Robert M

Geez...that was a quick reply. I had it estimated at around 34-36mm, so that sounds right to me. Thanks! BTW: The reason I found out the wheel cylinder was bad was because a couple of low-life types flew out backwards from their driveway and I had to slam on the brakes REALLY hard to avoid T-boning them. The wheel cylinder piston popped out. Then they flipped me off as they drove away. I saw their car had already been wrecked in a couple of places, too. Thanks again.

How to tell if your 'Older Gen' becomes historic? Maybe in the future when you finally have to cave in and convert it to electric when gas goes over $10 gallon... (Sticks finger down throat) Yeah. Well, maybe then you set up a still and start making your OWN fuel.

All must bow to the Power of Subie! Last week, my wife and I used our 87 GL Wagon to haul five pieces of huge office furniture home that we got free. One on top with blankets underneath. One inside the rear cargo bay. Three trips. I kept three pieces and sold the other two on Craigslist for $500.

Does anybody know the size socket used on the rear wheel nut for an 87 4wd wagon? It's bigger than any I have in my box. I have to replace the wheel cylinder and the wheel nut has to come off. I just don't want to have to buy too many sockets...

Hart's Pass, WA is the highest point possible in this state by car. It's at about 7,100 feet. But unknown to many folks is a much BETTER place to take your Subie in the summertime. Darland Mountain reaches 7,000 feet and is easily accessible. When you get to the top there's plenty of room to camp out, and here is what you can see from there: Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, St. Helens, Mt Baker, Mt Hood, Goat Rocks. In fact, you can view the entire Cascade chain from Oregon to the Canadian border on a clear day. Photo ops? Oh, yeah. And if you like shooting pics of stars and stuff, you couldn't find a place in WA more remote from background city lights. How to get there: Drive to Yakima. Go east on the Ahntanum Road. Where it ends, keep going up until it dead-ends at the top. You'll need a Forest Service map, but the road is okay, a few rough spots but nothing a good Subie can't handle. Center: 46.5139°N 121.2083°W Elevation at center: 2079 meters (6820 feet)

I think the last poster was right about where the leak originates. I will try sealing this area. The windshield itself is sealed up good. They (installers) probably caused the leak in one way or another. Thanks to all of you who answered...

No, the car did not leak before the windshield was changed. (It had cracks) I've sealed up much around it, but the water continues coming in when it rains.

My '87 Wagon started doing a weird leak. I've determined for sure it isn't coming from the heater core or the radiator. The car isn't losing water, but when it rains water drips down onto the passenger-side floorboard from the heater core box. By keeping a close watch on radiator water levels, against the amount of water leaking, I've determined it is NOT from the cooling system. It only does it after a rain. Recent changes to car: Windshield was changed out. Three mph impact to front bumper with a van that stopped suddenly, no damage to bumper. I used clear silicone around the windshield, but it wasn't the glass seal. Next step might be taking down the dashboard. Since you took the time to read this, I dropped in a couple of cartoons as well. What the heck. (laughs)

Last time I had a fuel pump go out on my 87 wagon, it whirred and hummed just fine...but no fuel came through. They can run without actually moving gasoline sometimes. I think sometimes they will still 'run', but can't achieve the needed pressure. This is also why I bought TWO fuel pumps when I replaced it. The other is in my rear storage compartment, just in case it happens again offroad. No pump, you are going NOWHERE. My advice to the guy: Take a quick look at the fuel lines. If they look undisturbed and normal, get a new pump.

Tell us this lifted Brat doesn't smoke excessively or knock, and you got yourself a great deal! Put some wheels on that baby and drive it up to Darland Mountain in Yakima.

For more than a year, it would come and go at different times. That is, the famous 'Subaru Tap' on my '87 wagon. So...I drained out a quart of oil, replaced it with automatic transmission fluid, and drove the car around for about 100 miles. Then I replaced the oil with four quarts and a quart of high-quality oil additive. (name escapes me, but you know the stuff...it's like honey and costs about seven bucks a quart) Tap hasn't returned, car has more power now, and it's been about 2,000 miles.

I think Spiffy's right. Complete tune-up, lean out the mixture, and make sure you take it on a 20-mile zoom down the freeway before you pull into the emissions station next time...

