OregonYeti

obituary My car died just east of Salt Lake City. Busted timing belt and whatever else might have resulted. RIP and I hope the organ donations (parts) will be helpful to other Subarus. I'm keeping the plates CL96563. Goodbye old friend. Renting a car for the rest of the way to the east coast. I wasn't towing a trailer but I did drive it around 80 mph thru Idaho and in Utah, pushing my luck. I was carrying about 800 pounds of stuff. Good thing I wasn't towing a trailer because towiing the dead car and the trailer woulda been more complicated.

Really appreciate the advice! Thanks. I'm just taking my car full of stuff, no trailer. What hurts the most is leaving my Polk Audio RTi-A7s behind. Better than being stuck in the middle of Wyoming with no heat and no engine LOL

I'll be in Kennett Square with my sis at first and then moving to somewhere in SE PA, N DE or S NJ. Thx I75

Thanks, flow. I looked into rentals I think I'll rent a 4-Runner type vehicle from Hertz and fill it with my stuff. I'll sell my GL here before I go. Many thanks to you all for the help.

That's pretty impressive!

Oops, somehow I have 2 threads going on this. I've decided it's not a good idea to tow a trailer to NJ no matter how good my '87 GL has been to me.

Haha, I'm moving 'cause my mom's not in good shape. I will probably move back to Oregon again some time.

I apreciate the responses. No matter how much we love our Subarus, they have their limits

Thanks, Dave T. I might do better reducing my amount of stuff more to where I can fill my car and use rooftop storage, and skip the trailer. My car's not in top shape.

I'm moving from Oregon to the east coast (South Jersey) and considering my options for how to move my stuff. I have an '87 GL wagon with 240k miles that's been reliable for the last 5 years, and I'm wondering if I should haul a trailer with it for that distance. I have a hitch rated at 2000 pounds and I could save a lot of money renting a trailer vs renting a truck. But I'm wondering if that would be pushing my luck. It would really suck to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in winter with a dead car and a rented trailer full of my stuff. What do you say?

I'm moving from Oregon to the east coast (SE PA or South Jersey area) and considering my options for how to move my stuff. I have an '87 GL wagon with 240k miles that's been reliable for the last 5 years, and I'm wondering if I should haul a trailer with it for that distance. I have a hitch rated at 2000 pounds and I could save a lot of money renting a trailer vs renting a truck. But I'm wondering if that would be pushing my luck. It would really suck to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in winter with a dead car and a rented trailer. What do you say?

What do you mean by "giggle pin"? I replaced the upper radiator hose last year because it was leaking and this makes a 2nd, and I will replace the remaining 5.

Thanks very much DaveT and somick. As it turns out it was not the O-ring at the water pump. I'd assumed it was that connection because I didn't expect to be able to move the metal tube connecting to it. The O-ring explains it and it is not leaking there. The leak was at a smaller hose at the top of the engine. I think it's called a bypass hose. I found the leak by filling the coolant system again and it leaked there. I replaced that hose today and I will be looking for oil floating in the coolant. I sure hope the head gaskets are okay. There is no coolant leak and the engine is running fine so far. If there's oil in the coolant I will stop driving it and put it for sale to someone who is willing to make repairs, or scrap it. It's got Turbo wheels and almost brand-new tires.

Is the O-ring on the outside or the inside of the housing? Ok never mind. Must be inside to hold pressure.

Damn. But thanks. Better to know than not know.

Thanks in advance for any help on this. I have a huge coolant leak. I suspect it's at the water pump. Today the dash temperature gauge went barely into the red and I pulled over and parked for a while. I was needing to add coolant every month or so, but this time I added a lot a week ago and a lot is gone. The water pump is on the same axis as the fan, and right behind the fan, right? There is metal tubing going into the water pump on the right side, looking from the front of the car, that is loose on the outside (slides in and out). Is this supposed to be a tight connection or is the seal internal? If this is the leak, what's a temporary fix? I will most likely have to go to orientation for a new job on Monday and I want my car to be working. Backup plan is rent a car tomorrow but I'm pretty broke since I've been unemployed a while. Any help is appreciated.

I bought my '87 GL wagon in Sept 2011 and a week later someone walked up to me and asked if I would consider selling it. I'm sure the paint didn't impress him at all. He said it was the ultimate mushroom picker car--meaning going into the woods on logging roads and maybe off them too. Dual range 4WD, but no power windows :^) I still have it and it has been very reliable with 238k miles so far (383k in Celsius). Replaced the alternator and choke pullout in these almost 5 years since I bought it, and that's all it has needed aside from regular maintenance.

Yeah, I know to check the ratings of things. Not sure what all I have, but I will check that for sure. I won't use a resistor that isn't rated for about 200 watts or more. 12V times 15A ... 180W. That's being extra careful since it won't be 15A with a resistor added in. And I thank you for the heads-up. I don't want to have something else be a pain in my butt.

Thanks, naru, I haven't worked with DC much, so I didn't know what to expect. Sounds like I need to put a resistor in the circuit since I'm connecting it to the cigarette lighter. All I need really is to be able do defrost the windshield even if it takes a few minutes.

Was gonna replace the blower motor, but tested resistance and there was some, so the motor's probably ok. (fuse is intact). Tested the plug connecting to it, with blower turned on, no power. There's a relay near the blower and I don't know if it's the blower relay, but it tested ok (resistance anyway) and it wasn't getting power across its coil when the blower was turned on. So I haven't found the problem with the blower yet. I figure it's likely the blower switch on the dash, that's gone out. That doesn't look really simple to replace, if that's the problem (or maybe it is simple?). I'm gonna need the blower to clear the windshield since we're expecting snow, so for now I'm gonna use a cigarette lighter adapter, and connect it to the blower motor, with a fuse (slow blow), and maybe a resistor of some kind. Anybody know how many amps the blower motor draws, approximately? I didn't see it on the motor. Also I noticed the heater's bad, the little tiny resistance heater in with the blower and I might replace that eventually.

But it only has 226k miles on it ... I thought it came with a 25-year warranty

Okay, I found a good previous thread. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=119687 So I understand if this thread gets ignored! However, my car doesn't have anything extra that would use more power. My battery is only a year old. I don't know where the old alternator came from. This one's from Napa, with a 3-year warranty. My car's working fine now.

My '87 GL had the voltage regulator go out. I replaced the alternator and it's fine now. I was just wondering if this is a common thing. Fortunately for me, there is a voltmeter in the dash, and I saw it go way up, and then my heat/ac blower died. Without that voltmeter I would probably be replacing parts for a while before I figured out what was up. I searched previous posts and only saw occasional mention of voltage regulators, and I was wondering if a lot of people have this happen.

I just did a search for "roof booming noise" and found this thread. Good to know the cause! I might try making a few holes in the foam liner and squirting some silicone caulk or something up there to see if the noise stops. Can't hurt anything, eh? (I hope)

Corvallis here Just bought my first Subaru, an '87 GL wagon.