zyewdall

Bleah.. where's the emoticon for puking? UP to those standards??? Why would I want a BMW or an Audi? Besides being expensive to buy, they're expensive to maintain. Plus anything that's supposed to be a status symbol just give me the creeps. I have to admit I was a little miffed when I found out that my "new" subaru with a tape deck instead of just AM/FM was painfully obsolete. But then again, my Ipod cost half as much as I paid for the car..., so I can't really complain that it didn't have an Ipod input standard.... Zeke '89 GL wagon

speaking from experience here....

If you are working on your own engines, definitely the subaru. Their design is easier to work on than the transverse engine designs (although I am not sure if the matrix is transverse engine or not, I suspect it is). If you are buying new, and having a shop do work on it, one, neither the subaru or the toyota will need much work, and two, you don't care that much whether you can do it yourself. I personally like the lower center of gravity and longer wheel base of the subaru wagons compared to the RAV4. It helps a bit on slick roads to prevent a slide from becoming an out of control slide. Being longer also lets you carry some bigger cargo, but I think the RAV4 might be slightly taller though. The boxer engines do have more low end torque than most cars I've driven, which makes them seem faster than HP would suggest. I'm not really familiar with the toyota matrix -- if it's got a toyota pickup engine, it will be torqier, but if it's the car engine, not so much. As far as price, subaru's keep their value well, I have no idea on newer toyotas. I know that old toyota trucks from the 80's still go for several thousand around here, so I suspect toyotas might be just as good as subaru in this respect. You will probably save some money by getting a slightly used one (04 or 05), but not alot. Certainly not the 50% depreciation in the first 3 years that you'd expect with american SUV's.

I think you have to take the front skid plate off with 4 bolts to reach stuff easier, but other than that it's easy. Of course, I'm speaking from experience with a loyale and a '96 OBW, and I'm not sure the 2000 is the same. Zeke

Replace the timing belt if it hasn't been done yet. These are interference engines IIRC, so it's pretty important to not run over about 60k miles on a belt. Brake rotors shouldn't need replacing yet unless they've gotten warped, or you've let the pads get low and ground the rivets in. Automatics do go through brakes faster, so it's possible I guess -- depends on what they measure them to be, and what the minimum thickness is. Most brake places will tell you you need to replace them whether or not they need it -- more money for them. Zeke

Timing belt probably broke because it was too old. These engines have a reputation for breaking timing belts, but from what I can tell, it's only because you CAN run a timing belt till it breaks on these engines. On most cars that would be asking for a new engine, so it takes on more urgency to actually replace it when you are supposed to. On EA-82's, there's no urgency. Usually what happens is a few teeth strip off the drivers side belt. It still looks fine if you pull the covers, but if you turn the engine over, it doesn't turn on that side. You can check by just looking to see if the rotor is turning in the disty when you crank it. If it isn't, the timing belt's stripped. After working on my VW rabbit last night which was designed by some sort of sadistic german engineer, I have a new appreciation for how incredibly easy subaru's are to work on. It's a great car to learn on, and you really only need three size sockets. 10, 12, and 14 (plus 17 for some of the larger bolts). None of the socket head, spline bolts, or four different sized bolts holding the same darn piece on that you can't even reach the bolts till after you've taken it off like the VW. Zeke

The problem with old subaru's is that often they are not well maintained by the previous owner. Actually, its sort of a good sign that they are still worth anything after being neglected so long sometimes. I got a nice '85 that had been a college car -- sold once a year for the previous 6 years or so... Within a week the timing belt broke, and the starter motor had to be replaced. With some decent care, it turned into a good reliable car though. I don't treat my cars well, as far as hauling heavy loads, off roading, etc. But I do keep them well lubed, full of oil, and do the scheduled maintanance, and they hold up extremely well under these conditions.

Well. I did a complete two tone green paint job on my old dirt brown loyale. About $40 for spray paint (john deere green, and forest green), masking tape, sandpaper... Looks really sharp now. Of course, this is a '89, so it was really boring looking before, with a little rust... I can't find a picture of it right now, but maybe I'll post one. I also color coded all the parts of my engine once when I had it apart. Green for vaccuum, light blue for cooling, red for oil, purple for power steering, yellow for electrical.

Get a face plate for some really crappy old radio that no one wants (broken buttons, dust, cracked display, etc, and leave that one on there when parked. Put the good one in the glove compartment. I've known a few people who did this. Another idea is you can rig up a circuit with a spare ignition coil that will keep the whole frame of the car at 20,000 volts. I know people who make fence chargers for cattle this way, and they'll easily run several days on a small battery. This is not really safe for random passersby, but any theif would get what he deserved.

If the engine's out of a '92 Loyale, it actually exactly the same engine as came in the '87. That is, if it was a fuel injected '87. I just put a '91 loyale engine in my '87 GL. If it was a cabureated engine in the '87, they probably swapped the intake manifold, in which case when getting parts, you should still retend that it's still the original '87 engine. If you see a blue air cleaner right on top of the center of the engine, then it's carbed. Otherwise you'll see a black hose going off to the air cleaner case on the passenger side of the engine compartment, and I think it says SPFI right on top of the engine. Your clutch pedal sounds like adjustment issues, or mybe needs a new cable (except you said it just had one?). The hill holder keeps the brakes on as long as you foot is on the clutch, even after you take your foot off the brake pedal -- for easier starting going on hills. For the hill holder adjustment, if it's really badly out of wack, it will never release the brakes even when you let up on the clutch (I had my '82 lock up so bad once it wouldn't move even in first low, and it had no trouble driving with the parking brake on in first low...). If it's adjusted too far the other way, it won't work as a hill holder -- just like most cars which don't have it -- but no other problems. Ignore the door indicator lights. You might try finding the little door pushbutton switches that tell it if a door is open, and see if they're full of dirt, or the rubber boot is gone, but it isn't a big deal. Overall, sounds like you got a great deal, especially for a northeast car. Edit: actually, it sounds like it might be the engine lights that are on, if they are the little rectangular red ones? Which ones? If just the CEL is on, you can pull the code and figure out what the problem is. If all of them are on, it's probably a grounding or electrical system issue. Zeke

