edrach

Good news so far. Came home today and checked the overflow bottle. Coolant had been sucked down to the halfway point between "cold" and "hot" lines. That's a good sign. I'll have a new OEM radiator cap tomorrow and give it a good run then and see how it behaves. I'll think about installing the thermostat later.

Thermostat and 'cap will be here tomorrow; ordered from Jason at the dealer in Auburn. I have learned that certain items are important to get OEM.

I always use distilled water when mixing up anti-freeze, but the premix is okay providing it's worth the extra cost. I'll look into it.

I was planning to replace it 3 weeks ago, but when we got the covers off, found the belt still had the printing and timing marks still on it. We decided the belt had been done less than 30K ago and didn't replace it then. Everything else looked good there. Interesting thought on the pre-mix: the coolant is VERY green; I suspect it's straight anti-freeze.

I took the time this morning to check out the system a bit. I poured some of the coolant out of the reservoir back into the radiator with the engine idling. Oddly, it only took coolant until I got to the full mark on the reservoir. I let it idle for about 5 minutes, no bubbling out of the radiator. When the coolant level started to rise I put the cap back on. Another 10 minutes of idling, upper hose getting hot; radiator and lower hose still relatively cool. I opened the throttle by hand to about 2000 rpm and after about 3 minutes of that the fan came on. Upper hose very hot; radiator and lower hose hot but not as hot as the upper. Fan cycled off and stayed off for next 5 minutes and I opened the throttle again until the fan turned on again. I noticed the overflow level went up about 1" but no higher. Fan cycled off again. So far everything looks okay. I'm wondering if I might have a sticking thermostat. I'll likely change the coolant with fresh when I change the thermostat and radiator cap.

No recent engine work done. I bought the car about 6 weeks ago and had the car checked by Smart Service; they found all four cylinders had good (and uniform) compression and no HC's in the coolant. I did feel both hoses, and they were both hot. Last time I used the heater (in the past week), I did have lots of heat; I needed to crank it back to minimum.

Radiator cap looks okay; I checked it and nothing appears stuck, but I'll be replacing it with new anyway. It would be a cheap fix.

Welcome back. Glad to hear you had a safe return journey. You can hook your laptop to our router any evening if you like.

My '94 Impreza, EJ18 engine, 126K miles. All right, why should my coolant be overflowing the expansion bottle? I got home last evening and everything seemed normal. Car ran fine all the way home (one hour drive, mostly highway). Walking by the front of the car in the driveway and I could smell the ugly aroma of coolant. Checked the bottle and it was full to the top. Evidence of draining out the overflow right below the hose; not a little, a lot. Both upper and lower hoses are hot to the touch. The radiator is lukewarm at best anywhere I can touch it. Engine is not inordinately hot considering I've been driving for an hour. No CELs, temp gauge is where it belongs, car runs just fine; no other temp related issues in the last five weeks since I bought the car. Any thoughts?

Here's some updates on the June 24th event. You can get more information and an entry form at their website: http://www.historicbrooklyntavern.com/ Here's the schedule: Morning Session: SR, SF, PR, PF, M2 (formerly G2,G5, Production, Truck/SUV classes) 08:00 - 9:00 Technical Inspection/Registration Location: 2050 North River Road, Cosmopolis WA 98537 09:15 Drivers Meeting Location 2697 North River Rd. Cosmopolis WA 98537 09:30 Parade Lap 09:45 First Car Out 12:00 ? Lunch Break (after morning classes runs completed) Afternoon session: SA, MA (formerly Production GT and Open classes) 12:00- 13:00. Afternoon Technical Inspection/Registration 2050 North River Rd. Cosmopolis WA 98537 13:15 Drivers Meeting Location 2697 North River Rd. Cosmopolis WA 98537 13:30 Parade Lap 14:45 First Car Out 16:00 ? Finish/Awards (as soon as afternoon classes runs are completed) Although I expect to run PA class (maybe SA if my tires are allowed), I plan to leave/arrive early in the morning. There's a restaurant on the west side of Exit 88 (off I-5) that's a great place for breakfast. I plan to be there at 6:30AM; I wouldn't mind company if you're up for it. The place is easy to find since you can see it from the exit and it's painted red; I forgot the name of it, but had breakfast there twice for last year's two events.

