So I've been a lurker forever on the forum cause I've been a fan of old subaru's forever just never had one. Anyhow's I had the chance to get one for fifty bucks. Only problem is , it doesn't move. The Previous owner said he was just mobbing around offroad and all of a sudden nothing..... Every gear was nothing , no weird sounds , no bang of bursting parts , no grinding. He assumed clutch so he trailed it home and ripped the tranny off to change the clutch and to his surprise the clutch in it looked brand new. So he lost interest in the car and now i have it.

It's just I really don't think much is wrong with the tranny. Cause I can turn the input shaft and the front diff turns along with the rear output shaft. Also I can grab both front diff outs and turn them to turn input shaft. Everything is smooth and doesn't feel clunky.

Also the car is a 1986 GL Carbed EA82 5spd D/R Wagon

So what I'm asking is where to start?

Also here's a pic , only difference now is that it has a tube bumper.

Welcome!

 

Very Nice Subie, Have you Checked the Axles? ...

 

I Really doubt that all of them could break at the same time but maybe they were in too bad conditions when the previous owner went Wheelin' off-road.

 

Kind Regards.

splines stripped on the input shaft? on the clutch?

did the shift linkages fall loose inbetween shifts?

idk a silent loss of drive is odd, is the trans still out?

 

not bad for 50 bucks, issues or not.

Out of fluid?

Broken axle is the most likely and we have seen them fail first when offroading.

 

Wish i was closer.

Nice Subie!

 

Youre pretty local Id say... cant be that far from Portland Oregon

 

Gotta agree with the other members, from what Ive read, when the car stops moving in every gear... its probably the axles...

 

can you get the front end on jack-stands and put it in FWD and have someone "drive" it? If you see the axle spinning but not the hub its stripped splines... Are the axle nuts tight?

 

Also, is EVERY gear out? Even the 4WD Hi/Lo? A lot of people have the problem with the axle being stripped out but they can still move it in 4WD, it just becomes a RWD vehicle... This can happen with only 1 axle causing the problem.

 

I too own an 86 GL carbed with the 5 Speed D/R mines a sedan though. Do you still have the old hitachi carb or have you gone WEBER

Alright , thanks for the sweet input dudes. So tomorrow (it's at a friend's house) I'm gonna go try the suggestions about the axles and what not. Find out if broken axle(s) , if a hub or two has been stripped or loose axle nuts? As far as EVERY gear , my friend isn't sure on what he all tried cause it happened close to a year ago. Also yes , the tranny is out of the car...... he never put it back in after losing interest.

 

Oh dang, 92_rugby_subie you are close by , like about hour and half. I always forget there's a ton of older roo's around the Gorge or that not everyone on the internet is out of state. As far as my carb goes , I have a weber ready but holding off till it's road worthy. I got all sorts of ideas planned and prepared weber , snorkel , lift , gm alt , relay the headlights , etc. , but those are for my build thread I'm all sorts of excited, but I gotta get the basic stuff fixed first.

Youre on the right track!

 

We can get a wheeling group or mudding group together... I know there are people down here that would be interested but havent spoken up yet.

 

Obviously this is down the road when I buy a lifted Subaru... my 86 GL is too nice for beating the snot out of.

Interesting to see someone from The Dalles on here... I grew up there and took my 87 GL out all sorts of places... out Mill Creek Rd. til a fallen tree blocked the road, all the way out 3 mile road, to road 44 til I hit Highway 35, etc....

 

If you think the tranny is ok, I would stick it back in and see if it moves in 4WD. Now... it COULD be a clutch issue too though... my 82 brat with a brand new clutch for some reason would not move. Swapped it to an 83+ clutch and it was fine. Never figured out the reason it would not move.

 

My money is on a stripped front hub though.

Possibility of the Hi/Low selector being between gears also..

So I've been a lurker forever on the forum cause I've been a fan of old subaru's forever just never had one. Anyhow's I had the chance to get one for fifty bucks.

 

I've love to get that Subaru in the photo. I've been looking for non-rusted-out Loyales for years - but can't find them anymore in the salt-belt of New York State. I've got over 20 4WD Loyale wagons sitting up in my field. All ran when junked. All taken off the road when the rear wheels were no longer attached to the car due to rusted out sub-frames. My last one - a 1992 - just had the rear sub-frame break in two.

Possibility of the Hi/Low selector being between gears also..

 

exactly. I did this once and almost started to mull my motor before i realized it. 50 bucks is a good deal.

Possibility of the Hi/Low selector being between gears also..

 

this was my first thought as well - the lever may have been bumped/knocked out of gear?

 

stranger things have happened. . .

Well , I've been slow on the updates cause my current driver (98 explorer 5.0) was acting up and using up my attention. Any hows that's solved so I had a chance to go play with my subaru a little.

 

As far as stripped hubs , I can't turn any (axles) by hand , everything seems tight. Course that's not saying much cause I can't come near the power of an engine through my hand and the car sat long enough to maybe rust the axle to the hubs even if they were stripped. As soon as I get this thing to my house , I can get much more done and quicker. Next time I'm there or have it at my house I'll pull the tires and check the hubs visually.

 

Flowmastered87GL : Way sweet , it's funny hearing the names of local back roads on a forum. It seems you escaped The Dalles though. What was your graduating class?

Sorry for bringing this back from the dead but I thought I should post what the problem was and the fix. It ended up being clutch adjustment. All I did was put everything (clutch ,pressure plate, tranny, shift linkage , shifter , replaced driver inner boot without removing axle from hub) back in the car and put the nut on the cable where it felt good and volia. I really can't believe the previous owner didn't try that. Instead they tore out the tranny and the entire shifter assembly for something that just needed 15 minutes and 2 wrenches. Also only about 3/4 of the required fasteners were still around. Whatever , I gained so much experience from it. First time for me doing all that is typed here.

 

 

 

also there was a side project of opening the transmission and putting the low range gears back together. cause the PO had tried to get the input shaft out without opening the case (god knows why) and eneded up separating the low range gear set. This was after the car wouldn't move and cause they thought it was the tranny that died. So they messed with it before giving up causing more problems.

 

Next up is putting the weber on and do the exhaust attempting to make it sound like a wrx

Edited May 11, 201213 yr by chaseman

Sorry for bringing this back from the dead but I thought I should post what the problem was and the fix. It ended up being clutch adjustment. All I did was put everything (clutch ,pressure plate, tranny, shift linkage , shifter , replaced driver inner boot without removing axle from hub) back in the car and put the nut on the cable where it felt good and volia. I really can't believe the previous owner didn't try that. Instead they tore out the tranny and the entire shifter assembly for something that just needed 15 minutes and 2 wrenches. Also only about 3/4 of the required fasteners were still around. Whatever , I gained so much experience from it. First time for me doing all that is typed here.

 

 

 

also there was a side project of opening the transmission and putting the low range gears back together. cause the PO had tried to get the input shaft out without opening the case (god knows why) and eneded up separating the low range gear set. This was after the car wouldn't move and cause they thought it was the tranny that died. So they messed with it before giving up causing more problems.

 

Next up is putting the weber on and do the exhaust attempting to make it sound like a wrx

 

Glasspack sounds pretty sick haha