errantalmond

I believe it does come on. I will have to check when I get there today. If that was the issue, the would just never charge up, right? i don’t totally get what that means by the way, since the alternator generates a current in the first place. Is the field current you refer to responsible for giving the alternator some initial power? Thanks!

Hi all, tonight my trusty subie died on me while I was driving. I did some troubleshooting while I waited for a ride, and made a little bit of progress. I need to get my big boy running again this weekend, and I hope you all might have the advice I need. here‘s the deal: I’ve had this elusive issue for some time now, where some mornings, there is no crank, just click. Sticking a little battery charger on it for 5 seconds is enough to get it going. Eventually it happened more often, and then the car wouldn’t keep itself running. (Battery wasn’t charging at all while running) I tinkered around and ended up fixing the problem with a new alternator, and then I upgraded to the Nissan Maxima alternator. Both new alternators worked great. After a few months the problem crept back in and this time, I installed one of those Bosch starter relays from Amazon. That worked a charm and has kept me Problem free ever since. Today, while running errands, I had an unusual slow crank at the gas station, then 10 blocks down, accelerating from a stop light, everything got dim and the engine had no power. It wavered for a few seconds, then died quietly and I rolled into a parking spot. No crank, dim lights. Turns out that the fuse that comes with the relay had blown. Seemed strange that it was affecting the car while it was running. I replaced the fuse and that one blew right away too, still no crank. i get relays in theory, but they confuse the crap out of me in practice. I definitely installed everything in the right place, and I‘m not sure how to troubleshoot it. so I disconnected it completely and reconnected the wires the way they were before I added the relay. After getting a quick jump, the engine started up easy on the first crank, idled up for about a minute, and then everything went dim and died again as soon as I turned the headlights on. i managed to check the voltage while it was running, 12.1 v. makes me think I haven’t solved the root issue (bad ground or something?) and that it is messing up my alternator? called it a Night and will go back tomorrow with a charged battery to try and troubleshoot the charging system some more. i really need to get back on the road for my weekly commute to Seattle from Olympia, and to get my baby off the street - please throw your suggestions my way, and come out to help if you want a bit of cash and are in the Olympia area best jon

Thanks. I read 10-12 in the maintenance section for the 88 gl, but 13 just felt better.

After retensioning yesterday, the belts seem happy. I’m gonna keep an eye on it and do a more proper job of tensioning if it doesn’t stay put. and keep an extra pair in the trunk of course thanks everyone

Is anyone with a lot of ea82 experience in the Puget Sound, WA area willing to meet up and discuss Subaru stuff at least once? I need to pick some brains and would love to do it in person. I’m not a licensed surgeon but a good conversationalist. I have a 1990 loyale I’ve done some work on (front bearings, front seals, timing, rear suspension) and want to do much more with. I have a pretty good theoretical understanding of mechanical engineering and car stuff, but I’m an amateur at best. I will be commuting from Oly to Seattle frequently in the coming year so anyone between Portland and Bellingham is within my range. I have lots of really cool rocks I’ve collected over the years, from agates to obsidian, petrified wood, and quartz crystals. Maybe you’re into rocks, too.

I reused the springs - they are still good. I did not torque the belt tension for lack of a square drive tool, but I did hold the cam sprocket with a tool while tensioning…. I’m not sure how you mean ‘make sure the tensioner moves down to the belt?’ when I put the belt on, it was ready touching the tensioner. With the tensioner bolts loosened, the spring pulls the tensioner almost looks the way up against the belt (nearly max tension)…

I did - tension was good when I installed everything. Torque on tensioner bolts was tight because they have lock washers on them - I replaced them because that’s how it was when I took it apart. Torqued to ~11 ft lbs as per service manual.

