zyewdall

Who's driving the Honda? I got my VW GTI up to the stream fording on the far side of mirror lake, on Tincup pass heading towards St. Elmo, and I know alot of people who parked their SUV's on the other side of the lake at the easy parking lot.

I got my bone stock '85 GL at least halfway up Bunce School before it overheated and died (the start of the head gasket problems that developed a year later I think). If it's no worse than that, I might be up for trying it if the '82 GL is progressed enough then (meaning the 5 speed, lift, and pugs on there). Don't know if a stock '82GL would be good.... huh? Z

When it pops out of 4wd, the lever inside moves back to the 2wd position too? So, the linkages are all okay, but inside the tranny it is not sticking in 4wd, right?

Hmmm. Sounds like a little too much stuff wrong with it for $800. But I know you live in an area where rust free is everything, and that's 100k less miles than mine has on it. FYI, my '89 GL SPFI has been getting about 28-30mpg recently. Alot of very spirited highway driving (for an EA82 ) -- a good segment on one tank at 85mph, and I still got slightly over 30mpg on the tank. It used to only get 26 - 28mpg.... wonder why it's better now. New brakes, driveshaft (the center bearing was going bad for the last year, turns out), front axles, tuneup, MAF cleaning. Between all of those, I got an extra 2 mpg. Drops to lower 20's or so if I do alot of bashing through snow in low range. Still not bad. I got mine for $500 -- had a melted rear wheel bearing (cooked the entire brakes too), a dead A/C compressor, and a misadjusted clutch cable. Otherwise, beautiful condition. Cost another $300 to have a used rear swingarm with a good bearing/brakes put on, and I adjusted the clutch myself. Still no A/C.

I wouldn't drill it out -- then you'll be in even bigger trouble when it comes time to put it back on. Do you have any english sockets large enough? I use a 7/8" or whatever is closest, because my kit didn't have a metric large enough. The trick of wedging a wrench of some sort against something (a rock under the car if the wrench won't reach the floor), and very carefully bumping it with the starter might work. I'd say your best bet might be the lug wrench, and wedge it against something and use the starter motor. Open ended wrenches or big adjustable wrenches don't grip really well compared to a socket (though I've used them). Z

Hmmm. Here in Colorado we have 85, 87, and 91 octane. So I'd have to use highgrade.... I don't think I'd want to own one of those (I'd drive too fast and get tickets and my insurance would go through the roof -- way more cost issue than the gas price), but it'd sure be fun to drive. Compared to my EA82 wagon, that spends probably 80% of the time floored, and I finally hit 90mph going downhill last week. Fastest I've ever had it. Even my 12,000lb box truck only has a 160 HP engine (Although it does have something like 380 ft lbs at 1500rpm). I've got a neighbor who really likes the power of his old Honda Accord, and he test drove an outback (a '99 I think) and complained that it was quite sluggish. Maybe I'll recommend the turbo version

Where's Rampart Range? Sounds interesting. Maybe Switzerland trail will be open by then too (If I ever get the fuel tank fixed on my truck, I was going to go try to plow through some of the snow drifts lift on it soon -- had some 4 foot ones three weeks ago still). It's fine for street soobs, but the end of one branch has some serious jeep trail for the lifted ones. Z

Which wheels should I put on there? I just got the 14" pugs, which are probably going to be the ones that go on there. I also had the set of old mud and snow tires sitting around, and decided to see if they'd fit. Hmmmm. Not without a lift (I am planning on a 2 or 3" lift, but I think I'd need more than that). They are 14" rims too -- from a '76 Ford Sasquatch. I replaced them with new 15" rims on the truck, and believe it or not, the old 14" tires are actually a tiny bit larger diameter than the 225/75/R15's I put on it now. They were H78R14's -- equivalent to a 235/80/R14 I think.

Nah, it's to get larger diameter rims -- at least in the US, we only got 13" rims in the 4 bolt pattern. I just got a set of 14" pugs for mine, which are the only other four bolt pattern the same as subies. But I was also looking at the set of all terrain tires I took of my old mazda truck -- 14" rims with the right 6 lug pattern. I might try them on there just to see how they look.

I got spoiled by my biodiesel vehicals last year, and now I can barely stand to work on the fuel systems of either diesel or gasoline. Both stink -- especially when you get it on your hands and smell it for the next few days -- especially diesel . I use biodiesel as hand cleaner to take of grease and engine grime and it works really well, and very little aftersmell. Less volatile than diesel too, if you're worried about explosions. On the subject of vented gas cans, I think that the majority of the new plastic ones are not vented. And yes, they do contort a bit when you change temperatures or elevations....

Yeah, I can believe that. But I bought it from napa --- I like their quality, but geez do the prices there hurt and I didn't feel like walking two miles to the autozone.... and waiting a day longer than for the Napa one.

How'd it go? A friend of mine wants an old VW bus, and I am trying to push him towards the subaru powered version.... an EA81 isn't too fast in a subaru... must be pretty slow in a VW bus. But then again, a VW bus isn't going to fast anyway. Probably as fast as my '76 Mazda pickup (which makes my EA82 subaru feel downright quick) Zeke

[quote name=Numbch [/quote] Hey, where'd you get pictures of my idler and belt that's exactly what it looked like. A new timing belt replacement kit that included the belts, two tensioners, and the idler came to almost $300 But, I didn't have much choice by then. about 300 miles from home, and another 1200 to go.... And my business partner's little sister (okay, she's 23 now, but she's still the little sister) was along for the ride too -- she handled it pretty well though, lots of traveling in third world countries.

