Subaru_dude

No the smoke is definitely burning oil. Bad news though... Drove beautifully on the trip home but I was driving it a few hours ago keeping an eye on the temp... Finally I relaxe and about 10 mins later I hear a crackling under the hood (predetination I think). I look at the temp gauge... JUST below the red. Pretty much touching it. So I immediately shut the car off and pull over. Still sitting in a parking lot. I'm thinking it's the thermostat, I'm going to go back tomrrow and remove it and see what happens. I need to put the damn steering wheel back where it's supposed to go, can't see the temp gauge with the wheel upside down (wonder if that's why it's upside down lol). So my question is. How long do my headgaskets have? Worse comes to worse, I'll ditch the EA82 and go EA81 (will eventually be lifted anywayz, and if I go EA81 it's getting a snorkel).

I actually found the one from my '89 sedan and put it in today and burped the system, now I just need a ride there so I can bring it home. The interior is mediocre. Nothing really spectacular about it. But the engine bay on the other hand, that's clean as a whistle. Also realized while I was under there the driver side head gasket is leaking oil externally but saw none in the coolant. Should I be worried about that? Does smoke alot...

Yeah they were really friendly. I don't think they were aware of the warming issue because it didn't do it for some time but then just got worse and worse leading me to believe there's just a bunch of gunk trapped in the rad or maybe even the heater core. I'm having a friend pull it to his house and we're going to do the radiator and flush the heater core. Should be good to go then. I was somewhat expecting it to start getting a little warm being that it didn't see much highway driving, but I didn't think it would be that bad. But hey, it's a d/r touring wagon. How could I complain? Calling Subaru for a thermostat today and going to look for a rad. Should be ready to go by the end of the week, it'll be a few days before I get a rad.

Didn't quite get it home but I got it. Made the first 30 miles of the trip fine but started getting warm and the problem progressively got worse. Couldn't even cover a mile without it getting 3/4 of the way up the gauge. Never let it get to the red though. It's about 30 miles away from the house but I'm gonna get a friend to pull it within 15 miles and probably have it towed. I'm pretty sure it just needs a radiator. Gonna do the thermostat too anyway. Interior's in fair shape, drove nicely too. All in all I'm really glad I bought it.

Going to have a look tomorrow to make offer. Not offering over $1000. Will post pics when weather's nice if I do pick it up.

Having a fwd Subie with front ebrake is pretty useless on any steep gravel or dirt hill. Glad to hear you're ok. That's quite a quake... That Subie sure does take alot down there. Testimate to how well built these cars are.

Damn that looks badass. Way better than it looked on my phone lol.

Yeah they are kinda rare. I've only ever seen 4 around here. 2 here in town (which I haven't seen again), one in Knoxville, and the one I'm currently thinking about buying. If it's still there next weekend, I'm probably gonna offer $1000. If they don't take it I may push for $1100 but that's the ABSOLUTE highest I will go. If I do get it, I've got some 15" pugs, rear disc setup, and complete rear-end with swaybar on standby.

Looked at a Subaru the other day. Here's the low-down. It's a 1989 5spd d/r TOURING wagon. Been wanting one of those for a while. The Good: 165,000 miles and ran well. Shifted nicely, clutch pedal seemed a little sticky but grabbed good. Red paint is in good shape. Interior really only needs cleaned a little. No Rust whatsoever on undercarriage visible. Engine bay VERY clean. The Bad: Needs master cylinder. Some clunking from the rear, don't know what it is. Surface rust on both rear quarters, wasn't bad though. Some rust on the front fenders. Only driver side window works, the others either don't move or get stuck. Contacts need cleaned? Cracked windshield, but not bad. Theyr'e asking $1595. DEFINITELY not willing to pay that much. Was bought off a guy who had it since 2000 and used it as his "farm car". So here's my question. What do you guys think it's worth? Don't see many touring wagons around here and I've always wanted one. Would be perfect for camping which I do often.

I had rust even worse than that on an '87 gl wagon and got into a head-on collision with a Taurus, fairly low speed though. Pushed the engine and transmission back slightly... but it didn't break in half.

