TomRHere's '88 GL 4WD Wagon

[TheLoyale]

I hate those clips, they always seem to break. Took me a while to find some for the fenders that weren't broke.

 

Epoxy! :-p

[TomRhere]

Yeah, they do like to break, especially when you're wanting to save them..

 

It looks like the offending door hit was in the direction needed to spin the clips out of the channel of the trim. Basically, opposite of how one would install the clips in the trim.

 

Attempted to use one of my o-ring picks to get the clips back in the channels, without having to remove door card.

That, ain't happening....

In order to see what I'm doing with the lower area, I have to twist the top area outwards. Can't work clip enough to get it into the upper track. Risking breakage...

Then, there's 4 clips to deal with.

 

Ohwell, pulling door card isn't that big of an ordeal.

[TomRhere]

Well, showing a tad over 200 miles driven since the oil/filter change.

Cotton-pickin' TOD is still there..

 

Guess I'm going to have to tear into it more. Dadburnit!!!

[TomRhere]

More grief!!

 

Heater fan control switch is giving up the ghost.

 

I've only had speeds 2 & 4, and was thinking that the resistor pack was the issue on 1 & 3.

NADA!

 

Started it up yesterday to defrost windshield, fan running on 2. Get back out there after about 5 minutes, still frost on windshield. Say what.......

Get in to find the fan isn't running.

 

Turned it to 4 and had a brief "ok, it's working". Then it quits again.

Play around with the knob some, and it wants to work. Kept having to switch it betweens speeds on the way to work.

 

On the trip home, Chris messed around with it, just to see what was up.

Found that if you pushed in on the knob, fan would run.

Even got the #3 speed to work doing so.

 

Been wanting to swap the dash out for the Brown one from the '92, just haven't had the needed time to do so.

Mode selector buttons don't like to change all the time, and now the speed switch is Fubared.

Looks like that will be happening this weekend.

 

Wish I had a new heater core here though. Be a great time to swap it in. But I do get great heat out of the one that's in there now, so....

 

Maybe I'll pick up a jug of White vinegar today, fill the core from the '92 with it, let it do it's thing for the duration and see how the core want's to flow water come Friday.

[AKghandi]

if you point the heater selector at the 4 and wedge a quarter and a nickle or 2 quarters under the knob opposite the 4 it should work indefinitely. Thats what i do. mine only works on 3 and 4.

 

or you can try rebuilding the switch. its pretty easy but there are 2 ball bearings inside, one about the size of a bb and one thats 1/10 that size. one rides around the outside, but i dont know where the other one goes. i lost it.:-p

 

the contacts on the inside get hot and melt into the plastic or get corroded. the springs get weak also, the spring from a bic lighter works if you trim it.

[TomRhere]

Ha..

I tried wedging coins in behind the switch on my way to work this morning. Got no joy out of that,, at all.

 

Didn't need to defrost the windshield this morning, nice balmy 44* out at 4:50 AM. But it did get a tad chilly going down the road, so I tried a few "tricks" with no luck.

I put it on #4 and just pushed the knob in every now and then to get some heat flowing around the cabin.

 

Did notice on the trip home tonight, that the fan did want to stay running on #2 setting. Left things alone in the hopes that it'll do the same in the AM.

 

With having the fan work by pushing on the switch knob, does make it sound like things may have gotten a tad warm inside of the switch.

245,XXX miles of use may have something to do with that.

 

I did fully check things over on the '92 parts Wagon after I got it here. Heater fan worked on all setting, hell, the AC even worked.

 

Plan is to do some serious wrench/screwdriver turning Friday, Saturday, finish things up on Sunday. Got a few quirks that the colder temps have brought out. Squeaks, rattles and the likes mostly, but they be annoying .... So time available, I'll look into quieting some of them.

[TomRhere]

Things didn't go quite as planned. Wasn't a good weekend to be wrenching out in Mother Nature's garage.

 

Did manage to swap out the heater controls though. Both the fan speed selector and the mode selector are now functional again.

Mode selector that came out was broke in several places, no wonder it didn't work right.

 

Popped the hood and gave everything a look over.

Looks like I get to swap PS pump again. Appears that the shaft seal is leaking on this one.

