Urabus

[errantalmond]

Hi all

My first Subie was a rust bucket 05 legacy from New Hampshire. Glad I switched to 3rd gen a couple years ago!

Got it at 194k miles from a Garrett who drove it as a bakery delivery car in Port Townsend, WA. Before that it belonged to a tractor mechanic in Oregon. He named it Dixie and that has stuck so far; I was driving through Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon when I hit 200k miles, and lo and behold, two bends down the road, I passed ‘Dixie Campground.’ That pretty much set it in stone.

Dixie sat for 8 months after I bought it, since I was overseas. Started right up after a battery charge and a few tries! Since then I’ve started working on it. 

This is my only car and the first I’ve worked on, so you can expect a careful approach from me.

specs

manufactured 06/1989

1990 Loyale S.W., S/R 5MT, SOHC SPFI 1.8 L EA82, all stock. 185 tires on stock 13” wheels

Ruby Pearl red

Panasonic a/c drive belt configuration but with no idler pulley

Came with a wealth of printed information and a bunch of parts, from the previous previous owner. 
Apart from the resources available here and elsewhere online, the are some technician‘s reference booklets and ‚insider tips‘ about many of the common EA82 issues such as lifter tick. 

 

Push-Button awd routed to a dash switch b/c the button is missing

Seeps oil from left, right, front, and back

Called the mechanic on the timing belt change sticker, apparently the last owner didn’t have enough cabbage for more than just the belts (20k miles ago). 

The covers are seeping oil now and TOD, the HLA demon, showed up a couple months ago, so I want to get those covers off ASAP to inspect/replace pumps, pulleys, seals, belts, tensioners, etc. I‘m preparing for the job atm. I switched to 15w40 but still get loud ticking while warming the engine up. The head or valve cover gaskets (excuse my ignorance) and oil pump are all pretty leaky, so no surprise.

 

Blew a strut in the snow, so my passenger rear twerks over bumps. I‘m collecting parts for the suspension improvements suggested by 2.7 turbo loyale (thanks for all you do).

so far I’ve replaced the:

alternator and drive belts

headlight bulbs

 battery

spark plugs 

transaxle gear oil (extra s + 0.5 qt rislone engine treatment)

oil (15w40 due to lifter tick) 

oil and air filters

tires (185s)

 

I like this car a lot. The more I do for it, the more it teaches me. Hoping to connect with a couple local folks eventually.

Thanks for maintaining such a great community. 

cheers from Olympia,

jon

(it‘s pronounced ‘yone,’ it’s German)

[KiwiGL]

Nice work. Have put a similar amount of effort into my old wagon. The more I drive it, the more I love it. They're just such characterful old cars.

[el_freddo]

Very clean L @errantalmond! 

On 9/27/2021 at 4:17 AM, errantalmond said:

Seeps oil from left, right, front, and back

That just about sums up the EA82. If it’s not leaking it’s probably very low on oil  

Well done on taking the time to learn. The EA82 is a good engine to learn on. It will teach you all the tricks for sealing an engine successfully  

Also if you can, start collecting some parts - many say the L parts are drying up... 

Cheers 

Bennie