Syonyk

I really can't imagine it failing - it's just a canister of activated charcoal that traps gas vapors and lets them get sucked into the engine at the appropriate time. However, if it's not getting fully purged and somehow purging during the emissions test, it could throw the hydrocarbon readings through the roof. If you put a vacuum line on it while the engine is running for a while, it should suck enough air through it to purge out all the gas vapors. There's also the actuation solenoid to check. I don't know exactly how it works on the Subarus, but there should be a vacuum valve that opens to purge the canister. If that's sticking or not working, it could cause problems too. -=Russ=-

*mutters unhappy things about the direction of fuel costs* EA82, SPFI, 30-33mpg. I'm removing the catalytic converter soon, and I'm wondering if using a SAFC-II to tweak fuel curves at cruise would gain me any significant fuel economy. The idea is to remove the O2 sensor from the ECU, and tune to be a bit lean of stoich (15:1 or 15.5:1 area) at cruise. On my RX-7, this netted a noticeable gain in fuel economy. Would the Subaru see the same effect? Also, I can probably find parts for a MPFI swap fairly easily at a few junkyards I know of. Would this be worth much in terms of power/fuel economy? -=Russ=-

Yea... if the boots are flakey, or have a questionable connection, they can go out when you move them. I like to do plugs & wires as a set, and I usually do the cap & rotor (if so equipped) if possible as well. -=Russ=-

A locked rear end will make sure both wheels spin, ensuring the back end looses ALL traction when they wheels start to slide, instead of just spinning one. It's a really good way to make the car swap ends in cornering on slick roads. -=Russ=-

Your horn works, right? I know you said you've got fuel & spark, but more than once I've had a Subaru not start after some electrical work, and it was because the horn/ECU fuse was blown. I don't know *why* the fuse isn't labeled with ECU, but it seems to be important for the car starting. -=Russ=-

Well... good luck adjusting the lash. That's what the hydraulic lash adjusters do. They get pumped up with oil and properly adjust the lash every time the engine is fired up - or at least they're supposed to. The ticking occurs when they get sludged up and can no longer pump up properly. They get pushed down each time the cam cycles, and make the tapping noise. I believe you can get solid lash adjusters that can be adjusted normally, but you're not going to have much luck adjusting the set that's currently in there. -=Russ=-

If it's coming from the passenger's side head, it's the lash adjusters. The fact that the oil is clean is a good thing. Don't worry about it. If you want, you can search and find dozens of threads on making them shut up, but running some seafoam through the engine should help out - you might have just baked some oil into them. Fill 'er up, and go. :-) -=Russ=-

It's probably one of two things. The first one is the lash adjusters clicking. This will be a constant clicking related to engine speed, regardless of engine load. Not a big deal, there are a lot of threads about trying to fix it, but the engines will run fine. The other, significantly more major possibility, is the bearings. This isn't too likely, but it's a possibility. If the oil pressure dropped, the bearings may not be getting proper lubrication. The way to detect this is to drain the oil and look at it. If there's a metallic sheen on it (looks like iridescent paint), that's Bad. Also, once you put oil in it again & run it, if the knocking gets louder when the engine is revving up and quiets down as the engine is slowing down, it's not a good sign. Personally, I doubt it's the second one. These engines seem to have an insanely strong bottom end (at least for their normal power output). Fill it with coolant, change the oil, and see what you get. -=Russ=-

Congratulations! I kind of miss my $100 DL. Sold it for $400 though, and upgraded to a nicer GL. :-) -=Russ=-

Silly question, where exactly *is* the PCV valve? -=Russ=-

I always wondered if you could tow another car with a Subaru... Congrats! It looks just like the one I got as my "first Subaru" (that led rapidly into my 4WD GL wagon rescued from the junkyard). Towing the old 4WD Subarus with 2 wheels up won't hurt 'em - in FWD mode, the rear is totally disconnected. The problem is with the newer AWD ones - those are the ones you can screw up by towing with 2 in the air. -=Russ=-

