ca95965

You guys were so helpful before that I am here again to get your impressions. My distributor was replaced a few days ago. Since then I have noticed some things that are different and one of them is serious enough that I am afraid to drive it like this. 1) the "check engine" light comes on now and I do not notice that it happens with any predictability. It flashes on and off a lot on the dirt road here that is the first mile of my journey to anywhere. The way this happens I thought it must be some loose wire. It does the same on the paved road beyond that, just not as often. I told the mechanic about that one right away and he said that 9 times out of 10 that's smog stuff, and he said it like it isn't important. Ok, if that was the only thing, or maybe the only thing aside from: 2) when I first pressed the button on the dash to put my side mirrors back to my height there was a sound so distinctly like a duck quacking that I stopped the car and turned down the radio so I could hear it more clearly. I mean, I could have sworn it was a duck but I didn't know where one could be, and after all it had come from that button being pushed. 3) I noticed after the repair that it had a new putt putt sound, like a VW, coming from the engine area. I figured that since Subs. are so connected to VW's that that wasn't a problem necessarily, but on any other car I would have reported it as something that sounded like a hole in the exhaust symptom somewhere. Since I used to own and operate a taxi and my living depended on that being right I got pretty good at reporting things so that our maintenance mechanic would get a clue to what was wrong and fix it pronto. It was identical to sounds I had heard in other vehicle, sounds that were helpful to my mechanics then that turned out to be exhaust things (these were about the American cabs I had). It really does sound like that in my Suburu. 4) on the way to the grocery store in town last night I saw that the temp. gauge wasn't working at all, so I called the mechanic, my neighbor, and said I was coming back and that I needed this looked into and fixed before I could go anywhere, it was that serious to me. My deceased partner was a master mechanic, and he told me that he got really fed up with fixing the cars of acquaintences and friends because regardless of the cause they would pester him with everything that went awry after that, even things that he knew were clearly not related. It put him in a very bad position, so he would help people on the side of the road but beyond that he did everything possible to stick to only working in his shop. So I need to say here that I definitely do NOT suspect that these things were created by the mechanic, at least not out of any possible error he made, thoughI really hope that some inadvertent bump might have been responsible. I totally trust him and at the same time I need this rectified, for that 3-hour round trip to town to get food and also for a funeral that will require about a 300-mile round trip. When the mechanic looked at things last night I very much assumed that he would find some dumb little thing, like wires loose or not connected (the check engine light had come on only once before, about 6 weeks ago coming out of my smog guy's repair lot, and he apologized as he reconnected two green wires with translucent green ends and said he'd neglected to reconnect the timing. I am 99% sure that that was what he did, but he did reconnect something and say that, and after that there was no light on.). Then I hoped it was a fuse thing, since the cover to that compartment had been removed during the repair or diagnostic process, which I knew because it hadn't been replaced. He looked at those and said that nothing was wrong. I looked at stuff today so I could report more accurately, and in the fuse compartment all had regular-looking clear middles except 3, which were yellow. These were translucent. There were two that were recessed, one of which was yellow, and those were just to the left of a square thing, also yellow, but opaque and like the yellow of the happy face icon below. It had a place on top where it kind of looked like the female end of a phone cord, empty. It was square and larger than the regular fuses. Anyway, he'd said that those were all good, so I expect that these empty and yellow fuses are like they should be???? I then asked him if it could be the thermostat, and he showed me a flap/lever-type thing, just to the left of a housing, where he said that the thermostat is. I guess that the impression I got was that it was a pretty big thing to check that, with much to remove. I'm willing if that's needed, but of course would like to check every simple thing first. The trip to get food is also very important because there have been a weird number of deaths lately, and one is my father's sister-in-law, and I have to get down for that funeral and to also take food. I also have to get food for a local pastor here, who has been so inundated with other people's needs due to a fatal crash here of an 18-year-old that he's not getting what he and his family need, due to his own lack of resources and death of his cousin, another minister, in an accident on that same night. Worst of all, I had already told people I would bring things, and I sure don't want to not do that. I'm committed. I would greatly appreciated any help with this. Mary

