oosizzo Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 hey yall i am looking at a 88gl 4wd with 150k miles there is some leaking oil from the passenger side of engine dripping onto the exhaust system, i have heard this is fairly common for 80 something subarus is it? it also has weak high end power on the hills, any ideas. thanks allot for any advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 Between age and bunches of vertical gasket surfaces, these engines do tend to leak oil. One of the common activities is to "reseal" the engine, replacing valve-cover area seals and crank and cam seals. (Also the headgaskets, which are getting on in both uyears and miles.) The engines themselves are very durable, rarely dying except from accidents or overheating. As far as power, these are not powerhouses to begin with (90-ish HP), and suffer if the sparkplugs and wires are not in good shape. Fuel filter is another thing to check, Also, the ignition timing is set in a particular way: You have to connect a pair of wires to force the computer (ECU) to quit diddling with the base timing, which is set at 20deg BTDC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oosizzo Posted August 7, 2006 Author Share Posted August 7, 2006 Between age and bunches of vertical gasket surfaces, these engines do tend to leak oil. One of the common activities is to "reseal" the engine, replacing valve-cover area seals and crank and cam seals. (Also the headgaskets, which are getting on in both uyears and miles.) The engines themselves are very durable, rarely dying except from accidents or overheating. As far as power, these are not powerhouses to begin with (90-ish HP), and suffer if the sparkplugs and wires are not in good shape. Fuel filter is another thing to check, Also, the ignition timing is set in a particular way: You have to connect a pair of wires to force the computer (ECU) to quit diddling with the base timing, which is set at 20deg BTDC. thanks so much north wet this is what i have gathered but thanks for the feedback. i checked the radiator fluids and found no oil, and no corosion around the headgaskets they want around eight hundred for it, do you think this is a fair price. thanks so much for the input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 "Fair price" depends on where you are, whether it has problems common in your area (eg - rust), and its general condition. As an example, $800 is on the high-end for the Seattle-area, where Subarus are very common and do not suffer attrition from rust like some areas of the country. The body would have to be pretty straight to get that kind of price around here. Just my opinion; that and $5 will buy a latte... I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Did Lattés in Seattle come down to $5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdixey Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 Dang! I got so wrapped up in the joke I forgot to post the rest of what I was going to say... I have to agree that "fair price" seems to be dictated by supply and demand. I paid $750 for an 86 GL with 182K miles. It doesn't leak oil (although it does burn a bit) had a decent interior and as I have been working on it so far the problems have been manageable and not that expensive to deal with. Remember that with a car like that you should figure that you'll need to put some money into it to deal with whatever ails it. As far not being very powerful...yeah well, welcome to the world of EA82 Subarus. There are some things you can do to maximize what the car can do, but don't expect miracles. The best desciption I have come across (I think was even on this board) for the 80's subarus is..."ugly, slow and tough as nails". That being said, I have a 2002 WRX as well, and to be perfectly honest I prefer driving my 86 GL for most things. It is an peculiarly fun car to drive. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 As far as the leak, if its not leaving a puddle, i'd just monitor the oil level, and make sure its in the ok range. as far as a lack of high end power, be sure to check your fuel filter, cheap insurance, and when clogged could certainly cause issues at high RPM high load times. also, if your air filter is clogged that would cause issues too. don't waste the money on a K&N though, they actually let more junk into your motor, and don't improve power any more than a sugar pill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 adding oil is no big deal. i work at u-haul and some of the old diesels use/leak oil. not going to down the truck and pay to fix it, its just easier and more economical to add a quart or 2 on monday after running the truck into the ground on the weekend personally i myself can tolerate a rate of one quart a week or per fill up, but if its any worse then do some gaskets. front end service is not too bad, i would bet the cam seals only are leaking. if the crank leaks its not as bad, but the cam seals are easy to replace if you have it all apart, motor in car (timing belt job procedure) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oosizzo Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 thanks so much for the feed back. i just bought it for 700, with little to no rust clean interior and minor leaking of oil. all the feedback helped allot im ready to rock on with my first soob. thanks folks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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