NorthWet

Unless I am really missing something, this is an "apples and oranges" situation. Your '85 hatch uses the EA81 1800cc flat-4, right? And the Justy uses a 1200cc I-3, set transversely. 2 totally different beasts. Heard of people asking about putting the EA81 or EA82 into a Justy, but not the other way... Otherwise, standard answer: Given enough money, time, effort, and money, you can do anything.

At first glance, it looked like the plastic splash/dust/whatever guard on my EA82's sits upright right in front of the throttle-body with cutouts pointing down and sliding over tubes, etc. But my EA81 carb'd doesn't have it, so I don't know. Sorry.

My '87 GL fried a connector back in the tailgate section (wires crisscrossing near gate latch). You haven't said (that my tired mine can tell) if you are getting voltage to the grid. Might be easier to start there than hunting down the relay.

Voltmeters aren't bad, and am(p)meters aren't good... they just are. Yes, there is a reason that BMW uses them, and it is preference and prejudice and economics, not necessarily because one is better than the other. It is the same combo of reasons/compromises that has 'merican cars using a charge idiot light for decades. (My '77 Dodge has an ammeter, not that that is any kind of endorsement! ) It was erroneously stated earlier that ammeters draw power to operate and voltmeters don't. This is opposite, as the voltmeter actively uses electricity to deflect its needle, whereas the ammeter passively uses the magnetic field caused by current flow. The voltmeter does not show the current state of the charging system; it shows an integration of the previous states of the charging system. I drove 250 miles on a dead alternator and my voltmeter did not vary significantly until darkness fell and I had to turn on my lights. My ammeter showed a discharge all along. Again, not trying to say that one is better than the other, but that they are complimentary. If you have room for just one, pick the one that "fits" for you.

The 3-speed Automatic (aka 3AT) has some quirks. It does not like its fluid dirty or overheated. Do yourself a favor and check it for color and odor (burnt smell and color needs immediate attention). Do a fluid change as a precaution, and keep it changed regularly. The vacuum modulator (tells the tranny when you have floored the throttle and it needs to kick down) tends to rupture its diaphram, sucking ATF into the intake and producing white smoke; just be aware of this, and its replacement is $20-30. The tranny also has something called a governor valve that tells the tranny to shift the gears depending on how fast you are going. This device has a couple problems, including destruction of its driven gear ("apple coring") and gumming up of the rotating valve assembly. There are instructions on this site for dealing with these problems. Regarding the engine: Cooling, cooling, cooling. Overheats are deadly on the turbo engines. As grossgary said check your radiator; if you end up needing to replace it at some point get the upgraded 2-row core readiator. Also check your hoses, all of them. The heat can really cook some of them; I had the small hose from the turbo to t-stat literally crumble on me. If you don't know how many miles are on the timing-belts, consider changing them soon. Not too hard to do, good insurance for not having to walk home. (Most Subarus, including yours, are non-interference heads, meaning that if the t-belt snaps it doesn't trash the valves.) Welcome, and have fun!

You didn't say whether this was a manual or automatic transmission, so I am going to assume manual. I am also going to assume that this is a "pushbutton" 4WD, where you put it into 4WD by pushing a button on the gearshift (as opposed to needing to move a second lever). My '85 Factory Service Manual (FSM) shows the 4WD sensor switch on the upper right backside of the tranny just above the driveshaft output (as viewed from back of tranny). It is on the back side of the case, facing backwards, not going in to the side of the case.

The choice between volt and amp meter depends on what you want. Think of the voltmeter as an odometer and the ampmeter as the speedometer. Which do you want? Do you want to know how far you've gone or how fast you are going? The voltmeter tells you where your electrical system was. It says if your battery has a charge and how much it still has. This is assuming that your electrical wiring is OK with good connections on power and grounds, and the battery isn't near death. If the battery IS near death, it can tell you that by watching the voltage sag when a load is put on it. It does *not* tell you immediately if the charging system is working; you can only tell this by monitoring it over a period of time and noting any trend. The ampmeter tells how much electricity is flowing and in which direction. It can tell you if your charging system is working, whether it is meeting current (pun unintended) demands. It can't tell whether the battery is discharged, accepting a charge, or getting overcharged. To get a good view of what your electrical system is doing you need both. How often do you see a car without both a speedometer and odometer? So, decide what is important to you.

I agree that the RPM sounds right if it is a 3.90. Should be easy enough to go out and check.

