zyewdall

I'll check the PVC valve.... and try some engine restore in the oil... that stuff worked on another EJ22 I had, that went from burning a quart every 600 miles to more like a quart every 2000 miles -- previous owner of that one didn't change the oil much... Z

My girlfriend's car has decided to take up smoking. Better the car than her, I guess, but still..... It's a 1999 Legacy, phase II EJ22. Not sure how many miles are on the engine -- it had a used engine put in just before we bought it a year and a half ago, so although it says 158k on the odometer, it is supposedly actually less. A neighbor was following us to town the other day, and said that it's putting out blue smoke the whole way up hills, but not when going down hills. Rings? or valve guides. Seems way too low of miles to do this (my last EJ22 had 330k on it and didn't smoke, but it had a rod knock at the end). She did let it get really low on oil a few times (as in, it needed three quarts to get back to full). I'm wondering if this toasted the engine.

So.... my girlfriend's '99 Legacy wagon, EJ22, 5MT is having an intermittent problem.... most of the time it runs fine, but occasionally, it starts acting like it has a dead spot on the throttle... not having any power, till you push it a ways farther down, then engine kicks back in and it surges ahead. She said it was really bad tonight... so I took it for a drive, and didn't feel anything out of normal at all. But, it has done it to me before, a few months ago, and it felt either like a dead spot on the throttle, or a really bad fuel filter -- to the point where I wasn't sure if it was going to make it home. It almost felt like the engine was cutting out until you floored it. But... then, the next morning, it was fine, and it didn't do it for a few weeks again. It's been about 6 months since I first noticed it. Happens when the engine is warm, doesn't seem to be associated with wet weather or dry weather. I haven't really replaced anything yet. Fuel filter seems obvious, but why does it run fine sometimes, and lousy other times? Air filter is fairly new. Not sure on the plugs, but I think they only have about 20k on them. Ideas? Exorcist? Thanks Z

Fixed. I ended up having the local suby shop put in a used driveshaft since it was so nice and snowy outside and I don't have an indoor garage for myself (and I live at 9,300 feet elevation -- down in Boulder was quite warm this week and would have been a little more diy friendly). One interesting thing they found... it's had a lift done on it at some point to basically turn it into an outback instead of a stock legacy brighton that it was from the factory. The guy at the shop said that they should have put an outback driveshaft in when they did that, but instead they just shimmed the legacy driveshaft, and he thinks that's why it eventually failed.

Thanks Gary! Finding a used driveshaft today... with everything closed ... is not proving doable (unless I just stole the one off another '99 legacy in town... there are four the same color as mine even... but that would be evil). But, I do have a friend with AAA who's willing to kill the day going to get it for beer and dinner.... cheaper than a tow. In the mean time, I resucitaed the '81 GL (fuel pump cutoff doesn't work properly during starting so it has to manually primed with gas if you let it sit overnight), and have been driving it around. Way better in the snow than the '99 I have to say. And soooooo underpowered when you're used to the EJ22... Z

Ugggh. The front driveshaft U-joint on the subaru ('99 Legacy wagon, 5MT) snapped yesterday. The immediate issue is to figure out how to get it back to here from Winter Park where it's abandoned in a ski lift parking lot now. But after that.... is it as simple as putting a new u-joint on, or are these the ones that are welded to the driveshaft? And would it have damaged anything else (other than scoring up the exhaust a little where it's rubbing on it now...) I tried (only like a second or two) to move it with the broken U-joint and it just spun with no movement, obviously the viscous coupling was just letting power go to the rear with none to the front... what are the chances the viscous coupling is still okay? It had been making nasty clunk/vibration noises in 1st and 2nd under high torque for a day or two, and I had checked all the axles for a bad DOJ or something (which I've had do that before). But didn't think to check the u-joints.:banghead: It had a lot of ice on the wheels so I figured it was something to do with that, especially since it seemed to be coming from the front right, not the middle (so much for thinking....)

For some reason, the 2wd EA81's seem a lot peppier up here -- I've only had one of them, and it felt distinctly faster than all the 4wd ones I've owned. I do have a one vehicle that makes the EA81 seem fast... a 1976 ford courier 4wd... especially loaded with 1500lbs of wood or rocks.. Z

The trick is to not get the parts for an '87 wagon, which is an EA82 instead of an EA81, and both with the same displacement engine so parts stores can never keep them straight. Going for a brat might help, but you might (I'm not 100% sure of this) also be good going for a 1984... then you know it has to be an EA81. The brakes on the EA81 changed midyear 1982, but not sure if they changed any after that. Z

Yeah, the Justy is narrower, and a bit smaller axles... and probably completely different splines and all as well. It's really a suzuki that Subaru did a bunch of engineering on, I think. more closely related to the geo metro/suzuki swift than the rest of the subaru line. Z

If you want to experience "slow", drive a stock EA81 4wd over a 12,200 foot pass Using different gas won't make any difference

The higher elevation you go, the less octane you need to prevent detonation. That's why Colorado's gas is at least two points below anywhere else. I usually use the mid grade in the older subarus... seems to keep them from pinging on hills better. Maybe it has something to do with carbon buildup raising the compression from stock, or ??? But, they seem to like it better than the low grade stuff. Also... it's not just the octane rating that's different... the better grades have more additives to clean the fuel system usually. I find that in the company truck, which I usually use 85 in, it'll run a bit better after running a tank of 87 or 89 through it, even when it's back on 85 again. You could also add your own fuel system cleaner to the tank too... Z

It's a 4wd, 5 speed with MPFI, so it's got a bit of power (for a 1.2 liter engine at least Way way faster than my EA81... that's for sure. Though not as much ground clearance or low range. I did the paint myself... I have a compressor and a HVLP gun, and I bought two stage (basecoat and clearcoat) paint. Dark metallics are really hard in single stage paint, I've found. Masking is the worst part, and doing it outside (if you look close, there are bugs in the paint in a few spots....). But, from 5 feet away, it looks good.

