TomRHere's '88 GL 4WD Wagon

[TomRhere]

Any free-flow muffler would help. Lot's of different ones on the market, so choice is up to you. Different muffler designs will give different exhaust note.

 

When I installed a glass pack under the '85 BRAT the same way I did on this Wagon, straight pipe in place of stock muffler, it had a nice burble at idle, sounded pretty good going thru the gears sitting in it. But it wasn't the same sound if you were listening to it going down the road. Listened to it a few times as Christopher drove it,  way different sound outside vs. inside, as in quieter.

 

Another BRAT had Xcellerator Turbo mufflers under it on home made dual exhaust with roughly 30" of pipe after mufflers exiting in front of rear tires.

Loud, real loud. Think Harley with half-pipes on it loud.

 

Few Members on here are running Flow Master mufflers on theirs. Thought of doing that myself, just haven't bought one yet.

 

Ran my '88 XT6 with a pipe replacing the rusted out muffler. That,, sounded,, so good.  

[l75eya]

Wow, sound like you've been busy! Best of luck with the drive shaft, I have to service mine soon as it's begun intermittently squeaking. Amazing with the laundry list of incorrect parts! I feel for you, now I know it doesn't just happen to me!!

[TomRhere]

Yeah, this Wagon has kept me busy in one way or the other.

 

Got driveshaft done with all "New" u-joints, just haven't installed it yet.

 

Wrenching done today was rear brakes, "New" rotors/calipers/pads.

 

Be installing the rear diff and axles tomorrow, do test to run checking for any anomalies.

If that proves good, install front half of driveshaft, repeat test run.

If that's good, install rear half of driveshaft, switch trans back to FT4WD mode, (currently have center diff locked in), repeat test run.

 

Really wish this here laptop would allow me to attach pics.

Rotors on the rear look so bad, you need to see it yourself.

 

When I 1st installed the 5-lug discs on the rear, they looked cruddy. But I thought a few brakes applications would clean them up.

That didn't happen, even with repeated bleedings of the system. Was like rears weren't really working, though I could lock them up on loose stuff.

 

Do know, after the past few days of being under the Wagon, I really need to get after the rust that's starting to show.

Got that penned in for warmer temps though. Not a good thing to fill garage with explosive vapors while heating it with a torpedo heater.

 

Good thing yesterday was somewhat warm whilst repairing gas line leaks on the '07 HHR. Didn't need heater.

 

Just gotta love road salt............................................ NOT!

[l75eya]

Ha! I drive an Heritage High Roof for work! It's a cargo version though, no seats in the back, no windows on the sides. I hate it. Runs fantastic, but I just don't like it at all. Best of luck with the test runs!

[TomRhere]

Yeah, I hear you on the HHR. I really like the looks of them, but I don't fit the driver seat all that good. I sit to high, and have to have seat all the way back for my legs to be somewhat comfortable. Really don't like all of the built in blind spots either.

But Del loves it, she fits it well

Will say it was better than expected as far as comfort goes on the trips we made down to the Lexington, Kentucky area.

[TomRhere]

Ok. Been out here in the garage for the last 2 hours. Brought this here laptop out with me so I could reference things.

 

Rear diff and axles are back where they belong. Lot of crud layered on the wheel axle stubs, fun getting that all cleaned off.

 

Back on her wheels with everything at proper torque.

 

Mileage on it is 265,574.4

 

Time to put a few more miles on her, see how new brakes and such are.

[l75eya]

Amen on those blind spots. Trying to turn on to 7th Ave here with thousands of people crossing the street at noon is not fun. It is a comfortable truck though, for me at least, though I'm pretty short. I can't say enough about the motor though. It's very anemic, especially with the ac running, but it's very smooth.

[TomRhere]

Yeah, Step-Daughter has an '07 Pontiac G5, aka Chevy Cobalt, same platform the HHR is built from.

Jen's G5 has same engine/trans as the HHR does, but it will definitely run circles around this HHR. I no understand....

 

 

Anyways, back on the topic of SUBARU....

 

Took Wagon for a 6 mile jaunt.

WOW!!! Brakes are much improved!!!!

 

BUT,,,,,, it seems I suck at doing wheel bearings.

 

Had scrapping sound from Left rear, got it back in the garage up in the air, wheel off. Rotor is rubbing the upper part of the caliper mount.

Checked things over, and there is some play in the bearing.

 

Attempted to tighten the inner bearing retainer ring some more, it don't seem to want to move any.

Axle nut is torqued to 145+, new nut, cone/convex washers.

 

I don't know.........

 

Tad over 17,000 miles since I installed that bearing.

Edited December 30, 2014 by TomRhere

[TomRhere]

Just ordered new bearing and seals, be in tomorrow.

 

More money spent I don't have.

