Hendrik

Electrical internal resistance ? The look at : http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38952

Look at : http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38952

The wiring is no problem (I am an electronic engineer) , but I doubt the plastic part . It is the rear of the headlight (different in Europe ?) and carries not only the bulb but also gives the total stability of the headlamp. So I would like to hear from people who really did this with pos/neg experience. Thanks for all input !

In my case it was the waterpump. Underneath it has a "peeping whole" which than drops down in the drivers cover. Feel if the pump has too much play. If so replace.............

For a 1986 4WD turbo at , I would like to install 100/80 watt bulbs. I know that it is only legal for off-road use.... Apart from extra relays and extra copper wires . do the plastic housing support the (nearly) double power consuming ? Who has some experience ? Any input is welcome before may be burning my car !

Dear Moderator(s) , This Thread is supposed to be published as a technical Article ! named : "Improvement of Ignition Switch circuits" The modifications as listed below where carried out on my 1800 Turbo 4WD 3ATM Wagon 1986. No garantee can be given that it also works for your Subaru ! WHY AND WHAT ? From the moment I bought the car , I was disturbed by the flickering of the (digital) dash lights , during the time the turning lights where switched on. Somewhat later the startermotor did sometimes just "click" , no rotation........This was of course critical. TO FIND THE CAUSE , MEASURING : First thing I did was measuring the internal resistance of the Ignition switch : I measured values between 2 and 4 Ohms (for run ,accessories and start)which is in my opinion a very high value , and about 10 times too high , it should be very close to 0 Ohm.........may be in the order of max 0,1 Ohm. It was measured directly at the soldering points of the switch. Even if the "big" consumers like rear defrogging ,lights et, are already switched via relays , there is still some high currents flowing via the ignition switch , like radiator fan , turning lights ,wipers , back light(s) startmotor coil , radio , IG Coil , ECU and some more. In total it might be well in exess of 10 Amps....in "run" for the IG terminal. The radiator fan alone , takes already 6 Amps via the Accessories terminal. Just make your simple Ohmic calculations of R x I , ans you will find unacceptable losses........ and much less power at the application. Of course the one I have is rather old , but I doubt if in this miniature IG switch there is place available for better heavy-duty contacts......So a new switch might might behave after a short time as before. I also did see some questions in the forum from people with variation of the sound for the fuel pump in combination with the turning lights. (not my case) Again , probably electrical losses.... SOLUTION : I took a simple 30 Amp relais (2 $...) to take over the main current flow for IG in the Ignition Switch. These relays have a very low resistance. (in the order of 0,05 Ohms) I cut the IG lead , on the harness side of the intermediate IG switch connector. The "using" side of the IG wire is connected to contact nr 30 of the relay. An extra piece of wire is soldered to the wire of the "B" terminal and connected to nr 87 of the relay. Both with thick pieces of wire ; soldering still is the most reliable way of electrical connections. Of course well isolated (here with self extracting material) The relay coil itself is activated by the original IG terminal. I found some room to mecanically mount the relay under the steering column. SEE IGNITION SWITCH "BRIDGE" DIAGRAM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To take of the electrical load for the radiator-fan via the accessories terminal of the IG switch , again the same type of relay was used. The radiator thermo switch now controls only the coil of the relais. Originally there is a (yellow)wire which is connected to signal the ECU that the fan turns , now connected to the relay coil. From the driver seat you can switch the fan manually on and there is an indicator lamp. This might help to cool down better at high temperatures and e.g. mountain driving. An extra wire with additional 20 A fuse goes directly to the battery. SEE THE RADIATOR FAN RELAY CIRCUIT DIAGRAM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the starter motor : the same thing. SEE EXTRA STARTMOTOR RELAY DIAGRAM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the horns I also used a relay to minimise losses there as well. SEE HORN RELAY DIAGRAM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some of the modifications are not new ,I guess the Ignition "Bridge" is unique. All together it helps the oldie is still going strong...... The circuit diagrams are not very nice , made by hand , I hope it clarifies nevertheless....... I hope this is a usefull number of modifications . Success !

