asavage

Oh, it wasn't ever really MY Loyale. The backstory is that I was the 2nd AND 4th owner of an '82 Datsun (remember Datsun?) Maxima (formerly 810) SW with the LD28 DIESEL engine, which was the 240/260/280Z engine block modified to an Inline-Six diesel. A very nice engine. I'd bought it from the original family in Portland, Ore. around 1996? When I was living in Bellingham, Wash. around 1999, I had two other diesels and three vehicles was at least one too many, so I sold the wagon to a co-worker. Later, around 2003, his new wife wanted a Subaru, I bought the Loyale and was fixing up some things before swapping it for my old Maxima wagon again. That's how I ended up working on that '93 Loyale. They had two kids, split up in an ugly divorce, and I lost track of him and the Loyale. Like so many things in life, I wonder where they are now.

Those links are long dead; the hosting service folded up over a decade ago. I've attached images to this post; hopefully, they'll stick around longer.

I obtained a faxed schematic from the dealer, who also claims that there is no six-wire int. module. He sent me a schematic for a '93 with eight wires, but the interesting thing is that, though there are no color codes for the wires, it's a real schematic of the internals of the module! No component values, but I can see what's there. Turns out that the eight-wire module is very very similar to the six-wire module. The extra two wires? For the "volume" pot (that's what Fuji calls it!). The PCBs are the same, and the six-wire has a fixed resistor instead of the extra two contacts, and about four components missing (a cap, two resistors, and a diode). What this means is that I could take an eight-wire module, put a fixed or variable resistor on the extra two terminals (if I knew the correct resistance range, if I had another Sub. around that had it) and use it. Anyway, now that I have an internal circuit diagram, I can see why this thing works when it does. I have the tool I wanted. But Jimmy crack corn . . . Subaru has none of these modules in the US, new ones in Japan only, $120. I decided to cut my losses and let the new owner deal with it. I've got other things to do. It is very likely to be the module itself, I'm guessing either a bad cap or a leaky diode on the latch timer, but I'm going to bypass the whole issue and just leave it be. I could shotgun replace the likely suspects in about an hour, but it's no longer important to me. I've got one eight-wire module (untested) and one six-wire module (definitely bad) as spares, laying side-by-side on my bench, and I think I'll put them in the junk bin. If anybody wants a poor copy of the dealer schematic for this, I've got it. It's a little better than nothing. Email me.

Sunday, I deliver the '93 Loyale wgn to the new owners in Bellingham (Wash.), and another chapter closes. I want to express my appreciation to all that helped me with both parts, information, and encouragement through the past seven months. Especially Skip, Turbone, XSNRG, and Cougar. This virtual community is an invaluable asset to those who work with Subarus. I am privileged to have known you all.

Just for reference: This is the gasket between the intake manifold and the SPFI throttle body. It can be had at NAPA. Echlin part No. 2-7769

It's not really my job, if you know what I mean. But if I get bored, or things are slow, I'll take some of these on. [snapping fingers]Hey, that's a good idea. I've wandered through the DVD for other Loyale models, but didn't think to check Legacy. Hmmm. I'll check that out tomorrow. Far more likely to be the switch than the wiring, unless somebody's been in there before me. I'm gonna check out the Legacy diagrams, and then I'll probably jumper in two test leads across the Int. position on the switch, and keep the 23 on the front seat (the 79 stays on the bench, it's too expensive for field work, or alternatively, I'm to cheap to let it outside.). Thanks for the Legacy idea.

