heartless

well, a simple look over should give you a clue as to which are going to be more difficult and which should be a little easier. Start with the ones that look like they will be the hardest to get to. I like GD's suggestion of jacking the motor a little for easier access.

can not say I have ever done the 3.0 H6 - but I have done a 302 in a Maverick - with about an inch of clearance between the engine and inner fender - just takes a little ingenuity to get the job done (and small hands do help). Me personally, I always start with the hardest ones - get them out of the way, then the others seem easier. hehehe Good Luck!

I am just glad that you did get it sorted out! I was starting to feel bad about the whole thing..LOL so what exactly happened with the original motor? I can see the hole in the top of the block, but - why?? what caused it?

just for the record, my old GL had 265,000 plus on the clock when she was retired due to pretty severe rust, and was still running great - probably would have made 300K easily, but she just wasnt safe to have on the road anymore. Like I said, I did not drive like an old lady - it was much more fun to wind it up. (I also ran a Cherry Bomb, so she made a little noise when winding it up and no, I am not the "typical" female - LOL) depending on how the car was driven previously, and how long you have been driving it like you have been - fuel mileage may go down slightly initially, while it cleans itself out - but if you keep at it, it should come back up. Once had an old 1976 Plymouth Valiant that had never been driven over 45 mph by its previous owner - blew nasty black smoke for several days when getting over that speed, but the more it was driven the better it ran, and fuel mileage dramatically increased once it was cleaned out good. also, make sure your tires are properly inflated at all times (seems to me I ran between 32-35 psi in mine, all 4 the same), and fluids are always topped off (oil & coolant). Tires themselves, and the rubber compound they are made of, can make a big difference in mileage - a softer, "stickier" tire will bring mileage down - more rolling resistance, while a harder, less "sticky" compound will bring it up - less rolling resistance. What I do is check the door tag for "recommended" tire psi, then check the tire for the "max" psi cold - then pick a number roughly halfway between those two and inflate to that pressure. I get good tire wear, and good fuel mileage that way. Oh and the listing in the manual - more a basic guideline, than "hard & fast" rules - everyone has their own style. But yeah, dont often see a 20+ yr old car with the manual still in the glovebox! heck, finding a 10 yr old car with the manual is rare!

yeah, I am aware of the potential cost differences - have already looked into it. The problem is, Advance wont replace the one under warranty unless it "tests" bad on their equipment - since it is a heat related failure at this point, it probably wont "test" bad, until it completely fails - and I can not afford to have it completely fail and ruin a good battery along with it. To purchase a replacement remanufactured alt it would cost me $120 - less the $34 core charge - net cost of $86. The Beck-Arnley unit is over $200... to have the local shop rebuild would run between $70 to $100 on average - about a horse a piece when you get right down to it. Sure, I get the "lifetime" warranty on the reman unit from Advance - BUT - getting a replacement is turning into a huge hassle anymore. I have had quite a few of these "lifetime" alternators go bad after only a year or so - same "brand" was used on the old GL, and I had to replace it just about every year. the current one with issues is about 1 yr old (this month) Getting pretty sick of it.

and the opposite end of the spectrum: 1995 Dadge Ram 1500 (shortbox with a topper on it) - made a 600 mile trip, towing a trailer, drop the trailer off 30 mins from home. on the way home noticed a very slight growly noise...told the other half about it, he looked into what it would cost to get a new hub (easier) for it...never ordered it tho... few days later hooked up the flatbed trailer to it to go pick up a non-running motorcycle only 25 miles away - truck had not been moved since i got home from the long trip, mind you - made the trip over, picked up the bike, started home - bearing failure so bad it had to be put on the trailer to make it the last 10 miles home - it no longer wanted to move, and the wheel was sitting at an odd angle. had to call a friend with truck to tow the trailer home, unload the bike, then come back & get the Dodge....