Have you checked the throwout bearing? Sometimes it will also make noise while running and sitting still in neutral, while you hold in the clutch...?

Bucky!!! ALL paint colors can now be matched. Any good shop will take your paint code number, feed it into the mix computer, and get the formula. Some shops look it up in these big catalogs they use. ('One part 2106, two parts 3388', etc.)

Sometimes catching the leak on a clean white napkin can tell you if it's power steering fluid...which will be RED on the napkin.

I almost got arrested at a dealership once. Went into the Nissan dealer and wanted a very simple relay called a 'clutch switch' (has nothing to do with your clutch). They quoted me $75, and trust me...it's not a complex part at all. So I tell the guy behind the counter: "You know, when somebody tries to rob me, I usually have to see a gun or something...otherwise I don't give up the money." At first, he didn't get it, but when he did, he just gave me this blank look. I told the other people in the line that the dealership was gouging people and they were nothing but a bunch of crooks. He told me to leave, or he was calling the cops. So, I left. Went to the wrecking yard and got the switch for two bucks.

That's one heck of a heavy-duty bumper and hitch you have on that rig. I like the rings, especially. Some years back, I was with three other guys in a Corvair, cruising around Vashon Island when the rear wheel caught fire. We all jumped out and ran, until we remembered that Unsafe At Any Speed Corvairs have the gas tank UP FRONT. (ha ha) We tossed dirt on it until the fire went out. Then we walked back to the house and told the owner of the car what had happened. Oops...

He says THIS at the website, which I found humorous, and TRUE:

Power steering might get in the way on repairs, and suck a bit of power from the motor, but I would rather live with that than the alternative. It makes it easy to turn around on tight Forest Service roads.

In that picture above. Ha...you can see it was a Mitsubishi, anyway. So who cares? If it were a Subie, we could all feel bad. But that wouldn't happen, since the Subaru would have simply JUMPED over the hole...right? The worst I ever got stuck was definitely last October up near Greenwater in the Mount Rainier area. (outside the National Park, on a Forest Service road) The left side of road just collapsed, and my wagon slid about four feet down, only being stopped from rolling down the side of a mountain by the trees that were in the way. I couldn't get it out even with my equipment and all my tricks. So...I set up camp nearby. The next day, a guy came along in a big Dodge truck and we used my tow chain to pull it out of there.

My '87 Wagon gets 24.5 mpg highway, a little less in town, and a LOT less in 4WD. I use the four-d only when extremely necessary. The rest of the time I try not to run it up much past 3200rpm when passing people. You know how it is. Runs good, but 'a car's gotta know its limitations...'

I know the motor is basically solid, just has an occasional sticking of one lifter. Doesn't happen very often. I will do like I saw in the suggestions on that searched-out thread. Thanks!

It is EXTREMELY unlikely that the head gasket is leaking oil. If it were, the oil would go FIRST down the cylinders, the path of lesser resistance, before going to the outside through the head gasket. And if the oil really was leaking there, it would also get sucked into the cylinders as the car runs. This would cause smoking out the exhaust. Therefore, if the car is not excessively smoking, it probably isn't the head. Oil coming out through a head gasket is a rare occurance. Mostly it will be anti-freeze, anyway. Remember: when you have a head leak, it usually goes BOTH ways, anti-freeze to oil, or vice versa. If oil and antifreeze are clean and not mixed, it usually isn't the head.

About once a month, my 87 GL Wagon does the infamous 'Subaru Tap' for a minute or two. I know it's a lifter, but I thought I remembered reading on this forum a long time ago that this happens. Anyone know why?

I have an 87 GL Wagon with A/C, power steering, and dual-range. Present motor has about 40k on it. It's all stock, no mods. No real problems under the hood. Clean wiring, many new parts. Absolutely no fluid leaks anywhere/ Cracked windshield, no radio, hole where radio is supposed to go, dent at bottom of passenger side door where I forgot to move an offroad log offroad enough. Back brakes will have to be done soon. Slight exhaust leak at back of muffler. (hole about the size of a dime). A few small tears in the headliner near the back of the car where I tried to cram in a little too much camping gear. The only annoying thing it does is the occasional 'Subaru Tap' that comes around about once a month or so. I know there was a post here a long time ago about this, but I forget what it said about WHY this occurs. I guess that's about it.