maozebong

bump for some answers. mine is doing damn near the same thing, about a quart every other tank. no obvious smoking, and i still have plenty of power and a strong 20" vacuum.

i let it warm up usually when im about to leave work, and i don't have any (that i can see) leaks while running. only oil spots i ever see are directly below the valve cover seam. i just ordered the valve cover gasket kit. i don't really notice any smoke out of the tailpipe, and i only smelled oil burning when i didn't have a pcv reroute yet, and hit right corners hard enough. so, the question is, should i start thinking of a rebuild when it gets warm?

okay, so the oil consumption is not gone... am i missing something here? i checked underneath the car for oil leaks, i'm not getting any leaks other than the valve covers. is it possible for the valve covers to leak so bad that you go through a quart of oil every other tank of gas (~6-700 miles)??

swanky find! good to see another one get saved.

okay, this doesn't look so bad, except when these are foot trails in a local park and you get a $500 fine. yeah, i learned my lesson, don't flame me, the park district already did it to my wallet.

yep, persistance is definitely the key with these cars... also, i updated this thread for others who might have the same issue and ran into a billion unresolved and unfinished threads. i hope more people can do the same for the old gen community so that we can keep them on the roads and out of the yards.

okay ive gotten it taken care of. i made my own reroute kit with pvc T-fittings from the hardware store and some pcv hose. i also picked up a pcv valve from the dealer, and ran some seafoam through her. oil consumption has all but gone away except for the leaky valve cover gaskets.

just a 2" lift. honestly, they are a bit too big for a 2", and i couldnt imagine running anything bigger without lengthening the radius rods and trailing arms, or more lift. i plan on getting something a tad smaller when i come across some 14" steelies, because i want that extra meat for the tire, while also getting a smaller diameter. if you want to see what the fitment looks like, check the thread "2011 lifted subarus" and possibly the tire size sticky. i should have pics of my wagon in there.

x2 on welding a nut on it. ive done it hundreds of times already in my 5 years as a mechanic and only once has it failed me. (ball joint pinch bolt, ohio rust) i actually redid my studs this summer that way.

ok so i went to check a few things on the car today. manifold vacuum is ~20"hg at idle with the tiniest bit of fluttering in the needle (less than 1"), and strong vacuum present at the pcv valve. the little hose was clogged so i cleaned it out with a coat hanger and brake cleaner. also, ign timing was at 24* (last time i set it, i unknowingly had loose timing belts to throw it off.) is it possible when i did my timing belts i ************ed up putting the dipstick back in and now its not all the way in and im overfilling it?

i've been searching this for the past 48 hours, and the problem is that anybody with a problem close to mine never follows up on their thread and its left with no answers.

so, ive been replacing stuff this past month, getting ready for winter, and as ive been replacing things, ive noticed oil consumption going up, fuel mileage going up a tad, and no more coolant leaks ive been getting alot of blowby/pcv smoke lately, and slightly more smoke show on long right turns, but in the last 2 days its gotten worse. its gone through 2qts in the past 1k miles since ive replaced a bunch of things. the underside of the car is bone dry for the most part, only evident leak is a bit from the VC gasket. things ive replaced in the past month: oil filler cap (i got tired of the grime all over the filler neck) cam seals front crank seal oil pump seals and mickey mouse gasket pcv valve (autozone, should i go get oem?) pcv hoses (no, i don't have a reroute kit yet) timing belts and pulleys it smokes worse than usual on right hand turns, and smokes under load going uphill(that just started today) and i noticed quite a bit of oil on the driver side pcv hose, passenger side has mild residue. so, my thoughts, either the pcv valve took a dump, or a clogged cat maybe? or do i truly need the reroute kit? or is it my worst fears (rebuild) at the start of winter when i need this car the most? also, why do they have both sides connected? how do you even apply a vacuum to the crankcase if it has a 1/4" or 5/8" hose leaking atmospheric pressure to the system? could anybody fill me in on that one?

you don't really need to remove the radiator and condenser, unless you are prone to clumsy mistakes. i do this stuff for a living so it comes naturally to me. use channel lock pliers to hold the fan shaft if an adjustable wrench can't hold it. the crank pulley bolt comes right off if you put a breaker bar (and a piece of pipe if yours is too short) on it and butt the handle up on top of the drivers side frame rail and then bump the starter. no hassle at all. pulley should come right off, if not with a light tap of a small hammer or wrench. it took me 4 hours to do it total on my first time, with removing the timing covers (i left mine off, so have many others), replacing belts, cam seals, front crank seal, and oil pump reseal. but, like i said, i do this for a living and jobs like these are easy for me to bust out real quick.