After much ado my father found a matching distributer and it was put in last night. I'm sure he has a great story to share about it in retrospect, but I will say that there must be a special place in heaven for fathers who go to such lengths for their children (though it's been suggested that maye Al-anon or something similar might help him more), and a special place in hell for junkyard dogs of the human variety who get senior citizens to pay in one location then drive much further to their OTHER yard to pick the thing up then find out that, "oops, it's not the right part after all." But the distributer is done, and now that "check engine" light is on again. We're about to wander down the road to get the car, and would love to have some expert advice on this part. Mary

Hi, you Suburu Geni- I am the one who wrote the other day regarding starting and running problems on my '87 4x4 wagon. The guy coming over to work on it tomorrow says it's simply not getting fire, and he took off the rotor cap and indicated that it was the piece that the rotor cap fits TO that needs replacing. I mentioned before that this particular part's shaft or whatever comes up to meet the rotor cap is factory awry - anyone who messes around in there has to know that or he can spend hours. So, given part and labor unknown and the fact that I ran that thing practically to death for a year and a have taking my partner hundreds of miles back and forth for cancer treatments then ultimately to visit him as he died near his family and HMO... I was brutal on the car. Today my father called me to say he was going to look at an '88, also a 4x4 wagon (I do need that to get to the other side of my property, just very very rocky, plus when we do get snow up this way it's a big help.). It has brand new mud/snow tires, is a DL, and because of something you guys taught him my dad looked underneath at the CV (after that I can't read my own scribble) and found it was cracked. It is of course impossible to know it all but we're looking for some gut reactions or intuitive things - does the CV thing have to come in two pieces and glued together, is it available in one piece, does the axle have to come out in order to replace it (I'm assuming that's why it would come in two halves, to save that)? The '87 does indeed hold some memories, and, I find, more sentimenatlity than I need to have. It's very important for me to have reliable transportation up here. I just wiped the dust of his footprints off about an hour ago. I think I am finished with seeing those and remembering how he tried to rest back there and was groaning in agony the last time I brought him home. Gruesome, huh? I have planted flowers.. anyway, I don't want sentiment to be any part of this. The '87 was $750 and was a great deal from his sister when she was getting a new car, and we needed something more comfy for him to ride to his treatments in. The '88 is selling for $1250, though since the seller didn't know about that CV thing I imagine that there will be some talk regarding price. It's apparently in lovely condition in and out, and even has AIR CONDITIONING. Yikes, almost too much to bear, this magnificence. Oh, that's enough out of me for now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Heck, I don't know why I opted not to have members write me, if anyone has advice and wants to the address is: ca95965@earthlink.net. Mary

Thanks so much! I decided to just pop the hood and then I saw these two little green things that fit together were loose, just exactly what my smog guy forgot to put back, and I'm pretty sure he said it was about timing. I decided to give it a try, all proud of myself. These were right above the filter. I did a test run to the mailbox then it wouldn't start, so I found the manual and was going to clean the filter only I couldn't find where the electronic thing connected, so I couldn't release the pressure. Then the Suburu gods smiled on me, and into that pitiful little country store's parking lot came my mechanic. He said it's just not getting fire and it's back to that same thing that doesn't fit right, the rotor cap, only I think he said it's the piece that the rotor cap fits TO that needs replacing, that this progressively worse problem is a sign that it will poop out. I asked why it starts up much better when cold, and he said it's the way that thing works. He's going to replace it at the beginning of next week. I really do appreciate all the help! Mary

I have an '87 GL wagon, fuel injected. I'm told that it's a simple matter to blow out my fuel filter and that possibly that could be the entire problem But now I can't find that booklet and I don't know what the part looks like. I know what one for a VW looks like and I know where my Sub. distributer is and I know where either the coil or starter is (under that donut tire is, right?). I'll keep looking for that book that came with the car, but if there's a photo on this site or someone could describe the location for me meanwhile that would be a great help. Mary

