eulogious

Reset the TCU and see if it comes back. Probably just farted and the code might not come back. If it does you probably have a problem...

This. If you really can't afford an extra $6 per fill up, then performance isn't up your ally man, and just use the subaru for what it is. Rebuild it with better stuff like you plan, and just roll with it. Don't worry about HP numbers or any of that jazz, just rebuild it to be reliable and be happy with it I am going to throw out a saying I always use when it comes to this situation... You can have fast, cheap, and reliable, choose 2. You will never get all 3 of those things, and it sounds like you want cheap and reliable, so just stick with that

Sad times God speed my friend!

I tend to bag on the ea82's, but only when comparing to the legacy. They are good cars for sure. They have their good points and their bad points, same with the legacy. You mentioned your wife didn't like the seats in your old subie, so try the legacy seats and see if it's any better. If that matters to you of course Might be a good excuse to keep the wife out of the car! Hehe If you really like the loyale, then buy it. Nothing wrong with that! It's all about what you want. The loyale is not a bad choice at all. But compared to the leggy, it's just not in the same league. It just depends on what league you want

Ahh ok, gotcha. Thanks

What do you mean by "the valve"?

Reading through this thread I have one question for you Loyale 2.7 Turbo, and this is really the only question that matters... Are you still using the stock headlight bucket with no mods done to the glass? If so, this is where my concern is. The stock bucket defuses the light for a halogen bulb, and when you put HID's into that same bucket, the light scatters in whatever way it wants, as it was designed. BUT now you have super intense light being scattered instead of just "normal" light be scattered everywhere. Even with a "good cut off". You can't escape this problem, no matter how hard you try, you just can't escape it. You can IMPROVE it so it's not THAT bad, but you can't not get rid of this completely, without modifying the glass of the bucket. This is my biggest complaint with ANY HID conversion. No matter how you try to justify it or how much money you spend or what some website or person says, it is not right to put HIDs into that type of headlight bucket with NO modification to the glass. You can try to show me this that or the other, but optical physics don't change because of some chart or statistic. Sure, your HID's might not be AS bad as the others, but they still fall into this same category as the bad ones just because of what they are and what they DON'T offer. If they offered a replacement for the glass that was smooth and didn't refract as much light, then I might be inclined to buy them, but that is not the case. You are still sticking a light bulb that was not designed for that type of glass into that housing. At the end of the day, it still not the proper way to do it. This is why Turbones method works, and is really the only way to do this. He spent the time to sand down the ridges that make the light scatter so that they HID's would be able to work properly. It takes hours to do this, but it is the only true way to adapt HID's to an ea82. Every other method that does not touch the glass is wrong no matter how you want to look at it. Now Loyale 2.7 Turbo, your situation is a little bit different. You live in an area where you need the light, and everybody else is doing the same thing as you, so what does it really matter? It doesn't at all, for you, and your situation. Obviously it has already saved lives, and will probably continue to do so. But it still doesn't make it the "proper" way to do the conversion. Your's also happen to be the best and limiting the downsides to HID's, and it works for you and your area, but it's still not the correct way to go. Honestly I would probably have installed them as well if I were you, for the record. The risk to benefit ratio is leaning toward benefit in your case since you don't really see that many other drivers, and they most likely they have the same thing installed on their cars, so saftey is a moot point, for you and your situation. For Tom's situation, it's just wrong. Especially with that cutoff! Just look at it! That's just BAD and DANGEROUS for others on the road. There is no need for him to have it, other than it looks cool. His are definitely not saving any lives. If anything it's putting more lives at risk. So the risk to benefit ratio leans towards risk in that case, which means that there is no need to be blinding others or to really even install the HID's. It's this type of situation that really bothers me, not yours Loyale 2.7 Turbo. The original title asks if HID conversions are good or not. The answer is NO, they are not good and are not safe for a majority of the people out there and do more harm than good, if you just put in new bulbs. If you do a little bit more work and change the glass on your buckets, then yes, HID conversions are a good idea and will greatly improve your lighting situation.

Don't be in a hurry, and you will find a legacy for that price. I got a great 1st gen for $1500 in seattle. Took me about a week to find one actually. Just don't be in a hurry, and you will find a great leggy for that price. And if I had waited a little longer, I could have probably found one for cheaper. But I really didn't care as the one I found was really the one I was looking for. I have a soft spot for the Loyale/GL's, but I will never own one for a DD again. The 1 gen leggy is just too nice and comfy compared to my loyale. Ride is better, better options, better ergonomics, has cuplholders, etc. It's just a better thought out car. Not to mention the power difference, and how easy they are to work on. The loyale is a good snow car, but for DD use, even in the snow, I would highly recommended a leggy. Good luck man!

