SubieWarrior

Thanks for all the good wishes guys, I am looking as we speak. I have to wait for word from the insurance company before I have any clue what I am getting for mine. I have somebody who owes me a bit of money also, I am hoping that between the two I can maybe even have more to spend this time. Perhaps a legacy this time. I did like my GL though. If only i had moved into a house, I could keep my old one for parts. It is going to have to go to someone else instead though. Ah well. Oh, and Indrid thanks for the heads up. I will see about giving the one you mention a call. I have a call in on a 92 AWD and an 89 4WD locally that look pretty cool. We will see if they are still available. Thanks again all.

Thanks. Worse yet, the tow truck driver that AAA sent said there was another double Subie wreck not long before ours. *sigh*

Well crap. Some of you may have noticed that I recently started posting some random questions about fixing things around my Subaru. I have been working my way around it fixing little things to help me learn how to work on it. This is my first Subie, I bought it after my last car died and I shopped around to find a mini-wagon because I missed having one after several years in sedans. I finally found one about a month or so back. The wagon is a burgandy 1988 GL 2WD 5-speed with 150K miles and in near perfect condition. No rust and most of the interior looks like it is new. Pretty much everything works, outside of the couple of things I posted about earlier. I had the alternator die on me and fixed that, along with adjusting my clutch and hill holder and fixing a quirk with my front defrosters. Well, on Wednesday morning this week I was just about to cross an intersection when someone turned left in front of me. There was a semi-truck in the lift lane blocking the other driver's view of me and they decided to chance it. The passenger side front corner of my vehicle impacted the other vehicle at roughly the B pillar. I had just enough time before impact to realize I was about to hit a Subaru wagon with my Subaru wagon. Two of us taken out in a swoop. My car was leaking both oil and coolant at a ferocious rate when I got out to check things and the other car had both passenger side doors caved in. Both drivers are fine, and it turns out that I knew the other driver. It looks to me like my car is probably toast. I work a job that requires me to drive all over heck and back so I need to get another car as soon as I can. I would really like to have another Subie Wagon. Preferably one that is new enough to have some extras like power windows and power door locks and such. I live in Seattle, WA and I have begun combing craigslist for another Subie, but I wanted to check with you gents to see if you had any ideas for special contacts I should talk to locally or any other ideas for that matter? Thanks in advance.

Yeah, I was thinking I would inspect everything carefully. I have some metalworking skill so if it is a bent rod or somesuch I can probably fix it or make another. Jason

Yeah, I wasn't going to post this originally, but then I realized that something might come up even with an apparently simple system like this. I wouldn't even have thought to look for a check valve. :-p

Aha! That kind of thing is what I was hoping might come up. Thanks, I will do that.

Any recommendations on exactly which parts to track down? Years of the cars in question or whatever? And what about shocks/struts, just go with the regular ones or are there some heavy duties that would be better?

Good idea about running some cleaner through there first, will do. As a test, earlier today I fiddled with the inner lock a bit and given the slightly higher than normal resistance on the switch I decided to close it with a bit of gusto instead of carefully closing it. All the internal locks snapped shut. I think when I get inside the door this weekend and clean it all out and lube the bejeezus out of everything that this will clear my lock issues up. Thanks again for the good info and ideas, I will post back with and update after I have a chance to try this.

I am going to try and take a swing at this problem this weekend, along with the others I posted about. I'll post back my results. Thanks for the ideas guys.

That sounds like a likely possibility. I will check it out while I am in there coating everything with white lithium.

Cool, thanks. That sounds like an interesting idea.

Hmm, interesting idea. I hadn't noticed if does that or not. I'll look, thanks. I think I may see if I can pop the interior panel off the hatch and either replace the whole hose system or at least disconnect it from the pump side and blow it out toward the nozzle to see if any air comes out. Thanks again, interesting ideas.

Mine seems to have resistance, a bit more than it probably should in fact. Hopefully that means GD is on the right track. If it is broke though, I can live with finding a replacement switch.

Hmm, so perhaps a switch replacement then. I can live with that, thanks.

I have an 88 GL Wagon whose suspension has gone bye bye. Surprising I know. I would like to replace the shock/struts and springs with heavy duty ones. I am not worried about raising the wagon any, though I won't mind if it get raised a few inches. I am not planning on off-roading, but I would just like to be able to haul things without worrying about shortening the life of my suspension. So, what would all of you SubieGurus recommend? Thanks in advance. P.S. I should mention that my little wagon is FWD and 5-speed if that makes any difference.

I am trying to keep the individual problems to their own threads here, so here is the next one. Minor enough, but I am trying to fix it all even if just to learn my way around a Subie. I have an 88 GL Wagon. The rear hatch window washer doesn't squirt. I can hear the pump run and there is enough water in the reservoir. (Now that I finally found it. ) I poked the outlet nozzle with a pin to see if there was a blockage in the nozzle and that didn't help. I am thinking about just replacing the hose next. Any other ideas before I go that far?

Sounds like a good idea. I THINK it worked once, but I wasn't sure if I hallucinated it or not. I'll give it a whirl. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

I have an 88 GL Wagon. The exterior door lock on the driver's side locks and unlocks the other door locks just fine. However, the interior door lock doesn't work the other locks. Any ideas on what is wrong and how to fix it?

OK, giving a friend a ride home today I tested this. The light does go out if I lock them all. But my internal driver's side door lock doesn't lock or unlock the other doors when it is actuated. Oh, and I think it was more like .04 seconds until my passenger flicked the lock to see the light turn back on. I'll post another thread asking how to fix this. Thanks again for the help.

Interesting, I figured that was what it meant but my light never goes out. As far as I can see anyway. And when I lock the driver's side door from the inside it does not lock all of the other doors. Though the outside lock does lock all of the doors. One more thing to add to the fixit list I guess. Thanks for the help guys, I will keep a watch on ebay for some 88 FSMs.

Still learning my way around my first Subaru here so forgive the silly question. What does the "Door Lock" indicator light on the dash mean? I have an 88 GL Wagon FWD 5-speed. I have along history with Japanese cars, but this is my first Subie. I have already fallen hopelessly in love with it, but I don't have any docs for it so I am confused by some things. You should have seen my face the first time I opened the hood. (Huh? a tire?! Oh, right, horizontally opposed engine. Hey, that's pretty good thinking!) Also, is there any way to get Service Manuals for these things? I have the Chilton's but as usual, it sucks. Thanks in advance.