TweedleDee

That's great. I will likely pull it all out eventually and do what you suggest. Thanks for the help.

Yeah, I did what you said but I admit I didn't put all that much force on it as I was afraid of screwing it up. What about my primary question? Can I pull the belt entirely?

My 86 GL wagon was originally equipped with AC, however, parts of it have been disconnected and I have no intention of ever using it in the future (not that hot in this area). I'm having trouble with the belt adjustment and it occurred to me that maybe I can just pull it out entirely. Does the belt operate anything else that needs it to stay put? Specifically, when I loosen green arrow screw and blue arrow screw, the blue arrow screw has a nut behind it that loosens making it VERY difficult to retighten. What a dumb design?! But besides that, I can't seem to rotate the idle wheel much more than 1/4". I left it a bit loose and I'm getting major squeeling now. This is all unimportant if I can simply pull out the belt. BTW, I loosened up the alternator belt in this picture. This is not the way I was driving it.

I take it back. U-haul thought they had one but it appears that it has been discontinued. Any others??

You were right. I called and they had one. According to the website I saw earlier it appeared that they didn't have one. Thank you!!!!

I need a receiver hitch ASAP to attach a 4 bike carrier for my July 6 vacation. I ordered one last week but it turned out to be a ball hitch. Links would be awesome. Thanks for any help. BTW, U-haul doesn't seem to carry a RECEIVER hitch for this model. Thanks for any help. Alan

I took it out today to really check it out. I drove it on the highway until it started to overheat. I pulled off and found some cool spots in the radiator this time. Actually the entire radiator seemed somewhat cool, but especially in the center.

I have the same problem, but my radiator doesn't have any obvious cool spots. Any other ideas? I've flushed it twice already.

I think I'll take it to the local garage for a leak down test. Last night I drove it around and it seemed pretty normal with no bubbles in the coolant reservoir. Still lots of coolant in the exhaust. I see no sign of water in the oil, or oil in the water. And no foaming under the oil cap. I'm starting to wonder if I was too hasty in thinking it was the headgasket.

I removed the radiator cap and let it idle. I could see bubbles immediately. Does that always mean a headgasket?

That is what I was afraid of. It's frustrating because the previous owner (mechanic) changed the heads and gaskets just before selling it to us just over a year ago. Can the gaskets be changed while the engine is in the car. Is it something that can be done by a noob in a weekend without a huge investment in tools? Thanks for the reply.

First of all, I don't know all that much about working on Subaru's or any car. Yesterday while driving the Subaru, my wife was going up a steep mountain and it overheated. She found that it was low on coolant and filled it up. She then proceeded to drive it to her destination. She said that the heater would blow hot air while the car wasn't overheating, but would blow ambient air when it started overheating while the heater was turned on. She also complained of some kind of rattling that she had trouble describing and I have not heard yet. I met drove home with her and it started to overheat again. I thought it might be the thermostat, so I removed it and refilled the coolant with water. We proceeded to drive it home 30 miles, but it did start to heat up again at one point and then cool off. This morning I noticed most of the coolant had leaked out onto the driveway. I refilled it partially and noticed that it was dripping very quickly out, what it appeared to be, the exhaust port of the engine. I started it up and it seems to be running pretty rough now. It was running a bit rough last night too. Doing a search in the forums has given an idea what it might be. I just wanted confirmation I guess. Thanks for any help you can give me. Alan

I have a 1986 4x4 GL Wagon and found conflicting information on the size of the fuel tank. The owners manual says 15.9g, but my Chilton manual says 14.5g. Does anyone know which is correct? Thanks. Alan

Just to follow up, I got me a 1986 GL Wagon 4x4 5 speed with D/R. Thanks, Tweedle Dee

Wow, thank you all for the great replies. Sounds like the larger body may be what I want then. I'm going to keep my eye on the local paper and see what I can find. Thanks again. Alan

Cool! I've been through Canby several times. Used to live in Wilsonville too. One more quick question... I see an '86 Turbo Wagon in the paper for $1000 right now. Are the Turbo's more unreliable or harder/more expensive to repair than standards?

Thank you for the good information! It's encouraging to see that you guys are noob friendly. So, based on what I hear I'm going to look for a 80-88 wagon, D/R 4x4, 4 or 5 speed with emphasis on the 80-84 models. What is the difference between the GL and DL models? Thanks again! Alan P.S. How hard is it to work on these things? (i.e. changing the starter?)

I'm a complete noob when it comes to Subarus, so bear with me. I am interested in getting an old Subaru wagon as the family car to go on vacations/camping with my wife and 2 kids. I would like to hear opinions on the best year and model to get. I'm mainly interested in "easy to work on", cheap to buy, available parts/hop-ups, and light off-road abilities. I like the look of the 1982-1984 models and my understanding is that these are true 4x4 as opposed to all wheel drive. Are these 5 speed as well? Any opinions? Alan