dptyrob

PM'd some pictures from a manual to you that might help.

I'd check the line going to the PCV valve and make sure that it's not clogged and make sure that there are no leaks in that line too. When I replaced my PCV valve recently it was jiggling just fine, but the hose/tube was completely obstructed by baked in crud that I had to carve out with a screwdriver.

I also highly recommend shelling out the $15.00 for a shop manual from the auto parts store. Not only does it tell you how to do these things, but they have pictures; pictures being worth a thousand words and all. If I were home right now I'd scan the picture of the whole thing for you out of my shop manual and post it, however I'll be at work until tomorrow morning. Perhaps someone else here can do that for you. I'll try to check back in the morning and do it for you if I still have enough brain power left to remember to scan and post too.

Well, wasn't I fooled. There was no door lock control module. I hope no brain surgeons study the Haynes manual before going in to operate. Apparently what I'm going to have to do is buy an actuator that works with the keyless entry system. It will lock/unlock the driver's door and of course the rest of them will lock/unlock the way they normally do. It's apparently some part the manufacturer makes specifically for subarus. At any rate, the starter install worked great. Works like a charm. Makes the wife happy.

Heh, I'm gonna have to get in to it tomorrow to find out. One page of the shop manual talks about the control unit, and then a wiring diagram in the next chapter shows the switch on the door lock handling all of the current. Oh well, if I can get it to start and warm up by remote that'll be a good start. That oughta shut her up for a while.

Actually, I just got home and managed to find my shop manual and answered my own question. There is a door lock control module to the right of the fuse box that operates off of a ground signal, so I should be good to go on that. Thanks again for bringing to my attention the solenoid/actuator issue with the driver's side door. I think I should be able to overcome that one without too much problem now that you pointed it out to me. I probably wouldn't have thought about it until I was nearly through with the job and wondering why my driver's door wouldn't unlock.

Actually, that was helpful, and may even be more helpful as I sit here and continue to reread and think about it. I hadn't even thought about there not being a solenoid on the driver's door. I wonder if I could rig up the solenoid from the rear hatch to work with it somehow? Fashioning a rod and clamping it shouldn't be too terribly difficult. I just have no idea of where to begin to look to find the right hand drive parts. If nothing else I suppose I can fix it to where it will at least unlock the rest of the doors until I can rig something up. That will help with getting the kids in the car anyway. I'm still not quite clear about the polarity of the wires that activate the locks. My keyless/starter unit sends a ground pulse, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to hook that up without having to wire in any relays. Surely the swtich that activates the locks off of your key would be using a ground to do its job (I hope).

I'm getting ready to install a remote starter/keyless entry in my wife's subaru. Does anyone know if the electric locks are supplied with a constant hot line and controlled with ground pulses, or is it the other way around?

Like these guys said, jack it up and see if you got any play in the wheels. Then pull the wheels and make sure your calipers are still bolted on securely. It may very well be just common disk brake noise, curable with some disk brake/pad lubricant. Have you done brakes lately? I'm not a subaru expert, but I've owned other FWD cars, and the only time I got CV noise was when cornerning. I believe that's because the wheels were turned and that put the CV at an odd angle. Your rear CV's shouldn't experience much of that in cornering.

Will do.

Skip: I changed the PCV valve last week. It was an aftermarket PCV valve. You should have seen it. The hose was almost completely obstructed by a glob of hardened, oily gunk. I cleared that out and installed the new PCV valve. Dr. Rx: Thanks for the idea about the die. I didn't know they made something like that for your crank case oil, but I've got a black light and I'll give it a whirl. grossgary: It's pretty darned clean. It's just one of those things where the oil is leaking one place and channeling its-self along the block where the block/head via surface tension to another point before dripping (I hope). I'm thinking that cam tower is a pretty viable culprit. I was hoping that it would be the distributor o-ring, but I'm fairly certain that the leak is somewhere nearer the front of the engine. I think I'll give the die a whirl and if it turns out to be the cam tower I'll just have to take a day (once I get a day off, which I haven't had one now for 5 weeks) and just do that and timing belts and oil pump gasket. The kid I bought it from said he had oil seals put in it, and surely whoever did that put new timing belts on at that time, but I can't see going to all of that trouble and not putting new ones on.

Thanks. That's comforting to hear. I apparently misplaced my shop manual a few nights ago and can't find it again yet. I'll look that up as quick as I can find it.

I gave the engine a couple of baths over the last couple of weeks so that I could get a better idea. I got it pretty clean, and this is about as close as I've come. I truly don't think it's the valve cover. If it were the cam seal we'd probably be seeing it coming out from the timing cover, correct? I'll have to break out the shop manual and look up this cam tower thing. If that's what I'm looking at, am I looking at pulling the head to repair it?

