zyewdall

:lol: Yeah, there's some problems with ethanol actually being renewable right now. Researchers are working on new production techniques to make it from cellulose instead of sugar, which give alot more ethanol for given inputs of feedstock and fossil fuel energy to refine it. BTW, Brazil gets all of it's ethanol from sugar cane, and up in Seattle, I understand they get a bit of it from the papermills (not that that is sustainable either....)

Sounds like it's just running way too lean because of the oxygenated fuel. For reasons that I don't understand, this isn't good for gas engines. Can you reprogram your ECU with a new fuel/air curve? That's apparently what all the cars in Brazil do (about 80% of them down there run on E85 or maybe E100 now) I wish I could buy E85 here...

Timing belts and water pumps should always be replaced at the same time. it's ~$100 for each part, and ~$300 labor whether you replace one or both of them. How many miles on the timing belt now? Perhaps just do both right now, and call it good. The bad part if the water pump goes will be that you could overheat the engine if you aren't watching the guage, and that will mean fried head gaskets. Edit: just reread, and it seems that you just recently had the timing belt replaced? 120k service perhaps? Was the water pump replaced at the same time? I usually do replace it every other timing belt change, even if it seems good. I would also get a second opinion on the failing water pump. Why do they think it's on its way out?

From what I've heard, the VW wasserboxers last about 75k before something goes out. Even the phase I 2.5's usually last longer than that before blowing the HG, which is why it's so popular to put the subaru engines in the vanagons. But you are talking about the air cooled VW. Hmmm. I suppose it could be done. But if you are going to all the trouble of putting a VW engine in a subaru, why not stick the VW diesel engine in there (yeah, I know, it's the wrong shape.... )

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49728 here's the original thread from when the accident happend. Totally the other person's fault.

Yikes, $1800. But considering it's rustless, it may be worth it. Front wheel drive automatic. http://denver.craigslist.org/car/126231333.html

Search for my old thread on this from this summer. I still think it's possible, but you've got to have a decent machine shop, which I didn't. I ended up putting it into a rabbit instead (which BTW, is quite a PITA to work on compared to a subaru) Edit: here's the old threads http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45109&highlight=diesel+subaru http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34141&highlight=diesel+subaru http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42731&highlight=diesel+subaru http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43350&page=1&highlight=diesel+subaru

I've heard nothing but expensive maintenance stories on the audi and volvo AWD's. They are very nice cars for the money (don't know how the AWD compares), just more expensive to maintain. The toyota and honda are probably at least trouble free as the subaru if not more so. But they both have a shorter wheelbase (than an OBW) and sit higher up. Having a longer wheelbase and lower center of gravity will be better for control when sliding around in snow.

I've had four of them with over 200,000 miles. The first three were college cars -- the kind that have had 8 owners in the past 12 years... So they were pretty much worn out. One went to the school shop class, but two I still sold. One of those made it one more owner before going to the junkyard, and the other one is two more owners past me, and I still see it driving around occasionally. My current one has 206k, and I expect it to last to 250 at least, hopefully 300. It's only had one owner before me, and better maintenance.

Moderators Would be it be possible to write up a sticky or FAQ that goes through all the various 4wd/awd systems, and which cars and which years they were in? Written by someone who actually understands them all (i.e. not me). It seems like every few months, a new thread comes on and discusses this for awhile, with lots of opinions, and some facts. Might be nicer if people could just look it up. A comparison to the VW/Audi/Mercedes/Honda/Landrover/4wd-truck etc might be nice too -- show how the subaru are better (if they are. I don't mean to be arrogant about subarus, but my GL wagon does seem to perform better than my 4wd truck till ground clearance becomes an issue, dispite both of them mechanically being identical, 4wd/2wd, with open differentials on each axle. Must be weight distribution?) Zeke

Thanks. Sounds like pulling the engine is the way to go. We've got a 1 ton chain hoist on a track bolted to a 12" log in the roof of the garage that we built a few years ago to change a 351W V8 engine in the ford pickup. I figure that'll handle the subaru engine. But the garage still has a dirt floor... typical eastern washington. I wasn't looking forward to crawling around in the dirt under the car.

The high rpm's in cold weather starting is normal. 2-3k sounds a little high, but 1800 to 2k is normal in my GL in cold weather -- the computer is revving it to warm up faster. By hitting the gas, you are somehow telling it to stop that -- like hitting the gas after it starts to disengage the automatic choke on old carbureated cars, except this is all computer driven now. Don't know about the clutch slipping thing.