The strange thing is that even for two row version ; the supplier says : non turbo ........... (don t remember it this is also radiator.com Thank for your help : I believe will order ar them

For my Turbo Wagon from 1986 I would need a new radiator / The engine simply heats up to much.Received quite some quotes from American companies , but quite a few are stating "NOT for turbo" What is the difference ? Could I still use a non-Turbo version ? Anybody could help me ?

In my 1986 4WD turbo , EA82T wagon I would like to measure the O2 sensor. It has a four wire , round connector. One pair is for the pre-heating and one pair for ground and O2 sgnal for the ECM. Sofar I could not find the correct wires and colors..... Any help is welcome ! Thanks.

Thank you , did upload , but what is the right URL for the orginal picture ? I only could find the thumbnail..... Thank for your help !

Once again ! I have seen a lot of exemples and pictures for the test connectors under the steering wheel. But none fits the one I have. MPFI , Ecu unit with 3 connectors , distributor without knock sensor unit (only vacuum an pressure control) , just two wires to the coil. The transistor is in the housing. The white connector pair on one side just has a single loop trough , and is always connected since I bought the car , one year ago. Should I disconnect the white ones ? And use the green ones only for ignition timing ? Under the hood are more connectors , see pictures.... They are for testing as well ? Thanks for help !

The lights switch and dimmer potentiometer is combined , two knobs on two axes on the same place. It is left of the dash. Worn out ? May-be. It has 19 yers now , but only 60 K miles. The colour is like a neon lamp , not bright red. May be the voltage alltogether is a bit low at the dash , I have to check that as well. Thanks for your input !

Looks great ! Quite a number of hours spent..... Question following one of your pictures : The digital dash seems much brighter than the one I have. Driving with sun and sunglasses : nothing more to see ! Any idea how to improve the light output ?

In The right tail light.....

