I just purchased a 1994 2WD 5 speed Just, and there are a few things wrong with it. I have never worked on a car without assistance, and so this is all really elementary. Bear with me.

 

I also haven't taken a look at any of this because I'd like someone else's opinion before I jump into this.

 

I got some new tires, and the guy there informed me that it's leaking oil. He pinpointed the valve cover gasket and pan gasket. I intend to replace them, but I read online that a simple slow oil seep from the valve cover isn't urgent. I also read that the gasket can be blown if the PCV valve fails. Should I be very worried about this if the oil level seems to stay the same?

 

How easy are they to replace? I've removed (and reattached, thank you) the oil pan from an 85 nissan kingcab before, but have no experience with Subarus. Is there any basic walkthrough, or diagram of parts involved that you could point me to?

 

My other problem is that my engine idles slightly irregularly, more so when cold. I have had it die a few times in cold weather, mostly when upshifting while accelerating quickly, but once or twice while accelerating while not even shifting.

 

I saw a comment from someone who had a similar problem with a different make of subaru who cleaned out the injection system and fiddled around with the valves to take care of the problem.

 

Does this sound like something I should invest my time in? When it idles, it doesn't seem to be idling slowly.

 

Any advice would be great. I am a novice, so please forgive me. I'm nervous about knocking this thing apart until I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing.

 

-Nathan

Some simple things you can do that might help the idle quailty is do a basic tuneup-plugs, air/gas filters, then put some injector cleaner in the gas tank to help clean out the injectors. If the engine has a high number of miles on it then it could also use a new oxygen sensor. In the process of changing plugs and such you may find somthing that needs tightening or a vaccum hose that needs to be replaced. Thats just a suggestion to start.

 

 

Bill

on your oil leaks.. i would say if its not gushing out and leaving big puddles everywhere you drive, its not going to hurt anything.. the little oil seep you speak of is quite normal on just ab out every subaru i have seen..

 

if its got high miles then i would say its going to leak a little bit of oil.. or have seeping..

 

if your oil level is staying pretty close to the same between changes and your not having to add more than a 1/2 qt.. its really not worth the bother in replacing the gaskets in my opinion..

 

changing the pcv valve would be another good start if you don't know when it was last changed.. also a complete tune up (plugs, wires, gas/air filters, etc.. as stated above) would help narrow down the stalling and irratic idle issue..

Thanks guys, that helps. One other thing I read online about the 94 Justy is that it's a good idea to clean all the electrical terminals and repack them with silicone grease.

 

this is all the terminals under the hood, right? and what should i use to clean them?

 

thanks again,

nathan