edrach

Best shop on the eastside is Smart Service in Shoreline http://www.smart-service.com/ . Avoid the shop on Lake City Way in Lake City.

If the Pug shop near you is the one just off Holman near 103rd, I wouldn't go there for pugs. The owner hates subaru people cause they bug him for rims for non-pugs. Trust me, I've been there. He's really an okay guy, but likes his pugs like we like our subes.

Until recently I used Fram filters for the last 30 years on a number of makes of cars and never had a failure. On the other hand I change my oil every 2000 miles!

I was just at PAP today; but limited in what I could get since I didn't have my tools with me. You're in luck since there was a nice '84 wagon that went into the yard today and you can get the start off that; pretty easy to do.

Pull a Part would be the best; also check your battery connections and ignition switch cable; it might not be the starter after all.

Get an OEM PCV; it's only around $15 and the aftermarket brands have a poor reputation on this Board. You might try www.1stsubaruparts.com altho the $5 minimum shipping might exceed the 35% discount.

Buy one with a no questions asked replacement warranty for at least 90 days. If it was properly rebuilt it should last you a few years; if it was not rebuilt properly, you'll likely know the first month. Lifetime warranty is fine if you're not paying more than 10% extra; more than that is a waste of money. I'm partial to NAPA but they are usually slightly more expensive.

I'm with all the votes on the PCV valve. Hopefully that's it. I fought the same problem with my '91 2.2L at 157K miles. It started just like yours with blowing lots of smoke out the back when cold and then that cleared up as the engine warmed up. Over the course of 6 weeks the oil consumption increased to a quart every 300 miles (and not a drop on the driveway so it wasn't leaking out). I found the source was lots of oil in the large intake air hose; it was just being sucked into the engine and blown out the back. I finally had it checked by Smart Service and they suggested I replace the engine. It had a real bad case of blow-by as well as HC's in the coolent (a sure sign of head gasket failure). It never overheated in all that time, altho I had a number of Check Engine codes (none of which seemed related to the symptoms). Sorry to be the bearer of possible bad news; I hope it's your PCV. I was fortunate enough to find a replacement engine which went in about 6 weeks ago and is running like a charm. Good luck.

Hungry?

Try Pull a Part; Hwy 99 just north of 188th St. in Lynnwood. Bring your tools and pull the part yourself; you won't beat the price anywhere else.

Take it to the emissions guru at the 6th Ave. South emissions place; he'll get you to pass for $40 or you pay nothing. If there's anything else wrong with the setup and he can't tweak it in, he can usually point you in the right direction. Give me a call and I'll get you more information. ---ed---

So do mice! I found a nest in the ducting for the blower in an old Brat at one time. It taught me to never leave crumbs or anything edible in the car; if there's food they will find a way to get it and set up house-keeping.

Boy I thought I had posted the results; sorry. Replaced the purge cannister solenoid and then reset the codes (although that seems more difficult than I expected). I had to pull the most complicated method of doing it off Josh's 'site but it finally reset the codes. I had added a can of seafoam to the last tankful of gas that I installed before replacing the solenoid. The more I ran the car the better it got. I now have 2500 miles on the engine I installed and haven't seen a CEL since the re-set. The high idle/slow return has been gone now for four weeks. I get 22/23 mpg and the new engine doesn't lose a drop of oil in 2000 miles when I last changed it. I'm fortunate to have gotten such a good engine; looks like it will be a keeper!

Is the vent line to the gas tank still hooked up? Or is it plugged? Could cause intermittant fuel starvation.

That's too sad. We're fortunate to have some good dealers here in the NW.

I don't think I have a bad motor mount, but I'll check it out. Too bad I didn't know that yesterday when I had it up on the ramps to do an oil change.

You are good; you should consider a job with a Subaru dealership. Thanks for doing this.

I think I will send my check to the USMB since the first answer turned down the beer.

Right hand drive too; 'wonder where it lives.

You guys are all too good. Turns out it was a loose connection on the negative side of the coil. I don't know for the life of me, why it would work everytime except when going around a left hand turn (wires weren't tight or under any tension). As soon as I tightened up on the connection all was good again.

Yep, it was a loose wire, but not a ground wire.

Damn! First shot across the bow and you have it! :clap: Any thought of where?

This happened recently on my '84 Brat. Putting it out for grins to see if anyone can guess what the cause was. I was just fortunate to stumble across the cause but certainly didn't figure it out. Symptom: Car would stumble and engine would seem to miss or lose power on left hand turns only. Right hand turns no problem; straight ahead no problem. No unusual noises from under the hood or drivetrain. No loss of power other than when making left hand turns. Extra information (not that it will help any:rolleyes: ): '84 Brat with a junkyard EA81 engine with 120K on it; runs well, quiet and doesn't lose oil between changes (at 2000 mile intervals). D/R 5 speed transmission from EA82 along with 3.900 LSD. Rear swaybar from Whiteline. Good axles with no torn boots. No A/C or power steering. Weber carb and Accel coil (yellow) that have been in the car for over 3 years without trouble. Car will do an honest 85 mph in 5th on a level road. I'm putting this out as a challenge. First one to figure it out will get a check from me for your favorite brew (no 30 year old wines please:eek: ). It also demonstrates how sometimes simple things can cause running problems. I would guess I could have spent lots of money at some repair shop before the cause was found and fixed.

Bad distributor cap,rotor,ignition wires; startthere.

It's true; unfortunately I don't know of any pull a part type yards that are close enough to the border for me to visit; I'd make the trip to remove a set. Part of the installation is taking them apart and knowing where everything belongs when re-assembling.