211

I'm pretty sure I need to replace at least one. I think it's developing rust-like coating against the mirrored portion. You gave me a good idea though, I could bake them, not to take them apart but to evaporate the moisture out then seal the chips. Problem is, they don't put out hardly any illumination. If you look at them head-on they look plenty bright but I have to drive around with the highbeams on just to see 20' in front of me at night. And yes, they're adjusted properly, I checked that already. I'm open to buy a set if someone has a junker in the yard.

Okay what am I doing wrong? 85 GL wagon 4wd tan in color- the square "boxy" body style. They're EVERYWHERE for frick-sake!!! Hell, every other member has an avatar of one! I've got hella moisture in both headlight housings and I'm hoping I can improve my nightime illumination by replacing them. But the kind I need doesn't come up in my search results. All the online Autoparts "warehouse" stores keep coming up with these square things. Which are NOT the ones I need, In fact they're not even close. You know the wagons have the slightly tapered rectangular ones with the replaceable lamp. What else would they be called? ...here's where in 2 minutes from now I'll check back and find a ton of replies with links direclty to what I need making me feel like a total noob . Thanks though. ~EDIT~ Even checked ebay... nothing! WTF I see more of these cars than any other single model car on earth! Someones gotta have a pair!

So on my journey to solving some tranny/power issues, I noticed a pretty loud "sucking" noise coming from behind the carb. It sounds like a bad vaccuum leak but when I sprayed some carb cleaner around there there wasn't any idle change. I didn't spray a whole lot because I got spooked when a small flair-up ignited on the heater return line . It's hard to tell where exactly it's coming from- it's definately behind the carb between the air cleaner and the manifold, so I'm wondering if it's the actual carb I'm hearing... ...is it really that loud!?!

I have an 85 wagon and it cruises 4000-ish @ 65 mph. Which is sorta silly that the speedo goes to 125mph or whatever; there's no way I can push my soob past 75 without the engine feeling like it's going to launch out of the engine compartment like a TOP! It's funny though that 7 years later and they still didn't add an Overdrive...

You bring up a good point which I forgot to mention in my first post. That is, when starting out in "2"- it starts in 2. In other words it doesn't start in first then shift to second like it should, it starts in second only :-\, like taking off in second in a manual tranny... First gear starts in first, and Drive shifts through all 3 speeds. You asked if starting in 2 and shifting to D if it downshifts, yes it does but its shifting into 3rd gear at that time right? Like its' supposed to? Otherwise I replaced the heads about 20k miles ago, new timing belt, waterpump, disty came out and reinstalled okay. Again, these symptoms are all things that "came with the car". I just finally noticed while riding shotgun in another soob that mines a POS

Where's the vacuum modulator located and what is it I'm checking for? ATF level is fine, just checked it the other day- nice and pinkish looking still too. Not sure what you mean by "Does the RPM 'Stick' to the forward speed...". The tranny doesn't really feel like it's slipping.

85 wagon 4WD automatic ea82 carbed. First I'd like to mention, this car has NOOOO power off the line, like NONE! Under accelleration from a stop it almost feels like the e-brake is on. And the uphills- fuggetaboutit, I have to drop into 2nd or 1st on the long uphills just to keep from rolling backwards (B-ham locals, think Alabama hill...). I thought this was normal for that car until I rode in another soob auto, same as mine pretty much, and it had many more balls. Also, when driving in 2nd gear the engine sputters. Shift into Drive and the sputtering stops. It's not rpm related because I can hold the same rpm range in 1st or drive and the problem isn't there, just 2nd gear :-\ . So I'm thinking tranny related, hence the slow accelleration speeds ect? Any suggestions?

I'm revisiting an issue addressed a while back: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66817 To summarize, the problem is with the ignition. Most of the time the car starts NO PROBLEM, but every once in a while when I turn the key I get nothing. Dash lights come on and everything else seems normal but no start. This is becoming hard to diagnose because it doesn't happen that often. When it does, sometimes I can hold the key in start position and eventually it'll light off. As recommeded in the previous thread, I checked the fusable links and various other connections and everything seems fine. I did notice last time this happened that as I "bump" the ignition I can hear the starter click. So my new question is, is this starter related- perhaps intermittent solenoid problem- or is this still a crank circuit issue?

I'll check the fusable link since that's easy enough but in the meantime can you ellaborate on the relay you installed? Installed or Replaced? Where's it located, and is it a fairly inexpensive fix? Thanks.

I have an 85 GL wagon automatic. Lately when I try and start the car I get nothing; no 'Click', no lights, no nothing, as if the battery were disconnected. If I keep bumping the key sometimes it will decide to start. Most of the time however it starts just fine. The battery is less than 6mos old and the teminals are clean. This happens to my wife more than me but she says the neighbor gives her a jump and it starts just fine, but I know it's not the battery, maybe a faulty relay somewhere between the battery and the ignition switch? Someone have any ideas?

