87 Subaru Standard hatchback whacky gauges and shimmy

[alansgoat]

I'm having a weird problem with the gauges (gas gauge and temp gauge).  When the car is cold (outside temp under 60-70 degrees), the gas gauge pegs the "F" (full mark) and slowly over the next few minutes the temp gauge goes from normal to "hot".  If I run the heater and warm the passenger compartment, the gauges sometimes return to normal.  If I drive the car later in the day or on a warmer day, everything works fine.  I should also note the turn signal lights in the dash do weird things as well under the same conditions.  Sometimes they refuse to blink when the turn indicators are used, while other times (when headlights are on) they stay on then both blink.  The outside blinkers and lights operate normally.  While all these weird things happen, I've checked electrical voltage (thinking the alternator might be doing weird things), but all readings are normal.

 

I need to figure out this weird problem.

 

Another odd issue I'm dealing with is a front end shimmy.  I thought the old tires on the car might be the issue, but the new tires only slightly lessened the problem.  I had also checked the wheels for run out (no issue).  I've also checked the movement of the wheels to see if there is worn wheel bearings and/or steering linkage...everything appears to be nice and tight.  I should also note the car had 75k original miles on it and has no indication of any body damage beyond the normal "parking dings".  Since that time, I've run the car up to nearly 82k miles.  Occasionally, the shimmy disappears, sometimes it is mild, sometimes severe.  Engine load and transmission engaged/disengaged has no effect.  Turning the steering wheel sometimes changes the vibration.

 

 

 

 

[djellum]

I would check the hub and CV assembly.  in particular the hub splines, cone washer, and cv boots.  

 

the cone washers are just underneath the castle nut that holds the CV on.  just pull it out and see if there is a pronounced lip on the edge of it.  if so replace and see if that changes things.  they are a dealer only part called the "center piece axle", which comes with a new spring washer as well, but are fairly cheap at around $10 per side.  it doesnt take any work to replace them really, just pull the castle nut off and pull them out to check the condition.

 

while the center piece axle assembly is off check the splines on the hub for wear.

 

CV's can often cause a shimmy even though they seem tight, but I would check everything else out first, delving into the aftermarket CV waters will drive you nuts so wait until you have to.  of course check the boots and make sure they arent slinging grease everywhere.   if you have factory axles rebuild them instead of buying aftermarket ones.

[alansgoat]

The driver's side axle may be factory, but the passenger's side was fairly new so I doubt it is a factory one (I didn't do the work).  I've only replaced one axle before, so I don't recall what the cone washer looks like, but I'll check things out this weekend to see how it looks.  I didn't know there was an issue with aftermarket axles.  The one axle I did do was on my '81 GL wagon (around 189k miles) and I really didn't have a choice to rebuild as the factory axle had been run for over a year with the boot torn and clunked like nothing I've ever heard (one of the reasons I got the car for free, that and the chewed up rotor on the same side plus the crunched front fender and hood).

 

Any thoughts on the electrical gremlins?

[SmashedGlass]

The electrical gremlins sound like three unrelated gremlins. Tackle each one individually.

For the fuel gauge, start back at the wiring for the sender above the tank and check the wiring for looseness/fraying; work forward from there. An unintended ground will cause the gauge to peg out.

Turn signals sound like the relay is getting old.

The temp gauge problem, start with making sure it's not telling the truth and you're actually running too hot! If not, sounds like you may need a new temp sender.

[alansgoat]

 

 

The electrical gremlins sound like three unrelated gremlins. Tackle each one individually.

For the fuel gauge, start back at the wiring for the sender above the tank and check the wiring for looseness/fraying; work forward from there. An unintended ground will cause the gauge to peg out.

Turn signals sound like the relay is getting old.

The temp gauge problem, start with making sure it's not telling the truth and you're actually running too hot! If not, sounds like you may need a new temp sender.

 

 

I can assure you the electrical gremlins are related. All three happen at the same time under the same conditions. That isn't to say the turn signals don't also have issues that compond the problem. This morning (a cool mid-50's morning), I started up the car to find a dim glow of one of the dash turn indicator lights and by the time I hit the freeway (less than 2 miles from my house) the gas gauge was reading slightly above what it did last night and continuing to climb. The interior signal lights did not flash when I used the turn indicators (though the external ones worked fine) and the temp gauge started moving upward. About 10 miles down the road, the temp gauge is nearly pegged "H" and the fuel gauge is reading near "F" (with only about a 1/4 tank of gas). I turned on the heater and defrost, turned off the vent, windows closed and within 4-5 minutes the temp gauge and fuel gauge were returning to normal and the dash turn indicators were working again. So, I turned off the heat, set the temp to "cold" and opened the vent again, as the passenger's compartment cooled down again, the gauges and turn indicators went back to their "crazy" ways for a while until the outside temperature warmed up a bit and the gauges went back to normal.

 

I should mention this car was the proverbial "little old lady's car", which is the reason for the extremely low mileage for a 26 year old car. It wasn't babied and garaged, but it also spent its life in dry and "salt-free" California and Arizona, so there aren't any corrosion issues. I have checked the main engine and body ground connections and found everything clean and tight.

 

I also have one other electrical gremlin that does not appear to be related to the above. The dash lights seem to work when they feel like it. When I got the car, the seller warned about the dash lights not working sometimes. For the first few weeks, I never saw the problem (other than the bulb that lights up "headlight" was apparently burned out). Then the dash lights sporatically went out occasionally and now they rarely turn on. The dash light rheostat appears to work properly brightening/dimming the light that lights up "wiper". I'm starting to think there is an instrument cluster plug issue that may explain this and the other electrical gremlins.

[alansgoat]

I should also mention the first time the temp gauge went to "H", I stopped along the side of the road thinking the car was overheating, only to find everything working perfect and the engine barely warmed up. Therefore, I know the gauge is lying.

[beamsbox]

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but did you ever find out the electrical issue? I recently have the exact same thing going on. I am thinking its the cluster plug too, but it could be an intermittent ground issue too. I haven't noticed the temp affecting mine however.

 

One thing I did notice on mine, the fuel and temp gremlins seem to appear simultaneously with the battery gauge dropping. I know the voltage is good and constant, but for whatever reason, my battery gauge has always been a bit low on the gauge, like say I measure it at 12 and the gauge shows 10. I took the cluster out at one point, I showed a high(er) resistance between the ground on the cluster and chassis ground.... just not sure where that is happening.

 

Anyways, if anyone has some ideas, please share. I'm about to start digging through the cluster schematics.