DirtyMech
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Posts posted by DirtyMech
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I've got a 1999 Legacy-Outback Limited wagon that I am trying to replace the power antenna on but am having difficulty. The antenna motor is fine (I can hear it running every time I turn the car off), but the antenna itself has been snapped off. Thus I have the replacement one from the dealer, complete with gear-toothed plastic tail and replacement retaining nut (picture of that included).
The retaining nut is the part I'm having the problem with. I read my Haynes manual and the removal section for the power antenna is telling me nothing useful. It looks like a tool similar to snap ring removal pliers would be the trick for removing this nut. I talked to a guy in the service department of the dealership and he says there's actually no special tool for removing the nut, just a hammer in combination with a pointed chisel or pick tool.
I've tried hitting the thing with Liquid Wrench and using a hammer in combination with pick, trying to unscrew the thing. I looked at the thread direction on the replacement nut and the direction of the threats is intuitive, counter-clockwise as they ascend (as you might notice in the picture). This has given me no luck thus far, and i've hit it pretty hard, going back and forth from one of the two divets to the other, always striking in the counter-clockwise direction.
Thus far I have been unable to loosen or remove the retaining nut, and I feel like there must be something I'm missing. Do any of you know what it is? Is there some part of the removal process I haven't figured out, or is my method of removing the retaining nut at fault? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Oh yeah, success! Got the car running and made it to my destination last night. All my symptoms were caused by the alternator. The engine noise was the faulty alternator bearing or shaft components grinding. All the other electrical problems were solved by the replacement of the alternator. Set me back four hours but I got it all fixed without using a tow truck or bumming a jump from someone.
There was an awesome mobile mechanic named Kim parked in the corner of the O'reilly lot in Oakland. He helped me out with a couple tools I forgot at the house after I had charged my battery and driven without shutting the engine off until I got to the parts store. It was my best parts store experience ever because none of the employees minded that A) I was working in the parking lot on my broken down car, and
a mobile mechanic was parked in the corner just helping people out who needed assistance. Wish every auto store had that kind of attitude and a helpful guy like that in their parking lot! -
Got it charged enough to test.
Sitting Voltage: 12.55
Running Voltage: 12.61
Looks like the alternator. Put it back in the charger.
Current Charging Voltage: 12.71
Looking for a local supplier now.
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Hello all. My apologies in advance, I know people here like to have all their information
on the first post, but I was trying to get out of town and my car is effectively dead now.
I'm diagnosing the problem in realtime and any help or knowledge from past experiences
you could offer would be very much appreciated. It may be that I already have the proper
diagnosis and would just like to get confirmation. I am mechanically knowledgable.
I've got a '95 Subaru Legacy EJ22 Wagon. My batter died due to a suspected dead alternator.
The following things happened prior to the battery dying, while I was driving. At startup:
- The engine was making a faint wheezing noise at low RPMs.
- The temperature gauge was running slightly lower than normal.
Shortly thereafter these things happened:
-The speedometer completely gave out completely.
- The tachometer started giving wild readings.
- The trip and odo meters stopped working.
- My radio started cutting out.
- The battery started dying.
Fortunately I was able to recognize the symptoms and park the wagon outside
of my house before turning off the engine and losing starting-capable voltage.
I've checked the battery voltage and it's 12.1 Haven't gotten a chance to check voltage
while running the car but I am charging the battery now and will test it very shortly.
I know this is a texbook dead alternator. I checked the label and its a remanufactured Hitachi from 1997.
Big suprise, I know. The thing I'm amazed about is all the symptoms. Would the speedometer, odo, trip,
and tachometer all be caused by a bad alternator? If so then it must be a very digital instrument cluster!
I'm also curious to know because I am planning to drive my car to the closest place with an alternator
in stock and want to make sure there are no other problems going on.
Much thanks!
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I haven't used a cutter, I've used stones
Pretty well the same thing, when you use stones you must true them up all the time, a cutter is supposed to be harder than the valve seat (use cutting oil), never needs truing, and is far more suited to high volume production.
Lapping a "new" valve is perfectly acceptable, as long as you can get the seat to conform in short order, if you end up working the valve too much the contact area gets too wide, and you will be back inside in short order. The guides must be ok to lap the valve(s) successfully.
