New Member

[pylon500]

G'Day All,
I think I've figured out how to get on, my name is Arthur, and I've recently bought a '92 SVX.
From what I've read on most sites so far I figure it to be an LSi as it has a wing, CD player, electric seat and cruise control.
I think of myself as having 'rescued' this poor thing as it needs a lot of work.
I've loved Subaru's for a while now having owned an '80 4x4 wagon followed by a '91 wagon (last of the 'L's) with plans to have worked my way up to an RS Turbo wagon eventually.
I'm in the aviation world and discovered Subaru's via their engines and use in light aircraft.
From there I was always intrigued with the level of technology to be found in Subaru's when compared to other 'average' cars of the day.
I then discovered the existence of the SVX series and was in awe of the specifications that came with it, but this also included a price so the SVX was placed with the Porche's, Lotus's and other cars I knew I would never afford.
For those in the Sydney area, you may have seen an add in the Trading Post a month back for a '92 SVX for $8500! I decided to ring just to confirm that it was a 'typo' but it was true.
That afternoon I owned it The young guy that had it said it was too expensive to keep and I could see it was about to cost him more than he wanted to spend just in the tyres.
Once I had nursed it home, I gave it a closer look.
It had done 334,000km's!
It ran like a dog, it leaked oil and although the engine bay looked clean, it had obviously been hit with degeaser and a high pressure blaster, but underneath.....
Many of the electric window switches were broken and two of the brake lights didn't work.
Then the fun started, I would start saving for the tyres as I figured they would only last me a month at best what with winter coming and fairly slick looking treads, only to look at the exhaust one day and notice steel braids poking out of the back left tyre!
Four new tyres!
I had planned to have the injectors looked at as the engine ran quite roughly and the engine master warning light would come on after about ten minutes of driving.
I was hoping that some good premium and lots of injector cleaner might sort this, so was talking to a dealer about new O2 sensors and a clean and flow for the injectors.
About this time I was drive home one night when it decided to not drive in 3rd or top gear, I still had reverse, first and second but nothing else.
Following back streets at a max of 80kph I got it home.
Much discussion with my NRMA/Subaru mate, and we were hoping that maybe the tranny oil was filthy and clogging up the system so I get the car on stands, drain the box and drop the bottom pan.
The oil was a bit brown, but I was more worried about the small bits of plastic that came out with it.
Flush the box and radiator cooler as well as back flush and clean the internal filter, put it back together, top it up and try again.
No change, "Damn, this is going to cost me!
Also noticed while on jacks that the rear left wheel makes a bit of noise.
After much discussion with various parties, the SVX went to Advanced Automatic Transmission Services, West Ryde.
I'll have to let you all know how that ends....
As for the wheel bearing, so far I've got a three week wait and between $400 and $600 to replace it!
Any one got any better ideas?

[Aredubjay]

Pylon,
Welcome to the madhouse, where love/hate relationships reign supreme! Sorry to hear of your difficulties, but, from what I understand of the pricing in your neck of the woods, you got her for a song and she'll do you well when you get her fixed up.

You've got a great bunch of folks there in Oz who I'm sure would be willing to lend a hand or advice in your endeavors.

Always great to have another Aussie on board. Good on yer, mate. Come often and stay long.

[svxistentialist]

Hello Arthur!

You are very welcome, great to have a new member!

You are brave to buy a car with such kilometres. The SVX is a rather expensive thing to run when big failure beckons. You might have been wiser to wait a little, look at more than one car. James, [jamsvx] will probably say the same, and the US advice is similar.

However, you have grasped the nettle and bitten the bullet, so don't be too shy in asking for technical help. There are plenty on here glad to help a fellow SVXer.

Rear bearings go, I did one recently. Not rocket or aviation science, but it does require care in extraction and in pressing in the replacement if hub distortion is to be avoided. You could do it yourself, but get the right equipment, or leave it to a specialist. Also needs the correct grade of grease packed in before the seals are replaced. While you are doing this, open the other wheel[or indeed, the other 3 hubs] and repack with fresh grease and new seal, carefully torqued. An ounce of prevention.....

Check parts prices on www.subaruparts.com. US site, but you may find that the American prices, including delivery are cheaper than local.

Oil leaks. You will find that the crankshaft seal on the front of the engine has gone, maybe the back also, but front way more likely. Also at your mileage, the camshaft seals need replacement. In a way it is easy. Budget for a replacement cam belt job, and while putting it in, do the seals and replace the waterpump. You might also do the oil pump, I would.

Engine. Check your compression, don't be surprised if it is OK. O2 sensor, replace it, you may also require the MAF sensor [expensive] and the throttle potentiometer[TPS] may be dodgy, but not major expense. Search for posts on cleaning the throttle body, it gunges up. Search also for Trevor's great post on checking if the TPS is reading right. Also importantly, contact Countess, she has a crashed car this week, poor girl, and may have a lot of the bits you need if she buys the wreck.