I recently did my front seals, timing belts, oil pump, idler, and tensioner (replacement). Today I checked the belts (luckily i left the covers off), about 1000 miles down the road. The passenger side belt is loose, so I loosened the tension and retensioned it, checking the timing - it hadn’t jumped any teeth. With the tensioner pushed fully upwards, it is still loose. It also looks worn compared to the driver side. I buttoned everything back up and looking at it when it runs, I see the passeneger side belt has about an inch of play on its longest side (crank to cam), while the driver side has only about a quarter inch of flapping. They’re not making any unusual sounds. why?? please help jon

Thanks. I’ve since learned that the seal in that photo was some kind of lipless seal that just looks that way…

I replaced my left front wheel bearings last weekend and am doing the right this weekend. In Nug’s great photo essay, the outer seal goes in with the flat side with metal showing facing out; in all the pictures and instructions in printed references it seems to be other way. What’s the story? Both ways work? Differences? Below is a shot from Nug’s writeup, from the Haynes, the 88 xt FSM, and from ‘how to keep your Subaru alive’

Just my luck - I only got a cover, a zip tie to secure it, and a locking nut to thread on the piston rod. Will have to find the right fit for the bushings etc.

Rocket surgery 101

Here are my 4 runner struts off eBay, part no. KYB341232 And a picture of their pictorial installation instructions: One had the lower coil spring seat loose, it was press fit on the other one. I used the hydraulic press at the shop at my work to seat the seat, worked a charm: here it is up next to the stock strut assembly on the rear (4wd), for everyone’s reference:

Since I already have them I’m gonna give it a try and switch out the stock coils ASAP once I have the kit ready to lower the rear diff etc and those stronger Honda coils. I don’t off-road much and when I do I tend to be careful so I’m hopeful I won’t bottom them out too much; in any case the stock shocks really aren’t doing it. Maybe I’ll experiment further like you did once I get through the 4Runner struts. i can’t find the bushings and spacer for those 4Runner struts (wider inner diameter) yet and am wondering how they will fit into the stock upper coil spring seat (I’ll drill it out but it has cups/lips to fit the outside of the bushings, see the pictures below) i checked rockauto and the Toyota dealerships, etc. all I came up with so far is the lower shock bushing on the Moog website. Here is a picture of the seat with the new bushings before tightening everything down; since the bushings spread out a bunch I guess the fit won’t be an issue as long as I drill the seat out properly. aha lol and now that I am writing about it I am realizing that the 4Runner struts are for the front of the 4Runner, and so only have a lower bushing since they have that mounting plate in the engine bay. Is that right? In any case I’m still scratching my butt over the right bushings… Also, since the eye on the bottom is a 12mm, bigger than the 10mm stock strut eye and bolt, would it be wise to install a bushing between the eye and the 10mm pass thru bolt I’ll use? Obviously a loose fit wouldn’t be any good and I’d rather not drill the holes out so I can switch back. here is an exploded view of the rear strut assembly for reference:

Do you mean Toyota parts? I have been having trouble finding the bushings that fit the 4Runner strut, so I’ll try that.

