seattlelegacy

Hmmm... I would have said bad ground too, but if both left and right ground share a ground, I would suspect corrosion in the wiring that feed the dim light. A good multimeter should help you identify the source of your problems.

X2! This has been an ongoing source of frustration for me. I put some very nice speakers back there, and they sound like $hit. Rattle, no volume, etc. and everythign is very tight. I thought about custom fabbing soemthing, but I like to keep things as stock looking as possible. Because I can't get any low end out of my rear speaker without sounding like a 3 dollar subwoofer, I'm thinking about putting bass blockers on them and adding a nice compact 10 inch sub in the back. The old school Boston acoustics in my front door panels still sound amazing. I was also happy to see that Subaru used clairon equipment off the factory line, but it didn't make it ten years. I like the EA81s because the speakers are enclosed in the door panels in the rear, but can only take like a 4 inch, so I'll probably add a sub to the 84 wagon also. Jordan

Personally, I'm not convinced with the radiator either. When you redid the heads, did you have them machined? Were the heads cracked, even a little tiny bit between the cylinders. Sometimes, those are tough to see, and if they were there, then you never really "fixed" the original problem those heads can warp... The reason all the stop leak was used was probably to keep the coolant in the cooling system when the headgaskets blew, but new stop leak folmulations aren't going to clog up a radiator - they would probably clog the cooling ports in the heads before they clog up a radiator. If it was the older stuff, maybe. I haven't looked at the specs on the cooling port size in the heads vs. the size of the tubing running through the radiator, but that's my guess. And sorry if it seems like a dumb thing to say, but your thermostat, radiator cap, and all those "simple" little things have been replaced?

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

So nice....

I'm betting you're single, arent you?

I know the motor and the connections work fine, I can run the motor right off the battery just fine. I tried several different grounds, no luck. I did some searching too, and I know there is a relay back in the rear wheel well, but I'm not positive where. There is a small black box right below the rear speaker mount, but I can't tell if that's the one that is making the clicking when the switch is turned on (my neck isn't long enough, I'll have to recruit someone to listen for me). While I was clicking the switch on and off, over and over to try to pinpoint where the sound was coming from in the rear, I left the motor hooked up and after clicking it about 50 times, the thing started to run!! I guessing whatever makes that little clicking noise is what is causing this problem. If I knew what it looked like, I could pull one out of the JY immedietly. Also mentioned in another thread was to check the wiring in the rubber boot that connects the hatch to the car. All good. Also, the wiring near the rear lights was all nice and tight. Jordan

1993 Legacy L wagon, AT 4wd. I thought my rear wiper was shot, so 91 Loyale sent me one off his legacy parts car. I hooked it up tonight, and nothing. Got the voltmeter out and across the green and ground is 11.66 volts. Hmmm... There are four wires for the connector to the wiper. Black, green, blue/red, and blue/black (I think). I took the wiper to the front of the car, hooked it right up to the battery and it wiped wiped wiped. WTF? So according to the voltmeter, there's power back there, but the motor does nothing. I tried grounding it to about 20 different places, still nothing. Here's an interesting tidbit of info though... if I hook the ground to ground, and the green wire out of the motor to the blue wire in the connector, wipe wipe wipe. So I thought, hell I can deal without the intermittance, the only issue is that if I shut the rear wiper swith off, the damned thing keeps running. What's going on here? I'm lost. Other peice of information - if I turn the switch on, there is a brief click somewhere in the RR wheel well. I'm thinking there is some sort of relay there that could be bad. :-\ :mad: :confused: Thanks, Jordan

Damn, now I'm gonna have to rebuild the starter that I replaced for 2 bucks!.

Hey man, for all the BS you're getting on this thread, I say ROCK ON. You're having a good time, enjoying yourself, and thats what life is all about. I think its lame people are bashing you. Just my 0.02. Now get some power under that hood.

I'm a noob, but I just bought an 84, and I can tell you from my experience what to look at that was wrong with mine... You already know about axles - they all need em, so don't let that be a deal breaker. Bushings, bushings, bushings. These cars are old, and rubber just doesn't last that long so take a good look at them. My steering rack bushings were GONE. Made for some sloppy and unsafe driving. Radiator - mine has a "seepage", and will probably need to be replaced. Let the car warm up, and look for this little steam stream. The engines and trannys are pretty bulletproof, just make sure they function well. Look for rust under the carpets up front and or moisture. Get under the car and shake things like the rear driveline, rear axles, etc. An excessively oily front end is going to mean new seals, and the mains can be a pain, from what I have heard. Check the heater core lines for corrosion at the metal/rubber joints. A little is OK, but a lot might mean you're due for a core. Just drive it around for a while, and listen closely to what the car is telling you. Loud clunks, screeches, grinding can all be signs that something is about to go wrong. If possible, pull an oil sample. Is it filthy, or clean? How the coolant look? Do the brakes respond well if stopped hard? How's the clutch feel? Other will give you more, but those are a few things to start with. HAve fun, and if it runs, stops and isn't rusted to hell, its worth at least a couple hundred. I paid 350 for mine, and it needed an axle, those bushings, some tuning work, a good carb cleaning, and possibly a radiator. Jordan

I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. I have to get the 84 wagon tuned and get rid of that damned backfire. I can't wait to make it out though.