Well, Gabe pulled one from a junkyard car in Maine, so it's not a known-good unit, but I think the likelihood of both having the same symptom is low, considering nobody else seems to have had this particular problem and reported it. Both are fine suggestions, but I was really, really hoping to have a real wiring diagram w/colors before I inverted myself and slipped under the dash. Sigh. Well, I guess I'll do it the hard way then. I so damned lazy. The problem with diagnosing it that way is that the problem with the intermittant system is intemittant, so I'll have to break out the harness and/or tack in test leads so that the next time it stutters, I can connect test gear when it happens. For example, right now, in sunny, dry weather, it works OK. But when I'm driving the thing, the next time it actually rains, it might work OK for a few minutes, then start acting up, and I'm not where I can easily invert myself and get under the dash. [Long, non-Subaru tale of woe follows; this is how I get to spend my Sunday afternoons.] I've just spent five hours off/on with a '91 DeVille "Passkey" system (the early one with a choice of 15 different resistor pellets in the ign key, and a scanner module to read the key's resistance on insertion), what a nightmare. Got it working in bench mode, so tomorrow I get to come in and solder it all up and put the zillion interiour trim pieces back in place. I inherited it as a basket case from a tech who just went on vacation, and he and another tech have been throwing parts at it for about a week to get it to this state. What a mess. The initial problem was intermittant no-start, which a modicum of internet research would have found that the leads to the ign lock cylinder are frail and become frayed and short to ground. That was the real problem, but these guys jumpered and crosswired the enable relay and several grounds to get the thing from an intermittant no-start to a solid no-start. The other techs bought a new GM Passkey module, plugged it in, and it immediately trained to the old ign key -- except the old ign key was on a sorta-shorted lock cylinder harness, so it trained to the wrong value. Still no-start. $250 shot to hell. So I first had to undo all their wiring patches, then find a nice pot to sub the key resistor values, breakout the harness, and start dialing for dollars. Naturally, the system sets a timeout timer on unsuccessful key operation with the wrong key: three minutes. What nobody tells you is that it appears to be a non-volatile counter: you have to let it count down with the power applied, and the first time through the 15 values, I wasn't disconnecting the DMM, which apparently skewed the circuit resistance enough to baffle the module. Anyway --- got it, finally. Then I had to run through the whole chart of resistance values again to figure out what value the new Passkey module trained to, otherwise the new module is useless to *anybody*. These modules will only train once. Now I've got a "spare" $250 GM Passkey (I) module with a (now) known resistor value, so if I need one, all I have to do is have two ign keys made with the old key cut but new resistor value, to match the new module's train value. Arrgh. Anybody need a GM Passkey (I) module? I'll make them a helluva deal. [Passkey grew up to be Passkey II, the apparently either Passkey III or Passlock, it's unclear. Those systems get more sophisticated.]

Thanks, again, Richard, but no-go. I, too, have the Mitchell DVD set, as well as the Alldata set. When neither Mitchell nor Alldata showed an Int. wiper schematic, I went looking a few years either side of '93, trying to find one, and came across the one you have. The pic you attached is too low-res to make out much, but I can tell this much: it's got the eight-wire Int. module (upper right). The later units are six-wire, and are different from the eight-wire ones. Physically, the eight-wire module will plug into the six-wire system, but it doesn't work in that combo -- I know, I own both modules (Thanks, Turbone!). That's why I'm trying to find someone who has the FSM -- Alldata & Mitchell do not show Int. wiper information for '93 Loyale series.

$8.99 (or $5.99) is a very good price for nitrile, but . . . I just remembered a disaster we had last year. The guy who orders our gloves got the bright idea to save some big $$$ and order them via the internet instead of getting them delivered from the local parts store as usual. So he bought a case of some cheap-rump roast latex gloves, and they were really, really flimsy . . . but oh, so cheap. We've still got a couple boxes of them left, in a closet somewhere. Everybody refuses to wear them. The brand? "GlowMaster". I don't make this siht up. The latex ones we use that are pretty decent are "diamond-grip" something-or-other. They hold up reasonably well, they're not the best but they're only $8.99/100. I think the nitrile ones I buy are not that brand, and they can be re-used quite a bit, whereas the latex ones are toast once you take them off.

On my '93, the frequency is not adjustable. The interval is very close to five-six seconds.

Yes, the connectors on both the module and the motor are in good condition. I cannot check current at the connector without a wiring diagram -- this system is too complex to guess what wire is supposed to have what current. Hence, I need the correct docs. With six wires coming out of the int module, I'd have to take a couple hours to write my own schematic in order to debug it. I would much prefer to work with the FSM wiring diagram.

Unfortunately, no.That diagram has no "Int" setting, and no intermittant module -- I have that diagram already. See the switch table? The one you've attached has these modes: Mist Off 1 2 W (washer) The one I need would have "Int" between Off and 1. Thanks for trying!

I'm pretty sure that an '88 FSM won't have the info. I say this, because I pulled the int. wiper module from Turbone's '88, and not only was it in a different location, it has eight wires to the module (mine has six). And the module doesn't work in my system, though it will plug in. Thanks, anyway.