One of my rear dampers absorbed its last shock on a snowy forest road in the Cascade mountains in Washington, so I am replacing it. I've only got one spare stock strut for the rear, and I intend to swap in better suspension components soon, so I decided to just do one; in general you should probably do both. I'm sure this is a piece of cake (it is) to many folks here, but it was my first time doing it and I'm really happy with the way it all worked out, so I'll share what I learned for the next person. Here's what I used for this job: A new strut from RockAuto with new nuts, cup washer, bushings, and collar Floor jack 2 jackstands 1/2" Breaker bar and a pipe 1/2" air gun 1/2" Torque wrench 1/2" socket wrench 3/8" socket wrench 1/2" to 3/8" adapter A short extension Penetrating fluid Soapy water/degreaser and a wire brush and towels Blue threadlocker Spring compressor, the crappy kind you can rent at auto stores Flathead screwdriver Vice grips Spray some penetrating fluid on the three strut mounting bolts by reaching behind the wheel or peeking up from under the car to find them several times a day or two before you do the rest. First loosen the lug nuts on the wheels you'll need to take off. Jack up the car by the rear diff and placed jack stands under the frame rails where the notches are near the wheel well. Does anyone know if it's better to set the jackstands up across the thin, notched lip or along the inside of it? Here's what I mean: Remove the lug nuts the rest of the way and put the wheel under the car (it's about as wide as your head) Use a 17mm socket to loosen the two upper and one lower strut mounting bolts (I used a breaker bar and a pipe). The bolts are all pretty easy to get to. The upper bolts gave a lot of resistance coming out, so I just kept screwing them in and out and adding penetrating fluid until they came out easily all the way. The lower bolt came out smoothly. Don't worry about the 19mm nut on the other side of the lower strut mount, it is welded to the control arm. The strut will pop right out. Now find a place where potentially shooting metal projectiles in two opposite directions in particular isn't a problem (don't do this next part with the top or bottom of the strut pointing at you, your loved ones, or your car, rather keep your valuables to the side of the strut, and your fingers too, as much as possible) Spray the two upper nuts with some penetrating fluid. Install the spring compressors on the coil spring, making sure to set them 180 degrees from each other for even compression. You want the little grabbers to be as many coils apart as possible. Look closely at the different parts of the strut and their dimensions before you start compressing the spring, and plan ahead so you don't have to start over. These stock Loyale coil springs have a pretty small coil diameter, so the crappy compressor clamps didn't fit right at the bottom of the coil spring; the shock prevents the clamps from sliding fully over the wire of the coil spring. You can get them on far enough to be secure, but as the pressure on the coil spring increases, there clamps will also exert an inward force on the walls of the shock absorber. This also raised the concern that the compressor clamps would squeeze the old shock enough that it would be difficult to remove while the spring is compressed. In order to avoid any potential complication, I would just slowly decompress the spring once the upper nuts are loosened, until the shock absorber can be wiggle free from the compressed spring and spring compressors. Then the coil spring can be placed around the new shock absorber (take care not to scratch the inner rod), the compressors reinstalled with a few layers of paper tower wrapped around the shock absorber where the compressor clamps will push against the wall of the shock absorber, and the whole thing assembled. The compressor clamps will also squeeze the rubber dust guard/helper protecting the shock absorber's inner rod. Don't worry about that, just make sure it doesn't end up getting in the way later on when you are putting everything back together. Also, try not to leave the compressed spring sitting around unnecessarily, for obvious reasons. So now you're compressing the spring, tightening each compressor a few turns at a time for even compression (I did 20 turns past hand-tightened on each side twice, then fifteen turns three times, then ten turns each until the coil spring was completely separated from its upper seat. Once you are 100% sure the coil spring is no longer pushing up on the upper spring seat, you can take off the two nuts at the threaded top of the shock. Use a crescent wrench to hold the inner nut while you use a socket wrench to loosen the outer nut. Then you can use a screwdriver in one of the upper mount holes or a strong pair of pliers/vice grips to hold the flat point of the inner shock rod as you break loose the inner nut. Once they are off, carefully disassemble the rest of the parts above the coil spring (2 nuts, cup washer, upper bushing, collar, mounting bracket, lower bushing, plate/washer, upper spring seat, rubber spring seat, bumper/helper, shock absorber boot/dust guard. If you have a better compressor for this project you might not have problems with clearance inside of the coil spring. If that’s the case, yay for you. If not, you won’t be able to remove the shock because the clamps of the compressor will be squeezing it. Loosen the clamps until you can take it out. Now install the helper (looks like a butt plug with a ribbed inner hole), sliding it all the way past the skirt on the inner strut rod so that it can slide freely up to the shock absorber’s seal. Mine was falling apart but I didn’t have a replacement, so I reinstalled the old one and repeated ‘get a new helper for your rear struts’ 500 times so I wouldn’t forget. Assemble the new bushings with the spacer and the strut mount. Put the dust guard on, then wrap a rag or something around the shock absorber between the seal and the lower coil spring seat to prevent damage from the compressor clamps. Slide the coil over the strut, making sure to have the flat end of the coil facing down so that the notch in the upper seat can line up with the upper coil end. I used a pair of vice grips to hold the spring firmly in place against the lower coil spring seat. Compress the coil spring again, making sure it stays straight and that nothing comes into contact with the shock absorber rod. once the spring is compressed enough that its upper end is just below the top of the dust guard, install the rubber and the metal upper seats, the flat washer/plate, the assembled strut mount, bushings, and spacer, and the cup washer. check to see if there is enough thread poking out to install the two nuts. If not, you either need to compress the spring more, make sure everything is aligned properly, or apply a bit of pressure to compress all the parts you just slid over the shock rod. It didn’t take me too much effort to get the nut to grab the thread. Get both nuts tightened firmly (I couldn’t find torque values for these so I looked up similar ones and used my best judgement, blue thread locker, and a torque wrench. Sorry, but I can’t remember what I ended up torquing them to. Anyone? I’ve checked on them a couple of times just by feel after driving and it seems fine. WHILE tightening the nuts, make sure the upper strut mount and is facing in the right direction so that you can reinstall it on your car. I did it by eye, holding the whole thing up to the wheel well, and readjusting once, but you are probably better off making careful marks on the mount and the old and new shocks to line up. now release the spring compressor, making sure everything seats correctly as you do so. Reinstall in your car if you’re sure you didn’t forget anything. The three mounting bolts all get the same torque, I looked it up but will have to do so again to tell you here. Clean the parts you reuse and use the right lubricants for each part. Figure out what they are or maybe someone knowledgeable can add them here. I’ll add pictures soon - I have them, it’s just so tedious to share them all please correct or complete this info; it’s my first time replacing a shock absorber.