Ok Cougar - here are some numbers for you...these were taken after everything was warmed up good No Accessories: Low Idle (700-750rpm) - 12.02 volts High Idle (1750-1900rpm) - 13.42 Accessories on - High beams, heater blower on high, stereo (same idle ranges as above) Low Idle: 11.8 High Idle: 13.2 + it seems that the old stock alt is functioning reasonably well as long as the rpms are above a certain point - other half was on the meter at the battery, said as soon as I started to bring the rpms up, the meter started going up as well. But thru all of that, not once did I see the dash light show that I was getting with the rebuilt unit - not even when it was reading under 12 volts! Also, the erratic, surging warm idle really does seem to have gone away - have not had that happen at all since swapping in the old stock unit. I do have at least one other stock alt here that I can try out to see if it works any better - which I may do this weekend, just for grins & giggles. I took the suspect alt in to the local rebuild shop to have them give it a look over, should have more info tomorrow morning on that. I may just say screw it all with the "lifetime warranty" unit and have the local shop rebuild one of the old stockers - cost would be about the same as buying yet another piece of junk one if I cant get the one replaced... and these guys do stand behind thier work. They dont advertise at all, and have almost more business than they can keep up with. Its either that, or go the upgrade route mentioned earlier...but I would need both the alt, and the pigtail to plug it in for that one...

Yes, these cars get much better fuel economy than is stated on most websites. MY old 89 GL wagon, FWD, 5 speed (same basic car) got 32/33mpg all the time - even getting into it on a regular basis (no, I did NOT drive it like an old lady! more like it was a "hot rod", truth be told, I beat on that poor little car for 8 years!) the other half had one with the dual range 4 whl drive 5 speed, and he got 32 mpg all the time as well. doesnt really matter if you are driving fast or slow, keeping the engine in the peak torque range does make a difference. Comparing the Subaru engine to the Explorer engine is like comparing apples to bananas..Very different beasts. These are high rev motors, and are MUCH happier at those higher ranges than they are at lower rpms. You are not doing that motor any favors by running it that low in the rpm range. That said - it is your car, so drive it as you see fit - but - I get to say "I told you so" when you get it all carbon fouled and it doesnt run worth a darn anymore - OK? (< me teasing) LOL

Subaru automatic is not typical. the differential is separate from the rest of the tranny. Your tranny dipstick will be on the drivers side, almost hidden from view by hoses. Tranny takes typical Dexron type tranny fluid. the differential dipstick is on the passenger side, short little fella and easy to get to. Differential takes gear oil. as for the exhaust shield rattles - quite common really. the cure depends on what piece(s) is rattling and how badly it is deteriorated. Hose clamps have been used in some cases, sheet metal screws, rivets, and some simply remove the offending piece, depending on location.

well, when the other half gets home (and if it isnt pouring down rain), I can get those readings for you Cougar - kind of hard to do by one's self, however! LOL Found a local rebuilder of alternators and starters with a good reputation - gave them a call, explained the problem to the guy, and he at least has given me confirmation that yes, it could be failing intermittently (which the parts store says they dont do - yeah right) - but without actually seeing it, testing it, and possibly cracking it open, they cant really tell me much.

bolded portion is absolutely wrong. Peak torque on the EA82 is between 3000 and 3500 rpm as stated earlier by MilesFox. Peak torque is where the engine is the most efficient at producing power. 1500 to 2500 is dogging the engine - not a very good thing to be doing - the engine has to work harder at those rpms to build speed - that is why it took you so long to get to 60 mph - sheesh...poor motor. For best "efficiency and power" get those RPMS UP! You wont hurt it. In fact, you will help it by not dogging and making it work harder. 1st to 2nd is a fairly quick shift, but from second on up, bring those rpms up over 3500 - more like 4000 - then shift to the next gear. You will be amazed at the difference. cruising rpms are just that - cruising at a steady pace - maintaining a speed. when you are trying to build speed, you want to be in the engine's most effective torque range, which on these cars = 3000 - 3500 rpms.

the 4EAT is a fine tranny, as long as you keep up with things like matching tires all around & keeping fluids up (diff and tranny fluids). My 1990 AWD Legacy has 224,000 + and the tranny shifts just fine, no torque bind, no issues what so ever, and, to my knowledge, has never been changed. When you check your paperwork for the pulleys & whatnot, also check to see if they did the water pump/thermostat at the same time. Highly recommended by most here to do that when doing a timing service since the water pump runs off the timing belt - and easy access when performing the service.

