Subaru Scott

Did you save the original ones? The factory struts and shocks on all older Subarus were unbelievably robust and well made. They will usually last the life of the car. I've seen rear shocks on Ea81s that had the entire top shell rusted off, and still working great. I believe I've seen only a couple that actually had leaking seals, and were failing. We Americans have been so conditioned though, from cheap products, and heavy marketing, to "REPLACE! REPLACE, worn shocks and struts, DANGER, Will Robinson!!" That it's all to commonplace to see a car with under 100k, that has bad struts, because they were replaced with crappy aftermarket ones. My 83 GL still has the originals, but it's still a young 94k, so maybe not a great example. My daily, which has been loaded for bare countless times, pulling trailers weekly, for the last 16 years and 500k miles... still on the factory set. The ride is great, and you can jump on the bumpers and not even get 1/2 a bounce. The wife's SVX with 187k, originals. I can't speak for the quality of any of the aftermarket makers, because as far as I can remember, and I've owned dozens and dozens, I've never owned a Subaru that ever had any. Never replaced one, ever.

Sounds pretty typical for an undercharged system. You should probably have that checked again.

No Sambars?? Looks like lots of fun! ...a trailer would probably be more practical

Sorry, I thought we were waiting on you to wiggle wires and narrow it down. Pretty hard to diagnose anything with the info you gave us in one post. There's not anything that just comes loose on all these cars, that we could point you to. Most of the time, the electrical systems on Subarus are pretty solid, till someone starts screwing around with it... or vandalizing it.

I would try blowing it out, just start slow. Seems to me you got nothing to lose

Yes, good point. You will need to add an oil pressure switch if you have a gauge.

Yeah, great job, I feel like I was there!

BTW, now that I think about that, if you do a relay off the oil pressure switch, you will probably want a prime circuit. You could do this with a momentary push button, or with a wire from the start circuit, with a diode to keep the pump circuit from backfeeding the starter.

Hey cool! I never knew those existed. You can also hook it up with a relay, triggered from your oil pressure switch.

Oooo. Not good. Nothing comes up on ebay either. Duct tape? Plexiglass?

Yeah, it's gotta be a main power or ground issue if nothing works from either side. I have a mini led test light, I think I got with a trailer plug adapter kit, that I keep in the glovebox for just such an emergency. Being led though, you have to keep the polarity right!

This happens all the time, unfortunately. Since the internet has taught everyone the "starter trick" to get them loose. I just did one that had come loose after a timing belt job. The previous shop had replaced the front pulley after it came loose, but had to grind the keyway bigger to get it on, because the crank key was so misshapen from the beating it had taken from the pulley and belt sprocket flopping around. I had to replace the timing belt sprocket, crank key and front pulley. With a lot of care, I was able to dress the end of the crankshaft back to usable condition. Many people aren't so lucky, and end up with a junked crank. Their charging you half parts, to me, is an admission of guilt. Take your car to a reputable shop, and get it checked. They may have done more damage than good!

HA! True story, 35 years ago, a buddy bought a really rusty 74 Firebird. I kept trying to get him to trade me for my 72 Ford LTD, which was really a much nicer car, but, y'know, it was a 4 door. One day I talked him into just trading for the night, so he could truly experience what a fine ride the LTD was. My brother and I then took the "Bird" up to another town, to pick up our girlfriends for the weekend. On the way back, we had a flat on the r. rear. No big surprise, because the tire was as bald as I am now. Wheel was rusted to the hub. Beat, pried, kicked, cussed, not budging. Put 2 lug nuts on loose, waited for no traffic, and swerved back and forth, doing doughnuts in the middle of the highway trying to get it to break free. Finally so furious, I just loaded everyone back aboard, put the lug nuts on finger tight, and proceeded for home. For the first few miles, the sound and vibration was horrendous. Then, after most of the tire had beaten itself free, it was smooth and quiet as could be. Tire was completely gone except for the beads, which, miraculously stayed in place and kept the rim from touching the road. We drove over 40 miles at highway speeds without a peep from back there. A cop even passed us on that side without even looking over. The next morning, I walk out back when I hear the LTD pull in. My buddy's just standing there, glaring at his car. That thing was such a rustbucket, the flailing tire pieces had cleaned off a good 8 inches of the whole wheel well of swiss cheese looking rusty metal. It looked quite hideous. I explained that the wheel just wouldn't come off, but he said nothing. His face just got red while he pulled the jack out and proceeded to have a go at it himself, and he was a big boy! He had completely calmed down after about 40 minutes of furious beating, pounding, kicking cussing, bleeding, etc. So I asked him, "You wanna trade now?" I finally freed the wheel from MY new Firebird with lots of penetrating oil and the right leverage with a big prybar against the brake drum.

