Ok, I found this 1991 Loyale wagon for sale, with 140k miles, manual, 4wd, new tires, runs good, asking $850 obo. It has the 1.8L in it.....Is there anything I should look out for with this engine? Is it as reliable as the 2.2L? Anything that you guys could tell me about this car would be much appreciated.....it seems like a good deal and I think it might go fast, thanks for the help!

All I can say is I bought a 90 for $1500 a number of years ago. The car had 98K on the clock. The car now has 239K. A VO-Tech paint job, attention to maintenance and she'll run for a long long time. Milage about 32 mpg on average. Drive like an old man and you'll be fine.

No - not as reliable as the 2.2.

 

The SPFI EA82 isn't a bad engine. Underpowered (90 HP to the 2.2's 130), eats timing belts, and has a tendancy to leak oil and have annoying valve train noise.

 

The cooling systems aren't great. Not a lot of overhead in cooling capacity, and they can be finicky if the air isn't bled from them properly. Radiators are small.

 

The shift linkage gets sloppy, and the pushbutton 4WD isn't very desireable. Most folks want the dual range or AWD systems.

 

GD

Push button 4WD is great for winter driving and general on-road stuff. For snow driving I prefer it over dual range.

Like GD said, not as reliable as a 2.2, but if you maintain them they last. If it's not rusty $850 is probably a pretty good price.

Andy

No - not as reliable as the 2.2.

 

The SPFI EA82 isn't a bad engine. Underpowered (90 HP to the 2.2's 130), eats timing belts, and has a tendancy to leak oil and have annoying valve train noise.

 

The cooling systems aren't great. Not a lot of overhead in cooling capacity, and they can be finicky if the air isn't bled from them properly. Radiators are small.

 

The shift linkage gets sloppy, and the pushbutton 4WD isn't very desireable. Most folks want the dual range or AWD systems.

 

GD

I agree with GD's remarks above. My experience so far: T Belts have pretty much made it to the predicted 60K except the last one which went at 45. The car is built for reliability, not speed. The oil leaks are reduced to a non-issue by replacement of the oil pan gasket and the valve cover gaskets. Annoying valve train noise is reduced to minimum by new oil pump mickey mouse o'ring and by not allowing your oil to get too old which reduces the efficiency of the small ports in the hydraulic lash adjusters. The cooling system works fine once you put in a new radiator - which the car will probably need sooner or later. The sloppy shift linkage can be addressed with new shifter bits (plastic and rubber). Is the 2.2 engine better? Yup. My wife loves hers.

I agree with GD's remarks above. My experience so far: T Belts have pretty much made it to the predicted 60K except the last one which went at 45. The car is built for reliability, not speed. The oil leaks are reduced to a non-issue by replacement of the oil pan gasket and the valve cover gaskets. Annoying valve train noise is reduced to minimum by new oil pump mickey mouse o'ring and by not allowing your oil to get too old which reduces the efficiency of the small ports in the hydraulic lash adjusters. The cooling system works fine once you put in a new radiator - which the car will probably need sooner or later. The sloppy shift linkage can be addressed with new shifter bits (plastic and rubber). Is the 2.2 engine better? Yup. My wife loves hers.

And I agree with Bill. It took me a year to work out the little things the car needed, but I have turned the wagon into a pretty descent ride. I also get mileage in the low 30's. I've been able to bump the timing up a few degrees without pinging for a small amount of pep. Makes the a/c compressor kicking on a little less noticable.

 

Do take care of any rust issues, seems to be the common death of old gen subarus.