I think you're correct in discussing this off board.

I've found all of the people at Pull a Part to be more than reasonable if you treat them with respect. I always ask them to mark my stuff whether I think I'll bring it back or not. Their staff has to deal with people who are occasionally trying to pull a "fast one." Unfortunately they have no way of knowing what's an honest mistake from someone trying to cheat. The staff there is not hired for their smarts and I'm sure is not paid much more than minimum wage.

Scores are posted at the ORG website. http://www.oregonrally.com/files/RallyCrossScoring_060611.pdf

I agree the gas mileage claim seems a bit exaggerated, especially for an automatic AWD vehicle. However, car does look quite good for the current bid. If I were looking, I'd be bidding on it.

If you have the spoked wagon wheels on your '87, that could be a culprit. They are known to go wobbly with age. I had a similar problem on my '86 that finally went away when I switched to the alloy wheels for my car.

I think the primary reason for the Saturday events is that they post their calendar late and need to stay off other events which have already parked on the Sunday. I like it since I don't have to work on Saturday and I still have Sunday available even though I've attended the rallycross.

Do a search on this problem; someone posted a solution recently which is relatively low cost (compared to a replacement engine). It involve drilling holes into the pulley as well as the gear behind and adding roll pins to secure the pulley before tightening down on the pulley bolt.

Certain people manage to get the parts they want; they either have an "in" with management or work there. I have a turbo unit that needs rebuilding for an EA82 if anyone wants it ($10 plus shipping). I was at PAP last Friday and did notice the large number of EA82s but according to the computer, only one Legacy (a blue '93 sedan in row S right next to the separator from the domestic cars). I'm still looking for an Impreza there; only seen two in the last 5 years.

If I remember correctly, you're coming from Tacoma. So head south to Olympia and here are the rest of the directions from the Historic Brooklyn Tavern website: Take I-5 South, take, Grand Mound, Rochester Exit (#88), turn right. Go to Oakville, turn left at the "Only Tavern", go approx. 2 miles (watch your speed through the Indian Reservation), go over the old bridge, immediately after the bridge, watch for a left hand road, and a small sign to Brooklyn, turn left, go approximately 3-5 miles, watch for "Y" in the road, and a sign pointing to the right that says "Brooklyn." If you miss this, you will end up in Centralia. Turn right, stay on the main road approximately 3 miles until it turns to gravel, drive approximately 7 miles until you hit pavement, drive another approximate 3 miles and watch to your right for the Historic Brooklyn Tavern. DON'T BLINK!!! I intend to leave home about 4:30 am and be passing through Olympia around 6 am. I will stop for Breakfast at the red restaurant at exit 88 and then continue on. I expect to arrive around 7:30. If you want to follow me in drop me a PM and give me your cell # and I'll give you mine and we can try to hook up somewhere between Tacoma and Exit 88.

Leaf through this instead to find information and directions: http://www.historicbrooklyntavern.com/

Finally the location has been nailed down, but it will be in Brooklyn, WA (not the ORV park as previously thought). Great venue for a rallycross. Details at http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1019775&page=1&pp=25

The parts catalog for Rockauto is awesome. I don't know about prices, but the ability to locate what you need is superb!

More photos from the rallycross weekend. These were from subiegal's website of the rallycross school. http://www.subiegal.com/gallerymain/subaruevents/rallyschool-6-06/subarurallyschool.htm

Posted already! This one will be at Portland International Raceway. http://www.oregonrally.com/Event_Detail.cfm?EventID=470

Sorry Craig, I was leafing through while you were posting yours. ---ed---