lostinthe202

Correct, in fact it looks just like this one in the "tracks" post without the tracks, which is hilarious btw... http://break.com/index/sweet-subaru-...ow-tracks.html

You make a good point that I am starting to take a lot more seriously. I've already had a number of bad experiences trying to get parts for it and ending up with the wrong stuff. Luckily for me I have the fine people of this board like yourself and GD to give me such minor seeming but all to important tips, like asking after '84 parts!!

Excellent, thanks for the tip!

I checked these guys out too and I only see stuff for coupes and 3 doors and from my understanding these are noticeably different than the hatchback. I've been told that searching under the year '84 gets me closer to my car, but none of those books look like the right thing. any other ideas? Thanks!

Thanks for the links, I actually did come across that thread while searching, but the pdf.'s I found are just for the motor, I'm looking for the whole car.... EDIT- Thanks edrach, I was writing the above response while you were writing yours!

OK, so I call the dealer trying to locate a factory service manual for my car ('89 hatch) and the guy tells me that they didn't make them prior to '91. This has to be BS as I will stake money that the dealer repair techs did not use haynes or some other crap. I assume he means that they are discontinued. Anyone know of a place to get a FSM besides getting lucky on Feebay? Thanks!

Great lookin' ride. Someday mine will look that good...

Nice! Where did you get it? Specifically the mounts?

Indrid, Thanks, I'll check them out. Frank, oh I can never forget feebay, it's where I got the car in the first place! Thanks!

Excellent, just the kind of answer I was hoping for, thanks!!!

Hiya! I've got an '89 GL EA81 Hatch that I've recently acquired. This is my first older Subaru and I'm having a helluva time getting the right parts when I go for them. I've tried to get a muffler, a ignition key cylinder, and axle shafts all of which turned out to be the wrong parts. The axles I was able to sort out, but I get the feeling with the other stuff that I'm getting parts from the GL wagon. Can anyone tell me if there is another year I should as after that would be more likely to get me the right parts the first time? I always try and take the part to be replaced with me for comparison, but this is not always possible ya know? Also, is there a good online source for parts? Seems like I've read lots of horror stories about crap parts from sources other than the dealer who, at least in Va, seems to be discontinuing Hatch parts. Thanks!!

From my understanding the 2.2 liter is noninterference, the 2.5 is... My '96 wagon is a 2.2 and noninterference...

Ignition tumbler extra set of brake parts are always nice if they're in good shape radiator fan (electric) I don't know enough about your model to say about the ignition parts like distributor, ignition module etc.. Anything that looks in better shape than what you've got eh?

Hmm.... A very good point. Thanks for the insight! Guess I'll be driving home, not too much rust, just a few spots that I'll be taking care of shortly. Thanks

Yeah "lost indeed" indeed! I'll be moving back to California in the summer and plan on taking the "long route" through as many national parks as I can hit as well as going through Alberta and BC to pay my respects. See ya 'round!

I wish it had been me but it wasn't. I was born in Perry Siding and haven't been back to the area in far far too long. Small world, wouldn't want to paint it though.

Yeah, maybe I should trailer some piece of poo out to help pay for the "extra" cost of the smog check. On the other hand, i don't want to have to make that happen every year. is your car fwd or 4wd/awd? I looked at the emissions sticker last night and it says that it, "conforms to regulations for light trucks". I don't know if that helps or hurts. I know that the regs for cars are different then the regs for trucks, hence the success of the SUV (Stupidly Useless Vehicle), so if your EA82 is a fwd maybe that was part of it failing? I dunno...

I left California in '04 and that month they changed the rules to require all smog checks be done on a dyno. I don't know if that's still true. I haven't yet checked the emissions sticker under the hood, maybe it's already cali-leagal! Here's to luck.

Well, the east coast has been a fun ride, but it's time to head back to home country of the Bay Area. I bought my '89 GL hatch out here in Virginia and I'm wondering if anyone happens to know what (if anything) I will have to add/change/modify to get my car California Smog happy? Thanks!!

And the winner is.... Axle shafts!! got a couple off Amazon, did the trick. Thanks for the tips!!

Howdy, I'm the new blushing owner of my very own '89 gl hatchback (EA81 4spd manual hi/low). It's got a bit o' rust, but then find me an east coast one that doesn't! Seems to go, stop, and turn just fine below about 60, but above that I get this intermittent shake in the steering wheel. It will shake for about 5 seconds, then be smooth for 5 seconds, then shake... etc. Also, it will sometimes pull pretty hard to the left, but not always, sometimes it doesn't pull at all or only a bit. Does this sound like any portion of the front end in particular? I'm pretty sure the front struts are blown and I've got some on order. I thought about wheel balance, but the PO says he just replaced and balanced the wheels. He said he didn't get an alignment, but would a bad alignment cause it to shake, and wouldn't the pull be constant instead of intermittent? Aside from the above problems, the steering has no play so I didn't suspect tierods, but always a possibility right? I've been searching and reading and I've found numerous posts about axle shafts going bad, the inner one specifically, and causing all kinds of vibrations. This could be the case with me, I'll be checking those out this weekend when I get it in the air. If this is a suspect, these same numerous posts suggest that the axle shafts from NAPA and like places are either bad out of the box or go bad after a short period of time. Can anyone recommend a brand of remans? I don't mind replacing parts (they're cheap enough!) but I can't afford to pay a mechanic to troubleshoot and repair. I wouldn't call myself a mechanic, but I have books, and I can read english and I'm no stranger to wrenching, but my knowledge only goes as far as things I've done in the past and this isn't one of them so any suggestions of what I might look for would be appreciated. Thanks!!