Losing coolant somewhere. Overflow was empty. Pretty sure it was at the Full mark when I did the oil/filter change 1st part of the month. Pulled the cap on the radiator, it's full at this time.

Need to pick up more antifreeze, none here. Did look engine over for signs of leakage, no "obvious" signs of leak.

Could be that there was an air bubble in it still from when I replaced a bad hose a few weeks back. Don't know. Will keep an eye on it....

 

Pulled the PS door card, popped the trim clips out and re-attached the trim.

Had to pop the door card loose again, after I remembered that my needlenose pliers where still inside the door. D'OH!!!

 

Should have hit the carwash on Thursday, as it was a nice day. Need to get the mud washed off it from the (muddy) dirt road I went down the other day. 1st time I've been down that road, and it was one greasy mud run.

Edited November 26, 2012 by TomRhere

[TomRhere]

Swapping out the heater controls didn't fix one issue I was hoping it would.

 

If I set it to anything but defrost, I get cold air out of the defroster vents.

Has to do with a door/flap not shutting. Only feel cold air while moving, so it's being pushed in by pressure difference.

Had that issue before, was hoping it was the mode selector.

 

Got the '92's heater box to look things over on, see what part I need to focus on.

 

It is nice to be able to select different modes, fan speeds without having to argue with it anymore.

[old sub freak]

Hey Tom,I'm having fan trouble on my daughters 1990 DL.It only works on 3 and 4.Now is the mode slector the little pig tail,wire coil thing at the bottom of the heater fan assebbly?I took that out and it seemed ok.I remember a few years back having fan issues and I replaced the broken mode selector,I could see the coil was broken and i think that fixed it...mabey??It was awhile back... Any thoughts? Thanks ,Todd the OSF

[TomRhere]

The mode selector is where you switch between defrost, heat, vent, AC.

 

You're talking about the resistor pack for the fan speeds.

 

If the coils on it are in good shape, then the problem lies in the fan speed switch, or the wiring between the coils and the switch. Most likely the switch is worn out for the lower speed settings.

[TomRhere]

Finally broke down and bought new drive belts.

Took Jeszek's info for the belt sizes. Gates 7375 for the inner, 7440 for the outer.

Inner belt needed to be worked around each pulley, and into it's proper running spot, as it's a tad tight.

Outer belt went right on.

 

Dug out the heater assembly from the '92 Wagon, and looked it over, trying to get a good understanding of what does what and when.

Went over to the '88 and fired it up, played with the heater controls, trying to see if things were moving as they should.

Bi-focals don't work to well for that.....................

 

While playing around with the heater, I noticed the light on the ECU flashing. HUH??

Both the Green and White code read connectors are unplugged......

 

Got a 34 and 51. EGR circuit and neutral switch circuit.

 

Neither of these codes have shown when trying to read codes with connectors plugged together.

 

So now I know why the CEL is always "ON"......

 

Neutral switch is because it's currently un-plugged, easy fix.

EGR circuit will need looked into. May have spare solenoid, but I can get a resistor if needed.

[old sub freak]

Cool,Thanks Tom.I'll look into that.I was cleaning up in the shop today and found one of those "pigtail things" ,aka resitor pack, Only someone had replaced the coils with wire, 3 ,One inch pieces soldered in to replace the pigtails...would that work??? and if it did could it screw things up down the road?? I'll try replacing the 4 speed switch and see what that does and leave the fancy Resistor pack on the wall for display..haha..Merry Christmas(if that applys) C ya,Todd:banana: good luck on your project, got to have that heat!!!

[TomRhere]

Cool,Thanks Tom.I'll look into that.I was cleaning up in the shop today and found one of those "pigtail things" ,aka resitor pack, Only someone had replaced the coils with wire, 3 ,One inch pieces soldered in to replace the pigtails...would that work??? and if it did could it screw things up down the road?? I'll try replacing the 4 speed switch and see what that does and leave the fancy Resistor pack on the wall for display..haha..Merry Christmas(if that applys) C ya,Todd:banana: good luck on your project, got to have that heat!!!

