SuspiciousPizza

A few things when disassembling/assembling axles: Inner joints (transmission side): These have a large diameter metal clip close to the outer edge of the bearing cup. Just use a small flathead screwdriver to get this started and remove it. Take photos of the orientation of the outer bearing retainer, it is unidirectional. Remove the bearing carrier/retainer as an assembly, use your small screwdriver to pry the bearings out (be careful to not scratch the surfaces, use a cheap screwdriver they'll be softer than nice ones), then turn the outer retainer and it'll separate from the inner carrier. Outer joint: These joints have the metal clip I was mentioning above. If this joint wasn't accidentally disassembled when you were putting in the strut then leave it be. They're not supposed to be disassembled but they *technically* can be. Only use molybdenum disulfide grease when assembling the axle. Make sure the axle is clean of grease before regressing and reassembling. Zip ties can work as boot clamps, but I'd recommend actual boot clamps.

After doing a TON of research: Front Right KYB: 333234 Front Left KYB: 333235 These struts seem to only be available in Australia so you're going to pay out the keister for shipping but luckily for US residents the current exchange rate is quite good. I have one KYB strut on the way from down under so if you want to wait to see if what I actually get is the correct strut, I'll post back here when I get it and let y'all know. I needed a right side strut BAD, I had a spare left Sachs but I couldn't find a right Sachs nor TRW. Hopefully now I'll have a spare set to keep my GL running far longer than the engineers intended. :]

Any SPFI throttle body will work. They were available on DL, GL, GL-10, and Loyales. They're all the same. Granted, just going off the model doesn't always work if there isn't any photos on the listing. For example a GL-10 could be SPFI, MPFI, or MPFI Turbo. There's a ton of overlap with fuel delivery systems on the different models. Vehicles could be optioned with a ton of different bits and bobs so there's really no hard line between different models. Generally the only real difference between the DL, GL, & GL-10 models is interior *broad generality*. If going off photos, the MPFI throttle body looks vastly different. Look for the cylindrical IAC valve on the front of the SPFI throttle body. The part number for the throttle body assembly is 16118AA380 OR 16114AA170. If that helps you on your search at all. :] P.S. look up "Subaru Loyale Throttle Body"

Were you pulling on the knuckle or some component away from the car? Like you're facing the car as if you're removing a tire and pulling the knuckle towards yourself. I'd remove the boot clamp to inspect what happened. On the outer joints, there's a little metal circlip that fits into a groove on the axle shaft. This clip prevents the axle shaft from pulling out of the inner joint. My guess is that's what you did. Pulled the axle out of the inner joint. All you should have to do (if that is the case) is take the clip, put it in the groove and shove the axle back into the inner joint. If you need a spare clip, I have some. I seriously doubt you actually broke the axle with arm strength alone. If you did, you should drop the wrenches and pick up a speedo for a bodybuilder competition In the future, best way I've found to remove the axles from the transmission is: remove the roll pin on the inner joint (6mm needle punch), remove the two engine mount nuts, remove the front engine pitch rod bolt, remove the transmission mount nuts, use a jack with a block of wood to lift the engine and transmission up 1-2 inches DON'T LIFT FROM THE OIL PAN LIFT FROM THE TRANSMISSION (watch your fan so it doesn't hit your radiator or fan shroud and make sure you're not pulling any hoses, wires, or cables) then you can pull off the axles. You just need to give the transmission a little lift to get enough clearance. :]

The factory retorque procedure seems like a massive pain. Torque once using 3-step torque increments, reassemble and install the engine, get it to operating temp and let cool. Then loosen the intake manifold bolts and take off the cam carriers (may as well remove the intake manifold and pull the engine again), in the same torque order loosen the head bolt 60°, oil the threads between the washer and the head, torque to spec. Repeat on every bolt using the head bolt sequence 5 times. Then retorque one final time without backing off the bolts. Reassemble. I have no issue doing this to prolong the life of the head gaskets but I does seem like a PITA.

I'm doing a top end rebuild and reseal on an EA82 that'd been sitting in a car in the woods for 20+ years. The heads need resurfacing but once they're ready to go back on, I'm curious about oiling the head bolts. What's your preferred method and oil/lube? My first thought was engine oil but how best to apply? Use an oiler bottle? Just dunk the threads and shake off a bit of the excess? Tangentially, for the Felpro head gaskets (they're what I had laying around from a reseal kit I bought) they say they're 'permatorque' do they REALLY not need to be retorqued? Would going through the FSM -60°, oil threads, retorque, repeat really not make a difference? I find that hard to believe. The engine was stored with oil in the pan, I'd like to fully clean out the pan to get all the old oil and crud out of there. Should I use something like diesel to flush out the pan? Any preferred methods? I'd like to flush out the coolant passages with distilled water once the engine is back together (before installing). I was thinking of using an aquarium pump in a 5 gallon bucket with some sort of filter/strainer system, removing the thermostat, and letting it run overnight to get all the old nasties out of there. Or would it be just worth flushing the system with a chemical flush while driving around? Any thoughts are appreciated, y'all have more experience than I do. Thanks :]

