misledxcracker

cant i disconnect and dispose of the fuel filter, connect a longer hose to that one, connect the green test connectors for the ECU, and let the fuel pump pump it all out into a container? this is going to suck either way... it has a full tank in it... of bad gas.

it's fuel injected, not carburated.

how do i go about removing the gas tank to clean the float and bowl? and what do they look like?

its turning over like it normally should...but maybe my problem is in the starter? thats the only code im getting, im getting power to the coil, spark , fuel, timing belts are on right... hmmmm

yeah i knew it was "starter switch off" so can that mean the starter or the contacts are shot? if so, can it cause the car to do what its been doing? see and also... i learned that if i take my battery out of my Accent and put it into the Soob... 6 attempted starts later, it stops trying to turn over. i would think the battery would be dead, but i throw it back in the Accent, and it starts like it was nothing. I found a post with symptoms similar to mine... so maybe it is the starter all along? if so then because i know a man at a JY that will sell me one out of a GL wagon for $5...

ok so i connected the green connectors and keep gettin code 12. with the greens disconnected, i get nothing. could THAT have anything to do with my problem?

yeah, he's worked on a loyale wagon once. its all correct. so i figure it may be something else... so i look for the green connectors under the hood, but unlike my '88 dl was, there are none. so i fish around and found them by the ECU, and plug them in. it's throwing me light codes (red light on ecu pulses) so maybe i'll figure something else out and it'll be all good. p.s. my friend also did some sort of test on it... and told me that its not losing water anywhere so maybe it isnt a blown HG... who knows. anyways, off to search for how to decode the ECU codes!

okay, i had a friend of mine that has a timing light and knows how to time engines come over... both timing belts look brand spanking new... anyways he said it was off a tooth on the driver's side... so he adjusted it and now it STILL wont start. it doesnt misfire anymore, but gas still fouls the plugs. any other ideas? i wanna see this thing run!

i'm sorry im such a noob, please try not to be mad at me. the car goes rararara pop rararara pop... so i guess yeah its turning over, just not starting. if i recall correctly this is what the mechanic that sold it to me, told me... he replaced the radiator, radiator hoses, water pump, and the timing belts. also, he didnt know if the engine would run, so he put on a USED head gasket... and he said it fired up and was driven. it lasted for 500 miles, then starting leaking water... and he parked it. he said it was never overheated and it was leaking externally? i dont even notice any leaks at all. when i came to get the car, the spark plugs were all out (i'm guessing its been this way for 2 years) and so i put the originals back in, which werent bad at all, just rusty on the bolt part. i then tried to start it, crappy battery. so i took the battery out of my Accent, and threw it in. I remembered the firing order by heart from my old '88 dl, so i made sure that was all right and that the old plugs were still gapped at 0.040 and tried once more. misfire, misfire, just like it's firing order is wrong. then the mechanic comes up to me and says "it isnt firing? i'm surprised! maybe its the spark plug wires" (oh and he really did look surprised, haha) anyways, i had my grandma pull my car home with her Dodge Ram... and i bought new spark plugs and spark plug wires. installed, still misfiring. i took the spark plug off of the 4th cylinder, it was coated in gas. once i have real time to work on this car... i will research how to check the timing (i dont know how to use a light, nor do i have one) and do that also when i buy the manuals.

I've never had to deal with the coil before... so I dont know how to test it. But, whats getting me is, theres raw fuel on the spark plugs and I dont know whether thats normal or something's wrong. It cranks, and misfires (searched and found out what the noise is when the firing order is wrong, haha) it misfires even when the firing order is correct.. and i tried moving them all one spot left on the disty and still didnt work. now im jumping it again, and checking spark plug gaps and firing order to make sure i got it just right. know what kept my other subaru alive? the haynes and chilton manuals. too bad i lost my last ones at the JY, i must buy them this weekend.