Are you guys really not that confident in your ability to adapt and triumph over your enemy? Are you THAT afraid of "new" technology? Wow. This stuff doesn't scare me at all. Ya, there will be new procedures and tricks to work on this newer stuff, but it's still a freaking internal combustion engine. It's not a rocket, so rocket science really doesn't apply. At the end of the day, it will still follow all the same rules as every other motor does. Sure there will probably be some problems with the new engines, but it took subaru how long to rectify the HG problems with the 2.5's? Timing chains are nothing new either. Toyota's have had chains for YEARS, and you don't see toyota owners seriously complaining about how difficult it is to do or how much parts cost etc. VTEC, hasn't that been around for years as well? I haven't really heard of any horror stories involving VTEC, so it can't be all THAT bad. I am sure that people made the same comments when subaru introduced the EJ back in the day, when FI was really in it's infancy. This is nothing new guys, so no need to freak out about how this is a "bad" thing. Even if the motor has some problems, it's good to see subaru making a good, efficient motor that they can build off of and improve, just like they did with the EJ. I am all for new technology!

I would check the fuse of course to start. If that's good, then check the power to the fan with a test light or a DMM. Could be the fan motor broke, the resistor pack went out, the fuse got blown, or your wiring is shorting out. Let's hope for fuses or resistor packs Welcome back!

This site DOES have image hosting, just not very much, because it all costs money. Any of the free hosting sites out there will allow you to link to the pic, so I don't see why it's a big deal to do so. Most of the time there is a "share" button after you upload the pic, click that, follow the directions, and you should get to a link you can copy and paste to wherever you want. I use google picasa since I get to host like 1000 pics for free with my gmail account, so I have just been using that for the last few years. Trying to add something else to make it "easier" is kinda silly, since it's really easy to copy and paste the link. No need to reinvent the wheel IMHO. If someone doesn't know how to use a forum, then a quick google search should point you in the correct direction on how to use forums, and most likely how to post pictures on forums as well... Maybe USMB should make a sticky somewhere giving instructions on this? It comes up every now and again with new users, might be helpful.

Ok, been reading some more now and I am now spent on the reading front... The disty should have two wires, one being a ground, the other being the wire you need. This wire comes directly off of the points. This is also the wire that triggers the negative side of the coil. So look at the disty, and the wire that is not a ground, that's the wire you want. Of course I say all of this without knowing your setup, but if it's anything like the common points system found on older vehicles, then what I am saying should apply to you...

After doing some reading and thinking, I believe I am correct, that somehow you need to tell the msd to read the negative side of the stock coil. The msd needs some way to tell when to actually send a spark, and the negative side of the original, stock coil would be the best place to get that. It's the same idea of adding an external tach to a stock car with points, you use the negative side of the coil to get that rpm reading. Same with adding in cruise control, you use the negative side of the coil to get the rpm signal. Basically you need to find the wire the triggers the original, stock coil, and use that wire to trigger the new msd. So I would find that wire and hookup the white wire to it, and see where that gets you.

Well, if I am reading this right... The white wire should go to the negative side of the ORIGINAL coil. So that means find the negative wire where the coil should be in the stock wiring, and wire the white wire up to that. This is just reading what you diagram says, so don't know if that will actually work or not with your setup though. Does that make any sense?

Hmmm... IDK. I wish I knew more about this stuff. :-\ I know FI stuff pretty well, but not the carb stuff, so I will do some reading tonight and see if I can learn anything that might help ya.

Looks like the white wire is the one that goes to the disty from what I can tell...

Really? You don't know why they stopped using r12? The EPA says you can't use r12 anymore, that's why. It has nothing to do with it's ability as a refrigerant. r134a is NOT a superior refrigerant. It's better for the environment, but worse for cooling, compared to r12. r12 is a better refrigerant. r134a doesn't dissipate heat as well as r12, so most systems that have been converted to r134a will not cool as well as r12 because the condenser was designed for r12, not r134a, so therefore it will not dissipate as much heat as a new car will that was designed with a bigger condenser for r134a. This is really the only "downside" to doing a conversion, and it's really not an issue at all. When did I mention that converting was bad? I converted my r12 system to r134a just a few weeks ago the proper way, and I don't plan on having any issues what so ever. What I said was that the way you wrote is NOT the proper way to do a conversion, and by doing it the way you wrote will most likely lead to problems down the road. Not that the conversion was a bad idea. A conversion done properly will be just as reliable as the r12. But you missed several key steps in your mention of a "conversion", so I just wanted anyone else that reads this to know that what you did was not the proper way, because it's not. That's all. If I had access to r12, there is no way I would converted my system. That's silly. If I could get it for free, or for the same price as r134a or a little more, without having to go to the store, why would I not use it and not worry about converting? It's silly to say to convert when you have all the stuff to top of your current system at your disposal. If you don't have access to r12, then ya, convert. Otherwise, like I said earlier, if it ain't broke, don't' fix it.

Nothing wrong with the switch at all. I would personally get a working tcu AND install the switch, but it really doesn't matter, the effect is the same. In fact I have done the switch in my loyal (4eat). Here's the thread I made for it: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=105077 I even made a resistor pack, so when I threw the switch, I wouldn't get the 16 flashes on startup. Worked great! The switch was my inspiration for my next project which was paddle shifters and a DCCD knob. If I could lockup the AWD, why not have complete control over it's functions instead? Here's my paddle shifter thread for a good read: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=110222 That's now in my legacy. The only thing to watch out for with the switch is to not accidentally turn the switch on, as you could wear out your MPT clutch pack MUCH more quickly if it's on all the time, and it will cause TB all the time So wire up a light or something like that, so when the switch is on, it's lit up. Other than that, ain't nothing wrong with the switch!

