New Subaru Owner

[ViceMan]

Hello All, I just got a 1988 Subaru GL no turbo. And even though I have been only driving it just a few days i like it alot. It looks good, nice straight body, nothing bad. Had to replace the water pump becuase it was leaking, but other than that it almost looks a few years old, not 18 years old with 164,000miles on it.

 

I have a few Questions. First, Is there any way to boost horsepower a bit? I am not looking for like huge gains, but just something that will increase available horsepower. Also Anything I should be aware of, for general Maintence or general care that will make sure that this car keeps going well beyond 250,000 miles +? Any tips on this or anything else that maintains the car will be apreciated and welcome. Also since this is my first car I have bought on my own I would like to be able to keep it in good repair if not better.

 

Thanks in advance for everyone who responds to this Thread.

 

Till Later,

 

ViceMan

[idosubaru]

if you're looking for another reliable 100,000 miles you'd be good to replace the timing belts, oil pump seals, cam seals, crank seal and repack the timing pulley bearings or buy new ones. i do all the stuff at the same time when i go in there, doesn't take long at all and it's all in about the same spot. if the cam seal starts leaking then you're pulling the timing belts back off to replace it. here's a write up i did on repacking the bearings:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50430

it's trickier on the EA82 as the bearings are more hidden than those pictures i posted which are off an XT6. although the XT6 pulleys are way more expensive than the EA82 which led me to doing that to begin with. if you don't want to do all that, leave the seals if they aren't leaking and don't reinstall all the front timing belt covers, leave them open. this will allow easier maintenance if you need to go in there again. personal preference, i and others do it, but some find that appauling.

 

good, clean battery contacts/terminals, radiator cap and thermostats are cheap insurance. the coolant temperature sensor connectors get dirty and cause issue. for now, remove the wiring harness connector from the sensor (it's right next to the thermostat housing i think). look for green corrossion or general dirtiness. that will soon cause problems if it's there.

 

good cooling system - if the radiator doesn't look like it's going to last as long as you plan on keeping it, then replace it. better to replace now and never again than have it blow on you in the next year or two and cause overheating/engine damage. a new one should last as long as you keep the car. 20 year old gaskets don't like to overheat, takes one time to blow your head gaskets and cause serious engine issues. new radiator, water pump and thermostats are great insurance against that.

 

change your oil often. these motors have hydraulic valve lash adjusters. let your oil get dirty and they will get noisey. keep your oil clean and they treat you much better.

 

change your transmission fluid/oil.

[86ruguy]

yay, what he said:banana:

 

and welcome to soobieville

[jeffast]

great taste in cars welcome to the board

[Gravityman]

If you can find a good EA82 turbo engine, do all of what Gary said to that new motor and then drop it in place of your N/A motor. You will get the added power you want and the extra miles. The engines aren't that hard to find.

 

I think everyone wants to start off simple then say to themself "I will leave it stock and keep it reliable with good gas mileage". A few months after working on it you will say to yourself "I will just drop a turbo into it" and then it goes to "now I want a 4 inch lift" and then eventually you will drop a twin turbo in it with a bigger motor and improved suspension. Belive me this is how it went for me and many others here. These cars are very easy to work on and a lot of fun.

 

Welcome buddy!

[subaru_styles]

c'mon guys lets not give him false info

 

viceman-- there is ALOT more work that needs to be done than "just dropping in a turbo motor". it is not that simple.

[pheonix165]

is it carbed or fuel injected? that will affect the type of direction that you want to go for a "little more power". if its carbed a decent weber can be had but some modifications are needed to install it (which is why i haven't actually done it). if you have fuel injection, i'm jealous if you do, a simple pod filter is a good start. and a fart can usually works regardless of which engine you have.

 

after that you have an engine swap to a turbo or if your really feeling on the adventurous you can do an engine swap to an ej series, a simple adaptor and some wire harness work and you'll be back on the road in no time. the ej22t is something that i would look at but the ej20 is the most likely to fit into a reasonable budget (if budget isn't that big a faze 2 ej25 would be awesome but i don't see that happening anytime soon)

[ViceMan]

Wow, so many responses in so little time. So to answer a few Questions.