And for me, when I do the repair I *know* how much confidence I have in the repair, and who to blaim if it goes wrong. Also for me, I enjoy (usually ) doing my own work, and just wouldn't think of paying someone else to do something that I could do... sort of like paying someone to go fishing for you... I agree that with a used car you are inheritng someone else's problem... why else would they be selling it? (I do buy used, but I try to go in with eyes open and decide if I can fix the expected probs.) Buying new doesn't gauranty anything other than high payments; I have seen lots of broken new cars. And the "required maintenance" can be prohibitively expensive. If the car "fits" you and your life, I would say to keep it. But then, I keep EVERYTHING!

PM'd you about a couple wagons in the NW. Pat

I was under the (mis?)impression that all 3ATs had the 3.70 final drive, not just the turbos. And that sig is ... aahhh... impressive. I showed it to my wife, trying to prove that I didn't have a problem, that this was normal.

I couldn't have said it better! Welcome. Great bunch of people here. Sometimes a little cranky, but ALWAYS helpful.

Two things would give you raw gas smell from exhaust: Misfire and/or overly rich mixture. Is it idling rough like it is misfiring? I assume not. Can't remember what you have written before regarding status of the carb... can't even remember if you said that this was a new condition or has always been. You have checked the choke, so next bet is float level and/or float needle valve. If the float and valve are set wrong, things will run too rich and or spill-over into throttle bores. If the valve needle/seat are leaking, same prob as float set to high. Better needles have a viton rubber seating surface, more likely to seat than metal/metal, plus handles vibration better. Another possibility is too high of fuel pressure. Should be OK unless big mismatch between carb application and pump. Also, depending on carb, if top of carb (also top of float chamber) is not tightly screwed down you can get fuel leaking into throttle bores this way.

Depends on how much money you can spend and how much you like her. A t-wagon can be had for not much money if you are patient. My wife's GL-10 was $350. Probably can find one for under $500. Might be hard to find a Legacy wagon for under $1000. (There was that one in PDX, though.) If you want to see how much room a GL/Loyale has, how 'bout me coming down and we can see howmany parts will fit in mine? Seriously, if you and your better half want to check out a GL, let me know. P.S. - get that engine out yet? Want a hand? Pat

My '87 Gl-10 does about 3200 at 60MPH. 4000 sounds a little high. What happens to engine speed if you take your foot off the gas? (Maybe torque converter slipping too much.)

My '82 wagon would (does?) make a rapid clicking noise (think playing card in bike spokes, but metallic) at low speed, turning or not. Still don't know what it was (is). But since I pulled the axles off and also replaced wheel bearings and it still made the noise, doubt if it was axle/diff related...

My '85 Gl-10 has the separate switch, all of my later models (GL, GL-10, and Loyale) operate of off driver's lock. Regarding speakers in the hatch: Any significant weight added will cause hatch to creep/drop closed, overpowering the air struts.

Just that English can be a tricky language. From your original post: The assumption by myself, and seems like some others, was that the "ba$tard" referred to rguyver, not the customer. Like I said, tricky language.

I think the real issue is that a failing EGO sensor probably reports the wrong O2 level (via its output voltage). If the ECU isn't detecting an error, then it probably thinks things are OK: Output voltage varying around 0.5V Someone (rallyruss?) typed about this at length in another thread. I think his main point was that the ECU uses a 5V at microamp-level "health" signal applied to the same wire as the EGO sensor wire. If the output voltage drops to 0V or rises above 1V (towards 5V), then the EGO sensor is truly fubar. And these may be the only situations that the CEL light comes on. So, I think that we could have an EGO sensor that is misreporting the O2 level but not causing an error. (BTW, there was another thread with similar question today, and I asked the question of how bad an EGO sensor could be before it caused a CEL. Hadn't thought through things, hadn't totally remembered about the "health" signal. I don't want to come off as an instant know-it-all. Just slow to remember and think things through. )

Ummm... seems like a lot of work. I am pretty sure that my Craftsman compression tester can un-couple from its gauge head and connect to any standard quick release air coupler. Probably other similar solutions available at NAPA or wherever.

My '87 didn't melt or distort its covers after a blown turbo coolant hose led to its blown HG.

Do you have equipment to do a leakdown test? Or at least a compressor and fitting to pressurize the cylinders (one at a time) and listen for the hiss and/or looking for other signs?

Would you like to clarify that, or was it totally rhetorical? Assuming this a non-turbo, do you mean that you do not have a place for the O2 sensor in the y-pipe/cat? Or that there is something plugging the O2 sensor bung?

I did a quick eyeball-check of 2 '87s: one T with A/C, the other SPFI w/o A/C. Rough check from above shows both the same length (within 1/4 inch parallax error). Another absolutely certain "maybe".