kabarakh

I did mess with the distributor, I'll try adjusting that next. In this case it isn't so much dieseling as simply not turning off at all... It's not a temporary thing, the car will continue to run until I smother the intake. Nonetheless I'll start there, that sounds much easier than attempting to mess with the ignition column. Appreciate the input! Now I just have to find a new clutch cable bracket so I can keep my cable stationary... other then that I'm almost there!

So got it all back together, new headgaskets, intake manifold gaskets, blew the living hell out of the exhaust etc.... Car fires right up now, but I can't seem to turn the thing off, had to choke it out with a plastic bag to the intake. Where should I look to next? I'm so close with this thing I can practically taste it.

Sweet I shall investigate tomorrow! That at least points me in the right direction, many thanks!

Where's that condensate drain line run to? I can't find anything in my chiltons or my HTYKSA manuals. I'll poke around on the system, but I don't want to unplug or move the wrong thing and have the whole system vent out on me.

I'll start by checking the AC, I never would have thought of that... Windshield I had put in when I got the car, it's about a year and a half old now though... could the seal have failed? It's a fairly recent problem (last month or so)

1988 Gl EA82 Front floorboards/mats are wet, pretty much constantly. Any thoughts as to where to look first? It's a brand new heater core, it's water/moisture, not coolant. Not sure if it's a seal in the doors or windows, or something underneath the car or what, but even when I dry it out... next morning it's wet again.

The engine will sound crappy for a few miles after an HG change (I panicked when I heard the sound of mine after I did my re-seal/HG's) but drive it like you mean it for a few miles and it'll settle right out. As far as increased protection goes, from what I've read on the board you can't do much better then changing your oil to a high quality Diesel oil that is formulated to be compatible with gasoline engines. Edit: Here, this should point you in the right direction. http://http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66607

good call... anything to prevent a repeat of the last debacle

The engine was never dismantled, just pulled for the clutch. It rained, I cleaned the engine compartment (which undoubtedly contributed to the water quantity) and it also sat in a almost two feet of snow for about 2 weeks. In this case it isn't so much a 'may keep it from firing up issue...' being as how it wouldn't start until I pulled off the exhaust lines... as soon as I did it fired up on the very first crank. I was just as surprised as you, but it ran fine without any overheating whatsoever for about half an hour, maybe a little longer. Sounded great too! then I tightened the exhaust lines back up and within seconds it started to overheat and all my coolant disappeared. Maybe I'm a one in a million on it, but that's how it all went down. As far as the gaskets go, I didn't really clean the mating surfaces on the intake manifold all that well (my bad) when I put the new gaskets on and put the manifold back on. I just don't know what gasket went, but I wouldn't think that it could run that long without any issues and then instantly lose that much coolant when the exhaust was put back unless a gasket gave way. Especially since the engine was never cracked open. for all I know the exhaust still had more water in it then the engine could handle, and the gaskets on the intake just seemed like the weakest link to me given all the other factors involved.

Nah, nothing wrong with it beyond some blown gaskets, as far as I can tell. It didn't run for that long before shut her down. Long term I'll probably switch it to fuel injection, but for now I think just throwing some new gaskets in and blowing out my exhaust will do just fine. Of course time will tell... Even if it doesn't work I'll only be out the cost of a few gaskets.

Thats next on my list, unfortunately now I have to check the headgaskets, as well as the intake manifold gaskets... It ran great without being attached to the exhaust, but as I tightened them back up it started to blow water out, and then as soon as I had them completely tight I immediately blew out a gasket somewhere, and got the most wonderful milkshake you could imagine as my coolant magically disappeared into my oil. I got it stopped in time, but I had to cover the throat with a plastic bag, it was just continuing to detonate even with the key out. Don't think I did any major damage, but definitely have to do my gaskets. Thank god I can do them with the engine in the car this time... Definitely got something plugging up my exhaust in a major way though This car has been an adventure...

Put in new spark plugs and checked everything... no luck. Ran through all the tests... no luck. Finally got desperate and cracked the exhaust lines off of the heads... And it fired right up. retightened the exhaust once it was running and blew about a gallon of water out of the exhaust line... Apparently I just had too much backpressure or something to fire it up.