I did that, first thing. Mine looks like new under the cover, the grease is nice and yellow and not caked, circular strips very clean. I moved some of the grease around to get into the worm drive better, and buttoned it back up. No change. Also, I layed the spare wiper motor on the strut tower and plugged it in, ran it, and it stoped/started in intermittant mode just the same. I don't think it's the wiper motor, if two do the same thing, and the one I opened up looks perfect. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I am going out of my freakin' mind here. My '93 Loyale has intermittant wipers. The switch/stalk reads Off Int Lo Hi (or something like that) When using "Int", the wipers will often take two or three jerks to get across the glass. I can clearly hear the intermittant module's relay clicking on & off. Works fine in Lo & Hi. I've swapped the wiper motor (Thanks, Turbone) and the Intermittant Wiper Module (Thanks, Gabe), and it still does it. I don't have a FSM. I've been looking to buy one for less than $200 and have failed. Alldata refuses to acknowledge that the '93 has the optional intermittant wipers; it only has a wiring diagram for the Lo/Hi system. Please! If somebody has a FSM for Loyale/GL for close to '93, and has a wiring diagram for an intermittant wiper system where the module has six wires (and not eight), I will pay any reasonable amount to get a copy of that diagram. Email me at the address in the sig. Before I lose it completely.

Brinnel. Right, never beat on the inner race of a brg you want to reuse. Outer race only. GD: where do you get nitrile gloves 100/$8? I pay that much for latex ones, the nitrile cost me several dollars more per box. I go through a lot of latex gloves, but am very sparing using my nitrile ones, because of the expense. But latex won't hold up to solvents.

Can't do an alignment with loose tie rod ends. Period. But changing an outer tie rod end is not too difficult. You get to beat on the steering knuckle, hard, for a legitimate reason, so that's fun. Huh? I'd want to know why they think the rack has to be "installed". Do they think the rack needs replacement? Perhaps they're taking the rack off the car to replace an inner tie rod end?? Usually, you can replace an inner with the rack on the car, but I don't know Subaru racks. Also seems like a lot of money to change a Subaru rack -- the EA82 ones look pretty easy. Std. practice. Advised. You're not going to save much, if anything, by specifying a 2-wheel alignment these days, and the modern alignment equipment takes just about as much work to do the setup for 2-wheel as 4-wheel. Price is good -- we get $65 for the same service. Do you think you need new tires? If they're really reluctant to do an alignment with the existing fronts, have them rotate the rears forward. All you really need is more-or-less the same tires with more-or-less equal wear on them on the front end.

Lifter problems can definitely be related to stretching the oil change interval. Cam seal leaks? Well . . . maybe, but not usually. Oil pump leak caused by dirty oil? I wouldn't think so. Admittedly, I am not familiar with your newer engine. But the only item on your list that I think could reasonably be argued to have been caused by lack of timely oil changes, is hydraulic lifter issues.

Bet you $10 propane does not act as a catalyst to diesel. Ever. Though you'll find a lot of people saying that's what it does. The word "catalyst" has a specific meaning WRT chemical reactions. In general, catalytic materials are not consumed during the reaction. Propane, introduced into a diesel's intake tract, does: * displaces air. If your diesel is already running in a condition where there is not a lot of excess air available, you'll get increased PM (particulate emissions) * cannot self-ignite on compression, because there's not enough of it -- it's too lean a mixture * burns with the diesel, once the diesel fuel ignites and spreads. Though I haven't researched it, I'd hazard a guess than propane injection on a diesel might have a similar effect to raising the cetane rating of the base diesel.

Water injection has several benefits, but the major ones WRT turbo use are cooling the intake charge, supression of preignition, and cleaning the intake/combustion chamber of deposits. Actually, these all apply to non-turbo as well. I'll come back to WI vs Propane injection down below. Um, no. Nitrous Oxide does not burn, is not a fuel. It is an efficient carrier of oxygen to the combustion chamber. Free air is about 21% oxygen. NO2 is . . . a higher percentage oxygen. Inject NO2, add also more fuel, get it all into the combustion chamber, and you get more power. An additional benefit of conventional NO2 systems is that it is stored compressed, and when it's injected, it's also changing to a lower pressure, absorbing heat in the process. You get a brief intercooler effect -- cooler = denser + less susceptible to preignition. Nitrous is not, in itself, an octane modifier. Propane, OTOH, is a naturally high-octane hydrocarbon. It can be oxidized (burned). It's a fuel. If added to an already running gasoline engine, all it does is make the mixture richer. That's why it's commonly used as a diagnostic tool to find intake system vacuum leaks. It's generally pointless to add propane to a gasoline-fuelled engine that is actually running on gasoline. Now, the situation is different for supplemental propane use in diesels. Though I know diesel and I know propane, and do not know much about the combination of the two, other than it's a very old idea (Google on "red rooster diesel", for example) and that it's back in vogue again, and from the very little I've read about it, the add-on kits being assembled and/or sold (esp. on eBay with single-step controls) have great potential to turn a diesel into scrap iron fast -- care and prudence is needed! The situation WRT propane and TDi is not comparable to propane addition to a gasoline engine: apples & oranges. Water injection on a turbodiesel will result in cooler exhaust temperature. Propane injection will significantly raise the exaust temperature. If interested, Google on "diesel exhaust temp" or "diesel pyrometer" for more info on why this might be a Bad Thing. I completely agree. For high boost, low boost, no boost applications, for a spark-ignition engine, propane is great. I just want to add that the cost differential situation is not the same in the US. We pay road tax on all fuels that are not used off-road. While there are methods to avoid this, for the mass-market, the cost per mile using LPG in the US is (currently) not a whole lot different that when using gasoline.

