jeryst

Okay, first I have to apologize because I talked to the inspection mechanic again today and he told me it was the rear bumper, not the front. I dont know if he told me wrong, or if I heard wrong, but it is the rear. The bumper itself looks good, but he told me that the steel inner bumper is almost completely rusted away, so I cant clean it up. I may be able to have him weld a new piece of metal in there, but I just thought it would be easier and cheaper if I could find a replacement. I checked with a Subaru junkyard in Kittanning, but they dont have anything that old, so I'm still looking. If anyone in western/central PA knows of one, or knows of any local yards that have any Subies that old, please let me know.

Is there a reference list somewhere that shows which engines were used in the various years?

I have a 1990 Loyale Turbo 4WD wagon. I took it to get it inspected and they told me that it needs an inner front bumper because mine is rusted out. Does anyone know what years/models will fit, so that I can start cruising the junkyards? They didnt show me what was bad, so I'm not sure if they are talking about the bumper beam or something else. The bumper looks good from the outside. Even if I have to pick up an entire bumper, that would be ok too, as long as I got the part that is needed. Thanks in advance.

The turbo on my 1990 loyale wagon is leaking massive amounts of water. I would like to find a replacement turbo, but I dont know which ones from other years/models will bolt right on. Does anyone know what will fit?

Now thats just plain cool!

1990 Loyale Turbo 4WD. Is the turbo water cooled or oil cooled?

A couple of weeks ago, my 90 Turbo 4WD Loyale began to do something weird. As I was going down the road, blue clouds of smoke began to pour out of the back. I thought that I blew a head gasket, but since I was out in the middle of nowhere, I figured I would just drive it until I got to a service station, or until it blew up. After about 30 seconds, it stopped smoking. When I got home, I checked the oil and water. No signs of water in the oil, and no signs of oil in the water. It has done it several more times, and I have noticed a pattern. If I start the car when cold, and let it warm up before driving it, it does not do it. If I start the car and drive it immediately, it does not smoke until it starts to warm up. Then it smokes like crazy for about 30 seconds, then quits. I cant really tell anything by the oil level because I have a few leaks, so the oil level is usually down whenever I drive it any distance. When it starts smoking, I can smell oil, so I am thinking that oil is somehow briefly leaking onto the exhaust system and burning off, which causes the clouds of smoke. But why it quits and doesn't do it again until cold is the puzzling part. I'm not sure what is going on, and I would appreciate any theories as to what is happening.

I can definitely feel it changing, but it acts just like the description in the "how to " thread mentioned above. Going around a corner, it acts like a FWD and starts spinning. I have to let off of the gas to be able to steer around the corner. When I give it gas again, I can feel it shifting power to different wheels, like it is searching. No where near as nice as my push button cars. I couldnt get them to spin a wheel for anything. They just dug in and went.

Okay, I'm not much of a mechanic, or electrician, so I have a couple of simple (and probably glaringly stupid) questions, so bear with me. 1. What would happen if I just disconnected the solenoid on my car? 2. Is there a fuse for the 4WD on my car, and what would happen if I just pulled that? This is a 1990 Loyale Turbo Wagon with AT and full time 4WD.

It currently has Goodyear winter tires all the way around. I used to run all season radials on my push button cars.

I have always owned Subies with manual trannys and push button 4WD. Once you push the button, they act like a tank, never spin a wheel, and are extremely stable. In Jun I bought my first auto trans with full time 4WD (90 Loyale Turbo wagon). I havent had the opportunity to test it until today, and I can honestly say that after taking it down a couple of snowy roads, I HATE IT! The car is all over the road, the wheels just keep alternating as they search for traction. It doesnt feel stable like my old push buttons at all, and I am very disappointed. I would take my old push buttons through two feet of snow without the slightest concern, but I would be afraid to take this thing through 6 inches. It's not a tank, like I am used to. So my question is, is there a way to convert the full time 4WD to the same type of push button 4WD that was in my other cars?

Yes, I agree. But the guy worked as a Subaru mechanic for over 10 years, has his own business, works on a lot of Subarus, and is well respected, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt when he tells me something.

I thought that too, but the fuel pump was always working, the pressure was good, the fuel was getting to the injectors, and the injectors were firing. He said that he was totally stumped, and just put the dry gas in because he was out of ideas. He said that by all accounts, the car should have started and run, and he just couldnt figure it out. He also said that he did nothing else, touched nothing else, except for putting in the dry gas and rocking the car back and forth to mix it up a little. The next time he tried to start it, it started after cranking over a few times. I'm going to be using the car as my main driver and I'd like to come up with some plausible explanation before I start depending on it totally, because I dont want it to leave me stranded far from home.

