Midwst

the engine valve seals are leaking on my Legacy. if I don't fix it, will it cause any damage?

I think I am leaning towards putting a junk yard tranny in the Legacy and skipping the Loyale. 2 reasons. First, can't afford to sell the Legacy for $700 if buyers discover tranny problem. Second, not really comfortable with the Loyale. I don't think it is misaligned belts simply because the car runs okay...even idles sort of okay, but not perfect. I would expect if the belts were off, it would run like a dead miss....or worse. If TheSubaruJunkie is right, then I may never be happy with the thing, even fixed. Too many gambles. Of course the first junk yard tranny could be a dud and then I'd still be dumping money down the toilet. Sigh. Being poor sucks! The Legacy is paid for and had very good maintenance, except for broken half shaft that damanged the front differential. Tranny pump whines, torque bind is bad.

Talking about a 1992 Loyale, auto, 3At, 25K miles, Sales price $1500. Some rust around wheel wells. Not real bad yet. Thanks MilesFox for the offer. Everything is still up in the air. Very much doubt that timing belt has been serviced. Which is not good. Could easily be streched. I hate buying cars from dealers. never have the info needed. If I knew...it would be a simple decision. I have not sealed the deal. I do not have maintenance records. The fluids are all brand new. too new...if you know what I mean. Idle quality, not great. runs rough at idle, not quite like a miss, just sort of uneven. Sort of reminds me of a car with a bad engine mount, but not quite. Hard to explain. Is it normal for Loayles to have a rough idle? Have not tried WOT power/smoothness Reves just fine. Hits 3000 comfortably. No obvious flat spots in rev range Car struggles to accelerate up hills Absoultely positively would not be able to easily hit 60 mph on an up hill freeway-on ramp. Car cannot get out of its own way, in fact would be a safety hazard on a crowded interstate. Sifts okay...3AT Some pinging or fluttering from engine area, especially in third gear, fully warmed up, under acceleration, higher rpms 35-45 mph range. No obvious signs of head gasket problem, but car has been driven so little, it could have a problem, and just not showing yet. May have been overheated. Who knows! Could have a weak cylinder? Maybe its something simple, but doubt it. Oil pressure rests near 0 at idle, but does not sound dry. Oil pressure rises when moving. I'm told the guages aren't very accurate. Has been sitting at the dealer for a long time. Dealer dropped price by half! One of the problems with being a shade tree mechanic, is that I don't pay attention to obvious warning signs because I think I can fix anything. Actually, I can fix most things, but money is a serious shortage issue and cannot afford to be dumping large sums into repairs. Although the milege seams like a dream, I am considering walking away from this one. Why hasn't anyone else bought it if its such a "good deal?" Why did the previous owner trade it in? My guess is that if the repair was cheap/simple it would have been done. Instead grandma went into debt to buy a 2003 legacy. Why wouldn't she have kept the old car? A head gasket is not a big deal. A weak cylinder is a bigger deal$$. Many mysteries. I have a 91 Legacy with 190K miles. Love the car, but needs a tranny. Tranny has multiple problems. Am thinking about hiring someone to put in a junk yard tranny and keep on driving it. Comfortable car. LOTS of power! Many new parts, including 4 new tires. May have trouble selling it for $1000 as is, tranny problems are starting to become obvious. junk yard tranny, installed is $800. Need to decide Monday at noon. Or stall for time. Dealer is waiting for a check. Think I may go back for a second test drive and take along my compression tester....find a shady tree...and look for myself. I will be a long way from home so I have to be sure to take the right tools.

There are many possible causes. I guess what I am trying to determine is what is "normal". I don't think a 1.8L engine should under perform my 1.0L 3 cylinder Geo Metro!!

Yes, the milege really is 25K. Not 250K. Some very light rust. I talked the guy down to $1500. Which I think is a fair deal. No rust penetration into the car itself. Yes, I may see you guys at the midwest subaru even near DesMoines. But I'm not sure I will drive the Loyale out there. Not a good hwy car in my opinion.

