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Indrid cold

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Everything posted by Indrid cold

  1. I just replaced the switch end on my 84 Brat ignition switch. To replace the switch end is easy to do. Once you pull the two screws off the switch you can test it by turning the switch with a slot screw driver and see if that is indeed the issue. To replace the complete unit (key, switch, housing) is a pain and expensive (pull steering wheel etc..) and I am not sure how to replace just the tumbler section? Haven't had to do that yet. But the switch is an easy to do item. Disconnect Battery... I didn't but probably should have. Take the bottom trim under the dash where the fuse box area is. Take a long phillips screw driver or I used a 4" long, #2 phillips drive and unscrew the 6 screws from the bottom of the steering column. (cordless driver worked great.) It's tight to get the drive shank in the holes as they are recessed in deep with small holes to prevent easy removal I guess. Pull the bottom plastic cover from under the steering column. Disconnect the electrical connector under dash that feeds the switch, pink color I think?. Remove two small screws from the switch, undo the wire retainer clip and there you go. Now, you can use a screw driver and rotate the switch clockwise and feel if that is the issue. I noticed on Rock Auto web site they carry this part (less the wire leads) so you would have to unsolder, resolder the wires on or find one in the junk yard or possible factory replacement? I had a spare from years ago sitting on the shelf so all I did was put replacement in and put back together. My switch was slowly loosing contact so I would have to twist hard and jiggle the key to make contact. New, used switch works good as new. good luck. Hope any of this helps.
  2. so.... whats your plans? Change the oil and gas it up? or go wild and put new wipers on it too? Nice.
  3. Excellent story.. experience. I lived for 18 years in the Idaho/Yellowstone/Driggs area. Shame they didn't help you on the door/window issue. Winter travel in that area and over the pass and into Jackson Hole.. gutsy Yup, a lot of nothing on some of those less traveled roads and be prepared for the worst. That is some impressive area... As for the low oil pressure, possibly confirm that is correct? Rebuilt engine sounds nice too. As for traveling, communication issues: No bars on a cell phone, you can purchase power boosters to set cell phone in... they work great from what I hear. Also I have a "SPOT: satellite tracker. Your parent could keep track of your location and with purchased options you can send for a tow-truck by use of satellite signal. But, these also take away some of the fun of jumping in a rig and going... seeing what happens. Yearly subscription is pricey for SPOT. Another maker, "Quick-Link" or "Rescue-Link have just a "sos" no yearly fee's. I usually have Boy Scouts when I head into out of town excursions so I assure to have communication methods. Just something to think about. I have a 1982 Wagon, grey color with the same seat patterns! Not running, yet. That is a good looking wagon you have. Nice color, looks like it was taken care of. I Like the two tone, lower chrome etc... that would even turn heads as they are getting harder to find, so nice snag. Sounds like it was a lot of fun... adventure... Well done.
  4. Thanks edrach, Printed, folded and put with the 84 fix it book. May save me some time with my 84 Hatch & Brat ... strange how we can have same vehicles but never have the same problem.... but one never knows...
  5. good luck... agree... that is an odd issue after a fill up or just coincidence, very odd as why would filling a gas tank effect operation?? hmmmm.... Read the final cause... that is like crazy... interesting event... For my own personal opportunity to learn I took this Post and final cause/effect and talked to a family relation who is a VW mechanic (years of other vehicles) and he went into great detail regarding the flooding of the charcoal housing in the older and newer cars, what can happen, what he has seen etc... . After rattling on he talked of the N-80 valve on the newer auto's that can fail/foul and cause thousand of dollars of damage on the higher end cars. He said one of the worst things a driver can do is over fill the gas tank... when the gas pump goes "clunk" and shuts off, don't continue filling.. etc.. He even went into detail how he just finished working on a newer car with the exact same issue, had to change various parts, vent line as they are damaged by raw fuel and traced back to the owner always filled her tank to the tip-top every time.
