This maybe a little off topic but I have an opportunity to purchase a 1985 GL Turbo wagon for a dance. The car is a little rusty but runs great. It is a two owner car with an automatic and perfect interior. The color is kind of funky also - Herb Green.

With winter approaching, I thought it may make a good winter beater as well as a nice dog car. It really sucks getting Jack Russell Terrior hair out of MY01 coupes interior!

Any advice on trouble spots to look for would be appreciated.

Todd

Had a 85 Subaru GL wagon and the problems I had with it are some of the hoses needed replacing and the AC went out, but after sitting for 3 years I guess things like that will happen. Also, make sure your grounding wires are attached to the choke and carb, I was getting the worst gas mileage because of that :lol: Hope this helps.

Nick C.

it'll eat CV boots pretty often. check them, or it will also eat CV joints. i was changing the boots every 6 months, and that seemed to help out alright.

i kinda miss my old gl wagon. i'll have to look into what they cost nowadays.

I had an 86 GL, non-turbo, SPFI. I also had an 85 GL, non-turbo, carbureted. Both lasted to over 200K.

I had to replace the auto tranny on the 85 GL once. It may have been because the vacuum modulator on the tranny broke and dumped tranny fluid into the engine oil, but my parents contiued to drive it until it wouldn't get into gear anymore. The tranny failed years later though. Both engines have been run over extended periods with little to no oil showing on the dipstick. The oil change intervals were 10k-15k miles.

The lifters can get noisy (86 GL). I replaced the lifters and the oil pump thinking that it would solve the problem, but it never did. It continued to run for about 100K after that. By then (200k+ mi.) the body and interior were in such bad shape it was embarassing to be seen in it.

The CV boots tend to go quickly, but I've never had a joint fail, even while continuing to drive tens of thousands of miles with the clicking noise.

The EA82 is a bulletproof engine.

Go pm ArcticWRX, that canook has a 85 gl wagon

wow i posted something about mike without making fun of him....odd

Brian

By then (200k+ mi.) the body and interior were in such bad shape it was embarassing to be seen in it.

Now what kind of talk is that!! The Subie I had has numerous rust spots eating through the body, performance stickers all over it, and cowhide seats, I'm proud to be seen in the Beast. I'm proud to be seen in just about any Subie.

Nick C.

Did I hear someone say the words "85 GL Wagon"?!?!

Hoooray! Entirely not enough talk about 85 GL Wagons around here I must say...

Anyway... here is a link to a site that has all the answers you seek!

http://usmb.iscool.net

Enjoy!

MY name says it all, I have an 87 with a carb. Its a great car, I took it out with the "hatch patrol" at the ORV park and only got stuck once (hey no lift or off road tires!)

Things to watch for, rattling valves, helps if you have 20W50 oil in there, I heard its caused by the oil pump seal sucking in some air and reducing the amout of oil making it to the heads, supposibly the 20W50 takes longer to flow back down, so the heads arent starved for oil. I run it all year around, but usually dont get sub 0 temperatures, if you do... well you are on your own.

Watch the CV boots, I caught mine in time and got them fixed before the joints died.

Be careful when moving the hot/cold air selector for the cabin temp. It WILL break if you are rough with it. Hmmm I dunno if 85's had auto off headlights but 87+'s do, that just a nice feature. If the car has air suspension, watch for leaks. If it leaks sometimes its cheaper just go grab normal springs off a junked DL or GL (or better yet a RX :D )

Coolant leaks plague these cars in old age, I had 3 this summer, finally fixed em though, its REALLY nice to have a coolant pressure tester so you can pressurize the engine to check for leaks and fix them before you overheat the engine. I had a mechanic that tested my car for free :D

They are great cars and run forever though
I have 238,800 miles and the only really new thing there is the engine block and carb. Orginal CV's tranny and rear end as far as i know. Oh ya, if you get new wires get a good brand. I got some cheap ones and they fell apart, the NGK's I have now fit great on the EA82 and i dont even know how many years old them are, maybe 3, maybe 10? :rolleyes:

Get a compression test to see if the heads are cracked, and plan on throwing $300 at it for a tune up and a new radiator.