heartless

edit your location to include the ID for Idaho - no more confusion. those are some cool looking wheels - i would be more inclined to clean and polish, but you do what you like with them - definitely a neet find and unique for a Subie no matter what you do with them.

1990 Legacy LS wagon, 223K on the clock, 4EAT, AWD - has had some idle issues when warm for several months now. Friday night (sat morning actually), coming home from an event that was about an hour away, the dash warning lights suddenly lit up - thankfully i was only 1/4 mile from home when this happened. Parked it & went to bed. Had been using the headlights, stereo, wipers and defrost on low...cool, misty rain conditions. Saturday - popped the hood to check the belt for the alt. looked good, tension good. DVM showed 12.6 volts on the battery with car off. Started the car - no warning lights, idle was fine. DVM showed 14.01 volts just after starting, and 14.07 after it had warmed up a little (about 5 minutes or so). I had picked up an aftermarket voltmeter a while back, decided to finally get it installed to keep an eye on things... drove into town to make use of the shop at the other half's workplace. several hours later (operating on 5 hrs of sleep) voltmeter is installed and operating properly - showing just a baby fine hair shy of 14 volts at idle, no accessories on. switch headlights on, and it bumps up just a tad, as expected. hit the grocery store and then head home - hmm, meter is showing a slow but definite drop in charge - by the time I got home (30 minute drive) it was barely showing 13 volts, and using the turn signal showed a definite twitch in voltage as the signal blinked on & off. Kind of thinking that I need to replace the alternator - again (yes, it has an aftermarket one in there now - about 2 yrs old) and yes, it is one that is supposed to have the "lifetime" warranty. My question is this - is it possible for the alternator to be functioning properly when cold, but slowly lose charging ability as it warms up? from watching the meter, this is what appears to be happening, but I would like confirmation before I go trying to get it replaced. And if this IS the case, then I will definitely need to have things warmed up when I go to get it checked out. Also - could this even remotely be an explanation for my fluctuating idle when the car is fully warmed up (as in after driving for bit)?

Yes, Moose - that one should work - looks to be the same one I am running on my 90 Lego right now.

Nonsense! Dont know where you got that idea from, but it is pure nonsense. I ran the round red cherrybombs on Hildy with zero issues (other than rust thru after about 4 or 5 yrs) for about 7 years. Currently running the Cherry Bomb brand Turbo muffler on the Legacy, and I like it. Has the "rumble" under throttle, but not so loud that you get a headache when driving for extended periods. both styles are available at Mills Fleet Farm for around $25-35 give or take.

pull the offending cover off and forgedaboudit. running with no covers of any kind on the 90 Legacy LS wagon (non-interference) was kind of concerned about it at first - but after making it thru the winter with no issues, I am good with it.

from my reading, the diesel option is only available in Europe - yet again....

because some people have no clue that it does make a difference. I miss the old quad headlight set ups, where I could adjust the low & high beams seperately...

glad to hear it at least fired off for you. yeah, i would be looking at the IAC valve too...also make sure the throttle cables are seated properly & not getting hung up. hopefully it is something simple and she will be purring like a kitten soon.

sorry to hear about Ben. but what a golden opportunity... this one was posted in another thread.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-...item3372fb0463 hmm, maybe print out a copy of the listing and hand it to your insurance company?

the smoking is more than likely oil burning off on the hot exhaust. find and fix the oil leak and it should stop. how soon does the high idle come down? my 90 LS wagon will kick the idle up on initial start up, they are supposed to do this, but if it is fairly warm out (60+) it comes down fairly quick, usually less than a minute. anything below 50 degrees, it takes it a little longer, really cold out (below freezing) it can take 5 minutes or more. fluctuating idle would more than likely be a vacuum leak - old, dry vacuum hoses dont seal well and/or could have cracks in them. fwiw - my wagon has over 223K

overall average was 32-33mpg consistently with my 89 GL wagon, 5 spd, FWD - bone stock. I have been told I have that "lead foot" disease also... the other half got 30-32 with his D/R 5 spd wagon - also bone stock - but he drives like a grandpa - LOL

yeah, in that case, you got a problem that requires creative solutions.

a set of these would have taken care of that for you. we have the 9 pc set, and it has saved us many, many times - most recently a flex plate bolt that did not want to break free - it rounded out to where a regualr wrench was useless. pick the appropriate size extraxtor, and off it came with no further damage.