If you just run a new, #10 wire directly from the ignition switch to the starter, your problem will be solved without resorting to any pushbuttons. Keep in mind, that by doing so, you will be bypassing your neutral safety switch!! Which is likely the source of the resistance anyway, but you will need to do a lot more research and diagnosis to get to the real problem. If you do a search here for starter circuit relay, you will find some walk-throughs on how to do that. More involved, but you will retain function of the neutral switch.

"A wonderful thing called math allows for calculation of gearing/speed without risking lives And as for my credibility. HA. I've been on this board 15 years, driving Subarus and working on them for 20. See my post count and ask around to anyone that's been on here for years. Where is your credibility? Mine is solid so kick rocks with that argument." Post count means absolutely nothing. Just like a guy with a BIG FAT mouth can ramble on all day long about whatever's in his mind, whether he knows what he's talking about or not. Any cretin can get on a forum and start posting, that's quite obvious to everyone. Generously helping people with personal, hard earned, real world experience is what earns you credibility. Sticking to FACTS is key. Making ridiculous, false claims just to "win" an argument, only diminishes that credibility. Over, and over with the, "EA82s were only designed to go 55," just makes me giggle every time I read that. But maybe I can't say for sure about that? I don't know... possibly a guy who had been factory trained on EA82 cars and worked for a dealership could maybe chime in here and... Oh, wait a minute... I WAS!! Funny, I don't recall any factory service bulletins, or any discussion at training school about ANY Subarus designed to only do 55 safely. Isn't that funny? I've been working on, and driving Subarus since 1979... use your math skills on that. Where's mine? It's the Subaru Certified Master Technician plaque on the wall of my garage.

Could try driving it around for awhile with the spring pin out...

Roach auto? You mean Rock auto? Bad experience? I've had nothing but fantastic service from Rock. Don't they also sponsor this site?

"(the subtitle "safe highway speeds" in the title pertains to engine rpm, not what one's opinion on what speeds are considered safe to travel. This thread isn't about driving habits or opinions on that matter, it is about information regarding gear ratios and engine reliability, maintainance, and engine speed sustainability)" ...now look what happened. I'm sure the pic was only a simulation, done on jackstands with the wheels off. "The OP's ea82 sedan was designed to be safe at 55" So, are you saying here that the US imports got the "super spindly suspension" while the EA82s in the rest of the world got the setup to go faster? And that they were changed in 87, when the 55 limit got lifted? I can see you're very passionate about this, but making ridiculous claims is damaging your credibility.

Pics or it doesn't exist... Seriously, you're looking for a real needle in the haystack there. Best bet would be to put an EA71 in. Much stronger and way more plentiful. Or just have one of yours rebuilt, if you're really into the 1100. Good luck finding parts though.

Hey man, don't have an aneurysm. Doing 100 on the interstate is far and away safer than doing 50 in a 30, in a residential neighborhood, which happens all the time, everywhere. And I'm sure you're guilty of. Or texting, talking on the phone, putting on makeup, eating a cheeseburger, or just being so Paxiled out, that they pull out onto a packed 4-lane during rush hour when there's no way everyone can stop. I mean really, how many accident scenes have you seen on the interstate, aside from bad weather, compared to the everyday carnage on city streets? And making claims like "100 percent unsafe", which means, literally, an accident HAS occurred, is kind of over the top. Don't you think? I've been in Germany, on the Autobahn, where they travel in excess of twice that fast without incident. Of course, the big difference there is that most everyone drives by the rules, and moves over to the right lane unless they are passing. It's quite amazing!

Fuel pump relay is up under drivers side dash. If you plug check connectors in, it will cycle every few seconds with the key on, making it easier to find and diagnose. Factory service manuals are on this forum in a few places, just do a search.

My wrist clicks at the specified torque

That is... Incredible!!! So, did the rotor just saw through the caliper mount?!? "I'm not sure what that noise is honey, I'll have it looked at after I get paid next week..."

Once upon a time, I adapted a 4-cylinder motorcycle electronic ignition into one of those distributors, and used motorcycle coils too, no distributor cap!

Well, I'd just rock the points for now! Just keep an eye out for a Hitachi distributor. The Nippondenso ones, (normally found on FWD models) have a bad habit of winking out with no warning and leaving you walking... don't ask me how I know!