zyewdall

Just a note of caution... I have a cheap gas mpg meter, about $85 (which also functions as an OBDII scanner) that I bought from crutchfield. It does not work with my '97 impreza, despite even claiming to use the same communications protocol as it. It works fine on a 1998 ford ranger though... I've heard other stories of certain scanners not working with certain Subarus, for no apparent reason.

Did you check rockauto yet?

If it engages right on the floor, it's usually because the cable is too loose... tighten it up a little. I actually like that feel, as long as you can still get it into first and reverse... when it gets just a little looser yet, it won't completely disengage, so won't go into first or reverse very well, if at all. However, a pedal that's really hard to push is usually because of an old cable that's about to break... but you have a new one? Sounds like something isn't right, other than the cable adjustment, to me, but I'm not really sure what.

I've heard (not sure how true it still is, this was about 10 years ago) that alot of ethanol in the NW comes from the paper pulp mill byproducts instead of corn.

Delayed problems after swamping (or powerwashing the engine...) are almost always water in electrical stuff... I forded a lake in my truck (the jeep trail went through it), and it did fine... only about top of tires deep. Then about a mile later, it started idling really rough and had no power.... distributor cap had condensation then, but it had looked fine after the ford. Ive also had vehicles that I've powerwashed the engine on, that seemed fine, but wouldn't start the next morning because of water in the distributor. I bet there's something in the ignition system that's still wet and shorting out even a day or two later. If it's getting fuel, that's usually the problem.

I've seen them worn out.... I replaced a front set on a car that once I took the springs off, the shocks presented zero resistance to moving in or out... and the car bounced violently up and down when you hit bumps and was pretty scary to drive over 40 on the highway any more. It actually bashed the exhaust manifold off, and dented the transmission a bit hitting the road. 190k. Of course, it was regularly driven on a bad dirt road driveway with rocks that most people probably would not have taken a car on at all..... If you stay on pavement or gravel roads, it probably would not have worn them out like that.

Hmmm. I think it's around $1000 for a used 2.5 motor out here (if you buy it from the subaru recycling yard, already taken out of a wrecked car and ready to swap in, with a fairly known history -- probably could go cheaper). Vs... how much to rebuild it? Not to mention the increased time involved.... I'd swap the engine.

As far as transmissions go, I've had several 4 speed dual ranges, and they were getting sloppy, and lost the synchro's on 3rd gear by the time there were around 220k, but still technically worked as a transmission... drove one on a 3,000 mile cross country trip. I've had a few 5 speed dual ranges with up to 265k, and they behaved just fine still. The only subaru manual transmission that I've had actually die is in the newest one I've ever owned... a 1997 impreza... it lost the input bearing around 230k, and I've heard that the impreza transmissions in general aren't as good as the legacy ones, for some reason ??? Automatic transmissions seem to be alot easier to destroy (offroading, rallying, bashing snowdrifts, at least).

EA81? The '85 wagon with the 5 speed should have the EA82 unless someone did a swap at some point...

Yeah.... because both the EA81 and EA82 were 1800 cc's, and made for the same years (but in different body styles, both called GL's, though), most parts stores can't tell them apart. I tell them the year and EA81 or EA82 and they look at me like an alien just popped out of my forehead. I usually order on line and look at the actual size of the clutch... not what it says it's for. Or order from the subaru dealer, but those are expensivo....

I'm not sure that I agree with that. On really bad roads (two track, not washboard gravel), the EJ's don't have the low range to crawl over bumps, and are a bit heavier cars. I saw my neighbor beat her 1990 legacy to bits on her driveway (which most people would call a mild jeep trail), while my old EA cars never had problems. Her struts went out, then the car proceeded to beat the exhaust and transmission up, bouncing off rocks. And the clutch got burned out doing that in the winter snow. Now... some of that could also be the difference in drivers... (I bought her old legacy, and was able to make it up, with the shot struts, without bottoming out at all.....) On more maintained dirt roads, the EJ's definitely ride better though.

