Well last week I finally burnt through the tank of fuel I had in the project wagon which had some additives in it ("garanteed to pass" and some sea foam) and went out and got some Chevron 87 octane gas in it...

 

And today, I changed out the oil, which hasnt been changed since I put the motor back in last year which also had some additives in it (sea foam, "no smoke", some thick oil valve-silencer stuff) and had turned pitch black. So I put in some Castrol GTX 20w50 (been recomended on the forums before), a nice Mobil 1 filter (was recomended on the Oil filter review web page), and just a little tiny bit of the no-smoke and filter additive (instead of the Mystery Oil stuff).

 

Since I put the motor in, i've had a horrible time with the wagon keeping it idling right. I'd go out for a test drive, and after a few blocks it wouldnt want to idle anymore and I'd have to keep my foot on the gas to keep it running... After about an hour of idling too, it would do the same thing..

 

Today was a totally different story, after the oil change I idled it for 30 minutes or so, then took it out on a 5 mile test run and it idled PERFECT at stops and never missed a beat (still doesnt sound 100% in terms of valves, but im not sure how this motor should sound exactly either).

So I idled it another 45 minutes or so to make sure it wouldnt die on me, which it didnt, so I took it out on another couple mile test run getting it up to ~50mph or so (speedo still doesnt work) and it never caused any trouble... I just turned the car off now, and it never did have any issues.

 

Granted, I still dont think it will pass smog, it still has a tad bit of backfire and small puffs of smoke if you give it gas, but its FAR better than it was before.

 

Now, I think I can actually make the trip up the hill to the local subaru specialist (Barsotti) who can help figure out what I need to get it smoged and get it running so I can do my painting and other things to finish off the car

 

Do oil/gas changes really work this well with our cars??? Wierd...

After a testimony like that... then yes, i would have to say addatives do make a difference Glad to hear its running better. Now get it smogged so you can finish the project and get it to some shows!

 

-Brian

I might take it to get a test-only smog test...