jj421

I'd attend if I owned a BRAT. Wouldn't mind loading up the wagon, driving out east, and camping somewhere.

My owner's manual states 15.9 gallons, but it didn't list any body styles. Mine is a 4WD wagon though.

While under the hood today, I noticed my V-Belt was loose. Went to loosen the lower alternator belt, and SNAP. Sheared the bolt head right off, with the bolt stud still stuck (and torqued) in the bracket. Took out the alternator, and took out the alternator bracket. After a day of hammering, drilling, and heating, I've made it worse, haha. Gotta head to the junkyard to get a new bracket and make my car run again.

Wow, thanks for the extremely detailed post! I managed to do most of what you said, besides the two round connectors next to the battery. I'm gonna have to move some stuff in order to get to those. But yeah, I went out with my camera (I like photos) and did these tests. Okay, I wasn't exactly sure which of the middle pins it was, so I tested both. And well.... Okay, went under the hood, unplugged the connector, and tested it. So that seems to check out perfectly fine. Got 9.4 ohms, so that is okay. Again, like I said, I didn't test this. However, a quick look down there reveals that connectors look like they're about to disintegrate when I touch them, haha. I can't do that resistance check, as my multimeter leads are nowhere near long enough. But I have a feeling one of the wires corroded and my problem lies in there. Did this. Undid the hose to the IACV, plugged everything back in, turned the key to the on position, and played with the throttle. I noticed no movement whatsoever inside the IACV. This was another thing that I was thinking about that could cause this problem. I can't find the "good" voltages/resistances for this though, and I don't know how to test it. But yeah, so maybe this can help you tell me where I am and what I should do from here. When I get a chance, I can test those round connectors.

That's what I was thinking, but one reason why I don't want to get it resurfaced is the down time. First and foremost, I don't know of any machine shops, even though I'm sure I can find one. And second, when I get to the flywheel, I have to take it out, drive to the shop, wait for them to machine it, and drive back. I'm sure it doesn't take long to machine it, but that's still losing a couple hours, probably. A new flywheel I can have at my door at the same time as my clutch kit, which could save a bunch of time. Not to mention I have no idea what condition the flywheel is in. I'd hate to open up the transmission, only to find it's beyond resurfacing. Then I'd have to wait a few days for shipping of a new flywheel. The clutch has probably been changed at least once in the car's life, but the flywheel is still probably original. And again, with 261,000 miles, it's probably not in the best shape. On the other hand, I don't have any clutch chatter, except when letting the clutch out in second gear at very slow speeds. Obviously I'm not a transmission expert, haha. I'm not sure what to expect when I start doing the transmission. I think I'll just have to see how much money I have and go from there. If I have the money for the clutch kit, some tools, gear oil, etc., but not enough for a flywheel, I'll just get it resurfaced. But if I have enough for a new flywheel, I'll just order one. Maybe I'm over thinking this. But hey, I'm really excited to do this swap, so it's the only thing on my mind right now.

Bump. Still really wondering about whether I should get my flywheel resurfaced, or replaced with the ACDelco one. Anybody with an opinion on this?

I believe that's what it is. I remember unbolting a fastener on the power steering reservoir when I was replacing my IACV, and had some fluid leak out. I think that's when I started hearing the noise. It could also be my belt. I keep losing tension on my v-belt within a month or two, no matter how tightly I torque the alternator. Might slap on a second belt for the front pulleys. The sound happens when I'm moving very slowly going forward sometimes, but always happens in reverse, at whatever speed. Oh well, project for another day. But yeah, the stop leak works surprising well. I didn't think it would work when I first put it in, but it did. I can turn lock to lock with one finger as well, haha.

I agree with Loyale 2.7 Turbo. When I bought my car, there was a power steering leak. I never found it where it was from, but I just put in a bottle of power steering fluid with stop leak. Worked like a charm. Haven't had an issue with leaking power steering fluid since. However, my power steering has suddenly started making noises when I am reversing. But that's probably another problem.

Sweet. I'll definitely read that when I get some time. I did however go to the page with the ECU connectors and found what I believe to be pin 45 on my car. I took the first yellow plug, a 10-pin plug, and probed the pin in the very middle on the clip side. With the key on, engine off, I got zero volts. I'm guessing that that's my problem? Or maybe I did the wrong pin.

Okay, first off, sorry for not responding earlier. Between school and work and other things, haven't really had time to address this. Anyways, this sounds like my problem. Just went out to my car and took a look at the ECU. There are three yellow plugs that are hooked up to the ECU. So which plug is it? And how do I know which is pin 45? And what did you do to fix it; buy a new plug/wire? Oh, and I also messed with the MAF a bit. I grabbed one from a junkyard, and when installed, the engine would just die, no matter if I tried to rev it. Then I installed the one from my garage, and it had no effect whatsoever. I didn't clean either one, though.

