cocheeze

thanks for the input gary. i didn't know about those ebay kits, so i was thinking the price would be much higher... but you are right, for $70, it doesn't make sense not to replace them. i really like the idea of leaving the timing belt covers off, i was just double checking because it just SEEMS like a bad idea when you hear it... you know? however, i trust the people on this board 100%, so if you guys say leave them off, then i will do it with confidence. thanks! casey

that is the way i was leaning already as far as the component replacement goes, i was thinking i would just do the belts now, and leave the covers off for ease of replacing the rest later... i guess i just wanted to make absolutely sure that leaving the covers off doesn't have a down side... any horror stories about leaving the timing belt covers off? anyone? also, does anybody know how to tell if the belt tensioners/idlers are in need of replacement? thanks guys!

so i have been doing my research, because i have to do the timing belts on my ea82, and it seems that there are some conflicting opinions here on the usmb and over at nasioc about a few key points... if you guys don't mind, i would like to ask for a general consensus about a couple of things before i start ordering parts and proceed: first, should i leave the timing belt covers on or off after i do the job? second, should i replace the tensioners/idlers? is there a way to test them to see if they are good? and third, should i do the water pump and/or oil pump? my cooling system works great, but i definitely have a loud tick of death. BACKGROUND: i am pretty sure the belts have been changed only once, given that the odometer is 236k and i have owned the car since 170k, but i cant be sure. the water pump looks as old as the engine, but again, i can't be sure. thanks for any and all opinions you guys can provide. this will be my first timing belt job on a subie, so any caveats/knowledge is immensely appreciated! casey

okay, i have a new lead on an at for my 1989 gl, but it falls one year out of the year range that i was previously told will work, so i figured i would run it by you guys just in case... would a 1995 subaru impreza 3AT bolt into my 1989 GL sedan 3AT 2wd non-turbo? there is one here in town for pretty cheap. thanks!

okay guys, i hate to sound like a ********************* here, but there is a lot of information that just got thrown my way all at once... it seems that multiple people are faulting the differential rather than the 3at now, so: can i just swap out the differential alone? or do i need to swap out both the transmission and the differential? would swapping just the differential out be any easier? lastly, does anyone have a differential that would work that i could buy? thanks! casey

i know its been a while but... would a transmission from a 1993 legacy 2wd non-turbo work for this swap? just curious because there is one here on portland craigslist. thanks!

eulogious, gloyale, gd... correct you are! gloyale, i was the yahoo in question this time. when i removed the stock carb. and all of the lines and put in the weber, i apparently took the check valve with it. i put the check valve back in before the tank and all is well again. as usual, you guys are kicking the sh*t out of my subaru problems. thanks! casey

THE BACKGROUND: i have a weber in place of my stock carb, and as such the vacuum system is greatly simplified. i have two vacuum hoses: one to the distributor advance, and one to the heater's vacuum supply (the plastic canister by the firewall in the engine compartment). i have replaced the plastic canister thingy, and it did not fix this problem. THE PROBLEM: i have the heater set to defrost, but depending on rpms, the heater will alternate between blowing air on the window or through the front vents. let me clarify: low rpms (below 3500) the heater blows hot air onto me. high rpms (over 3500) the heater blows on the window. it switches back and forth as i drive, obviously. this is really annoying in rainy country, as it does a poor job of defrosting when i am idling a lot. and i deliver pizzas for a living, so i idle a lot! anyhow, i suppose my question, put simply, is: what exactly does the vacuum control in the heater linkage? also, how can i just bypass it so it is always on defrost? (defrost is all i ever use) thanks! casey

oh, by the way, my car is a 1986 gl wagon 4wd 1.8 with a manual trans

so about a week ago my original starter (a nippondenso with the subaru factory logo stamped on it) finally died, the actual housing cracked where it bolted to the bellhousing and it started to grind on starting. i replaced it with the duralast POS that autozone offers, only to find that about 50% of the time, the new starter grinds and doesn't turn the flywheel at all. usually when this happens, the second try works fine. so i took it back and got a different one, only to find out that it just spins and spins, never even contacting the flywheel at all. i put the previous one back in, and it still does the 50% grind 50% start thing. is there a chance that BOTH new starters are bad? the flywheel is fine, and the mounting surfaces are clean and solid. any ideas? thanks! casey

it is getting crazy cold here in portland, and i deliver for a living, so i am going to need to start kicking my subaru gl wagon into 4wd here soon when it starts to get snowy or icy... i have 175/70 R13 tires on the front, but i have 185/70 R13 tires on the back. Does this mean i cant use 4wd without damaging something? I was told by the person that sold me the front tires that it might cause problems with my 4wd... any opinions would be greatly appreciated! thanks! casey

gloyale - its a non 4wd, unfortunately. gd - i wish it were that easy... i wish it were that easy. john - already done. both driveaxles are fine... no driveshaft, 2wd. i too was surprised by the fact that it still ran after the loud thumps it made... i just assumed that it was a normal AT thing... perhaps it is a problem in the diff rather than the AT? either way, it appears i will be doing an AT swap. casey

my girlfriend was driving her 1989 gl sedan up a pretty big hill on the freeway today when BAM! she heard a big thump and the car lost all power. i came to her rescue, with a bottle of lucas transmission fix and some royal purple. i hate Automatic Transmissions with every ounce of my being, so having never owned one myself, lubing it up and throwing it in and out of the gears was all i could really think to do. at first, it seemed to work. The ATF was a little low... but nothing too major, so i topped it with lucas AT fix. The differential took a whole bottle of royal purple just to get to the bottom of the dipstick... so i added the whole bottle and took to the road... unfortunately, there is obviously something seriously wrong with the transmission. running the car in 2nd or 1st gear helps considerably, however at one point when i shifted to 2nd gear going down a hill i heard a very loud thunk and the car almost stalled... running in drive, there are really bad sounds coming from the transmission during acceleration, and really, really bad sounds during deceleration especially. my question is this... she has the 1.8FI engine and wants to stay with the AT... what are my options for finding another AT for her car? what year/model range of ATs will bolt directly in with no modifications? would it be preferable to have it rebuilt or somehow serviced? Does the problem sound like the AT or the differential to you guys? I know this is a lot of questions, but i really want to convince her to keep this car... at 210,000 miles it has been an amazing car and with a different AT i think it could be a great car for years to come! any help/info is GREATLY appreciated! thanks! casey 503-750-4906 cocheeze@hotmail.com

i have personally dumped 1/2 can down the mouth of my carb and a half can through the pcv valve hose in both my 1986 ea82 and 1983 ea82 numerous times with no problems at all. also, adding a half can to the oil and a half can to the fuel has worked for me as well in a variety of subies i have owned over the years, but like the subarujunkie said, you'll have to do an oil change afterwards. don't worry about it, there is almost no wrong way to do it, and every method described on the back of the can has worked without a catch for myself and numerous other people i know on a variety of cars over the years. if your neighbors are nosy or otherwise picky/annoying, you may want to take the car out to a lot somewhere at night so that the gigantic cloud of smoke doesn't persuade someone to call the fire department. good luck!