zyewdall

It goes away in nuetral because then there is no torque on the axle from the transmission, so it doesn't keep spinning the axle inside the stripped out hub -- they just turn the same speed (if the vehical is moving) and it is quiet. The older subaru's were not unknown for this to happen. I did it on my '82 once. I never heard of it happening on a legacy. I'll let someone else describe how the AWD system works. Subaru had several different versions depending on whether it was manual or auto tranny I think, and I've only owned the four wheel drive ones myself. Z

If you are on semi-plowed roads, the pushbutton 4wd is probably fine. I much prefer the dual range myself, and there is only two or three years (here in the US at least) that had the dual range with fuel injected engines, so they're a little harder to find. Dual range helps alot if you are in deep snow where you are dragging the bottom, or rough dirt roads where you want to go slower, and maintain engine rpm. And on steep stuff like subarian said, it helps alot to maintain power. You can always swap in a dual range in the loyales with the pushbutton 4wd, so it's not the end of the world even if you get the loyale now and want dual range later. Z

If the car is going a different speed at the same engine speed, either the transmission gear ratios changed (which, unless they accidentally replaced your transmission, I don't see happening:D), or the clutch is slipping. I can't see how doing timing belts or seals could have any effect on the gear ratios, so I'd suspect a slipping clutch. Zeke

Yup, sounds like a stripped hub on a front wheel. If this is what it is, it's pretty easy to fix. Worst case should be a new hub and a new axle. Might only need the new hub.

If you're going to give it to junkyard, I'll save you the trouble.... give it to me instead:grin: Why won't the local garage touch it? It's not that big of a deal, and it would most likely last another 150k with new head gaskets, and the rest of the car is well worth fixing the engine. Or getting a rebuilt engine from CCR. But whatever you do, don't have it crushed up.

The loyale I just parted out had a Ford radio in it that was much bigger than the factory subaru radio. I don't know that it was as tall as the double din, but it was wider and deeper than the OEM. It had some sort of mounting panel that let it project farther out from the dash and still looked good -- I'll see if it's got any identification on it. I'm going to see if it will allow me to put a CD/MP3 player in my GL.

Exactly what I'm planning on doing. I can't really drive my suby much any more even though I really like it, since I've vowed to give up imported fuel. I was going to put a 1.6 liter VW diesel into a GL wagon, and figured that I'd have to move the radiator an inch or two foward, and tilt the diesel over to the passenger side as far as it would go. Possibly a little hood scoop for the final clearance. Fabricating the transmission adaptor plate was where I got stuck, as I didn't have the required machine tools. So it's on the back burner for a while. I figure a 1.6 turbo diesel should be at least as quick as the stock EA82 -- rated just about the same torque I think. My truck has a 2.3 liter turbo diesel, rated at 84 horsepower and 136 ft-lbs, and it can take most hills faster than the GL wagon, for a vehical that's 1000+ lbs heavier. Zeke

Pull the solenoid wire off the starter (should be a 12AWG or so wire, with a spade terminal) and see if it still tries. If it does, it sounds like the solenoid is jammed on. If it stops, and you measure constant 12 volts wrtg at the control wire you just unplugged, something in the ignition switch is probably &*^%$%#$ed. Z

Oh. I forgot they don't have the same ones that the old GL's did. I've actually high centered with those, without too much damage.