Cool, thanks for the expert advice Reveen! And thank you to everyone else who has offered advice. I measured how much the new valve's margins protrude from the old valve seats, and it appears to be almost exactly 1/16 of an inch. Therefore I feel confident attempting the valve lapping procedure first. Wish me luck!
On a side note, is that the Canadian (edit: Australian) magician Reveen that Ricky from Trailer Park Boys is mockingly nicknamed after? I was wondering how it was spelt; I could never find anything about him online!
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http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/89678_valve_angles/index.html
http://64.78.42.182/sweethaven/MechTech/Automotive01/default.asp?unNum=2&lesNum=4&modNum=4
Its technically not a hard thing to do, but i would find an old head to practice on.
I havent used a cutter, i've used stones, but here is a cutter
nipper
Awesome dude. I think I might actully try that first. Thank you!
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To Torxxx: Hell no. If I have to spend on special tools A HUNDED TIMES what I'd otherwise
have to pay a shop mechanic, then that's what I'll do. And yes, I'd like to be able to do
this for part of my living, and if not, at least for myself and my own stubborn curiosity.
To Screwbaru2: Awesome, that was exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you so much for cluing
me into Lapping Compound. Since I'm not hoping to make this car run forever, I'll try that first, though
I know I'll eventually be shelling out for the real tools. I'm still grateful for any suggestions on that
front if anyone highly reommends a particular tool.
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er um
i am so afraid of you
"i wanted to save a little money" goes right up there with "here, hold my beer."
nipper
Ha ha yes nipper, I'm a novice with a tight budget. Thank you sooo much for going out of your way to discourage my attempt at a home repair job while pointing that out. While the initial ideas I threw out there might have seemed a bit naive (though the second one sounds very close to what's in that link you posted), I would've expected that kind of overtly disdainful remark from a dealership mechanic rather than a fellow USMB poster. And just to clarify, "I wanted to save a little money" (by doing the job at home) is one of the major reasons, if not The major reason, that this forum exists, no?
On a less sarcastic note, thank you sincerely for cluing me into the valve seat grinding tool. That's more or less exactly what I was hoping existed out there.
While, as you noted, I'm no automotive expert, I do understand from my 2000 Ed. of the GW Automotive Encyclopedia manual that the valve margins must extend 1/16" from the valve seats in all cylinder heads in order to ensure that the valves don't overheat. If the replacement valves are new and I have this tool, do you imagine I could meet this specification without the valve lathe?
If not, can anyone recommend a decent and affordable valve lathe?
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I'm replacing some intake valves in a cylinder head right now, and have found that,
big surprise, the new valves don't fully seal. I strongly suspect that the engine will
run like crap if I don't make these seats air-tight.
So I'm wondering if anyone here has succeeded in grinding their own valve seats and
margins at home? I understand that this is a high-precision operation that normally
requires accuracy within .001" and some very expensive machining tools.
Therefore my questiions is a two-parter:
1. Are there any shortcuts that would suffice for doing this job? I've imagined using squares
of snadpaper to put over the valve stems and grind the seats by rotating the valves in-place,
or using some low-cost drill bit attachments that are specifically made to grind the seats and
margins. So far I haven't been able to find any cheap tools or short-cuts like this.
2. I may have some money to invest in a proper valve griding machine. Does anyone recommend
a model or brand that goes for well under $10,000 new?
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Okay so that's my question. Now for general amusement, I'd like to share the at-home techniques I've used to detect the valve seal leakage:
1. Light Test: Put a small flashlght in the intake/exhaust ports in a dark room, and check if light shines through the valve seals.
2. Water Test: Put a garden hose in the intake/exhaust ports and check seals for water leakage with hose at full blast.
3. Air Test: Seal intake/exhaust port with lips (if possible) and blow into port to check for air-tightness. This is a bit harder to do than the others,
especially with heads that have fuel-injector ports, but it seems to be very effective.
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I resued all the gaskets except the head gaskets (the guy was cheap).
Then you should have sent him somewhere else.
The front cap for one of the four camshafts had both bolts round out slightly in their bores, so only 8 of 10 bolts are snug on it.