Changed out the suspect alt with one from a parts car - an original stock unit no less - not pretty to look at, but it seems to be working - maybe. initial start @ idle I get a DMM reading of 14.02 +/- volts at the battery (13.5-ish on the guage inside the car - roughly a half volt difference) drove to school - in class for 2.5 hours, then drove home last night with no light shows. also noticed my crazy, fluctuating idle once warm seems to have gone away as well - a might early to say for sure on that one yet, but... While driving it "reads" fine - staying right around 13-13.5, depending on the load (lights on, radio on, etc) but at warm idle, the guage is only showing around 11 - 11.5 volts - going with the half volt reading difference from cold idle, that would be 11.5 - 12 volts at the battery? that just seems a bit low to me... guess I should double check it when warm with the DMM at the battery to see just what it is doing.

Been a while since you have seen something that solid, Tom?? hehe yeah, the help section of any parts store should have the headlight adjusters, i have replaced a few over the years, always found what i needed there.

yup, undo the 2 bolts you mentioned, and wiggle the box up out of its location. There is a plastic cover over the bottom that will pop off without too much effort. I believe the wire you are after is the "bolted on" one - kind of like the alternator main feed wire. (recently had my box apart looking for corrosion...)

once you get those covers off, you will see where they go.

Well damn - the light show is back. After all the cleanup, and cleanout a few weeks ago, everything had been fine for a while. But this evening i drove to school, was in class about 1.5 hours, left school went to get gas, then started for home - about a mile from home the dash lit up just like before. And I am fairly certain now it is not weather related - was down right chilly today, even had snow flurries - was warm when all this started. Will be swapping in a different alternator tomorrow - hoping this proves (to me) the current alt is bad....if it does (and I will give it time) the next step will be "proving it bad to the parts store...

well, glad to hear you got the problem solved! and thanks for coming back and updating this thread - it DOES help when someone is searching for a solution to a similar problem.

while that is the primary connection/concern, depending on condition - the booster itself could be suspect, as can other vacuum lines. when vacuum lines get hard - which happens with heat and age, they can easily crack, and/or dont seal well, causing leaks in the system. check them all over, any hard/brittle ones should be replaced. If that does not solve the issue, then I would be highly suspicious of the booster itself - while not common, they do occasionally fail.

vacuum issue...

if the pedal is dropping to the floor, there is either air in the lines - it can take quite a bit of bleeding to completely purge the system if air got in there - or you could possibly have a vacuum problem related to the booster. the calipers "sticking" would not cause a pedal drop problem - quite the opposite actually.

volume knob is missing for the radio... seriously tho - that is one clean Loyale! note they say it is for sale on thier lot for the low, no haggle price of $6200.

+10 - if you dont know how or have the tools for welding in good metal, fiberglass is a MUCH better choice than bondo. here's a few pics of a repair job done with fiberglass - rust was cleaned up as much as possible, then treated with a rust killer, then the whole works fiberglassed. It was still holding up several years later when we sold the car. never did paint it... Getting started Getting all mounting holes cleaned up & filed Reinstalling hardware and how it looked complete (but unpainted)

Maybe this will clear it up for you... http://www.streetdreams.org/tech.php

good to hear you get some better rolling stock. I hear ya on pinching the pennies, but at least you have some kind of a job - even a part time is better than nothing at all.