jj421

Do your floor vents work? If not, you can pop the hood and check the white canister thing near the passenger side firewall. I know if that vacuum hose is disconnected or the white canister is cracked, your defog won't work, nor will your floor heaters. It'll just blow air out the vents. You can also carefully remove the right side button panel. There are two phillips screws you have to reveal (by removing the buttons with a flat head screwdriver). Pop off the defog button and the "off" button, and you'll see the screws. Then you can pull out the button panel, but be careful. There are vacuum lines and a steel cable attached to it, so don't pull it out far. Get it out just enough to look on the right side of it and you should see four (I think) vacuum hoses attached to it. Make sure these are connected. Those are the only two easy tests I can think of. Might be worth a check.

Not sure if anyone here remembers when I last posted about my cold idle issue. Needless to say, it hasn't been fixed. I've been able to tolerate it the past few months, but now it's getting ridiculous. I've started taking auto tech classes, and my class starts at 7 am, so I have to deal with it every morning.... Please read everything carefully. Car is my '90 Loyale, EA82 N/A. The problem I have is when the car is cold, it doesn't want to idle. I start it up and have to rev it at 2000-3000 RPM for ~5 minutes before I can get it to idle at 500 or so. It's good enough to get going, so I leave. However, EVERY time I push in the clutch (or put it in neutral), the RPMs fall so fast that the engine stalls. When changing gears, this isn't a problem. But if I'm coming to a stop, I must heel-toe and feather the gas to keep it from stalling. Then, randomly, it'll idle normally. Just like if someone flipped a switch, it'll idle fine. It used to take 5 minutes or so before this happened, but now it takes up to 30 minutes!!! My school is about 30 minutes away, and sometimes I can go most of the trip there before it idles normally. Funny thing is, if I've been driving for 10 minutes or so, turn off the car, then turn it back on, it'll idle fine. For example, if I stop and get gas before school, it'll idle normally when I start it back up. The few minutes it takes to fill the tank is enough for the car to decide to idle. I know what you're thinking, it's the IACV or the CTS. I've replaced the CTS twice and the IACV twice. I've cleaned the IACV a few times, but it didn't help. The only part I've noticed that had a difference was the water pump. I swapped my longblock and it came with a new water pump on it. That water pump failed in 400 miles, but during that time, I never had an idle problem. I put my old water pump on and I soon saw the idle issue again. I've never heard of a water pump causing an idle issue, have you? Here are some of the things I've noticed: The issue doesn't seem to be related to weather much. It'll have more problems idling during the winter, but I still notice it during the summer. The issue doesn't seem to be related to how long the car has been sitting. I mean, if it's only been sitting for less than 3 hours, then it'll probably idle. But I've had it idle fine after sitting for 8 hours, and I've had it not idle at all after sitting for 4 hours. The issue doesn't seem to be related to coolant temperature. The temp gauge will reach it's normal range in a few minutes, but as stated before, sometimes it'll take 30 minutes before the car will idle. However, I believe once the temp gauge reads normal, I can turn the car off, sit for a minute, turn it back on, and it'll idle fine. In the video posted below, I took off the IACV hose with the engine running. Made no difference. Disconnected the CTS. No difference. Disconnected the IACV (electrically). No difference. I'll try the tests again with the engine warm, if that's when I'm supposed to do it. My CEL is on, but I believe it's for the purge and EGR solenoids, if I remember correctly. Been a while since I've checked; I'll check again. Anyways, any ideas? Please feel free to ask questions to help with diagnosis. Feel free to tell me any tests to do, and I'll do them (assuming I have the tools for it). When I posted this before, someone stated something about testing a pin on the connector on the ECU. I never got confirmation on what pin and what numbers I should be getting. I'm just kinda stumped as to what it could be, especially since the two most probable causes are not likely to be the problem. My gut feeling says it's an electrical problem, but I don't know where exactly to start with that. I really want to test and diagnose this, rather than doing the "shotgun" method to fixing it: throwing parts at the car hoping one will fix it. Here is the video that kinda shows the cold start. Before you say anything, the oil pressure gauge reads low; always has. And I did adjust my belts after the video. http://youtu.be/KwjWYgybeLc

Yeah, I might start driving with the driver side rear window open a hair. The problem is I have manual windows and manual locks. If I want to open the right rear window, well, I'm sure you can imagine the time it would take to do so. I don't mind having the window down. I just hate when it's pouring rain and the rain spray from the semi truck passing you gives you an unwanted bath, haha.

