HELP!!!New Loyale owner...what should I know about these vehicles 1992

[vespa93103]

HI

I just bought a 1992 Loyale.

What are their tendencies?

What about the timing belt?

It is getting a little hot going up long steep hills, any suggestions?

Mike

[87glsubie]

well from my experience with mine its way under powered( its a carb model hah thats why). mine had an overheating problem forever i was gonna freak da fack out. changed the water pump, thermostat, flushed the block still overheated. well turns out i just needed to flush my radiator and that did the trick. when you go to fill it with water raise the idle to like 2-3 grand, jack up the drivers side of the car like 2 feet higher off the ground, let it run for like 15 minutes holding pressure on the hose everytime you add coolant so the air bubbles go buh bye. thats what id say it is. hell it might just be normal for it

[hardtail_pride]

What tendencies do you want to know about? They tend to be slow. Yes it has timing belts. Two of them. Hope this helps

[Logan K]

if its getting hot, install another cooling fan. the timing belts have a tendency to fall off, at least on both of my subies. and using the A/C during the summer can make them overheat, so i would recommend pulling it out.

[TheLoyale]

Have any oil leaks coming from the timing covers? Check/replace oil pump/seal both cam seals/o-rings, crank seal. And you shouldn't have any more for a long time

 

Lifter tick, Add 1/4 can Seafoam to full oil - drive it for a few days and change oil when hot (This way any dirt thats loose, it won't settle again) you can also run ATF fuild in the oil to clean it out (Swap out 1/2 qt oil for a 1/2 gt ATF) then when your all done and have fresh oil in it, add some MMO to the oil. It conditions and also cleans (Leave it in till your next change 5000miles)

 

Use Genuine oil filters, DO NOT USE FRAM. Fram has cardboard end caps which over time breakdown and enter the oil system, clogging oil passages and soemtimes causing internal engine failure if not addressed ASAP.

 

Run Seafoam thru the brake bosster hose, suck 1/2 can or 3/4 can, let the engine stall on it, let it sit for 15-20min then fire it up, it will clean out carbon build up in the cyclenders, and will clean all the air passages.

 

Hope this helps

-Tom

[akc]

IF it is overheating you may want to look into the cause. They do tend to blow head gaskets but also they sometimes spring leaks and the radiators go, in mine (it is a 86 with a EA82 engine) the timimg belts were really no problem when they went out, a afternoon off to put new belts on and fine tune. the head gaskets were more of a bugger but it was do able. Every car has its quirks but subies tend to be easy fixes. The Guts of the car (engine and Tranny can really take a licking) but they can also teach you quite a bit about mechanics the hard way too, Depends on the car) The good is on the average the parts are easy to find and relatively cheap.( some more then my Chevy or Ford and some more expensive but on the average they are cheaper) I think they 92's have a EA 82??

 

Mine the overheating was a leaking hose and it needed a new radiator but because I did not find the leak fast enough it turned into a head gasket job but mine is also 6 years older then yours.

[TheLoyale]

I think they 92's have a EA 82??

 

All Loyale/GL/DL/RX body styles from 1985-94 all have the EA82, Either carbed, SPFI, Turbo, N/A.

 

Unless you live in India and Indonisa where alot of the EA82 style cars had the 1.6 EA71.

[GeneralDisorder]

Best insurance you can get is to inatall a new radiator and replace all the coolant lines, thermostat, and radiator cap. Otherwise you run the very real risk of blowing out a head gasket or being stranded by a blown hose. Cooling system failures are the most common on your engine.

 

GD

[Yo'J]

^^ The water pump has a little hole in it that should look like nothing has come out of it. If it does look like fluid has come out, replace the pump as well. Best time to fully flush the whole system? Anytime!

[torxxx]

Timing belts.. good for 40k miles or so unless u buy subaru brand belts then u get 60-65k miles. Do your self a favor and learn how to do the timing belts urself. it will save you 100's of dollars down the road. I recommend doing the belt right away if they arent new. Do yourself a favor and leave the timing belt outer covers off after you do the belts. You dont need them (I dont care what ppl say on this forum. I've ran mine for 10 years without covers well over 200k miles without covers and never had a problem. Even dropped a screwdriver into the belts with engine at 2500 rpms to see what would happen..)

 

Rear wheel bearings can get noisy on these cars. You can drive them a long long time with bad rear wheel bearings. Do yourself a favor and track down a set of rear disc brakes for your loyale also. they can be found on RX's turbo XT's and any other Turbo soob 1985-1991.

[GeneralDisorder]

I dropped a rag into open timing belts once - broke both of them instantly :-\.

 

I still run open though - 20 minutes to change vs. 3 hours. I'll take the risk.

 

GD

[zoobaru_91]

i've had my 1990 loyale since 2002. got it with 140k miles, it's got 240+ on it now. i replaced the engine soon after i got it....replaced the transmission a few years later 3rd was starting to grind. i was drivin up a hill, down shifted into 3rd, and got a terrible metal on metal grind and no power to the wheels, coasted to a stop, towed it home and replaced the tranny. pulled it out of the driveway, and same metal on metal with no power to the wheels. turned out i ground the wheel hub spines completly off, and the axle was spinning in the hub. still got the old tranny in the garage incase i need it again.

 

which leads me to my point...the biggest issue i've had with my 90 loyale...wheelbearings....lots and lots of wheel bearings. and the most frustrating part, is they require some kind of special tool to get out from what i understand, so everytime i drop $250 bucks at the shop to get them done. since 2002, i think i've installed 6-7 wheel bearings, and one wheel hub.

 

other than that, it's been an awsome car...and the 100k miles i put on it havn't been the friendliest of miles...several trips to Utah from Oregon in December/January, lots of trips to the mountains for snowboarding/rock climbing.

 

the current engine is getting a little tired, so i'm lookin at droppin a turbo into it and see what i can do there. but it's never been one to piin you in the seat from the line.

 

all in all...the best car i've ever owned.

[jrfan]

A lot of really good advice here.

Replace the radiator if you're not sure about it's condition.

The factory single row is barely adequate as it is.

I use Napa gold (Wix) filters.

Timing belts are pretty easy to do yourself, forum member Miles Fox has a great post on how to do them.

I leave the covers off as well and never had a problem.

The loyale is probably the easiest late model car I've ever worked on.

My only other advice is try to stay on top of the rust.

Mine has quite a bit of cancer and I don't live in the rust belt.