Subeast-EA81

So heres the story, My car has this pulsating voltage, 12-14 volt sweep at half second intervals. readings are on an after-market gauge, and as well as factory(makes my headlights look like a cop car so thats the only bonus:brow:). I checked it with my Fluke 289, didnt see any AC voltage, so the diodes in the Alternator must be working. I know its charging due to the amount of off-road lights i have on the car (4x @ 130watts). So heres were it gets whacky, when lugging along in 3rd gear <2000RPMs i can feel the varying voltage affecting the speed of the car (same fluctuation coincides with accel and decel with level throttle input. The best part is that its inconsistent, sometimes its doing it, which makes the car behave as described, and not doing it which lends to level voltage and smooth behavior. Checked, done so far: Install Optima Blue top Marine Deep cycle Battery, replace clamp style battery cables with marine 4 awg cables with lug and screw down terminals soldered at both ends, Install block to chassis ground cable, cleaned and fix bad connections at alternator. Being a Marine electrician for a living, usualy i can find the root issue myself, however the wonder wagon is challenging me again. Any ideas? Discuss!

91 loyale w/ 4" SOS Lift, 15" SOS Wheels and 235/75r15 Open Countrys

welcome to the board, i think I've seen your car around town, i'm in the lifted silver gen 3 wagon with the roof rack.

The LED light you’re looking for is located just under the steering column, just behind the trim paneling that usually situates around your knees. It located on the ECU which it mounted upside-down with the LED facing the driver’s seat position. Hope this helps.

So herd a noise, went to go see if it was a cv joint. up on the jack, off with tires and i find that both struts where loose in the knuckles, and the alignment tabs where the strut goes into the top of the knuckles where broken off. I cant seem to tighten the top of the knuckles down on the struts to remove any play, so my question is,.. can i weld on the lower strut body? to reinstall new alignment tabs and some bracing? anyone done this?

Axial SCX-10, lots of custom goodies.

waving a hand from Battle Ground WA

If the Alternator is good and the battery is too, i would be checking ground straps, a loose ground can cause a whole bunch of strange problems. Check the battery to block ground.

I would lean twards a head gasket issue if you didn't get the heads decked, simply removing the heads warps them, as which point they need to be Decked by a machine shop to true up the mounting surface before reinstalling.

seeing as that looks like discoloring in the coating of the wheel, and and if the contaminate has not made it under the coating, i would try some rubbing compound like Meguires fine cut on a mothers buff ball. Use a drill motor and light pressure so you don't remove the coating completely, I have used rubbing compound on coated wheels before with good results, just don't remove too much of the coating! Good luck

welcome to the board!, congrats your first soob, good folks here with a wealth of knowlage, words of advice i one was told by an old Subaru mechanic,.. if its hard, your doing it wrong. I'm on car #8 and nothing has been more true!

Any ideas?

My 2007 IMP seams to have a mind of its own when it comes to shifting. I have had the car into the dealership (first subaru i actuley had to take in) and they reflashed the PCM with new software, but there was no improvement. From what i am told the transmission has a "Learning" program and adaps to different driving conditions, but it seems to do nothing except make the car a Slug when i need it to get up and move. It upshifts to far, and takes forever to down shift @ WOT. But if i drive it like i stole it, it seems to catch up after about 30 miles. Sometimes it will upshift than downshift to the correct gear when accelarating. Subaru is Stumpped and so am I. Is there an aftermarket controler i can get to set the program in one spot so this thing can be predictable? or any other way to trick this thing? I would have gotten a Stick, but the wife wanted an Auto,...

on the riding mower statement,.. would an old IHI off a 87 GL10 work

Battle ground is in Washington, but Oregon is close enough! seeing as its right across the bridge. Thanks for the link as well. That was by far the the coolest thing, i like that one better then Ken Blocks STI.

sure thing, as soon as i find a car its gonna happen.

I agree, there are tons of fun things to do with a subie, this just seems like a worthy challenge, as for the turning, i would use a 8.8 ford rearend, equipped with Disc Brakes "12in rotors" install an ARB electric, or Manual locker to keep the tracks in Sync when going strait. Than to turn i would unlock the Diff and use a "Turning Brake" setup similar to a sand rail. Anyone who has ever run a Cat would know it more like using decelerator pedals. Setup would involve tieing the diff lock into the turning brakes so that the opperation was seamless. The tracks would simply be the ones of a BobCat, even utilizing the wheels and hard rubber tires. Since the ones i have a bolt together treads, you can prety much make them as long as you need.

Yeah i looked at that, they are quite awsome. And Pricey!, this option is something that i think i can pull off if i get the right car to start with, i think i might have the reset of the Bits hanging around, and what i dont i have i can make at the machine shop.

I Know that Ken Block did it with a 2010 STI, he had some aftermarket bolt on tracks.

While sitting around dreaming about cars passed, i stumbled upon this idea. Based on a 2nd gen hatch, and using parts that i have already on hand, minus the car of course. Possible?

Wind it up,... Let it GO.... my old 84 needed 4k+ to move like a car. Wheelin' in the mud in 4 low at 5500+, never sounded better. And my wife almost killed our outback because she drove it like a 80 year old woman.

ok, so i cannot find any factory, or aftermarket mud guards for my 07 impreza that look like they are worth a darn,.. however my cousin has a set of Rallitek ones on his car and i can't find those either, any ideas?

you can also check for low spots as follows: Your going to need some "decking paste" or use Ford, Lincoln Mercury disk brake wheel bearing grease (only because its blue and can be seen really well like the decking paste) apply grease or paste liberally to head and or block surfaces, than take a ruler or any other item that you know for sure has a true edge. ( i use a piece of 1x1x6 bar steel that i machined true) then pull the tooled steel across the entire surface while applying minimal pressure. (make sure the tooled steel or ruler spans the entire width of the surface your checking. the residual grease will indicate the low spots if you have them. (learned this from an old Diesel Mechanic) be sure and remove the grease or paste when your done so the head gasket will seal properly, i recommend using brakleen since it doesn't leave any residue. Make sure that the surface is Sterile. hope this helps!

my wife watches to many Ken Block videos to have a WRX! its an 07 basically stock except the stereo system. I figured it was just a fancy deck until after i bought the car, than i looked in the trunk!. So Far the nicest Subaru i have ever owned, and the first Impreza. Although I'm not sure that the tail lights are stock.

Well it was time for the Wagon to go down the Road, and then,..and then,.. TA DA!