WoodChip

Only advantage of a U-joint with grease fittings that I can think of is the ability to "freshen" up the grease, and with diligent greasin will theretically last longer.....my 2 bits

No answers here, just wrote to say that I have same problem with my 97 outback been happening for months/years (190K). Plugs were replaced recently. Problem still there. I'll be watching too for any advice.

Belated update on TPS. Adusting idle worked for a while, but as predicted by another above, it came back....although it is still working, and I'll stick with this mickey mouse fix until I can't drive it. Those TPS units are expensive! Next order of business? Body work. fun, fun. Ahhh I love the smell of bondo in the morning! WC

Thanks for the tips, they are really expensive I've looked....for now I'll try the WD40 trick, and if not I'll replace. Oh, I have the 4 pronger type.

:-\ Soooo should I adjust/replace my TPS? Have you done this before?, any advice would be much appreciated.

Possibly blown headgasket your about due for one, check exhaust color and smell (don't breath for to long:confused: ) color will be continuously white, depending on how bad it is, and will smell sweet. Also check oil dip stick, you will see a "milky" appearance to the oil.....but I'm just a backyard hack mechanic maybe others will ideas. check for lose connection on sparkplug wire.

Awesome! I've been meaning to do the same on my commuter 88 DL, although I might miss my auto reflex to catch my drink when stopping and taking corners.....

88 FWD Sub. DL 1.8L w/TBFI Symptoms: Car occasionally stalled on a cold start, often initially lacked power when accelerating from stop. CEL ON when started and at stop, CEL goes away when accelerating and normal driving conditions (i.e. increased RPMs)..... checked codes and Throttle Position Sensor code came up. tried to adjust sensor on throttle body by rotating sensor unit. assuming sensor was not recognizing when throttle was closed....not much luck....... My fix: increase idle RPMs slightly from 700 to 850. No more CEL. car doesn't stall, still slight hesitation when initially accelerating, but better. ....am i setting myself up for problems w/ Cat conv. in future? any ideas? anyone ever have to adjust/replace a TPS sensor?

I had a similar problem with an old pickup of mine (88 dodge dakota 3.9 V6). It happened following a few months of storage on my drive cross country. The truck ran fine at highway speeds, but when leaving the exit ramp and coming to a stop the truck would sputter and die, but would restart without too much resistance....ended up making the journey from Utah to CT in 48 hours, minimizing number of stops...basically only to refuel. When I finally got the time to work on the prob, it turned out to be the EGR valve; which was replaced and never had the prob again. Haven't encountered this with a subaru yet, though. Cheers

I believe they are reversible, but don't bother. the drive axle/cv joints are always going, and if your pulling it off of an older car, with probably lots of miles on it, then this job will have to be done again......just pull it out, get your core deposit, and get a whole rebuilt drive axle....next time pay attention to the clicking noise getting louder.....buena suerte

I screwed up my timing belt the last time I did it as well. I aligned both of the cams to TDC...when i forced it to start it sounded and felt like the engine was going to jump out of the car......one cam needed to be at TDC and the other 180 degrees opposite.....BDC (bottom dead center). Follow your other amigo's links and that should solve your prob. good luck. There was also some other stuff with the fly wheel to set up the timing, I remember taking off the starter and holding the correct setting with a screw driver.........I think. Just follow his links....

so far so good....It hasn't spontaneously comusted yet. But it does have a slight burning odor. Either way I don't really care if it slowly smolders and breaks off, I just don't want it too really ignite and burn up my engine. Oh. and I just passed my emmissions test about an hour ago!

I'm not worried about the exhaust leak I'm more concerned about the patch with liquid steel (Marine Tex) catching fire.... So far the epoxy liquid steel has worked, but I haven't driven it too far or that long yet. Initially I tried welding over the holes in my poor weld; but ended up with a poorer weld; and something that looked more like a cancerous slag blob. I know that the liquid steel is rated for approx 300 degrees F; but I don't know how hot that Y pipe gets......

the clicking you hear when turning is most likely the CV joint, although you said you just changed the drive axle last year? maybe defective; try replacing both this time. The vibration sounds more like your tires are out of balance. Good Luck.

Hi All, 88 subaru DL 80K I was working on my exhaust and managed to strip the bolts out of the heads..... so I cut off the mounting brackets on the "Y" pipe, spun the brackets 90 degrees and rewelded them on so I could use the other recievers in the heads. I'm not the best welder and managed to end up with some small holes in the weld seem. So I used a liquid metal type goo to seal the holes. My question is: How hot does this "Y" pipe get (approximately)? I don't want to be setting myself up for a fire.... Thanks, WoodChip

Thanks, I'll keep posted with the progress....electrical problems are too much like a choose your own adventure book......you can always reach an end, but was it the one you were looking for?

Update: I was able to pull some trouble codes: P0500 Vehicle Speed Sensor Malfunction P1101 Neutral Position Switch Circuit Malfunct P1121 NPS Circuuit High Input P1540 VSS Malfunction 2 I played with the brake/stop switch located mounted on the break pedal lever and was able to repeat at will the symptoms described below, although this time the noise is definitely coming from the vacinity under the driver side dash and more of a squeak with buzz. So I'll f*** with it a little more, and start testing/swapping out sensors. Any advice would be appreciated. Adios: WoodChip Original message below: Hi all, Questions for the grease/elictrical monkey gurus: symptoms: manual transmission; car coasting in neutral under 30mph apply breaks car momentarily (approx 3 seconds) loses all power, all dummy lights flash on; particularly noticeable at night when headlights fade to nothing brief faint sound (harmonic grunt/buzz) is audible from under dash or engine compartment area; car never stalls, or loses any gas power Any ideas? I initially thought alternator, or ABS system (because of power loss during breaking). I'm off to plug in a code reader and see if I can pull anything helpful from the computer; I'll check back to see if there are any replies shortly. Muchas gracias........WoodChip PS The cars original owner had an old school cell phone charger installed, wondering if this might be shorting something out?

Spiffy, I'm also doing this job for the first time tonight, and the only thing that I could figure was a bunch of washers/various spacers to draw the axle out. Have to credit EdRach for that tidbit of wisdom. Good luck westcoaster, WoodChip

EdRach, Thanks for the advice, I took the rotor off; and used a bunch of large washers/various spacers, and managed to draw the spindle into place. Now I just need another set of hands to pull on the hub in order to attach the inner drive axle to the transaxle....I'm also using your drive axle replacement instructions that I had printed before the repair manual went off line. Many thanks for the reply and for you instructions from the repair manual. Time to rest, manana will be the time to "git 'er done." hasta luego-WoodChip Muchas Gracias to NorthWet and Hooziewhatsit tambien.

Hi All, In process of replacing front drive axles on 88, DL Sedan, FWD; outer CV joints went caput. Got old axles out no problem, but can't the new axles in...correct size and shape, ie new ones are perfect match. Any advice would be much abliged. By the way, this is a great site; just get the repair manual up and running again...I'm a back yard hack mechanic that needs all the help he can get. I'll be out trying to find the perfect curse words to get the spindle in the hub, and will check back again later. Thanks for any kind words of wisdom in advance, WoodChip

Hello, I'm new to this website; which was very helpful to me last night when I was working on my 1988 subaru DL sedan, 67K miles. I was recently stranded when my timing belt broke, fun fun. So I decided to change it myself. The job took longer than I had expected, but now that I've done it, I could probably have a new belt installed in 3 or 4 hours versus 16 hours.....the pictures on this site were particularly helpful. Happy Holidays!, WoodChip