DaveT

Oh, the oil leak. Probably the dried out oring on the passage to the cam tower. By now, if those have never been replaced, they're due.

You have to find that coolant leak asap, or you will need headgaskets for sure, if you don't already. It could be a slow leak to the exterior or an intake manifold gasket. But once you run over normal temp while low on coolant, the head gaskets get damaged and begin to fail. Exhaust gasses get pumped into the cooling system. Waiting a week to check the level, when you know it's going down is too long. The level on the recovery tank should be monitored. Check the radiator for air by sharply squeezing the upper radiator hose. Listen for gurgles and the jiggle pin. Anything more than a little gurgle of air is some thing to watch. Especially if the level in the recovery is changing.

The engine from the heads down will interchange. You need to swap the spfi manifold ans harness onto the 86 engine. Probably the distributor also. The fenders are the same, except trim might vary. Not sure about the power windows, my 86 had manual windows. I'd guess they are the same, but can't verify without spending quality time with my 2 FSM s. I have 86 and 90, and it's great for checking such things out.

Wd 40 won't stay there long, so that's very short time only .

I'd go to a car parts store, and get a thin sheet of thin gasket and cut one. Even a sheet of heavy paper would work temporarily.

Oem thermostat for loyale is about 190. I've been running a 180 in one of mine for a number of years now, never noticed any ill effects, but the heater seems a little lower output.

Hello, welcome Lots of info, and helpful people on here. The question would be seen by more members in the newer generation forum.

maybe, maybe not. If it's exposed to extreme temperature cycles, and little driving, a little water on the oil cap I've seen. The normal tell for headgasket to cooling system leak is air getting pushed into the coolant, not the coolant into the oil. Except for 1 very bad overheat with low coolant have I seen that.

Yeah, cars in the war of slant 6s had air in the radiator to handle the expansion, and iirc, most didn't have recovery tanks. I actually added one onto a car or 2. The whole system was setup to keep the air in the the top of the radiator, so it wasn't a problem. Of course, part of what made it possible is that everything was bigger. You have to have a decent volume of space to hold the air and for the water to not mix and drag it back through the system..

Ok, always good to check the simple things first.... I never had to deal with your problem, but I'd look at removing the seat to make getting the door cards off easier?

I don't know what the normal service intervals are for new cars. But if they are more than a week apart, it's very easy to loose enough coolant through a small leak to ruin head gaskets or worse, in any engine. I learned long ago to do this, as I mostly have only maintained older cars. If I were to buy a much more expensive newer one, I still would check frequently, as a lot more is at risk. When I began driving, the guys that pumped the gas checked oil and coolant while the pump ran. I just got used to doing the checks on my own when everywhere went to pump your own gas. I'm used to cars that have gauges, I don't like the trend back toward stupid lights at all. By the time those lights come on, it's too late, especially if it's due to low coolant level. In most if not all Subarus, if enough air is in the coolant system, it eventually interferes with the water pump circulating coolant. It doesn't take a huge amount of air. Maybe a couple of water bottles worth. Air pocket gets into water pump. Water pumps suck at pumping air. Coolant stops circulating. This can make the radiator not hot, since air was still cooling it. Head gaskets get toasted. Sometimes the pocket moves, and circulation restarts. It gets random. I am most familiar with the older models directly, newer ones mostly from what I've read on this forum.

Coolant level should be checked weekly for average daily driver. Both in the overflow tank, and the upper hose, by squeezing and listening for the jiggle pin and gurgling of air. Waiting for an over temperature indication on the dashboard is too late.

+1 what Downwash wrote. I did find a Chilton manual I got with a car useful for helping determine which parts were interchangeable between years, but aside from that, no substitute for a fsm.

Not sure what they would be for. BUT if you can't get rustproofing / paint on the inside after welding, that's a problem...

The compressor cycles on and off depending on the heat load on the evaporator. There is a thermostat in there that controls it.

Thwre is a switch that disables the power locks for the back doors iirc...

Verify the lamps are good? If you don't have a fsm, you want one for electrical details.

Iirc, the filter is back by the tank on carbed ones.

I'd be looking at plug wires and the CTS first.

My one experience with water in the fuel showed up on the highway. If your only trouble is starting, it's probably something else.

The springs are no longer available. Not usually replaced with struts, which wear out a lot quicker. There is a thread or 2 about fitting springs from another car for stiffer / higher ride.

A stock Loyale will not have vacuum advance. All that is handled by the ECU computer.

Cork will work until it dries out, so use it while you located something rubbery. Match up the screw with metric screws at a parts store . Kind if weird that it fell off.

Welcome, First. Better to start a new thread than post on one from 2005, just FYI. You probably have a 3AT transmission. first things to check: fluid level vacuum modulator Governor

Thanks for the update. Now that you have compared a new radiator to a partially blocked one, it's easier to know the difference when you test them, right?