robm

All the Loyales I had worked just like that, on purpose, as far as I could tell. In fact, the Loyales keep it at 1200+ until you coast to a stop, then drop. The only one that doesn't, has a problem with the IAC, so idle is always a bit off. I had a theory it was to keep the oil pressure up, but that is probably wrong. Maybe it is to make it easier to slide it into gear, as both the input/output/internal shafts are closer matched in speed?

It is not just the gas. There is less than 2% difference in BTU value between summer and winter fuel. 2 % is not 2 - 4 MPG. Colder air is denser, so there is more wind resistance = lower MPG. Cold engines take longer to warm up = lower MPG. Cold transmissions and wheel bearings have thicker lubricants = lower MPG. Wet roads have water on them that gets picked up and thrown around. This takes energy, = lower MPG.

Also, 4WD on tight corners = spin out. The back wheels are forced to go as fast as the fronts, and they actually trace a track that is tighter than the fronts, so they should be going slower. This will cause you to spin out, if you are not aware of the possibility.

I hate to correct such a knowledgeable and willing guy as DaveT, but aligning the 3 marks do not put the crank at TDC. I believe the pistons are halfway up the bore? In any case, follow his instructions, and all will be well.

GD, that is the 49 state version...

It is probably due to the way the cruise control feedback loop is tuned. Nothing to do with the engine, no way to retune it without reprogramming the cruise control. If it didn't do this, it probably wouldn't maintain speed as well on the hills, or it wouldn't work as well when the car is fully loaded.

Chances are you have a sedan shock on the high side, and a wagon shock on the low one. The sedan shocks give a higher ride.

Carburetor icing can be a problem at this time of year. Is the air heating system on the air filter intact, or did it get removed last summer along with the vacuum hoses? Usually, this shows up at speed, with less and less power available, more throttle required, until you have to pull over. It goes away when you pull over and wait for a few minutes, while pulling your hair out trying to figure out what is wrong. . But the 10 minutes driving fine, until it shows up, makes me wonder if this isn't what is going on.

Would a shorted ignition transistor to this? Does it have one on this model? Somewhere, there is a short between the fuse and the coil, or maybe just past the coil. An ohmmeter is useful here, put it between the fuse and ground, and unplug stuff until the short goes away.

There are 2 different latches. One is fairly easy to jigger from below, the other is not, as the guts are shielded from tampering. Once you get it open, it is simple to add a wire that sticks through the grill so you can open it from the front of the car. If you get a new cable, DO NOT PULL OUT THE OLD CASING until you have used it to pull the new cable into place.

Could be a shredded driver's side timing belt. The passenger side one is still good, so you get compression on that side. But there shouldn't be any spark if that happens. Still worth a look. Check the rotor screw while you are at it. The yellowish spark could be a sign of bad plug wires. My coil wire died once. It ran OK for 600 km, then wouldn't start. There looked to be spark, but weak and yellow. There was enough capacity in the coil wire to make a crappy spark in air, but not in the combustion chamber.

I have had my speedometer do something like this, but only at extremely cold temperatures, like -35 deg. C. And then, it was reading really high, and very noisy. A few mile of driving fixed it. I can't remember if I had heat in the car on that trip or not.

Which distributor are you running? How much mechanical and vacuum advance? Does the EFI Y-pipe have the catalytic converter in it? How about fuel mileage, and cost per mile in your part of the world?

Was it the right rear bearing? The theory is the camber of the road side-loads the bearing, and it doesn't like it much.

Iridium plugs aren't required. Plain old NGK's work as well or better than anything else. I hope you get the vacuum advance as part of the new distributor. Otherwise, you will be very disappointed with your fuel consumption.

Actually, the sump takes 4 liters of oil, not 4 quarts. There is a difference. 4 US quarts will put you 215 ml low, that is almost half a US pint.

A lot of the dual range transmissions were in the RX models with 3.7:1 final drives. Count the teeth.

According to Wikipedia, second gear is 1.95:1. At 3.7: 1 final drive, total ratio from the engine to wheels is 7.215:1 175/70-R13 tires are supposed to be about 1807 mm around. 80 km/h is 1333.3 m/minute So I get 1333.3/1.807*7.215 = 5324 RPM. Not 8000. If it is a 3.9:1 final drive, then the RPM is 5612 RPM. That is a bit closer to a redline marked at 6000 RPM. Could the tach read 7% high? If so, this may be what you are seeing.

It could be the rear wheel bearing going out. I had one that made noise for a few miles, then stopped for about a thousand miles. When it did start again, the bearing was toast within 150 miles. Too bad I was 300 miles from home by that time... Check to see if the bearing housing on that side is warmer than the other.

Did you see Djellum's warning in your T-belt thread? I bet you got an EA81 rack there. Parts lists for the early years of the EA82 and late years of the EA81 have several mistakes like this.

I can't tell you anything about the front struts. From what I can gather, KYB no longer makes a rear shock specifically for the wagon. They have just the one part number for both sedan and 4WD wagon. In practice, they fit, but they have a bit more preload, so you have to compress the springs a bit more to fit them on the new shock. The extra preload will give you a bit of a lift at the rear, about 1/2- 3/4" or so.

I prefer the EA82 , but not necessarily for the engine. It is the entire package. The Loyale wagon is the original CUV. It is tough, simple and practical. The engine is OK, it may be a flaky design kludge, but at least it is easy to work on. It is not interference, and its head gaskets are not maintenance items. It is lighter than the EJ cars. It gets much better gas mileage than the EJ platform of the same era, which are the ones with the best reliability. I like the hillholder, I like the huge amount of room it has for people and/or cargo. I like being able to buy front wheel bearings at the local bearing house. I like being able to install the bearings with a hammer and punch. I like the very tight turning circle. I like the huge "greenhouse" it has. This car is so easy to see out of. I like its huge ground clearance, I like the factory steel sump guard. I like the oil filter being screwed on the side, so you don't get covered in oil removing it, or need an extra elbow to get to it. I like the 4WD. Torque bind is a given, not an indication of a problem, and running mismatched tires won't hurt anything, if you don't use the 4WD button in the wrong place . I like the "crude" SPFI system, that lets you release the clutch without adding any gas. Just drive away on idle, let the ECU keep the engine running. Very easy on the clutch. I like the hand brake that acts on the front wheels. Imagine, a hand brake that can actually stop the car! I like the huge amount of internal hidden storage: the smuggler's box, the side pockets, and the side flaps that let you store stuff in the rear fender wells. I like the vestigial rain gutter, that lets me use a real roof rack, that can actually carry something heavy. I like being able to replace the spark plugs easily. Everything about it is just simpler, lighter, easier and pleasanter to work on.

Is the heat shield on the cat converter still in place? If not, add one. If it is, add another. Just a piece of sheet metal is all you need, between the cat and the axle, Does the boot get closer to the cat with the lift?

Are they "weak". or do they just not work the way you expect them to? The last 2 rental cars I have driven worked very strangely. The power ports would only work if the phone etc. was plugged into the port AFTER the car was started. If you plugged it in first, there was no power. If you start the car with it plugged in, there is no power. If you start the car, then plug it in, it works. The rental cars were a small Hyundai and a Honda CRV, so this seems to be the way cars work now. Total PITA.

That is just condensation on the cap you are seeing.