I think everybody should read this post. :cool: My first car was a Subaru. It was a '93 Loyale 2wd 3at. Slow, smelled bad, shifted rough and was loud as hell. It was given to me by my dad so I didn't really care about it. Thrashed on it pretty hard; jumping tracks, crossing fields etc. It never let me down the 2 years I owned it. Next car, 1990 Honda Accord. WOW, THE POWER!!! Power windows that worked, cruise, cupholders, comfortable, great on the highway, great gas mileage... I was sold. I told myself I would never buy another Subie again. Even HATED the old Loyale after getting accustomed to the Accord. Then the ground clearance started getting to me. No more rampaging down gravel roads. Forget getting airborne, first set of tracks REALLY messed up the oil pan. For the first time in my life, I had to be careful when pulling up to curbs. I couldn't stand it. So I bought an '87 GL d/r wagon. Ahhh, that's more like it!!! Sideways in the mud, shortcuts through the woods, roof racks... that's what I'm all about. I don't follow the herd, I turn the mundane commute to work into an everyday adventure. The Japanese live life themselves in a very similar way. They take what we may see as an inconvenience (driving to work) and turn it into a more pleasureable experience. They savor every bite of their food, appreciate and take care of the land they live on, and take great pride in their work. Not saying America doesn't do so, but I think the Japanese have it down to an art. Subaru as a car company reflects them better than any of their other car brands. Men are, by nature, adventurous. It's in our blood to explore new ecosystems and terrain, that's what hominids do and have done for hundreds of thousands of years. Subaru encourages people to do so with their outdoorsy advertising and utility-based design. If there was ever a machine built specifically for the desires of man, this is it. THAT is why I drive a Subaru.

It also has 6(?) more cubic feet of room and more ground clearance. I like the roof rack design too, swings from either side when in use, and back out of the way when not in use (aerodynamic improvement). Also has steeper approach and deproach angles. The vehicle definitely seems superior to the previous model in many ways. It doesn't look that hideous to me really. Front end looks a little busy for me, but the rest of the car looks very nice in my opinion. But that's just an opinion so it doesn't really count I guess:rolleyes:. I think Subaru's doing a very good job at staying true to what they've always been, cheaper and more useful than the competition. I'm looking very forward to seeing one in person.

Cool I didn't know you could use Ford Temp front struts on these things. You got the Honda rears and it STILL did damage? That must have been quite the bump. Can you get a pic of the road? Or maybe the damage to the struts too?

My EJ18 5spd 2wd Impreza is "acceptable" as well. Well, sometimes. Sometimes it feels like a Formula 1 Indy car. Sometimes I feel like I'm towing a trailer full of lead bricks. Kinda strange... but it gets in the 30's consistently so I'm not too worried. What kind of mileage are you getting? I'm thinking partially clogged cat but that would also hurt your mileage.

How did you break the engine in? You're supposed to drive it pretty hard in the first 20 miles or so to properly seat the rings. If you went pretty easy on it (aka highway cruising, low throttle action) then you'll have some short lived piston rings.

http://offroadingsubarus.com/images/forester_ute_lift.jpg If they would have done this instead of the Baja, they would have sold MILLIONS I tell ya, MILLIONS!!! That with D/R AWD, locking center AND rear diff, 4.44 gearing, and options like roll-bars and heavy-duty bumpers and we'd have ourselves a Subaru. I can't imagine the new gen Forester chopped like that though... The Baja was aimed at a more general market than the original Brat. I think the Baja will someday be looked back upon as a Subaru classic however. It's just so damn wierd.

Describes EXACTLY why I drive a Subaru. I can truly testify that after a long day of work, I'm ready to get the hell home. Yes I love my car, but that won't keep me from pushing it to it's limits! The Subaru takes it every day!

Impreza-d/c GL-was operational and it's hilly around here and everybody has a tendency to get right up on your a$$ on a steep hill in these parts. I've found that the e-brake works just as well though, but it's inconvenient to do so when there's a purse sitting there. Hill holder FTW.

welcome aboard!!! I go to Knoxville twice a week for class, I'm only about 40 miles away. You ever need any hook-ups on old school parts I've got some connections. See ya around!

It's amazing how similar it looks to that Forester.

If it's an EA82 you didn't hurt a damn thing by breaking the belt. As a matter of fact, any engine prior to 1997 (and even some early 1997 models) was non-interference. So you, my friend, are GOLDEN!!!

Pretty damn clean... I bet that thing's a beast when it comes to gas mileage.

Yeah you're absolutely right. Got a tad confused there.

I know when I got a front end alighment on my Impreza they told me that they couldn't adjust the caster and told me I needed an aftermarket bolt with a lobe on one side to adjust it. He didn't know Subarus came with that from the factory and when I told him he was very suprised. I'm sure somebody will chime in as to whether or not the rear end has the lobed bolt from the factory or not...

Guys... we should be focusing on this poor man's unfortunate luck. Anyway... yeah those leaks aren't terrible but considering they happened in the first 1000 miles I would speculate that they could easily get much worse within the next, say, 10,000 miles. If the manufacturer is a member of this board, I'm sure it will get resolved painlessly and quickly (I hope). Keep us posted.