if it makes you feel better, the race cars i build all get dot 4 fluid. they are right about the silicone/glycol mixed sludge, and its not really worth the effort to get it all out either. dot 4 can be poured in the master cylinder directly after the dot 3, but it sits on top of the dot3. you don't even need to fully empty out the MC either, making bleeding easier. after a bit of bleeding you get the dot4 out at wheel, and you should know by the color change in the fluid. if dot 4 can stand up to rigorous track duty where brakes get glowing red hot and use competition friction compound pads, then it should be good enough for any old school soobie.

you can replace one caliper without a doubt if your other one is fine. i do it all the time on the racecars i build when one gets roasted and locks up. as for the bleeding get a piece of clear tubing and run it into a clear vessel for each corner. its a cheap one man bleeder that lets you see when you get clear fluid out of the caliper. but im sure you knew that trick already... make sure you get plenty of dot4. it takes quite a bit to flush all the ************ and old dot3 out.

that seal should be the radial shaft seal for the oil pump. you have to remove the pulley to see it. when resealing the pump you replace the shaft seal, the mickey mouse gasket, and the o-ring right below the gerotor gear.

the thing is, it did sit for about 9 months dead in a parking lot, lightly overheated (not full red, would sit at 1/2 instead of 1/4) at least once a week for a year when the previous owner would drive it on the highway with a clogged radiator, and the previous owner changed the oil once in the 3 years he had it . before that, it had regular maintenance at a dealer, according to the glovebox files. that's what makes me ask and wonder if i should do it. and i will probably do it since you guys make it sound so easy just not right now, i should be able to drag it out till it gets warmer, and just do the timing belt and cam seals today. my other question since grossgary brought it up, do i need new/reman lifters? right now, it only ticks on a very cold startup, and i attribute that to the extremely leaky oil pump that will get resealed today along with the other front seals... so, if they don't tick after i reseal the pump today, don't worry about it?

i have a lift and all kinds of other fancy tools so pulling the motor at my shop wouldn't be too bad, and id probably do the rear main seal and a few other things as just a quick reseal without splitting the block. ive ported quite a few heads, in my short years on earth so i dont think ill need spares, but there is always the "what if" factor of messing something up... thankfully i have quite a few resources for head welding/machine work through the motorsports work i do. shake down driving? what do you mean by that? the afterwards testing part after i finish the HG's? if that's what you mean i'm not terribly worried about it, and i have plenty of time before the trip to get the car in top running shape. (i leave in june) i also have a backup car to drive. i appreciate your guy's input. ill probably go ahead and do them soon, make sure everything is perfect.

ok fellas, i have a question for you guys. (no its not if i have bad headgaskets, i know how to diagnose stuff) i have 197k on the clock on my 91 loyale, and i intend on driving an assload of miles this summer (over 7k ) going cross country and what not. i have no idea how old the head gaskets are, but ill tell you, its the absolute last thing i want to find out, thousands of miles from my destination. i was going to freshen up a few things on the motor and i already have all the stuff for doing a timing belt and oil pump reseal and shaft seals. i was wondering, should i just pull the motor and do the head gaskets and cam case o-rings while im ahead, make it ready for the eventual thousands of miles in hot weather that it will see? if i go that far though, ill also do valve seals and port the head while im at it, see if i can pick up a bit of extra power out of these tractor heads. so, A just do timing belt, oil pump, and shaft seals? or B quick port and polish and top end rebuild?

x2 on the atf for your synchros. i had a 3rd gear grind that was getting gradually worse as time went on, and i kept driving it anyways for 2 years, saw the atf tip on here, and tried it. 3rd hasnt grinded since and its been 3 months. since then, 2nd gear has been a bit notchy afterwards. but other than that shifts like butter. long story short i just put a quart of atf in even though filling with only atf would work better. i had pretty much condemned this tranny and was about to get another, at that.

speedo has nothing to do with your idle. you never really described what the issue of the idle is, whether its too low, high, surging, or stalling.

i have a nice circle marble outdoor table, that if cleaned up, im sure would be flat... but id like to check it with a straight edge someday.

one thing you will have to do with that hammer is flatten the seam in the wheel well, and a bit on the inside so that you can retain a full lock to lock steering. you can get away with a tad of hammering without anybody noticing anything. like i said, "massaging"

x2 on that. ohio's trail's kinda suck. one day sometime soon ill make my way out there for a run with you guys.

27's are pushing it.... 215/75/15 might be able to fit, but it might rub the fenders under full compression... a 225/60 or 225/65 probably wont rub and gives you the widest tread that can fit. i also know that you will have to trim and bash for hours to get a 235/75/15 to fit without rub, lock to lock. how opposed are you to "massaging" the inner fender well with a BFH? you should be able to get an even bigger size to fit without cutting the finders themselves.