I definitely wanna follow this thread. My sister's Mustang has been sitting for a few months and now has mold on the inside. She might clean it up, but considering she lives in Canada, her car isn't driven at all. Plus, she'd need to spend tons of money on a battery and alternator. But anyways, if there are any good tricks to cleaning out mold, I'm interested in knowing about them. As far as the seats go, they are super easy to take out. There are four 12 mm (or maybe 14) bolts underneath the seat, on the rails. Undo the four bolts, and the front seats come right out. They easily bolt back on too. I swapped out my front seats and rear bench seat in my Soob in about 30 minutes.

I have the day off, so I guess I'm gonna watch his videos all day. Oh, and I just realized that when I install the D/R, I'm gonna have to change my avatar. Edit I've gotten to video #07 in his series. Definitely learning quite a bit. But in one of the first videos, it raised a question that I had ignored. I will be disconnecting the exhaust pipe, correct? Looking under my car, my exhaust pipe is clear in the way of the drive shaft and the tranny cross member, as well as the front part of the transmission. How far back on the exhaust will I have to take off? Also, I'm wondering, should I get the flywheel resurfaced, or buy a new one? I know in both MilesFox's and EricTheCarGuy's videos, they use a homemade method of cleaning up the flywheel. However, last time I went the cheap route was on my axle. Now I have to put in a new axle, and I definitely don't wanna go back and redo the flywheel if I can prevent it. I'm leaning towards buying a new flywheel. There's 260,XXX miles on my car, so I'm sure the flywheel has seen better days. Also, on Amazon, a flywheel (ACDelco part #388154) costs $80, which is a good deal as machine shops wouldn't be a whole lot less. And it'd be a brand new part too. It's not OEM, but an OEM flywheel costs upwards of $300. What's your opinion? Would I be looking at any performance change with a new flywheel? Is it better to do a new flywheel, or get the current one resurfaced?

It looks like my buddy's dad has a bunch of tools that I might be able to borrow. Not sure exactly what he has, but I might have access to more tools. Yeah, I'm thinking more of removing my current tranny more than putting in the new one. I forgot how difficult it may be to line up and install the new transmission. I'm thinking if I can get a floor jack, I might be able to maneuver the transmission a little easier. Yeah, I always try and go the easier route (as with most people). In that sense, pulling the motor would be the sensible option. But I'd really rather not pull the motor. The clutch installation does seem pretty easy. What about taking the flywheel somewhere to get it resurfaced? I remember reading a while ago that that's something that should be done. And with the TOB, that comes with a clutch kit, correct? Speaking of clutch kits, any preferences? I'm looking at this one: Exedy 15008. I believe this is the 4WD clutch, and Exedy is OEM as I've read. At $154, with Amazon Prime and free 2-day shipping, it seems like a good deal. http://www.amazon.com/EXEDY-15008-OEM-Replacement-Clutch/dp/B001B5LSTA/ref=au_pf_ss_2?ie=UTF8&Make=Subaru%7C13&Model=Loyale%7C65&Year=1990%7C1990&carId=003&n=15684181&s=automotive Currently watching EricTheCarGuy's 2-hour clutch replacement video on YouTube on an '02 Ford Focus. Probably not the best video to watch as it's a hydraulic clutch and, well, a completely different car, but at least it's giving me an idea of what I'm doing.

Oh, I also forgot to mention the obvious; I need to take off the axles too. Do I need to take the axles out entirely? Or can I get away with just taking the axle off of the transmission (but leaving it in the wheel)? I am gonna replace my passenger side axle for sure though. Refurbished axles don't last long, apparently, haha. But yeah, if I can leave the driver side axle in there and save myself that extra work, that'd be great. I think there should be enough leeway. As far as the bell housing goes, I just went out and did a quick "touch & smell" test. It's got a really thick viscosity. It doesn't smell of gear oil (it actually doesn't have a smell at all). I don't believe it's gear oil, but any way to check, for sure? With the shift linkage, is there anything I'll need to do about that? Out of curiosity, anybody have the punch size for the shifter knob on my push-button? I know that it doesn't screw off like the D/R shifter knob. Just wondering if anyone knows the punch size (or a good way to get the pin out).