[TomRhere]

Well, got out there at 8 this morning after picking up the new bearing and seals. Tore it apart, cleaned up the stub some more, installed bearing set back where it belongs.

 

Went to install inner seal, and I have the wrong one. Typical...

Number on package was right, someone stuffed the wrong seal in it. Turns out it is another outer seal.

 

Trip back to parts store, no got seal, ordered replacement, be in Friday.

 

On the way home, said heck with it and stopped at different store. They didn't have it in stock, but sister store did. So I went there and got it.

 

All back together now. But it seams to be still rubbing. Haven't drove it any, just out of the garage.

 

Thinking I'll pull the caliper back off and hit it with a file where it rubs the rotor. There seems to be a high spot in the caliper itself. Just a small area had rub mark on it when I took it off, and was thinking the small amount of play in the bearing was allowing the rotor to hit.

 

Torpedo heater ran out of juice, so I'm done with garage work until I can get more kerosene. Whole 18* F out there with a good wind blowing and some strong gusts too. Don't take long for me to get to stiff to hold wrenches and whatnot.

 

Just for the record;

 

Bearing # 513056

Inner seal # 224015

Outer seal #225005

 

All National Brand part numbers.

[TomRhere]

Well, it seems the whole back face of the rotor is rubbing the caliper bracket.

 

Pulled everything apart again. I don't have the flat-head screws that hold the rotor to the hub, but that should not make a difference once the wheel is put on.

 

Installed rotor using some lug-nuts flipped so the flat was against the rotor. Tried to install caliper bracket and it really don't want to fit.

 

Measured new against old for the brackets, seemed the same to me. Don't think one could get a good measurement off the old rotors, they are shot, period..

 

Said the hell with it, took both rotor's in to be turned.

Can't think of any other reason they don't fit other than they're to thick.

Cheap, "Made in China" rotor's, so I got what I paid for. And then some.

Edited January 4, 2015 by TomRhere

[TomRhere]

Ok, $25.00 later and I have two, Brand New yet freshly turned, rotors.

 

Put them where they belong, installed caliper bracket and they clear. So everything is back together now, and test drive was made.

All is good now.

 

The Machinist that did them said, "I lightly hit the front face to be sure it was true, and then cut the back. Plenty left for a future turning if needed, if they're not in any really rough shape".

 

Was going to put driveshaft in, but called it a day after the brakes were done.

[TomRhere]

No work on Wagon today.

 

Got freezing rain/sleet crap happening.

 

Think I'll stay warm and toasty here in the house and give myself a day off.

 

Well, other than doing things what need done inside.

[l75eya]

Kudos for your persistence. Knocking things off the list little by little. I feel you on the day off because of the sleet and rain. I have to swap some tires around due to a blowout that happened on my way to Pennsylvania to see family where I am now but that's exactly what the day is like outside here as well. Unfortunately I'm leaving tomorrow so I gotta do it lol.

 

Best of luck with the rest of the work. Get some kerosene in that heater, stay warm and dry!

[TomRhere]

Well, the brakes are working better than they ever have.

 

Today, I installed a new CTS and connector.

I cut the wiring off the old one, soldered the leads from the new connector to those and kept the Factory connector in place.

 

Replaced the CTS due to it not wanting to start easily on these single digit/below 0* days we've had lately. Been wanting to flood.

Plus, mileage has gone way bad on me. Usually get to 345 miles before doing a refill, still some left in tank.

Filled it last Sunday, and had to refill this past Thursday. Lost over 100 miles on that tank. Me no like........

 

While trying to get the old CTS out, I decided to pull #1 plug to give me a bit more wrenching room.

Plug is coated with deposits. Light Tan in color, but a bit on the heavy side in my opinion.

Plugs are fairly new NGK's along with fairly new off-brand wires. Got another set of wires I can swap in, so not worried on that.

Will look to see what I have here for useable old plugs, maybe clean those up and swap them in.

 

She really hasn't been running all that good of late. Not liking to accelerate at all once I get up to 55mph. And she's back to not liking hills at all.

 

Hoping the new CTS helps there. If the old one was telling the ECU that's it's colder than it is so it's getting to much fuel, I can see the lack of get up and go.

 

We shall see.

[TomRhere]

Slightly off topic here.

 

But I'm currently getting my new, yet used, tower system up and running.

Been blowing out all kinds of programs and crap.

Not sure where the hard drive came from, but it is loaded to the gills with stuff. Much of it,,, I don't need.

 

Maybe, I can start doing links and posting pics again.

 

Just an old hand me down HP Pavilion, but it's good enough for me if it works better than this here laptop.

Got a box of better goodies for it if I deem it needs it, (probably will, just cause).

Parts came from Christopher's tower when we bought him all fresh new goodies for his. Step-Son Michael is a computer guru, and we took his advice on what to get for Chris's system so he would have one heck of an awesome game system.

