zyewdall

I'm not aware of any all wheel drive loyales, all part time 4wd... so it could be something as simple as a bad vacuum actuator for the 4wd. Or... more. How has the cooling system been maintained... overheating tends to result in head gasket problems on the EA82's, especially ones over 200k. That's the biggest issue. And, when was the timing belt last changed. Other than that, they aren't that bad... way less power than the EJ22 cars, so the price should be lower. It won't have the desireable dual range transmission that the old GL's had. How much do they want for it, and where are you located (potential prices can vary alot depending on where you are -- some places you can get a '94 legacy in decent shape for $1000 or less.... other places not... plus rust can be an issue in some places). Z

11 and 13 sound like the distributor -- I've gotten those when I had the distributor miswired (swapping a '91 engine into an '87 body, which had different plugs for the SPFI system). But, I have no idea on the others, or why it might be intermittent. It wouldn't fire at all when it was throwing those codes.

Wow... and here I was thinking that the new cars just hold temperature very steady compared to my '70's pickup with an actual mechanical thermometer that goes up and down depending on what I'm doing with it.

Hmmm. But I've never seen the temperature guages on the newer subarus move as long as the cooling system doesn't have anything wrong with it -- same place on the gauge whether going downhill, or flogging it uphill. If the system was undersized, wouldn't you expect the temp to increase when really working the engine? Z

If you want the white wagon wheels, I think you need to make sure they are from an EA82... the EA81 ones won't fit over the brake calipers on the EA82's if you have new pads on there (they will with worn old pads...)

Well, gas mileage is awful on the last tank -- around 19mpg. It got 25mpg on the last tank on the toasted 5MT AWD before I blew it up. Check engine light it on continuously, so I suspect something is screwed up that's causing lower mileage. It's also feels like it's a little less power than the old legacy wagon (I was driving both of them yesterday). Too bad you can't easily pull the codes on the new ones like you can on the older ones...

Dunno... but the only subaru that I've actually destroyed it's engine was a 2006 -- and I've owned about a dozen of them, mostly 80's ones, and one EA82 had bad head gaskets, but the engine was still ran fine if you kept the coolant level up. THe 2006 outback we had at work had some odd oil leak that soaked the timing belt, and caused it to slip, destroying one head. Covered under warrantee since it was only 15k miles on it at the time. I consider that to be a bit of a fluke, but it shows that there are exceptions to every trend. I also had a friend punch a rod through the block on a phase I EJ22, which is often considered the most bulletproof subaru engine ever. And another friend get 400k miles on a chevy engine with no work.

I was in Atlanta last February when they got about an inch... to me that barely qualified as snow, but it shut the city down. I didn't see any subaru's in the city when I was there. Then again, if the temp gets over 85 degrees, I flee to higher elevation (than Ward, which is only at 9,300 feet) to find cooler weather. Z

yeah... if I recall, they are welded to the driveshaft instead of being able to be removed from it, so you need a shop that can cut the old ones off and weld the new ones on.

So.... I took the old pads off yesterday, and had it up on blocks waiting for the new ones that I got today... my friend had the bright idea to come and test all the brake lights and turn signals and such while I was gone. So, he pushed the brake pedal with no pads in there, and the pistons came way out -- they don't seem to want to screw back in now -- I turn them and they don't go in. Any bright ideas on how to get them back in? Thanks Z

Really? There's a stack of them at the shop in boulder, and I think they're asking about $500 for them (which is not much more than buying SJR's EJ-EA adaptor to use it with the RX transmission). Seems like Oregon should have a similarly good source of them somewhere... but I dont' know.

How about just buying a whole turbo legacy with a good drivetrain, and rusted out or wrecked or something? Then you'll have the engine, the transmission, and the wiring harness you need to swap into the RX?

Have you checked the battery voltage while the engine is running. It's possible (though seems unlikely) that the voltage is running a bit high, which is stressing the bulbs more, especially if you use them as daytime running lights like I do.

Update.... haven't taken the transmission apart, but it felt like Gloyale's explanation was the correct one. When CCR did the dual range swap, they found that the clutch disk had disintegrated (that's what finally killed it... romping on it in deep snow, all of a sudden it lost all gears). Clutch was slipping already. I love the new dual range transmission

Yeah, I found this out as well, when I swapped the white spoke rims from my '82 wagon onto my '89 wagon... if the brakes are worn down they'll clear the calipers, but not if you have new brake pads on there... that could be the difference between the two cars, it's so close. There's also two styles of stamped steel rims, and the EA81 style has the same clearance issue with the front calipers of the EA82 brakes...

Oh, on the speedo, I think the cable from the impreza was just threaded into the GL transmission. They were both 3.9 final drive, so it should be right on except for the slighlty larger tires (195/75/14 instead of the stock 205/65/15 IIRC). I'll check it with the GPS today.

