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G'day,
Just purchased a 1990 subaru L carby model wagon for the young bloke! Should be great for fishing and camping. Car is stock standard,one owner with service history and 220Ks. I have a couple of questions and would like any advice on things to lookout for or to improve performance without costing an arm and leg!
The car sounds like a chaff cutter at the moment but the exhaust is intact, no leaks or obvious holes. Is this normal? it sounds very"pipey" ,"hollow". The car runs fine and it doesnt appear to be anything sinister. Could the internals of exhaust sysytem be shot? Can the exhaust be modified to reduce noise/improve performance? Could it be something else?
Also can the car be run on ?high octane fuel? does this effect performance/economy?

Any advice/hints/ideas would be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Newsoob.

have read of this it might help ya out


showthread.php?t=394

Thanks Waggaclint. A good read. Newsoob

subies tend to have that hollow exhaust noise as they don't use cast iron exhaust manifolds to absorb any noise as most manufacturers do. you get similar sounds out of a 'normal' car when changing to extractors.

chaff cutting noise may just be clagged out hydraulic lifters - almost normal then !

jono wrote:subies tend to have that hollow exhaust noise as they don't use cast iron exhaust manifolds to absorb any noise as most manufacturers do. you get similar sounds out of a 'normal' car when changing to extractors.

chaff cutting noise may just be clagged out hydraulic lifters - almost normal then !

Lifter tick is complete pain in the backside. When it's bad it sounds like some japanese fella under the bonnet with a plenishing hammer. It usually comes and goes....

I went to mechanic after mechanic I changed timing belt, lifters,and a ton of other stuff. A friend said change your mickey mouse seal or sunglass seal to the oil pump, it is nicknamed that because it looks like mickey mouse. Once that was done no more tickey tickey.

High octane fuel? My 89 MPFI wagon loves it! I get better mileage and it actually runs a bit cooler. Not so sure about how the carby subes like it.

Yeh i have a carby 88 model and high octane doesn't seem to give me extra mileage, seems like its got a bit more grunt but everytime i've used it i actually got more mileage out of just normal unleaded which is weird.
that E10 stuff however i can comfortably say is crap.

johnarentz wrote:Lifter tick is complete pain in the backside. When it's bad it sounds like some japanese fella under the bonnet with a plenishing hammer. It usually comes and goes....

I always thing of a leprechaun in there

syro75 wrote:I went to mechanic after mechanic I changed timing belt, lifters,and a ton of other stuff. A friend said change your mickey mouse seal or sunglass seal to the oil pump, it is nicknamed that because it looks like mickey mouse. Once that was done no more tickey tickey.

Also make sure you replace the oil pump shaft seal, if you forget that you could still have the same problem or worse - my sister's L sounded like a dying diesel til it got to port douglas from central vic because of this seal...

Battlewagon wrote:High octane fuel? My 89 MPFI wagon loves it! I get better mileage and it actually runs a bit cooler. Not so sure about how the carby subes like it.

You'd have to advance your timing to get the most out of the high octane fuel - the MPFI would automatically adjust timing to suit.

Other things you can do:

lift kit and bigger tyres - you'll see heaps of L's around here with these fitted.
EJ (liberty/impreza) motor - cheapest power upgrade around for the L.
Then the usual stuff - driving lights, roof racks, bullbar etc.

If you look after the EA82 - the standard L engine - you'll get many years of good use outta them, just make sure they don't overheat and if the temp gradually climbs jump on it before it becomes a huge issue

All the best and we'll see you around...

Bennie