eulogious

Ya, that's why I found a FSM. For $4 more than the haynes, the FSM is WAY better. Try ebay to find one, for sure it's worth the money. I have already found out a WHOLE bunch of info on my car, and I am sure I will find out more info further into the future Hope your borrowed part fixes it so at least you know what it is. Good luck!

Can anyone say Junk Yard? I am sure a pull a part will give you an open diff for cheap, hell someone on this board might just want to give one away, you never know!

According to my '88 FSM that has the SPFI in it, the part you are looking for is called the "Power Transistor Igniter". It's connected right next to the coil in the diagrams, so it's gotta be your part. It's for sure in the diagrams in my FSM and it's mentioned when talking about the Ignition Coil. Doesn't have a part number, but that should get you somewhere. Hope that helps ya! Edit: Figured I would quote what the "Power Transistor Igniter" does from the FSM: "The power transistor amplifies the ignition signal transmitted from the fuel injection control unit. The amplified signal is used to make and break the current flowing though the primary winding of the ignition coil." So ya, it's your part

It's located on the passenger side strut tower in the engine compartment. It's the round thing on top facing towards the front of the car. Can't really miss it. Once you find it, you should be able to follow the wires. Mine does the same thing, so I just installed a vac/boost gauge to make sure it's producing boost and the correct amount of boost, but I am also going to replace mine with a used one, just so the light comes on. Hope that helps

Does this apply to the MPFI/turbo's as well? I have a 1990 turbo loyale and was wondering if the same principals applied to that as well because I get the smoke on the long right hand turns, but since it's a turbo I didn't know if it applied or not, since the turbo introduces positive pressure to the system... but my thinking could be off on this as well. Thanks for explaining it better, now I understand how the system works and why it was "flawed", now I just need clarification on my damn turbo Thanks GD!

Or you can be like me, and just run it BONE stock! These things aren't race cars, it's a wagon! I know the RX is different, but for us wagon owners, I am just happy that I have 20 more hp and 30 more ft lbs of torque over stock. These things run fine stock, just remember that it's a 20 year old wagon and be happy it's got some, although small, balls BTW that is a very clean engine. I am kinda jealous of that...

Idles at 850 to 900 most of the time, so idle is fine, and I adjusted it when I got the car. I think the heating element went out on mine. Today before I left work I started my car and let it idle, and it was idling high (1500) again, so I let it warm up for a bit longer, and then drove it home. By the time I got home which was about 10 min later, it was idling fine (900). So my conclusion is that the heating element broke or I am not getting power to the AAV so therefore the engine is the only thing that is warming up the temp switch, so it just takes FOREVER to warm up completely. I am leaning towards the heating element is breaking/broke for me since the problem is intermittent at best. This is just a guess though and any other insight would be appreciated. My turbo is a 1990 loyale wagon, so it's about as later as you can get, and I have the AAV, not the IAC. Also in my 88 FSM, it's referred to as the AAV on the turbo model, so I don't think this statement is true, but correct me if I am wrong.

We turbo owners don't really have an IAC, we have an AAV (Auxiliary Air Valve) that does the same thing. It's the thing located on top of the temp sensor, i believe. I have been having weird idle issues as well, but really only in cold weather, until today actually, and I was thinking about posting about it, and then you beat me to it. So today I went out on my work break and sat in my car with it idling, and it wouldn't drop below 1500, even after 20 min of idling, so it was for sure warm. I turned it off, and then on about 3 times and the idle would start off at 900 to 1000 and then about 5 seconds later it would slowly climb to 1500 and stay there. I turned it off, went inside and came back out about 30 min later, started it and no idle problems. So ya. Same sorta issue. I am going to replace the AAV and see if that helps, I just need to get down to Turbones to pick it up, but time has just not been my friend lately. The one thing that I am going to double check is to see if it's getting power to the AAV. I believe that the AAV is just a valve with a heat sensitive switch in it and a heating element. When you start the car, the heating element turns on and slowly heats up the switch causing it to slowly close, lowering the idle as it goes. Somebody correct me if I am wrong on this, that's just what it sounds like it does to me. Other than checking for power and replacing it, I am stumped... I have asked how to clean it and didn't get a response, but cleaning it might help as well. I honestly haven't had too much time to look into it any farther than this...