Pics of the shifter and the engine.... can't really even tell in the engine compartment. The GL shifter is a little farther forwards than the stock imp shifter (nuetral line is more like where 1-3-5 used to be), but works fine once you get used to it, and the 4wd hi-lo shifter sticks up right behind it... I think that Terry might have done some custom linkages to get it right there. I need to figure out the boot situation, as now it's just a slit cut in the stock boot, and you can see the tranny through it Pricewise, it was $395 for the transmission adaptor (redrilled flywheel and EA-EJ plate) from SJR. About $130 for the XT6 clutch kit, $100 each for the two custom axles in the front, and $135 for the driveshaft lengthening. I supplied some of those components, and Terry at CCR got other ones. I had the dual range transmission already, and if I'd also had an EA flywheel for SJR to redrill instead of buying a whole one from them, it would have been a little cheaper. All told, I've got about $3,200 into the project now (including buying the Imp with a blown transmission and clutch) including Terry's labor, but not including the snow tires or the dissassembled '82 GL with 14" pugs that I traded to Terry to reduce the labor charge. Not bad considering that the imp bluebooked around $3400 here if it hadn't had the bad tranny, and I'd gotten tired of the '82 GL sitting in the yard waiting for an EJ22 swap that was probably never going to happen If I'd done the work myself, I could have done it alot cheaper... but I didn't have the time or facilities this fall to do it so I was happy to have him do it.

I picked up the Impreza with the new 5 speed dual range transmission last night, and took it home in the storm. It's awesome.... but needs a bit more work 1997 Impreza Outback Sport, EJ22, completely stock except for the transmission/drivetrain. 1987 5 speed dual range transmission from a GL Custom axles and driveshaft (Imp axles with GL inner cups, lengthened driveshaft. SJR EJ-EA transmission adaptor plate and redrilled EA flywheel, XT6 clutch. CCR in Denver did the swap for me. I love the gearing of having the low range. In deep snow (dragging the entire bottom) it has the power to just keep going instead of stalling, and if you do stop on a snowy hill, you can let the clutch out at a reasonable rpm, instead of having to rev it way up to keep from stalling it. Good at crawling nice and slow (haven't tried any steep hills yet, just deep snow, as that's what was available last night Ground clearance still sucks.... I got it high centered on a driveway that an old landcruiser had bashed through all the 2 foot drifts -- all four wheels off the ground. This afternoon I took the old stock GL wagon up the same road -- almost identical snow tires on both too, and it did it with just a little squirming -- it must have at least 2 to 3 inches of clearance on the Impreza. Time for some Forester struts.... Pictures coming soon.

GD's right.... I've never broken anything in 4wd on hard surfaces -- it'll chirp the tires and bind and stuff, but with stock wheels, it doesn't seem to have enough torque to actually break it, just act very unhappy. So.... don't put it in 4wd on hard surfaces

I'd say pass it up. 2wd subarus are only worth whatever you need the parts for for your 4wd one, up here.... seriously. I had a 2wd wagon, and it was lots of fun, and I took it offroading and all, but eventually sold it as parts because no one really wanted a 2wd subaru. And, unless it's got the 4 speed automatic, it's got a lousy transmission too. If it ran perfectly, it might sell for $1000 just because of the low miles, but with any problems... it's a parts car.

They are front wheel drive in 2wd mode. 4wd mode sends power to a rear driveshaft as well -- no center differential, so it's real 4wd, not all wheel drive like the newer ones. On the older GL's (the Loyale is a stripped down version, so didn't get this), the low range is accomplished by a planetary reduction gear (1.59:1 for the 5 speeds) on the transmission input shaft -- not on the transmission output like most 4x4 trucks and such. The stock shifters are set up so it's always in 4wd if it's in low range, but you have a choice of 4wd or 2wd in high range, but you can separate them to give indepenent control of 4wd/2wd, and hi/lo range if you want. Because of the design, you can shift in and out of hi lo and 4wd at pretty much any speed -- you don't have to stop. I put it in nuetral and put the clutch in to shift it so it's not under load from either direction, because that does cause grinding.

Yeah... that sounds like a tuneup. When mine was drinking a gallon of coolant every 20 miles, it still ran just fine, as long as you kept it topped off (I am not certain it was a head gasket... might have been an intake gasket -- I didn't know about that possibility at the time). My friend gave me her car ('87 GL wagon) to try to fix, and said the transmission was going out on it... actually, the clutch was badly adjusted, and the spark plugs were so bad that I can't believe it still ran at all -- no center contacts left on them.... transmission was perfectly fine as far as I could tell

Yeah, subarus in the snow are fun. I just got a set of studded snows on the old GL wagon yesterday, and was driving it around unplowed roads today... it was plowing with the bottom of the car, but as long as the wheels where touching the ground, it kept on going. Narrow tires, good weight distribution. And, I think that sometimes the lack of power is actually an advantage because you don't have enough to break the tires loose and spin them (that seems to be a problem V8's and automatic transmissions especially). Though... we'll see how my EJ22 compares when I get it back... I do like the more power you get with that.

watch out for cooling system issues -- those can lead to blown head gaskets from overheating, eventually. And figure that the timing belt hasn't been changed forever unless they have proof otherwise. Oil leaks are pretty normal... as long as it's not losing too much, it's just rust prevention. The only other thing to really watch out for is old carburetors as they are more expensive than the car sometimes, but yours has SPFI, so that's not a concern. You'll want to put a dual range transmission in it -- direct bolt in. Z

Rattle can paint jobs are fun, and pretty cheap. adding racing stripes, two toning it by painting the lower parts under the trim, etc... It'll oxidize in a year in the sun, and not be shiny any more, but you can shine it back up with some rubbing compound (or do camo, which you don't want shiny The hammerite stuff seems to not oxidize so much in the sun compared to regular spraypaint. Try to find a cheap wirefeed welder and an angle grinder... it's so much fun to make stuff (roof racks, bumpers, whatever) for it out of scrap steel. They're under $200 from harbor freight, or about $350 for a nice one from Lincoln. Or, if you can find a used one on craigslist.