idosubaru

Time to just throw a carb intake on it and wash your hands of this mess?

If the fuel tank is clogged or fuel has debris floating in it - could that shift around as the car is angled/elevated/driven? probably not but? Oddly I’ve seen people have rusty tanks or have them replaced/redone but I’ve never seen them discuss what symptoms they have. The stock pumps have socks on the intake side to prevent debris from getting into the pump. The do they run with the knock sensor disconnected? Disconnect it, and see what happens? Although I think you’ve already addressed that.

Are you ready to sell me this thing yet? It's probably my favorite XT color!!!! HAHAHA

Check this out - a guy investigating EA82 turbo and nonturbo ECU differences, though they aren't XT specific but he mentions some very interesting stuff - although keep in mind he's from australia and they're models differ slightly in offerings - they get stuff for a few years after it's discontinued here, etc. but otherwise it's all the same: There's the "second board" - what does that do and if the wiring harness pins are there in the body - what are they seeing - nothing because it doesn't exist or somethign else? He mentions the additional 84-86 turbo sensors - one impacting fuel maps?? maybe that's freaking things out?

I'll try to dig up the FSM and see if I made any notes on those circuit differences. One was like a pressure sensor or something...probably for the turbo..again from memory?? they weren't big ticket items - all the main things were the same. One difference for mine was that it was a 1987.5 turbo - which was an oddball in a couple ways and is often called "the unicorn", though mostly for aesthetic reasons.

mine had a blown turbo and engine when i got it - so it had sat for an unknown length of time and has low miles (suggesting it sat for awhile). another coincidence. It's a been a few years since I even tried to look at mine but I do recall like 3 differences when comparing the FSM (Subaru) wiring diagrams from the turbo to the non turbo. Also - I even swapped 4 cylinder ECU into an XT6 (6 cylinder XT) and the thing started and ran...terribly and not drivable - but it ran. So yeah the wiring is "just close" enough on these to do something, but I wonder if something isnt' quite lined up. *** wait - unfortunately it was 8-10 years ago and I don't recall but it might have been due to my wiring and temporary set up rather than causing an issue with the vehicle. i had run the wire right through the center console (probably so the switch was close to the parking brake maybe?) and it got hot right there...which was fortunate i knew about it right away but burning carpet is deadly poisonous so a little sketchy! anyway - i don't know if that was my mistake or doing that messed with the circuit? if the ECU is supposed to always have power - then it shouldn't matter too much. so maybe it's still an option? Maybe you could try an entirely dedicated circuit - ground one wire to the vehicle and just connect a fused 12 volts straight from the battery. Then you wouldn't have to worry about damaging the ECU. Don't even plug it in or connect and just leave the ECU dangling....though it might need a reference signal or that circuit completed, dunno?

Less than one volt - but the previous post said 8.32? I'll go ahead and assume the most recent post is accurate and you dont' suspect a voltage issue.

This is weird - I have an XT Turbo I converted to non turbo and it had fuel problems. so I ran a direct switched power wire as el_freddo said. During my longest run with it - about 40 miles it shorted and started smoking. Made it home but never found the culprit or fixed it and still have the car. XT Turbo, converted to nonturbo, fuel pump powering issue - That’s uncanny similarity to yours. coincidence? Or could there be something different between the turbo and non? Seems unlikely though. I don’t have good internet access but Ill try to look up my old posts and see if I ever mentioned it hear

Excellent. 1. Did voltage ever drop to zero? 2. how many times did the voltage “drop”? once or was it swinging around wildly? 3. Was there an obvious correlation of ‘voltage lowering’ to ‘performance decrease’ every time the voltage dropped. test the fuel pump relay. tracing and repairing would be ideal but that’s tiring. im not familiar enough with the pump electronic circuit to comment specifically. I’d be tempted to start replacing nonfused legs first and ensure the ECU is protected One of the connectors by the ECU puts the car into a test mode that cycles the fuel pump on and off I think. It’s the green ones. That may help for testing purposes.

I’ve connected both hoses together, leaving no cooler. Not ideal or recommended but it works and would be suitable for some nontraditional uses if one is mindful of loads, duration and ambient temps. Check temps if you want to/can. Being winter I wouldn’t hesitate to do it now just to keep the farm vehicle going til better weather.

it would keep the ATF too cool but for a farm car and short hard workouts who cares? if you checked temps you could ziptie cardboard in front of it to reduce airflow if you wanted to curb cooling. they're all metal construction - i give it a thumbs up.

usually age, aftermarket seal quality, or both. 90's seals, or aftermarket seals, are not as high quality materials as newer stuff. in the 90's it wasn't uncommon to replace seals with a timing belt replacement or engine swap. the newer seals are so good that's not as common now.

water pumps are available, oil pumps are not.