How big of a braking difference do you normally see with the rear disks? I'm planning to swap mine, because I tend to run heavy (there's currently 500-800 lbs of assorted rotary engine parts in the back of my Subaru), and with the lack of power, I prefer to get a running start on merges and slow down if needed. Plus, I just prefer disk brakes. :-) Also, is there a good place to buy stainless steel brake lines for older Subarus, or do they have to be custom made? -=Russ=-

Cool. Thanks, I was hoping it was something other than the valve stem seals. It is fuel injected, so I'll take a look and see if I can revise the setup as mentioned in that PDF. I also know what the switch on the top of the steering column is for. I think I mentioned it in my "What to fix on a new old Subaru" post a while back. I haven't been around much lately because things have been working surprisingly well, and I'm busy with work, so I don't have much time to spend posting. -=Russ=-

This is an odd one. My 87 GL wagon puts out a James-Bond-esque smokescreen after any 270 degree highway ramp. I normally run them in 3rd, mostly closed throttle, and when I lay into it at the end, I often literally hide the car behind me from sight. It's really bad. However, if I repeat the same thing without a sweeper entrance ramp, nothing happens. It sounds like valve stem seals, but wouldn't those cause smoke after any long vacuum period? Also, if I take the sweepers with the engine at idle (clutch in), it doesn't smoke. Is there any sort of crankcase vent over on the driver's side that I'd be sloshing oil into or something? -=Russ=-

Yea, but at least you got owned by another Subaru. That's like me, in my 2nd gen RX-7, losing to a 3rd gen. Yea, it sucks, but it's a lot better than losing to something *else*. -=Russ=-

I found a source for X19 rear disk brake mounting bits, minus the calipers. If I get the proper calipers, will that work for doing a rear disk brake swap on an 87 GL wagon? -=Russ=-

I just took the old o-ring parts into a parts store, matched it up to a high temp o-ring they had, and used it. Worked fine until I sold the car, and I haven't heard any complaints about huge oil puddles, so I assume it's still working. -=Russ=-

While spending far too many miles on the highway today in my Subaru, I had an idea: The only thing preventing 4WD from being used on dry pavement is the fact that there's no center differential, and turning tends to bind up the drivetrain. I don't think there's an easy way to add a center differential, but having a driveshaft with a viscous coupling in it would have the same effect. The reason for thinking about this is that my RX-7 has a wheel bearing going bad, I'm planning to autocross the GL wagon (should be interesting...), and 4WD would be incredibly useful for not spinning the tires coming out of a corner. Has anyone else thought about this, or does anyone make one of these magical widgets? I'm thinking the turbo guys would find this useful as well. -=Russ=-

Depends. One of my Subarus was intermittent, and it sounded like a sewing machine at times, other times was nearly silent. My current one is nice and quiet, unless it's been sitting for a week or two without running, then it taps for a few seconds as things pump back up. (assuming basic familiarity with engine operation here) The clicking/tapping is coming from the hydraulic lash adjusters. The EA82 engines are overhead cam (not sure on the EA81, someone feel free to say "Yes, this applies" or "No, it's different for those"). The camshaft presses down on a rocker arm that then pushes the valve shaft. The other end of the rocker is supported by the lash adjuster, which is supposed to pump up and prevent the cam from "slapping" the rocker. If it doesn't pump up properly, it just gets pushed back down by the cam as things rotate. "Tick of death" isn't really a good name. Engines can and do run for 50k+ miles without problems while ticking madly. The lash adjusters are usually toast after this, but the engine is just fine. However, you're not getting as much power as you could. Some of the cam's travel is spent pushing the lash adjuster down, not the valve. So, the valves open for a slightly shorter duration, and slightly less total lift. Less valve opening, less power (for the most part). It's not major, but with 90hp on a good day, every little bit helps. Fixes include resealing the cam cover o-ring (pain in the rear little piece that gets old and allows high pressure oil to either vent into the cam cover and not get to the lash adjusters at full pressure, or vent to the outside of the engine and make a huge mess), cleaning the adjusters if they're sludged up, Seafoam, playing with oil weights, etc. Summary? Don't worry about it. If you want to fix it, it's not that bad to fix, but it's not hurting the engine. -=Russ=-

