'89 L-Series Touring Wagon - New Member, Enquiry

[Fastrack]

Hi all,

I recently acquired an '89 L-Series Touring Wagon. While it does the job as my daily (I've never taken it off road) and runs well without any inherent problems, there are a few niggling issues I want dealt with.

I'm experiencing noisy lifters, worn CV joints, a non-functioning heater core, an oil leak and noisy (and very annoying) tappets - the latter is mostly apparent when starting the car after periods of rest, and only last a few to several minutes when I'm on the road.

I'm not that well-versed mechanically, so I would like to know whether all these problems can be alleviated/fixed and at what price, if even an estimate. Add to that, a reliable mechanic in Melbourne if you know of any (preferably in Melbourne's northern suburbs) who can tend to it!

I do daily commutes between suburbs and the city, and these problems (particularly the clicking, clunking etc) are a nuisance, if anything. I hate getting dirty looks! Perhaps the most pressing thing is the heater core - it has caught me out a few times, fogging my windows while on the road during previous cold/rain spells. Not good. I've since learned to live with one of my windows down (despite the rain) when required.

While I'm here, I want to make an enquiry re. fuel consumption. I find I'm getting roughly 400 kms out of a full tank (mostly urban driving). I admit I can at times have a heavy foot, but is this figure reasonable for these cars?

Thanks heaps and I look forward to your responses in advance.

Cheers

[AndrewT]

Worn CV joints - replace them. Not sure on individual joint prices but a complete driveshaft with both CV's should cost roughly $160 plus installation.

Heater core - Do you happen to know if it's been bypassed in the enginebay? It's common when they start leaking into the car for people to just bypass them completely. If it's started leaking at some point it most likely needs replacing, although sometimes you can get lucky and it's just a cracked fitting.
A new core costs between $200 to $300 (from memory) and the labour for fitting is normally pretty hefty as the dashboard has to come out and it's basically a real bastard of a job - time consuming and fidly.

Regarding de-fogging your windscreen - does your aircon work? Did you know this is often even more effective than using heat? Blast some aircon through the defogger vents and it will kill the fog on the windscreen in seconds. Just wear a thick jumper or two

Clicking engine -There are a few oil addative products that some people recommend (Nulon etc) but I have never seen this work. Usually the root of the problem is the oil pump seals have deteriorated which means oil pressure isn't high enough. This is a fairly expensive job to do labour wise as the timing covers of the engine need to come off. If your keen in running this motor for a long time then it would be worth changing the water pump and timing belts etc at the same time because they are all in this area and it will save you labour in the long run. However it's probably a better idea to just do an engine swap. A good EA82 engine will probably cost you less than the oil pump and labour and last a decent amount of time. Better yet go down the path of EJ conversion - it really transforms an L series into a far more practical and enjoyable car.

That fuel economy isn't too crash hot, but it is very much affected by driving style, and from what you've said that's probably the problem there. You should be able to squeeze well over 500 for inner city driving from a stock L series.

[jim]

i used to get that sort of range with my old L series, the mechanic drilled the jet hole out to get rid of the flat spot, the car accelerated better but guzzled alot more fuel, the carby probably wasn't at optimum tuning either

[Kezpipa]

Add to that, a reliable mechanic in Melbourne if you know of any (preferably in Melbourne's northern suburbs) who can tend to it!

I would fully recommend Combined Servicing in Clayton. They do LOTS of Subys.

33 Garden Rd Clayton North VIC 3168 - (03) 9546 9828

I was recommended to them by members of this forum when I joined. They're now the only mechanics who I trust - others simply couldn't fix the problems, or claimed they had.

You'll be reassured by all the other Subarus from a similar era parked out the front!

Yep, it's a bit of a trek, but I found peace of mind - they're pretty decent with pricing too.

While I'm here, I want to make an enquiry re. fuel consumption. I find I'm getting roughly 400 kms out of a full tank (mostly urban driving). I admit I can at times have a heavy foot, but is this figure reasonable for these cars?

What do you know, this is exactly what I was looking up earlier today - dunno how reliable it is, but check this resource out:

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/s ... &year=1989

[El_Freddo]

Welcome to the forum!

I'll start with a bit of a nit-pick as Steptoe talks about in another thread: How many litres are you using to the "Tank" of fuel that you're using. An L series tank is 60L and most of the time as your guage hits the "E" for empty you'll still have near 15 litres in the tank - I got 130km comfortably after hitting the E on the guage.

Question: Is your touring wagon EFI (AKA MPFI)? If so you should get some good fuel economy, although you are city driving you'll still get better fuel economy than a carbie EA82 (the engine that's standard in the L series).

As AndrewT said, an EJ will change the L - I can't wait to find out what this will be like after having MPFI then back to carb and now to EJ soon...

The heater core: AndyT hit this too, but I'll add that I recently picked up an all copper/brass core for $220 - I do all my own mechanics so installing it just costs me time. Its a bastard driving around in vic without a functional heater core!

After all of the above, Welcome to the wonderful world of subaru - with that said, have you heard about lifting and off-roading subarus??

Cheers

Bennie

PS - how many Km on your rube?