Okay.. this afternoon I found the belt covers but no inspection holes. One cover was partially pulled open anyways, so I stuck my finger through that. Belt was there and not falling off the cam. On the other side, I found a hole that was drilled through the cover on the outer edge of the gear. With some creative knuckle relocation, I was able to feel a belt on the gear.

 

Since I couldnt find the freakin starter (they moved it from being right there on top as is in the EA71!! Those tards!), I brought out my trusty screwdriver and removed the cover around the steering wheel. Found the ignition switch easy to remove and do the flathead screwdriver trick. After cleaning out the corrosion that had formed from sitting for so long, I finally got the switch to bump the starter over. About 5 more minutes of jiggling it, it finally turned over, but no go. Found me a can of ether, and did the thing. It fired right up.

 

It runs like a 3 banger... and has a serious delay between me applying throttle and the revs coming up.. but it does run nonetheless. I started to drive it in circles around the yard, then the steering lock magically started working again, locking the wheels kinda halfway left. *shrug* So I used the truck to put it back in its spot. So it runs, and 4x works.. but didnt get to check low range before it locked up.

 

Only thing I'm concerned about is the oil pressure gauge didnt move from 0 at anytime within the 3 minutes it was running. The underside of the fill cap smells of burnt oil.. so I guess that would point to the oil pump not doing its thing?

 

Other than that, and the excessive play in the shift lever.. it seems pretty good. I think I'm gonna snag it and make a lifted trail rig outta it.

If the oil pump isn't working then you should hear the lifters ticking. If it really is the oil pump, then you would need a new one or at least a new mickey mouse gasket. To get to the pump, you have to take off the timing belts, so you could check them to see if they need replacing, and if they look even remotely used, replace them, you're already there, no use in having them break later and having to do all that work over again.

 

 

Good luck!

If the oil pump isn't working then you should hear the lifters ticking.

Yep.. theres a helluva tick. I figured it was involved with whatever cylinder is misfiring.

 

To get to the pump, you have to take off the timing belts...

Dang.. I kinda hoped it would've been out in the open like the EA71.

 

Is there any other easy way to verify no oil pressure? Like a plug for a manual sending unit I can pull out long enough to see if anything squirts out? I'd like to be able to test and verify things before I tear down the engine, which I cant do until I officially request the car and get handed a title... which I wouldnt want to do if the car wouldnt be worth it.. dang these catch22's.

Sender is right by the oil filter - big can, one wire. Maybe the wire has come off? That would be the 5 second fix!

wow, that is the same year and color as my turbo wagon. how cool would it be to have both modles of the same car? i wish i could have found something like that instead of my grey 85.

everything we find around herre is mostly lt blue with blue interior. sometimes we will get lucky and find a whiter or grey soob, but its always the same blue interior.