The answer is.... Yes. The bearing one mine gave out and siezed driving through Durango, 300 miles into a 1100 mile trip to Arizona last week. Shredded the driver's side timing belt, and of course stopped the engine. I had had a bad feeling about the timing belt before starting, and had thrown a spare in and all my tools (even though it was still 5,000 miles before the scheduled change). But of course I didn't throw in a spare idler pulley. Luckily, it died about a quarter mile from the Napa, and they had it the next morning, and I was back on my way by 11am. But, for any of you changing your timing belts, might want to check the idler pulley too.... mine probably had 225k original miles on it. I replaced the two tensioners too -- their bearings were pretty shot too. Z

If you are shifting to 4lo while moving, it helps to put it in nuetral and put the clutch in, not just put the clutch in. I do it all the time And remember what rpm's you're going to at when you switch to low range.... I wish that was possible in my 4wd truck. You have to come to a complete stop to shift from 2wd to 4wd, or 4wd to 4lo. Under changing road conditions, that's a pain.

Thanks. I'll give that try, when I get my truck fixed tomorrow so I can drive it instead. Another interesting thing..... it only becomes a problem on a certain road -- going up to my house after about 30 minutes of WOT in 3rd or 4th gears -- it starts vibrating. But by that point it's only 3 miles from my house, so I just slow down, or put in in 4wd. But for the first 90 miles in the day for the past several days, no problems whatsoever -- can accelerate as hard as I like, and no vibration. Hmm.... Also, I noticed that after getting to my house, the tranny is too hot to touch -- I'd expect that of the engine block, but I've never actually felt the tranny after a hard drive before, so I don't know if that's normal or not. Wonder if my clutch is slipping and creating heat. Z

Why do you keep talking about me ??? That's what I had in one side for about a year... till I found the roll pin and had a good weather day to put it in. Could be like a VW CV joint -- 6 bolts that use a splined 12 point internal hex socket thingy that costs $15 just to get the thing apart.... Subarus have the easiest axles I've ever worked on, except for the 23/25 spline confusion.

So... I've got a bad vibration in the front end when going up hills. Feels sort of like loose lug nuts or castle nut or something. Except, you can't really feel it in the steering wheel. More in the tranny (and the whole car shakes). Goes away immediately if you let off the gas, or put it in 4wd. I checked for anything loose, and this is what I found: The passenger side axle can be slid in and out -- it's suppposed to be fixed in the outer joint, and the inner one slides in and out with suspension flex, right? But the passenger side on mine both slide in and out -- makes a pretty good clunk in the DOJ if you slide it back and forth by hand. What the heck went wrong with it, and can I fix it, or should I get a new axle? EDIT: this axle is about 15,000 miles old.... rebuilt

Well, financially, probably not. Even here in Colorado, with the utility company paying for half the cost, it still takes 15 years to pay back. But from a technical standpoint, it works fine. Consider that last year the country to install the most solar of any in the world was Germany, followed by Japan -- both of which who have climates similar to Seattle, or Michigan. About 70% as good as Colorado or California if I recall. I grew up in Washington state on a completely solar powered house 5 miles from the powerlines. A little hard, but with the new grid tied systems and net metering, even washington is pretty decent. Zeke

Ah. I like Colorado. We get lots of snow (usually), AND lots of sunshine.

If it's frozen into wet snow, you'll have to careful about not pulling brake lines, etc loose when you pull it out. If it's just cold packed snow, it probably didn't do anything to it. I've rammed mine into drifts such that it was high centers many times, and haven't broken anything -- soft drifts we have here in Colorado. I don't even have my skid plate on it this winter, and I've been a little scared of smashing my oil sending unit. You might have cracked the y-pipe loose perhaps -- I did that going over a basketball sized rock once. And, you can put a pretty big dent in the oil pan with little noticeable effect. In my VW, I hit a dip in a dirt road so hard that it bashed the pan in at least an inch all the way across, and broke an engine mount. But it still ran. Unless it was really hard ice, I doubt it even dented the oil pan. Oh, and the way to get them free, is dig around them down to the ground to get a place to work, then dig all the snow out from under them -- a medium handle relatively straight spade works well. Once you dig completely under the car, it'll suddenly fall and inch or two (so be careful you aren't under it), then you can drive away. Or, get a front end loader, and have it lift one end of the car up -- that usually frees it. We had to do that with a F250 highboy stuck in a 4 foot deep wind drift (was only 2 or 3 foot deep when he got stuck there, then the wind added more)

Huh? I don't think they have much sun on the east coast in the wintertime.

Yeah, the DC systems are a bit simpler. www.EV-America.com seems to be a good place to get parts . There's a few others out there as well.

Eeeesh. They highest I've ever experienced was about 320 volts DC from a small grid tied photovoltaic system. That was more than I cared to repeat.

Speaking of which -- I accidentally shorted a 170 volt DC electric car battery pack once -- just barely brushed the end of a cable against the wrong terminal while wiring it -- giant flash of white light, completely melted the terminal off a thumb sized cable -- melted pool of bronze set the battery case on fire. Luckily the other guy grabbed the fire extinguisher right there and put it out, and my vision returned in a few seconds. And no one was hurt otherwise. But it was a bit more excitement than we were looking for....