Yeah... the one accident I've been in, the other driver was legally at fault... (they were spinning around out of control in the middle of the road when I hit them). But... if I'd been going slower, I could have stopped or avoided them even after they were doing bizarre spinny things on the ice in front of me. The dual range transmission will bolt right into the loyale as well... with the exception of the nuetral switch maybe. But as someone earlier said, it's basically the same car with the exception of the fuel system. Z

The single large headlights (actually... I've got five headlights on this one -- center one works, plus two more driving lights), and the chrome bumper? Yes, I agree. Z

Just picked up a 1981 GL wagon... runs nice, almost everything works (except the A/C), and the rust... for an '81... is not horrible compared to many I've seen. Still needs some work though. Took it out on some trails on my way home with it.

Easiest way is to take it on some mud or dirt and see if you have power to the back wheels (2wd is front wheels only)... if that's not possible, then you can put it in 4wd, and make turns (on gravel if at all possible). If it hops and gets very unhappy and scurfs the tires, it's in four wheel drive. That's not a very nice thing to do with the car... they should generally never be put in four wheel drive on solid surfaces because they don't have the center differential that newer cars have. For testing low range, just stick it in low, and see if it goes slower... it's pretty easy to tell. Often, the indicator lights will get out of synch with the shift lever, so you usually learn to feel the detents in the shift lever for exactly where 2wd, 4wd, and 4lo is, on certain cars, rather than relying on the dash indicator.

Well.... didn't do anything to it yet, and the idle is back at 750, right where it used to be. I took it on about a 300 mile trip over the weekend, and the only issue was when I started it Sunday afternoon to come back, it sounded like I had a pretty loud rod knock for about 2 or 3 seconds before going back to normal, right after starting it after it sat for about two days. Hmmmm..... demons anyone?

I have one.... 1991 4wd 4 door. It's awesome... in certain ways. It definitely does not quite feel like driving a car... more like a big go-cart. Does really well in the snow (I was following my friend's FJ40 through snowdrifts), but doesn't have low range, and will bog and stall the engine if you get in deep enough stuff. Not as durable or long lived as the GL's and EJ22's and all, but I like it. Highway driving is interesting.... it's at about 4,000rpm at 70mph, with the gearing, so that's about it.... having said that, I have taken mine down to southern CO alot, and Utah once or twice, and no issues... gets about 38mpg on the highway, and 32mpg in the mountains -- dropped a bit on the last trip, so I've got new injectors for it (it's acting like it has at least one leaky injector, that occasionally floods it).

I'm suspecting something with the iAC or MAF..... though, today, it's decided that aroudn 1400 rpm is where the idle is, instead of 2,000.... I'll get some cleaner later today and mess with it. Thanks for the suggestions. Z

Got a new subaru... actually the oldest one I've owned... a 1981 GL wagon -- paid too much for it, but it runs great (new carb, newer engine, new cat), and aside from some door and rocker panel rust at the bottoms, is all shiny and looks great. Inside, only the drivers seat is worn. I'll post some pics after I pick it up next week.... Gotta figure out what to do with the rust... it's not nearly as bad as many of them I've owned, but now I wish I still had my '82 parts wagon that had rust free doors...

1999 Brighton, 2.2 liter, 5MT, about 70k on the engine, 150lk on the car. All of a sudden, yesterday, it decided that the idle should be at 2000rpm instead of 750 where it usually is. Does it even after being turned off and restarted, and whether it's warm or cold. A/C brings it down to around 1,600, but still high. I changed the oil about a week ago and switched to synthetic, but other than that, and changing the tie rods, I haven't done anything recently to it.... no check engine lights or codes... what could be causing this? Still seems to run great otherwise -- no stumbling, hesitation, surging, or other issues. ???

Had one person ask me if I worked for the department of wildlife already... My girlfriend took it to school, and all the kids had to go see their teacher's new "race car"

Got the Justy put back together... not quite your normal little econobox any more grill guard, new paint job, 3500lb winch, 55 watt halogen driving lights. oh... still needs a new drivers side window, that the bear broke last summer... My girlfriend was driving it home behind me today, and it's pretty menacing looking following you.

It's a rebuilt one, from Rockauto. They've actually got three different brands to choose from.

And, it's the inner ends, not the outer ends that are bad -- the bellows apparently were bad for a while, and I've been driving it through water and mud a bit... so now the inner tie rod joints that are supposed to be inside the bellows are loose -- the car feels like driving my '76 ford pickup down the road, kind of hard to keep in the straight line. So.... is replacing the inner tie rod ends and bellows enough, or is there a possibility that I've done damage to the rack and pinion? It's about $70 for new ends and bellows, vs about $200 for the entire rack... it looks like the inner end has the joint on it and the entire joint screws into the rack, so replacing it should take care of the whole joint, right? Then, getting an alignment, again, of course.... (just had one two months ago...) Z