WOW!! Nice Job!

front to back as well. being as my car is getting on in age (22 yrs) & mileage (223K), i periodically check all 4, just because.

center of the wheel - where the axle nut would be - and/or, between the center cap and lug nuts - any heat created from friction in the wheel bearing will transfer out to the wheels in as little as 5-10 miles if they are getting bad enough dragging brakes will also transfer heat to the wheels. Wheel center should be cool to the touch if everything is kosher. When you reach out to check - assume the wheel center will be hot and use caution accordingly - if it isnt hot, you are good. barely luke warm is ok, but would be thinking about it pretty soon - the hotter it is, the worse shape it is in.

the longer you run on it, the greater the chances of it costing you more. but as has already been said, they will quite often go a long time without causing any major damage. as far as cost - where you live has a lot to do with that - silicon vally, you might be right in line - i had a rear bearing done on my wagon that only cost me about $250 - BUT - I live in northern Wisconsin - major difference. I drove on my bad bearing for several months with no ill effects, other than the noise getting louder and more annoying.. On the Dodge Ram pickup however - when that one started making noise, it only lasted about 60 miles before it wanted to seize up, and the wheel was wobbling...was not a pretty sight at all. If you are certain of which one it is, next time you drive it somewhere, when you stop, check the center of the wheel with your hand - carefully - is it hot? or is it cool to the touch? if it is cool, you should be fine for a while yet.

Nope - not clean enough! can still see the stain... (you do know I am just messing with you, right?) hmm, cola, huh? nice warm sunny day - hang it up and pressure wash it! (stain side down - basically flip it from how you have it hanging now, so the stuff isnt draining across unstained carpeting) heck, just using the garden hose with the spray nozzle set to the high pressure fan spray setting works pretty well - if you have decent water pressure. did that with my front floor mats - they looked almost new again once they dried. :cool:

rather than digging up old threads, it is better to start your own - you are more likely to get answers to YOUR specific issue that way.

just out of curiousity - when is the last time codes were checked and/or reset? it is possible there are other codes stored, but you wouldnt know if the CEL is on all the time. When my O2 went south it caused some major driveability issues, no power, misfires, car was pretty much undriveable for more than a few minutes - warmed up = closed loop = major problems. and - just because a sensor has ~25K on it, doesnt mean it isnt bad...

there have to be bolts for the actual pivot rods somewhere - either on the seat side, or possibly behind the plastic on the body side (would be a bit of a pain to get to them there, however) tried looking at your pics, but cant really tell (not close enough to see any details) the tailgate on my old truck, the pivot rods were bolted to the tailgate itself, unbolt one side, and the whole tailgate could be removed. Would think that the seat back in this car would be a similar situation, just a matter of figuring out where the pivot rods are bolted on. Wish i could be of more help.

It may not be perfect, but it is darn close! most other Subarus of that vintage dont look anywhere near that good. You have a true gem there.

was kind of thinking that might be where they went, thanks for clarifying. kind sucks about the gas tank - hopefully you can get a decent one for it tho.

the parts look great, Tom!! :cool: having never been up close & person with an EA81 series wagon, i am having a hard time picturing where the 2 wider pieces go however...

Welcome HardDog. sounds like you got a keeper. The biggest issue with the older Subarus is usually the lack of general maintenance by previous owners. Trying to play catch up on that stuff can get frustrating at times - BUT - once you do get everything caught up, these are GREAT cars. Were you able to get any kind of maintenance history, besides the short list you gave? such as when the last timing service was done? Some will say 70K on belt service, others 100K - either way, unless you know exactly when it was done last (and what all was done, some will just throw new belts on and call it good), it might be a good idea to invest in a new timing set - belts, pulleys, and front seals, and a water pump while in there. It isnt a huge deal if this year pops a belt - no internal damage done - but it will leave you sitting if it does go...