Hi, Everyone. This is my first post and I have what I have been told is likely a fuel system problem. My specs: 1987, 4x4 wagon, fuel injection, and the title says GT, I believe, but when I first bought a part for it, a headlight, the Auto Zone guy didn't find that in his computer, and he walked out and read "GL" on the back. I mention that just in case any of you keep having parts probles. It also has a built-in defect - I will do my best to describe this properly, but I don't know what I'm talking about, and I hope any responders will talk to me like I'm 5 years old - when you remove the rotor cap and put on a new one (when tuning) there's some shaft that has a hole with a set screw - I have not done this myself, so I can't tell if it's like the set screw on my jigsaw where it's just used to hold something in place or where it actually enters another piece, like on a doorknob. The factory flaw is that whatever it is that receives that set screw is a bit "off." You have to get the screw in the hole then jiggle it around until you feel it go in. This car has always been what I call gutless, but only to the point where I won't try to get out of a parking lot quickly and to where I have to downshift to get power enough to come up the grade to where I live. I mean, I didn't have to in my Toyota truck, it just zipped and went like crazy. I recently had to get it smogged (California) and it seemed fine but when I next went to town I went by the shop because I couldn't find my receipt and was just curious about what he had done, and what he had done was that rotor cap thing. Oddly, just as I left the "check engine" light came on and I had not seen that one before. I say it was odd because I turned right around and went back to the shop, and the mechanic took a look. It was only then that I mentioned that cap/set screw problem. It just didn't occur to me to mention it when I first had it in. He messed with it and sure enough, that was the problem. I can't figure out why I drove it home, something like 20 miles from town, then back to town again with no symptoms, then when I was near the shop... Anyway, when I left the shop that time another light came on and I just can't remember, but I turned around again and the guy apologized and said that he had simply disconnected the _______ in order to have better access to the distributor. I took a trip out of town and parked it and didn't start it again for some hours, like overnight, and it started up like a champ. I drove two blocks to take something to a friend and it chugged when I tried to start it again, something like 1/2 later. But it did start and it started up again just fine when I stopped to get gas. This sluggish startup seemed to be mostly but not always when warmed up. It happened here at home when it had cooled overnight, and I put in a new battery and it still did it sometimes. After the first time I parked it on an incline because it pops into gear just great, and I live out in the middle of nowhere and need to have a car when I need it. Recently it's been doing it more and more, and several days ago it died while I was driving - this was after driving it a long way at high speed. Where I live the last mile is unpaved and horrible (nice and private, unless I need help!) and I use 4x4 low gear, nearly all first gear, for that part of the journey, and at very low speed it began to backfire a little bit. All I can think of to describe what happens is when I was a teenager and none of us had much gas money and the level would sometimes get low, and after putting gas in we would get on the highway and floor it. People said that it was a bit of moisture in the gas tank and we needed to force it out, or something like that. It's the kind of thing where if I had a manual choke I would pull it out and mess with that until it ran evenly. Kind of like how a chainsaw starts up then gags a bit then if you don't turn of the choke it will die. When it died that first time I was able to pop it in reverse, so that was nice. It happened again on that road, when I had it in neutral long enough to get out and leave a box of fruit at a neighbor's, and it was not more than maybe 30 seconds. I tried to start it back up but it just chugged, and the neighbor heard and came out and messed with it but was really at a loss, and eventuall it did start up and I was able to drive the approx. 10th of a mile home. Oh, it did NOTdie as I put it in neutral to open the gate. It backfired once after I started it, and that was the first time it had done that. Then I was in town two days ago and was stuck there for a couple of hours because twice when I went into a store for a minute and leaving a spare key in the ignition so I didn't have to turn it off, it died while idling, and I had to keep pushing it and popping the clutch. It did seem to me that I would have to leave it off for at least 20 minutes in order to get it going on flat land where it was going at a crawl, like if I was pushing it by myself. I'm puny. It started and kept going, finally, but when I got on the dirt road it began to backfire, and I managed to get it home but maybe a 1/2 mile from here it started backfiring like crazy and bucking like a bronco. So whatever it is it does seem to be getting progressively worse, and now I don't want to drive it at all until it's rectified. I hope that I have given enough information that one of you mechano-genius types can diagnose. I apologize for the verbosity, but I have no idea which details are superfluous. Mary Thanks in advance for any help - my father joined this group and attempted to get advice but I don't think I described it properly. He did mention the fuel filter as possibly being the cause.