Hello,

 

I have a 1988 Subaru GL wagon. I posted it here for sale recently as I'm a college student, and didn't think I could afford the repairs it required.

 

 

I'll list the description so you have an idea of what the car is:

 

"SUBARU: GL-10, 1988. 173,000 miles, 4 door, 5-Speed transmission, good condition, Blue exterior, Blue interior, 4WD, radio, cassette, power locks, power windows, rear window defrost.

 

This car was on the West coast for it's whole life until this past winter. It has no real rusting, no holes and the body is in great shape. Interior is very good. It sat in a garage all summer. It will require some repairs to the fuel injector and a solenoid valve to be road-ready. This was the first even semi-serious issue this car had in its history. With a bit of work, it has a lot of life left in it. You all know it is a winter-machine, can drive through most anything, and will go for a long while.

 

I am the second owner, and have put none of the miles on it. It was a family car all its life."

 

I purchased it from a friend as working, and had driven it quite a bit, and it was fine in May. He did some longer trips after that point, and then it sat for 3 months in a parking garage. I jumped it and after driving a mile or so it began smoking and even with the clutch pressed in it resisted rolling, it was very strange. I had to give it way too much gas to even pull over at that point, and it was clearly straining the car. The temperature gauge was rising and of course I pulled over and had it towed.

 

The Subaru dealership I brought it to had done a simple "once over" inspection before I purchased it and informed me of some oil leakage that I had been informed about but didn't find any other major issues - the body was solid, no rust etc.

 

However, it seems now that I brought it in with these recent problems, they informed me that there was a large amount of carbon build up (most likely due to long drives) and that the EGR solenoid and fuel injector needs replacing. I am not sure if questioning a repair price is appropriate on the forums, but he quoted me $998.00. A fellow board member I spoke to said this was outrageous and the repair should be a lot less. What do you think I should do? How much should repairs be and is it worth repairing?

 

Lastly, do any of you know of any mechanics in the Rochester, NY area who could perform this task cheaper than the dealer?

 

I appreciate all the help. I am a newbie on the forum, so please kindly correct me if my etiquette here is not quite correct.

the EGR solenoid and fuel injector needs replacing.

 

Here is how to fix the solenoid for <$20.00:

http://users.adelphia.net/~davidtief/solenoid.html

 

I have not had an injector problem yet (over 16 years w/SPFI subarus)..

 

It takes about 5 screws on top of the engine, to get the injector out of a SPFI / non turbo, so I don't see why they want $900.00+

 

There are fuel additives etc. that are supposed to clean out carbon.

your talk about feeling resistance to acceleration makes me think the catalytic converter might be plugged.

 

the cat is essentially a porcelain honeycomb that "straightens out" the flow of the exhaust air... it also, catalytically, raises the temp to burn off any unburned fuel, which has the effect of cleaner emissions. its a very fine honeycomb, and sometimes they get clogged with carbon buildup, or get brittle and break. my point is, it is VERY easy for the to get physically restricted if something goes wrong. it shouldnt be too much for an exhaust shop to replace it, but you might look into going down there and removing it, and sticking a large screwdriver in there and pounding on the end, and twisting it around, and smash up the honeycomb material and remove it.. i dont know if theres a straight shot at the body thru the exhaust pipe anywhere, but it may be worth a shot. this IS against most laws, as it essentially turns your cat into an expansion box that does nothing for emissions and it may also make your exhaust louder.. but to test the theory, you could certainly remove the exhaust. if you can find a way to disconnect it, or remove a section of pipe without making anything too loose to drive, you could see..

 

plus, i believe any subaru owner needs to hear their engine un-muffled at least once :- )

The estimate is probably so high because a new injector can run upwards

of $550. You can get a refurbished injector for around $70 or even $35 if

you send in a rebuildable core in return. Check these places out -

 

http://www.directautomotiveproducts.com/322a3070.html

 

http://www.fuelinjectorsdirect.com/wizard/default.asp

 

http://www.fuelinjectorsdirect.com/returnservice.asp

 

http://www.autopn.com/autoparts/lookup/auto_parts_listparts.asp?AAIA_ID=1268513&subcat=6224

 

And the solenoid can be taken care of in a number of ways. You can stick

a resistor in it to fake out the computer, get one from the JY, or get one

from here -

http://oem.thepartsbin.com/parts/thepartsbin/quote.jsp?make=SU&year=1988&product=B7079-60044&application=000512384&part=Purge%20Valve%20Assembly&category=All&dp=false

 

And a purge solenoid is the same as an EGR solenoid, just with a different

connector on it. Just splice the connector on if that happens to be all you

can locate at the JY.

Thank you all for the responses.

 

Would my diagnosis of these problems be more helpful if I were to get the error codes of the two problems from the dealer?

 

It sounds like the EGR solenoid and injector problems are relatively easy and inexpensive fixes - thanks a lot for helping me out with that.

 

Now I just am questioning why there would be so much trouble in having the car move, even when in neutral. I would hate to fix the solenoid and injector to find there were transmission issues or something like that. The car did have oil leakage issues in the first place and perhaps the transmission wasn't well lubricated when I began driving it, and I did some damage? What do you think?

it has difficulty rolling in neutral? if thats the case then you can PROBABLY rule out clogged catalytic converter

Would my diagnosis of these problems be more helpful if I were to get the error codes of the two problems from the dealer

 

Yes, but you can read them yourself if you want. The ECU is up under the dash above your right foot, and here is how to read the codes:

http://www.usmb.net/repair/?CurrentDirectory=FOLDER_3f29b58f4430b8.49200047/&FileType=Article&File=ARTICLE_3f2c055f4862e9.3978 2181.art

The problem could be your hill holder. If it's too tight, you won't be able

to move much. Look at your clutch fork and follow the cable that goes

down towards the drivers side brakes. It should connect to a hill holder

assembly with a little spring on it. If that spring is stretched out more than

the the width of a dime between coils, it should be loosened. If that looks

to be the problem, do a SEARCH for "hill holder". There has been quite a few

threads about it's adjustment.