 

If someone soldered plain wire inplace of the resistor wires, it won't work as meant to. All that would do is give you 4 settings for High speed on the blower motor.

[old sub freak]

Figured something like that. It looked exspearamental...Its a good conversation piece now. Take care n good luck

[TomRhere]

Played with the mode selector on the trip to/from work yesterday. Thinking I've found the issue with cold air out of the defroster. Bad vacuum motor, just not sure which one yet. So, back to the '92's heater box for more studying.

 

I did have heated air out of the defroster vent with mode set on bi-level, and a small amount with it on heat. Works great on defrost. But changing it back to heat from defrost, I got cold air out of the defroster vents again.

Something isn't always moving like it should.

 

Do know that there is nothing wrong with the heater core in it. Great "drive you out of the car" heat out of it.

 

Ordered the proper axles to put the D/R 5-speed trans in. Got a DOJ going bad on me. Get a vibration now if I get to happy with the gas pedal in 3rd, especially pulling a hill. Shifter and steeringwheel shake in unison with the vibration.

Should be here Friday.

[TomRhere]

Axles arrived Friday.

 

Shop surprized all of us on Friday also. They posted up on the board that we get 2 4-day weekends for Christmas and New Years. Shocking to say the least.

 

So,, it looks like I shall be doing more wrenching than planned. I see no reason to not put the Wagon in the garage from the 22nd thru the 1st. I can get a lot of things done during that time frame.

Just have to use Christopher's LaSabre for the 3 days of work that week.

 

The '85 BRAT will need to be moved out of the garage, plus some re-arranging of things.

But I can get the engine out and resealed.

Drop the FTAWD trans out.

Get the D/R 5-speed trans resealed, (seals ordered 12-9), and ready to go in. Will be ordering front wheel bearings and seals.

Get the dash swapped to the '92's Brown one.

Maybe, if I can scrape up the funds, get the u-joints for the driveshaft.

[TheLoyale]

All that would do is give you 4 settings for High speed on the blower motor.

 

BUT thats what I want!!!!

[TomRhere]

Well,, none of the previous mentioned work was done during the Holidays.

Christopher's girlfriend Shannon landed a job and needed use of the LaSaber. So I decided to postpone the trans swap and engine reseal.

 

I have however, been doing a lot of small items as far as the "it needs done" things go.

 

Tracked down cause of coolant loss.

Was the o-ring on the supply tube to the water pump.

Never had a puddle under the car to tell me it was leaking, atleast none on the paved parking lot at work. My dirt driveway doesn't show puddles very well.

 

Anyways, started it up yesterday and let it run as I opened the garage door. When I looked back at it, I saw coolant dripping. Pulled it into the garage and looked under it to discover the leak coming from the o-ring.

 

Let the engine run while I looked thru my parts stash to see if I had another supply tube handy. Found one with good o-ring and went back to the Wagon.

It stopped dripping. Say what???

 

Ok, only leaks when engine is cold and running, seals itself as it warms up. Gotcha..

Explains why I didnt have a puddle under it at work.

 

Drained it down, disconnected battery, pulled alt, and replaced the tube. O-ring on the one I took out was hard and brittle. It broke when I tried to take it off the tube.

Refilled the system, replaced alt, connected battery, started it up, only to have it leak again. Aaaaaaaaaa.....

Had to loosen the mount bolt and play with position of tube to get it to stop dripping. Eventually I wound up having to pry up on the tube/bracket junction some to get it to stop completely.

 

Swapped in a good EGR solenoid also. No more check engine light!!!!!!!

 

Replaced rear wiperblade, and cleaned the washer nozzles for the windshield. Cutting torch tip cleaners are so nice to have.... Need to adjust them though, as one stream each from both sides go over the roof. But I now have a good amount of fluid out of them.

 

Rotated tires around, and checked condition of brakes on all corners. Looks like some new front pads are due soon. Those I have, need to get another new rotor to go with the one I have here, (came with the Wagon).

 

Get the fun of re-attaching the weather strip on all 4 doors. Had a day time rain over night freeze this last week. All doors some what froze shut, and pulled the strip off when they were opened. Shame on me for not getting them treated properly before hand.