Thanks to "Board junkie," I had a D/R tranny follow me home today. Sorry about my tie downs being in the way, haha. I need to wait for a family member to get home before I can move it off the trailer. But yeah, so this is gonna be my new project. The main reason why I'm doing the swap is because I need a new clutch, so I figured I'd put a dual range in there while I'm dropping the transmission. Now, the thing is, it's gonna be a couple weeks before I can actually put the transmission in. I need to save up the money for a new clutch kit, and 4WD clutch kits aren't cheap. Until then, I would like some more information on both the tranny swap, and the clutch installation. First, questions about the tranny swap. I've done a bit of research, and the best I can find is, "It's a direct bolt in swap." That's great, but it doesn't tell me what I'm doing. I would like a step-by-step guide (preferably with pictures) that tells/shows what bolts to take out, where, etc. It does look pretty straight forward though. It seems like this: drain gear oil; undo the six bolts connecting the bell housing to the engine; take out the starter motor; disconnect the clutch cable; detach the tranny cross member underneath; take out the drive shaft; disconnect wires/hoses; take off interior trim pieces; maneuver tranny out of car. Then the reverse for installation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that what it seems like needs to be done. Also, I'm wondering how easy/difficult this is to do with the engine IN. I have no intention of pulling my engine. I couldn't anyways as I don't have the tools. Again, it does look pretty straight forward to do; it'd just be a tight fit with the engine there. Oh, speaking of tools, any tools that you recommend for doing the swap? Would it be worth it save up and get an air impact wrench? I have nothing more than basic hand tools, the car's scissor jack, and jack stands. I remember trying to pull a tranny from a junkyard car, and I couldn't due to a nut/bolt being torqued too much. Even my breaker bar didn't help. I think that's all I have to ask about the swap for now. If I think of any other questions, I'll speak up. Onto the clutch replacement. Well, I have no idea what I'm doing, haha. I have not ever researched how to replace a clutch, so I don't even know what to ask. I'll probably look it up soon, but I would love any advice on how to do a clutch replacement. When I do more research, I'll be sure to ask more questions about it. I think that's it for right now. As a heads-up, I am very photogenic, so I will be posting a large number of pictures in this thread, and I hope you guys do too. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture showing me how something is hooked up, or where a part goes, helps me 100 times more than just over text.

Okay, this problem is bugging me. And I can't exactly figure out what it is. When it's cold out, my Loyale doesn't not like to idle. I have to sit there and rev it at 2000 RPM for at least five minutes before it can idle at 500 RPM. Then, as I'm driving, whenever I push the clutch in, the RPMs fall so fast, the car can die. I must feather the throttle to keep the engine going (very hard to do when braking). After about 10-15 minutes of driving, a "switch" flips in the engine and it idles normally. If I let the car sit for more than four hours, it goes back to "cold mode" and I have to rev it until I can get going again. Here's a list of thing I've done to the car (although some might not apply): -Cleaned IACV -Swapped out IACV with a junkyard one -Cleaned the junkyard IACV -Swapped out coolant temp sensor with a junkyard one -Swapped out CTS with a brand new one -Swapped out PCV valve with a genuine, OEM, brand new, dealership one. -Swapped out fuel filter with a new WIX filter So really, I'm lost. Search results come up with IACV and CTS, but nothing more. Oh, and just to answer any potential questions, the temp gauge inside the car reads fine. It rises above the "C" after 2-5 minutes and stays between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way. Do you guys have any other ideas for this? I have a used/junkyard mass air flow sensor in my garage. Gonna probably swap it out tomorrow and see if that helps. Other than that, the next thing I am going to look towards is my fuel system and exhaust system. My exhaust system is two years old. Bought the car a year ago, and have receipts for exhaust work from the year before. Not sure how long exhaust systems last though. I have no idea with the condition of the fuel system. What are your guys' opinions? It looks like future repairs are gonna run me a bunch of money, so I want to get a solid opinion towards a solution before I start dishing out cash. I'm also going to the junkyard on Sunday, so anything I should pull off the cars that are there? Thanks.

Yeah, it is his. The first page of the "What Have You Done To Your Soobie Lately" page in the old gen forum and it'll be in the first post.

It is night outside, so I can't really take any pictures until tomorrow. But I did take a photo of the module earlier today. The blue wire from the trailer and the white wire from the module are grounded to a screw I drilled in to the body inside the compartment. I've tested this ground with my multimeter and test light and it seems to be perfectly fine. The wires that tap in to the lights go to the left taillight, and are tapped in to their respective wires before the connector that's before the bulbs. The black wire is run to the positive terminal of the battery. And then the trailer wiring just sticks out the trunk.