Why not a WRX driveline, am I missing somethign (besides cost)?

GD, Thank you for the info. I'll probably defer this one to a muffler shop, as I don't have a welder (yet). But, this also brings another matter to the table.... why do I have unburnt fuel in the exhaust? Seems like a mixture adjustment will be in order in the near future... THANK YOU.

Bump and some additional notes. I located the "backfire valve", took it off, cleaned some crud out (with the trusty carb cleaner) and replaced it. Also found some very loose vacuum line going into the softball sized saucer under the left hand side of the air filter and tighetened that up a bit. Sprayed some carb cleaner down the throat of the carb. None of this helped. So, now I'm thinking more likely an exhaust problem, or a carb tuning problem. When this think backfires, it BACKFIRES. Its a loud, exhaust destroying type, none of this pansy rump roast gurgling as I'm going down a hill. I also found in HTKYSA alive manual and the Haynes how to adjust the mixture. I could try that if someone here thinks that a potential problem. At this point I'm thinking about the old saying... if it aint broken, don't fix it, so speak up if you think this is an issue. Still entertaining the seafoam idea as an easy fix. I should probably pull the plugs and make sure each one is getting spark too (???). As far as the hesitation when punching the gas, I noticed that if I hold the choke upen, and have someone punch the throttle, the little "accessory jet" doesn't do squat, so that probably explains the hesitation issue. I'M STUMPED ON THE BACKFIRING ISSUE. Jordan

What? You didn't swap out your axles while it was upside down?

Dang! You got shocks, pegs... lucky! You ever take it off any sweet jumps? That car is awesome. Have a blast. Post some more photos or video of it once you get it out on the track!

If you attach it. EDIT: HAHA, I know, I'm just giving you a hard time!:D:D:D

If you pop the hood and are looking at the engine from the front of the car, #1 is to the left, and in front. From the car's perspective, its the right front cylinder. Jordan

King County in Washington state just sent me a notice stating that I not only have to pay for my registration, emission, monorail, and sound transit taxes (on a car that has pretty much no value, 84 GL wagon) but also a mandatory licenceplate replacement fee. What the hell is wrong with my current plates??? Same WA state BS, year after year after year. If you haven't been raped in a while, register a car in King County. Between my property taxes and car taxes, I'm going to be a homeless dude with a bus pass. For whatever fukced up reason, it is costing me more to register my 84 wagon than my 93 legacy this year. Total BS. I'd like to ring someones neck.... King County needs to die:dead: Jordan

Now I'm perplexed. Here's what I think I may need to do next: Replace manifold gaskets? (there is a small amount of carbon, maybe like a half inch on the pipe, looks like a little exhaust is getting out..) Adjust valve gap clearances? Run about a bottle of Seafoam through the carb? Run it down the freeway at 70 in 2nd gear? The carb is nice and tight on the intake manifold, but the exhause does smell like its running a little rich. No idea how to adjust that as this is my first carbed car ever... even the timing was a new experience for me. Hmmm.... any ideas? Of the above things, which would you try first? Oh, and emmissions are due:dead: , so no ripping vacuum lines off the carb.... yet:lol: I did find this thread... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48834&highlight=reed+valves Perhaps its the anti-backfire valve? Let me be more specific... The backfiring occurs after shifting at about 4000 rpm, sometimes less, like 3000 rpm. Its the "loud" backfire, not the "grumbling". The kind that makes people duck. Also of note, if sitting in neutral, and you punch the throttle, there is a terrible low end hesitation. If I think of more symptoms, I'll edit again. Thanks, Jordan

First of all, welcome. That's the good news. The bad news is that you might have a wonderful 2.5 litre headgasket issue, which would explain why you got the car so cheap. Check the oil to see if there is coolant in it (may look milky), and after running the car, check to see if there are bubbles in the coolant overflow. Get back to us. You also mentioned that the compartment appeared to have coolant in it. I'm guessing that coolant spray is due to headgasket issues. Did the person who sold it to you give you anymore details. If you're good with wrenching, you can replace the headgaskets yourself. You may want to remove the engine to do it, or you might be able to do it with the engine in the compartment. It sounds like the car has overheated enough that you're going to need the heads machined too if it is indeed a headgasket issue. Search the board for "headgasket", and you'll have plenty of reading for a few days. With any luck at all, its something else, but it sounds like you've done all you can with the thermostat issue. Good luck..... Jordan:-\

Jeremy, I just pulled a starter out of a junkyard for a little more than 10 bucks, you may want to just go that route. It took about 10 minutes to swap it in.

Also, I just replaced some rack bushings on the 84 wagon. Big difference!

How difficult was the rack swap? Mine's puking fluid everywhere, and I was told by Smart Service that it needed to be replaced. They're expensive little buggers, but there is a legacy in the JY not far from me. Any tips, hints, suggestions, etc.? I have a 93 leg BTW. Jordan