It does have an oil guage, but I have been told that they are not very reliable.

When I test drove the automatic Loyale, the car was miserably slow. I turned onto a really steep hill and it took some time to get up it. The car seemed to work pretty hard to finally get up to 55 mph. The acceleration from a stop light is very slow. TheSubaruJunkie says thats just the way auto Loyales are. Slower than Geo metros. I spoke with another Loyale owner, who says it could be a sign that the car has been overheated and has engine damage. Other people said a possible problem with a restricted exhaust or the distributor. What IS normal for an auto Loyale? I am so damn poor I can't afford to replace an engine...or even rebuild one so I am very cautious. Besides, there aren't any decent used Loyale engines in my area, so I'd have to go reman or have it shipped in.

Does it take any special equipment to run a compression test on a Loyale? Or any special type of extensions? I have a standard compression guage. Think I will run a test on this Loyale before I buy it and make sure its gross lack of power is just a Loyale auto tranny weakness, and not an engine problem.

I guess I will also need tips on what type/brand of auxillary oil guage to buy for the Loyale. I can usually hear if there is an oil pressure problem, but wouldn't mind a back up guage. Are they expensive? I want good quality, but am hoping it won't break the bank.

When searching for a timing belt for a Loyale, should I stick with Subaru OE, or is there an aftermarket brand that is better than others? I have had my share of crap aftermarket parts, so I know brand does make a difference.

I am looking for an auxillary high temp warning light for a Geo Metro and a Loyale. Almost lost the Geo to a rotten radiator. I have a delivery route, pretty hectic, and don't always think to watch the guages. I know there are many brands of aftermarket guages/warning lights. Some are junk. I am hoping that someone in this forum has an idea of what brand to buy...something good quality that will last for many years. I have no idea how such a thing would fit into the cooling system, but my guess is that it will come with directions.

In resonse to NorthWet, here's the questions. On a 1992 Loyale with only 25K miles, should I just go ahead and put in a new radiator as a prevantative measure? Would switching to a Legacy radiator be a good idea? Also, would there be a reason to replace the Head gasket as a maintenance item, or should I wait till there is a problem? Would prefer to wait, obviously, but don't want to crack/warp anything. Plus machining the block isn't cheap I'm sure! I will try to find the maintenance records on the car so I have some clue of when things were done. Speaking of head gaskets, I did notice the the oil was overfilled and had a very slight green tint to it. Otherwise it looks super clean, no chocolate milk. Smells ok. The antifreeze is full and brilliant green. I think its just the brand of oil. no smoke out the tail pipe. Will definately replace the thermostat right away...just in case.

I actually don't know what kind of tranny it has. Haven't picked it up yet. I'm pretty sure its the 3AT because I only felt three upshifts. fluid is bright red. Actually, it should have enough power for me, since for 2 winters I drove my 1.0L geo metro with special order 12" tire chains through 3-4" of snow. If that wanna be car can make it, anything else will be superior. well, maybe not. It is very slow!!! This is a safety hazard on the crowded highways around here. Yes, crowded in Iowa. Any tips on how to be sure the 4wd works, or is it just by feel? Thank you NorthWet for the fantatic details on the tranny. I was going to ask you where the vacuum modulator valve is, but I'm sure I can follow the vacuum hose and find it. I assume the symptoms are a poor running car and maybe problems shifting? this car I'm buying does run a little rough at idle, but not like its sucking fluid. Okay, a little dense here, but what can one do that would overheat the tranny? Can I over heat it by pushing through 4" of snow? or carrying a heavy load?

The only real concern is if the auto tranny will have enough torque to pull me out of a snow bank. 4wd isn't worth much if the car can't pull its way through 4" of snow...which I will ask it to do from time to time. ANyone out there ever driven the 4wd auto in 3"-4" of snow??

Yes, it could be pinging. Sounds more like that than lifters. Only heard once the car is fully warmed up...another reason to look at exhaust noise or pinging over lifters.