These engines are, well, what they are. You will get all kinds of strange noises out of them if things in the cam, chain, front pulley/damper, aren't within spec, noises such as you describe (though I like the sound of a diesel engine), even switching the rotational direction of the cam chain (re-using the old one, flipping it around) can cause a noise as the chain, and gears, take a "set" to them. . The crankshaft end play can be excessive, and just by disturbing the front, can cause a sound like a bad rod (not quite the noise you describe). These engines are the "bic lighter" (cheap, and disposable) of the auto industry.
All you can do is take it apart, carefully inspect EVERYTHING, replace anything questionable, and re-assemble carefully to spec.
Yea I should have. Ho well.
Thanks Reveen. Will do. New exhaust gaskets, timing chains, and tighter dampner...but fixing the 10mm head cam bolts in an aluminium head would be near impossible, no?
I suppose I would notice the camshaft slightly loose if I removed the cover once more and tried to jiggle it.
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I did a head gasket recently on a 2000 Intrepid. It has a a V6 DOHC engine with 4 camshafts and 3 timing chains. After the job, the car now makes a hard cranking sound while at idle, which sounds almost identical to a diesel engine, though perhaps a bit louder. The sound is most noticeable at idle and does not become louder with acceleration.
I was wondering if any of my fellow Subaru driver-mechanics have had a similar experience that might explain this sound comming from a gasoline engine. I'm a bit afraid I might have messed up something. My potential guesses are:
- One of the header or EGR exhaust gaskets. I resued all the gaskets except the head gaskets (the guy was cheap).
- The cranshaft pulley might be too loose. I wasn't able to get it very tight because its an automatic and I had no grabber tool. I noticed a moderate wobble in the crankshaft pulley after the job as well.
- Loose camshaft. The front cap for one of the four camshafts had both bolts round out slightly in their bores, so only 8 of 10 bolts are snug on it. These are the only bolts that rounded out during the job.
- Bad cylinder seal. I haven't had a chance to do a cylinder pressure test, but will do one soon.
I doubt its the timing chains because the car accelerates and idles smoothly (except for the noise)! Could any of these, or some other thing, cause a diesel-like sound from a gasoline engine? Thank you for all input.
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*smacks head*
Thanks, Ron. There IS no refrigerant in the damn system. And I just read about that cutoff switch you mentioned in the archives. I'm off to Autozone to get an R12/R134a conversion kit. I'll post my results.
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Hey all. Long time no post. I used to own an 85 DL, but recently traded up for a 1993 Subaru L Wagon, forest green, with AWD, a moon roof, and *GASP* a towing hitch! Its rocks
Well there were a few things wrong with it when I got her. One is that the air conditioning isn't working. I've put it off for a while, but now its summer and starting to get hot as hell. I'd love to death anyone who could help me figure this thing out. Here are the symptoms so far:
1) The AC compressor clutch does not move at any time, whether the AC is off or on. Upon further inspection, I found that the one wire going to the compressor has zero voltage at all times, regardless of whether the AC is on or off in the cabin. I traced the wire nearly to the fuse box and found it still had no voltage.
2) The four relays and two fuses (one marked AC and the other marked Sub Fan) in the fuse box appear to be alright. The fuses are definitely OK but I have do not know how to test the relays. Each relay has four prongs, two copper colored prongs and two steel-colored prongs.
So here are my questions.
A) Is there any way to test the four AC relays and is it worthwhile to try replacing them?
Would it be safe to attempt to "jump" the compressor wire to the battery and see if the compressor runs?C) What should I try to do to fix this? Are there any tests that I can do and report back on for more information?
Huge thanks for any help or advice that anyone is able to give!
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Hey guys. Sorry. Turned out to be about a quart and a half of coolant was missing from the radiator! I filled it up and ran it, and no more overheating! Air bubble 4 sure!
But after filling the cooling system up I found a leak coming from the bottom center of the radiator. Poured in a bottle of powdered aluminium, ran it on the highway for 30 miles, and am waiting for results back now. It seems that the leak is gone for the moment...
What do you guys think of powdered aluminium, by the way? I know it's god a bad rap and I've heard some negative stories, but I've personally never had an unpleasant experience using the stuff on small radiator leaks.
