Speedwagon

Well, I have now mostly rekeyed the ignition switch. It's actually a bit easier to do than the door locks, I think. Only problem is not having enough of the proper plates, so I'm about 3 plates shy of a full key. But it works, and the steering lock is properly working now too. Apparently, a previous owner took it all apart and flipped the steering lock over, so it would disengage in the off position.

New update: I went to leave, for the first time, with the ignition switch all put together. Turns out the key that "works" in the ignition, allows the steering lock to engage in the ON position. It doesn't seem to engage in any other position, just ON.

I edited it for clarity, as I think I was confusing myself with what was what at first. I did that myself on the '85 Brat, as the ignition was good, but the 2 door locks were off 2 different vehicles. I just made the driver's side work. The biggest problem I had, was A) having enough of the correct plates, and putting the face back on the cylinder.

When I got this '87 Brat, the ignition switch had been removed from the lock cylinder on the column. It was mounted up onto the dash, and to start the car, it only took a screwdriver, as the lock cylinder did nothing(obviously, since there was nothing connected to it). edit: There are 2 keys. Key cut A, and key cut B. When I got the car, there were 2 A keys, but I didn't know it at the time, and 1 B. A operates the pass door lock, lock and unlock. A also operates the driver's door lock, unlock only. I found a second A on a magnet, hidden away under some stuff in the bed when I cleaned it out. B key operates the ignition, but will not operate the door locks. I had a new key cut from the pass door lock cylinder at Subaru today. The guy ended up just giving me the key, no charge. I guess they no longer have, or make, a W key, which was what the pass lock cylinder called for. They had to make it from an X key blank. After the new key, same situation.

Hmm, maybe it was. It was just sitting on top of a Brat in the yard, which was the single square headlight body. But the window I got is definitely narrower than my current window.

I know this is an old thread, but right now I'm Wish I would have had the good sense to search and see this thread a few days ago, when I put the back glass back into the Brat(only after removing it did I find out the new glass I got was the wrong size).

Turns out, this wasn't the best score. Apparently, unknown to me, the Brats have different sized rear windows. And I'm guessing the earlier ones are smaller, because this rear window doesn't fit.

Just for the hell of it, I'd like to see you driving down the road with the wipers on, wearing glasses. Of course, you'd have to prop the wipers out to make it look like there was a windshield there.

1) I don't think there is a top speed for 4wd high. 2) As a general rule, I just unload the drivetrain so that I know I don't have any wheels go faster than others. 3) Not necessary. There are no engaging/disengaging hubs. It is all done in the transmission. 4) I have none. Based on what I know of the system, I would say that the linkage might need adjustment on the trans. I can't see anyway for binding to happen, as long as the lever is going down into the 2wd mode.

From Ausubaru.com: And this is basically what I just did when putting in my 5 speed. Usually, a small piece of 1/4" stock is put inside the vehicle too, to reinforce the sheet metal.

The brakes in this '87 were very not so good since I got it last month(only drove it twice now though). Initial push of the pedal got me very squishy brakes, and if I pushed it again they got much firmer. I flushed the fluid out today, and now I have more consistent braking, but it feels pretty squishy. So either I did a poor job bleeding them, or I need a new master cylinder. But pumping them up doesn't seem to get my anything now, either.

Ok, the noise definitely goes away as soon as I let off the gas. Very distinct when I go on/off throttle. And while cleaning the car out today(previous owner left all kinds of crap in it), I found a receipt for a used axle, looks like the receipt said it was for front right. The front left is definitely a reman'd from the looks of it though. All boots are intact on all the axles.

I think, but don't remember for certain, that the vibration went away when I let off the gas. Also, I forgot to mention, that it starts out as a click-click-click from a stop, then turns into a rumble while driving that is felt in the seat. And I know the driver's side has been replaced, as the previous owner told me they did(it was actually the trans that was the problem). They probably went super cheap on it too, considering the way the rest of the car was. Assuming it is the DOJs, are there other problems that can arise from not replacing them right away? Will it cause bearing failure inside the trans, or anything like that?