Are the auto trannies horrible just because of the lack of power? The car is primarily for delivery work, so I'm not sure its as important. If the trannys crash and burn prematurely, this I DO need to know, especially the gorry details.

THanks. I forgot to check that on my first test drive. Good idea.

Do the Loyale trannys ever suffer from the dreaded torque bind? Seems like the 2wd/4wd system should be pretty sturdy. Any thoughts on the automatics?

Yes this is grandmas car. Don't know why they sold it. Probably because it has no power. Found it at a dealer, as a trade in. The dealer couldn't sell it...I don't know why, so they kept dropping the price. One onwner. Regular maintenance...but based on time or milege...I don't know. I do think the noise is in one of the resonators/mini mufflers or the cat rather than the engine. It doesn't quite sound like an upper end tap. Too fast to be bottom end? Can't do the screwdriver test on the engine, because it only makes the noise under load at higher rpm...like accelerating. I suppose if it is the engine, I can tear it apart, it looks hard to get too, never worked on the flat 4. You guys say its easy to work on, so I'm taking you at your word.

Its an automatic. I did find a really sweet 1993 Legacy with less than 75K miles. Ran like $10,000! But was a stick shift. My knees are so bad I can barely walk...so have to stay with the auto. I have a feeling that the 2wd/4wd tranny is a lot more durable than the AWD legacy tranny. True?

I have been screwed many times by consumer reports. The biggest problem with them is not the black dots, but the white and stripped dots. Black dots are generally accurate...which means I like to know why and what to pay attention too. Does not mean run away, just look both times before crossing the street. Many times consumer reports has rated a car good or okay and it turns out to have major chronic problems. The Geo Metro, Quad 4 engine on pontiacs, the saturn, etc. Should have had harsh reviews, but were pushed off as good. I plan to use the car as a delivery car...in the winter, my subaru is like an IV drip. Can't live without it. I live in fear of it breaking down in winter because I have no garage. Yes, I have been known to put fuel lines in at zero degrees in a down parka and puffy gloves. gotta do what you gotta do. I am not stranger to cars, just want to know what to look out for so I can prevent it before it happens.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure its worth the risk. Because I have to pay for labor, if the first junk yard tranny is a dud, I am in trouble. Being miserably poor has a lot of limitations...like one try and I'm out of money. I think I should let this beloved legacy go to a new owner. Someone who can afford to fix it or run it into the ground. It has many problems...not just the tranny. Someone will pay a grand for it in Iowa. LOL on the midwest parts availability problems. Not just parts, cars too. It takes me months to chase down a "new" subaru. The last one I found 100 miles from my house. The one I plan to buy is in another town 30 miles away. There's another one 1 hour away....probably a pice of junk. You got to love them!

Well this noise is heard under higher rpm and under load, when accelerating. I am pretty sure it is in the exhaust resonater (aka mini muffler) area or converter rather than the engine itself. But the sound is similar enough to a upper end engine noise that I was concerned. I cannot hear it standing still at high rpm.

Well I finally found someone who could tell me what the trouble spots were on the EA82 engines. Sounds like overheating/cooling system and breaking timing belts are the main villans. This I can handle. I was sort of afraid that the Loyale engines were lemons, but it doesn't sound like it...just need some TLC, which I can give. My other car is a 1.0L 3 cylinder Geo Metro. Lack of power is not new to me. lol. If you know of anything else I should be aware of in caring for my EA82 engine, would appreciate the info. Thanks. Maybe a long time before I try putting in the 2.2. Not much time now for such a complicated project.

Actually, I have several posts on the old generation message board regarding this issue and the "black dot" rating. Plus I have heard numerous people say they have had oil pressure problems with their Loyales. I actually hate the 1.8L engine. Doesn't even have enough power to go up a hill! No, I don't consider it rude to explain the whole EJ22 vs. EA82 thing. I didn't know and appreciate the info.