Don't you love it when the easiest solution is the best? Glad you got it working! Now just don't go running it into stuff and you should be all good!

I would experiment with different resistance. The only problem is that you need another source to actually temp the motor to make sure it's running correctly and at the proper temp before messing around with the resistors to much and messing up the gauge. Now that I am done with the disclaimer... From the sounds of it, lower resistance should raise the gauge more so a 275ohm resistor as mention before me should help make the gauge go farther up the line. If that doesn't work, try another one, etc, etc... It should be that simple, but you know you that goes. My 2 cents. PS Great writeup and glad you got it going!! Now I just have to wait for my ea82t to stop running so well!

Or just don't quit drinking!!! Unfortunately I will not have a hangover problem, I am at work, and have been since 11:30pm last night Oh well Congrats on owning a Subie again!

Sad, Sad times man, I hope your car is ok! You have put so much time into fixing it... Good luck man. I would wish you a happy new year but I think it's not that happy, so I will say "Here's to a new year" *raise a glass for a cheer*

Be careful using any type of cleaner/solvant, they leave residues behind that can sometimes only be removed with rubbing alcohol, hence why I suggested using rubbing alcohol. Even grocery store rubbing alcohol shouldn't really be used on delicate electronics because it's impure, they have special alcohol that leaves NOTHING behind to clean circuit boards and other delicate electronics. Granted this is a switch and not a delicate electronic device, but still, residue on the contacts can create a bad connection and cause the switch to not work, even though it appears clean. Doesn't happen very often, but can happen. If you do use a cleaner/solvant, you can rinse the switch with distilled water and let it air dry, and that might clean of any residue that is left behind, but not guaranteed. Hard to say, but can't hurt it. My 2 cents.

I highly doubt that Ohms law has changed This is very true, I just didn't state it for simplicity sake since it doesn't really apply here, but very true. Thanks for pointing that out. In this case I don't think that the increase in AMPS brought on the failure since the fuses didn't blow, so I left that part out for that reason and not to confuse anyone anymore than need be. Good catch.

To clean the switch, take apart the shifter and remove the switch, and then take rubbing alcohol and q-tips and clean it up. You should also be able to take apart the switch itself inorder to clean the contacts for it as well. That's how I would clean the switch...

I hear what you are saying man and I agree. I work with linux and the mainframe on a daily basis at work and have to "think outside the box" and adapt all the time with my work, so ya, I feel ya on that! I am working on trying to adapt those skills to my mechanic skills and I think that I am making process, there's a big learning curve for a newbie I do still work on my car in my garage, I pay for it so I will do what I want in it, I just have to be discreet. That and moving stuff around was not what I wanted to do when I started this post, so that's why I asked the question. I figure before I go out and rearrange my entire garage so I can get the bumper off, I would ask to see if there was an easier way to accomplish this task. One thing that I have learned is that the internet is f'ing incredible in helping you solve your problems. I also try to apply the KISS (Keep it simple stupid) to everything that I do, so the simplest way to solve this problem was to ask before I committed a bunch of time for something that might not be necessary You might have all the time in the world to take apart stuff that isn't necessary, but I don't It was a good thing I stopped and asked, I found my solution that was WAY easier than removing the bumper, drill and tap The sad part is that I have a tap and die set in my garage, I just didn't even think about using them. Like I said, I am glad that I stopped and asked, because sometimes just taking a break from the problem will make the answer clear as day when you go back to work on it. I think that it is the "newer" style, it's a 1990 loyale. When I took the plastic part off the bumper, there was a good six inches or so of steel before the foam, so there is plenty to drill and tap into. Thanks for the pic with the foam off. Helps get a better idea of what it looks like. Granted it took me over 2 hours in searching to find the answer, but alas the lights are installed and working ! All I did was go to lowes and pickup some hex head bolts to use instead of the square ones that came with the lights, and then I drilled a hole, tapped it, and then bolted the bracket for the lights to the bumper. I have a few things to work out in the cab with the switches, but when I am done I will post some pics! They totally light up the road better which is nice considering I work grave yard and most of my driving is at night. Good stuff! Thanks for all the suggestions and letting me use you all as a sound board