What came out wasn't that bad, we just wanted to get him the latest/greatest for his B'day. Whole Family was in on the purchases of needed pieces.

[TomRhere]

The new CTS has helped gas mileage greatly, and driveability has improved.
 
By the looks of mileage driven and level of fuel used these past 2 days, I'm back to the 32 - 34 mpg range.

So far, 1st starts have been good, as in she fires right up and stays running. But, it's also been a bit warmer, upper 20's - low 30's.
 
Not liking any of the plugs I've located, so I'll pick up some new ones come payday.

 

Going to burn a couple of vacation days, give me a 4 day weekend. Do a bit more tweeking of things on her.

Bath is definetly on the to do list, along with a good cleaning of windows.

 

 

Man, this keyboard is way different than the laptop. Going to take some getting used to...

[TomRhere]

Had just over 300 miles showing and roughly 1/8th of a tank on the gauge when I filled it Saturday. Took just under 12 gallons at $2.85 a gallon where I stopped.

Not quite up to what she used to do, but helluva lot better than she was doing.

 

Haven't picked up new plugs yet, and I'm low on cash now.

Thinking I'll just pull the ones in there and clean them up, put the other wire set I have on there also.

 

Saturday was the best day to give her a bath, but there was lines at all of the car washes. Wasn't going to sit around and wait for however long to get my turn. So she still needs a bath. Maybe I'll get it done today, stick her in the garage where it's nice and toasty to dry off. Whole whopping 10* out there right now, not going to get much warmer either.

 

Honestly, I haven't got to much of any of the wrenching I was wanting to do on her, been doing "other things". Such is life...

[TomRhere]

Had a moment of brilliance hit me today.

 

Pulled Wagon into the garage to pull/clean the plugs. While getting out all the tools needed, it dawned on me that there are 6 brand new NGK plugs sitting in the ER27 engine right infront of the Wagon. HA!

 

So, 4 of those got pulled for use. Really looks like the XT6 was running rich the last time she ran. But I hit the plugs with a brush, checked gap and intalled them in the Wagon.

Also installed the NGK wires I got from bratman18. Got some nice pretty Blue bling under the hood now.

 

Seeing as I still haven't installed the driveshaft yet, I decided to swap over to the tires/rims off of the '99 Cavalier. Good tread on all 4 tires, just they all don't match, got two oddball ones. Won't matter if I keep those on the rear, matching ones up front.

Tire size be 195/65/15 for an overall height of 24.98 inches.

Kinda fill the wheelwell, but they don't rub any where.

 

They should last me for a while, good tread depth on all four.

Ran a tape measurer around all of them, and they are within 1/16th" of each other for circumferance.

 

Wife decreed that I run to the store, opted to drive Wagon instead.

 

She was wanting to die-down at stops, even stalled on me when I pulled up to back into the driveway.

OK, now what??

 

Checked codes, got a neutral switch and an O2.

Found that the O2 had came unplugged, easy fix. O2 side of the connector won't hold the wire in, so a zip-tie was employed.

Ain't to worried about the neutral switch thing right now, but I figure I can do a switch on either the brake or clutch pedal to remedy that one. I'll need that anyways if I ever do get the D/R installed, it doesn't have that switch on it.

 

I pulled all four of the fusable links for about 2 hours to reset the computer. We shall see what she does in the morning.

Got to go do the job thing tomorrow, the 4 day weekend is over. Bummer....

Edited January 26, 2015 by TomRhere

[TomRhere]

Yeah, well,,,, so much for that....

 

Idle quality has improved with the new plugs and wires, but nothing else has.

 

I know that putting on taller tires would zap some omph from it, but this is way to rediculous. I can barely hold 55MPH in 5th on somewhat level road. Forget 5th on ANY upward pointed roadway.

Once in 5th gear, there is no throttle responce at all. I can put my foot to the floor, nd it just stays at what ever speed it is.

 

Yea, I know,,, the engine is low on compression, but REALLY?!? It's, that,,, bad?

 

Under 150 miles showing on the Odo since last fill-up. Had 27 showing before work done over the weekend, 2 trips to/from work @ 64 miles each round trip. And I have burnt thru a half tank of go juice already.

NOT GOOD!!!

 

I really need to get the other engine finished up and swapped in, but it's still a few dollars away from being ready for that.

Few dollars?!? Yeah right, couple of paychecks maybe..

 

I am,,, about This II, close to saying the hell with it and swapping in one of the ER27's. I have had no real joy out of any of the EA82 engines I've ran in any vehicle. Some have, ran decent, but not like the EA81's I've ran. And I just loved how the XT6 ran down the road. So.........