Tranny. Ensure when the guys have yours fixed you fit an extra cooler with the install. Stock cooler is inclined to gunge up. Reverse flushing frowned upon, can send rubbish back to those sensitive little places.

Excuse the long post, but hope you get all sorted out. When you have the two or three major bits done, the car is actually Mercedes strong and reliable, it's not all bad news.

Wishing you the best,

Joe

[Jamsvx]

Hi and welcome.

As you can see from the posts above, there is a wealth of information on here and some absolutely fantastic and helpful people who can answer anything you want to know about the SVX....except maybe how you say ALCYONE *grin*

A little bit of history on your car.....it was owned previously by a firebrigade man over in Picton and prior to that, by a fellow who used to commute quite a bit...would you believe that I actually went to see that car on the same day that I went to see the one that I actually bought!! *hums tune from Twilight Zone* - he reckons that he did all his own work on it and that he stripped the engine and redid some of the transmission - he wanted $14,000 not negotiable which I was not prepared to pay (and I wanted lower k's) so at the end of the day, despite the problems, you at least got it a lot cheaper. I did not drive it so cannot comment on that aspect.

Its a small small world of SVX owners - 97 were registered in NSW as about August 2002 so there are not many around.

This is just my two cents worth but maybe something to think about before sinking too much $$ into it - there are a few SVX's around that have been for sale for aggggggeeeeeesss (it is one car that is very much in the buyer's power here in AU since they were never popular, hard to shift etc etc) that you could get a very good price on - it may be an idea to perhaps offload yours and get another one. I know this may sound shocking to say but I went through the exact same thing with an MX6 turbo - I ended up spending 50% of the purchase cost on repairs, it still didn't run properly and I lost about $7000 on it - hard to swallow when 21, working part-time and paid $10,500!!

If I had my time back again, I would not have done it and same situation here. It may sound doom and gloom but the problem with the SVX is that its rarity carries with it expensive parts and a lot of places not really knowing what they are doing - its highly likely they have never seen one at all so a steep learning curve! If it been neglected, then prepare for a wheelbarrow of cash.

If you do decide to keep it, as Joe said, get a tranny cooler - I would recommend Jim David Transmissions in Girraween ( they did it on mine and another SVX'er here) and they have worked on another SVX transmission so may be worth having a chat to them if you have not committed elsewhere. For the rest of it, Penrith Subaru are the one dealership that seem to get quite a few SVX's through as second hand cars (they had a yellow one!!!) and their Service Manager was trained on the SVX and knows what he is on about - his name is Peter from memory and a great guy. The other dealerships are, from what I hear, a bit average. Also, if you do decide to keep it, would be worthwhile getting a set of the factory repair manuals (about $130 or thereabouts) - if you have a mechanic that you prefer to take it to, it will make his/her life infinitely easier.

Anyways, I am in Sydney too so should meet up if you want. We had 8 SVX's at a BBQ in November and hope to get something going again soon

Cheers

James

Hi Arthur,

I too saw that SVX advertised in the trading post and by the time i had rang him the next day the car was sold. Congratulations, i have been constantly looking for a decent SVX here in Sydney but it doesn't look like there are too many available. Most of the one's that are available have super high kms and are too risky for me. Whereas the ones that have done decent kms are far too expensive. My dad used to own a 92 charcoal grey model which he bought with just over 200,000 kms, the interior and body were in fairly decent condition, the transmission had just been replaced, and it went quite well. My dad absolutely adored it, he said it was one of the best cars he has driven, and let me tell you he has driven some gems in his lifetime. He ended up selling it a year later because we had too many cars at home, it didn't really cause us too many problems but we only had it for a year. There was one funny issue when we were on the highway, the car on a few occasions would start to shake and vibrate when pushed past 110kms, it didn't happen all the time but it did happen. After that happened he decided to sell it. It wasn't just simply a tune up fix, but we never got it checked out.

But i must admit you were brave buying that SVX with that many kms, i can't believe someone could do that many kms. I really hope you can fix all the problems because its a great car and you got the best colour (burgundy).

[Jamsvx]

All these Sydney people coming out of the woodwork!!

Where are you when I am busy, in the dead of night, taking on all manner of exotica along the Gore Hill freeway and Epping Road, valiantly protecting the SVX's reputation!!



The best colour is the charcoal grey (mine!) followed by yellow!!

