Syonyk

Has the vehicle been in a rear end accident at some point? This tends to indicate to me that either the subframe is slightly messed up, or the metal is dented in on one side. -=Russ=-

There was a thread on RX7club a while back discussing the typical lifespan of components in miles, and one guy's replacement schedule - he makes a living doing aircraft maintenance/inspections, and maintains his car the same way. Things get replaced at X miles, regardless of condition. Interestingly enough, he commutes ~100mi/day with his 2nd gen RX-7 (not generally considered the most reliable car on the planet), and it has yet to leave him stranded anywhere. I know most people are are flat broke, and fix stuff when it breaks, but I thought I'd toss out a thread to discuss this sort of thing. I'd like to get an idea of the safe mileages for assorted things. The manual has a lot of these, but not everything. The idea is for a point to replace things where they're not getting replaced when they've still got a lot of life left in them, but also to replace them before their typical failure points. Also, integer multiples of distance on things that are done at the same time would be useful (so you're not replacing timing belts, then swapping a water pump 10k miles later). Thoughts I had: Timing belts: 60k miles, as per factory Water pump/oil pump: 120k miles (I've had several water pumps fail around 140k) Coolant hoses: 120k miles V-belts: 60k miles Clean fuel injector professionally: 120k miles Alternator: 120k miles O2 sensor: 60k miles My change intervals on the ignition system bits are probably WAY short, but... ignition system work is easy, and cheaper than gas right now. Spark plugs: 30k miles Spark plug wires: 60k miles Cap & rotor: 30k miles Some items I don't have experience with the failure points of: Fuel pump: ??? Radiator: ??? - generally these seem to fail from age, not mileage. Axles: ??? (the front are definitely shorter lived than the rear) Ignition coil: ??? Other thoughts? The idea is that a car maintained with this schedule will never suffer a component failure (short of just bad luck or bad parts) that could be prevented by changing something earlier. -=Russ=-

As long as the sealing surface is in good shape, that should hold air. I've seen ones with much larger dings hold air. -=Russ=-

Yes, replace both the battery & the alternator. I'm pretty sure most car batteries don't like being boiled. -=Russ=-

You can take your alternator in to a shop to have it tested (most parts shops will test 'em for free). A faintly glowing charge light is almost always, as mentioned above, a bad diode. That said, I drove a Subaru of mine for about a year with a bad diode, and other than slowly draining the battery when it had sit for a few weeks, it was fine. I'd replace the alternator if it's a daily driver, though. -=Russ=-

Awesome. I'll get those pulled later tonight, then. I didn't think about using zip-ties to put things back together - that sounds like a great idea. -=Russ=-

I'm in Coralville/Iowa City, and I've seen a few other old gens cruising around, plus a TON of new gen stuff. Any of you post here? I'd be up for some beer runs with other Subaru people, and possibly some nice muddy cruises. -=Russ=-

I'm trying to do the pre-work for my oil pump change (remove the electric fan, timing belt covers, etc), and I've come to a snag. The timing belt cover bolts won't come loose on the passenger's side. Three out of the four just rotate the nut behind them (that's buried in the plastic). Any thoughts on getting these out? Tearing apart the timing belt covers is an option (since I wasn't planning to put them right back on), but if there's a trick to holding those rear nuts stationary, I'd prefer to take the covers off in one piece. -=Russ=-

There should be a number of trim holders around the edge of the panel. Start at a corner, pull gently. You should be able to feel where they are - pull gently near them, and they should pop free. You can also get a "trim remover" tool, but I've never needed to use one. You'll also have to remove the window crank, as well as the cover for the door handle - it pops free with a bit of persuasion. I don't think the rear has the inside armrest, but if it does, unscrew that as well. Once you've popped all the trim holders free, you should be able to lift the panel up & out from the window groove. Remove the plastic lining if needed (it's held on with goop, you can just stick it back in place when you're done), and you should have access to the window bits. -=Russ=-

I'm 99% sure "up" lines up with the cam tower/valve cover seam. -=Russ=-

Eh. IMHO, a cordless radar detector is worth about as much as the cord that powers it. The cordless units keep a reasonable battery life by pulsing - scan for a bit, then sleep for a bit. However, the pulse times of some of the newer police radars in POP mode or such are short enough that a cordless detector can totally miss them. If you don't want a cord dangling down, do a proper hardwiring job - run power up through the A pillar molding, under the headliner, and drop down by the mirror, so you only have a foot or so of cord. -=Russ=-