This is useful information. Like he said, I deleted my A/C entirely, and it takes some time before my windows defog. Not to mention that the rear side windows (it's a wagon) are almost always fogged up in the cold, especially if my clothes are wet from walking around outside. Doesn't bother me too much; my cold idle problem irks me more. I guess without A/C, you just gotta drive with the window down and/or the heat on full. No matter how cold/hot you get. I'm the kind of guy that'll roll his window down whilst driving in a snow storm, so that doesn't bother me. I'll need to make a pamphlet for any passengers that get in my car: "This car has no air conditioning! What does this mean for you? Windows down when it's hot out, and windows down when it's cold out! More details inside!" Looking online, I read that cleaning the inside of your windshield and putting shaving cream on it (wiping it off afterwards, of course) helps keep the fog away. Rain-X defog stuff also seems to be popular. I'll probably try at least one method. Time to buy new gloves for my drive to school in the morning!

Hmm. I feel like it won't get any better as move more into autumn and winter. Just gonna get colder and wetter. But that's a good point. Especially for a long scenic drive like this, it'd be great to have some sun.

Even if the snow is not quite down to the elevation of the campground, I think it wouldn't be fun camping. It says strong winds and rain (or snow) on the southwest facing slopes (which Cougar Rock is on). It'll be cold, wet, and rainy, which might not be the best to camp in. It doesn't seem like really anybody is coming with, but we are probably going to do the Olympic loop and drive around the Olympic peninsula.

Yeah, just like how pilots do cross country flights just to get some food. We can do the same. Just for me, the longer the trip, the more it makes sense to stay a couple nights. Leavenworth would be fun. I've been there many, many times, but I've always wanted to drive old Blewett pass. I hear it's pretty sketchy, but that makes it fun, right? I'll probably be at Cougar Rock on Friday night. Google Maps never knows about detours, haha. But they shouldn't take too long. Oh well, I don't care how long it takes to get there.

Man, you must love doing pre-trip runs. I just run with it and hope all goes well (and Google Maps tells the truth). But I guess going up a mountain in a FWD, it can be worrysome. Flowmaster, just see how you feel a day or two before the trip. Make sure you got the gas money and the energy to come up. As I initially stated, we might try doing a meet every month or so. Maybe we'll do a meet down south. Personally, I felt the drive to WCSS was too short. I'd love to do an interstate journey. Maybe some time in the coming months we might do a trip to central Oregon and we can pick you up on the way. I'd love to go to southern Idaho too. No, no. I would love, LOVE, love, love, love to go to Wyoming! That's where the original owner of my Loyale bought the car. That's where my car was born (well, besides being made in Japan). I'd love to go to the dealership in Wyoming that my car came from. Maybe next summer? Ugh, I digress, haha. On topic, I have work and school on Friday. I won't be able to leave for the mountain until Friday evening about. Not sure if I can be a part of a convoy going there (if we have one planned) since I'll be pretty late. But I do have the weekend off of work though. I'm pretty excited.

If you can make it, feel free to stop by. What day are you thinking of coming up?

Snow would be fun, but kinda doubtful. It's still pretty early in the season, but we will be at a decent elevation. Just have to wait and see!

I've never posted a meet before, but I believe they go in this section, right? Anyways, MR_Loyale and myself are planning an old-school meet on the weekend of the 27th. While talking at WCSS, we thought there weren't any regular old-school Subaru meets, but we thought it'd be nice to have one. In the future, we might be planning a meet every month or so. This meet will be at Mt. Rainier, Washington. Specifically, we are planning to go to Cougar Rock Campground. This campground is just south of the mountain. I believe the campground closes after that weekend, so we will be the last people in. It's first come first serve, so no guarantees that you can find a campsite. Online, it says the fee will be $12-$15. If for any reason Cougar Rock is unavailable (e.g. all sites are full, road is closed, campground is closed, etc.), then the closest alternative is White River Campground. It's located just northeast of Mt. Rainier, and costs $12 to get in. This too is first come first serve, so no guarantees on a spot here. Both campgrounds feature water, flush toilets, and fire grates. Cougar Rock sits at 3180 ft high in elevation, and White River sits at 4400 ft high. I think the thing I want to stress is, no guarantees. I don't know if the campgrounds will close prematurely; I don't know if the roads will be accessible; I don't know what the weather will be like. Think of it as going at your own risk. If you're interested in joining us, just let me know.