  6. Yes on pic. one, remove the Suspension arm bolt. (14 mm.) No, on pic. two, do not remove the Leading rod. Note:*When assembling finger tighten the bolt in picture one (Suspension arm bolt 14 mm.), tighten AFTER the tires are on and car is back on the ground. *Prior to installing new axle, remove from box and message the boots to push the grease around into the joints/bearings. *these tips were passed to me by other members. Now you know.... and everyone has their own way... ie they remove from ball joint, vrs suspension arm bolt etc...
  7. Welcome to the site.... Gilty, As a reference, here is what is said right out of the Chiltons. "Engine starts but stops immediately: 1. Loose or faulty electrical connections at distributor, coil or alternator. 2. Insufficient fuel reaching the carb. Disonnect the fuel line at the carb. Place a container under the disconnected fuel line. Observe the flow of fuel from the line. 3. Vacuum leak at the gasket surfaces of the intake manifold and or carburetor. Assure all mountin bolts and vacuum hoses are connected to the carb. and 4. Faulty ignition ballast resistor. (chpt 5) *what ever the heck that is...?? If I remember right... there are two filters, one by the fuel pump and one in the engine comp. (fuel seperator) that can plug. After it dies check for spark.. bright blue.. jumpy spark other wise potential weak coil or Ignition module in distributor, or items above from the Chiltons. . Agreed, what you are describing sounds like fuel starvation. But just trying to confirm to eliminate the "what it is obviously not" as these cars get older they just seem to do what they want and usually more than just one item is causing a problem. sometimes... It does sound fuelish.. Possible plugged fuel filters??? Some carbs have little pressure regulators by them (but may be confusing models/years) possibly failure there.... Just tossing out things here... Being careful with the raw gas but you could disconnect the fuel supply and add line to run to a container and turn ignition on and see fuel delivery when trying to start. Spray Carb cleaner into some of the little ports in carb? Yes, ECS light on the "Electronic Control Module", "ECM", will flash a red light "code". You have to connect the "test connectors", read codes then disconnect. Do a search on the task bar above in "search". I am not a mechanic... just pretend to be one on the weekends. I am not that familiar with the year you have. Possibly others can get your further. Fuel and Spark and just tossing out ideas. My .o2
  8. Oh crud... now I remember where Ephrata is.. bit more N. than I thought. Enjoy your wagon!
  9. The main red power feed down to starter.. possibly dirty contact or damaged cable. Clean the major electrical contacts and bolt back on. Pull the wire cable coating back and if you see allot of white crust it may be corroded up and not enough cable to flow the juice. cruddy contacts and broken wires = resistance my .o2
  10. Got a co-worker.. His kid needs a subaru... BAD, to get to and from school. Is that other wagon available? Details? or is this for your private reserve? Update: The kid found a wagon so search is over.
  11. Hey Peace.. How is the bustling city of Ephrata? Congrats on the 88dl. Second Subie I had was a 88-DL and enjoyed that driver. Everytime you fix something like you did you learn that much more and should the need arise you can fix yourself where ever you may end up. Welcome and you will love that push button when you approach that icy patch on the highway..... Oh.. these cars are like potato chips... You just can't have one!
  12. sounds like fuel... but assure spark as posted above.. Ignition module in distributor acts up when going out... when the module goes it stops sending spark. Fuel or Spark.. that is why I love these cars..
  13. as above. also, I like to find a gravel road every couple months and engage 4-wheel to just keep parts oiled and rotated, doesn't have to be far, then disengage.
  14. Appreciate the open invite... I was seriously looking at the opportunity but life issues derailed me yet again and I must remain home this weekend. Your right down the road.. sort of... and it is a neat drive with the tree's changing color etc.. Don't give up on us on the Dry side of the state, its tough getting us together as we are a bit spread out. Enjoy the bonding time with your roo and hope someone joins you.
  15. I saw the same add. As I have been told the mfg. have to meet some kind of specifications. Understand your concern. Vendors have close out specials to dump excess items that don't make them $. Old subaru parts are hogging shelf space. I think it's a chance to save $. So far Rock Auto has been good to deal with... but yes there are cheap items out there... I was thinking of getting break hoses all the way around.. mine are almost 30 years old...
