KStretch55

Jet fuel (Jet A, JP8) is much closer to kerosene. It's considerably thinner, more volatile and cleaner than diesel.

Last time I checked the cover bolt washer/gaskets were around $5 each from Subaru. Shucks will sell them to you for about $5 a set. Or just use some RTV on the old ones. I've found a method that works good, if you have the time to spare. Take them off and clean them good with dishsoap and water and let them dry. Then apply about 1/16" uniform coat of RTV to the rubber seal surface and let cure for several hours. They'll seal like new.

Oops! I stand corrected. I learned something new today, I can go home now. ;-P

Be very, very careful using vinegar though. It's primarily an acid, acetic acid if I recall correctly. At any rate, it's very reactive to aluminum, you wouldn't want to leave it in long and would want to rinse very, very, very well.

Check the price around for diesel lately? You'll find it is at or higher than the price of regular unleaded, at least in my area. Three years ago, when I owned one it was routinely .20 cheaper than regular unleaded. Demand has gone up and hence so has the price, even though it's cheaper to produce. Good ol' principal of supply and demand. You think a blown headgasket on a Soob is a PIA. I was cruisin' down the freeway when my diesel blew one. Trashed the engine and turbo before I could even pull over to the side. A used engine cost me $2800 (no, that's not installed, just the cost of a JY engine)!!! Couldn't afford to replace the aftermarket turbo, too. So, had to make it normally aspirated after that. Same vehicle had the water pump seal go out one time, that was $400!! $365 just for the pump!! They've got their uses and are stupendous for some applications, but I'll never buy another one for what I do.

Awesome!! I did the same thing but used a piece of wire, and it was tedious. I'm going to scrounge a piece of flat stock right now, for future use. Thanks for the info.

"Octane" is not a substance. It is the name for a rating, of resistance to detonation, given to gasoline. Therefore, it is not a hydrocarbon, nor related to propane or butane in any way, other than the last 3 letters are the same.

How will I tell if it's got "noise"? What will I be looking for, erratic voltage output?

Hmmm, Bandit may have something there!!

Another problem with diesel at altitude is cold. Diesel begins to gel at a relatively high temperature, compared to gas and you can only add so much deicer before you start to change the cetane rating of the diesel. Diesel will start to gel pretty bad at around 10 degrees F. Any colder and you just about have to have deicer. It's a constant -65 F at 25000 feet. Some larger and military aircraft use oil/fuel heat exchangers to keep the fuel relatively warm and help cool the engine oil and/or hydraulic fluid. But, this probably wouldn't be very affordable for general aviation uses.

But, the kicker would be will that 1/3 longer TBO (Time Between Overhaul) save you anything. Probably not for a general aviation application. Maybe, and I'd say just maybe, if you are using it for commercial aviation. Still I doubt it or we'd see more of a push from the freighthaulers to go that direction, after all they are in the business of making money. Just a rough estimate, but I'd say it wouldn't be comparable until you could get 50% more TBO. Then you might make up the cost, depending on the price of parts when you do the teardown inspection, cuz' you can bet the diesel parts are going to be much, much more expensive.

Cougar, please 'splain. I'm not following your correlation to the distributer bearings. Must be another of the Soob mysteries I need to know. I'm not sure, as that car actually belongs to the ex, but I think they may have put a new/rebuilt/used disty in it a few months ago. So, what you say may be making sense. How would the disty bearings cause this problem? I was thinking at most maybe cap and rotor, if they were really, really worn. Enlighten me, Master Cougar! Thanks, too.

It's been a few years since I worked on light planes, but I'd guess that's pretty close to double the price of a comparable gas aircraft engine. Anyone know for sure?

I'd say check the turbo carefully for bearing sideplay and any resistance to rotation. I disagree with your dealer. If the impeller isn't turning freely at the rpm it should be your airflow through the intake duct will be inhibited at least to some degree. Less air = less power, and I'm sure it would be most noticeable at higher rpm and under load, just as you described. I believe it's normal for the hot side of the turbo to get cherry red, especially under load. You are retaining an enormous amount of heat in the turbine section by redirecting the flow of exhaust gases to turn the impeller.