It might work, not sure though. The issue is the strut sockets into the steering knuckle, so you'd need a strut that had the right diameter and spring mount location. Here are the 4WD strut parts numbers I had in my notes. There are some used Loyale struts on eBay at the moment (both right and left). Front Right Sachs: W0133-1932779 Front Left Sachs: W0133-2038805 Front Right TRW: JGM4031SR Front Left TRW: JGM4031SL Front struts are very difficult to find. They are available but the parts availability seems to come in waves. There's not really any "upgrade" parts for these cars (there are overload springs out there). Just finding parts designed for these cars is an accomplishment. :]

Any SPFI throttle body for a DL/GL/GL-10/Loyale would work. Just visually inspect yours and if it looks the same, you're golden.

You can replace them with 2WD or 4WD ones. Only different is a slight height change (2WD sit lower) so replace both of them. Your springs will still work on either. Grab some new bump stops and bellows for the struts if you have the scratch. I think there was some TRW struts out there very recently. Good luck :]

I have seen throttle bodies for sale on eBay. Granted, they really aren't cheap. Enough to make me wince ($350-$400). HOWEVER - with the throttle body you get a TPS, an injector, a fuel pressure regulator, and an IAC valve. You'd spend over $400 if you bought the parts separately (if you can find them *cough* injector & OEM regulator). It's not the cheap route, but the parts would be genuine and you'd have spares. You may get lucky if you spend a few hours on the eBay rabbit hole. I saw someone list a throttle body as a carb a few months back for a crazy low price. I'd just check all the electrical hoopla going to the TPS before plugging it in. Just my 2¢. :]

'89 GL I have a question regarding Fujibond C aka Threebond 1324 anerobic sealant. In the '89 FSM it states that this sealant is for use on the periphery of the water pump mechanical seal however nowhere in the FSM (that I can find) does it mention how it's used. Most water pumps come with a paper gasket. Should the anerobic sealant be used with the paper gasket or just the anerobic sealant? How thick of a bead? I'd assume 1/16-1/8 inch. I'd prefer to use the anerobic sealant as I've heard the pumps are prone to leak "for no reason" is this due to the fact that most people just use the paper gasket supplied rather than the proper sealant? The anerobic sealant needs an absence of air to cure, so if any seeps into the water passages, it'll remain liquid and not cause any clogs. Any thoughts here? I'm a bit confused. :] P.S. After triple checking the FSM the nomenclature "mechanical seal" refers to the seal for the water pump shaft but doesn't mention it being used when installing the shaft seal. I'm so confused.

Have you called around wrecking yards? Maybe Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist or the like? Sometimes if there's a car that's been listed for a while, the seller would be willing to part it out, especially if they mention the car will be wrecked if it isn't sold. I've gotten lucky and have saved some very scarce parts at a very good price that way. I see you're in Oregon, so you're in the Mecca of parts availability. I'm sure if you looked around you'd be able to find something used. If not, then that really is the writing on the wall for the rest of us in the boondocks. :]

So I did everything I could to seat the axles in further. They did move maybe a fraction of a millimeter. After about 20 minutes of hammering on one side. I noticed the cone washer sat quite far out from the drum. On the OEM drums I pulled, the cone washer sits almost exactly 2mm from the drum face. Whereas with the aftermarket drums I installed, the cone washer sits 3.5mm from the drum face. The countersink isn't as deep. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but only about 1/4 of the cotter pin hole on the axle is exposed. So that extra 1.5mm really adds up. I'm kinda at a loss for what to do. I truly think the axles are as deep as they'll go. They didn't take this much effort to remove, I don't know why installing would take more force. The two ideas I have (both of which seem like big no-no's) are: 1: Do the old glass & sandpaper trick to the cone washers to hone them down and get them to sit more flush with the drum face. 2: Don't use a cotter pin. Torque the axle nuts to 200ftlbs, maybe use some blue thread locker and keep a breaker bar, 36mm socket and extra axle hardware in the car. Check periodically when checking tire pressure. I don't like either of these ideas but again, I'm kind of at a loss. I have new spring washers on the way too. Any thoughts? :]

I could do that with the passenger side, but the driver side stub was seized to the CV joint. I had to pull the entire axle through as an assembly and install the trailing arm and axle in all as one unit. Unless I back out the nut a bit and use two pry bars between the nut and the bearing housing. Maybe I could get a slide hammer on behind the nut, but I've had limited success with that.