  16. 84 Brat cable snapped while my son was driving it. I bought an aftermarket, (cheap-o) failed quickly... The second one I think I went to the Subaru dealer or ? and got better quality set up. I knew then what I didn't want.. and that was another flimsy one... that was like 8 years ago and working great what ever I put in.
  17. I like that modification... I held that little bugger in my hand and was curious as to what would have knocked out a simple temp. sensor. I can only assume that each start of the fan it is hit by a large voltage spike. As you stated, a relay tied in would prevent that... good info.
  18. +1 on Crazeyeights post.. Last week my sensor failed far from home on my EA-81 and did exactly as he described. Didn't notice it wasn't running till I was climbing mountain passes on hot summer day.... I took wire connector off sensor (single wire) and using spare wire from tool box (always carry a little) , I stuck one end of jumper wire into the connector that went to sensor (wrapped with electrical tape to assure connection-always carry a roll) and the other end of jumper wire I ran to ground screw on top of radiator and secured there. The fan spun when key turned to "on" so ran it like that till I got home hours later to prevent overheating and drove a couple days more till I got the part, worked great... just means my sensor was bad, (single wire/sensor closes to ground when reaches temperature and that creates a circuit that turns on fan=simple circuit, since switch failed to close my fan wouldn't come on.) The sensor is an easy replace once cooled down. Don't confuse this temp. sensor with the gauge sensor. The sensor that screws into radiator is the "fan temp. switch" (named something like that) and has nothing to do with dash temp. gauge. The parts house wanted $38. for the cooling fan switch that screws into radiator... far from home but I didn't play their game when a jumper wires works just fine. Rock Auto has them for $4. on close out. Yours,(rattling noise) Assure there isn't anything fan blades are hitting like the flimsy alum. shroud got pushed in when tinkering or a nut came loose on motor support and fan is twisting and blade is hitting, etc... Gravel sounds, as you described sounds like bearings bad. To test fan, (I believe it is two wire's, yellow ground, blue poss.) Disconnect the connector (push in on little plastic tab and wiggle connector apart) and use two jumper wires from the fan to battery and test your fan. For replacement check junk yards.. shouldn't be that much and easy to do. I looked at rockauto.com for a fan and noted only fan kits.. not sure why they didn't have a direct replacement..... but a new fan was like $60. Note the new fan's how the blades have a large curve to them, this eliminates allot of the fan noise as I have been told. All mine have stock electric fans as I found replacements cheap at junk yards and just easier to put like for like back in. Good for you for asking questions and learning to fix your car, shows good character and teaches you problem solving techniques. Experiences that last a life time. Sorry so wordy but I just trouble shot what you are dealing with and rattled on a bit... it's great when you can be far from home and fix an issue to get yourself home...
  19. +1 to hear posts like yours. A long drive in a Subaru mingled with cultured learning, the finer things in life. Nothing wrong with 3rd as you clearly know when pulling hills. Just did a quick 400 mile loop myself.. love the roos and had people run across the parking lot just to say they love my Brat etc.. I always wanted to make it to Ashland for the plays, Jealous.
  20. $5. dollar pizza... woooh Fish............. wooh Dachshund ....... wooh Jerry's 5 spd. kit.......... wooh
  21. well...... It's complicated.... Life can get in the way sometimes and here I sit.
  22. Read information on West Coast Subaru show. If you can make it happen, go there this weekend even if you don't take a Subaru, you will see alot of interesting stuff. Welcome to the board and just down the road from you, sort of.
  23. no go on this.... Weekend race is over. Anyone in Seattle area coming over to the Tri-Cities to watch the Hydroplane races that could return with a mostly intact steering column? There is a couple in Seattle area that has been looking for one and I got one from my 88 wagon that is free to them or going to the trash. This isn't insanely important but hate to pass up a possible opportunity to move it along. Thanks guys....
  24. o2 sensor? on catalytic converter... on the older cars they don't kick in till the engine warms up.... do a code check, do a "search" in task bar above on "Engine codes" and how to read them. Your looking for a flashing red light, probably just under panel under steering column on computer... it will flash codes to tell issues when test wires are connected.
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