I've owned a diesel and never will again. They're great for heavy work, when they'll pay for themselves. But, for light duty applications the cost of parts and maintenance far exceeds any benefit in my book. I shudder to think what they are wanting for one of those aircraft diesels. Also, I suspect the altitude limitations are more because you need a very large turbo to push enough thin air into the engine to keep a fuel/air ratio that'll detonate and still have power. The Russians and Germans both used diesels for some aircraft during the WWII and I believe that was the problem they ran into also. They did have some success with them in ground attack aircraft because they stayed at relatively low altitudes.

My son has a '86 Loyale wagon, carbuerated, 5spd d/r. He told me his tach works sometimes, but not until over 2000rpm. Under 2000 it sits there and bounces between 0 - 2000. I looked around for a loose connection. Made sure it was connected to the right post on the coil, etc. Do you think it could be a weak coil?

Does the temp guage read higher with the heater off than it does with the heater on? As Karin said this can be caused by a number of things. If the guage isn't rising when you turn the heater off, until you've boiled off some coolant anyway, then I'd start with checking the cap. Look for any cracks or splits in the rubber gaskets. I bet the guage varies with the heater on or off though and I'd say the cooling system is probably plugged to the point that it can manage with the additional cooling effect of the heater core, but not without.

Thanks, yep it's just one that seems to foul. Guess I'd better do a compression check. I think I'll look for some JY heads and plan a swap sometime soon.

I just started driving this car after it had sat for about 18 months. It had this problem before I quit driving it and I had changed some of the suggested components, but unfortunately, I don't recall which. I know I replaced the plugs and I think the wires (they aren't OEM). I tried soaking the PCV valve in gas for a while to see if that made a difference. Didn't seem to. I think I'll try a new cap, rotor and PCV valve and see what happens. Oh, if I recall correctly it's the #3 cylinder.

Hiya, I'm hoping you all can help me diagnos a problem. My '91 Loyale SPFI MT has a miss. I know I've got one cylinder that's got a problem, but I'm hoping I can get some help narrowing it down. It runs good and isn't loosing any coolant. Uses and looses about 1 qt of oil in 300 - 500 miles. Smokes now and then, especially when I back off the throttle and then get back on it. Especially noticeable at low RPM and under load. Blue smoke. I think it's either a lot of oil leaking past the rings in that cylinder or valve guides. Am I missing something? Anyone have some advice or better diagnosis. Thanks in advance, Stretch

Sounds like the symptoms of an inverted clutch plate to me, too. Sometimes it sucks when for no good reason some jobs just don't go the way they should, but hang in there, this too will pass.

Someone correct me if I'm incorrect, but seems to me Clearcoat was an option on some cars in the mid - late 80s. But, it was spendy and whatever they used then didn't really last very long. In the 90s it became more popular and more durable. By the late 90s it was standard on almost everything, though a lot of dealers didn't tell you that and would charge you extra for the Clearcoat "option". Kind of like the old undercoat scam they used to charge extra for that "option" that was already there, too. In most cases if they did add some it did more damage than help by trapping dirt and salt that had collected in transit. Before Clearcoat, waxing was necessary to remove the oxidized surface paint, give it that nice shine and a protective surface. If you didn't do it at least annually, it showed. As I understand it, the clearcoat filters out UV rays so the paint doesn't oxidize as fast and since the clearcoat isn't tinted you can't see the oxidization of it as much.

You might try disconnecting the fuel line where it enters the filter and see if it's pumping that far. That would tell you if it's the filter or not. As far as the wiring, one of the mysteries I haven't figured out yet is that the pump relay gets power somehow from the coil. So, you'll hear the pump run briefly when you turn the key on, then it will quit. Then when you turn the key to start and the engine turns over and supplies voltage to the coil, the pump will start again (though you may not be able to hear it over the starter and stuff). Maybe someone else can help clarify this. The backward polarity sounds like a possibility, if you didn't use originally equipped plugs on the pump.

Most of you obviously weren't around BC (Before Clearcoat). LOL

I would bet that with the age of your soob, and presuming that it's the original radiator (or at least one that has been in quite a while), your radiator is plugged. Especially since it cools off when you turn on the heater. However, as someone else said, it could be the thermostat, too. You can pull the radiator and clean it, if you're careful and patient. If you don't know how old the thermostat is I'd change it, too. Good luck, Stretch