably good condition, small amount of tinworm but nothing structural, interior is mint. I do have a couple of queries someone may be able to help me with, one being the perennial lifter rattle-any easy fix to this one? Also it has got a neat rumble in the engine right about 2200rpm, only noticable when in gear but happens at the same place in all gears irrespective of speed, load etc. If I keep it at that rev range it doesn't get worse but goes away as the revs increase. I did wonder about a harmonic balancer or any similar mechanism but know nothing about the EA82, haven't even got a manual for it. Any clues on that one? Cheers Roy