New Member

[Jamsvx]

Hi

We haven't made it up there yet! What is happening with Rainor's since that is why we were going to organise a run up there!!

Got to get you into an SVX asap!!

James

No, my daddy is nowhere near Sydney ... he was here yesterday, but to buy his his new Lexus landcruiser type thingy ...

You need to teach that girl to drive, and put her in a real machine *grin* Why won't she drive it? Is she just being stubborn, or is she scared of you?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm hammers !!!

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by Jamsvx



There's only 1 tiny dent and some stonechips on the front that was the result of me chasing Ferrari's through Jamberoo and the Macquarie Pass...the worst chip came when a 355 Spyder F1 downshifted through 2 gears on a road that had a fair bit of loose gravel and the subsequent wheelspin as he tore off saw the SVX go through a meteor shower!

Wish I had an onboard video camera that time though!


OK, Cassie can't drive, you are excused!!

Chasing Ferrari 355 F1s!! Man, you are ambitious. Have you not heard about power to weight ratios?? Trevor will be suitably impressed.

Joe

[pylon500]

The continuing saga;
Well, I finally had a go at the plugs, after reading all the posts relating to getting at them, I managed to remove all three on the left side, and get them all back in within the same day.
I mentioned somewhere that I was getting rough running, which seemed to get worse as the engine heated up
One day while idling roughly in the driveway, I began pulling off injector leads to trace the problem cylinder, appeared to be middle left.
Today I managed to get in and remove the front left (awkward, but not impossible) then the middle left (about the same, 'cause I was getting used to it) which all took me about two hours!
The back plug took me another two hours!!
Result; All the plugs were clean and looked OK The coil packs were a different story
My engine leaks a bit (the word sieve comes to mind) and some one has had a go at fixing it with that high temp orange silastic, they failed.
As such the coil packs all had a good covering of oil, dirt and assorted crud on them, Looks like you're right James, water blasting not such a good idea either, so they had a cleaning.
Was then I noticed the wires to the rear coil were bare just where they go into the coil, and also covered with grime. Was this the problem
Spent another hour getting the rear coil disconnected from the little plugs at the back of the engine then cleaned it, and covered the bare wires with a good shot from a hot glue gun
Another three hours, and I had it all back together Put the battery back in, and it started Then after ten minutes of warming up, IT RAN JUST AS ROUGH AS BEFORE
So now I'm at a loss WTHIGO! I can just about hear the guys down at Subaru rubbing their hands together.
Anyone got any ideas?
Arthur

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by pylon500
The continuing saga;
Well, I finally had a go at the plugs, after reading all the posts relating to getting at them, I managed to remove all three on the left side, and get them all back in within the same day.
I mentioned somewhere that I was getting rough running, which seemed to get worse as the engine heated up
One day while idling roughly in the driveway, I began pulling off injector leads to trace the problem cylinder, appeared to be middle left.
Today I managed to get in and remove the front left (awkward, but not impossible) then the middle left (about the same, 'cause I was getting used to it) which all took me about two hours!
The back plug took me another two hours!!
Result; All the plugs were clean and looked OK The coil packs were a different story
My engine leaks a bit (the word sieve comes to mind) and some one has had a go at fixing it with that high temp orange silastic, they failed.
As such the coil packs all had a good covering of oil, dirt and assorted crud on them, Looks like you're right James, water blasting not such a good idea either, so they had a cleaning.
Was then I noticed the wires to the rear coil were bare just where they go into the coil, and also covered with grime. Was this the problem
Spent another hour getting the rear coil disconnected from the little plugs at the back of the engine then cleaned it, and covered the bare wires with a good shot from a hot glue gun
Another three hours, and I had it all back together Put the battery back in, and it started Then after ten minutes of warming up, IT RAN JUST AS ROUGH AS BEFORE
So now I'm at a loss WTHIGO! I can just about hear the guys down at Subaru rubbing their hands together.
Anyone got any ideas?
Arthur

Arthur,
Have you tried cleaning the throttle body? Also, check the plastic bits to the intake for any cracks. Sometimes, there's a small crack in the plastic, or a pinhole in a hose that doesn't manifest until the car warms up and the parts begin to expand. Another possibility is that your MAF sensor is on its way out. Just thinking out loud.