Okay. A while back, I put my 90 Loyale Turbo Wagon up for sale because I though it had broken its new timing belt and I couldnt afford to fix it. Well, it turns out I was wrong. I found a local guy who used to work as a Subaru mechanic, so I asked him if he would take a look at it. Which he did. The car would not start, and turned over very quickly, but when he checked a few things out, he was convinced that a belt had not broken, so he did som more tests. He found that fuel was getting up to the injectors, the injectors were firing, and that the plugs were getting spark, but that the plugs themselves were dry. He got busy on some other jobs, so he let the car sit for a couple of weeks in the back of his heated garage. Every once in a while he would try something, but it would still not start. One day, just for the heck of it, he put some dry gas in the tank, rocked the car to mix it up, and let it sit for another few days. Now, when the car had initially stopped running I put injector cleaner and dry gas in it, thinking that maybe I had gotten some bad gas or condensation. After a few days, he tried to start the car. It turned over for a while, then suddenly roared to life, and has been running fine ever since. So I need a detective to give me an idea of what had actually happened. The mechanic seems to think that maybe there was some water in the gas, and that since it was cold out, perhaps the injector nozzles froze over. By him putting in the dry gas, it worked its way through the system and eventually thawed the injectors. I find it hard to believe that all of the injector nozzles could have frozen over at the same time. And I had already put the same thing in the tank weeks before, so it should have had plenty of time to work. I'm thinking that it had something to do with the car being in a heated building for several weeks, or him poking around, unplugging and replugging things as he checked things out. Also, I still have an issue of the cars idle dropping and jumping once it warms up, so maybe that has something to do with it as well. The biggest clue, is that the car had spark at the plugs, and fuel up to the injectors, but the plugs were dry. This tells me that something was blocking the fuel between the injectors and the cylinders. Would anyone car to offer an explanation?

Remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You start putting out that kind of HP and torque, and you will be blowing rear ends, trannys, axles, the whole works.

My 90 Loyale Turbo 4WD has had a small oil leak ever since I got it. It has gotten a little worse lately, so I took it to a garage to have it checked. They said it looks like the oil is coming out somewhere around the lower hose. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there a seal kit available? Should I get a turbo gasket kit? Should I have the turbo rebuilt? I would appreciate any advice anyone can give.

Check with your DMV before getting antique plates. In PA, a vehicle with antique plates has strict usage guidelines. Can only be driven on Sundays or to car shows. Can not be driven after dark. Etc. The police here will pull you over if they see you driving a car with antique plates regularly, like to work every day. It also has an impact on your insurance coverage and the miles you are allowed to put on it. I have a couple of antique vehicles (60's) and I dont even bother to put antique plates on them because the hassles greatly outweigh the benefits (No annual inspection or registration).

My last car was a 94 Loyale wagon. One day when I was going to work, the oil light suddenly came on. I pulled over as soon as I could, and shut it off, but not before my lifters began to make a lot of noise. When I checked the oil, I couldnt see any on the dip stick. I happened to have a quart of slick 50 and a couple of quarts of oil with me, so I dumped them in and looked underneath the car. The oil was coming out almost as fast as I had put it in. I called a tow truck and took it to the garage, where I found out that I had blown a valve cover gasket. They fixed that gasket, and told me that the lifters were damaged, and that the noise would never go away. Not wanting to spending big bucks on new lifters, I drove it the way it was. ALthough I noticed a little drop in power, the car continued to run fine, and I drove it for another 80k miles before the rust got so bad that it wouldnt pass inspection and there was no use in getting it fixed (both front fenders really bad, rear wheel wells totally gone, rockers very bad, etc).

Something weird happens on my 90 Loyale Turbo 4WD Wagon. I take my son to the bus stop every morning. When I start the car, it goes to high idle, so I let it run for a few seconds, then put it into gear, and the idle drops down to normal. When I get to the bus stop, I am parked uphill. When I put it into park, it goes back up to high idle. After it warms up, I hit the gas to knock it off of high idle. It drops to normal, but then quickly goes back up to high idle, then starts going back and forth on its own. If I put it into gear, it drops to normal and stays there, but as soon as I put it back into park, it starts fluctuating again. I have only noticed this happen when I am parked nose up on the hill. Anyone have a clue as to what is going on?

When I turn on my ignition key, and all of the indicator lights light up, my Turbo and Low Fuel lights do not light up. Are they supposed to? I have taken my fuel down below E many times and have never seem the low fuel light come on. I've only seen my Turbo light come on a couple of times, even though I believe it works regularly because the car just runs too good for it not to be coming on. Also, beside the (D)rive letter, there is a "Power" indicator. It comes on when the key is turned on, but I have never seen it come on at any other time. What is it for? 1990 Loyale Turbo 4WD Station Wagon.

I've owned my wagon for over a month now, and I never see the Turbo light come on, even under hard acceleration. The car runs really well, and seems much quicker than the 94 non-turbo Loyale that I last had. Actually, I did see the turbo light come on a couple of times one day when I was on the interstate with the A/C on, and going up a long hill. But other than that, I've never seen it come on. Should it come on under hard acceleration?

I've always liked the SVX's but have heard that they had a lot of problems. One of these days, I just may take the leap, so I'd like any opinions, warnings, whatever from Current or past SVX owners on what they are like, what to look out for, etc.

I bought some cup holders that clip onto the door. They fold up flat against the door when not is use and spring open at the touch of a button. I think I got them at a place that sells boat equipment. Unfortunately, I forgot to take them out of my 94 Loyale when I sold it, so I dont have them anymore. They worked really well, though.

Thanks. Do you know what general years/models?

Someone recently mentioned to me that he thought that Subaru had made an engine with gear drives instead of timing belts. Does anyone know if that is true, and have any more information on them? I always thought that all Subaru engines had timing belts.