89 GL 4WD. After many long nights I, a long with many other small odds and ends, got all 4 (technically 8 of em) wheel bearings done. Fronts were easy, sans the seals, I'm doing sealed bearings next time. The rears however, are confusing me a bit. I followed the FSM and used proper torque specs, (even on the rear retaining ring) new cone and spring washer. Everything was cleaned and I kept re-cleaning during assembly. But both axles have about 3-5mm yet before the cotter pin hole aligns with the castle nut. The stubs aren't pulled through far enough. I did put on new drums as well, the old outer seals were put on backwards (I double checked the FSM for their orientation) and spit grease all over the old drums and shoes. Is it possible the aftermarket drums are just slightly thicker/wider? I never measured them, they fit so it didn't occur to me to do so. I could check them but I don't want to buy new spring washers if I don't have to. Thanks :]

I've been reading some more and it sounds like a BFH is the way to go with this. So I made a drawing of what my idea is. I'd need to source some hardwood or some polypropylene sheets (thick maybe 3/8") to absorb the hammering and transfer the forces to the CV cup rather than into the brittle hardened bearing surfaces. Also the grooves in the boards/sheets would have to be perfectly sized to fit around the axle, but not let the bands fit through. I'd also need to figure out how to prevent the axle from articulating as I'm beating it up for lunch money. Here's my idea, though if anyone has experience doing this without damaging any of the axle components then please share.

I've got a seized rear stub. I'm lost as to how the shaft is removed from the CV joint. From what I've read on here it is technically possible to remove the shaft from the CV joint, as is shown above, but this takes some finesse. I do not have a press and I don't want to wallop on the joint since the hardened steel is brittle. Does anyone have any pointers on how to remove the shaft? Is it possible to angle the joint with the shaft still in place, then use a brass punch to shift the cage enough to remove the balls without removing the shaft? Isn't all that retains the shaft is a circlip, similar to the DOJ retaining clip but smaller in diameter? Thanks :] P.S. I'm trying to remove the stub since I'm doing my rear wheel bearings. Technically I can reinstall the axle without removing the stub and get everything lined up. But in the future if I need to replace the stub (sheared splines, etc) then I'm basically SOL and have to replace the entire axle.

Sounds good. I have replacement shoes that I got for a steal so I'll carry them around just in case. Should get some replacement axle washers too. They're ceramic shoes, are those more brittle than the organic shoes? I wasn't being rough at all and it chipped. It wasn't chipped beforehand, I definitely did it but I was shocked at how easily it happened. Thanks :]

I've been redoing all my wheel bearings, seals, and brakes. While pulling a late one (tonight, literally minutes ago) as I was putting on my new drum I chipped a shoe. I didn't have the auto adjuster fully backed out, only 2 or 3 teeth until it was fully backed out and the shoe must not have been sitting perfectly concentric with the drum. Either way, it's about the size of a grain of rice. Should I replace my mistake or let it go? This is my first time fully redoing drum brakes. Don't worry, I cleaned up the excess brake lube. That stuff's like anti seize. One drop can paint a house.