[Mechanical_misfit]

It's gotta be nice having all those spare parts on hand. After my silver `86 Wagon died of rust, I got rid of the majority of my parts. I figured I was out of the game. You know how hard these cars are to come by. I figured I'd never get another one, then along came The Desert Fox.

 

Good to hear its still treating you well though! I still have a hood for you too, probably can't bring it down until my wagon is back together, but its here and not going anywhere.

[TomRhere]

If it wasnt for the parts stash I have, I wouldn't have a vehicle to drive.

 

Don't have much in the way of extra cash to go buy new stuff, plus they have to order just about everything for these older Subarus. Parts stash kept all the BRATs going too. Some new things were bought, yes. But mostly it's been used stuff.

 

Got the door seals all repositioned and sprayed down with some silicone this morning. Was even a nice guy and sprayed the Wife's HHR doors down.

 

Thinking I'm going to have to swap out the XT6 alt for the alt that's on the '85 BRAT. Have had a whine coming from the alt, and now that I've retensioned the belt, it's gotten louder. Just did an errand run, and it's louder today than it was yesterday before fixing the coolant leak. Not good at all.

 

And James, I wouldn't mind the drive up to your place to get the hood. Just can't cover the cost of gas to do so at the moment. Maybe later this Spring..

[TomRhere]

Do believe I have the coolant leak fixed. Started it up when the clean up buzzer sounded at work yesterday, and let it run for the 5 minutes until the go home buzzer. No sign of any coolant drip under it. YAY!!!!

 

On the other hand though. CRC Silicone spray was not the best thing to use to treat the door seals against freezing to the body of the car.

On/off rain all day Sunday, over night temp dipped down to 22*. All 4 doors were froze shut. Pulled the weatherseals on all of them opening them Monday morning. Aaaaaaa...........

 

I'll get it in the garage this weekend, get the heater going. Scrub all the seals and door openings down, refit seals again.

Go back to my old standby for treating the seals. Cooking spray.....

[TomRhere]

Seems I have either a bent rim, or a bad tire. Don't really think it's a bent rim though, as I always though aluminum rims would break if one slammed them hard enough to bend it like a steel rim. Don't know....

 

Anyways, I've had a slight vibration in the steering wheel for the past few months, accompanied by the shifter shaking some. Got really bad if I went over 58 MPH.

Acceleration made it worse, deceleration lessened it. So I was thinking bad axle joint. Wasn't real concerned as I planned to swap in the D/R and swap axles.

 

Rotated tires front/rear over the last weekend. Vibration is gone now....

Had it up to 75 MPH last night on trip home from work. No vibration at all in steeringwheel or shifter.

 

I'm liking that, but it do have me wondering now.....

 

Something else for me to look into this weekend. :-\

[TomRhere]

Forgot to look at tires/wheels on Saturday while I had it in the garage. I claim "old-timers" on that.

 

Happy to report the coolant loss issue is a thing of the past. Level in the overflow hasn't moved at all.

 

Tried fixing the dash clock, found burnt resistor. One out of the '92 parts Wagon had same burnt resistor.

Anyone have a good dash clock they are willing to sell?

 

Put a "used but better condition" pad on the clutch pedal. Boy, was that an absolute battle. Wound up putting newish pad in some hot water for a few to soften it some, but still. Major arguage getting it on the metal pad of the pedal.

[dhise]

Regarding the clock, try getting a little fresh solder on the pins of that resistor. It's like the old solder oxidizes somehow and doesn't conduct well. I've fixed two clocks that way and both looked like they had been a little warm on that corner of the circuit board.

[TomRhere]

Regarding the clock, try getting a little fresh solder on the pins of that resistor. It's like the old solder oxidizes somehow and doesn't conduct well. I've fixed two clocks that way and both looked like they had been a little warm on that corner of the circuit board.

 

Resistors on both clocks are toasted enough I can't see/read the color bands on them. Don't think a resolder is going to help there.

 

Was hoping it was just a resolder of the power leads to get one to work. Not today....

 

If anyone knows Watt and Ohm of that resistor I would be gratefull.

It's located just below right corner of the display.

By size, I would say it's atleast a 1/4 Watt, maybe 1/2 Watt.