azdave

You will be perfectly fine.

I own multiple classics and rarely install extra gauges in any of them. I'll confirm the OEM gauges are operating normally and leave it at that. The KISS principle makes life much easier for me. I don't need to know the exact numbers, only that I'm in a normal range. Engine temperature is all I really monitor closely since I drive my wagon through the Phoenix summers with A/C always cranked to the max. I know from using an infrared gun that 3/4 needle sweep is normal in the summer and about 206F measured at the thermostat housing. In winter, the needle reads about half way and equates to around 190F. For oil pressure, I installed a temporary T with a mechanical gauge at the filter and after a good hot freeway trip with the engine at idle, I still have good pressure. When you have good oil pressure at hot idle, you will always have good oil pressure at any other engine temperature or RPM. Since I have an idiot light for oil pressure, I make sure the bulb is working as I start it each day. If I let the clutch out a little fast and almost kill the engine, I'll see the oil light flicker when the RPM's drop below spec. That's another confirmation that the oil pressure switch is working fine. For fuel pressure, I only check that if I install a new pump. Again, I have installed a temporary port under the hood and confirmed pressure is in spec. After that, I remove the gauge and forget about it.

I'll agree that extra data is fun to work with but constantly monitoring your fuel and coolant pressure in an EA82? I have the ultra basic (no tach) factory instrument package in my 87 DL 5-speed. The coolant temp gauge and the oil pressure idiot light are enough for me and got this wagon to 255K miles so far. Sometimes less is best for simplicity sake.

I could not tell you the part number as the sales history is gone now but it is the same type as listed by several eBay drop shippers that pretend to be legitimate parts houses. The radiator had plastic end tanks. Just be sure the radiator cap and filler neck pair together correctly. If the spring in the radiator cap can move a 1/2" when you push on it manually, then make sure when you install it that it isn't being pushed in any further than maybe 1/4". The relief spring needs room to move after the cap is in place and when pushing down and turning to install my cap, I didn't notice that the spring was fully compressed and therefore had no pressure relief at all. I had burped the system really well so with no air trapped in the system, the hydraulic pressure built quickly as the engine heated. If I'd had some big air bubbles in the system, I probably would have been fine.

My problem was a stupid radiator cap and how it fit (improperly) to the filler neck. The cap seemed to fit great when I installed it but unseen by me was the fact that when it was installed, the overflow relief spring was fully compressed and therefore, would not allow excess pressure to vent to the overflow bottle. It was basically a radiator cap with no safety relief whatsoever. I had just installed a new radiator, new cap, new clamps, all new hoses, new thermostat and new temp sensor but had to stay with the original heater core as it was not blocked and working fine until then. Guess which part split open when the coolant pressure was unable to vent? Note: I bought the radiator and cap from the same vendor who showed them as a correct fit but clearly they were wrong. Moral of the story here is to carefully check the fitment of your radiator cap to the filler neck. Half the stuff being sold online these days shows as "compatible" when it isn't and it cost me a heater core repair, which is a nightmare. After that mess, I got one of those radiator cap testers and confirmed that the cap released pressure properly. I also used a caliper to confirm the depth of the sealing ring within the radiator filler neck and compared it to the requirements of the radiator cap.

If it is off by as much as you say, I can't imagine it is going to "settle in". You likely got a set of struts that fit, but not a set that are proper. I had a similar thing happen with new front struts for my older Subie wagon. It raised the ride height noticeably and also gave me excess positive camber that could not be adjusted out. The seller assured me they were correct and he proved it by showing me some cross-reference chart online. The cross-reference chart was a no-name document from who knows where and showed that the same front struts would fit any of the three models for that year, even though the factory clearly made three different versions with different spring rates and ride heights to cover the available models that year.

Welcome back to USMB! I doubt I can help much with questions about your Outback but you never know. I DD a 87 DL wagon and also enjoy my 2003 WRX wagon so that is what I know best. No shame in your new car not being "new". I'll be 66 soon and have never owned a new car in my life and have no plans to ever make that mistake decision. The most I've ever spent on a vehicle was $9500 and only once have I ever bought a car from a dealer. Every other vehicle has come from a private party. The amount of money I have saved by avoiding depreciation and not being in debt constantly, has allowed me to enjoy owning multiple classic cars while on an average salary and being comfortably set up to retire at the end of this year.

My 87 DL wagon with a stock EA82 just popped on the CEL light upon first start today but went out about 100' down the road. I'm at roughly 254K miles. I haven't checked yet to see what code(s) are stored. I hope the light was one of those "service reminders" that really mean nothing. I have not tried to get the DL to pass Arizona emissions since I got it three years ago. I insure it as a classic vehicle instead and get an exemption. Once I put the full new exhaust and converters in place, I may try to run it though the DMV the test just to see if it will pass. It is $17 to have them sniff it and find out.

