froggymike

If it's an O-Ring (fingers croosed) then that's an easy fix for me. I'm a pool and spa service and repair guy. I have access to zillions of different O-Rings. About six years ago, the bearing on the idler gear froze on my previous 87 GL, stripping the teeth off the driver side timing belt. I replaced the bearing with one laying around the shop, purchased wholesale for about 50 cents at the time. PS. I would still have that GL, but I traded it, even exchange, to a guy who had a poor running 94 Toyota V6 extended cab pick-up who was needing a car with more room due to an expanding family. The pick-up had a broken valve spring and a couple of burned valves. Let me tell you, that engine is a *************** to work on. Even changing the plugs are a challenge. I'll take subie engine work any day.

My air suspension seems to be leaking a little bit. After sitting overnight the front driver side bag is deflated and the car will list to that side (you could say my car is not listless). Once the car is started and the bag has filled up, all seems fine. Any thoughts? PS. I just check it this morning and it looks proper and normal.

So I have had the hardest time both finding little red and blue lights, and finding the time to find little red and blue lights. Hopefully today I will find what I need 'cause I'm tired of driving around with a dash held together with twist ties and duct tape. My imttermitent TOD has now shifted from the passenger side to the driver's side. Anyone else had theirs do that?

Pretty!!!

Last night I continuity tested some of the circuits on the 86 digi-dash (the orange one). I think I picked a dud because many circuit are grounding out that shouldn't be; both contacts where the light bulb plugs in, for example. If that turns out to be the case, I may stick with the old green dash, but change the backlight scheme to a VW blue on red. I'll be pertty busy this week-end so I don't know when I'll get to it, but I'll post pics when I'm done. PS. I haven't gotten hold of the FSM dash diagrams yet, and am not sure I will.

Simple question. What should I use?????

WOW! I didn't realize finding little red light bulbs to replace the little green light bulbs from the instrument cluster would be so difficult / impossible. I have a couple of ideas to MacGeyver the thing: A) I could paint the clear bulbs red. I know there is a way to do it, or... Use ultra-bright red LED's instead. That would definitely add to the coolness factor, though I would be the only one who know just how cool it is since no one else would be able to see that there are ultra-bright LED's in the cluster. Also, I talked to the Subaru parts counter guy I always go to, and he will see if he can get me the FSM wiring diagrams for the 85 and 87 dashes.

How is the tire wear. On both my SPFI 87 and 1980 wagon, uneven tire wear (replacing only two tires for instance - hey, I was in college and poor) made it harder to shift into fwd.

When we last saw our hero, Murphy the 87 T-Wag, he / she was itching to change the instrument cluster backlight from green to orange. I went to the J Yard yesterday to hunt for an 85 - 86 digi-dash and a bunch of orange bulbs. Found one and pulled the dash from an 86 GL-10. Three plugs appear compatible; the one in the center is not. When three of the four are plugged in, you can make out the numbers and stuff on the console, I am willing to bet that the fourth one controls the backlighting as it doesn't work when not plugged in. Also, I don't see any hint of a turbo indicator on the dash. When I found the dash I figured the car was a turbo since it was a GL-10 and all GL-10's are turbos. FOOOOOOLISH SAMURAI!! Of coarse I have now learned, thanks to the wonders of the search function, that not all GL-10's were turbo'ed. Here are the questions that I have. 1. I am deducting that the 86 dash is LCD which requires backlighting to be visible. Is this correct? 2. Did they make some LCD dashes without a turbo indicator built in? 3. Does anyone have a pic of a functioning 85 / 86 digi-dash so I can see what the properly lit display looks like? 4. Can someone tell me what my fourth question was? I forgot!!!

Woa!!! That wagon is Freaky. Getting Dizzy. Can't be real. PS. This message would not send as a reply to Qman's post. Odd that.

OK. Scrap the cat idea. It sounds like the SPFI (assuming thats the fuel delivery system) is starved for air. This is just a guess, but is it possible that the air intake regulator has stopped working or is stuck? I've never experienced that. The other thing I might consider, another guess, is the passenger side timing belt slipped a notch or two. You know, I'm probably not helping so I'll go away now:)

Second time this week I've leaned in that direction. Waite, can I say that since it is the beginning of a new week???

I'm so stupid some times. Now that I have some wine in me I am thinking more clearly. Go to this link: http://sonicfrog.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_sonicfrog_archive.html

Go to my blog at http://sonicfrog.blogspot.com, and look up the May 2005 section (right side of the blog). There is a post called "Introducing "Murphy". That is what I named the car, as the assembly process was, lets just say, quite eventfull.

From your description, the drivers side timing belt is certainly the culprit. You most definitely want to replace the idler gear bearing as well. That's what took out my two month old t-belt I had installed when swapping out the engine of my 87 SPFI wagon (my second subie) seven years ago. The gear froze and took out the teeth as the belt was forced around it:mad:. And the bearing itself cost only a few bucks. I was smart and replace mine on Murphy the 87 T-Wag when I insalled the new(er) engine a few months ago. Too bad I forgot to replace the little coolant hose under the turbo. PS. You know you're a Subie owner if you carry a spare set of timing belts in your car just in case. And you also know you're a Subie owner when one breaks and you don't worry about it 'cause you know it didn't damage your engine.

Duh! I should have known that. What a bonehead!!!

Wnat are FSM's????

Is the digital dash in an 86 turbo gl a different color than the one in an 87 turbo? Will they switch out easily?

..on Murphy the 87 T-Wag not working. Where is the relay that makes that work. the wipers work but don't return to the resting position, and I assume this is also controled by the same relay.

If he goes to college, he'll have LOTS of friends, and have many opportunities to earn free CD's and beers:). Of coarse he will also get really really sick of everyone asking: "Can you check / change my breaks / battery / spark plugs / oil". "My car isn't working right. Can you fix it"? "Is it bad if my car makes this noise...."? Signed: The voice of experience.

This post faded to oblivion so I'l try again:)

My first thought is they fried the oil. Change oil and filter and see if that doesn't help.

What do I use to lube the speedo cable going to my horrible digi-dash? And Man, I soooo want to change that digi-dash to analogue, AND change the backlighting from green to orange / red.

Did a quickie oil change yesterday and went from 10-40 to 20-50. Made a HUGE difference. Also, because the I never flushed the engine (oil that is) before I installed it, and since the problem was intermittent, there might have been some debris or other piece of muck in the oil circ system. Now if I add some MMO,, how much should I add? Or should I add CR-2 instead?

Still have some lifter noise. What oil brand / weight do you guys recomend for Murphy the 87 T-Wag. I will post soon about the Santa Cruz adventure.