[TomRhere]

Since the last post, Wagon finished the work week with just over 220 miles on it. Done burnt thru a tank of gas doing so. Not, a "Happy Camper" over that.

 

Parked it in the driveay and drove the '07 HHR for the duration.

 

Today, I cleaned what was left of the 16"+ snow dump we got here on the 1st of the month off it and proceeded to try to find issue(s).

 

Got a few pages of the EA82 SPFI FSM, so dove into that to help find issues.

Alot of the "possible causes" came out to be bad wiring basically, so started going over the harness.

 

Found bad connection of the ground wires where they hook to the T-stat housing. There is 4 wires, and 2 terminal rings there.

Both of the rings were suspect just by looking at them. Could see what looked like a crack at the base of them. Sure enough was a crack after arguing the bits out to get a better look.

 

So, cut the wires off, strip them back some, clean them up, solder new ring terminal on, replace wires where they go.

Also added another ground wire run from that connection back to the battery.

Have read on here a few times about redoing/adding grounds, so thought was, "Why Not".

 

Called it a day for now. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

HHR is still at the ready if need be.

[TomRhere]

Well, since the last post, the Wagon has been sitting in the driveway for the most part.

Drive it around town running errands, but haven't used it fo the work trips, just don't like the way it runs.

 

So, after a lot of mental arguage, I opened a credit line to get money needed for parts.

Ordered said parts,and received most all of them.

 

So, time once again to redo an engine for it.

Will be completely going over one of the EA82's I have here.

 

Bought rod/main bearing sets, along with crank seals.

New piston rings

Upper end/valve grind gasket set.

Timing belt kit, complete kit.

Disty cap/rotor, NGK plugs.

 

Fairly certain I have the needed block-half seal here for the water passage, as I have bought a couple of complete gasket/seal sets in the past.

(Where one of those should be "hiding", is the question here).

 

Heads will be dropped of at local engine shop for a do-over. I'm not messing with them myself, just don't want to.

 

New oil/filter, gas and air filter, pcv valve, all new hoses and drive belts will be done also, just haven't bought them yet.

 

Will do my best to do pics along the way.

 

If,,,, for what ever reason,,, this don't prove to be a worth while venture.

Rest assured there will be a small mushroom clould appearing over Hillsdale, Michigan.

'Cause ""I will"", buy a case or two of dynamite, set every EA82 engine piece I have here on top of it, and lite the fuse".

Trust me on that one..........

[l75eya]

If,,,, for what ever reason,,, this don't prove to be a worth while venture.

Rest assured there will be a small mushroom clould appearing over Hillsdale, Michigan.

'Cause ""I will"", buy a case or two of dynamite, set every EA82 engine piece I have here on top of it, and lite the fuse".

Trust me on that one..........

 

 

lol! I hope it doesn't come down to that! Best of luck with all the work laid out ahead of you.

Also, on the HHR note we were discussing before, boss' trans went in the HHR in the middle of the lincoln tunnel during morning rush hour. 37k on it. Scary. Might want to get away from yours when you can, but I can say that the one we use here for work does get the ever loving **** kicked out of it during the work week driving around manhattan. Heavy heavy accel, start, stop, start, stop, etc. Dealer said it was the clutch-packs. Lots of metal in the pan. Boss is thinking of trading it in. It's an 09.

[TomRhere]

 

 

Also, on the HHR note we were discussing before, boss' trans went in the HHR in the middle of the lincoln tunnel during morning rush hour. 37k on it. Scary. Might want to get away from yours when you can, but I can say that the one we use here for work does get the ever loving **** kicked out of it during the work week driving around manhattan. Heavy heavy accel, start, stop, start, stop, etc. Dealer said it was the clutch-packs. Lots of metal in the pan. Boss is thinking of trading it in. It's an 09.

 

WOW!

Shouldn't have lost the trans that soon, mileage wise.

Then again, it's a trans for a car, not a work truck.

I really don't see why GM decided to make the HHR's as a "cargo van" with the engine/trans combo available in them.

 

That said;

a rear wheel drive with either a V-6, or V-8, would have been a "Killer Idea"......

[TomRhere]

I've dug out 2 other EA82 short blocks I have here, and pulled the pistons from them.

Both sets, "look", to be the same design, but the calipers will tell the tale on that.

 

Both sets have siezed oil rings also.

What up with that?

 

This weekend, I'll get the '86 FWD Sedan's carbed motor dugout and on the bench, tear it down to see what is up with it.

Has somewhere between 185,000-190,000 miles on it.

No clue on it's condition, as it was towed to my place without an intake on it, never heard it run. It's still all together other than the intake.

Was bought as a parts car from MilesFox, he towed it here from Wisconsin.

I tore it apart soon afterwards.

A few of it's goodies are still hanging around out in the garage, and the shed.

 

More later.