Subieguy

My 89 GL 10 wagon has had a exhaust leak that I was just putting off. You could hear it under the hood in the area of the turbo. It even felt like I was losing power because of it. I finally decided to check out the problem a few days ago. Where the down pipe bolts to the turbo it was leaking exhaust. I unbolted it and the flange fell off the pipe. It had broke at the weld. A clean break too. No rot on the pipe either. Looked like a stress crack. Lucky for me I build headers for a living so I pulled the pipe out and took it to work and welded it all back together. Now back in the car I swear it runs better. It feels stronger too. Maybe it is just in my head but it had been this was as long as I have had it. Has anybody else had this kind of break before? Is this a common problem with these turbo down pipes? Just curious.

Try it yourself. I just did it on my 89 GL 10 about 2 months ago. I replaced both heads and head gaskets in the car. Man it was a pain in the butt too! Next time I think I would pull the engine to do the job a little quicker. But it was a good learning experience.

Well it looks like a no go for this weekend for the Brats again! I have been putting this off since Feb. Every time I want to go get them it is always raining or raining the day before I go get them. Where they are at it gets pretty muddy when it rains. So, I hope it will be clear next weekend. I am really itching to go get these too. It's May. It never rains in May here! Come on! But like I said I will try again next weekend.

I have 2 trailers that I am going to borrow from my boss. He lets me use them whenever I need to move a subie. I will let you know if I need another truck to move the 3rd one. I might just make 2 trips. I am really thinking that I will shoot for this weekend if it does not rain this week.

If you have some patience I am going to be getting 3 gen 1 Brats. Hopefully if I could get my butt in gear and go get them. Not really sure of great body parts though. If you want to see these just pull up my user name in the photo gallery and I posted pics of the 3 Brats there. I live in Paso so not to far of a drive for you if there will be anything that will work for you. I can tell you none of them have a good passenger fender. I am still looking for a good one myself.

I just did a tune up. New cap, rotor, wires, plugs and I ran a bottle of red line fuel system cleaner through the last tank of gas. The timing is at 18 degrees and I am running 87 octane. I have to admit I am a little frustrated with my wagon right now. I also got it warmed up with a 15 mile drive on the freeway before I stopped at the smog station. So everything was nice and warm.

Right now a good right fender, the lower front valance and a good left tail light. There is more but that would be a good start. Maybe a good rear bumper too.

Tried again today to smog it and it failed again! This time it passed at idle and failed at 2500rpm test. I changed the cat and tuned up the engine. The tech guy said I might have a vacum leak. He said the o2 and cat are fine now. My question is what else could I check or replace to get this thing to pass smog. Help! I have to get this thing registered but is has to pass smog!

My 78 project Brat is the only Brat that I know of around. Oh wait there is one mint gen 2 Brat in town, 86 or 87. Besides that there is nothing. Trust me I have looked evrywhere. I drive around looking for parts cars and I never see any gen 1 stuff. My local junk yard has one gen 1 Brat, 78. That is where I have found some of my parts at. Maybe one day I will get around to picking up the 3 gen 1 Brats I found about 45 miles from my house.

Looking forward to it! Hope it will really pan out with some good info for the gen 1 Brats. That is where I am at right now. If I can ever find anything in the 70's around here I will be all over it too!

Well I changed the fuse and no problems since. The fuse looked original so I suppose that could be it. Just have to keep my eye on it.

Checked the fuse block. Not the problem. No melted or damaged wires.

I was driving my 89 wagon today and the check engine light started to come on periodically. when I let off the gas it would go out. I figured I would look into it when I got home but then the car just quit running. Out in the middle of nowhere I managed to diagnose the problem. The ignition fuse in the fusebox blew! Stole a fuse from the right headlight to make it run again. I don't know if the 2 things are tied together or not but I was hoping that maybe one of you might have a answer for me.

Congratulations! Good score on the subie!

This may sound stupid but what kind of tool do I need to get the drain plugs out of the rear diff on my 89 Gl10 wagon. I don't think the oil has ever been changed in it. I just think that from the way it looks. I would really like to change it but I don't know what tool I need to do it. Is it a specialty tool?

Man! That is expensive. But I don't see much of a choice here. Hope I can find a cheaper one somewhere.

I went to the junkyard and pulled the standard struts I needed for my conversion on my 89 wagon. Got them out of a 85 4x4 wagon. And let me tell you that was the best decision I have yet made on that car. What a difference! With the air ride system the car always felt like it was floating all over the road. Now it feels nice and tight. Like it really holds the road now. I just am amazed at the difference standard struts made. You guys who have made this change know what I am talking about. If you are thinking about doing this do it! You will not regret it.

Went to napa and carquest today. They told me after seeing my 3 wire o2 that I would have to go to the dealer for one. That sucks! Probably cost me an arm and a leg from them! Oh well I guess I have no choice.

I went to buy a new o2 sensor for my 89 GL10 wagon today. The guy at Napa tried tell sell me the one wire type. Same at Kragen. But, the one in my car is the 3 wire type. What's the deal here? I thought maybe someone had put a different one in my car but I went to the junkyard today and I found another 89 Gl turbo wagon and it had the same 3 wire o2 sensor. Anybody have a part number for me or know what the deal is with my o2. Any help would be appreciated.

Possibly could be that. I will change it tomorrow. Just to make sure.

Can anybody tell me what I might need to replace to get it to pass. It failed at idle only. I live in California so it has to pass smog.The max for HC(PPM) allowed is 120. Mine is at 191. the co(%) max is 1.00. Mine is at 3.40. What could be causing this? The inspector checked the timing it was right on according to him. His thought was that it might be the cat going bad. Or possibly a leaky fuel injector. I don't want to pay a mechanic to fix something I can fix. Just not sure what the problem is. I have a newer exhaust from my 87 GL10 wagon that I could use to replace the system on my wagon now. That is probably where I will start if there are no other suggestion but I would appreciate any input on this. Thanks.

Got a link to it?

Good luck!

Well, any update on this one yet? Just curious. Don't want to see a perfectly good subie go to waste.

Yeah your best bet would be to find a buddy that works at the police department and have give them the vin # and the plate number. That is what I have to do whenever I find a subie that has been sitting around for a while. Last two I had ran both had problems. First one was stolen and the second one had been abandonded but it still had a lien on it from the lot it was bought from. So 2 strikes in a row. So make sure you get some info on it before you start nosing around in it. But I hope you can get this one. Looks like a good fixer to have.