Replaced the heads a little over 1500 miles ago. Car's been doing weird stuff lately, like getting hot in the morning. So I finally took it to the shop 'cause I'm tired of nickel-n-diming this thing. Mechanic says the dreaded, "hydrocarbons" word. Says I have a blown gasket and the radiator is being pressurized I cant invest another embarassing amount of $$ into this again, so I'm wondering how long do you think I can drive around like this? I know it varies but here is a typical day for me: Goto work in the morning 'bout 2 miles from home temp gauge climbs past 1/2 to 3/4 before the t-stat finally opens Good for the rest of the drive to work, which is 33miles of freeway. Same thing coming home, temp climbs till t-stat opens about 3/4 gauge (too close for comfort). Another 33miles. Park car till the next day, otherwise use wife's car do run around in. If it weren't for the gauge climbing near the red every morning I'd feel more comfortable because other than that the car feels and sounds great!

okay, that still doesn't tell me why there's fuel dripping from it.

Yep, that's what I got. I'm thinking the carbs too rich. I've got black plugs at #3 & 4 cylinders. 1 & 2 are looking good.

Well since I redid the heads I noticed it backfiring a lot more (maybe just coincidence), always during de-celleration. I drive almost exclusively freeway driving (60 mi a day to work and back). Also, to say its "leaking" is exaggerating a little. when I pull the line after being driven, a drop of fuel will develop on the end of the hose. I've wiped it with my finger -sure enough it's unburnt fuel- and one more drop will develop, wipe again and that'd be all. That hose where I noticed the fuel is a direct line to the passenger side of the intake manifold. Right above the cylinder head port. Still a weird deal though huh? Carb too rich maybe?

So this little canister deal on the passenger side (see arrow)? Among several other issues that are springing up with this car, today that vacuum line (the small one with the T connector in the background of pic2) popped off while I took the aircleaner off. Then I noticed unburnt fuel dripping from the hose. This is the line that goes to the side of the intake manifold. What is this thing and why's it leak fuel???

Cap was replaced when the 1st tstat was changed, so yeah, it's new. Radiator is semi new too (replaced by the guy before me).

I was having problems with my old T-stat sticking on me in the mornings. When I say old, it's really not old at all. Replaced it when I did the heads about 1000 miles ago; along with timing belts waterpump etc. etc. So last night I bought a new t-stat along with upper and lower radiator hoses, put it in, and this morning, again it stuck on me. What happens is I get about 2 miles away from my house and the gauge slowly climbs past half, till almost in the red. Then Snap, it'll open up and the temp will drop to normal and stay fine till it's starts cold again. Also, this morning a hose sprung a leak. It's the small hose that goes from the thermostat housing (or there-abouts) to the intake, just below the carb. So, I'm not sure if the hose thing is related, easy fix though which I'll have to do at lunch...

Well okay, when I say "never" I mean usually. If I get stuck in traffic or at a drive thru teller it gets warm. And last week it almost got into the Red! I think that was from a sticky T-stat though. Nonetheless, the fan never came on and that concerns me :-\ . I'll ohm check it this weekend. Problem is, last time I ohm'd a sending unit (an old EA81), it was open at cold (duhh) but as I heated it up the impedance increased linearly. So my question is, at what point (ohm-wise) is it supposed to bias the fan on? The second the sensor hits 0.1 ohms (because electrically, that would "close" the circuit)? Or is it something higher like 700ohms; or is the fan speed variable with respect to this linearity?

Good advice! I'll try Meridian Performance first. Last time I went to Sutton to do anywork he wasn't doing anything but Hi-Perf engines and jet skis. But in the days of Fuel Injection and Hybrids, times may be a little tough for 'ol Tom Sutton; I'll give him a try as well. Nonetheless, he is The Man!

So yeah, how can I test my temperature sending unit (radiator)? The fan never comes on, however the motor never really gets warm either. I can drive it all over and the engine compartment is always relatively cool. Priced sending unit last week and they're like $30.00 . So I'd like to test the one I have to make sure it's toast before I dump $$ into this thing.

...besides Rods Japanese Auto. I asked him a while back when I had my '80 Ea81 in there. He makes it sound like he'll work on them if he has to; evidenlty he lost his guru "carb mechanic".

That's deep man. So that's more than what a can of carb cleaner will fix. Anything I could check for myself? I've heard these carbs are a Mother to work on. Mmmm.... come to think of it, the carb was supposedly rebuilt just before I bought it.

Carbed. BTW what happened to the signatures? I had all that info written into my sig and it doesn't show up anymore.

Yes, the heads were rebuilt, machined, valve ground etc. New stem seals...

Oh, I've put at least that! I'd say closer to 1000 miles.