Best year wagon to look for

[subanoob]

What is the best year to look for in a 4wd wagon?

 

Here's what I need,

good engine, carbureted(I like the parts to be cheap as possible) 4 doors, 2 speed transfer case.

 

I am looking at an 87, but it may not work out.

 

Oh, I also have to keep it under $1500

 

Thanks for your input:D

[GeneralDisorder]

Find an 88 or 89 fuel injected GL, or GL-10. The carbs are crappy - unless you are going to replace it with a Weber..... the SPFI is plentiful, and there are tons of cars in the JY with good SPFI systems on them - plenty of cheap parts. The carbs are usually shot, are hard to rebuild, and parts - while plentiful and cheap, are usually just as bad as what you are replacing.

 

GD

[Rooinater]

what are you gonna use the wagon for?

 

i prefer the EA81 body style. no timing belts in the engine. all gears. versus 2 belts of the EA82's.

 

if you are using it for wheeling. EA81's a few inches narrower and a shorter wheel base by a couple inches too. they are all carbed. 1980 model was a single range 1600 transaxle though. the wagon bodystyle's were made from 80 to 84.

 

for the EA82 style wagons, 85 and 86 are supposed to have the lowest low range or better gearing.

[TROGDOR!]

I tend to stay away from the carbs as well. I read lots of horror stories on this site, but I figured, how bad could it be? Well... I ended up getting an 87 wagon with a carb, and I was literally working on the carb every 3 weeks. The car NEVER ran right. It was always having at least one of the following: idle problems, starting problems, running rich, running lean, and it ALWAYS got horrible gas mileage.

 

Only FI for me after that. Every FI Subaru I've had has been perfect- hardly have to even touch them. Much more reliable and user-friendly, they are.

 

As for years- FI became standard equipment on the 4WD's for the 88 model year. In 1990 the name changed to Loyale and was made that way until 1994. The Loyale is the same as the GL, only without as many options. It also was not available with the Dual Range trans. If you feel like doing a little tinkering it's pretty easy to put one in. Just because they're newer doesn't mean they're expensive; I picked up a 92 Loyale wagon with a great body for $300.

[Rooinater]

swapped a weber on and no problems since. not much a problem before either... make sure it's not bad before buying the car and keep it clean so mothing gets sticky. but a weber is the best way to go on any carbed subaru.

[Snowman]

It still boggles my mind that everybody has so many problems with their hitachi carbs. All of the ones I've seen have run really well, and gotten pretty good fuel economy. Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe there's something different about the gas in Alaska. I have no clue. The only reason I put on a Weber was more power. My hitachi was running fine before.

 

Back to recommendations for cars:

 

ea81 is better offroad, but the interior is not quite as spacious or comfortable. Lack of timing belts makes these motors lower maintenance, which is good.

 

I personally prefer the ea82 wagons for a "do everything" car. They are a bit more refined overall, but still easy to work on, and as long as you keep up with changing the timing belts, they won't give you trouble in that area.

 

Also, I beleive all the ea81s had adjustable rear spring preload to compensate for loads or wearing out, and I know that 86 ea82s have adjustable spring preload. The 87s might have it too but I haven't checked, and I know they stopped putting that on in 88.

 

It all depends on what you are using it for.

[TROGDOR!]

The adjustable struts were discontinued after the 86 model.

 

Come to think of it.... they run reformulated gas in the summer here. I wonder if that has anything to do with the carb problems? The carb had been freshly rebuilt when I bought the car, and worked fine for the first month I had it- then the problems started and never stopped. Though, it still got horrible gas mileage when I first got it.

[subanoob]

I plan on it being mainly transportation for the wife to drive to work, and some wheelin, I really want dual range, because you never need low range until you don't have it. My Jeep handles most of the heavy wheeling, but it isn't family friendly, and I would like something I can load the wife, kid, and dog into, and not worry about getting stuck on the way to the camping spot(the road to get there is pretty much a goat trail)

 

Thanks for the advice so far, I had already planned on a weber, my old 73 had one, and it rocked.

[calebz]

For an all around car with capability to get to some of those hard to reach camp spots, my 87 turbowagon has been great. Its only single range 4wd, but I also have 14 inch wheels with slightly larger than stock tires for a couple of inches extra ground clearance. Its not a hardcore wheeler by any means, but it does everything from grocery shopping to camping and everything in between quite well.

 

BTW .. I really want dual range too

[moosens]

Find an 88 or 89 fuel injected GL, or GL-10

 

I couldn't agree more! Make mine a dual range 5spd please.I own an '89 SPFI with d/r and an '87 Turbo wagon.I prefer the '89 for reliability in snow and off road.

 

The Turbo is nice for the power though.It's the single range 4wd that I'm not so crazy about.

[Rooinater]

your right next to subarujunkie. you should contact him. he's always looking for new subaru owners in his area. he lives in Sac.

 

just my suggestion. ea82's have more room. but are boxier. i dislike the look too. my dad has had several problems with the timing belts and other stuff on the ea82's.

 

you can get power steering in either style, just weberize an ea81 and you'll be in heaven. i could locate some 14" pugs too or drilled chevy rims so you can go bigger tires too.

[thealleyboy]

S-Noob:

 

I prefer the FI models myself, and 88-89 was the best year for the EA82's, IMO.