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Hello all!
I bought a 1990 Legacy wagon (5 speed) a while back with the intention of fixing it up and selling it. There is one problem though, that eludes me.
Often when starting the car and driving it, ESPECIALLY when starting the car after it is already partially warm (during stop-and-go driving), the engine will tend to overheat. I am able to solve this problem by putting it into neutral and slamming the throttle up to 6000 RPM, which immediately causes the temperature to go back down and stay down.
I've checked the thermostat. It is not clogged and works great. I've removed and cleaned the temperature gague sensor, and the connection is good. The coolant is fairly new, but I'm planning on flushing the whole system today to see if I can't solve the problem.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Could this be a clogged head gasket passageway? A mechanic who inspected the vehicle thought it might be a bad head gasket.... Any advice?
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Hey all. I just got a replacement windisheld for my Subaru from the Pick N Pull this weekend. Old one had a two-foot wide crack in it. Unfortunately, while removing the windshield from the junk yard Subaru (very hard by the way!), I managed to put a tiny crack in it on the bottom-center edge. It's only about two or three inches long, but I was told by someone at the yard that the crack would spread when I attempt to press the windshield into the putty while installing.
Can this small crack be repaired somehow? Could a shop specializing in auto glass fix this crack somehow, before I install it into the car? If not, is there anything I can do to help prevent the crack from spreading?
I imagine if there's nothing I can do, I'll just very delicately install the windshield as-is, because the crack in the old one looks a helluva lot worse than the crack in the replacement one.
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Hey Thanks Jamal!
Yes! The right-hand CV axle boot IS torn, while the left one is not. So that answers my main question!
I won't need any special tools to replace the axle then I assume. Could I use my Haynes manual for my Legacy as a guide? I assume the procedure is pretty much identical. Thanks for your help so far! I'm checking out that parts site right now...
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Hi all!
A friend of mine just bought a 1993 Subaru Impreza (looks like an Outback Sport) with an EJ18 Engine and a 5 speed manual transmission.
It seems that one of the outer CV joints is bad. When going through a right-hand turn the front axle creaks and makes noise really bad, and when on the freeway beyond 60 mph the axle makes noise and the car pulls hard to the right (scary!).
The previous owner said he took it into a mechanic who confirmed that it was a bad cv joint. BUT he didn't specify which one it was, or if it was both. We are assuming at this time that it is the right side (passenger's side) cv joint. Is there any way to confirm this, via visual inspection or some sort of test? ALSO, is replacing the cv joint basically the same as replacing one on a Legacy? You need to replace the whole outer CV joint and driveaxle shaft as one piece, correct? Any small bit of advice is GREATLY APPRECIATED!
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Hey all. Same old wagon: EA82 2wd 5 speed 2bbl hitachi carb.
I've been having this problem for a while, and have asked offhand in other threads I've started, but this problem is REALLY starting to bug me. Fixing it would be awesome possum.
My EA82 will change it's idle speed erratically for some reason. I set it at 800 RPM, but when I come to a stop sometimes, the idle will go waaaaay low like 500 RPM, causing the engine to knock and sputter. If I put my foot on the gas lightly and let off, the idle speed will 'hover' at 1000 RPM or more. Putting the pedal to the floor and letting off quickly will rev the engine a bit, but resets the idle speed to normal, but I have to do this at EVERY damn stop I come to, which is annoying.
The throttle cable is NOT sticking, and the carburetor was recently replaced. BOTH carburetors did this thing. I checked the vacuum advance on the distributor by giving it mouth-to-mouth (yuck!) and it seems to be working fine. No leak-down. But still the distributor is old...
Could this be the distributor somehow? ALSO I have my duty solenoids disconnected because my 02 sensor is bad and needs to be replaced...gotta get to that at some point. Could either of these things be causing the bad idle speed?
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Ummm no the engine is not pinging. SOMETHING is causing the idle to be insanely erratic though. I found out that the knocking sound I was experiencing before was the idle suddenly dropping to around 300 or 400 RPM, causing the engine to sputter and die. WTF!
The exhaust tube could be the cause of that sound? Is there any way I could test that? I've removed parts of the exhaust before...