My Dad's '96 OBW is started to show some signs of clutch slippage (and smells after plowing uphill through deep snow). 167k on the original clutch. He's hoping it'll last till spring to replace it. The question is, to pull the engine, or drop the tranny to replace it. On my EA cars, I prefer to pull the engine (and there's lots of threads on here asking about that), but I've never done a clutch on the EJ series. Probably fewer people doing their own clutches on those? Also, are these clutches very specific, or are they like the EA series -- same clutch for 10 years or so. He's wondering if it'll be different than the '97 OBW with the 2.5 engine, or different than the 2.2 in the legacy non-outback. Suggestions? Thanks Zeke Edit: if it makes any difference, we have an overhead chainhoist on a track, but no lift, and no paved surface to work on.

As I understand it, the automatic transmission subarus are front wheel drive with rear wheel assist, just like the honda someone mentioned. The rear wheels don't engage unless the computer senses the front wheels turning faster than the rear ones (or unless you hotwire around the duty C solenoid to lock the center clutch on it). The manual transmission has viscious couplings between the front and rear sets of wheels -- if it starts slipping, the fluid gels up and sort of locks the front to the back.

Great. I was out of town the last week and never got a chance to look at it, but I'm glad someone got it. Z

In the original post where veggie oil came up, he said that he could have run veggie oil in a VW jetta, but he chose the subaru instead. No one ever said anything about running veggie oil in a subaru. Your statement that it (running veggie oil in a diesel engine) couldn't be done without mixing with chemicals was incorrect, and I was merely correcting that. And hitler-mobile? I could remind you that Japan, where subarus are from was on the same side as Hitler in that war. So do you hate subarus because of the history of their country too? By the way, I do agree with you that there are far too many new threads asking how to increase mileage. I get tired of saying the same things over and over.... tire air pressure, O2 sensor, driving habits, etc, etc, etc ad nauseum....

Not if you heat it up. I've put several thousand miles on a school bus on waste veggie oil, and the only thing is that it has to be at least 160F before it enters the injection pump. My rabbit and my pickup are getting systems like this soon.

I wouldn't necessarily say that invading foreign countries is practical either. My diesel truck and vw rabbit both run on fuel grown in Iowa. FWIW, I almost never drive my subaru any more, because I refuse to buy petroleum fuels unless unavoidable. I still love the car -- but I can't drive it. I personally like the idea of hybrids, but all the current ones still use gas, albeit less of it.

What I typically broke on my old EA81 and EA82 on the milder jeep trails was the exhaust, and some scraping on the bottom of the body panels. I've scraped rocks along the bottom of the unibody, without tearing the rear diff or axles off (not quite sure how). I'd be more concerned about the front, especially the oil pan. But if you've already got that covered, the diff sounds like the next obvious thing. Somehow, my friend with a '91 legacy keeps tearing her outer front CV boots off -- deep snow with icy ruts in it.

Shouldn't be any problems with the CEL. The only issue is blowing your car and entire gas station up from some spark from the running engine igniting the fuel vapors as you are fueling up. To me this isn't a very good arguement, because even if your engine isn't running, the car that pulls in next to you is, and he's turning his headlights off, radio on, etc... Having your own car running is perhaps a tiny bit more dangerous, but the whole proceedure is so dangerous to begin with.... My diesel I often leave running while fueling, especially on long trips, because I need to cool the turbo down after getting off the highway. Diesel also is way less flamable. My subaru I shut off because I can't think of a good reason to keep using fuel idling. Edit: just saw the reply above me. I forgot that the gas cap being off can throw the CEL. Unless you are doing turbo cooldown, I don't see a reason to keep it running.

I don't know how much power the reverse circuit can take. I think I've seen 50 watt backup bulbs though. Check JcWhitney. If it can't handle it, you could always put in a relay driven by the current backup circuit, and wire it directly to the battery with a new 20 amp fuse. Z

They don't come with those any more? I end up with enough snow packed in just my steel wheels. I don't need hubcaps to gather more. I do have the little metal center caps from the old EA81 wheels on there though.

:lol: yeah. I guess all of us who thought GM and Ford really could build well made efficient little cars have been proven wrong...

Carl's right -- gas is still dirt cheap, so why does anyone care about mileage? Actually, it's obvious that people don't, judging by the number of suburbans with one person in them commuting to work here every day. I, the "rabid environmentalist" that I am, have to confess that I drove my 4wd truck around most of last year, getting 22mpg and paying $3.10/gal for biodiesel even though I could have gotten my butt in gear and gotten the old VW rabbit back on the road to get 50mpg. Or biked more. I could have saved money, and maybe helped save the planet too. But I sort of like driving my truck. In my experience, increasing gas prices causes more whining, but no less driving....

Well, the fact is that subaru's actually get great gas mileage. People around here who buy subaru's are not choosing between a subaru and a camry or jetta -- of course a camry or jetta is going to get better mileage. They're choosing between a subaru and a blazer or explorer. My friend's explorer gets a good solid 16. Maybe 19 on the highway. Doesn't keep me from wanted a diesel subaru so I can get 40, but even now, I'm getting 10 more than most SUV's.