Hey guys. We bought a 90 Loyale station wagon a few weeks ago and I'm contending with my first gremlin, one that I knew it had when I bought it. There is an oil leak somewhere on the engine. It seems to rear its ugly head when you're climbing a steep hill , and it appears to be on the driver's side of the engine. I crawled underneath it this evening and saw it dripping from (best I can tell) where the head meets the block. I'm inclined to think (and hoping I'm right) that it's coming from somewhere top side, though I can't tell from where. The only thing I can think of would be the o-ring around the distributor. Anyone else have any ideas? Any common maladies that might be suspect?

Thanks, that's pretty helpful. Looks like I'm looking at throwing it by just over 4 mph @ 70 mph. If I did my math right, it looks like it will be reading 65.73 @ 70.

Good deal. Maybe the reason these look taller is because they're not mounted. So the lower the middle number, the wider?

Well, I goofed. I bought some tires off of ebay for our 90 Loyale wagon. I had looked some up on the tire rack and it listed the stock tire was 185/70/13. Apparently I got dislexic when I bought this set of 175/80/13's. Anyone have any idea of what I can expect with my speedometer reading and/or tire rubbing if I use these tires? The tires that are on it right now are 175/70/13's, and these 175/80/13's are noticeably taller.

I use synthetic in everything I own. I've got an old 83 Crown Vic with a 302 from an 84 Grand Marquis. That engine had 130k miles on it when I dropped it in over 6 years ago and she's now well over 200k. It's still running great and I probably don't add more than 1-1 1/2 quarts of oil over the 5k miles between changes. With the extended change intervals with the synthetic the expense of using syn should have you at least breaking even with dino oil.

Well guys, I got my front brakes done today. I forgot to look for that tool to turn the pistons back into the calipers. It took some doing, but I finally got them turned back in with some pliers. Judging from the condition of the boots on those pistons, I'd say the calipers will probably need replacing at the next brake job. Same goes for the rubber brake hoses. They look terribly rotten. I didn't mess with the bearings this go-round. There wasn't any slop and what I could see of the outer bearings when I pulled the hubs off looked good. My next project will be to change all of the filters & fluids and check the drums. Time & $$$ are tight, so it'll have to wait for this weekend. Anyway, I appreciate all of the info. I feel a lot better about whether or not I'll be able to fix other problems that might pop up with bearings, joints, cv joints, etc.

Wow. I'm glad you said that. I don't think I've ever come across a car with the parking brakes on the front. I'm sure I would have figured it out when I found a parking brake cable or something, but it'll be easier to grab that tool for turning the piston when I grab the other parts.

Thanks for the 411 Snowman. I was hoping the Haynes manual was just pulling my leg. I've found they show you the hardest, least efficient way to do a number of things over the years (I could go on hours about that, and sometimes I do), but in the end I'm probably better off with one as without. In regards to removing the stub axle, I was wondering what you might think about this possible alternative to getting it out. Instead of separating the ball joint, how about unbolting the control arm? I've done that with some other front wheel drive vehicles I've had in the past, not only because I felt like it reduced the chance that I'll need to have the front end realigned, but because it seems I almost always rupture the grease boot on the ball joint when I separate them.

Hello everyone. I've just purchased a 1990 Loyale 4wd Station Wagon with 117k on the clock for my wife (yeah, we're poor). It sounds like, and would appear, from inspection through the wheel, that the right front pads are down to the metal. I am planning on purchasing new rotors and pads tomorrow and sticking them on before I let her drive the car. In preparation for this job (and the others that are sure to follow because I am obsessive compulsive about everything being perfect), I have purchased a Haynes shop manual. In the manual it says that you may have to use a puller to pull the hub and rotor assembly. I think I have one big enough for that job, but I won't know for sure until I get started tomorrow. Anyone have any ideas on whether or not I'll need one? Additionally, I like to check, clean, and repack wheel bearings when I do a brake job. The Haynes manual I purchased recommended this in one chapter, but in another chapter it turns right around and says that the bearings are pressed in and that not only do you have to pull the steering knuckle to have them pressed out, but you also have to pull the axle shaft with it to have the spindle pressed out of the hub/knuckle. What I want to know is: 1. Does the spindle really have to be pressed out? 2. Assuming that the bearings are pressed in, is there anything you can do to help grease them with them still in? I bought this car from a guy with whom I am acquainted through work and I feel like he is an honest person and would let me know about problems with the car if he knew about them. Unfortunately he knows nothing about mechanics, and he doesn't know what all has been done to the car in the 4 years that he's owned it. He only knows that he's had it in to the shop on several occasions and paid them to fix stuff when it breaks (except he knows that he just had the tranny overhauled a year ago and has the receipt that went with that). I'm a little bit concerned about the timing belt, as he's not sure if it's been changed. He did have someone put in some sort of seals somewhere a couple of years ago, but he's not sure if they were the crank and cam seals and/or whether or not new timing belts would have been installed at that time. There is an oil leak in front and I'm going to try and track it down and fix it. I'm thinking possibly the oil pan gasket (I hope, as it would appear that it's easy to get to). Anyway, that's a little about the car I just bought. I'd appreciate any suggestions that any of you knowlegeable folks might have. Thanks. Rob