Mark Humble

Does it hesitate when cold? Like when the car is started cold and you take off hard right away. If it does, then the coolant temp sensor may be at fault.

Sounds like its stuck in the vent position. If you can, try to check to see if the servo for that air valve is working or if its even still connected. May also just be a vacuum hose off, even one under the hood.

Something you can do to check to see if the water pump seal is leaking is to hold the pump so that the impeller is up, the flange for the fan down, and put some soapy water around the seal and with one finger pluging one of the weep holes, apply compressed air to the other weep hole. If the seal is bad you'll see bubbles around the seal. Good way to check new or used pumps before installation. Also, the only time the cooling system can draw in coolant from the recovery tank is when the engine is cooling off. However, if there is a leak in the cooling system then it will suck air in through the leak instead.

14mm for sure, I bought a Snap-On, "ouch". 9/16s will work also.

Yes, head gasket more than likely. To check for sure you can remove the thermostat housing and thermostat, remove the V belts that drive the water pump, fill the therm hsg to the top with water and start the engine. If the gaskets are leaking then you should see bubbles rising up in the therm hsg, mostly from the small hose that connects the therm hsg to the top of the block under the intake manifold. If you have compressed air there is a way to find out which cyl is leaking.

Sounds still like a timing belt. The belts don't always break, they can strip some of the teeth off and thow the timing off. Try rotating the engine to top dead center and check to see if the rotor is pointing at #1. When you set the engine at TDC you have a 50/50 chance of having it on the firing stroke for #1, so if the rotor is 180 from #1 then the timing belt may be ok. If that isn't it then let us know. Also try making a new post in New Gen. Subarus, more people will see it there. And welcome to the board.

Got my 89 GL wagon for free and the leaky head gasket and cracked heads at no extra charge. Clean car, put in a $140 engine and I'm off and running. Welcome to the board.

It does have standard trans and 4WD. It does act like a back fire in some ways, but at times the sudden jerk is so pronounced that its hard to belive its a misfire or backfire. The ECU has been showing codes 11,13, and 33, yet I have changed the dist. Haven't really checked the wiring to and from the dist. Haven't even begun to think about the speed sensor yet. If it is a backfire into the manifold then connecting a vacuum gauge to the manifold and running a line into the car so I can watch the gauge when it happens would tell me more. When I hear the squeek I would swear it is coming from the dash. But then I worked on F4's in the A/F so my hearing isn't all that good.

Not too tough of a job. I have found that it's best to remove the batt then remove the alt and the A/C compressor. This gives a lot more room to work in. I don't remove the radiator although even this is easy and gives even more room. Taking the alt and A/C out makes removing the fan really easy. While you're in there you might think about replacing the timing belts as well. Their right there in your face, can't get much closer to replacing them.

If you want to see the Cali smog Nazis pull their hair out over a smog test, just take my 69 Triumph GT6+ in for a test. This car wasn't meant for the US, but the Fed Gov let them in anyway, so no specs to do the test. They have specs for 69 GT6 and MK II, but no GT6+.

I've got one for you guys to mull over. For as long as I've had my 89 GL wagon it suddenly will jerk while driving. Does it at any speed, any gear. It'll do it once and then after a few miles it'll do it again. Thought the engine was cutting out, but then it did it while going down hill with foot off the gas. Lately theres a slight squeek when it happens. I would swear its a wheel bearing seizing momentarily, but there are no growling or vibrations. Even tapping the brake wont cause the car to jerk like it does. It slows the car down just a little when it happens, like a brake would if where applied hard enough to lock the wheel for just an instance, but not long enough to skid the tire. Guess I could let it develop, thats a sure fire way to find the problem.

I'm running a pair of heads that are at least that bad right now. No leaks. From looking at another pair of heads that are worse than yours that I have, it looks like the cracks would have to go to the bottom of the port before they reach the water jacket. I have pressure tested these heads and they don't leak. That said, if you don't want to get back into this engine for some time then have them repaired and valve job done and resurfaced. Besides, engines just love fresh valve jobs.

Do you have access to a volt meter? If so, then first check the battery voltage while trying to crank the engine. Battery voltage should not drop below about 10.5 volts or so. If it does then the battery may be bad. If the voltage reading stays near battery voltage before cranking, then keep the volt meter pos lead (RED) on the pos post of the battery and move the neg lead (BLACK) to the pos terminal on the starter solonoid and crank the engine again. This time the voltage reading should read .2 volts or lower. Remember to make sure that the meter leads are placed on the batt. post (not the battery cable terminal) and on the starter solonoid post (threaded post). This will ensure that you are testing the entire pos cable assy. If this checks out ok, then move the black lead to the lower terminal on the starter solonoid and the red lead to the upper terminal on the solonoid where the black lead had been and crank the engine. The voltage should again read about .2 volts or lower. However, from your post I don't think this part of the test is necessary as the voltage getting to the starter isn't enough to close the solonoid. The next part of the test involves testing the neg side of the starter circuit. For this test, place the red lead on a clean engine ground (starter housing is best) and the black lead on the neg post of the battery and crank the engine. The voltage reading should again be .2 volts or less. Any reading above .2 volts on any of these tests shows that that part of the circuit between the meter test leads has a bad connection. This is called the voltage drop test, can help you out a lot.