They're not bad engines to work on... Get a decent tool set, a Haynes manual, a nice internet connection to USMB, and you're pretty much set. -=Russ=-

I was going to comment on that too... more than once I've been slowing down HARD and stopped the entire drivetrain, engine included. With regards to braking power & such: Your wheel brakes should be able to lock up the tires on dry pavement. Period. If they can't, get them fixed (or, more likely around here, fix them). For an emergency maximum deceleration braking event, you shouldn't bother leaving the engine engaged to the rest of the drivetrain. You're braking so hard that the effect of compression braking is negligible, and stalling out the engine & jolting it back into motion probably isn't terribly good for the engine or transmission. Plus, if you do end up locking the tires and coming to a stop, you now have an engine that's not turning. Not a terribly useful state for an engine to be in. I engine brake constantly, usually with a well executed double clutch (I've been driving a stick just over a year, so it's quite possible to learn "advanced" shifting quickly, you just have to do it). However, if I need to come to a stop in a hurry, I push the clutch in and use the brakes. I have better modulation of the brake pedal, and more control over what's going on. Note that this is for emergency braking (maximum effect, just short of wheels locked) only. -=Russ=-

Yup. It's feeding AC into the system. I drove a DL for a few months like this, and the previous owner had driven it for a LONG time like this (as evidenced by the electrical tape over the warning light cluster that was curling away from it). It never had trouble. However, you might want to get it fixed (replace the alternator is the easiest way) if you need 100% reliability. Or, pull a "Subaru" and throw a spare alternator in the back, change it on the side of the road if needed. -=Russ=-

Bingo. All this discussion normally assumes that you're wearing the brakes down *OR* the clutch down. However, there's an option that involves wearing neither down, and that's rev matching/double clutching. If you downshift, and slip the clutch to get the engine back up to speed, then it is a "wear the brake pads or wear the clutch" issue, and using the brakes is better. If you clutch in, downshift, rev the engine to match the new RPM, and clutch out, there's no wear on the clutch (if you do it right), because the clutch & flywheel are already at the correct speed. There is, however, wear on the synchros, and this may take some time if you have weak synchros. The better (and IMHO more fun) option is to double clutch. Clutch in, shift to neutral, clutch out, rev engine to new speed, clutch in, shift to new gear, clutch out. If you're really good, you don't even need to use the clutch for this (unload the engine, match RPMs perfectly in neutral, slide into new gear). This involves basically no wear at all of anything other than the throwout bearings (which aren't even really wear items). I compression brake in all my cars. I drive an RX-7 and a Subaru GL. Neither one has any torque down low, so sitting in 4th or 5th till a stop means I can't go if I want to - I hit the gas at 1500 RPM, and it just makes a bit more noise and I go basically nowhere. I also have no issues with high RPM in either car. I'll double clutch up to 5000 RPM coming into a corner in the Subaru, and up to 6000+ RPM in the RX-7 if I want to get somewhere in a hurry. Coming down off the highway, I'll double clutch down through the gears, and get onto the brakes at sub-15mph. Can't say I've noticed much clutch wear. Finally, there's no question as to which is a faster method: Using the brakes is MUCH faster, or at least should be - once you lock up all 4 tires (actually, slightly before that point), you're at maximum braking. I don't know of any engine that can lock up tires on dry pavement unless you badly misshift, and the brakes should be able to (if they can't, fix your brakes and avoid driving behind me, k?). -=Russ=-

Just in case anyone was wondering. Apparently you do need that ballast resistor with the Blaster coil. What's funny is that as soon as my ignition started breaking up cruising down the road, I knew exactly what it was, pulled over, swapped the old coil back in, and was on my way in about 5 mins. -=Russ=-

Wow. You're complaining about 31mpg? Anyway, as said above, I'm not sure you'd gain much by turning the engine significantly slower. They're kind of gutless down low, and you'd have to really be lugging it to keep the speed up. In addition to using more gas, that's torture on bearings. You've done a full tuneup, right? Plugs/wires/cap/rotor/O2 sensor? -=Russ=-