 

1. Although I am mechanically inclined, I am not the type of person that can just drop in a turbo motor. And Subaru_styles I do know its more work than that, but thanks for the tip, although for some people it might be that easy.

 

2. It is Fuel injected. I know this for a few reasons. no huge round air filter on top of the engine. I can spot fuel Injectors. And the most un-subtle one, The person who put in my new water pump told me so.

 

Question: What is a pod Filter?

 

Now I know some aobut cars but most of it is for domestic U.S. cars. I can tell you if an engine is good or bad, what could be the problem by listening to it, Spot obvious problems and other things like that. When it somes to foreign cars I am not lost so much as not sure how things should be. Some of it is common sense, but some things you just need to ask questions. So Here I am. Seriously though, the First Time I heard of an engine that had a configuration known as Horizontally opposed was when I got this car. BTW Can I get a Cold air induction unit put in? and What sort of exshaust system would any of you recomend for releiving some of the back pressure and there for increasing horse power? One more thing before I go. I am thinking I need to replace the front shocks/struts. What would you guys recomend for any of the above? Oh BTW, the car still had the Manuel in the glove box, something that really surprised me.

 

Till Later,

 

ViceMan

[NoahDL88]

Depending on if your car is an XT or not, you only have one fuel injector, not 4. and despite what anyone says, if you have the SPFI manifold, don't under any circumstances get a weber, its 10 steps back, and you loose power.

 

I'd also avoid any aftermarket type foam or oiled type filter such as the K&N, you wouldn't belive how many turbos get dusted and then consequently not covered under warranty because of K&N or equvalent style air filters. on my rigs, OEM air and oil filters are the only way to fly. Besides, under flow bench testing, the K&N nets only 2 CFM at max valve lift, which on a good day is still less than 1 hp advantage.

 

 

If you're looking for HP, get a cat back exhaust, 1 7/8 is about as big as you'll want to go, or you'll loose all of your low end torque, which is the only thing that makes stop and go traffic bearable.

[manxsta]

Hi Vice man, 1 product i would highly recomend is..slick 50 or nulon e30..these products are pure teflon,and provide superior protection for 80000k..500ml is all you need to treat your engine..at around $30 and after 1500k your engine is fully protected...they did some test,s where they drained the oil of a treated engine and drove it with no sump plug..or oil pressure..and no oil....for 1000k and the engine did not sustain any damage...proven test,s,reduce friction producing more power and runs smoother ,cooler..anyhow..thats one more option ..cheers

[MilesFox]

ditch the muffler and add a cherry bomb, no muffler alone is not that loud

 

if you like to weld put the cherry bomb immediately after the y pipe and straight pipe the rest of the way back, 2 or 2-1/4 inch pipe

 

timing can be bumped up a few degrees as well as a hotter coil and gap the plugs

 

basically the only difference in design between "domestic" and "foreign" engines would be the design and materials qual;ity, as well as the layout. mechanical principles will be the same(spark, fuel, compression etc)

 

read:

http://www.economysuperstar.com/milesfox/subaru/subaru.htm

[jonas]

welcome to the club! soobies are VERY addicting. bought my first one a bout 2 years ago ('81 brat). thought, "ok this is cool, i like it!" always wanted a brat anyway. brat is a rust bucket and doesn't have too much life left but is mechanically great. so i get myself an '84 wagon as a replacement thinking i can just sell the brat or use for spare parts. so now it's crunch time and I CAN"T DO IT!!! so i'm keeping brat. and now i want MORE soobies. a hatch is next on my list once i get some spare $$. fortunatly the woman likes soobs too but doesn't like me spending all the spare $$ on them. so welcome to your new addiction!

[kayakertom]

Another simple thing to do to keep your subaru running great is to just use NGK sparkplugs.