MR_Loyale

Yeah I know I got just over a month until I drive Uno, the White Sedan all across the country. Head, cam towers blah blah blah. THESE are the important details: The power steering bracket:

I am going to be doing a cross country trip Aug-Sep. in my Loyale sedan. Some things to ponder before you take the trip Do you have tow insurance like AAA? If you cannot afford this, start making subie friend along the route now, before you leave. Might be nice to meet some of the folks on the board in person too. Perhaps facilitate transportation of some hard to find parts in exchange for a safe haven should your old gal collapse. Please tell us what sort of budget we are working with. total shoesting or adequate to financially handle any contingency? Planning is different depending. Since you are 18, I will assume shoestring. #1 Replace all belts and fluid - no exceptions. If you cannot afford this, stay home. Put old belts in trunk. #1a Fuses. Carry some. Put them in the glove box. Look at fusebox for sizes needed and get some of those. #2, Carry a gallon of pre-mixed anti-freeze and motor oil. #3. Tools: Cheap socket set ($20 Walmart) pliers, standard and phillips screwdriver. Total cost under $30. Throw in Haynes book. #4. Check the balljoints, bearings and brakes. Replace if any doubt. #5. Do all the turn signals, tail lights and lamps work? You don't want some hick cop blowing your budget with a $600.00 ticket for a burned out lamp. Let Roscoe stick the next sucker instead of you. #6. Is the clutch iffy? If so replace it. 2600 miles won't make it better. It is a clutch not a fine wine. If you neglect it the only fine wine you will see is you whining to mom and dad from 2000+ miles away. #7. Take some shorter trips before you go sort of as a shakedown of sorts. Use a critical eye to find issues and evaluate if critical or not. Take someone along who doesn't know the "quirks" of your old gal and ask them to be critical. Often times we get to know our cars noises and become accustomed to them. #8. Contingency plan. What if the car catches fire and burns to the ground in small tow hicksville while Goober and Roscoe watch. How will you get home? #10. Carry a mobile phone and 12v charger. Have emergency numbers programmed in. Hope this helps,

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I read they will all be driving in a convoy to ferry to Vashon Island on sat.

I make sure to have my foot on the clutch and in neutral when engaging it. Eventually I will swap in dual range. Just have too many things on my plate right now.

Well my tail lights aren't out. I just had that damned parking light switch on the steering wheel in the wring position. After twenty years I should know better. And for the last time AARP, I am NOT interested!!

Oh yeah. While I was down there, I noticed a nice coolant drip drip drip. Hopefully it is just a water pump of which I have a hand me down from, you guessed it, Uno the white Loyale sedan. Works out because I have a brand spanky new Subaru water pump in the box waiting for Uno anyway. Uno is the spoiled one lol.

Got the exhaust leak in Ash repaired tonight after work. Turns out it was a bad gasket I took one of Uno's gaskets since he is apart right now. I will be ordering brand spanky new one for Uno anyway. Ash gets the hand me downs from Uno. So far Ash has received an alternator and exhaust gasket for the passenger side.

Why do you say that? It is push button 4wd. I don't have the original manual as the owner did not have it. He said it had to be in neutral when engaging the 4wd. Is that not true?

Well tonight after work I went after the exhaust leak. It was coming from the passenger side. Turns out it was the gasket. I happened to have two extra ones as I have the used ones from Uno sitting next to Ash in the driveway. Here is what a good gasket should look like when held up to the sky: Here is what was there:

Yeah. But I feel the electrical issues are well within my skillset. If the car was perfect it wouldn't have been sold. It looks as if someone recently did some engine work as the engine is fairly clean on top.

Started chasing electrical gremlins in the new 4wd Sedan. I solved the mystery of the fading charge, brake and parking indicator lights. During idle they would all glow faintly. Increasing the revs would make them glow a bit more. Further increasing revs made them go out until about 2000 revs where they ca,e back on and fluttered. Swapped out the alternator with the one from uno that was lying around and it fixed the issue. Now I have to figure out the tail light situation. Uno is going back together. This weekend I will make major progress with installation on the heads. Just don't want to tackle that job when I am tired after work.

I took my "new" Loyale Sedan (4wd) out for a nice drive on my favorite stretch of twisty road. It is the one I always took my white FWD sedan on. But in 4wd, I noticed the corners were not nearly as fun as they were in my FWD. It was good that the car seemed well planted but the thrill seemed gone. On the return trip I turned off the 4wd and it was fun again. It appears that FWD has oversteer and 4wd does not. Has anyone else ever noticed that?