So instead of uploading pics I realized I could just install the spare stock shock I have in order to solve my immediate problem and take a look at the fit for the 4Runner struts. So I’m gonna share what I learned in a separate post, and keep coming with the latest 4Runner strut questions here.

Loyale 2.7 Turbo‘s suspension improvement suggestions convinced me to try them out - but I‘m not super car-savvy yet and could really use some help doing this safely. I’ve read through all the resources I could find and informed myself on the components of a strut assembly. Here are the main threads that discuss this modification for your reference: To start, I just want to swap the recommended ‘98 4Runner front shocks with my stock ‘90 Loyale rear 4wd shocks, keeping the same coil springs until I source some of those Honda Accord ones and lower the rear diff, and adjust the front to match, etc. One of my rear struts leaked out completely recently, and I’d just gotten the 4Runner struts in the mail, so I guess the time is now! As I understand it, the 4wd rear strut assembly, from top to bottom, consists of: A nut Another nut Upper bushing plate Upper bushing The mounting bracket Lower bushing Strut collar An upper coil spring seat plate/sheet (basically a cup washer?) The upper coil spring seat A rubber upper coil spring seat The rear ‘helper’ or dust guard Coil spring Lower coil spring seat and shock absorber. Here is an exploded view of all those parts: The KYB 341232 shocks for the 4Runner came with a boot/dust guard for the inner rod, a locking nut for the threaded top, and a zip tie to secure the boot. Loyale 2.7 Turbo wrote this about installing the 4Runner strut assembly: The Subie Ones had their Threaded top of Nº 10 mm and the Hole opening on their Base is for a Nº 10 mm Screw; While the 4Runner ones has them Nº 12 mm Screws; So the Subie's Nut on the Base for Nº 10 mm Screw had to be Removed in order to Use a Pass-Thru Nº 12 mm Screw with its own Nut and locking washer. … The Subie's Part for the Shock Absorber's Top shall be Modified too, in order to Accept the Nº 12 mm Screw Size instead the Older Nº 10 mm One, I Just made the Hole Larger; pretty easy! That all makes sense to me. What about the rest of the strut assembly components? Without having removed my old strut (it’s my daily so I have to make sure I have everything to put it back together before I start) yet to try things out, I’m unsure which parts will and won’t fit on the thicker rod of the 4Runner strut. If I need to replace the bushings and their washers, which parts do I order? The loyale ones wouldn’t fit over the 4runner struts, and the Toyota parts are designed for a different type of upper strut mount. I would like to avoid ordering both and puzzling it together if someone can chime in on this. I’ll take off a strut and disassemble it with a spring compressor to see what does and doesn’t work as my next step, with the expectation that I’ll have to put it back together as it is and order the right parts… if you’re reading this now, I am in the middle of uploading pics and adding links to this post. Please hang on a minute thanks so much Jon

4Runner struts arrived last night! Will add pics when I get home tonight. I’ve got questions…: 1) the skirt/base for the coil spring (a bell shaped piece of metal) seems to be press fit against a widened section of the shock absorber, but on one of the two that arrived, it is loose (I can slide it off the shock absorber). it looks like it just needs to be pressed into its seat evenly, but I’m not sure how I’ll do that yet. (Whacking it into place with a pipe and a hammer? I’m pretty sure it needs to be snug before I put the coil spring on it, because the pressure of the coil spring, once assembled, might not be enough to push it firmly into place, and it may not be pressed down evenly.) Any ideas? 2) The ‘helper’ and other parts that hold the top of the coil spring: do I need to replace those oem parts with ones that are specific to the 4Runner shock absorber? I’m not sure if there are other parts in general I need to swap out? please advise again, pics tonight. thanks!!