I would stay with a subaru or toyota AWD. Or maybe the Maxda somone suggested although I have no personal experience with any Mazda's newer than 1974. I do like the old 80's Volvos and Audi and Volvo make good AWD's from what I hear, but they are more expensive mostly because they are luxury SUV's now, not because the AWD is better than subaru. And maintenance costs, at least with the Audi/VW is not as good as I'd expect. I don't think the XC70 gets very good gas mileage either (but I might be thinking of the XC90). Also there was one time we were going skking and we passed a well stuck XC70 in my friend's front wheel drive Jetta. More just bad judgement/poor driving skills on the Volvo owners part than anything else, but it was funny nonetheless. Zeke

Yeah, if you're not doing deep snow or off road, don't worry. That's what it's there to protect from. Most cars nowadays don't even have a skid plate. Zeke

I used to swear at my EA82 and how difficult it was to work on after owning an EA81 and a '73 Ford pickup (no power steering, power brakes, nothing...). But now I've learned that anything with a transverse engine is way more of a pain than even the most accesory laden EA82's. I do always pull the AC and alt on mine just to make it easier to see what's going on down there, although recently I realized the pulling the radiator might be easier. Some tight clearances in front to be sure, but not that bad comparatively. Also, you only need three socket sizes for just about the entire car. It seems the timing belt cover bolts are often stripped and you have to sort to break them to get them off. You can just run without timing belt covers and it simplifies everything a bit. The sides usually come off fairly easily, but the center does have to have the crank pulley removed first. For oil, I go to the carwash about once a year, and use a can of the engine-brite type stuff, then with the high pressure hot soapy water wash the entire engine for about 5 minutes to get all the grime and such off. We don't have picky inspections here, but this way I can see where any leaks are coming from, and decide whether they are new, old, should be fixed, or just monitored, etc. Also make it a little less grimey to work on the engine. Zeke

Yeah. If you take the cap and rotor off, then unscrew the two or three screws that hold down the metal plate in the distributor below that, you'll see a little wheel with spokes on it that is the crank angle sensor -- or at least the rotating part of it. The sensor looks at the patterns of the spokes on that plate as they go by. Have you checked to see if the rotor is turning? if it's not, it could certainly be a timing belt stripped or broken. Zeke

One thing to be aware of when checking by taking the covers off is that the teeth may have stripped off the belt, so it won't move, but it will still look fine for tension. It seems like a timing belt change is the first order of business with any EA82 that you don't know the history of, since no one ever seems to change them at the recommended interval. I had one break about a week after buying it. You must have strict inspections up in Maine. Every EA82 I'ver ever seen has been covered in oil all over the bottom, and no one cares. I don't understand how the skid plate could contribute to more oil on there though unless you're thinking that it's catching the oil instead of letting it fall on the ground. All they inspect here is an emissions test, and with the state budget shortfalls this year, we might do away with that too. Zeke

Is it SPFI? If so, it does too have a crank angle sensor of some sort, inside the distributor. My '87 GL does at least. If the distributor harness is messed up in any way (loose, miswired, full of dirt) it will give this code, and usually a 13 as well.

Superrupair (superrupair.com I think) parts out alot of mushed up subaru's. I think they sell nationwide, although I get spoiled just driving 5 miles to see what they've got. Prices are decent, though probably not as low as a junkyard. Zeke

Your reasoning makes sense for new cars, but I have had more trouble with dealerships with older cars than independent shops -- knowing which independent shop has the required experience with my car, of course. I know which independent shop here that see's old subaru's every day (which the dealer doesn't), and won't just try to sell me a new one (yes, the subaru dealer wouldn't even work on my car because it "wasn't worth fixing". They suggested looking in the lot for a newer one). I also had a friend take his older Nissan truck to the dealer for a 120 point inspection, and somehow they missed the fact that the rear break shoes were completely worn out. After replacing the master cylinder (which they told him to do), to no avail, he finally had a local gas station look at it, and they told him why his brakes were so mushy. Quite aside from price, I wasn't impressed with their knowledge a vehical they sold. EDIT: Okay. I just saw that Gary says this topic has been beaten to death already,so I won't post any more.