What I've learned refurbishing my 3rd gen wagon (89 GL). Parts: Hoard them. Buy yourself an ultrasonic cleaner because there's gonna be a lot of greasy used parts you'll need to clean if you intend to run this car for any period of time. Engine: EA82's are simple to teardown. However, aluminum threads don't like to be abused. Be careful with exhaust flanges and intake manifold bolts. They tend to strip or corrode in some form or another. Pistons, connecting rods, valve springs, valves, valve retainers, oil pumps, OEM water pumps, cylinder heads without deep cracks, oil pickups, and more can be difficult to find. Luckily you're in the right place to find them but still. There's a reason EA82's have gone the way of the dodo. Buying a good parts engine (if you can find one) isn't a bad idea. Suspension: Front struts and good quality front strut mounts are difficult to find. The chinesium parts that makes up 80% of the parts market for these cars usually aren't worth giving the time of day. Look at DRW Bushings for suspension bushings. I've been very impressed with the bushings and the owner's communication, I'd highly recommend. Springs can be hard to find, there are overload springs out there. Wheels & Bearings: 4x140 is going to be your biggest hurdle. Looks like you've got a set of shallow wagon wheels (I'm jealous). It's just difficult to find known good wheels, new 4x140 wheels are quite obscure. Bearings aren't too bad if you have a bearing puller. Honestly the seals can put up more of a fight than the bearings. Remember to replace your axle nut spring washers. Axles: If they're not rusty and crusty, clean them and reboot them. Buy neoprene boots, I recommend EMPI. I use Yamalube ACC-MOLDM-GS-05. Use what you like but it's good grease. You may find out, if you haven't already, that if you do need to replace an axle, it's difficult to buy "the right one". There are multiple different axles (4 or 5, I can't remember) that are used depending on the cars drivetrain and fuel delivery system. Stay away from most cheap axles. Sometimes remans are okay but your best bet is used OEM that have been cleaned and rebooted. Get familiar with the identification bands on the axle shafts near the outer boot and your axle spline count. Outer axle joints cannot be disassembled, to clean wipe the grease off and pour a cleaning solvent into the joint. Pour out the sludge and wipe away the rest. Let the solvent off gas and repack with grease. Interior: Speedometer cables and throttle cables can be difficult to find. Yes there are cheap parts put there, but those are always a crap shoot. The foam on the HVAC blend doors has probably severely degraded and that will cause issues with actually feeling the full effect of your HVAC system. I'd recommend replacing the foam. Once you've torn the dash off, its easy to do again. Getting it back together can be a pain with the HVAC controls (4 vacuum hoses and a cable). Plastic trim pieces are NLA and will have to be a junkyard, craigslist, or eBay find. If you decide to manual swap the car, get a pedal box from a later GL or a Loyale. Older pedal boxes are prone to cracking. Glass: Junkyard. Literature: Get a copy of a parts manual and I'd also recommend a hardcopy of the factory service manual set. Yes you can find them mostly online but having a hardcopy is very helpful. Good luck :]

I have a parts guy, we're going to get in contact this weekend (he's busy out of town at the moment) to see when we can meet. I need to get over there asap to pick up an engine while mine out of my GL is being rebuilt (6 months at this point). I know he's got a turbo car, no clue on his prices. If you PM me a list of parts (stuff you'd want for the future?), I'll ask. I know he's got a turbo car sitting there. I also have a turbo cylinder head I'm not going to use since mine is N/A. I just got it for a really good price. If you're interested PM me and lmk. :] P.S. https://turbochargersdirect.com/turbochargers-direct-remanufactured-oem-turbo-for-subaru-gl-xt-rx-and-loyale-1-8l-tur-106018-tdr/?srsltid=AfmBOoqOzF6v587m_TyQszG6yslhtNdmZ1ZJRiWPfLog9jMkZBbPHLPI

I wouldn't mind the stock gauges, but they are so vague. My GL has the fancy gauge cluster with voltage, oil pressure, and temp. But I'd like actual values rather than relying on a 35 y/o gauge without values. I actually don't know if my oil pressure gauge works. The P/O had a mechanical gauge installed where the dash clock was and this leaked oil all over the dash wiring harness and he cut into the defrost vent to get the gauge to fit. That really didn't help on a Wisconsin winter morning. I just like numbers for monitoring and diagnostic. :] If I had to choose one gauge to not get, it'd be the fuel pressure.

ISSPRO has them. I'd go all ISSPRO since they're good quality and come with sensors and harnesses. But they cost a pretty penny, thus this discussion before I spend that chunk of change. Plus you can program in custom warning lights and change the backlight colors. :]

I'd like to install some electronic aftermarket gauges on my dash to display more data and keep tabs on the health on my EA82. Electric gauges since I wouldn't have to run fluid lines into the cabin. Though I prefer the simplicity and cost of mechanical gauges. The gauges I'd like to install are oil pressure, coolant temp, fuel pressure, and coolant pressure. The reason for the coolant pressure is that I'd, in theory, be able to see if my coolant pressure is spiking/ rising and thus detect head gasket leaks into the cooling system. Also monitor the water pump performance. For my coolant temp, I'd thought of installing a T-fitting to where the stock coolant temp sensor sits, allowing me to keep the stock one and add on the additional sensor. Will this affect my temp readings? Would this cause turbulence in the cooling system? Would air cooling the fitting throw off my readings? Would my readings be affected by the sensor being repositioned in relation to coolant flow? I've never messed with aftermarket electric gauges before and I'm open to thoughts and opinions before I go and spend the money on the gauges and sensors. Thanks :]

Congrats man, glad you're keeping it on the road. For suspension work, check out King Springs, they have overload springs that stiffen the suspension up quite a bit. Kind of a rough ride but allows for more cargo capacity and handles better. You may have a tough time finding front struts. But they're out there if you keep your eyes open and have patience. Their availability seems to come in waves. Also check out DRW bushings, good polyurethane bushings made by a very small business. If you ever need parts you can't find, I have a local parts guy I plan to visit in the next few weeks. Shoot me a PM if you need anything. :] P.S. you plan on doing wheel bearings while you're in there doing brakes?