Look at my story : "Subaru 1986 Wagon 4WD restauration story" from 01-01-2005

A LITTLE SUBARU RESTAURATION STORY. As a just retired man I have plenty of time , which came handy this year. In the following story I still have a few questions , marked with * , I would be gratefull for answers... May be my experience is helpfull for others. In April 2004 I bought my current car : Subaru 1800 , 4WD Turbo , stationwagon , build in March 1986. Quite old , but in a good condition , had just about 100.000 Km's. It hibernated for some years. Automatic 3 speed , 4 WD "on demand" or constant 4 WD (selectable) There is a electric clutch between the rear drive shaft and gearbox , no one manual mentions it..... *is it with iron powder ? It instantly couples or breaks the connection between front and rear axes , you can change it even in turns. The on-demand works automatically if you break , (a kind of pre-ABS) , or if you push the accelerator to the floor for a kick-down, or if you put the front wipers in action. This works also in the intermittent position , which is not needed or even useful in my opinion.... *Anybody knows which wire (color) goes from the wiper switch to the electronics to flag the wiper action ? And where is this detection logic : inside the ECM ? A full electronic dash , would do for a DC 10.... At the time where the car was first sold , it was very luxerious and complete , especially at European standards. It is sofar the nicest car I had ; very good handling at high speed , plenty of power , and very complete. Now in December , it has 110.000 Km's. Everything worked fine , exept the height control. The air suspension system was replaced by normal struts/schocks already by the former owner. I repaired the compressor and drier , so the "underpressure detection" was switched off by the electronical circuits , no blinking anymore at the dash. Seems that the rest of these electronical circuits , work fine. I could still order the original air suspension units : costs , more than $1500...... It seems that these components have a short lifetime. * Second hand possebilities ? The front struts/shocks where not the right ones , the height at the front axe was too low , (I assume that it was a pair for a lighter model car). The easiest solution was to put in some material in between the strut upper mounting plate and the chassis , to raise the body from ground. In this way you do not have to remove the spring assembly from the steering knuckle... I took at each side 3 hexagonal pieces , long 35 mm , with internal threads , same as the upper mounting plate already has , and some 3 mm enforcement material at the chassis side. As a consequence the vehicule front did rise 4 cm , following now the general vehicule specification. I guess the alignment is still correct , I could not see any difference in tire whear or feel a difference. Just after my initial purchase I asked a dealer to change the timing-belts as I did not know the date of last change. (I also did not have any knowledge or documentation , or time ,to do it myself , at that moment) He changed those , together with the belt tensioners. It still had the first factory fitted belts....... (You normally change these at every 5 years or 100.000 Km's.....) He replaced as well the 2 normal V-belts for waterpump/alternator , not quite correctly fitted as their tension was too high..... This became clear after the first trip , a 1100 Km distance. The bearing from the waterpump did not like it...... Later I had to replace therefore the waterpump , quite a job . In the meantime I got two manuals : A Haynes and Chilton , both are not fantastic , but at least it helps (Haynes is less worst) Then nearly everything was taken apart , all the plastic shells inside, opened the inside of all doors , cleaned and lubricated the window motors and mecanics. Rust was a bit there , treated with a 'rust coverter'. More rust became visible after removal of the fenders. The rear fenders , at the low side from wheel to rear bumper , were completely rusted and had big wholes. I cutted all away and put a lot of epoxy and fiberglass instead. After several days it now looks as new........ There was more rust , but not dramaticaly bad . All places treated. At some time (after a ride and summertime) the starter did just "click" I measured the resistance of the solenoid , about 0,2 Ohm. With a old ignition switch you would get more or less the same value.... So no very much power to the solenoid. I just added an extra relais with an extra 25 A fuse. Never had any more problems... Recently one of the coolant hoses from the Turbocharger did leak , on a trip from 800 Km.....A temporairy clamp around it helped to continue the trip. Of course it was the one underneath the turbo charger and gradully impossible to remove and replace. It took me one day to find out how to remove it and another day to fix it really....I did not like to remove the turbocharger totally from the exhaust system and also not from the engine side. All nuts are frozen like hell.... The cooling in-and out-let pipes on the charger are small pipes with an angle of about 90 degrees on which the hoses are clamped. These pipes are bolted on the leftside of the charger. There is a small strip of metal between the 2 flanges of the pipes, seems to be glued together with some black material. * What is the purpose of this strip ? (I cutted it the middle , enabling to mount the lower pipe with the hose mounted in it. It is a special hose with attached heat protection) The upper bolt is easy , place enough to remove it. The lower one : NO , the bolt can be unscrewed a bit , then it blocks against the flywheel housing...... The one who designed it , must have been a devil ! I decided to cut some 8 mm's away from this aluminium flywheel housing. Remains still a lot of material , no real weakening of the housing. Now the job was easy. After all , 18 years of service with the original hoses! I ordered now also all other hoses....No foreseeable problems there. Inside the cockpit there is a red lamp lighting up if one (or both) of the "stop-bulbs" are gone. It lights also up at starting , before the engine runs. The detection was faulty , every time you brake , this light came up. The detection unit is in the right rear lampholder. It consists mainly out of 2 current coils (relais) and another relais. Inside the current coils are 'reed relais' mounted , a glass tube who easily breaks. Changed it : a 1 $ piece. Recently , (you remark it when it has snow...) the rear window defroster does not work , in the dash it is indicated , but no... All fuses okay , like fusible links ; remains the relais... *Where is the defroster relais ? * If already at relais : where is the relais for the fuel pump ?

I had the same problem . ignition switch was dirty/old. Only the starterswitch on the start-engine needs about 20 Amps to go..... What I did was mounting an extra relais just close to the starter. A relais cost 2 $ or less....

Thanks for the opportunities.... Owing a 1800 Turbo 4WD from 1986 (ups...) I still have a lot of questions , but also quite a number of possible hints . So I like to discuss quite a number of matters.....