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Same old Wagon: 1985 EA82 2WD Carbd 5 speed. This has been a sound that has gradually gotten worse. Whenever I accelerate fast or put the engine under too much strain there is a grinding/rattling metal sound like a shaft scraping against something, or a bunch of tabs being shaken around in an empty coke can. This sound is comming from the area of the engine/tranny.
Could this be a worn drivetrain bearing somewhere? Doesn't seem it would be anything valve related...it sounds like if I put the car under too much strain I could overdo it and cause whatever is making the sound to break. I don't care if its something inside the engine; I can fix that. And the tranny needs to be replaced at some point soon anyhow. But what could this be? I'm not leaking any oil or anything, just a strange internal sound that is stress-related.
Any guesses?
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Hey there. YES the idle is erratic. And I've noticed that by pushing the gas pedal to the floor and letting off quickly the car will go back to its proper idle speed. BUT if I slowly rev the engine to about 2000 RPM and then carefully let off the gas, the engine will 'float' at a higher RPM for some reason, until i pound the gas to the floor again. I don't know why the hell the car is doing this; both the old and new carburetor did this for som reason.
I've heard the HVLA tick of death that some people are describing. This is nothing like that. The knock sound is muffled, not obnoxious, and is always precedes the engine dying. When it does happen, the whole engine shakes on its mounts and then the engine dies. PERHAPS this is simply because something like the distributor is allowing the engine to idle LOWER than 700, causing the engine to naturally die. I don't know. Like I said I'm going to be carrying my tachometer around with me and see if I can't recreate the knocking at a HIGH RPM to eliminate this possibility.
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Hmmm. Well what could it be then? I just checked the distributor timing and vacuum advance system. The two vacuum advance hoses were on snugly (I had even put hose clamps on both of them on the distributor side previously). The hose on the end of the vacuum advance unit was the vacuum hose (apparently) and the other once was a pressure relief/regulator hose or something I guess. Checked vacuum from the intake manifold while the engine was running. Good there. Tested the vacuum advance hose on the end of the unit while the engine was off, and it moved the breaker plate under the dust-proof cover by at least a couple of degrees. The breaker plate is what is supposed to move, not the rotor, correct?
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hey there add this to your subaru dictonary
TOD means tick of death 
. and that's your subaru grammer lesson for today 
Har har! Well I guess that means I'm not the only one who'se experienced the "TOD" then. I just read in the haynes that the HVLAs aren't supposed to depress more than 0.5mm, and I REMEMBER that one of them depressed nearly a centimeter when I took the engine apart for that head gasket job. If everyone seems to think that's what's up then I will DEFINITELY replace them...
Where is the best place to get a new set? I could just replace the faulty one (or however many are bad now) with a good one from the junk yard I suppose, but would brand new ones be a better investment choice?
Alarm System, Disabling Passive Arming Not Working! '99 L-O WGN LTD
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
Posted
Hey all, I've got the aforementioned 1999 Subaru Legacy-Outback Wagon LTD and I've got another problem I'm unable to solve. I got an alarm system on this puppy and it's annoying as hell to me that the alarm automatically arms itself whenever the doors are locked, either by the keyless entry or by the lock-all-doors button on the driver's side door panel. I've read my owner's manual and this is described as the difference between Passive Arming, where the alarm activates whenever all the doors are locked and closed, and Active Arming, where you have to double click the keyless entry to arm the alarm.
Because there are very few times I would feel the alarm to be useful, I'd like to have the option of arming it when I want to, rather than this automatic Passive Arming crap. The manual says that I can disable Passive Arming by disconnecting an electrical connector behind the front of the drivers-side kickboard. Well lo and behold I removed that kickboard and found that the electrical connector described in the manual was ALREADY DISCONNECTED. I thought I must have made a mistake, but it appears to be the connector described in the manual. I tried plugging it in, just to see if that made a difference, and I couldn't discern one. I re-unplugged it and still the alarm was in Passive mode.
The connector is white, with one wire going through it, apparently black with a pink stripe. I'll take a picture of it if that would help in the diagnosis of what the hell is going on here. If anyone has has this problem before or has advice on how to solve it, I would be very grateful.