stratman977

I ran it today in the driveway for a good 30 minutes and nothing happened. I also drove it locally about 10 miles and no blown fuse. I felt the coil and fuel pump and neither were even warm so its not heat related. The only thing different was the relay I changed. I need to stock up on fuses and go for a longer drive before I can trust it again.

I think the 12" tires was unrelated to the orig thread it was just a passing comment.

If you need 12" car tires you can get them reliably from here: http://www.7ent.com/categories/wheels-tires/tires.html?sort=featured&page=1

The alternator checks out fine. I suspected maybe it had some a/c ripple but a/c voltage was hardly measurable. I also haven't any odd behavior leading up to the handful of blown fuses since then. I also had the fuse panel out yesterday when I was looking for the relays and it looked ok to me. There wasn't any noticable corrosion. I did take the cover off the computer to see if there was anything obviously toasted in there. The circuit board looks great but I noticed the cover which would be on the bottom in the installed position had a spot of white powder on it. Kinda looked like an alkaline battery leaked in there. I was expecting to find a burst capacitor but theres nothing that looks like it would have went bad. This powder looks as if its been there for a long time though. I'm going to try to get another computer and see if it makes any difference but im not cinvinced that it will do anything.

The wire that comes off of the magnet side of the relay runs into the ecu. Is all the ecu actually doing is grounding out the circuit to turn the fuel pump and coil on or is it doing something else in addition with that signal? I want to isolate the coil and the fuel pump from everything else and put them each on their own 15a fuse to see which one of the two is causing the problem. Just wondering if it will run with the computer bypassed?

I found it, it's above the computer behind this metal brace for the steering column. I tore it apart and it doesn't look bad to me, nothing obviously burnt or broken. Not sure what to do next.

So 3 weeks later and I'm still fixing this. I put in a new fuel pump and a new coil and I took it for a test run and sprung a leak in the fuel line. It had some rust where it goes through the support brackets. I make a new fuel line and again take it for a test run and low and behold I sprung a leak in a brake line. So I repaired that line and go for another test run. Of course, I blew a fuse. I made it home but I made unplanned 3 pit stops in 5 miles to change the fuse. When the fuse blows I can hear a click under the dash. The only other thing other than wiring in that circuit is the fuel pump relay. Thinking about it now the fuel pump isn't actually powered by that circuit, its through a relay. I found two relays under the hood by the vacuum check valve but none of those seemed to be it and there were 4 silver ones under the dash but none of those were it either. I was looking for the black and white wire coming from the fuse box and also testing for continuity at the connectors. Where in the heck is the fuel pump relay? If this isn't it I'm out of ideas.

Code 51 is the neutral safety switch. I was getting code 51 intermitantly after an auto to manual swap because it was always in neutral. I wired in a switching relay to switch the computer from drive to neutral when the starter is engaged and this fixed that code. I would start with the temp sensor for the computer. This one always seems to cause erratic computer behavior.

Just trying to help, I think you need to put a few more pictures on the ebay add. One of the interior, the engine bay, and one of the passenger side. The value in that car is the excellent condition that the body is in. I think you need to show off the condition a little better. If this sells its going to go to someone who had one of these in the 80s and wants it to bring back memories or someone who collects obscurities.

I would expect donut tires to be equally as dicey to run as trailer tires. Plus the tread on those donuts are pretty much worn out in less than 1000 miles. Any fuel mileage savings would be spent up in rubber unless you had an endless supply of donut tires and nothing better to do. I have seen the demo derby guys run tall skinny bar lug tires on a donut rim and get amazing traction though. I could see that being fun in the woods but probably not so much in deep mud.

I'm an hour south of Pittsburgh, a long ways from you unfortunately.

You have to punch your car back into the system to navigate on there after you click on the link. It's comes in handy even if you don't buy from subaru. Heres the rear. http://parts.subaru.com/showAssembly.aspx?makeName=subaru&modelYear=1985&modelName=dlglgl10rsrxdl-wagon&ukey_assembly=6028557&ukey_category=54106&assembly=a10-281-b1

http://parts.subaru.com/a/Subaru_1985_DLGLGL10RSRXDL-WAGON/_54106_6024626/FRONT-AXLE/A10-280-A1.html

I'm having similar trouble. Thought it was the wiring for my idle air control valve. The iac circuit on mine was replaced with a new wire for some reason and one of the splices broke before so I was chasing that but it might be that temp sensor as the behavior you describe is consistent. I blew a fuel line this weekend and have to fix that first or I would go swap a spare into it to try. Any chance were you running an el cheapo replacement sensor from rock auto?

