Treblemaker

Still experimenting. Meanwhile, I pulled an oil pump off an automatic at the pick-n-pull, so the car's back on the road for now. MR_Loyale, I agree, it's pretty weak design. Besides which, good filters already have an internal bypass (Purolator gold, for example). I have never seen another car with a filter bypass built in to the engine. Maybe the answer is to just plug the extra hole in the pump and be done.

I doubt it would ever happen with an automatic transmission. With a manual, if it's parked in the wrong gear (ie reverse on a forward slope, or a forward gear on a reverse slope), and the driver removes the e-brake before pressing the clutch to start it, then the car may roll a bit turning the engine backward. If there's an anti-drainback valve in the filter, then the backward-turning oil pump will force the ball right out of the filter bypass check valve. Unfortunately not every driver pays attention to minute details such as, "which way does the car want to roll" when they park it. *sigh* Another way is using the clutch to hold the car on the hill and stalling it. ("But why??!! You have "hill holder!")

With two 93 loyale wagons (one since 94) I'm tired of replacing oil pumps because the filter bypass ball has been pushed out (Ok, it's only the third time since I've had the cars-- I guess I'm just annoyed that such a stupid design decision ruins an otherwise perfectly good pump). Thinking of replacing the pressed-in sleeve with a screw-in ring to hold the ball. My reasoning is that if the engine is turned backward for some reason I'd rather bust out the anti-drainback valve in the easily-replaceable filter than break the pump. Any thoughts on this? Bad idea? Good idea? Something I've overlooked? If it works I'll post pictures.

1993 loyale wagon. Has anyone found a suitable replacement for the socket that holds the 631 (bayonet base) bulb in the front marker lights? The tabs that hold it in the lens body have disintegrated. Cursory search of the forums and google haven't given me any useful results, and I'd rather not have to glue it in. Thanks for your ideas! --

What! Where? Huh?

Hi, Doug, Thanks for the photos! I'll probably sleeve the rear main when I do the clutch (not for a while yet, I hope). I imagine putting a thin film of sealant on the inside of the sleeve instead of on the shaft would cause the excess to push out the front where it could be cleaned up. Do you think it would seal as effectively that way, since any gaps between the seal and the shaft must be very, very small? Thanks, -- T.

That worked for you ?! I didn't mention in in my original post but I had read on ... I think it was an MG forum ... where they recommended to install a certain sleeve backward. It tried it here but I couldn't get the sleeve started on the shaft, so I was worried pressing with the gear would just bend and collapse it (another $40 tossed in the bin). Also tried warming it in boiling water to expand it a little bit (I know they say "DON'T USE HEAT", but I figured boiling water is no hotter than it will get when the engine is running) How did you get the "sharp" end of the sleeve started onto the shaft?

Who am I to argue with an Elite Master! But yes, point taken. "It is a poor workman who blames his tools". Your screwdriver is safe from me.

Thanks for the replies. I've been thinking about that Rockford replacement. But my local machine shop wouldn't touch it. I have some questions about that for another thread. Thanks, -- T.

Is there any risk in running a 4WD Loyale with the rear drive shaft removed? It looks like the center bearing will keep the "front" drive shaft (between the transmission and the center bearing) in place so the shaft won't fall out and dump the fluid. Reason is one of the u-joints is binding and I need to drive the car while I'm looking for a repair or replacement. Thanks, -- T.

Hi, Doug, Thank you for the suggestion. I think this Timken part has the same dimensions as the Speedi-Sleeve (99147). The problem is the "shelf" on which the seal rides is only 15 mm deep and there is another shelf behind it limiting how far the sleeve can be driven onto the shaft. So the overall width including the installation flange has to be less than 15 mm (.669" ~= 17 mm) or else it will "stick out" and interfere with the timing gear. This crudely-drawn not-to-scale image may explain more clearly. Best Regards, -- T.

Why, oh, why in this day and age of instant access to internet expertise would someone still use a screwdriver to gouge out oil seals... We picked up a nice looking, nice running '93 Loyale last december after the front end of our previous Loyale tried to violate the Pauli Exclusion Principle with the back of an Accord. I thought we were in good shape because it had only about 20,000 on the timing belts, and who would go to all that trouble without replacing the seals, right? Unfortunately after about three months it began leaking oil like a deep-sea blowout, losing about a quart a week (and most of it succumbing to the mysterious allure of the exhaust pipe...) So I was kind of surprised to get the front end apart and find shiny new seals on the crank and left camshaft. Couldn't see the right shaft, though -- someone had hit it with a hammer (???) and mushroomed the end of it so the gear wouldn't come off. Guess which seal hadn't been replaced. After huffing and pulling for too long Dremel came to the rescue, the shaft was once again well-rounded and the gear lived free. Pulled off the seal housings and.... o-rings hard as a rock (original)? And again with the gouges on the camshaft ?! So, either they had no clue what they were doing or were too lazy to remove four bolts? Cheep! Wish I could sleeve the camshafts but don't see how I could get the housings off to replace the O-rings ever again. Oh, but _somebody_ had the housings off before because the bolts were stripped almost loose (or maybe it's because Haynes says 80 in-lb and Chilton says 50? Mitchell will tell me the truth at the Library on Monday). Whoever invented heli-coil should be sainted! So, anyhow, I checked the crank for any high spots threw on a little ultra-grey and happily drove the speedi-sleeve home, and.... the sleeve wouldn't go home. With the "installation" flange on the sleeve it hit the "shelf" on the crank just inside the engine and won't go on far enough to allow the timing gear to seat. Plan B (yeah, this got expensive fast), Try driving it halfway on then tear off the flange and use the gear to drive it the rest of the way on (yeah, I'll bet you could have told me how well that would not work...) Still no joy. About to give up, and removing the failed sleeves probably did even more damage to the seal surface, so no way to back out now. Last try: found a bit of pipe that _exactly_ fit the inside of the sleeve (now do you understand, dear, why I throw nothing away?), lay it in the groove on the vise and dremel comes to the rescue again! Used a small cutting wheel to slowly-so-it-doesn't-heat-up cut about 4mm off the end of the sleeve. Cut from the inside out to avoid the inevitable slip of the wheel, which of course meant the jig held perfectly steady. A little bevel and wire wheel at the end and here is a SOAS (sleeve of appropriate size) ready to install in the usual way, and sits now about 1/2 mm behind seat for the timing gear. All that to say, if you run into the same problem, here is one way to solve it. Speedi-sleeve doesn't make "shorter" sleeves and Subaru doesn't make "longer" crankshafts. The front (cut) edge of the sleeve may still be a little rough so, not wanting all _that_ work to go to waste, I'll wrap it a couple times around with well-oiled plastic wrap while the new seal goes on (learned this the hard way last time I had to sleeve a crankshaft on a Mazda). Now I sit back and wait to hear "Really? All you had to do was _this_ easy and inexpensive solution". Oh, and if I ever catch you using a screwdriver to pull a seal, I'll find a rather un-imaginative place to hide it. The screwdriver, I mean. Cheers, T.