car hasnt ran in 2 years, i put 4 gallons of fresh gas in it, the timing belts are new, so are the spark plugs and wires. the battery terminals are fine, and i use a battery charger to charge the battery. sorry if i seem like a every-3-month poster... i also have a hyundai accent (gah!) that gives me problems as well and thats the car i have to drive to work so im usually under the hood of that one. i DO frequent the forum a lot, and i search plenty, sometimes its hard to find something completely relevant to my situation... if i knew more about these cars (i want to!) i'd be like you guys, helping the best i can... but right now i'm just a newbie trying to get my soob to start... haha

okay, so i now own an '86 GL (thought it was an '88, sorry) i put new spark plugs in it, new battery, i try to start it, it wants to turn over but doesnt, and sometimes it makes that sound you get out of the engine when you get the firing order wrong... i have the firing order correct, and it still wont start... so i pulled the spark plugs and one is fouled badly with gas... so i clean it off, and put them back, make sure i have the firing order right... and still wont start. turns over and tries to start but wont... then starts the tick tick tick with no attempt to turn over... guess i overheated the starter. now... 2 of the spark plugs are slightly old... would all 4 new spark plugs help any?! anyways what else can i try, to get this started? could the engine be seized? :-\ it had been sittin for 2 years and the spark plugs were taken out when it was parked.. .and the holes left wide open. i'll have a million more questions, as my headlight/dimmer switch is finicky when you touch it, sometimes the dash lights come on sometimes they dont... depending on how you wiggle the switch.. and also, when the key is in the ON position, the ECS light does not come on. then you slightly jiggle the key, and boom, ecs light comes on. try to start it, and the ECS comes on flickering just like the other lights. hopefully im not confusing anyone, i wanna get her runnin, she's just a baby with 85,600 miles!

i've used bar's leaks in a 1989 mercury sable, it had a blown head gasket. the temp gauge stayed in the middle for about 10 minutes of driving, then jumped to H... the aluminum transmission was already screwed too, so instead of stopping the car we drove that 3.8 to hell in a safeway parking lot doing donuts and such then finally bashed the front end into a light pole due to skidding. the air bag hit me in the face pretty hard and i got out of the car, and called the local auto wreckers to come pick it up. point is: i'll be another one to tell you that "magic" engine repair DOES NOT WORK. i'd never use it again, especially not in my Soob.

It's an automatic transmission. Yeah I know..... but my old one didnt fail on me, I always checked the fluid I'm thinking since this motor only has in the 80,000 mile range (somewhere around 85,000) it's worth fixing... I'm thinking about yanking it and rebuilding it myself, in my free time, and when im not working on it, i'll be waxing it, preparing for it on the road :cool: Oh, and mine looks just like tyler_seattle's, only difference is mine's an automatic.

I also would like to know. Hasnt someone done this before?

Henderson is extremely close to Las Vegas...

and... what would be my best route? doing the HG's or buying a used engine and put it in? how much would either be to do?

he wasnt surprised, he said it was just supposed to be a run-around car for parts and such, with his 16 year old son driving it. he threw a used head gasket on it and i guess the kid blew it. told me he didnt want to spend much money on it... yes i plan on staying away from him, he wanted $320 to do my lower control arm on my accent... and theres too many shady mechanics out here, i want to do the work myself!

very good news... theres a mechanic shop right by my house. today i went over there to get an estimate on my lower control arm being replaced ('95 hyundai accent) and guess what i see? a BEAUTIFUL (frontal surface rust, no biggie) red GL sedan parked in the back. i screamed "wow!" and asked the guy how much do you want? he said make an offer, he said $200 but i bet i can get it down to $150. pros: new radiator, radiator hoses, water pump, timing belts, brakes, tires(one flat though) and an oh-so-ugly grant-type steering wheel. beautiful tan/brown interior, 80,000 original miles!! cons: been sitting for 2 years, missing some exterior stuff such as badges and mirrors, dirty as hell, no tags (there is a title though), BLOWN HG on the passenger side. the mechanic guy said he put on a used head gasket, and it just failed again 500 miles after replacing all the stuff. whaddaya think? i've never done a HG but I'll be willing to learn (and pay) if I can get this GL on the road! subaru kicks a**!!!!!!

Wonderful PDF! None of the libraries I went to had it, and the prices for the real thing are insane! Thank you!