I usually use snow tires as my off-road tires, and I've never had problems finding them in the smaller sizes for subarus -- good tread, but they usually don't have the sidewall rating of the more off-road tires if rock crawling is the use. But for dirt roads and even some mud, they aren't too bad. Alot of my offroading is in snow anyway.... They do wear down on the pavement though... softer rubber. Z

My thoughts too... if it had torque bind to begin with, why wasn't that addressed by the shop that put in the new diff? And, it does kind of sound like it might be the wrong ratio of diff

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html may be of some help. Stock size on my impreza is 205/60R15, but I'm running 195/75R14's which are a tad larger (and a tad narrower too). No rubbing at all, but I'm not sure how much larger I could get before they did start rubbing.

I'm looking at a 1983 4x4 GL wagon... with the 3AT. I'm wondering how bad this transmission really is. Is it just that it's an automatic transmission (which I consider to be a pretty big flaw to begin with -- I can't stand them even on new cars, but this car would not be for me), or that it's worse than automatic transmissions are in general? Only 120k miles and appears to be pretty well taken car of (engine sounds nice, no rust!!, even has A/C). It needs to be a reliable car, for regular driving around town, errands, etc, including city streets in snowy weather.... not offroading or snowdrift bashing that I tend to do with my cars. I like all of the rest of the car -- just don't have any experience with that particular transmission.

Depends on what you mean by snow and ice driving. On plowed roads that still have snow and ice on them, or deep snow/unplowed stuff. For plowed roads, I don't know that it matters all that much, but for really deep stuff where you are rocking it back and forth and charging snowdrifts higher than the hood and such, I would say a manual, with 4wd, not all wheel drive, and low range (which you aren't going to find in modern subarus). I do that quite a bit in my cars, but most people are talking about something alot less severe when they say "snowy roads".

I'd vote EA81 all the way. The older EJ22's are pretty nice too (1 gen legacies and imps) and are a bit more modern and faster, more amenities, etc, but they are more expensive and not as simple to fix stuff on. For just getting from point A to point B and not complaining about being treated like a jeep, the EA81's are hard to beat.

It might just be a self destructed clutch disk. That happened on my '97 imp... the transmission input bearing was whining pretty loud, so I assumed that it had failed when I lost all power and grindy noises, etc... kind of like you describe. But when I had the new D/R transmission put in, they (CCR) said it was the clutch disk that had disintegrated (it was slipping a little before, and I was romping on it pretty hard in the snow when it died....). Might be an easier fix if you're really lucky. Z

'89 does too

Yeah, used subaru's tend to go for a quite a bit more here in Colorado than otherwise. The newer automatics (not sure what year, 2005?) went to an automatic with a paddle shifter, which for me (I despise automatic transmissions usually) makes them much more driveable in the mountains, but you still have the advantage in traffic that an auto has. I think the 2005 and newer outbacks are the ones that have problems with ghostwalking in the snow, though....

I've had one of them die this way too... overcharging. I can't remember if the lights came on, but I remember the voltage gauge was close to pegged, and a DMM agreed that it was overcharging.

Weird. Sounds like some sensor is wacked out for sure...

Glad you made it back. My friend had said that it was revving up and down on her shortly before I took it back, but I never saw that on the whole drive back from Denver, so kind of dismissed it as her description of the cold idling problem. Guess she was actually right.

Lockhart road -- just before the entrance to the park, if you're coming in from highway 191 south of Moab. Yeah... it kind of needs a lift. The tires are 165/85/R13's which are significantly oversized, and studded to boot, so they try to grind the fenders off when you go over bumps. Or an angle grinder to trim the fenders back a tad. What it really needs is low range though... I don't have any brilliant ideas on how to add that yet I am upgrading to something larger for camping with the whole crew (a 1967 Landrover 109 station wagon.... long project there), but I'd still buy a tiny subaru if they made a new one... for when I'm camping by myself, or just commuting, but when I still want 4wd.

Yup... that'll be the problem