I just got home. Car did great! Nothing went wrong (besides a turn signal wire coming loose). My gas mileage app on my phone lost its data for my Loyale, but I figure the trip was about 330 miles round trip. Did the entire trip on one tank of gas, and averaged about 35 MPG! Definitely didn't cost much to drive down there. I had lots of fun on the trip down, at the show, and on the way back. Felt a little short, but maybe that's just because I was having fun. As I came home, the odometer came to the bottom picture. Means something since it's been 10,000 miles since I bought my Loyale. That's not a lot of miles, and I've only had the car for a year and a half (not even, actually), but I couldn't help think of the memories I've had (and am making) with the car. Also brought up memories of all the work I've done to the car, a lot of it necessary to reach this "milestone". WCSS 15 is definitely going on that list of memories, and I plan to make it every year. Gonna be uploading pictures to the "official" WCSS picture thread. Didn't take many pictures, but I'll post 'em. Also took some video, which will be on YouTube.

Everything is packed up and ready to go. Leaving now. ETA to destination: 1.5 hours

Just woke up. Woke up to the fire alarm, which was concerning since I'm home alone. But nothing was the matter, thankfully. Gotta pack my laptop, food, and cameras. Heading out the door soon, then gotta stop by work, the P.O. box, and the bank. Then I'll be on my way down. I am planning to get to Tacoma at noon, which is early. But I'd rather be early than late!

Pretty well ready to go for tomorrow. Since it's gonna rain, I didn't bother much with cleaning the outside. I got a free car wash a couple weeks ago (found out my trunk doesn't seal 100% ), so it was already pretty clean. Vacuumed out the interior, played with my front end alignment a bit, and put some new oil in (along with a new oil filter). Also found a cassette-to-MP3 adapter, so I can listen to some Bohemian Rhapsody on the way there. Huge thanks to MR_Loyale! His professional soldering skills got my fog lights working again and my accessory wires on my battery shouldn't be an issue anymore. And thanks to him, I've got some super awesome, super useful LED lights in the back of my wagon! It appears as though we didn't put them at the same height, but it's only noticeable from the viewpoint in which I took the photo. They work perfectly in junction with my LED dome light. Really looking forward to tomorrow, and this weekend! Hopefully the rain won't be too bad, since my tyres don't do so well in the pouring rain. Especially starting from a stop on a hill. Definitely keeping my distance!

Congrats on the 150K! I plan on passing the 10,000 mile mark since I bought my Loyale. It'll probably happen on the trip to or from WCSS. I'm about 500 miles away. After the show, I plan on going to Portland, and/or to Mt. St. Helens. Hopefully my work schedule will allow it, but I might camp Sunday night at/near Mt. St. Helens (if I can find a spot to do so). Also, I bought and received two FRS radios, but obviously I only need one. So I'll have an extra radio for whoever needs it.

Yes, there are two horns. Both are located behind the bumper and underneath the headlights. They are easily accessible if you remove the headlights. One 10mm bolt and one wire connector.

The above posted plan sounds good. I might purchase some radios, but I'll have to see. I'm definitely looking forward to WCSS.

Hmm, pictures would be great, but I understand not taking it apart again. My Loyale did not come with a cassette originally, but I have swapped in a cassette radio from a GL a long time ago. I should still be able to do this, right? It sounds pretty easy and cheap, so I might do it at some point in time.