 

That being said, I think the Hitatchi's get a bad rap. They often get blamed for problems that have nothing to do with fuel delivery. No wonder you hear "horror stories" about them. If you take a non-carb problem, then start messing with a pain-in-the rump roast system like the Hitatchi, you can have a real mess on your hands in a hurry!!

 

I would look at the car you want first, then worry about making run right later. Get one with a solid body and all the hardware you want. If it's FI great, but I wouldn't rule out a carbed vehicle at all. Just make sure the carb is the problem before jump to conclusions when you start having drivability issues.

 

good luck, John

[Flowmastered87GL]

If you have your heart set on a carb I say 87's are the best.

 

If you want the most reliable... 88-89 is probably best.

 

If you want an off roader 81-84.

 

Reason why I like the 87 over 85-86's

 

green guages, wipers on steering column stalk instead of dash, headlights on turn signal switch instead of dash, better looking steering wheel (my personal favorite style, even over 88+ years) color keyed bumpers front and rear unlike 85-86 and loyales of 90+ there are some other reasons I am sure too, but thats just my opinion.

[torxxx]

From my expirences up here:

I like my 86 GL.. Its a great daily driver (driven hard too)

 

A friend has a 92 Loyale and I had a 87 or an 85 with a AT and they were pretty ****ty cars.

 

As for the carb, mine was fine for 18 years, and after I started messin with it, things started happening to it. The dual range is awesome compared to the push button 4wd. Lo gear really helps

 

I've also been told my a parts store manager, and a few mechanics that in July 1985 (which would make it an 86) they changed the timing belts somehow and the years after 07/85 had more problems with belts breaking than the earlier ea82s

 

the 86 GL is also nice if you like a car with no power steering/AC engine driven fan. I have tons of room to work on stuff.. no need to pull radiator to work on front of engine

 

The 92 loyale has had tons of problems....

[viceversa]

>>> The 92 loyale has had tons of problems...

 

 

This one made it to 190K, but both engine and tranny had to be replaced. EA82 was running on 3 cylinders. Maybe due to leaded gas? Don't know. It lost all power, wouldn't accelerate. Tranny failed, don't know why. maybe because ran low on fluid?

 

 

>>>>> Only FI for me after that. Every FI Subaru I've had has been perfect- hardly have to even touch them. Much more reliable and user-friendly, they are.

 

 

For this 92 loyale, the final straw for me was when it developed some kind of weird and serious EFI problem at about 180,000 miles. It wouldn't start. I messed with it and messed it and still couldn't figure it out despite reading worthless Chilton's/Haynes. I knew it had to be either fuel or ignition. Probably injectors or something like that, but I didn't want to take the whole thing apart and take 3 days on it. My frustration reached its peak and I got another engine and had it installed, with all its EFI stuff.

 

Worked wonderfully.

 

New timing belts during engine install - broke a few weeks later due to incorrect tensioner. Or something like that, I don't know. Stranding the main driver in the middle of nowhere.

 

A week later, it stranded me in the middle of freaking nowhere when the damn computer failed. Unbelievable. I am glad it wasn't in the middle of nowhere late at night as is often the case.

 

This isn't Subaru though. Sadly, I no longer trust cars with high mileage, after about 150K miles. My other high-mileage experiences are similar.

 

 

Anyway, to answer the original question ---

 

92-94 would be best years IMO -- *but* do consider Legacy, a nicer ride. And when get over 150,000 miles, consider every mile after that, free. This despite some running very high miles like 275,000 -- I don't believe this is typical at all.

[SubSandRail]

I went with the narrower 83-84 wagon because there are a lot of trails in Washington made for (and by) the flat-fender Willy's. The wider trail rigs (newer jeeps, etc) either can't fit between the trees or leave tire rubber 4' up the tree truck as they climb through. If you live in open country, I guess it wouldn't matter. Also, my 83 just passed emissions, and only has to pass one more time before it is exempt. At that point I will be free to "simplify" the engine compartment.

 

I also have had good luck with the 80-84 torsion rear end in the dunes (in my SubSandRail). It gives a really comfortable ride. I use the adjustable 86 rear coil-overs as my front suspension, and have broken six so far. Easy to replace in the sand for a sand rail, but not so easy in the mud

on a Subaru. I'm not using them the way they were designed to be used, but I like to stick with the things that I know will work well. Also, spare axles and CV's will work on both rigs.

 

SubSandRail

[Rooinater]

well the body on my car has about 217000 miles on it. the engine was needed to be replaced once. all it really needed was to be resealed w/blown head gasket, but replaced the motor anyways.

 

the new motor i replaced it to cause i wanted more power. that's one of the reasons i don't like the subaru fuel injection. old electrical stuff is not cool especially when on the trail. no computer either. but if i put an ej in i'd wouldn't mind about the computer.

[Meeky Moose]

for a wagon and ease of use for the wife i would say any 85-89 gl or gl-10 wagon... fuel injected of course.. they are roomy inside for campin ahulin kids etc.. and are pretty tough little cars..

 

now if you want offroading capability you need one of these:

 

for offroadin in my .02 i'd say get an 80-84 wagon or hatchback.. no timing belts to get mud into, etc.. and you can use a weber