Totally not the way to convert, BTW. You should evac the system, replace the drier, and suck the system down before retrofitting at the minimum. There a several threads on here that explain how to do it correctly. Glad yours works, but don't be too surprised if you run into problems later down the road. Staying with r12 is great if you have access to r12 and really the only way to go. I would not have changed either if I had access to some r12. r12 is colder and works great, no need to replace it if you don't need to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

It's sooo true. You can tell them it's not right till you are blue in the face, but people will still do it because it "looks better" even though they are giving themselves a HUGE disadvantage. I really don't think anyone actually has read that Daniel Stern article since people keep trying to prove already proven science wrong without using facts. I just find it funny when people debate facts with experience. It's really funny. Science says and has proven that these HID conversions are bad but people ignore that and say otherwise. You can't change optical physics, no matter how hard you try or want it to not be true, light will always act a certain way, no matter what. These conversions will never be as safe as actually doing the HID's correctly as Turbone did, no matter how much adjusting you do, or money you spend. Light optics just can't be changed and these kits will always be bad if you don't do them correctly, like Turbone. *Sigh* What can you do?

I would be leaning towards a bad tcu for sure. On one of the tcu's that I fixed the transistor that actually drives the duty c was physical blown. You could see the marks on it and the char. So I replaced that transistor and it started working again. So one theory that I came up with is that if you do actually have a duty c issue like you did, it MIGHT affect the actual tcu itself by blowing out that transistor. 15+ year old electronics don't like stress at all, and a bad duty c could put a lot of stress on that transistor. So it wouldn't surprise me if you fix the problem with the trans, to only have more issues down the road from the tcu. The rub is that you can't usually tell if the transistor is bad by just looking at it, you have to test it. The one I fixed was a very unusual case, since transistors usually short, not blow like that. This is all just a theory of course. I am in the process of trying to determine if there is a common failure with these things, but that is going to take some time and belongs in it's own post. That will come in a bit. So I would swap out the tcu and see where it gets you, since you know your duty c is good. The other thing it could be is a short in the wiring harness of the trans. That's always possible as well, but swapping out the tcu is much easier then figuring out a wiring harness short I would start looking around in the JY as well. Any tcu up to about 1994 should work for you, as long as the rear diff of the donor car matches your rear diff. For testing purposes you could get one that is close to the ratio that you have, but not far off. So like if you have 4.11's you could get a 4.44, or a 3.9, and it would probably work, for testing purposes. I personally wouldn't run it as my DD that way, but for testing it should work. If any of my spares worked, I would just give you one of mine, but sadly that's not the case :-\

I would think that it shouldn't matter if the wire goes through several junctions, as it should still function a certain way no matter what. The diode should prevent voltage going through that wire a certain way, no matter if it goes through 50 junctions, and you should be able to test it the same way. Even if multiple wires come off of it, it is still connected to the diode at some point, so you should be able to test it with no issues from any of the wires that feed into/out of the diode. But that brings up another point… Maybe there is some corrosion in the different junctions? Might not be a bad idea to try to check that out. Another way to get around the junction issue is to find which junction the diode is at, and just test that section by completely unplugging both ends of the circuit. Again, easier said than done of course

Ya, a diode will stop any voltage flowing one way, so I could see it preventing a drain for sure. To test the diode, test the 2 ends of the wire using the diode setting on a decent DMM. If it's bad, then the meter should tell you. Easier said than done I realize... Another thing you could do is just run a new wire with a diode wired in and see if it solves your problem. Just bypass the old wire with a new one and a diode wired in. Shouldn't be too hard I would think. Just make sure the diode is wired in the correct way. Strange, but not unheard of to see a diode give out, but definitely strange. Sounds like you are getting closer to solving your problem!

This is the only pic I have of the engine, as I don't have the actual engine anymore, or any of the cruise hookuped since I sold that stuff. The cruise is tapped into the hoses that are by the airbox, specifically the one that is by the oil filling tube that is sticking up. I believe that is the actual hose, because you can see the "t" coming off of it. Honestly, I would get a vacuum pump and wire it in. It's simply not worth using the cruise since it won't hold speed going down the freeway once you do get vacuum. PM me if you want one of mine...

Replace the TCU first. They fail more often than you would think. I got 6 tcu's in my living room right now, and only 2 of the work. 2 of the 4 have bad duty c circuits, 1 has a bad duty b, and the last is just old. So they do fail, and they fail somewhat often I have found. The duty c failures are hardware failures, as my trans works just fine with a different tcu, and the duty c code will not clear no matter what I do, even with my select monitor it won't clear. It's a hardware issue with the tcu. Replace the tcu, then wire up the switch if that doesn't work. My money is on the tcu going bad...