Sounds like air lock in the fuel injection system to me. I've never run a fuel injected gas engine out of fuel, but I know that for diesels, it can take several hours work to restart them if you run them out of fuel.... Might have to crack the fuel line at the throttle body to let the air out.

Have you considered the drivetrain from a westy synchro? You can even get the pre-made adaptor plate to put the EA or EJ subaru engine to the VW transmission. Gearing might be a bit low, since it's made for a bit heavier vehical. And you'd probably have to shorten the driveshaft to the front -- I think the wheelbase is longer than a bug. But it might be less work than a full subaru drivetrain. I hear the old syncro vans were actually pretty good in the snow, aside from being high center of gravity. Full time AWD with a locking center diff I believe. I've always liked the idea of a 4wd bug, and figured a subaru drivetrain was a good idea, but never got to the point of actually measuring or buying anything...

You're right. The eco-diesels had a cat starting in '91 or so. I was referring to some new pollution control device/system that the european diesels just started getting in the last year or two, that can't stand the high sulpher american diesel, that I also obviously can't remember the right name for..... Maybe it's the particulate filters that new Merc's have, but I thought I remembered something else... Oh well, entropy 1, Zeke's memory 0. You know that screw is set at the factory and never supposed to moved, right? I change mine all the time.... Z

That's the exact description of what my truck has. The previous owner probably got it at Napa.... Everyone asks what the red button is for...

I wonder how adding cats to the diesels will affect the oil formulations? So far I don't know that any of the cat equipped diesels have made it to the US (I believe they have to wait till we have low sulfer diesel here or the cats will quickly die). I actually had no idea that the diesel oils had higher phosphorous and detergents than the ones for gassers. I figured there was something to help with higher temps, and deal with the much higher soot accumulation, but wasn't sure what... Zeke

Thanks. I might check out the readywelder. I like the wire feed more than the stick for quick jobs, although I can get a nice looking weld with the stick because it doesn't splatter so much. Zeke

Here in Colorado, the first snow of the year always creates an immense number of fender benders, and a few flipped SUV's. It seems everyone forgets how to drive in snow over the summer.... By March, everyone is pretty good at driving in the snow again. I don't envy your heavy wet snow. I heard that hurricane Wilma got you guys up in the NE pretty good last night.

I don't know if this applies to subaru's or not, but diesel VW's tend to rev intermittently and burn oil if they have bad valve guides -- the oil leaks down into the cylinders, and being a diesel, it acts like fuel there and revs the engine. I know that subaru's leak oil into the cylinders and blow blue smoke if you tip them over, but if you are level, it shouldn't happen. And I'm thinking that in a gas engine, oil shouldn't behave as fuel so much as just foul the plugs and create smoke. Wow, I just noticed that i've been upgraded to eat, live, breath subaru....

I disagree that the manufacturer necessarily recommends the best oil. An engine with 200k miles on it is not the same as one straight from the assembly line. Clearances are all worn a bit more, and what may have been the best oil when new, isn't necessarily still the best oil. If the manufacturer had a graduated chart of what oil to use based on how many miles were on the engine (or better yet, what the particular bearing clearances were), then I'd go with their recommendations, but I think as engines get older, we're sort of on our own to determine what's best. Zeke

Just FYI, I usually get my car batteries from Costco -- their Kirkland brand. They're about 25% cheaper than interstate battery for the same CCA (which is all I ever look at up here), and have a 100 month warrantee (36 month free replacement I think, then prorated after that). I've been pretty happy with them so far.

Good luck. I hope it's solved finally. The '90 legacy we've been working on still overheated after two new thermostats, a new radiator, waterpump, and a complete system flush. We finally just put a used engine from a 97 in it, and it runs great now. Burning way less oil too. Seemed a bit extreme, but nothing else seemed to make any difference.

Yeah. I'm interested in how you plan on doing the welder. I was just going to hook a cheap 2kW inverter to my little work truck to run the wirefeed welder. I know that jeep people put in a separate generator, but they've got a bit more room in the engine compartment for extra accessories.

Yeah, is the oil right above the belt in the front, going from side to side? Could also be if you are leaking PS fluid onto the belt, or the oil filter is leaking onto the belt a little. If it's going from front to back on the passenger side, it could be the inner CV joint throwing grease, if the boot is ripped. But this looks lumpier than oil. And you'd smell it burning off the cat too.

The way I remember it is that concave is bent inward, like a little cave. Convex is the other way...

Yeah. Those old landcruisers were tough. A friend of mine dropped his over 18 foot embankment into a snowbank, and it just needed to be towed back onto the road. For higher speed collisions, crumple zones are way nicer on the people inside that the old cars used to be, but for little stuff, the old ones hold up alot better. Don't know how many trees I backed into when I was first learning to drive. Luckily a series II landrover and a rusted out '82 GL don't show it much...