JEBalles

Picked up a new fuel filter to keep in the car for piece of mind and made the trip last night. 400 miles later, no trouble whatsoever. I did fill up at about halfway just so I'm not picking up the dregs of the tank, but I think I probably didn't dump as much crap in there as I thought. I'll probably try to drain/flush it at some point and install a filter before the pump, but for the most part I think I'm in the clear. Thanks for the help!

So I ended up bringing it into the shop and they said the tank looked really clean for an '89, so I think I'm just gonna carry an extra filter or two, keep the tank filled and hope for the best. For a fuel injected, is there anything besides the filter in the engine bay?

So I took the sender out just to see how bad it is. I'm not even sure what's pictured is from what I dropped in. Pic is attached. Could I be alright just leaving it? Would draining the tank even take that stuff out with it? Could I possibly just have a shop wash it out? I'm not supposed to work on it in my garage so whatever I do needs to be in secret or at a shop.

Well unfortunately I have a full tank I also haven't moved the car since I drop the junk in. Is it gonna flow right to wear the pickup line is?

When filling up today, I noticed that my rusty filler neck finally sprung some holes. As a temporary fix, I went to go and wrap some plastic bags around the neck to keep dirt and other crap from getting in. Of course, in the process of doing so, I accidentally knocked a small handful of junk into the tank. Does anyone know what the fuel pickup in an '89 GL looks like? Is there maybe some way I can drain the tank some to get most of the dirt out? Or would I be good just carrying a few extra fuel filters with me? I'm moving this weekend so I'm not sure if I have time to take it in to get fixed.

After the drive back, all sounds appear to have returned to normal so I think I'm alright. According to my owner's manual, however, the oil pressure idiot light is only on the DL models. Can anyone confirm this?

I never experienced any loss in performance that I could really tell. The car seemed to shake a little bit more at idle, but I have a feeling that doesn't have to do with that since I'm pretty sure I've experienced that before. I also forgot to mention that I never saw the idiot light (which is not clear whether that's for oil level or pressure). I still need to make sure that it comes on when it starts tho.

So, I'm an idiot and ran the subie low on oil. I drove from DC to Boston for the holidays, I hadn't checked the oil level in a while and didn't bother checking before I left since I was planning on changing it this weekend. About halfway, I start hearing this noise that sounded kind of like an exhaust leak, so I ignored it. It seemed to be getting worse and it wasn't related to throttle position, only engine speed, so I eventually pulled over to check. I thought it could be a belt and didn't see anything wrong, so I kept going. Then I started to notice what seemed like the oil pressure dropping on turns (not to zero, but it was noticeable) but some of that could have been attributed to just slowing down in the turn. When I arrived, however, I changed the oil, and it looked like maybe around only a quart or two came out. Most of the noise subsided with the fresh change, but I can still hear a clicking that I'm not sure was there before or not. So my question is, what kind of damage have I done? Am I more likely to throw a rod or something now? It's got ~115k on it.

Needing to prove that 100% of the power goes to the rear wheels with a dyno test is like needing to prove that I can't draw 4 red lines with green ink by actually trying to draw 4 red lines with green ink. If fact, theoretically, you would be getting slightly more power to the rear wheels than the front wheels received previously, since there is one fewer axle that is adding drag to the drivetrain. In any case, let's put this point to rest. If you'd like to know the specifics as to why this is, just let me know, I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Update: the spring washers I ordered from RockAuto were labeled on the concave side "out," so naturally I installed the concave side facing towards the castle nut, which is now what I realize to be the opposite of what you're supposed to do. I also did not inspect or replace the cone washer (stupid), which, with the spring washer on wrong as well, likely lead to my axle trashing the hub in which I had just installed new bearings lesson learned the hard way. Always replace the cone washer and spring washer and ignore what the spring washer says, install it with the convex side towards the castle nut.

You need stubs. I just cut the shaft right by the splined end that goes into the cage on the hub end of the axle. Remove the shaft and the transmission end of the axle and the wheel will stay together. You need to make sure there isn't shaft left that's going to fly around and damage anything. There's also debate as to whether or not it's a good idea, but it's worked for me in the past. You will need to cut the grease boot off to get close to the cage.

Yeah, I suppose that would have been fine. My original thinking was to cut the axle so it wouldn't be forced to rotate at a different speed than the wheel like would normally happen when driving with 4wd on dry pavement in order to not further destroy the splines. This was why I did this last time since I had to use my old axle since the one I ordered didn't fit and I didn't want to use the old axle again, but in this case the splines are already beyond use, so it wouldn't have mattered. In any case, I already cut the shaft. I made sure to cut it as close to the hub as possible. I cut the boot off and cut the shaft almost at the splined end that goes into the cage (pic). I think that should be fine, it won't be hitting anything and has little rotational inertia, so it should probably just rotate with the wheel. That being said, I took it for a test drive and heard some noises coming from the wheel as I went over bumps. I didn't feel it through the car, and nothing feels loose if I jack the car up and tug at the wheel, so that makes me think it might just be what's left of the shaft and cage moving around. I don't think I should have much to worry about.

No mods, year and model are in the title. The axle nut was coming loose before and I replaced the bearings since they seemed compromised and it tightened everything up, although the castle nut did come loose once more after I had replaced the bearings. Retorqued it and everything was fine until now. Upon further research, it seems like it might have been due to a grooved cone washer. I didn't replace it, nor did I inspect it since I didn't know that was necessary at the time. I have cut the shaft and driven in 4wd before. It survived two three hour trips, as well as miscellaneous hilly city trips, and I didn't even think to take it easy. I figure it'd be alright for a couple weeks if I go easy on it. The last time, however, the splines were fine, so that's what is a potential worry for me this time, not so much the rear wheel drive components.

I did something similar when my axle failed on my '89 GL. I left one axle in place and cut the other axle's shaft on the hub end of the axle, leaving the hub part intact to keep everything there together and just drove in 4wd. With dual range 4wd, you do get full power to the rear wheels, I can't speak for full time 4wd. I also can't speak for the durability of the rear wheel drive components. Bottomline: it works in a pinch, just take it easy when you're driving.

My front right axle failed today as I was taking a left hand turn and promptly stopped accelerating and heard an awful grinding noise. I checked it out and it looks like the problem is with the splines on the hub end since the axle and hub do not move together. Now, in my experience, if splines fail, it trashes the splines on both components. Has this happened to anyone? I think the axle has been replaced at some point, and the car only has 110,000 miles on it. I'm hesitant to take it apart since it's already torqued and I could just slice the shaft with an angle grinder and drive around in 4wd until I have the resources to fix this issue. Any thoughts?