Yeah, that's the problem with "leaders." Especially on a long trip, someone is bound to go in front and "take over." But of all the groups out there, Subie owners are the most well-behaved, I think. But if everyone goes at their own pace, the group isn't gonna stay together for long, haha. I guess you just gotta play it by ear. If I come with you guys, I'm just saying now that I will not be going faster than 60 MPH (again, because of my trailer). If that means falling behind, then I'll fall behind. Haha, I have two dogs, a cat, and a fish. I'm only gonna bring my fish. Haha, nah, but I'm not bringing any pets. Just gonna be my car and I. I don't think I'm bringing any passengers, but that might change last minute (like it did with the Big NW Subaru Meet). The more I think about it, yeah, I'll need to borrow a radio. I gotta get new tabs for my plates, get my trailer registered, pay my car insurance, and go to court & get my studded tyre infraction paid off (although the court date might not be set until after the show). Ehh, I digress, but I'm not gonna have the money to buy a radio. I'll certainly let you know if I'm going to WCSS within two weeks, probably, so it won't be last minute. Haha, I know you didn't mean to insult with the shop thing. Just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I let someone else take care of my car. Haha, the real truth would be that I don't want some mechanic to burn my new clutch, the one I spent a fair bit of time and money putting in myself. I don't let anyone drive my Loyale. I'd say "well versed" could be a bit optimistic, seeing as with every new problem, I need to learn something. I'm certainly no EA82 expert, especially compared to most of the people on here. Towing from Longview to Sammamish, probably not. I guess unlimited means unlimited tows per year. I'm actually not sure what the mileage is like, but it's definitely >15 miles. But if I break down in Longview, I can get a tow to an auto parts store and fix it in their parking lot. The two times I have been towed were kinda my fault. First time was a long time ago. I was getting on the freeway and the on ramp was a right turn. As I accelerated out, I noticed white smoke behind me. It was the first time it happened, so I pulled over. As I looked at my engine, my v-belt was missing a chunk from it. It wasn't torn, but I didn't feel comfortable driving on the freeway for a few minutes at ~3000 RPM with a damaged belt. So I called for a tow. The best part of that story was the tow truck. It was an older truck, and as he was lowering my car into my driveway, the truck's hydraulics blew up. Spilled hydro fluid all over the road, which caused two firetrucks and some police to come out. I was sitting there directing traffic for a few hours until the police took over. Then a repair man from the tow company came out and fixed the tow truck. All of that for a <$10 belt. The white smoke was later fixed by a new PCV valve, of course. I feel like sharing a couple of pictures because of the irony of the situation. Second time was because I let my faulty cone washer(s) strip my driver side hub. The dealership messed up on shipping the parts, twice. So I didn't get new cone washers for about five days. But hey, I got 25% off from it. Took another couple days to get the time to drive to the junkyard for a new hub. ANYWAYS I don't want this to get too off topic. Bottom line: I wanna join in this caravan if I can.

Of course I meant no disrespect. I'd like to join if possible, which is why I posted. I was just stating my concerns. Haha, EA82s are indeed the least likely cars to be accused of speeding, especially with an auto. But last December at the Christmas tree run, we were doing about 70-75 in a 60 (speed limit might've been lower; I can't remember). Maybe that was just a one-time thing, and I'm willing to give it another shot. I meant to put it in my previous post, but there are exceptions. Not everyone speeds. Just a good majority of people do. In a group, if the leader is driving fast, everyone else will be forced to drive fast to keep up. It mostly depends on who is "leading." I might consider purchasing a radio if I join, but if anything, I'd rather borrow one. I don't think I'd use a radio elsewhere, so it probably wouldn't be worth spending on it, especially since I've got a bunch of other things to buy. And when you're working at a little over minimum wage, $35 is kinda a big deal. I assume you mean no disrespect saying that. That last thing I'd ever do, ever, is take my car to a shop. I've done all the work myself, have probably put $2000 into my Loyale (over the past year), and the only time I brought my car to a shop is for them to mount & balance my winter tyres. I always carry my tools with me, and I have no problem doing repairs on the side of the road. If something happened, I'd feel fairly confident I could diagnose and fix the problem by myself. It'd be nice travelling with people because I don't usually carry many parts with me. So I could use a ride to an auto parts store if something happened. As far as towing, I've got unlimited free towing with Allstate, so I have no worries about that. Have been towed twice. First time was before I carried my tools with me, and second time was because parts were dealership-only and took about a week to get to me. I guess I could be considered shy, but I'd enjoy going with a group of people. However, I'm still not even 100% sure I'm going to WCSS. I haven't registered yet, for fear that something might come up between now and then. I've already requested the days off of work, but I'm going to wait a couple weeks before I fully commit to going.

I'd like to join in the caravan, but I'd probably not be the best candidate. For one, I have no means of communicating (I don't have a CB radio, nor any other radio). There'd be no way for me to know if we're pulling into a rest stop or whatnot. I don't have any plans on purchasing a radio between now and then. And two, I'm strict on laws. I don't speed, I stop at all stop signs, etc. I've found that because of this, I easily fall behind the group. Especially in groups, people like to speed. I don't want to slow down the group, but I also don't want to risk my driving record and insurance costs (which are already astronomically high). I'll probably also be taking my Harbor Freight trailer. It only has 8" wheels on it, so I don't go more than 60 MPH whilst towing it. The speed limit on I-5 is 70, so even if the group goes the speed limit, I'll still be going slower. I'll probably be riding solo. Gives me time to think, listen to music, listen to my engine, and just appreciate my car for making the long trip (I haven't taken a trip this far in my Loyale before). I'm sure I'll see you guys on the road though!

