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Hi,

I have owned my 1991 L series (ea82) station wagon for 3 weeks now and I really like it. Having never owned a subaru or 4x4 before I have some questions (btw it has 307k on the clock)

1) I have heard that if the timing belt breaks then nothing bad happens. It fails safe as there is a gap so that the piston cannot hit the valves. Is this true?
2) I knew straight away that the front cv joints were gone due to the noise when turning. How can you tell if there rear cv joints (drive shafts) need replacing?
3) When I accelerate I sometimes hear a gurgling noise under the dash. Is this normal?
4) When driving in 4x4 mode I find the car doesn't want to turn when moving slowly - feels like the rear wheels are stopping the car. The sharper you turn the harder it is. Whats happing there
5) The car doesn't seem to have a choke - sometimes it takes a few attempts to start the car and keep it running until it warms up. Is there a choke and how is it operated for cold starts?

Phew, thats all for now!
Thanks for any replies,
David

yeah i hear a gurgling sound under my dash aswell but i thought it was bubbles in the heater core

and the 4x4 driving thing i think its called crab walking when the front wheels want to turn but the back wheels want to go straight so the back wheels skid to turn (that doesnt make much sense soz best i can describe it)

Yeah nothing bad will happen to the valves as the don't touch the pistons. You may however break your water pump pulley or something else if the belt get stuck somewhere when it breaks. This happened to my ej22.

Not sure about the rear cv's

Gurling sound is indeed air in your heater core. It is a very common issue and takes a long time to get rid. Form what ppl have said and experience, you need to fill you radiator preferably with the car on an incline(engine higher point) and fill it. Also drive the car to hot, let it cool and top up regularly till it stops.

When driving in 4x4 mode, this is happening as your most probably driving on a hard tared surface(ONROAD). Only drive in 4x4 hi or lo on sand, dirt or similar roads. As explained above, in 4x4 this makes it harder but driving in the sand etc you should be ok and not stress the gearbox. Also when shifting down to 2WD, its best to reverse slowly and give gentle pushes down on the gear stick. Never slam or use excessive force as its not the best way:) Also helps to shift in 2WD just before going ONROAD.

1. I haven't opened up an EA82, but that's what everyone says.
2. Noise I guess. Rears will last practically forever though.
3. Not normal, but probably not the end of the world. Lift the front of the car when filling with coolant to try and get bubbles out.
4. You're not driving in 4x4 on sealed roads are you? Don't.
5. Choke is automatic. There is an intake air heater too, which I think will also be automatic.

Dane.

Consider this first hand info not internet rumour:???:, its definitely possible to snap the cam belt on an L and not break or bend anything. Doing 70-80kmh and it just stopped, new belt and no problems at all :D

Timing - If one breaks (EA82 has 2 timing belts) engine will run on two cylinders unless its not on distributor side if it is it wont run, it'll run rough but wont damage the engine but you shouldnt run on 2 cylinders anyway.
Gurling sound - as said above, but i heard someone saying to swap the inlet & outlet from the heater, swap the hoses over. Worth a go..
Not sure about rear CVs... havent experienced that problem yet, front yes they clunk when turning...
Choke - In cars I owned in the past, depress accelerator pedal to activate the choke, if it doesnt work - needs a service.
Cheers
AP

With your issues of cold starting in the morning mine does that too.

I usually pump the accelerator a couple of times before cranking the engine and it starts first time every time :P

thatsgoodsquishy wrote:Consider this first hand info not internet rumour:???:, its definitely possible to snap the cam belt on an L and not break or bend anything. Doing 70-80kmh and it just stopped, new belt and no problems at all :D

I too can confirm this - I broke my cam belt (shredded actually) without a problem to the motor after new cam belts were installed.

I wouldn't worry about the rear CV shafts - if you break a boot replace it ASAP. This goes for any CV joint for that matter.

The gurgling noise is the motor pushing coolant through the heater core. One trick to try is reverse the heater hoses in the engine bay at the fire wall - it worked a treat for my sister's L series...

The 4wd issue you're feeling - Its called 4wd "bind". This is where the front and rear wheels are literally joined together (when in 4wd), so the "axle" between the front tyres and the axle between the rear tyres has to move at the same speed as each other. When going around a tight corner the rear tyres want to go slower than the front because they have to travel around a smaller arch, this is where you're feeling the binding effect. Steering will become more difficult until one wheel partly breaks traction. DO NOT do a 180 degree turn in low range - best practise is to do a 3 point turn. This avoids excessive tension in the low range 4wd system. There is the possibility of breaking the low range gearing if you hook a 180. Only ever use your 4wd on a loose surface - dirt and gravel roads are ok, as are wet roads at times.

And as already said, you have an auto choke. The housing on this auto choke can be loosened and twisted to adjust the amount of choke the carbie recieves. To see how much choke you're giving the engine you have to do it with a stone cold engine. Once set where you want it screw it up tight again and it should be all good. Some people hate the auto choke.

Welcome to the "Subi club"

Cheers

Bennie

I had gurgling noise in mine just before I blew a head gasket or cracked a head. Even though monitoring water temp and engine metal temp, water still got lost somewhere, think the gurgle may have been air, and air ain't good

The diff bind can be undone by getting left hand side wheels on loose stuff like gravel or grass or whole thing on your grass and bump it back into FWD. Mismatch tyre size is also not good for this.

My old L series wagon I had cooked one day and tried to seize, It jumped both cambelts off, ripped the tensioner out of the block and bent two valves. It had incorrect pistons fitted.

Cheers,

RX Coupe wrote:My old L series wagon I had cooked one day and tried to seize, It jumped both cambelts off, ripped the tensioner out of the block and bent two valves. It had incorrect pistons fitted.

Cheers,

OUCH! How long had that thing been going before that happened?

Cheers

Bennie

Thanks for all the replies.

Its good that the timing belts can 'safely' break. Saying that I am not sure when they were last done on my car. So next on the shopping list will be the belts, water pump (read on the forums that its probably wise to do this when changing belts) and oil pump seals. Will wait for a long weekend for this as it sounds quite a big job.

Tomorrow I'll try swapping the pipes to the heater and fill the car on a slope and see if that helps with the gurgling - I'm glad that its a fairly common thing.

I'll change my driving to avoid the 4x4 'bind'. Glad theres nothing wrong with the car I live up a really steep dirt driveway and I usually come up the driveway in 4x4 and then turn sharp left on concrete round the back of the house. I'll just make sure I get back to 2wd as I get near the house.

Might have a play with the choke this weekend, although the weather is getting warmer now so might not be a problem.

Thanks again - I've learn't a few things!

Look into the price and availability of timing belt tensioners as well, one each belt, not same each side. Rule of thumb is to replace every second timing belt change (200,000km) to avoid unexpected failure. ElFreddo had some nice pics of ones demise I think. And be aware of the low torque needed on the tensioner bolts. And expect at least one of the timing belt cover bolts to turn the brass captivated 'nuts' cast into the plastic. On refit i use an o ring as a stay tight not come loose washer on each of the cover bolts. Some just use cable ties instead of bolt