Hey boss, welcome. Someone over 6ft will *fit* but they might not like it. How much over will certainly matter. It's certainly not the ideal vehicle for them, and they would want to put up with lack of creature comfort which is kind of part of an 80's car anyway. Sometimes my 6'3" cousin would sit in the back with his legs across the center and behind the opposite side front seat from where he was sitting for extra room over the front. OEM parts are largely unavailable, oil pump, 6 cylinder timing pulleys and radiators, and air suspension are the problem areas mechanically speaking. Those have all been unavailable for a very long time (there's one or two timing pulley not available). from OEM and aftermarket - nothing exists and in most cases is not, and has never been, aftermarket supported. Most first time XT6 owners think they're amazing googling skills lead them to the only new XT6 radiator on the planet - wrong. Waste of time. Your money will get refunded or you'll end up with a 4 cylinder radiator which isn't even close to fitting - neck is the wrong angle, lower legs are spaced the wrong distance apart, and the hoses are the wrong diameter. But being 30+ years old the parts databases haven't all updated them. Finding good working air struts is problematic and the air suspension is a beast to trouble shoot and they slam hard when they leak, like you better where a bicycle helment when you hit bridge joints. Also obviously no longer available OEM and no aftermarket support at all. But they're relatively easy to convert to modern coil over suspension but you there's some guesswork into getting the ride height correct. Alternators are low grade aftermarket only. Aesthetic parts are also no longer available so if you like your cars looking pristine it takes significant effort to find the parts you want and basically none are available nor have been in a very long time. They're easy to work on, simple, no special tools required, and they're reliable except for age.

great engine, all the 2.2's have metal gears. it's only the 2.5's have have some plastic cam gears. a 1996 legacy LSI or GT came with 2.5 liters.

Too bad. On the bright side the RAV 4s are longevity monsters with few issues. They’re a solid vehicle in that regard.

A leak can also cause it to not pull from the overflow. Leaks and there becomes more and more air in the system which prevents the overflow system from working right.

NA XTs and XT6s are MPFI

Nice. Yeah I’ve run with them disconnected too when the plastic top of the knock sensor disintegrates. how were you able to read the output again? That would be great. Some things have such fast update rates that displays can’t capture or show it in a meaningful way. I’m unsure which sensors this is true for or not. How do you know that’s not the case here?

Nice work goodness what a beast! If that was a 2.2 then they’re both metal. 2.5s can have one of the plastic cams (they can have metal and plastic) it may not be a bad idea to replace but obviously you’re done and won’t want to now. If you have to go back in though the plastic cams do occasionally break and it sounds like yours was subjected to a high load.

Oil choices will do very little to prevent expensive repairs on a lightly used daily driver. The best thing you can do is to check the oil and coolant level often. Every fill up, schedule it monthly, etc. Low oil is the chief oil issue by many orders of magnitude.

He uses Amsoil. And says run from the 0W oil as your warranty allows it. You can get a fluid extracting pump made to extract oil from the top maybe - from the dipstick or oil fill hole. Don’t know if they work on Subaru’s but I use one on CVTs and know people use them on cars low to the ground. Battery operated, very slick.

Headgasket or slow leak - check the coolant cross over and heater core hoses - the metal ones. They rust and leak. I would guess you have a good chance of it being a rubber hose or one of the metal lines leaking. They can leak intermittently due to the rusty scale not leaving an actual hole but the coolant migrating through the layers based on various ambient conditions. This makes them tough to find sometimes But if they’re rusty that Should be obvious have you noticied any coolant smells? Hopefully you get lucky but this is how some H6 headgaskets begin to show themselves. Random events spaced months apart. It’ll slowly get worse over time so you’ve got a looong time to wait and see and check other things if it is the HG. Can take months, up to a year to manifest itself to obvious symptoms. I say this because the heater core being clogged isn’t likely to be that intermittent and that “hot/cold”. They’re often “warm” or even vary drivers to passengers side. And manifested itself with different symptoms each time - the second being overheating. You had low coolant in the radiator - it should have drawn water from the overflow. Thermostat doesn’t cause low radiator or heater core issues or coolant loss. you bought a pressure tester last summer as if something was suspected? H6 headgaskets have this kind of “timing”, months apart, more than other options. A slow leak or HG explains all of those for H6 Subarus. Nothing else really does A leak is more likely but watch that temp gauge. It is 100% not the water pump unless it’s the source of your water leak. There’s a weep hold on the drivers side - look there for water pump leak. Rare on H6s but it happens. If it’s not leaking then the water pump is fine.

Blackstone is a common provider. Go to their website, they make it easy. Car101.com is a great unofficial subaru reference point for maintenance intervals/oil changes and more by a Subaru dealer staff member. I like 5,000 miles for convenience - it’s easy to remember - change it on every 5k multiple - 160k, 165k, 170k. And it’ll be conservative enough to be under any lab tests for synthetic and is generally in reasonable (IMO) ballpark of factory recommendations. The only extreme here is the original question. Oil change intervals are common knowledge, documented in the owners manual of the vehicle, and infinitely available free online. Opinions on oil changes are usually terrible or not well versed, even from car people. I don’t think I’ve ever heard well versed oil comments from someone in person, ever. It’s amazing how oil discussions just break out the tinfoil hats and dunce caps even from professionals. Use the owners manual or get it tested. A question about something this easy and ubiquitous suggests maybe there’s a specific reason for the question? In which case a lab test is a really good, if not the only, answer. most other forums would give an endless supply of anecdotal opinions if you’re just looking for chatty banter over dinner kind of stuff.

That’s smoking awesome! It sure will fix it! That has to be your issue. Many older rear VLSD rears function like an open diff with age.