[pylon500]

Hey, Thanks for all the great replies.
I've only just picked up on this 'group' thing after years of thinking the internet was just lots of porn and spam!
I hear what you are all saying about tranny coolers and had a word with the auto specialist though he seemed to think would survive with regular servicing, so I don't know, I'll talk to him when I pick up the car and ask what fitting a cooler would do to any warranty he's offering?
As for my cars history, yes I know about the Fireman (it still has a fire brigade sticker on the screen) what I don't know is who did all the off road driving in it? as the underside is pretty knocked about, at least the boots are OK ('L' wagon problem)
Other people; I joined the group the day countess got wrecked! had gone to the Aussie page and started reading her thread (all bubbling with excitement) and was listening to all the advice when disaster!
I'm sure we all feel for you girl.
Other Cars; I frequent a great little restaurant near Maquarie Uni and regularly see ANOTHER burgandy black top LSi!, as the kid I bought the car from was a Uni student I thought it was the same car, but no, it was there again the other week (I wish I had parked next to it and got a photo!)
Someone keeps mentioning a Yellow SVX and yes, I've seen it
It looks mint and the black and yellow accent give it the ultimate TONKA TOY look
OK, time to cook tea, so I'll try to look back later
Arthur.

[Jamsvx]

Macquarie Uni - went there for 5 long years and never saw an SVX...lots of young students on P plates driving BMW's, Mercedes and other Japanese imports but no SVX's - heathens!

With the tranny cooler, for the sake of $400 you stand to save approximetly $4500 (worst case scenario) - the early SVX transmissions break as surely as day follows night - some of the fellows on here have hooked up temp gauges (I have one that I need to hook up) and seen some very alarming tranmission temperatures!!

I go the impression that fireman joe or whatever his name was drove the car hard; his tales of Mach 1 trips out near Razorback were quite interesting!!

Is that restaurant the one in the middle of nowhere out the back of the uni - I can't recall the name *will have to drive down and have a look-see for this other SVX*

Where did you see the yellow one? There were two in Oz, one of which has apparently crashed (which would be the ex-Penrith Subaru one) and the other is now in Gosford/Central Coast (an ex-VIC car) and also owned by a firie!

James

[LarryIII]

Pylon,

Welcome to our SVX family. Good Luck and best wishes in fixing up your SVX.

[pylon500]

Hi There, back again.
Like I say, will have to talk to the tranny guy re cooler and warranty and so on, reading the posts Iwonder if it even needs a thermatic hooked up to wherever the cooler gets fitted
As for the road to total rebuild, I wonder if I should sell my wagon or keep it for down times
I probably should keep my lttle restuarant a secret as it gets pretty full most nights, but I shall let on just for my new Subaru friends (I say this as there are a few Subi's just in the little social group I'm with as well) the restuarant is a little Pizza take away with alfresco dining called the Mediteranian (BYO)
To be initiated into this culinary enclave (my dictionary is working overtime here!) you need to order the Barbeque Chicken, simple, low fat, cheap and a delight.
The rest of the menu is mouthwatering and they also do...Pizza
That's enough for one night and thanks for all the advice, I can't say I'll be here every night, but I hope to be a regular.
Arthur.
P.S. The 'V' thing was just the guys at work stirring me by saying it looks like a 'U', heathens

[pylon500]

Almost forgot (OK I did)
I saw the Yellow SVX parked in a side street in Enmore while going to a KraftWerk concert (my god, did I just admit that? )
I don't know why, but my memory keeps telling me it had a black roof, while all the posted photo's I've seen show a yellow roofed vehicle
To me it's still balck topped with a wing and looks awsome!
Must sleep
Arthur.

[Aredubjay]

OKAY, ENOUGH OF THE YE . . . YEL . . . YELL . . . . AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH! ALREADY.



<Don't worry, Pylon. You'll soon learn, it's all in jest.>

[Earthworm]

Don't worry about Randy, he gets all teary-eyed when you start talking about those YELLOW ones!

I have seen a yellow one parked at the Sheraton on the Park on Elizabeth St. I saw it there about 6 months ago, it was in very good condition, i looked at the kms reading and if i can recall it only had about 60,000 kms. I can't recall whether it had a black roof but i think it had a yellow roof but am not 100% certain. I do remember it had an unusual badge on the dashboard. I have to admit though i'm not a big fan of the canary yellow colour. As i said i love the burgundy colour. I actually saw a burgundy one driving on the Anzac Bridge last week, it looked like it had those multi-spoke BBS alloys on it. Maybe he was going to MacQuarie Uni, it was a guy driving, he was about 26 years old. Could be postgrad student or lecturer.

Holler at me if you have seen one with those multi spoke alloys. I also see an all black SVX parked in Oxford St nearly every time i go past that st. Its not in very good condition though, but you don't see too many all black ones around. You should check it out.

[svxistentialist]

The later Japanese models seem to sport those multi-spoke wheels, I think they are made by BBS.

Personally I do not like them. They appear to be "old fogey" or "pipe and slippers" to me. I like the originals, they are so easy to clean.

I have a CD ROM with lots of pictures of modified cars. Of them all, the wheels that look best are those with 8 or more radial spokes.

Don't think I have ever seen a picture of a yellow car with a black roof.

Joe