just got it!

So I'm finally the owner of a '92 SVX. 186k miles, but no problems whatsoever (knock on wood). After driving it a little though, I have a few questions:

1. the steering feels loose, light, almost like it's floating. Is this normal? My other car's a '97 Outback, and the steering feels a little firmer than this. It makes me a little less willing to push the SVX.

2. So I know rear wheel bearings are a problem. But how do I know when they're going? I know they get noisier, but right now I can hear road noise at highway speeds from inside the car. It's not too bad, but definitely noisier than my Outback. How much noise is normal for an SVX?

3. So how far exactly CAN an SVX be pushed?

Thanks!

Kmin.

[Chris]

The steering on most SVX's have either vehicle speed sensitive steering or engine speed sensitive. Vehicle speed is beter and by having this is can cause a "feeling" difference between your Outback and SVX. The thing to look and or feel for is slop. does the steering wheel have any slop in it while driving?

Most tires (especially performance ones) on SVX's tend to be noisy. This can sound like bearing noise. All I can say is that if there is indeed a bearing problem, the growl will get louder and make itself known real quick. Also, you can put the car into a hard long turn. If you have bearing noise, it will increase on the side where the problem is.
Hope this helps.

[HighwayUFO]

I know Chris didn't address this issue, so I will put my two cents in. The SVX as a car does extremely well in most conditions. Owning a car that has 186k on the odometer should be an example of it's longevity. The biggest issue you will face are the bearings and the transmission, but hopefully, if the car was cared after by the previous owner and not droven into the ground, you have an excellent car. I've had mine since the 31st of Dec. and have had to replace the CV axles due to the previous owners negligence.

As far as driving and how hard the car can be pushed, the car is highly responsive at high speeds and never lets you feel as if you have no control. You can drive the car as hard as you can, but the eventual consequenses will catch up quickly. I've had mine to 135 and had to slow for a curve. So there is a testimonial for you.

The major parts to keep an eye on, and I don't intend to scare you away from this car are

1. Warping rotors
2. Tranny problems
3. Wheel bearings
4. CV axles (in mine, fixed)
5. Ball joints ( in mine)
6. Rack and Pinion

These are the major ones to be wary of. The issues in parenthesis are problems I have currently or have fixed. The CV axles are relatively cheap and if a mostly complete SVX is sitting in a junkyard near you, you may be able to pick them up used for around 45 to 110 dollars.

Hope this has answered most of your questions. Oh and by the way, WELCOME TO THE SITE!!!

[Chiketkd]

Welcome to the clan! Congrats on your purchase...

To answer your third question, some people have been able to push SVX's pretty far (performance wise), but you always want to lay a solid foundation first before installing a NOS kit or S/C.

Good initial mods are:
1) Aftermarket Oil Cooler and external transmission filter
2) SmallCar 4EAT Shift Kit
3) Running Synthetic fluid in your transmission

Also, buy a bottle of Techron Fuel System Cleaner and add it to your gas at the next fill-up. This will clean out all deposits from your fuel system and prevent engine knocking caused by dirty fuel injectors. BTW, since your car has 186K miles, it may be a good idea to replace the spark plugs.

These are just some minimal baseline mods to perform to ensure that your engine doesn't detonate and throw a rod and that your transmission doesn't overheat and break down on you.

-Chike

[Ron Mummert]

Good initial mods are:
1) Aftermarket Oil Cooler and external transmission filter
2) SmallCar 4EAT Shift Kit
3) Running Synthetic fluid in your transmission


I would NOT switch to synthetic tranny fluid at 186K unless leaky seals are your thing.

Ron.

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by Chiketkd
Also, buy a bottle of Techron Fuel System Cleaner and add it to your gas at the next fill-up. This will clean out all deposits from your fuel system and prevent engine knocking caused by dirty fuel injectors.

Please explain to me how dirty injectors cause engine knock.

[LarryIII]

Kmin,

Welcome to the SVX family. I hope that your SVX gives you as much pure joy as mine does.

Besides SVXes we also own a '97 OB wagon. The steering between the two is different. The SVX is much lighter and easier at speed. I believe this is due to the speed sensitive steering. There should be NO play in the steering wheel.

The rear wheel bearing noise gets louder as speed increases and there should be no change to the sound as you drive over different pavements. Tire noise changes pitch as you drive over different pavements at the same speed.

How far you can push the SVX depends on 2 things:
1) Are you pushing it uphill or downhill?
2) What kind of physical sahpe are you in?



