Hey all!

 

Thanks for having me and I'm excited to be hear.  I'm picking up a new-to-me 1985 GL-10 turbo wagon and I've got some questions/concerns.  It's got the digital dash which seems to work okay (except it seems to dim when turn signals are on) but the temp guage shows no reading at all.  It illuminates okay but has no actual readings at all.  I've already decided to install an aftermarket temp gauge but I was wondering what type of gauges do you buy and what models seem to work best?

 

The other thing that concerns me is the turbo.  I've never owned a turbo-charged car and I'm not sure if there is anything regarding the turbos that stands out as far as things to watch out for. 

 

Frankly, the car runs really well and is really complete.  It appears to need very little work and I want it to be my daily driver and camping rig.

 

 

Use synthetic oil, let the engine idle for a minute or so after driving, and seriously consider a new radiator. Yours if original is on its last leg. 

Thanks for the advice.  Yeah, I've heard the cooling system on these can be problematic. 

You heard correctly. In addition to checking the radiator, check all 7 (for a non turbo) cooling system hoses. There may be more on a turbo

You heard correctly. In addition to checking the radiator, check all 7 (for a non turbo) cooling system hoses. There may be more on a turbo

 

 

Thanks for the advice.  Yeah, I've heard the cooling system on these can be problematic. 

 

 

Any experience with aftermarket temp gauges?

The water gauge on the digidash is notoriously unreliable.  When buying an EA82T its common practice to assume that one or both of the head gaskets are blown.

For a temp guage, [or anything else] I would look around, local places, online, etc.  Don't buy the cheapest.  I try to avoid made in China crap.

 

Actually, I should go looking for one for my Dynahoe.

Thanks again all for your input.  I bit the bullet and bought the old girl and am amazed at how practical these cars are.  Love the flat folding back seat and the storage compartments all over the place.  So far I'm loving this car.

 

I do have one more concern though.  The car runs well, idles smoothly, doesn't blow smoke and seems to rev quickly without hesitation.  However, it does make a slight knocking noise at idle that's also somewhat noticeable as the engine revs and then goes away.  It's always faintly present at idle though.  Oil pressure light has never come on and, other than the noise, shows no other issues.  I'm not sure if I should be concerned by this as I had a buddy with an old Loyale that seemed to make similar noises but always ran despite the abuse he gave it.  Could it be piston slap or something worse?  At this point I'm not too concerned about it but thought I'd ask the experts.  Any further advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Is it a deep knocking sound, or more of a thin tick / click?

 

It's common for a lifter to stick, and the clicking / ticking is loud.  Search "Tick of death" , there has been a lot of info about cause & fixing.

Is it a deep knocking sound, or more of a thin tick / click?

 

It's common for a lifter to stick, and the clicking / ticking is loud.  Search "Tick of death" , there has been a lot of info about cause & fixing.

 

It's deeper but it's hard to be sure.  Hopefully its nothing serious but it may be something I live with.  Like I said, runs awesome and no other symptoms besides a noise.  Maybe I'm just being paranoid since this is the first old Subie I've ever owned.

Here is a car with lifter tick.  Of 1 lifter.

 

Search "tick of death" for a few more.

If you have a black residue in the coolant overflow bottle or a gritty material on the bottom side of the radiator cap, then welcome to the world of perpetual cylinder head gasket changes.  Better get your hands on some good backup distributors, because the 85 and 86's turbo distys, have issues.  As in sudden failure.

The problem with the temperature gauge is that the connection to the thermostat on top of the engine, gets corroded.  Remove and clean.  Replace.  The turbo temp gauge is all over the map, and can rise by a couple of notches if you just turn the headlights on, or turn the heater on.  Ignore the temperature gauge, and don't bother pissing money away on it.  If you plan on driving the chit out of it, you will crack the cylinder heads even more than they already are.  You probably have GEN 1 heads, which are the worst.  Look at the bottom of the engine at the cylinder heads, to see if there is either a line beneath the EA82(Gen 2), or the EA82 is enclosed inside of a rectangle (Gen 3).  Gen 1's have neither a line nor a rectangle.  Basically, you want to drive your turbo as if you were a little old lady going to sunday school.

Here is a car with lifter tick.  Of 1 lifter.

 

 

Search "tick of death" for a few more.

 

The noise I hear is nowhere near as pronounced as that.  I doubt I would have bought the car with a noise like that.  Great video, thanks for sharing it.

If you have a black residue in the coolant overflow bottle or a gritty material on the bottom side of the radiator cap, then welcome to the world of perpetual cylinder head gasket changes.  Better get your hands on some good backup distributors, because the 85 and 86's turbo distys, have issues.  As in sudden failure.

 

I actually got an extra distributor with the car so that's good I guess. No residue in the cooling system.  The heads were redone about 3k ago.

 

The problem with the temperature gauge is that the connection to the thermostat on top of the engine, gets corroded.  Remove and clean.  Replace.  The turbo temp gauge is all over the map, and can rise by a couple of notches if you just turn the headlights on, or turn the heater on.  Ignore the temperature gauge, and don't bother pissing money away on it.  If you plan on driving the chit out of it, you will crack the cylinder heads even more than they already are.  You probably have GEN 1 heads, which are the worst.  Look at the bottom of the engine at the cylinder heads, to see if there is either a line beneath the EA82(Gen 2), or the EA82 is enclosed inside of a rectangle (Gen 3).  Gen 1's have neither a line nor a rectangle.  Basically, you want to drive your turbo as if you were a little old lady going to sunday school.

Yeah, its an old car and I'll use it mainly to commute to work and back as well as the odd camping trip on the weekends.  Could you clarify what I should look for regarding which generation of cylinder heads I have?  There is a line next to the "EA82" on the passenger side.  Is that  what you're referring to?  If so then I'd say Gen 2?

The raised metal line for a GEN 2, would be below the raised letters EA82.  You most likely have GEN 1, which have no raised line or raised rectangle.  You are already stuck with whatever you got.  You might want to keep an eye out for some GEN 3 heads, if you ever have to change out a cylinder head gasket, or somebody strips the bolts from the exhaust cross-pipe.