Another update: 1) I understand now that none of the models in this catalog are exactly the loyale, for example the oil pump part numbers listed here go from 15010AA001 to 15010AA014, and the loyale oil pump part number is 15010AA016. I believe the suspension components I cross-checked all have the same dimensions, but potentially different capabilities? 2) I sent Scott at SJR lift an email to figure out a lift kit for lowering the read diff and adding blocks to the front suspension. I need to reread the original suspension improvement writeup for details, but for now, I’d appreciate any thoughts on the height needed for the lift kit components. Will it be best to wait until the rear suspension is swapped out and measurements can be made directly, or do you folks have a pretty good idea of what’s needed already? I don’t fully understand the math of ride height as a factor of spring and strut combos, but I won’t mind doing it myself if someone can explain it…. Thanks. Jon

Ok, here is an update. It looks like the 2wd front struts (with longer travel) for the dl and gl station wagon are the 7th and 9th entries on page 232 posted above, p/ns 21032GA 431/441. according to partinfo.org, here are the equivalent parts, so have fun tracking yours down, I know I will: ====== jon

Here comes the next guy, I‘m planning to follow your lead on these suspension changes, as well. My stock 4wd rear strut blew out a while back… 1990 Loyale s/r 5MT. I‘ve ordered the KYB Toyota struts and am getting all the other parts together. Here‘s the plan, input would be appreciated. I‘ve read through just about everything multiple times now. rear: KYB 418232 Toyota 4Runner struts stock Subaru coils for now, until figure out the rear diff drop to accommodate stiffer coils (will switch to used Honda Accord coils) New strut boots front: KYB 233023/233022 GL/loyale 2wd front struts OR XT front struts Used 1990-1994 Ford tempo coils I‘m still figuring out how to properly use all of the Subaru resources online - cross-referencing with other makes and model part specifications is a bit beyond me. So, I have some questions for the experts. Here are the front and read suspension pages of the parts catalog for reference (from classic Subaru network). If the terrible formatting is confusing you, refer to the page numbers at the top right: Front suspension, diagram and part numbers =========== ============ ============ ========= rear suspension, 4wd: ========== =========== 1) Ok, so if I swap in the Toyota struts, apart from fitting the m12 holes in the strut to the m10 mounting holes on my car, and getting the coils onto the struts, do I need to change any other parts? (Numbers 4-16 in the REAR SUSPENSION diagram) I want to put new boots on, and replace worn parts, but are all of those parts transferable to the Toyota struts even though the rod is thicker than the Subaru strut‘s rods? 2) If I put the stock Subaru coils on the toyota struts, that will work but isn‘t ideal, correct? Adding the Honda Accord coils will require dropping the diff to preserve the CVS, correct? 3) what are the spec differences for the various Subaru front struts for 2wd ea82s? How are the wagon/gl/dl/xt 2wd front struts different from each other? If no one has this info I can figure it out myself…would rather not though!! 4) If I swap my 4wd front struts with 2wd front struts (they are longer, correct?), everything else stays the same, correct? Do I need to change any of the other parts on the FRONT SUSPENSION diagram? It seems not. 5) If I swap my 4wd front struts for 2wd front struts, I can reuse my current coils, correct? replacing them with used Ford tempo coils will stiffen and slightly raise the front compared to using the stock coils, correct? 6) with Toyota struts and Honda Accord coils in the rear, the rear will be raised about two inches - if I don‘t lift the front for a while to go with it, will that put unwanted stress on anything? 7) which of the models that this parts catalog lists is closest to my car? It does not list loyale, only the older l-series names, even though mine is a 1990. where they producing dl‘s, gl’s, and loyales in 1990 or is that the exact same thing? my understanding is that I should look at 1990 S/R 5MT DL parts in this catalog for my 1990 S/R 5MT Loyale? Thanks a million, lots of pics to come