well, im a third of the way there, i put $150 down to get a "sold" sign on the windshield and did some more research on it. i ran it today... with water in the radiator (no calcium-ated arizona water, plain distilled stuff) and let it run for about 20 minutes. the temp gauge got to a bit above half (barely) then went to half-way. sounds like a thermo slightly stickin, but i've done my share of thermos, so replacement will be made. nooooooo smoke. how did someone assume a HG when it doesnt overheat or smoke?! probably some old arizonan that let it run dry on coolant maybe? i also threw an extra quart and a half of 10/40 in it (it was 2 quarts low), and NO tick. runs better than my old DL did! maybe because it was low on oil, it was ticking? anyways, after turning the engine off to inspect the body of the car, it dripped oil, well, a tiny bit of a puddle. you know, the usual subaru deal. i plan on running an engine additive (maybe ATF or MMO, cant find Seafoam for the life of me) for a quick Lake Havasu run then switching it out, just to be on the safe side. as for inspecting the body/underbody of the car, NO RUST. also, the boots and axles on this thing are basically NEW, so no more "omg my speedo moves but my car dont!! :eek:" i see absolutely no reason to run the 4wd, but it seems to engage fine. and also, all 5 gears shift fine, clutch is tight enough, unlike my '92 sentra se-r that blew 5th yesterday so basically in 2 weeks, its mine. i'd like to get a type of list.. or a link to a thread that has one (search revealed nothing to me) for what to do when you buy a subaru... i definately know to do the timing belts (do u need a timing light to change them??) and i know to do the oil, flush out the cooling system (the heater works great! so does the AC!) and change the drive belts. go subaru!

The oil was light brown, no milkshake, looked no different from what my old DL's looked like. It was presumed head gasket, people often say that when it overheats... and a good percentage of the time it isnt even close to severe as a head gasket. I once cried head gasket when my thermostat was out of whack. And its not really trashed, the interior is just sun-burnt (we get 130 degree summers) and its been sitting in a lot because no one in this part of Arizona even really knows what a Subaru is. No rust repair or body work needed, didnt idle rough, ran fine.

this is gonna be a semi-long one, bear with me here! well, last time i posted (a very long time ago) i was freaking out about my cooling system being out of whack... well that '88 dl sedan went from los angeles to oklahoma city to des moines and to bullhead city arizona, where i now reside. then i gave into "temptation" and sold it to a man for $500 just because it needed an A/C compressor and a drive belt... oh yeah and that retarded purge canister crap pretty much burnt out my CEL... and it only had 110,000 on it, im still kicking myself in the rear-end for it... but anyways, to the point: i've found a 1988 subaru dl. but the perk is, this time its not an auto, its a 4wd pushbutton 5-speed. also, its not a sedan, its a wagon! (can we say campout?) the bad is... it's got 168k on the ticker. i know these things are reliable, ive driven one halfway across the states and basically back... but it's leaning me back somewhat from buying it. the wag's got no rust whatsoever (its an arizona car)... the interior's shot but nothing a J/Y donor couldnt fix... it's got a flat (no big deal) and theres no spare under the hood. or anywhere else, for that matter. i started it up... it ran okay, except, yes you guessed it, i think it's a TOD case. also, the CEL was seriously flashing like a crazed maniac. after running it for a second, i checked the radiator, it was bone dry. also, the oil was semi-low but from where it stood, no oil leaks. it has been sitting in this mom-and-pops lot for around 7 months (or longer, the old guy dont remember how long)... but he said the person claimed it has a HG failure.. yet no smoke when i started it. the old guy wants $400 plus tag, title, licensing... brings it to approx $450. i planned on paying $150 or so, a week to him until it's paid off (casino employment blows, cant afford anything) and then driving it home. Is $450 worth a '88 dl wagon with 168k (and god know whats wrong with it until i buy it) on it? now... do you think it's worth it? i want (keyword, want) to drive it to work and back (40 miles a day) and do the monthly campout/road trip (600 to 1500 miles a month) with it, figuring throwing 30k or so a year on it. Think this thing will suit my needs?

i grabbed by the hub (right next to the tranny) and pulled it up/down, left/right, and theres a slight bit of play in it. Thing is though (what makes me think it's the axle causing the problem) is that before the axle was replaced, it didnt vibrate at all. I could be doing 110mph downhill and i felt in control, now i try to go 55-60mph and i can definately tell a difference... (like, time to take streets instead of highways from now on!)

hey there guys. i have another issue with the '88 dl... but this may have been ongoing for a while. i've been searching the forum and cant find anything matching my issue, so i'll give it a shot. well, the axles on my car dont match. i never really looked at them before since i had them replaced in November... back in November I had the axle replaced and then three days later, boom click click click, the axle broke. so i had it towed to the shop i had it done at, and replaced. now that i look at them, like i said, they dont match (one is flat around going into the tranny, and one is spiked going into the tranny, if that makes sense)... maybe thats the way it's supposed to be, but i dont know. also, grabbing the axles on the Soob i found them to be a little loose. is that normal? i've had the tires replaced, balanced, car aligned. and the car STILL has a horrible vibration at speeds of 55 mph and up. oh yeah and the good old click click click on the left turns... now can axles cause the vibration im experiencing, or what is it? thanks to anyone that can help me