I have a 4-channel temp reader with a handful of 6' long thermocouples. I put the thermocouple touching the fitting and hold it in place with a One-Wrap style Velcro tie. If doing a driving test, I can temporarily route the wire into the interior past the door weatherstrip and monitor the temps while driving. I also have a set of those wireless A/C pressure gauges so I can watch the high and low side pressures while driving. Too much data probably, huh?

That is only true in a narrow range of ambient temperatures. For you to have read 65 PSI (assuming there was at least enough gas in the system to reach the saturation point) I'm guessing it was about 66F outside at the time you measured the inactive system pressure. You can find online gas/temp charts that show the relationship and values. Adding gas the way you did is a great way to sneak up on the proper fill if you don't know how much was in the system to begin with but don't be temped to "add just a little more". The compressor will cycle on and off for three reasons. Low gas charge, evaporator coil too cold or system overcharge. A compressor cycling because the evap coil temp is too low is the only time it is acceptable to routinely cycle. Cycling due to a low charge is not good because the refrigerant also carries the lubrication oil that the pump needs and an overcharge will wear out your pump and blow hoses. I fill my systems by monitoring the evap coil return line temperature too. When I know I am close to the proper fill, I watch the temp of the fat line leaving the evap coil. You put in a little gas and watch to see if the outlet line drops a few degrees accordingly. You do that a few times as long as the temps keep dropping a little each time. Once you add a little gas and the temp stops dropping, you know you have reached the point that the evap coil cannot boil off any further addition of refrigerant. It's a more nerdy way to do it but I'm in the SW desert and I need my cooling when it is 110 outside. I daily drive my 87 to work each day and driving home in the afternoon on the freeway really loads the system. Your low 30, high 150 readings sound about right for a properly charged system on a day that was in the 70's but you don't mention the ambient temps on the day you did the work. Sounds like you have it dialed in pretty well. Speaking of R134a, a local farm store had 16oz cans of R134 for $5 a can this weekend. I stocked up for sure.

Welcome! USMB has been a great resource to me as well and glad it is still around. I'm grateful to all the contributors throughout the years.

Great! Thanks for the follow up. I hate it when repair threads have no resolution, good or bad.

Yup. Corrosion creates high resistance connections that will heat up and ruin the compression/slip fit of the terminals and then it melts everything around it, all without ever blowing a fuse. I'm okay with the non-electric fan on my DL but it was tough finding a good thermostatic clutch when mine seized up last fall. I ended up finding one at PicknPull from a GL-10. It looked brand new and has been working great.

Here's a new thing to check for if you've come here searching for "fuel pump whine" issues. This relates to a whine that is barely noticed at first but gets worse the longer you drive and yet is quiet starting out the next day. SPOILER ALERT! I thought it was the pump getting too hot the longer it ran but it was actually being starved for fuel. I went to test a new pump on my DL but when I pulled the inlet line to the the pump, fuel barely dribbled out. It should have given me a bath because the tank was at least 3/4 full. I decided to take a look at the inline fuel filter I added a few years ago, just ahead of the pump. Sure enough, the filter was barely passing fuel. I cut it open and found the pleats completely packed with a light gray powdery paste. After the fuel evaporated, the stuff was very loose, fluffy and powdery, almost like talcum powder. I don't recognize it as any type of fuel tank oxidation or corrosion I have seen before and I play with classic cars constantly. I'm used to seeing rust flakes or gelled gasoline gunk but not this weird powder. It was not magnetic. It sank to the bottom quickly when I added gasoline to the powder and stirred it. When I pulled off the filter, I found once again that hardly any fuel was coming out of the line so guessed the filter sock on the end of the pickup tube was clogged too. As a test, I removed the gas cap, to try to relieve any possible vacuum, but that changed nothing. Next, I blasted a bit of compressed air backwards into the line from the tank and after that, I was greeted with my expected gasoline shower and the full flow was restored. I now need to drop the fuel tank and do a flush and inspection to see where this powder is coming from. I might be better off to remove the filter sock from the pickup tube before I install the tank and then be sure to change the external fuel filter every 5000 miles or so. At least that way, I would not have to drop the tank again if the powder continues to be an issue.

If you had air conditioning and turned it on, the A/C fan would then be fed 12 volts but the fan would not run unless that same coolant snap switch was closed. At that point, both fans would turn on and off together as needed. I'm confident the extra Y/W wire would have been used to provide the switched ground connection for the A/C fan you don't have. My 87DL is different. It has a fan belt driving the radiator fan (with old style thermostatic fan clutch) and it is always on of course. The electric fan for my A/C has a coolant snap switch to provide a ground connection when needed. My wagon is pretty much my daily driver here in Phoenix and used all summer long. I see about 3/4 scale on the factory temp gauge (not known for accuracy) and I have never had an issue with running hot once I installed an aftermarket single row to replace the heavily clogged OEM metal radiator.