That's a good tip. I try to keep that in mind, but the trailer is so narrow and short, that there is a fairly large angle of rotation behind the car before I actually see it in my mirrors. But still, if I can't see it, it's relatively straight. I went outside and tried sanding the area right behind the light, but it didn't work. Maybe I gotta sand more or try something else, but it's dark outside, so I can't see anything, haha. I haven't repacked the bearings, but I've heard that that's something to do, for sure. I've read that a couple people have managed to go years without doing anything to the bearings, haha. But that's one of the reasons why I was hoping to get the 12" wheels.

I'm not sure if having fender mirrors helps, or makes things worse, haha. I'm definitely used to using the mirrors when driving and turning. Reversing, it's uncomfortable for me not to be looking back. Even in a van or a truck, you could still look out your window, but I guess depending on the vehicle, that might not be comfortable. Again, I'm used to the mirrors. If the trailer was always visible in my mirrors, I'd be using them a whole lot more. It might also be that since I've never towed anything before, I really need to see the trailer and know what it's doing. One I get experience and practice, and get more comfortable with reversing a trailer, I'll be using the mirrors more. But yeah. Let's pick an angle. How about this angle? Even though the car is on a hill, it's a linear hill, so what I see in my mirrors is not much different than if I was on flat land. That being said, this is what I see in my mirrors: And this is about what I see when I poke my head out the window: So, until I get the walls installed on the trailer, reversing with the mirrors is definitely more difficult. Not to mention that when I have my head out the window, I can see the trailer when it's at a shallower angle than the minimum to see it in my mirrors. Just hope I don't get into an accident when towing this and I won't have to worry about the coverage. :-p Even if it isn't covered, not a big deal. It's only a loss of a couple hundred dollars. I was never planning to insure it anyways. The ground through the ball and hitch is the problem I was having before. The ball would move slightly, ground would be lost, and the taillights would turn off. In the first picture, see that blue wire going into my trunk to the right of the standard trailer wires? That's how I fixed it. On the trailer side of the wiring, I have the white wire grounded to the trailer frame near the coupler. Then, I have two more grounds: one on the unpainted taillight bracket on the trailer, and that blue wire going into my trunk, grounded to the same spot that the taillight converter is grounded. This fixed the problem with the taillights turning off if the ball/coupler moves a bit. However, the side markers still don't work. I'm already used to the opposite steering. At worst, it takes me a second to think which way I wanna go, haha. I know in the RCW (Revised Code of Washington), there are laws about heights with fog lights, driving lights, headlights, taillights, turn signals, etc. So I wouldn't be surprised if there are laws on heights of trailer lights, haha. I just haven't looked them up yet, as I've never needed to, haha. But when I get to building the walls, I'll definitely look into it. I think this little trailer will be good trailer for me to learn on. Then later I can move up to bigger, heavier trailers (with a different tow vehicle, of course, haha).

I knew that a shorter trailer moved faster, but I didn't anticipate that it would move this much, haha. I'll probably extend the tongue some time in the future. That's definitely one of the downsides of the euro ball mount. The ball is a lot higher than I had expected. I'll end up getting a straight ball mount, and then it'll sit level. The picture is a little skewed from the angle it was taken at. The trailer does sit at an angle, but not that sharp of an angle. Still worth fixing though. Opening the hatch is a great idea. I'll have to prop it open with a broom or something since it'll not stay open by itself, but I'll probably go to an empty parking lot some time and do that. I also found that opening my door and having my body half outside the car works, to an extent. The white wire on the car side of the converter was not properly grounded. But I have drilled into the body and it works well as is. I did get the title for it, so I'll take that to the DMV when I get a plate for it. Does anyone know if they'll have to inspect this trailer when I go there? Would this really be covered by my auto insurance? The hitch is an aftermarket accessory, and from what I've heard, insurance doesn't like to cover aftermarket accessories. I wouldn't be surprised if they declined any claim from damage done to/by the trailer or hitch. I've also been thinking of that. When I put the sides on, they'll be 10" or 12" tall, and I'll probably wire in some lights or put some reflectors on the top of the corners. There are the two side marker lights that came with the trailer, but I have been unable to get those to work. They're spliced in correctly, so I'm thinking they just don't have a good ground (even though they're one wire lights).