Did some more work on the car. One issue it had was that the alternator regulator was bad such that when the idle was low, the charge, brake fluid and park brake lights would fade in. Then revving the engine to 1000-2000 rpm made them go out. Revving higher brought them back on but bright. I figured this was the diodes in the alternator allowing ac current into the system. I had the alternator from Uno (my white sedan) and put it into Ash. That fixed the issue. I then took Ash out for a spirited drive and got pulled over by the police. My tail lights were out and I was speeding apparently. I explained I had just bought the car and he told me to drive home with the hazards on and watch my speed, both of which I did. Oh and the power door locks are blowing fuses so that is another issue I will have to sort out. But I did get one solved and the mirrors are still working but the blower motor quit on me.

Well tonight I decided to peek at some of the issues with the car. The power mirrors and door locks did not work. Replaced the fuses that were blown. Also found a 30 amp fuse in one circuit and there are no 30 amp fuses anywhere in the fuse chart on the fuse panel. So I pulled it and put in the correct size. I found the reason for the exhaust "leak". One of the bolts holding the flange onto the head was totally loose. I tightened it up and it helps somewhat. But I need to get an exhaust gasket for it. Looks like the one there is a cheap third party thin one. I gave it a wash as well. There are small black spots all over the engine bay and on the fenders so I found a solvent that would get them off and began working on that. I took some more pictures as well. This car is in pretty good shape. No rust, runs fairly well and the clock even works!

I had better be careful, the sheriff lives next door, lol. No, the custom plates are a one time privilege for the only Subaru that has been there since day one, with help of a special person who believed in me at a time in my life when no one else did, not even my own father. The new car can never have that connection in my life. Plus Uno has carried two of my best loved pets that are departed so it is sort of a historical artifact in my life so to speak. Ash on the other hand is open to all sorts of possible mods. Plus if I EJ it in the future, I then have a hot swappable spare for Uno. So it all works out in the end. I can get rough with Ash and not be guilty about it. I can even take Ash to the mountains banging around and it won't crack its computer like some other 4wd we dare not mention. Ash is easier to put into 4wd too. But treating Uno harshly is like crapping on your grandmother's credenza - it just isn't done. Besides, Uno has to make it to the 30th anniversary.

Don't give up. Walk away for a few days and let your head clear. Logically, if you "did everything right" it would be running, yes? Not pointing fingers so don't get offended. When you go that far into the engine, expect something to be missed. As long as it wasn't the head bolt procedure and cam towers, it is probably easily correctable. But at this point you are just frustrated and logic won't penetrate that.

Thanks man. Fun fact: I bought that Loyale new, in Spokane from Camp Subaru in 1994. In 2012, while visiting a friend in Spokane, I called them to look ( wink wink, yeah I was ready to buy) at the new Impreza's. I showed up and no one would see me! Could have sold another Subaru and got my praises, but instead they now get my scorn. "We're family" etc BS is just that BS. They could care less about you at the stealerships, especially Camp Subaru stealership.

Made it to the stealership yesterday. Picked up the headbolts, got the throwout bearing carrier clips. Made a trip to Pick N Pull in OR where I found my white Loyale Sedan's twin. Wanted a good white grill. Got there and it wasn't as good as in the pics, but I found a FACTORY FRESH quality front seat. Yeah, it IS that good. The car only had 72K miles when it went to the junkers (sniff). From what I can tell the people just didn't want it anymore. The engine in it looks good to me. Anyhow, know all the buttons for the ac and temp selection and how they are all washed out from years of use? Well these ones are like factory, so I grabbed them to put in my white Loyale. That was Saturday. Oh and today I got this: FINALLY! I got an AWD Subaru!!! Only took 20 years. My cherry is popped and I am now officially a Subaru whore.

I couldn't help myself. I have been looking for an AWD sedan for a while now. Oh sure there are lots of wagons out there. I am just not a wagon sort of guy. I have always preferred Sedans ever since I got my original FWD in 1994. Most of the sedans for sale are either automatic or FWD. Now I got myself a beautiful red one (1992 AWD, 5spd mt): Here it is next to my other Loyale, hereby known as Uno: I am now officially a Subaru Whore!