Well, I've got 185/70/R13 tyres on, which I'd consider pretty narrow (especially compared to people running 14" and 15" rims). Sometimes it's easy to turn the wheel with one hand, sometimes it's not. Going lock-to-lock usually requires two hands at some point, but less major adjustments can sometimes be done with one hand. It all depends.... I'm not a very strong guy, but manual steering isn't that much of a chore for me.

For me, at a standstill, I can usually turn the wheel with one hand. I find that concrete, asphalt, tarmac, etc. have different results when turning the wheel at a standstill. But maybe that's just me. Obviously, on gravel and other loose surfaces, I don't even realize I have manual steering, even at a standstill. The wheel is very easy to turn. I've not had any problems with parallel parking or anything of the like. I'm not that strong, but I don't have a problem turning the wheel. And if I do, Just get moving at a couple MPH and you can turn much easier. However, I could see being in a city with lots of hills wouldn't be the best option for a manual transmission car with manual steering. Also, one thing I love is it's hard to turn the wheel sharp at speed. Maybe it's just me, but I love the fact that it's hard to understeer with manual steering (at least in the dry). The wheel gets really hard to turn right before you start to understeer. So if your physically unable to turn the wheel sharper, you are going too fast for that turn. I don't do a lot of offroading, so I can't say much. But in my opinion, I love manual steering because I get a better feel for the road. I get a better feeling of what my front wheels are doing, and how much traction they have (especially useful in the snow). You can feel when you lose traction, since the wheel goes from stiff to really really loose. That's something you can't feel as clearly with power steering. If you do more rock crawling and slow offroading, power steering could definitely come in handy, since you're constantly changing your line. But if you're just driving on gravel and dirt roads without technical maneuvering, manual steering is fine. Not sure if you've caught on to my repetition, but it entirely depends on you. Have you driven a manual steering car before? Did you like it? If so, then you probably won't regret converting your EA82. If you've never driven with manual steering, or you don't like it, then maybe just stick with power steering.

I've recently converted my EA82 to manual steering. First off, when I bought my car, it was leaking power steering fluid. Before I even got home from purchasing it, I bought and put in power steering fluid with stop leak. Worked great! Although I noticed it leaking about a year later. From what I've read, it's recommended to put in P/S fluid if you notice any problems with ATF. Better wait for someone else to chime in on that. A manual rack swap is really easy! The hardest part is finding one. You'll only find them in '85/'86 DLs, and some GLs. I got mine out of an '86 DL. Get everything: the u-joint that connects to the steering column, brackets that hold it on, the tie rod ends. The swap itself is as follows: - Jack up the car. - Remove front wheels - Hammer out outer tie rod ends - Disconnect two power steering lines from the pump - Disconnect two power steering lines from the rack (on the driver side near where it attaches to the steering column) - Loosen belt(s) - Remove power steering pump (three bolts in between the pulley and IACV) - Undo the bolt on the steering shaft - Remove skid plate - Undo the two brackets (four bolts total) holding the rack onto the crossmember - Maneuver the rack out - Maneuver power steering lines out (I believe there is a bracket on the cross member on the passenger side) - Raise manual rack into place - Install brackets and skid plate - Install bolt on steering shaft - Install outer tie rod ends - Install new, shorter belt(s) - Put the wheels on and lower the car - Get an alignment I wouldn't recommend keeping your power steering rack and "converting" it to manual steering. It'll be hard to turn the wheel; much harder than it is with the manual rack. Also, with the manual rack, you'll need to get a smaller belt (or two, like I run two belts in parallel). I am an O'Reilly guy, but Autozone had the best deal for belts in my opinion. Oh, and you are gonna want the proper alternator bracket as well. For me and the belts I purchased, I need the outboard alternator bracket. My car originally had an inboard alternator. So you'll wanna keep that in mind too. I love my manual rack! The weight I've saved and deleting the extra pulley has given me some gas mileage (you might not notice it as much; it depends). I haven't noticed a power increase though. But I get 30 MPG easily. If I drove economically, I can get 35 (although I also don't have A/C). So this is also an advantage of converting to manual steering.