Yeah, that's a really good idea. I would do that, but I don't have the money or the need for a trailer that size. This trailer looks perfect behind my Loyale. I could probably get away with not registering it, for a while. As it sits, you can see my car's license plate no problem. But yeah, I do need to get a plate for this trailer. At least insurance is optional on trailers in Washington.... After I wrote my previous post, I got excited and installed the hitch last night. Installation was a lot simpler than I thought! The u-bolts in the bumper were 20x easier than I had anticipated, and drilling into the smuggler's compartment was just as easy. Wiring was pretty straight-forward too. I did a test drive last night, and found I had some electrical problems. 1) The euro ball moves around slightly inside the receiver, and when it does, the lights turn off on the trailer. Have to unplug the 4-pin connector and plug it back in to get lights again. 2) If I have the brakes and one turn signal on at the same time, the headlight/taillights will stop working (although the brake lights and turn signals still work). This morning, I have fixed it though. 1) With the ball mount moving around, I fixed that by running another ground wire from the trailer to my car. It's easily removable, so I can take it off when I disconnect the trailer. 2) I improved the power connection and the ground connection on the taillight converter in my car. It seems to have fixed my brake/turn signal dilemma. Did some driving with the trailer this morning. Its... interesting. Unless I'm turning fairly sharply, I can't see the trailer in any of my mirrors, while looking back, or looking out the window. I can't feel the trailer either. It's so lightweight, it doesn't affect my car's acceleration, braking, turning, etc. at all. I mean, I'm not gonna take a turn at high speed and slam on the brakes, but I really don't even notice the trailer behind me, haha. It's also tricking my mind. I'm used to the long, heavy trailers in truck simulators and whatnot. I keep making unnecessarily wide turns when towing this. And wow. Reversing this trailer is quite a chore! Again, it's so light and small, so it's very sensitive to steering inputs and jackknifes easily. Not to mention the visibility, again. Especially in my driveway. Blindside reversing is nearly impossible to do, since you can't see if it's jackknifing or not. At a certain angle, you can see the trailer in the side mirror, but until you get to that angle, all bets are off, haha. My driveway is extremely difficult to reverse into, considering it's at a downward slope. But after three tries, here is my first successful reversing job into my driveway:

Bump and update. Have you ever been so bored waiting for a package to come in the mail, that you built an entire trailer before it arrived at your house? Haha, today I bought one of the HF trailers, built it, and got my hitch in the mail. My paycheck was not as big as I would've hoped, so I was constricted to one of the mini trailers and 8" wheels. So this is the one I ended up getting: Managed to assemble it entirely in about 4 hours. My hitch just arrived in the mail, but it's dark outside now, so that'll wait until tomorrow. But it looks pretty straight-forward. It'll probably take me 2 hours to install the hitch and do the wiring. Then I will be able to test out towing my new trailer. The downsides: At first I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get the 8 ft long trailer. But seeing this one assembled, the 8' trailer would've been too long, and I doubt I'd ever use up the entire space. It's also only rated for 870 lbs, but again, I doubt I'd haul anything that heavy. And if I do, I'll want to upgrade the brakes on my car first. The final thing is I still wish I got the model with 12" wheels. I'll probably upgrade to 12" wheels at some point, but for now, the 8" wheels will have to do. The positives: The first thing I noticed when I opened up the box was that it's the same exact (or at least very close to) red as my Loyale. I'm probably gonna do 10" metal sides with rear gate (as was in the manual) and will probably paint the sides the same red. Then, combined with the perfectly small size of the trailer, it'll be the perfect little trailer for my Soob. Empty, it only weighs 130 lbs, so I'll probably be able to take it offroading (nothing major, of course) and go camping out in the woods. So yeah, if you can't tell, I'm excited to use this trailer, haha. Hopefully registration won't cost a fortune. I'm definitely gonna take a bunch of pictures one I get it on the road.

That's actually pretty cool! I'd have to see it in person though. Replaced the PCV valve yesterday. Old one was gunked up pretty bad. It's been a while since I've done these things, but I've added fender mirrors, changed the seats (to GL seats), removed my "off road" lights, added fog lights, restored my bumpers back to black, oil change, new oil filter, new brake fluid, and more windshield washer fluid. Hope to change out the fuel filter soon. Bought a genuine one from a Subaru dealership, and it doesn't fit properly. Hopefully I'll be able to get the $35 I spent on it back.

Yup, I had a similar thing happen a month or two ago for me. Except with me, the volts would go up with the RPMs, but after a couple minutes, it'd sit at ~8 volts. Replacing the alternator fixed the problem. I believe I have a thread entitled "EA82 Alternator Upgrade." That's another thing you can do; swap out the alternator with a more powerful one. At O'Reilly, a 1990 Nissan Maxima alternator is like $2 cheaper than one for a '90 Loyale. So if you're changing alternators, and you're willing to modify the wiring, pulley, and maybe the mounting for a more powerful alternator, go for it. I never did upgrade my alternator though.