Ok. May be time to retire this thing after all. Just went down to the local driveline shop today. They say they can't rebuild my driveshaft, but have a source who sells rebuilt ones. Complete unit, front and rear shaft w/carrier bearing goes for $368! No way! The car can't be worth that much in the first place, can it? It's got a nearly mint body, and a real nice interior. But leaks oil out the front oil seal pretty bad, A/C is all but kaput, valves clatter at idle(has 177kmiles), power windows are pretty weak, check engine light is on 50% of the time(says EGR valve, which I've replaced), have to run mid-grade gas in it(assume carboned up bad)and now this.

Is there a better way with these drivelines? Or am I stuck? Anybody want a cheap Loyale?

What is the problem with the driveshaft? If it's just u-joints they can be replaced - you have to grind out the stakeing to remove the old one's and the replacement's are for a toyota IIRC. The center carrier bearing is not serviceable. Best bet is just to get a complete used driveline - they are plentiful and cheap.

 

Your EGR code is not the valve - it's the control solenoid near the thermostat housing. You can just replace it with a 33 Ohm, 5 Watt resistor and that will clear the code. You don't need the EGR or the solenoid.

 

The rest of the stuff is minor and can all be fixed at the next timing belt interval. At 177k you still have a fair amount of miles left in it. It's not at all uncommon for your engine to last past 300k.

 

GD

They guy told me U-joints were available, but didn't advise me to try it myself. I've replaced countless U-joints thru the years, so I ain't new to that. But how the heck do you maintain the balance without any solid stops? That staking isn't going to do it for you. Hmmm.

The rest of the stuff, yeah, not THAT big a deal. Thanks for the info on the check engine light though. Hadn't heard that before.

I'll have to reconsider, I guess. Especially as I'm not really in a position to buy anything else right now. Don't want 2 car payments at the same time.

I can get drive shafts at the local pick and pull junk yard, the last one I got was 15 bucks, that was over (70 k ) miles ago, do you have any JY s near you ?

http://www.rockforddriveline.com/replacem.htm

Balancing really isn't an issue with the joints themselves. The bulk of the joint is very near the axis of rotation (they are tiny joints).... it's really just not much of an issue with Subaru drivelines. I haven't ever heard of someone needing a balancing after replacing only the joints - personally I've done probably half a dozen sets of u-joints and it's never been any issue at all.

 

GD

Hmm. Ok. But that was the whole reason I yanked it out in the first place, it was shaking fairly bad. Took it out, and the joints have "flat" spots in them. And as far as going to a junk yard, not so sure I'd get anything any better on a car this old, at least around here. I used to work at a junk yard, and know what I'd be up against.

But thanks guys! You've given me some thoughts. 'preciate it! I'm just at a cross roads with this thing. It's just starting to have enough issues to make me wonder if I want it anymore. I just don't enjoy working on old cars like I used to. (Getting old I guess). And I won't pay shop rates to have someone else to work on anything this old. I've actually kept it more than twice as long as I had intended when I bought it 6 years ago. It was just supposed to be short term until I could buy a new Subie. But it just won't completely die!

Even getting a used driveline from out here on the West Coast would be pretty cheap. Break it down into it's two peices, wrap the ends in cardboard and ship it via UPS. Being there are so many EA82's left here there are also quite a few with fairly low mileage. The drivelines often last the life of the car out here so you could get a decent quality unit I'm sure.

 

GD

Finally looked over at the Rockforddriveline web site. Now THAT looks like the way to go. I may just give that a shot. At least if I do decide to sell the Subie, the 4-wheel will be working. I just happen to be a machinist by trade, so could do a little modifying if needed.

You guys have been very helpful. Thanks!!