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DaveT

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Posts posted by DaveT

  1. I have wanted to find the oem rear ones for years.  None of my cars are bought new, so I never got one that still had original rears.  The first couple I bought were new enough to still have the oem front ones though.   The replacement ones that came on the several other wagons I owned never worked as well as the oem ones.

  2. Oem were flat at the end.  2 small screws held the wiper blade holders on.  All stainless.   Originally painted black.  Sand blasted to mostly stainless just by driving for 30 years.  I might be the only person with oem wiper blade holders and arms,  but both my wagons have them.  

  3. Check the bushings on the various suspension links?

    Double check everything is tight?

    The axle nut is about 150 Ft Lbs.  Cone washer and spring washer in place?

    Auto or stick?

    Check the gear lube level in the front diff.  It is separate if it's an auto.

    Aftermarket front axles are notoriously poor quality.   Bad CVJ usually make a clicking that corresponds to speed rhythmically, volume varies with steering angle.  They can also make weird steering wheel wiggling.

    Things to know -

    Inspect and keep the cooling system in top condition.  Radiator and the 7 hoses.  Do not rely on the temperature gauge or idiot light to catch a problem, unless you want to replace head gaskets [or worse] along with fixing original the problem.  Keep on top of this, and another 100K is not much of a big deal to get.

    At about 150K miles- one of the brushes in the alternator [if it is original] will wear out, and the dash light won't light enough to warn you. 

    Also by 150K miles, the oil leaks usually are bad enough to want to do a reseal from the head gaskets up.

    Timing belts and all 3 idlers every 50K miles for max reliability.  If one snaps, it doesn't destroy the engine, but it leaves you dead until you replace and re time.

     

  4. The running poorly makes me think CTS.  These can fail in ways that cause all sorts of driveability issues, no CEL / codes.  Especially if you notice a correlation with engine temperature.  I had one get intermittent - it was as if the choke was closed sometimes, or open others.  Choked when hot, runs bad.  Open when cold makes for very hard to start.  The CTS can be tested with an ohm meter, and a pan of water, or hot air gun and a thermometer that can read to 200 degrees F.

    The shutting off - could be the IAC.  It ran fine, as long as I didn't take my foot all the way off the gas.  Turned out to be the wire to it was broken inside the insulation.  I had to unwrap the engine harness to find it.

    The wiring to either of these also can cause these problems.

    I had one with a fuel pressure regulator get really erratic on me.  Absolutely no power trying to travel, even at 30MPH.  Would die.  Staring was iffy.  But it would also kick in for a while and be ok.

    Those are some things to look at...

  5. The spade connector (small wire) on the back of the starter is the one that energizes the solenoid.  It is fed 12V only when the key is in the starting position.  There is a fusible link in the circuit between the battery and the ignition switch,  no fuse in the fuse box.

    I have seen links to wiring diagrams,  but don't know them.  Any year from 86 through 94 SPFI should be very similar,  especially for this part of the wiring.

     

    Simplease test  - get a length of 12awg wire.  Connect one end to the spade terminal on the back of the starter.  Momentarily touch the other to the positive battery terminal.   If it cranks, the starter is good, and the relay mod will likely fix it.

    If it clicks no crank, the contact in the solenoid is eroded down, and can be replaced. 

    • Like 1
  6. I never had a part number.......   They were common on Toyota cars from the same general model years.  I got a handful of Toyota and Honda ones at a local scrap yard for 10 or 20 $.    I have a web page write up of how to use them - I just have to find a new hosting service, as the one I had it on went away.

    I'd go to a local yard, where they let you pic & pull.  Look under the hood of a few of the older non super fancy models.  Look for similar sized vacuum lines.  The solenoids I found are narrower and longer than the Subaru ones.  You have to replace the connectors with the ones from the dead OEM one.  Do a little testing to verify which port routs to which, powered and not.  [the specific info for the ones I found is in my web page] .   I'll see what I can do about getting my pages back online.

  7. Try flipping the timing belt over.  It might track differently.  The only way I know of to find another pulley is to find one on an engine.

    I am not sure if welding is the best way to go , as the solid part of the pulley doesn't seem like a solid cut piece of steel.  Possibly brazing would work.

     

     

     

  8. Yes.  There is a main passage in the intake.  Coolant from the heads goes through it to the thermostat. 

    Drain about a gallon out of the radiator gets most of it. 

    Run it up to normal operating temperature,  shut it down, slowly and carefully loosen the 6 intake to head bolts.   Work them out and in gradually if they are really stuck.  If you really pay attention and practice,  you can tell the difference between the springyness of a bolt vs the yield when it snaps off.

    Unless you put it toget her with anti seize before. 

    • Thanks 1
  9. Short test drive today, no clicking etc. on sharp turns.  We'll see over some time and miles how they hold up.

    The Axle I removed - is the smaller version, OEM.  The balls measure to be right on 21/32" , oddly, not a round metric number.  And no easily visible marks / wear.   But the inner start and out cup have smooth wear grooves in them.   This one looks like I had re greased and rebooted previously, the boots are in good shape, not even beginning to crack.  No obvious contamination in the joint or boot.

  10. So here's a test I'm running with front axles-

    I have run EA82/3AT 4WD wagons since 1988.  I have had about 7 of these, so lots of spare parts. 

    The 95AC-23 axles were used on 4WD automatics with SPFI or turbo.  The CVJ and DOJ are slightly bigger OD on these.   [back then I always bought used turbo axles to reboot, so I have a few of them]   The later cars I've picked up had the smaller 23 spline axle shafts.

    Took one of my OEM 95AC-23 axles, which I had removed due to torn boot, who knows how long ago.  Took apart the outer end, just a little wear / not great looking surfaces where the load of moving the car forward would be - if the axle was on the right side.  The balls had a little bit of damage I could feel.  Got new 18mm ball bearing balls from McMaster-Carr.   put it back together, new grease, Silicon boots from Amazon, inner joint only has polished surfaces where the balls run, nothing else worse there.  Installed on the left side today, since the faces that will carry the load of moving forward have little wear on them.  We will see what happens over time.

  11. I would think twice about the wattage - Normal & legal would be 55/60.  BUT the bigger problem - the wiring will not be happy with double the stock power.  As far as will they fit, mine were round.  But those styles were pretty standard, so they should fit in the mounts.  Back when that car was new, there were 3 kinds of headlights, big round, usually 2 on a car.  4 small round or 4 small square.  There were stock sealed beam type, and the H4 replaceable bulb ones.

    Back when I had a 4 light 1978 wagon, I made up a system using H4 lights for it.  I modified the mounts, and installed 4 hi / lo lenses.  Made up a wiring harness and relay box and a control panel.  I could select normal mode [2 low beams/4 high beams] double low beams, lo + hi, and ALL of them, for a total of 460Watts.  That was daylight.  I could choose what was low on the stalk, and what was high.  I also had a pair of real 55W QH fog lights on that car, and a real stereo, before boom cars were common.   But I also had to build an external rectifier box for the alternator, as the internal rectifiers died.  When I realized the current draw, I knew a new alternator wouldn't last long either.  Way more draw than it could cough up.  

    The existing wires and switches will be slightly over design with the 55/60 watt bulbs, but likely survive.

     

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