I've only done one door. I was planning to get pics while doing the other door(s). Also, I did mine on the outside panel, not just covering the inside of the door like your Dynamat is. I have a 12" sub & box that I'm going to wire up, but it's going to be removable - I don't want to eliminate the ability to haul a lot of stuff, and even with just two decent 5.25" speakers, it sounds decent. -=Russ=-

I'm interested in details of how an EA82 ECU works. Specifically, what triggers closed loop operation, compensations for temperature, TPS modifications to the fuel signal, etc. Does anyone have details on this available, or should I add some sensors to my car & start figuring it out? -=Russ=-

You'll need an EJ to EA adapter plate, and some other gadgets. It's not a straight bolt-up swap, but it's not very difficult either. Search around in the retrofitting forum, you'll find what you need. -=Russ=-

I beg to differ. My '87 GL and '92 Loyale have two different types of distributor, and they're both SPFI. -=Russ=-

*shakes head* The only reliable way I've ever found to match Subie parts is to take the old parts in with me. The major difference between the Nippendenso & Hitachi distys is the style of holding the cap on - one uses clips, one uses screws. And... I've got no idea which is which. Also, "What it came with" and "what it has now" are often enough different. Just take the old parts in, or make a note of what they look like. -=Russ=-

Ok. Now someone has to get a pic series of a Subaru cruising down the road sans all movable openings. For pure offroad use, that's a great idea, though. I'm betting you could eliminate 300+ lbs by pulling the doors/hood/hatch, though you'd remove some of the water crossing ability. And you wouldn't have to worry about lexan/plexi windows. -=Russ=-

It really depends on what you're going to be using it for and what your personal safety standards are. Plexi/lexan instead of all the glass except the windshield will make a BIG difference. You could remove the side crash bars from inside the doors, but then any side impact would go right into the passenger compartment (I wouldn't do that on any of mine). Everything in the engine bay that's not needed goes. AC, EGR, charcoal canister, etc. Get a lighter battery & relocate it somewhere not at the edge of the car. The exhaust system weighs a good amount (having dead lifted the entire system yesterday, I know). Chop it early & kick the exhaust out the sides or top of the hood. Under the car, the muffler/exhaust hangers are pretty solid and can go. You can cut the webbing out from the inside of the doors. I'd keep the driver's side door interior, though - it'll make it a lot more tolerable to drive. -=Russ=-

Actually, Subaru found that on their rally cars, the cost of the electronic gearbox and associated wizardry was more than covered by the extended life of the gearbox. The computer won't miss a shift like a human can. All it takes to require a transmission replacement is a missed shift or two at the power levels they're running in WRC, and the computer controlled stuff prevented that. Also, for the "up/down" buttons... having to go sequentially through gears isn't as big of a problem as most people seem to think it is. I regularly drive a sequential shift vehicle, and it doesn't bother me at all (motorcycle). Coming in from 5th to a stoplight, I clutch, and tap the gears down as I slow down. As a member of USMB, I think this is kind of a pointless project. It's expensive (I've got money that you won't do it for under $1500), fixes something that works just fine, and will probably make operation rougher. As an engineer, I think this is an awesome project, and if I can help in any way, feel free to PM me - I've got a Cpr E degree with experience programming microcontrollers, and this sounds like a blast (similar to the solar powered air conditioner I was talking with another friend about). -=Russ=-

Seafoam through the fuel mostly helps clean the injector(s). It helps somewhat like through the vacuum line does, but it's a LOT less concentrated. Also, the alcohol trick does work - RX-7 guys use it all the time to pass emissions. -=Russ=-

... The engine will not run for 20 minutes without the fuel pump. It won't run for 20 seconds without the fuel pump. Therefore, whatever fuse you pulled was not responsible for feeding the fuel pump power, or has somehow been bypassed. -=Russ=-

Then you had the wrong fuse. Either pull the fuel pump power connector apart back where the fuel pump lives (passenger's side, behind the rear door, up above a protective hunk of metal), or just pull the lines apart with a rag under 'em. It'll spurt a bit, but nothing major. -=Russ=-

You don't actually say where you tested spark. Pull a plug, ground it, have someone crank the engine while you look for spark. It could be a bad fuel pump or such. -=Russ=-

I've got a PDF, somewhere, of someone who did something like this as a thesis project. I'll see if I can find a link to it or get it posted again. -=Russ=-

Change your O2 sensor, look at replacing the spark plugs if they're over 20k miles old (and the plug wires if they're more than 2-3 years old), and maybe run a can or two of Seafoam through the gas. Worst case, if it fails, you might have to get a new cat welded in. -=Russ=-