Dual-fuel: sure. CNG has a large federal and state subsidy -- it's not economical to run otherwise. You have to highly compress NG to get range, and the tanks are expensive and heavy. Neither are the case with LPG. But CNG has got the bux behind it, and municipalities are changing over metro buses to CNG in waves. Dual-fuel does not imply that both fuels are being used simultaneously. IMPCO (and others) have fuel management computer add-ons to let the stock electronics work with multi-fuels. Corolla: by adding propane, you moved the A/F ratio from the normal lean/clean condition to richer. He could have gotten the same boost from fudging the coolant temp sensor, probably. Higher octane fuel doesn't get you more power unless you modify the engine to take advantage of it, and that's true of both gasoline and propane. Either advance the ignition timing or raise the CR, then higher octane fuel will have an impact on acceleration. Propane is not magic, it's C3H8. Hydrocarbon. Less BTUs/unit (less energy-dense) than gasoline. Higher octane. A lot cleaner burning. But you aren't going to get a boost in output on an unmodified gasoline engine by dribbling it in, at least not if the engine is in proper tune.

I can't see what injecting propane into a gas engine would do, other than FUBAR the mixture rich. In diesel, it works (to a point, then it just melts things). I can talk LPG (propane) conversion stuff till you're tired of hearing about it -- I own IMPCO parts sheets and install catalogs, I have several LPG mixers (300a, 425), a couple of vapourizer/regulators (Model E) and a couple vacuum filter/lockoff (VFF30), everything needed to do a basic gas engine conversion, except the high pressure line and tank. But I don't think injecting propane into a gas engine with a functional/enabled carb or FI system would do anything other than overheat the cat from too much fuel. Unless we're talking an aftermarket/homebrew turbo system, and then there are some limited applications for propane injection -- liquid, in that case. Very old-school. The reason that some off-roaders like LPG is the freedom from fuel feed problems when the vehicle is at extreme angles. Plus the usual LPG benefits: very clean exhaust, very clean oil, higher octane so you can run higher compression, no choke anymore, sometimes cheaper fuel cost, etc.

I still don't get it. I've never had to work with a Subaru caliper, and I'm not visualizing this right. I do have a poor exploded view of the caliper, and it's not . . . illuminating. If you have to screw the caliper's piston in when installing new pads, how does it become "unscrewed" in normal service? My park brake levers (the one on each caliper) seem to have to move too far to perform their task. The cables' dirt bellows are over-compressed by the time enough clamping force is applied. My pads are near new, really! Do I need to "unscrew" the pistons a bit? I don't understand this, and I want to -- preferably, without taking one all apart first. I pulled a boot off the back of a park lever, but all I really saw was a clean and greased nothing. Didn't look like any way to adjust park lever slop there. Adjusting the park handle up on the tunnel isn't the answer: the levers on the calipers are moving too far. Anybody got a really good pic of this assy disassembled, or a maybe a better line drawing than the one I've got? I really miss having a FSM for this '93. [Also, for you Portland, Ore. folks only, I could use some help.]

Um, that's why there's Locktite and a torque spec. Or . . . do it once . . . Or do the cam sprockets come off all the time on their own, and I just don't know about it?

Unfortunately, NAPA's axles are now ARI. I can't speak to ones for Subarus, but ones we've installed for other makes have had very variable longevity. Some seem to hold up OK, others don't. I send in really, really bad core axles to our NAPA, and they've never rejected one (yet). I hope you just have a particularly bad NAPA franchise. General: IMO, the damage shown was present when you received it. The inner race should not have passed inspection during the rebuild. I do not believe that that damage occurred in 8k miles, unless you had lubricant contamination (ie a ripped boot). CV grease is special stuff, and you don't really need a lot of it to keep the wear down, but introduce some grit and the wear rate skyrockets. You got a bad one.