[pylon500]

A little win for the 'neglected one'
As I mentioned before, I felt I had tracked the rough running to the middle left pot.
Having cleaned the injectors and the plugs on that side to no avail, I looked at other symtoms, namely the fact that the rough running seemed to occur after the engine had reached operating temperature.
I know from experience with two strokes that this can be a sign of a coil failing so I finally had to go to Brooky Spares to get another coil
Not wanting to seperate a set of SVX coils, they offerded me a WRX coil which has the same plug connector and will just reach the middle cylinder.
Result; IT GOES !, it's smooother and even the gear changes are better and best of all it will now idle in gear without shaking and jerking at the lights.
In fact it goes so well that tonight I went out and whooped the arse of some little STi Suzuki box, just for fun !
Only the oil leaks left to do now
Arthur

[svxistentialist]

Congrats Arthur.

That was a study in diagnostic intuition. You tracked it down to the middle left, you checked or changed all the plugs, you repaired the dodgy wire that had frayed. All this failing, you took the "only when hot" factor into the equation, and sussed it was a coil.

Finally the replacement coil fixed it!!

Delighted you have persevered and came out on top.

Finally, a little advice about your "leaky sieve".

You will probably tackle some of the leaks next, but before you do, you ought to replace your PCV valve. There is a how-to on this above. The reason I mention it, is the valve being defective[I'm presuming here, but it's likely] causes higher crankcase pressures, which in turn, makes your leaks worse, possibly starts some.

And finally finally, you could do worse than follow Aredubjay's advice on cleaning the throttle body. You can kill two birds with one stone by stripping off the whole intake. Easy enough to do, and you will be easily able to change the PCV without the specialist tools and gynaecological skills it normally requires.

Joe

[Jamsvx]

Great info guys *have filed away for future reference* and hey there Randy!!

Calvin, my younger brother, flew out to Eire yesterday - he is going to work there for a year or so, just finished high school, so the night before he left, I let him take the SVX for a spin (with me there of course)......he LOVED it.....my other brother was in his Corolla with my youngest brother in the drivers seat

In the manner of all things brotherly, Trevor nailed the Corolla off the line while I said to Calvin, get the SVX moving...then flatten it

Which he did

Yeeeeee haaaaaa........he just laughed insanely as it did its little "green light for go" and tore off up the road comprehensively wasting the Corolla (which it should!)

Needless to say, he loved the car and how comfortable it was to drive

I was telling him about your car Joe so if he sees an SVX in Ireland, its probably you!!

Cheers

James

[svxistentialist]

OK James, I'll watch out for him

There is actually an SVX for sale here in Dublin. It is '94, looks like an English model, is black, and I would not mind trading up to it if I had the cash.

Couple of problems though. It has more miles on than mine does, and being English, it may not have the gearbox mods. What I mean by this is they were slow to sell, so it may be an 83 model that was registered in 94, if you catch my drift.

I think if I buy another, it will be 95-97 vintage, I can't take this gearbox crap any more.

When I bought my car first, I chased down a fellow in Dublin who was an SVX owner, or so I thought from a Yahoo reference. He's in publishing. Turns out he had been an SVX owner in Australia when they were new. He sold it because of tranny trouble, and bought a Merc SL. He would not go back to a Subaru, reckoned they were poorly underengineered. Swore by the SL as the car to have. Hard to argue with his logic, they hold their value, and have a bulletproof reputation.