What engine do you have?

You don't need sealant on the valve cover gasket. You'll see what I mean when you compare the old gasket to a new one. Also no need to remove the engine to replace the gasket. The new gaskets are soft rubber and seal well without sealer. And yes you can use RTV on the pan gasket, although I don't use it. I use a gasket sealer I get from Bombardier (Evinrude). Helps to keep the gasket soft.

Strange curve indeed. Looks like the injectors start to kick back in as soon as you started to lift off the throttle. Makes me think TPS or the ECU just decides to drop the injector pulse for no reason. Can't think of any other sensor in puts that could cause the ECU to do this.

Hard to tell from the pic, but it almost looks like the clean piston might have been hitting the cyl head. Look really close at the piston and head to see if you can see a shadow caused by them hitting. This would indicate a spun rod bearing.

Does the hill holder stop the car from rolling fwd as well?

Love it! Sure would come in handy, and think of the fun you can have with hich-hikers. "Sure ,hopp in back."

Right on! You're right there are two parts bolted to the cyl block. The next move is to remove the timing belt covers, timing belts, and crank shaft pully. Then remove the eight bolts holding the cam towers and remove the cam towers. The cam followers are going to fall out if the engine is sitting on the oil pan when you remove the cam towers, so mark them before you remove the tower, that way they can be reinstalled in the same place they came from. After that remove the head bolts in reverse order of the torque sequence. Oh yeah, might be a good idea to remove the intake manifold first. After the head bolts are removed, then remove the cyl head. And you are there, start cleaning gasket surfaces. Don't panic if you see cracks between the valves, they may not be a problem.

You said that the car had spark, so that tells me that the timing belt is still there and the disty is turning. For the ECU to have out put it first must have inputs. The disty is the crank angle sensor which tells the ECU that the engine is turning, which cyl is firing and what RPM. So we know the ECU is getting in put from the crank angle sensor because it is out putting to the coil. What we don't know is if the ECU is out putting to the injector. So check that and we can go from there.

They make a test light for checking to see if power is getting to the injector. There are many different types and I'm not sure which on to get, but it looks like the one for Bosh injectors will work. Most parts stores have them for around $10 or $12. Good place to start. Just disconnect the injector and plug the light into the haness connector and crank the engine over. You might be able to hear or feal if the injector is clicking during cranking.

Snowman has it right, the voltage drop test is the best at finding a bad connection. It works on both the pos side and the neg side. Many people who have heard of this test will test the pos side and ignore the neg side. This is also one of the best tests to find starter circuit problems. I have found 2 different pos cables bad right in the middle of the cable, other wise looked fine. Something to check might be the voltage to the headlights. Maybe there is a problem in that circuit only. Remember also, when a alt load test is done, the alt should put out about 50% more than they are rated for. Thats why you should take it to someone who has the equipment to do a load test. Turning on everthing in the car won't put that much load on it. Oh yes, don't do the pull the battery cable to see if it stays runing trick, it could cost you a lot of money. Know a guy who did this on his boat. Only he ran the engine up to 5000 rpm first. Poof. He blew everything, and I mean everything. Raidos, ignition, ect.

Did you ever get a compression test done? The fuel smell might just be from the hose going to the PCV. Not totally sure if the hose on the left valve cover goes to the PCV on your car or not, it does on mine, but mine isn't turboed. The way the car kept slowing down more and more on your freind, makes me think bearing failure. I realy hate to say that but, I've seen this movie many times before. A compression test, while not conclusive, can help in a diagnosis. Best to check a lot of things and then examine your findings. As far as rebuilding one of these engines, not too bad, as long as you have the tools. I've rebuilt a lot of different types of engines over the years and Subaru engines are realy cool. I like 'em.

I was thinking of building a guard that sticks up above the hood maybe 6" or so to help combat them from coming over the hood in the event I do hit one. It doesn't look like it will block my view any as when I look out the windsheild I'm looking at the road right in front of the car. Short of driving a tank, there is no way to stop some damage from deer. I was riding with a friend once and a deer jumped off a cut bank right in front of the car and we just missed it. Then another one jumped off the bank and onto the hood. Its just that the front of the car isn't built to handle a hard smack so I need something that can handle some impact. We wouldn't have as much of a problem if the people that have moved up from the city wouldn't feed the deer. There are just too many in a small area. I've killed three with the truck in front of one house alone. And i'm not the only one who has hit deer there. Sad but true.