Syonyk

Clutch alignment tool? Should be pretty cheap. -=Russ=-

How do you run a compressor/welder off your Subaru? Big inverter? Or a generator unit installed on the engine? I'm thinking about making a "high idle" switch that would do a similar thing, hold 3k RPM or so for helping jump start cars & such. -=Russ=-

I can't offer much wrt the warranty stuff, but I can agree with all that has been said regarding doing work yourself. The major thing is that if you screw it up, there's only one person to blame, and you usually learn a whole lot in the process. Tools are too expensive? Figure the labor savings in the first major project. Engine rebuilds aren't really that difficult, but it seems to take me a month to complete them. Also, there's the major factor of knowing exactly what the state of everything on your vehicle is. When you've rebuilt the motor, and done work on pretty much every part of the vehicle, you've got the knowledge to look at a problem and say "Eh, it'll hold for another 1000 miles" or "I need to fix that *now*", and if it's the latter, you know how to do it. If it doesn't show, I don't like shops. :-) -=Russ=-

I had to replace the radiator on my old DL (non-turbo), and it ran me $90 or so, and took under an hour of actual work to replace (I was doing some other stuff, it took most of the evening, but I wasn't actually working on it much). There are two bolts holding the radiator in. Take them out, disconnect the radiator (watch out for the various sensors on the passenger's side), and it pulls straight out. Swap the sensors into the new radiator, and put it back in. I'd replace coolant hoses while you were at it. They're cheap, and a blown coolant hose makes for a bad day. -=Russ=-

1/4-1/3rd quart every 350 miles is about 1 quart every 1000 miles, which is perfectly normal. You don't get little puddles under your Subaru when you park? Consider yourself lucky! The PCV often causes things such as blowing a smoke cloud after a sweeping right hand onramp. -=Russ=-

The inner boots are nowhere near as tormented as the outer ones. They're reasonably well protected, and don't have the wide range of angles that the outer ones do. I'd go with the split boot. Pull the old one off, clean out any old dirty grease, add new grease, seal it up, and don't worry about it. -=Russ=-

Interesting. My 87 GL (SPFI) does the exact same thing - a stumble off idle or around 2000 RPM when it's cold, runs perfectly when it's warm. -=Russ=-

I think the engine will be fine. I've done stupider before, and the engine was fine. -=Russ=-

Warm it up fully, and give it some 7000 RPM love. That's often helpful for getting the adjusters to behave. :-) There's no *power* that high, but it usually shuts mine up for a while, and I know it's helped other people too. -=Russ=-

What exactly am I looking at there? It looks like timing belt stuff, but I'm not 100% sure where it's from or what exactly those pieces are supposed to do (I'm sure if they were on the engine, I'd be able to figure it out). -=Russ=-

Long enough that you should just park it in gear if you suspect the brakes are near glowing. :-) http://www.stoptech.com More articles on brakes and brake systems than you could ever want. Amusingly enough, both of my Subarus have developed odd vibrations in them. And, both times it was tires. -=Russ=-

Um... If you suspect it's backwards, couldn't you just swap the wires & see if it makes a difference? What do you mean, "sparks around the ignition system"? -=Russ=-

Figure the better part of an afternoon if nothing goes well. -=Russ=-

You're not talking about 4WD, are you? *ponders* Maybe the RX's differential lock? -=Russ=-

What about just going down to collect it? It's only an 800 mile round trip. -=Russ=-

And, if so, how difficult is it? The only think keeping my Subaru from being my year round car is the lack of A/C. I don't care too much, but my ferrets have other thoughts. -=Russ=-

Start with the O2 sensor. -=Russ=-

Yea, but if they break, they'll break when you've got a hot date and fancy reservations somewhere. *ponders* Erm... does that actually happen to old gen owners (the hot date and reservations thing)? Anyway, keep a spare set in the back of the car. Another thing that some people suggest is not reinstalling most of the timing belt covers. There's a chunk that's otherwise open to the rear without them, but if you leave the rest of them off, you can change the belts in 10-15 minutes on the side of the road. It also allows the belts to throw off any oil/coolant that leaks in, instead of just flinging it around back onto itsself. There doesn't seem to be any major problems with road stuff hitting the belts, and you can then replace a belt very easily and quickly. Plus, inspecting them becomes trivial. -=Russ=-

You replaced the high pressure oil passage o-ring when you pulled the cam tower, right? How was the old one? If that o-ring were to fail and leak the high pressure oil to the inside, you'd have low oil pressure to the bearings. -=Russ=-

If you have an O2 sensor and have not personally changed it, CHANGE IT. That $20 part was the difference between 22 and 28mpg on my 87 GL (SPFI). -=Russ=-

I do enjoy driving my GL, slow though it may be. It's quite enjoyable to be able to slam through the gears at WOT, rocketing through onramps, and... still not quite be at the speed limit. As opposed to the RX-7, where doing that nets a merge speed of 90-95mph. And further opposed to the (not yet existing) project RX-7, which doing the same thing should put me well into the 140-160mph zone. Really, I just use 4WD for when I'm going through mud/gravel/snow. It gets a bit squirrely around 60mph in FWD (same as all other 2WD cars I've driven on gravel), and 4WD eliminates the slight slip and locks it in rock solid. And being able to accelerate at WOT in snow is just sort of funny. -=Russ=-

Hey, welcome to the "RX-7 for the summer, Subaru for the winter" club. If it's overheating in 5 minutes, you should check the thermostat. It may be stuck closed or almost closed. My 87 GL (EA82) has a bearing going bad in the electric fan, but it almost *never* turns on, and it doesn't overheat. -=Russ=-

There is a "neutral" between 4Hi and 4Lo, though keeping it there isn't good for the transmission. My personal favorite way to free up 4WD when it's tight (going from gravel to packed dirt or such) is to just brake hard enough to create some slippage on the front. It frees up nicely. -=Russ=-

Yea. Well, at least for a few years. -=Russ=-

And people laugh when I say, "The drip is my dipstick. If there's not a small puddle when I get back to the car, I know it needs oil really badly. If the puddle is smaller than usual, it just needs some oil." Yes, I have a dipstick, and yes, I check it when I fill up. :-) -=Russ=-