Got the good stuff for my transmission. Autozone says they are not carrying it anymore. I got the last three.

I dry fitted the covers, towers and head. I am thinking I want to paint the tower, heads and block. What do you think?

Well this is definitely chrome. Yes, you can plate chrome onto aluminum. Not sure where you were told it was not possible. Heck you can even plate chrome onto plastic (hmm scratches his head...). Here is the place that did the work: http://queencityplating.com/ Looking at the website, I think the reason your facebook friend couldn't get chrome to stick was poor surface preparation. Aluminum can be porous and so just plating over it directly would probably not work well. Queen City spends a lot of time doing surface prep, thus the 4 week wait. When done right, there is just as much artistry and craftsmanship involved as there is chemistry. And it ain't cheap! But can one really put a price on beauty? I think not!

Sure. What would you like to know?

Monday I had ordered an instrument cluster for the Dodge that was scheduled to arrive today. I also got an email yesterday that my cam covers were done and ready for pick up in Mukilteo. The Subaru dealer (Peninsula Subaru) also said the head bolts were in. I also ordered the Exedy clutch kit for my Subaru that should have also come today. So i puttered about on the internet all morning hoping the UPS guy would arrive with my instrument cluster for my Dodge Ram 1500. I didn't want to be on I-5 with no turn signals, no gas gauge, no speedo, no tach, etc. I waited waited waited until 12:30 and then said to heck with it (in stronger language of course). I waited over three weeks for the cam covers to be done and by God I was getting them today to uplift what has been a depressing week on Dodge drama and little to no progress on the Subaru (due to the Dodge drama). So I set off in the Dodge to get to the place in Mukilteo by 4:30 pm before they close. Not open Saturday so Monday would be the next opportunity. I filled the truck full so watching the gauge was no problem and I had the GPS to tell me my speed. For signals I resorted to the old fashion arm signals to indicate which way I was turning. The first bit of good luck came when I pulled up just in time for the Kingston ferry to Edmonds ferry. I was sure I was going to have to wait an hour at least but I got right on. It was almost 3pm when I arrived at the destination in Mukilteo. I was anxiously contemplating the result all the way up there. Just the thought of the cam covers made me happy inside. I walked up to the counter and the lady handed me what looked like prime steaks from the butcher wrapped in brown outer paper with white tissue inside. "Take a look" she said. She didn't have to ask me twice. So I carefully peeled back the brown paper, then the tissues, and paused for a moment.I think i felt a tear roll down my cheek as I gazed upon this: That is why a dirty greasy engine bay just will not do. I don't want my 20th anniversary engine bling getting messy. I am even watching my fingerprints. All I could say over and over was "These are better than new from the factory!" with an awestruck look on my face. I left there at 3:15 pm headed south to the Tacoma Harbor Freight, the only store that had an ODBII code reader with ABS that they had on sale. I was giddy as a school girl all they way even though it took me almost 4 hours in traffic to get there. Who'd a thunk a little chrome could be so therapeutic? All the time I was driving using my arm signals no longer angered me. I felt like this: I made it to Tacoma Harbor Freight, got the OBDII scanner, proved that it was the cluster at fault in the Dodge and headed back home. Other than no speedo, gas gauge, tach, cruise control, turn signals, temp gauge, charge indicator, oil pressure gauge or wipers - the truck ran fine. The trans shifted fine. It was the cluster internally couldn't talk to others, not the bus being down despite the "No Bus" message in the odometer window. Being able to get communication with the PCM (powertrain control module) and TCM (trans control module) using the scanner was proof it was the cluster and not the entire bus. And there were no codes returned either. Yes, I had proven that I was in deed "Cluster F***ed", so off I went with arm signals heading home. When I arrived back home (about 8 pm) , there were two big boxes waiting for me on my porch. One had the eBay Dodge instrument cluster, which I immediately installed (took 10 min). IT ALL WORKS! All computer in the Dodge now talk nicely. I got turn signals, gas gauge, speedo, wipers, temp, charge gauges and even cruise control works! I can say for certain had I taken it to the Dodge stealership, I wouldn't get out for less than $800-$1000. My eBay cluster costs $75. Only thing is now my 40,000 miles says 203,000 miles, lol. But I will send the cluster back east for reprogramming. The other box had this: For all the frustration that was this week with the Dodge drama, this day made it all better. Saturday I am getting the head bolts and starting to put the engine back together.