nipper

I am going with the engine coolant temp sensor. It is relativly cheap so not a big thing to throw a part at. It may be flooding the engine (smell of gas) on cold startup. But the usual disclaimer, it is not in my driveway (Blu and the Justy would be pissed) so I can not be 100% sure. But do start with a full tuneup first. I was questioning oil looking for a leaky fuel injector, it doesnt seem you have one.

First thing first, a full tuneup, otherwise everything else we guess at is moot. How is the engine oil. Is it gaining oil? Does it smell like fuel? How ahve you checked for spark (just curious). Does it just crank, or crank,fire, then quit. When it starts is there a puf of black smoke, a rough start, or just fire like normal.

Aside from this being a subaru, how about the other little details? Engine size, auto or stick Mileage Any recent work done. Last time the car had a tuneup or any filters changed. The low fuel thing, next time unscrew the gas cap and see if it starts. The cold is most likely the enige temp sensor

Look under the dash, as no one cleans up there.

They are steel. They get wet and are protected from drying off by being under the hood. They are exposed to moisture too. It is sort of normal actually.

Doesnt this usually start with... "Here hold my beer"

Never want to disapoint..

There is no place that has enough clearance for them to be mounted. Alos if you overload a car air shocks wont really help as they blow through whatever metal you weld them too.

All good

What he said

Also unless it goes into the front fender, it is no longer a CAI. It will be sucking in warm/hat air from under the hood. The stock set up takes air from outside the hood, has the ability to remove excess water (subarus have been known to forge streams sometimes).

You already have one. Follow the snorkus and you will see a true cold air intake by the hood.

Good you found us! And yes subarus really do not like lightened flywheels, they need that mass to run well. The opposed engine layout a lot of forces get cancled out and so does the kenetic energy. The stock flywheel makes up for that loss.

yes

A slipping or loose PS belt. They are a real beach to replace due to the recomended size.

850 is on the high side but not out of range. Wet the belt(s) with the car running and see if it goes away, If it does it is an over tight belt. Check you PS fluid level as that can make a noise like this too. Does it go away with the ac on? Does it match engine speed?

naa what fun is that, and i do worry because in the 20 plus years of pulling a wrench i have never seen this short cycling unless it was an AC issue. I am not fond of being called a worry wart, as I would never say that to someone here with an odd cooling issue (or there or any other board i am on even in jest). Now that said once the weather gets better I will dig into the other suggestions from here and there. And post what I find (which i have done in the past).

I know. But if the wheels are still bound up (ask anyone with real 4WD) it can be nearly impossible to move the steering wheel even when not moving. There needs to be a little give in the cv joints to flex when the wheels turn for steering.

"When I go to make turns the steering gets real stiff and kind of jolts back" The kick back is not a power steering issue, it is a torque bind issue.

HEHEH you funny i don't even know where under the hood they would stick AC, thought in 1990 they did come with it as an option. If it had ac i would have gone there first. The justy board tells me to stop being paranoid, but I do not accept that as a valid diagnostics or option. I am not fond of that board. Man you should see all the real estate that is available under the dash. i can't remeber the last time i looked up under the dash and could actually see the firewall!

It is like birthing a cow, carefully. Remove the bolts. Lift out the unit, then move it around, angle it, be gentle with it, but it will come out. If you are generally gentle with it you wont break anything as it is not fragile.

it sounds more like torque bind and not a PS issue. PS issues show up when the car is cold in the morning or an obvious leak. When was the last time your tranny was serviced. Do all your tires match? Are they all inflated properly. What are the tires circumfrence.

Change the PCV valve as it will take stress of the seals. Check all fluid levels. What kind of clutch was put in.

With a lot of work and a lot of nutbuster it came off. At the time I did not know what i was up against so I did not want them to snap

It did not do it before i replaced the carb, i think. But then again I had to rev the engine at 2000 rpm to keep the car running.