I suspect that the previous 4 speed that was missing a tooth in the front diff, has caused some other problems now. I got the car like this, so today was the first time I've driven it since the day I bought it. With the 5 speed in, there is a vibration when driving, that is definitely vehicle speed related. Didn't hear any clicking on turns, so I suspect the DOJs are bad. At least, that's my reasonable estimation. Is there a good way to check for sure on these? I can't feel any vibrations in the shifter or 4x4 lever, so I don't think it's in the transmission itself(and I would hope not, since I just put this one in!). I'll add that with the 4 speed, the axle stubs would actually move up and down a little bit as the missing tooth came around, and a good solid clunk was heard.

No, I did not change the dog bone. I fail to see how that can cause any issue in this, since the issue changed when the transmission changed, and has since returned in greater amplification.

End links come into play more during cornering, than driving straight. While going straight, you aren't stressing the sway bar at all, because you aren't rolling the body to the side.

Even with the best of tires, these ABS systems can cause you problems on occasion. I remember a specific patch of road out east, that when braking over, would cause the ABS to kick in because the front right tire would bounce over the ripples in the road, and increase the stopping distance quite a bit. It probably added a good 5ft of stopping distance when the ABS kicked in, and I was running Firehawk SZ50EPs at the time, so traction wasn't an issue. That said, I pulled my ABS fuse a few years ago, because the front left sensor went bad. That can cause some serious pucker issues when you hit the brakes full-on, and the front left tire locks while the rest are still rolling, while traveling on snow. Having the rear swing out of my lane while braking hard is not my idea of fun.

They are all STI group N mounts, with no more than 50k miles on them(I don't remember the mileage I replaced them at, but 50k is an aggressive estimate). The rear diff mounts were replaced less than 10k ago, but I don't recall what they are(but they are the poly bushings, not factory rubber). And when I replaced the mounts, it certainly made the slop go away significantly(wasn't nearly as bad then as it is not), but not completely.

It does have AC, but there is no belt on it. To my knowledge, there is no play in the distributor, but I haven't checked it lately. And I did not notice the tach moving around at all.

Nevermind, I thought I was looking at a thread in the new gen forums.

Looking for a place that might do a good rebuild on my '98 5 speed. Background: The original trans started to sound like it had rocks in it, anytime the input shaft was rotating. This led me to believe that there is a bearing going bad on the input shaft. Took the trans out, and put in a used one, which fixed the noise problem. It also fixed some of the slop I was experiencing, but the slop has returned. I can be going about 25-30mph in 3rd gear, on the brink of engine braking down a hill, and the car will bounce between positive and negative loading of the driveline. This makes is very annoying to drive. There is more slop in my Legacy driveline right now, than the 4 speed Brat I've been driving around lately. So I want to get this fixed, and suspect the slop is in the trans. Only other option possible option is the rear driveshaft & diff, but I don't see how that would be causing this.

Short answer: No, I'm not sure. It happened fairly quickly, and it's very faint if I have the radio on. So a few times I didn't catch it until about 1 second before it went away, making it hard to determine for certain if it was or was not engine/vehicle speed related. But it didn't do it today, as it was above 20F outside when I went to use the car. Seems to be a <5-10F problem.

As long as it wasn't pinging before, it shouldn't create any problems when it's colder. The hotter it gets, the more likely you are to see a detriment to more advanced timing. But if you need to push the pedal to the floor to get it to start, it sounds more like a fuel mixture problem. Have you ruled out the fuel pump? My Legacy was having issues a while back, and it turned out that the fuel pressure was bleeding off while it sat. If I turned the car on/off a few times(without starting), it would fire right up. But if I tried to start it on the first time to on after it had been sitting for a long time(like overnight), it would take quite a while of cranking before it started.

A from the factory look:

I believe he means they are pinned to the diff. So you can remove those pins, and lower the diff and the axles will slide off.