Bill90Loyale

Morgan- The FSM describes the fuel pump discharge pressure as 38-50 psi and the discharge flow as 21 psi. These figures are for SPFI. For MPFI, the numbers are 61-71 psi and 43.4 psi respectively.

A turbp is just a turbo that has had one too many beers.

The FSM for the 90 SPFI states that 21-24 PSI is the design pressure.

And a pair of "Wiper Snuggies" ($3 or $4 at Napa) will significantly improve the wiping that you do get.

Vehicle specs below. Steady CEL for five years straight. Codes 34 & 35 (egr and purge control solenoids). Here's the sequence: 1. Carefully place a piece of handcrafted black electrical tape over the CEL. Do nothing for the next few years. 2. Get ambitious: Do a full Seafoam treatment (thru PCV, some in gas, some in oil). This caused CEL to become intermittant (on at cold or hot start, then goes off at hot engine). 3. Get more ambitious: Clean electrical contacts at non-functioning solenoids, and at Air Control Valve. Understandably, this accomplishes apparently nothing (but you feel better for having done it). CEL remains intermittant. 4. Adjust idle by closing completely (clockwise), then opening screw exactly one full turn (counterclockwise). 5. Here's the key: Remove breather hose from Air Control Valve (mounted on the front of your throttle body), spray in about a teaspoon of brake cleaner. Let some of it evaporate for about 3 minutes. Replace hose. Drive around. CEL has stayed off for a week - first time in five years.

Miles- Thanks. Are you talking cleaning electrical contacts? Removing the TPS and replacing with J/Y version? Remove replace with new OEM? And positioning of the TPS on installation is important right? Bill

Thank you Bard, Rallyruss and Baccaruda. Checked resistance on both purge control and Egr solenoids. About 115 ohms each. Too high. Idle air control valve checked out ok. Anyone have used (and working) purge control and egr solenoids for sale?

On both sides of the oil pan. One for each side of the block.

Rallyruss-Good point. I've been showing codes 34 and 35 (egr and purge solenoids) for a while. I'll be cleaning the connections and futzing around with my multimeter one of these days to try to see if the solenoids are really shot. This is more of a long-term thing. I'm (perhaps mistakenly) assuming that all these electrical parts will eventually crap out. For anyone who has: a. Confirmed that one of these solenoid/senders was actually dead; and b. Replaced it with a known good one... I'm interested to know if any of these sensors, when replaced, result in clearly improved engine performance, or if it's one of those exercises in futility.

Yes. Two of them. 14mm allen size, I think. Let us know how it goes removing them. I'm planning on doing the same with my wife's 95 legacy.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has replaced their: 1. Purge Control Solenoid 2. EGR Solenoid 3. Idle Air Control Valve 4. Thermosensor (sends signal to ECM - not the water temp sending unit to guage); and/or 5. Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). What I'd be interested to hear are any observations about what good things happened or didn't happen when you replaced it, and any tips or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Nice call wrxsubaru. P.S. Pulley wrenches come in both a chain type and a belt type. I've heard it recommended that the belt type poses less risk of creating burrs. A good pulley wrench and torque wrench should set the pulley up right.

Peter- You'll get a kick out of this if you haven't read it yet. I'm thinking of going "turbo" too. http://ultimatesubaru.org/80s/ea-performance-page/subaru-ea-performance.html

I think your hunch is correct. If it has a diaphragm on the end of it, my FSM seems to indicate that it's a pressure regulator - which my book says is replaceable.

Just to give everybody a little perspective, my FSM for the 90 Loyale (and I only have 3 of the 4 volumes) runs at least 500 pages. Given that new FSM sets from Subaru Publications can cost $100 or more, having the information online would be a significant breakthrough for many owners. But searchable text (as Shadow suggests) would really help. Why? Because, in case no one else has noticed, the index (indices) in both Haynes and in the FSM are just awful. Word search would go a long way in accessing all the great info in these books (and would probably lead to better repairs because the searcher could review all references in the manual to the problem being taken care of).

I second that motion.

As you can see, I've got a 90. So things might be different. On mine, remove plastic trim panel just above your shins as you're seated in the driver's seat. This exposes a silver (aluminum box). This is your engine control module (ECM). On the face of the box, you will see an inconspicuous hole. In that hole is a little blinking red light. Now open the hood. On or near the firewall at the upper right hand side near your brake master cylinder, you will see a number of unplugged electrical connectors. Plug together the two green ones. Start the car. Examine the blinking light. It blinks like morse code. Long and short blinks. 5 steady shorts means you do indeed drive a Loyale with a standard tranny (7 is an automatic). After that, see if you note a pattern. Long blinks count for ten, shorts for one. So, for example, if you note LONG LONG LONG SHORT SHORT SHORT SHORT, that's a trouble code 34 - EGR Solenoid on the fritz. The codes are all listed in starting on page 6-12 of the Haynes. Drop $15 for the book, it'll help you.

Including the hose that connects to the engine side of the air filter box (not the big accordian hose, but a smaller black hose underneath it)? This hose can pop off when changing air filter.

With $ being a serious issue, I would, before doing anything else: Have the purge control (charcoal) canister checked by a mechanic experienced with Subies to make sure it is not clogged. When they do clog, they can cause the gasoline fumes that you mentioned. With respect to the tranny, dump in a can of Seafoam TransTune (available at or through NAPA) into the transmission and see if you experience significant improvement. Standby on this board. There are many helpful people who will have additional suggestions.

http://www.rustrepair.com/app2/onlinecat.htm?p=sm-subaru I've never used them, so can't vouch for them.

I'm with Goat. Once you get familiar with these cars, they're about as complicated as a lawnmower. Almost as good looking too! I have mine "customized" with a $3 plastic coffee cup holder that I permanently mounted on the coin tray thing, and one o' them goofy windshield-mounted magnetic compasses. I feel like the captain of my own ship everytime I set off on a voyage in this thing. My kids, meanwhile, are ashamed to be seen in it.

Originally Posted by GeneralDisorder What is this "rust" you speak of? In Oregon, we have nothing like this.... GD Rick- Count your blessings. The splash guard behind the rear drums, and of course the rocker panels etc just go to hell with the salt on the winter roads here. I have my car "hot oiled" once a year. They probably don't allow this in Oregon, but here, the first time you go, the guy literally drills holes in all the doors and rear gate compartments, sprays inside with hot oil, and puts plastic plugs in the holes till you bring the car back for another treatment. With this, and the decent new paint job that the Vo-Tech boys did and my fourteen year old looks very good. The guy also coats the entire car underneath. It is to rust what chemo and radiation are to cancer. Slows it down, but probably won't prevent the inevitable.

Seafoam. Do the whole treatment, particularly the intake manifold part. Search "Seafoam" on this forum for more info.

Get your credit card ready. FSM's are available at Subaru Pubs Hotline 1-866-428-2278 (toll free). That's the end of the "free" part. The FSM's for my 90 Loyale cost $60 for the engine/tranny/differential section, and about $20 a piece for the steering/suspension, electrical and body sections. Take a pass on the "General" section. Good stuff, and worth it if you're really into it for the long haul.

Thank you Caleb, MilesFox and Baccaruda. I'll do the bumper bounce and get to work on the alignment/balancing issue.