Thanks for clearing that up, Bennie. That was exactly where the confusion was. The oil in my car’s transmission was pretty clean and there were very minimal shavings, and I haven’t changed it in the 20000 miles I’ve driven this car. Not sure if it was flushed right before I bought it, but I guess that’s a good sign in any case. I added a half quart of rislone engine treatment to the new gear oil after much back and forth. Based on all the responses on usmb about it, I figured it’s worth a shot. Definitely runs better now. But because it feels cleaner, the resistance (accompanied by a light clicking sound) going into and out of fourth feels a bit sharper. Reverse is much easier to get into now. (Before I usually had to shift into a different gear and then into reverse for the gears to mesh.) I feel like I read somewhere that rislone can just stay in there permanently. Sounds unnecessary, but if it’s true, I’d love to run this gear oil a while before chucking it out…hoping someone can chime in on that. so, do I need to ‘flush’ the transmission with rislone, or can I just ‘change’ the fluid with gear oil + rislone? terrible shot of the dipstick level; it was full and looked clean (like I probably didn’t even need to change it, huh.) huge relief to see this drain plug looking so fine The previous oil, I wish I knew what kind it was. Pretty clean, looks darker at the bottom in this picture than I remember it being…

Hi all My first Subie was a rust bucket 05 legacy from New Hampshire. Glad I switched to 3rd gen a couple years ago! Got it at 194k miles from a Garrett who drove it as a bakery delivery car in Port Townsend, WA. Before that it belonged to a tractor mechanic in Oregon. He named it Dixie and that has stuck so far; I was driving through Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon when I hit 200k miles, and lo and behold, two bends down the road, I passed ‘Dixie Campground.’ That pretty much set it in stone. Dixie sat for 8 months after I bought it, since I was overseas. Started right up after a battery charge and a few tries! Since then I’ve started working on it. This is my only car and the first I’ve worked on, so you can expect a careful approach from me. specs manufactured 06/1989 1990 Loyale S.W., S/R 5MT, SOHC SPFI 1.8 L EA82, all stock. 185 tires on stock 13” wheels Ruby Pearl red Panasonic a/c drive belt configuration but with no idler pulley Came with a wealth of printed information and a bunch of parts, from the previous previous owner. Apart from the resources available here and elsewhere online, the are some technician‘s reference booklets and ‚insider tips‘ about many of the common EA82 issues such as lifter tick. Push-Button awd routed to a dash switch b/c the button is missing Seeps oil from left, right, front, and back Called the mechanic on the timing belt change sticker, apparently the last owner didn’t have enough cabbage for more than just the belts (20k miles ago). The covers are seeping oil now and TOD, the HLA demon, showed up a couple months ago, so I want to get those covers off ASAP to inspect/replace pumps, pulleys, seals, belts, tensioners, etc. I‘m preparing for the job atm. I switched to 15w40 but still get loud ticking while warming the engine up. The head or valve cover gaskets (excuse my ignorance) and oil pump are all pretty leaky, so no surprise. Blew a strut in the snow, so my passenger rear twerks over bumps. I‘m collecting parts for the suspension improvements suggested by 2.7 turbo loyale (thanks for all you do). so far I’ve replaced the: alternator and drive belts headlight bulbs battery spark plugs transaxle gear oil (extra s + 0.5 qt rislone engine treatment) oil (15w40 due to lifter tick) oil and air filters tires (185s) I like this car a lot. The more I do for it, the more it teaches me. Hoping to connect with a couple local folks eventually. Thanks for maintaining such a great community. cheers from Olympia, jon (it‘s pronounced ‘yone,’ it’s German)

Sounds about right, I should have thought of that… I got a smaller belt, will mess with it today. That seems like it would solve the problem - I haven’t been able to find a metric belt length, though. Nothing in the FSM or on parts.subaru; they only list one belt and I can’t find it’s dimensions anywhere for some reason? Any ideas?