Yeah I've pulled all the plugs and checked them, they all look clean and damn near new to me. I'll test the ignition wire and the idle stop solenoid, although as I say I heard it run when I purchased it, and I can't imagine what would have changed between now and then. I just now realized the seal on the distributor cap in between it and the housing was missing some rubber, used some cheap gasket maker and let it sit, now it still won't fire up but I am getting some backfire from it (leads me to believe the plugs are sparking just fine, and getting at least close to the right amount of fuel.) Distributor cap itself looks ok, could it possibly be a faulty vacuum advance/retard? I was under the impression that would only matter once it was under a load, it's only function to advance or retard the timing once the car is moving correct? As far as the fuel level goes, nothings leaking as far as I can tell and regardless, even with a shot of starting fluid it still won't fire up. Every piece of equipment (tractors, excavators, small machines, etc.) that I've ever worked on would always run for at least a second or two with a shot of starting fluid in it... Probably gonna go pick up some new plugs just in case, seems like a simple and easy next move.

Ok, so I've got fuel now, and I definitely have good spark on my plugs, but the car still doesn't want to fire up. Sounds like it wants to, but just can't quite make it all the way. Any thoughts? I've done lots of searching on the forums, and have done all the troubleshooting in the HTKYSA, but I'm stumped... again.

Was it replaced with an OEM or an aftermarket axle? The aftermarket one's don't seem to last for any noticable length of time at all, according to the experience of most on this forum. I've only ever used OEM myself.

the other spark plugs are first on my list tomorrow, and I know the pump won't run without the engine turning, but even after cranking it for approximately ten seconds i still had zero fuel coming from the hose.

Ok, so just a little while back I picked up an '83 Gl with a carb (which I know nothing about) I'm pretty good with my '88 (fuel injected) but this thing was a maze... I heard it run when i bought it, the only thing stated to be wrong with it was that it needed a new clutch. I pulled the engine, was very careful about labeling and making sure everything got reconnected where it belonged (as far as I know) and put the new clutch in. Got everything back together... and it won't start. Engine turns over, coil has spark, spark plugs have spark (just checked #4 since it was easiest to get to) Two issues begin to present themselves... First, for some reason after disconnecting the fuel lines I am not getting fuel. This is probably my fuel pump, which baffles me since I did not mess with it, but the more interesting issue is this: even after applying starting fluid directly into the carb it still will not fire. i assume it's some sort of timing issue but I've double checked all the components of my distributor (as well as the cylinder sequence on it, starting from the rear of the bay and going counterclockwise #1, #3, #2, #4.) Not sure where I should look next. The fuel issue is probably the least of my worries at this point, getting fuel to it won't help if the car won't run with a shot of ether; all it will do is flood the engine. I was under the impression that there wasn't much to the timing of one of these, the distributor itself was never adjusted after i purchased it, and the flywheel can only go on in one way as far as I could tell. Clearly I messed up something when I pulled it, any thoughts? I'm fixing it up to give to my girlfriend for her birthday and it's a surprise, so the quicker I can get this wrapped up the better off i'll be! thanks to all in advance!

Hi all, I've got an '88 GL and the other day I ran over a curb, now my defroster is weirding out on me. The defrost button on my bezel won't stay pushed in, all of the other buttons still stay pushed in and work just fine, but the defroster doesn't. When I push the button the defroster does come on, but just barely. When I hold the button in (since it won't stay in on its own) the defroster comes on full blast and works spectacularly well, but if I don't hold the button on it just barely defrosts anything. I'm pretty sure it's in the bezel since it was just fine until I hit the curb and everything else in the bezel works (heat etc.) I know the bezel is a pain to take off, which is why I'm asking if anyone can think of anything else it could be, or if my diagnosis is correct then what the issue behind my bezel is before I dive into that particular nightmare. Thanks!

fortunately she stopped growing... thank god....

no worries if it wasn't for the hijack i wouldn't have learned anything... and learning new things is what the USMB is all about! appreciate the input and the hijack... and thank you for the motivation!

Next on my list of things to buy... although the dog seems to have learned her lesson lol, she stays out of the front now unless you pick her up and put her there (not that I do that... especially in the circumstances ) As far as the EA82 goes, it was $200 and I can easily work on it. A year ago I couldn't even change my oil, but I can't imagine that any other car would be as easy to learn the basics on as my '88 GL. Plus no matter what year make or model I'd rather have a Sooby then anything else To give an example of my abilities, it wasn't until I read all these posts just now that I even understood all the braking differences... I just thought that there was the normal brakes and the "E-brake/parking brake." All I know for sure is what I started the post with... No matter what you call the thing make sure it's tight when you have an animal in the car!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24542568/How-to-Keep-Your-Subaru-Alive Where I got my copy

It was the lever style of brake. The dog is a medium size dog, border collie, lab, and australian shepard mix. They actually covered it... Total loss, but it went on the record as not my fault if you can believe it.

5 speed manual, she kicked it out of gear and the e-brake didn't hold.

Yeah she was fine, little cut on her leg... hasn't stopped her from insisting on riding along in the car, although it's only been in the last couple months that she's been comfortable if it's a wagon lol