I don't know. Certainly seems that way, although I've never experienced it. I'm working on modifying a friends '90 legacy to bash through snowdrifts better. Last winter it made it up her driveway most the time (until the big drift that the landcruiser was embedded in, at least), but tore the skid plate off, tore the outer CV joint boots off, and took the sidewall out of three tires on rocks hidden in the snow/ice. But no trouble killing the engine yet. It's getting a full coverage welded steel front skid plate this year, since it's fairly exposed once she tore the OEM plastic skid plate off. I can certainly see the entire engine comparment packing up with snow, and that couldn't be great for the thermal stress... Maybe because aluminum actually conducts heat faster, it would have less stress because it would cool off more evenly?

I never got around to reinstalling the clutched fan on my '85 GL before selling it, and the new owner drove from Colorado to Michigan with no problems. It was wintertime when he did this. I told him the fan was in the back and he should put it on if it started overheating but I don't think he ever did. My '84 doesn't even have a fan on the engine, just the electric one. If you're running AC, I think you might need it, or offroading like you said.

I believe the gas mileage is also why the new subaru's no longer count as cars, but light trucks (or utility vehicals, what someone said the DMV was classifying it as). If they're over a certain weight, and meet certain other requirements, they count as trucks, and therefore don't have to meet the same CAFE standards. Many manufacturers intentionally do stuff to make them count as trucks, in order to allow them to get worse mileage (which no one cares about, or used to), and more power. What wants to drive a japanese tin can anyway. It used to be the subarus got way better gas mileage than any other four wheel drive, but they don't so much any more, much to the dismay of many of their loyal customers.

Good to know. I've only owned 1.8s and 2.2's so I didn't realize this. How'd they increase the interval from 60k to 100k? Stronger belt, or somehow affecting how much wear/heat/stress is'ts subjected to per mile?

I've never experienced a lack of power from a blown head gasket, but I supposed it could be if it's bad enough. How much coolant are you using? See what the compression test says. Also, have you checked the plugs for that side -- if they are fouled differently than the other side, it's a good sign something is not right over there. If the passenger side timing belt is a tooth or two off, it could cause that side to not really work. Zeke

Sounds sort of like the timing is off. Perhaps the timing belt jumped one tooth, but not enough to completely self destruct? No check engine light? Do you know when the timing belt was last changed? If it's been over 60k miles, it could go any day (or has already started), and I wouldn't drive it any more till you replace the belt. I think that engine is an interference design. I am having a hard time envisioning how the catalytic converter could cause this behaviour. Even if it was completely clogged, I think it would just cause the engine to stall, and have a hard time revving, but not the rough running. And it shouldn't have been a sudden change either. I would also check the fuel filter and try running some injector cleaner through the tank. If it's getting poor fuel delivery, it would run rough, and possibly not through a trouble code (at least on the older ones). There's been rumors of bad gas going around since the hurricanes, and its possible you got some which clogged stuff up. If it runs fine on a full tank, but not on a low tank, it could be a weak fuel pump. I had an old fuel injected honda accord that had an incredibly hard time starting if I let it sit for a while with a quarter tank or less, but never if I filled the tank. Zeke

The only caveat to this would be that I've heard (from an independant subaru mechanic) that some of the ceramic brake pads are too hard, and will wear the rotors away without ever showing signs of wear themselves. I've never had trouble with this myself. I get the good generic pads and shoes from Checker auto, but not the subaru OEM ones. Usually about $24 for pads, $19 for shoes ('89 GL)

Subaru's are made in mexico now??? Geesh. My VW rabbit is made in mexico too, but at least I got the german engine in it. The impreza's do seem to be nice zippy cars. Don't know if they really are faster, but they feel faster than the legacies. I personally go for the cars with fewer bells and whistles, as they tend to be simpler to fix in the long run. But if you like them, and don't plan on keeping the car for 20 years, go ahead. I don't like sedans at all. I owned one once, and never will again. No good for sleeping in, hauling firewood/furniture/2x4s, etc. Even a hatchback 2 seater is often easier to haul building materials in. I have heard that the sedans make better rally cars because of being slightly stiffer in the back than the wagons, but that's only if you are doing autocrossing. Zeke