Chnaged out my fuel pump and ignition coil to hopefully fix the fuse I keep blowing on my 88 wagon. Those are really the only two major components on that circuit so hopefully one of them fixed the issue. I cracked the fuel line that goes across the back in the process and spent a few hours fishing it out of the support brackets so that it would be intact to bend a new piece. I was pretty rusted in the spot where it cracked.

I bet your'e 180 off on the timing, basically sparking on the exhaust stroke. try swapping the wires for the front two cyls and the back two on the distributor and see if it fires. Which cam did you set first when you changed the belt?

My buddy bought a pickup off of a shady used car lot that had 10 ply trailer tires on it. You couldn't keep it on the road it was all over the place, it wandered, and was downright scary on any turn. Changed the tires out and it was fine. This is one of those things that seems like a good idea until you actually go do it and you will immediately ask yourself what was I thinking.

I know for sure that it can be done with an EA82 but I'm guessing you have an ea81? On my ea82 theres a hole in the crossmember to get to the back bolts with a screwdriver but they didn't perfectly line up. I used a 1/4 drive swivel socket on a long extension and got them out. Best is to skip the gasket and use ultra gray or the right stuff RTV. I had a problem with leaks and I found that I had some ridges near the bolt holes in the pan and had to file them smooth before I could get a good seal.

It's not as bad as you think. Maybe a little harder than your average car but you will be able to source something for just about every problem. Always try a subaru dealer first. They can get parts in. After that try rockauto.com, they have a good bit of stuff. Local auto parts stores can get stuff in also, just takes time.

For me there is a limit on the difficulty of the repair to make it worth carrying a spare part. I think my personal limit is if its going to take more than ~30 minutes to repair I'm just going to call the tow truck. I have other newer cars but I drive the subaru because I like it. I try to keep my subaru fairly well maintained but theres a limit at how much money you can throw at it. I don't look at something like an alternator though and say that it looks old so I'll replace it. I guess I should have known better on the fuel pump since I had it blow a fuse a few days earlier. I just wanted to take the subaru for the forestry service roads and let my better judgment slip past me. I have been towed twice and both times it was on thanksgiving going to the hunting cabin.

Just an update. My Subaru didn't make it to the cabin. The fuel pump died 15 miles into the trip. Was pulling out of a toll booth and it shut off 500 feet later. I had just enough momentum to drift across 4 lanes and onto the shoulder. $140 for a tow truck ride.

Some good ideas, timing belts don't take up much room, even a spare set of v belts isn't a bad idea. I guess for me its not so much of a life and death situation if I did break down. You could find some kind of civilization in less than a miles walk so I'm not so worried about being stranded. It's more of I don't want to call someone to come pick me up 3 hours later so I can go home and get my truck, borrow a trailer,and drive back out to rescue it.

What kind of axles did you replace it with. I just had two remanufactured axles from napa that were bad out of the box.

What are you fixing with the tin foil?

I was just thinking that with the lack of locally available parts for our old subarus and the their age what do you guys carry for spares with you? I broke down last year on a 3hr trip to the hunting cabin due to a coolant leak and it wasn't fun. I'm making that same trip this year and I'm just wondering if my car is really going to be up to it. Especially since I had an issue last night, I think its trying to tell me that it doesn't want to make this trip. I just want to be prepared this time. Heres what I normally carry: 1) Small tool kit, I probably have enough to repair almost anything on the car in there. Only thing I don't have is a 36mm for the axle nut. 2) Quart of oil, quart of transmission fluid for the power steering 3) Jumper cables 4) Tow strap 5) Wire and electircal tape 6) Zip ties 7) Fuses 8) Road triangles 9) Gal of coolant I was thinking of throwing in: 1) Spare alternator 2) Spare coil 3) factory service manuals What else am I forgetting?