My car is due in next week to have the gearbox done again. For the third time in three years. If it breaks again, I will sell the car and look for an automatic Maserati Quattroporte. I know they are rear drive, and can spin in the wet because of the power, but it would be a refreshing change to have a car that can break traction at the wheels, rather than break the gearbox.

Joe

[Jamsvx]

An SL...very nice and one that I have always wanted but, of late, perusing the Merc forums shows them to have as much, if not more problems than the SVX! Fancy a $5000 job to rip half the car apart to reach an evaporator that was built as a 'sealed unit' that never needed replacing so the car was built around it only to find that, in fact, they now go bye-bye's!

I love the Quattroporte's - just a pity about the electrics..and fit....and rust...and tranny problems (although the auto's apparently use an Aussie transmission)..and climate control.......

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by Jamsvx

I love the Quattroporte's - just a pity about the electrics..and fit....and rust...and tranny problems (although the auto's apparently use an Aussie transmission)..and climate control.......

Well I like the BMW 8 series as well, they are just a little bit chest wig and medallion, if you know what I mean. You get street cred and respect in an SVX or a Porsche, but people always look at the driver of an 850 or 840 and wonder a bit.

Hey, if you know about problems in these Maseratis, tell me before I lay down my hard earned.

Mind you, I read all there was to be known about SVXs on Yahoo, and still bought one. Reckon Ron did the same as I recall. I figured the gearbox problem only affected a percentage, and decided to play the odds. Trouble was, the odds didn't want to play with me.

Joe

[pylon500]

finally, you could do worse than follow Aredubjay's advice on cleaning the throttle body. You can kill two birds with one stone by stripping off the whole intake. Easy enough to do, and you will be easily able to change the PCV without the specialist tools and gynaecological skills it normally requires.

G'Day All, Say that's not such a bad idea
I get the popped up dip-stick thing, so I figured the PCV valve is blocked, and I've even tried to look for it
I think I found it, but damned if I could get at it
I've had the plastic bit attached to the throttle body off and seen the crud therein, so maybe pulling the whole manifold would be quicker in the long run for the two projects.
As for the leaky bits, I'll get there, although if I'm going to start enjoying all this newfound power I better start looking into a tranny oil cooler
When are we going up the Putty again ?
Arthur

[Jamsvx]

Joe, we have much the same taste in cars!

The 8 series, although great, is a monument to all that constitutes a money pit - and very 'red braces' and 80's Gordon Gecko type too! The 850 6 speed manual is a monster of a car (when it works) but, despite all the problems, I would buy an 840!

I too entered the SVX empire knowing that there were problems, however, I think the fact that they can with *waves hand around indicating the club!* help from fellow owners, be easily (sometimes) overcome! I can't say that I have seen the same thing happen with the Merc's and Masser's - normally its "sell the first born, sleep with the bankmanager and prepare to be shafted by the service department"



Arthur, we will probably do another run up there or Wisemans in a week or so...nice drive, good roads and get a coffee etc on the way back

Will keep you posted

James

[pylon500]

Re Wisemans; The missus and her sister have a thing for Pat Drummond (country singer) who will have a show at Wisemans on Sept 7
Maybe if some of the group go, and my Nissan driving brother in law, we can talk cars and not have to listen to folk songs
Arthur

[pylon500]

More Adventures!
Had reason to go for a long run up the far north coast (Ballina) and figured the beast should hold together long enough to get there and back
To it's credit, it did just that, although I think another coil is starting to break down
What I didn't count on was it's ability to wind up if you have a peaceful CD playing while on open dual carriage way, yep I got BUSTED!, just before Newcastle
I'm now the owner of a very sore hip pocket
There was enough shock value in the fine to stay on the limit for the rest of the trip, but the boredom is unbelievable!!!
And just to add injury to insult, I had a large tree branch fall on the bonnet while parked overnight leaving three small dents and a scratch
Much soul searching now on regards owning the SVX or limiting myself to a FORRESTER
ARTHUR.
ps, Where is everyone