Check this other thread out, basically the same thing happened to this person. I have a good explanation there about what could have happened: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106888 If you are still having issues/questions, start a new thread Good luck!

This just put a big smile on my face Thanks for that! I will agree that the only reason that craftsman are nice is for the return policy... but I only use tools as a hobby, so if they fail, it's not that big of a deal to return it. If this were my bread and butter, snapon, matco, mac, etc are awesome and the only way to go. I don't know about craftsman impact tools, but for impact tools, even I will spend the money on snapon, matco, mac impact tools. Buy once, NEVER worry about them again. Bluebird impacts rule

They are super handy. I don't know which one you bought, but hopefully it does RPM's and duty cycle. Those are nice features to have when woking with car electronics. If you need to check something and don't know how, just use google! I have learned how to use mine that way! Gotta love the internet! Have fun with you new DMM

Well then, it looks like you have done all the "simple" things. I would try swapping alternators like you said and see what happens. Could be you just picked up a bunk used alt from the JY. Good luck!

It's not that I don't want to learn or know about my car... I was to the point of undoing the bolts and pulling it off, but I don't have a lot of room (I have a 1 car garage at an apartment complex that I can't even open both the doors all the way in, and the back of my car sticks out of the garage and I have my motorcycle in there along with some storage stuff... needless to say it's a very tight fit. Also I am NOT allowed to work on my car there, so I have to be discreet about what I am doing. Lame ) and it was going to be a LOT of effort to try to make room for this all to happen. The other reason is I AM going to be pulling off the bumpers to throw them away and install some real, custom bumpers, so I don't want to do it twice. Yes I know practice makes perfect, but time is money, and practice doesn't pay me Drilling and tapping is the easiest way to accomplish what I want, especially because this is by no means permanent. I am not a lazy sack

Good to see you fixed it! Heat is fantastic in the morning, especially with remote start! It's now been weeks since I have gotten into a cold car

I would say that something is going on other than just the alternator failing, and your alternator is gone again... How is your battery? I have seen alternators get fried because of a low charged battery. When the battery is low, the alternator tries to charge it. If it can't charge it for whatever reason, it just keeps on truckin' at full power, eventually wearing it's self out. So I would check/charge/replace your battery. If your battery is good, check all your grounds, corrosion causes resistance, and resistance can fry alternators. Truthfully, I would dump the stock alternator and get a bigger/better one. Nissan or GM, but I would take the time/effort to do it now, and then you won't have to worry about it. This is assuming it's JUST the alternator that went out and that there is no other underlying problem. If there is still a problem, replacing it with a Nissan/GM alternator isn't going to fix it, they will break down as well until the problem is fixed. This of course all costs money...

That's what I was thinking I was going to do, but there isn't enough room for me to get my fingers into the space I would need to get to in order to tighten the bolts, let alone a wrench, and then keep the nut it to get it started... I think there is enough difference between your brat and my wagon to make work for you, but not for me I was hoping it was going to be that easy, but alas. I should be able to spend some time in the morning to get these guys mounted and working. I will post back with some pics when I get it done!

Ok so after some searching, I came up with this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94320&highlight=fog*+lights So far drilling and tapping is making the most sense, duh I knew there was an easier way then removing the bumper. Any other pointers on installing these would be great!