scoobiedubie

Look for a rattle in the cross pipe that runs into the bottom of the Turbo, because they are no longer available new. Look for white smoke coming from the exhaust that indicates either a cracked turbo or a cracked head. Look for Gen 3 cylinder heads. Look for mileage below 150k if the owner was not a mechanic. Engine should run perfectly smooth otherwise there is a leak somewhere. Look for synchomesh still working in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. Look for torn CV boots. Look for a loud exhaust coming from the engine area. Find out how long since the timing belts were changed, water pump, and cylinder head gaskets. Find out whether Felpro gaskets were used for both cylinder heads and intake manifold. Check on hardness of rubber PCV hoses. Put your hand on top of the ground wire to chassis connection and see if the wire connector burns a hole in your hand, which means you need a new ground wire. See if the engine still runs smoothly when you have the headlights on because if it is doesn't, this indicates a toasted wire between the hot battery terminal and the fusible link box.

A failed water pump allows the fan blades to wobble and bite into the back side of the radiator. A leaky water pump will leak coolant out the drain hole in the bottom. If you did not plug up the hole above the bearing with some gasket sealer, then you will allow dirt into the water pump bearings and seals, and could get a failure in 15,000 25,000 miles. Coolant on the left timing belt cover could also be sprayed on by a hole in the radiator, or come from a leak in the O-ring that seals the pipe going into the water pump or a leak in the tube connection into the top of the water pump, or come from loose bolts that attach the water pump to the block.

Any gear oil in the rear differential?

Change the O2 sensor on the exhaust. They go bad every couple of years and screw up the fuel air mixture when cold.

When the grounding wire from the engine to the frame gets over 200,000 miles, it gets hot when the engine is running because it has lost it's conductivity. The hot point is on the frame end of the wire. The wire will also be hard where it has lost conductivity. Replace the wire if it has hot spots. Another wire the wears out on my 86 gl10, is the hot wire coming off of the hot battery terminal, that feeds into the bottom of the fusible link breaker box. The hot point is at the batter terminal end. Replace half of wire by splaying in new wire to old wire, because standard auto parts store couplers do not work for this jury rigged connection. The above two hidden defects in the electrical system are primarily responsible for accessories not working when the headlights are on, in my 86 gl10.

Change the O2 sensor on the exhaust system. That affects fuel/air ratios and gas mileage. It is cheap and fast fix and you have nothing to lose because you will have to change it sooner or later anyways.

Ebay has everything.

There are 2 separate wires that are attached to the back of the alternator. If you don't connect them both, you will burn out the alternator real fast.

If there is rust in the crankcase, it's toast. It Might run for maybe 2000 miles before it starts making a lot of bearing noises.

Double core radiators run cooler than single core radiators and are hard to bring the heating air up in the Idaho winters. You might block off a portion of your radiator, so that air is not flowing through it, in order to increase the heating air temperatures. Tie a piece of plywood in front of the radiator and behind the grill.

The clutch pilot bearing and the clutch throw out bearing are two completely different bearings. Both need to be replaced when the clutch is replaced. Especially the pilot bearing.

Les Schwab Tires has the winter studded 185/70/r13.

I had bad luck with Rockauto. They screwed me over with valve lifters.

You still need to get a timing kit and set the distributor so that there is a specific advance for the No.1 cylinder. If it sparks at TDC, then it is waaay off.

When you give up trying to get it running, I will buy it from you. If you ever get it running, you need to run similar tires on all four, otherwise it tears apart the transmission when you shift out of 4WD. My 86 gl10 turbo has over 440,000 miles and I have already found and resolved every problem that they could have.

I had to apply silicone to the joints on my GL10, at the plastic panels that are between the windshield washer stems. Subaru has a bogus design in that the vent openings are below the joints in the plastic panels. And the joints allow water to leak inside the car.

Someone may have removed the thermostat or it is stuck in the open position.

I found 5 key electrical issues with my high mileage 86 turbo. The problems start much earlier than 445,000 miles however. 1. Hot wire coming off of the alternator gets hard, brittle and breaks. The engine runs crappy just before it finally breaks. This has been an ongoing problem that requires repair every 15,000 miles. 2. Engine ground wire from left front cam tower to left front body, gets hot at the body connection because the wire has lost it's conductivity. 3. Black wire coming off the + battery terminal to the bottom of the fusible link, gets hard and loses conductivity at the + battery terminal end. Only splicing in a new wire section by using splaying between ends, will fix this issue. Test the wire by trying to bend it. 4. The black fusible link runs the engine. It gets hard and loses conductivity. 5. The distributor goes out completely. Signs that you have conductivity issues are that the engine runs crappy when you have the headlights on.

Ebay is a good source for parts as well.

The smooth idler and geared idler should be replaced about every 80,000 miles or so.

86 was a very bad year for distributors.

The vent itself had a thin layer of foam on it. Foam disintegrates with time, leaving a gap at the vent opening.

Subaru water pumps fail at 25,000 miles if you don't plug up the hole on top of the housing with some gasket maker. My subaru dealer used to change them every 15,000 miles, because they weren't interested in plugging up that little hole.

You can pull a camtower off of a used vehicle at the pick n pull. Then used the whole assembly as is. Yes, it can be done with the engine in place. You have to line up the belt pulleys a specific way, so you would have to do your homework prior to disassembling it, in order to position the flywheel in exactly the correct position. It is also important to use genuine Subaru O-ring, at the bottom rear corner. For quieter engine, you need a whisper of gasket maker on two contact surfaces in the interior of the camtower, in order to maximize the oil that makes it to the camshaft.

?? Want to bet.