Subsforever Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Never heard of this happening before but my axle broke on me this last weekend the splines stripped out on the part where the shaft goes into the inboard cup and my boot caught on fire car is an 82 subaru gl the one in the signature. I replaced the axel and 100 miles later the new boot was torn. So now im looking to find a Legacy or imprezza with low miles and/ or good condition for around $3000 in the washington area. must be all wheel drive and a manual transmission. Thanks Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 So what is your question? As to the boot - well grease is potentiall flamable, and I'm guessing this was on the passenger side? You probably have issues either with the cat being plugged, or the engine running far too rich and causeing the exhaust to overheat. The cat gets very hot and will easily cook the axle boot. Also - what brand of axle did you use? A lot of the boots used by the crappy rebuilders are paper thin, and not sufficient for subaru use. They also don't want to approve your lifetime warantee, and a torn boot will void it - so they use boots they know will tear open easily. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 it was on the passanger side but the cat was just replaced last month The old axle i got from napa last year the new axle was from schucks only becuase i was stranded and they where the only place near by. i do not feel the car is safe or road worthy any more and i am just looking to something more reliable i cannot have my car catching on fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 i think his point was, there is "my car catching on fire" and "My Car Caught On Fire!".. if i had a leaking return fuel line, and my exhaust rusted through, and the sparks caused a piece of rubber with gas on it to ignite and burn.... i wouldnt call the car a fireball... yah, you found a nice, original way to have a fire in your car.. but seriously, i wouldnt say its cause to call it a hazard.. more of a cry for help from the car. "Lean me out, subsforever, lean me out!! i can get a bit better mileage, and you know, maybe the coils of my radiator would like to be degreased!!" as for buying cheap drivetrain/suspension parts.. we all have to fight that battle. i havent had TOO many of the cheap parts ive bought and installed fail prematurely.. but when i did, it didnt make me mad.. i just sorta hung my head a little. dont scrap it because some sparks somehow actually caught on something! if it wanted to die, it would have burned to a crisp. cars dont take death wishes lightly. when they wanna die, they DIE, in fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 how do i lean out the mixture on my hitachi 2 barrel carb there doesnt apear to be an idle mixture screw only a idle speed adjustment screw the milealge has been pretty poor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Your car is as road worthy as you make it, and as reliable as you are innovative. Example: Today on my daily drive (I drive ~ 100 - 200 miles every day - '86 sedan with 226,000 on it) I lost an old AC compressor belt. Not so bad of itself - I had never replaced either of the belts since I bought the car, and I drive a LOT. I also just charged the AC because it's been hot, so was probably stressing the belt quite a bit more than usaul. It snapped, shredded, and part of it sucked under the alternator belt, and popped it off the pulley. Of course dash lights went wild, and the heat started to climb (nothing driving the water pump). I pulled over as soon as I could, but as I had been stuck at a stop in a contruction zone, that was about a mile after the incident occured. By that time it was in the red. Radiator boiled over into the overflow, and I lost nearly all the coolant. Situation: No coolant - I had a half drank bottle of water - about 6 ounces.... so I drank it. No water pump No alternator Good belt, but it's not exacly ON, and I couldn't get it on since the alt was still adjusted to "tight" Possibly worst of all - No tools. (I know - I should know better!) 4 miles from the nearest town Old road - not much traffic. I tried like hell to get the belt on, but couldn't stretch it that far. I had a 20" crowbar, and a copper mallet (yeah - weird I know, but that's what I had). I used the end of the bar and the hammer to unwind the 12mm adjustment bolt like a chisel - that worked, but now I had no way to tighten it down again . I put the belt on, tightened it as best I could, and started driving again - had to stop and start about 6 times to let it cool before I got to town and borrowed a 12mm from a jiffy lube (finally found a use for that place after all). Still no coolant so I stopped and grabbed an $0.89 gallon of water, and drove 30 miles back home. No problems other than the AC woulndn't work. That sounds like a lot of wasted time, but it really wasn't - I probably lost about 30 minutes total on that mishap. That's also the first time it's stranded me since I bought it. It's all a matter of your frame of mind. Frankly any car you could get for $3000 is going to have just as many, and possibly more difficult to fix problems than your EA81. The EA81 is like a good old truck - easy to fix, and simple to maintain. You break a belt on an EJ serpentine system and see where your day goes..... can you say "tow truck" ?? GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Lean mixture can be caused by the float being improperly adjusted, and other issues like dirty fuel filters and clogged jets. Rich mixture can be: float (again), dirty air filter, exhuast restrictions, etc. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 You break a belt on an EJ serpentine system and see where your day goes..... can you say "tow truck" ?? Only if the alternator/PS steering belt breaks. WC runs off Timing Belt . You only gotta worry if you snap a timing belt. And if you have tools and a breaker bar, you could do the belt on the side of the road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 well... Just to Help Everybody a Li´l Bit: My 1985 EA82 got Fire in one side boot (I don´t Remember which side, ´cos I was just twelve years old, around 1987) but it was due to one boot that "Came Out" and throwed all the Grease out, we was Goin´ in the middle of a Large 600 Miles Trip... so my Dad stop the Car and quickly put there fresh water... Then the Axle turned too noisy... We Changed it, and since that year, we use THE SAME Boots that EA82 se in the Gearbox side, at the Wheel Side. Why? Well... it was due to the extra Large size of the Internal Boots, they Last Longer as External Boots Too. So we use in Bth our Subies, just the Longer Boots in each end, no shorter ones, that make Boots to Last Longer, so Axles Last Longer Too, and Grease ALWAYS stays Inside. So, this is my Sugestion: Use the Best Grease You Can Get, (Be Sure that is Pure Graphite O.E. Aproved for Constant Velocity Joints) and the Lage Boot, along with a Pair of Nylon (Plastic) Lockin ties at EACH End. Good Luck, and be Nice with your Subaru, so it will be Nice back to You Too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 it was on the passanger side but the cat was just replaced last month... Is there a possibility the problem is with the installation of this new cat? Maybe no heat shielding, or maybe designed/installed to close to the axle boot? I have had an axle boot tear and dump grease on my cat, but it landed on the heat shielding where all it did was smell bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Yeah - I bet they installed it with no heat sheild. A normal cat on a subaru y-pipe without special preperation will destroy the boots in short order. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 did the whole car burn? sorry had to ask!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 aside from the unshielded cat, axles are also destroyed by worn transmission mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 29, 2006 Author Share Posted July 29, 2006 Fortunately the whole car did not burn during the process I was trying to put it out with the water in my camel back but ran out, fortunately a guy stopped and poured water from a water cooler jug on it to put it out. The new cat has a heat shield except the heat shield has a hole in the middle for a pipe to be welded to which my car doesn’t have so grease can fall in the hole. The car is no longer road worthy due to getting in an accident the week before when a guy in a Toyota Tacoma pulled out in front of me from a side road as I was driving down the free way at 60 I was only able to slow down to about 20 or so before I hit him, his insurance is giving me a decent amount of money for it though 890 bucks but they totaled it to have a salvage title. Right now it drives but I will probably be parting it out soon if towing to a junk yard isn’t to expensive after I have parted it all out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Normally, if the Insurance Company "totals" your car and you do a buyback, the WA State title is not "branded". I have one that has been "totaled" twice (first time the damage was 2 bumpers and an exhaust pipe, second was 2 fenders and the hood) without a branded title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 Never heard of this happening before but my axle broke on me this last weekend the splines stripped out on the part where the shaft goes into the inboard cup and my boot caught on fire car is an 82 subaru gl the one in the signature. I replaced the axel and 100 miles later the new boot was torn. So now im looking to find a Legacy or imprezza with low miles and/ or good condition for around $3000 in the washington area. must be all wheel drive and a manual transmission. Thanks Glen the new boot tearing, are you sure you got the right axle for your car. i went through this with my gl, was eating axles, couldnt figure out why. i finally took the car to subaru and they put the proper axle on the car, and the axle then laster another 100,000 miles. The shop that did the repiar did not realize that there was 4 axles for the car, and kept putting on the wrong one 5 times. As far as the fire grease + cat = fire. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rory Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 The car is no longer road worthy due to getting in an accident the week before when a guy in a Toyota Tacoma pulled out in front of me from a side road as I was driving down the free way at 60 I was only able to slow down to about 20 or so before I hit him sounds like you tweeked someting, causing an alignment problem....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 sounds like you tweeked someting, causing an alignment problem....... that will do it. What finally killed my GL was frame rot, where the frame alignment (or lack there of) kept pulling axles out. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 29, 2006 Author Share Posted July 29, 2006 there was a small diference in the inboard axeles cup on the new one it fit though. the alighnment has been bad ever since i have had the thing it pulls to the right. im not sure why but this time the insurance company branded the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Roberts Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Did the recently replaced catalytic converter come with a heat shield? Some third party ones supposedly do not have the heat shield. If no heat shield -- That'd be 2 steps toward the fire right there -- too much direct radiant heat, cooks the boot, dumps grease directly on the hot metal .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 30, 2006 Author Share Posted July 30, 2006 Did the recently replaced catalytic converter come with a heat shield?Some third party ones supposedly do not have the heat shield. If no heat shield -- That'd be 2 steps toward the fire right there -- too much direct radiant heat, cooks the boot, dumps grease directly on the hot metal .... it radiats alot of heat it looks like it has some sort of shield but there is a hole in it for welding a third pipe onto the top of the cat that my car doesnt use grease can fall into the hole and burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsforever Posted July 31, 2006 Author Share Posted July 31, 2006 I was wondering how difficult is it to get a reinstated title in washington. I have a friend who will buy it from me if it can be made street legal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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