Seriously before you drive any car with over 180K miles on it very fast thru the twisties, please, please please, check out the suspension, drive shafts & boots, steering, brakes;and most important wheels & tires. Do this for your own safety.

Here's to many miles of happy motoring.

[Chiketkd]

This is my understanding:

In the upper rpms, the ECU will require that a greater amount of fuel is injected into the cylinders to be ignited by a spark to make maximum hp (at the top end). If the fuel injectors are dirty and can't supply enough fuel, you could have a situation where not fuel is being supplied and detonation could occur.

Either way, if you plan on adding more hp to a car, you need to make sure that everything is in good working condition first.

-Chike

Originally posted by Mr. Pockets
Please explain to me how dirty injectors cause engine knock.

[Chiketkd]

This explains how the Techron Additive prevents engine knock a lot better than I did above: Techron Technical Background

-Chike

[svxpert]

<<This is my understanding:

In the upper rpms, the ECU will require that a greater amount of fuel is injected into the cylinders to be ignited by a spark to make maximum hp (at the top end). If the fuel injectors are dirty and can't supply enough fuel, you could have a situation where not fuel is being supplied and detonation could occur. >>

The amount of fuel being injected into the cylinder is the same as if you idling or going at 5000 RPM. Just the frequencey of it being injected changes.

[oab_au]

Originally posted by Chiketkd
This explains how the Techron Additive prevents engine knock a lot better than I did above: Techron Technical Background

-Chike

Don't know about anybody else, but it didn't convence me.

All I read was ,,,,,,, We make money from selling this stuff,,,,,,,,,,, let me tell you how bloody great it is,,,,,,,

Dirty injectors still inject the same amount of fuel, but not in a fully, atomised state, the hydrocarbon reading goes up and they dribble at idle.
The amount of fuel injected depends on the MAF reading and the torque curve of the engine. The most fuel injected, will be at maximum torque rpm.

Harvey.

[svxsubaru1]

The more the fuel is misted, the more resistance there is to detonation, becasue there is a larger surface area to heat up to detonate, and with clean injectors they mist better. Cars with direct injection, which are great for misting the fuel, like the new Isusu 3.5 liter has 10.3 to 1 compresion and can run on regular 87 octane. Compared to the EG33 which has a 10 to 1 and is spose to run on premium 91 octane or higher.

only on a board full of obsessive car lovers would a few simple questions become a debate about engine knock and the additives... guess that's a sign that i'm in good company.

thanks for the replies everyone, hmm, larry, what you described is exactly what i was experiencing. i took it out again today, and i like it, so i'm not complaining.

so i'm persuaded that my svx is working normally, and that i don't have the dreaded rear bearing problem. (touch wood)

and er, as for my question about how hard i can push it, i really wasn't thinking of turbo/super/NO-ing it at all! considering that my outback only has 165hp, the svx's 230 is more than plenty for me! i still get a kick out of the fact that at 80mph, the engine's only revving at half to two-thirds of what my outback would be at...

i will get the tranny mods (filter and cooler) done sometime soon. any other mods to recommend?

kmin.

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by oab_au


Don't know about anybody else, but it didn't convence me.

All I read was ,,,,,,, We make money from selling this stuff,,,,,,,,,,, let me tell you how bloody great it is,,,,,,,

Dirty injectors still inject the same amount of fuel, but not in a fully, atomised state, the hydrocarbon reading goes up and they dribble at idle.
The amount of fuel injected depends on the MAF reading and the torque curve of the engine. The most fuel injected, will be at maximum torque rpm.

Harvey.

I totally agree with you, Harvey. I was simply suspicious until I hit the diagrams of engine parts with smiley faces. That was it for me. No further reading required.

All it told me was that it 'cleaned deposits' off the intake valves and combustion chamber. It didn't tell me how the stuff did that, what the deposits were made of, etc.

[oab_au]

Originally posted by svxsubaru1
The more the fuel is misted, the more resistance there is to detonation, becasue there is a larger surface area to heat up to detonate, and with clean injectors they mist better. Cars with direct injection, which are great for misting the fuel, like the new Isusu 3.5 liter has 10.3 to 1 compresion and can run on regular 87 octane. Compared to the EG33 which has a 10 to 1 and is spose to run on premium 91 octane or higher.

Yes I see the point you are making, that the finely misted fuel will evaporate easier, but if it was this easy to prevent detonation, we would not have any detonation.

I mean it looks good to have the injector spraying into the chamber past the open inlet valve, but at full throttle the injection starts about 40 odd degrees before the inlet valve opens, so misting is not going to do much, when detonation is happening.

I agree that direct injection is the better set up.

Harvey.