Help! - No power in Subaru' 87 GL 4WD

[mTran]

Hi, we own a Subaru wagon GL 1987 - manual 5 speed
Over the last 2 months the car's been gradually and intermittently
losing pickup power, mostly going uphill. Finally, yesterday while on
the freeway, it would only go as high as 45 MPH and this was at a high
RPM. Once I was off the freeway, I was forced to drive in first gear
with high RPMs. Once I stopped the car, I smelled burning rubber. The
car barely moves now. It also makes a whining sound (?), not too easy
to hear, but there. The car starts Ok so I assumed it's not a timing
belt problem.

Is the engine shot ? The car has 186.000 miles on it and it is a second
engine (rebuilt) We sorta inherited the car 3 years ago and don't
really want to invest more than few hundred $ in such an old vehicle.
Could it be an electrical problem since it already has few minor ones ?
Thanks
Alex

 

[John Williams]

Hi, we own a Subaru wagon GL 1987 - manual 5 speed
Over the last 2 months the car's been gradually and intermittently
losing pickup power, mostly going uphill. Finally, yesterday while on
the freeway, it would only go as high as 45 MPH and this was at a high
RPM. Once I was off the freeway, I was forced to drive in first gear
with high RPMs. Once I stopped the car, I smelled burning rubber. The
car barely moves now. It also makes a whining sound (?), not too easy
to hear, but there. The car starts Ok so I assumed it's not a timing
belt problem.

Is the engine shot ? The car has 186.000 miles on it and it is a second
engine (rebuilt) We sorta inherited the car 3 years ago and don't
really want to invest more than few hundred $ in such an old vehicle.
Could it be an electrical problem since it already has few minor ones ?
Thanks
Alex

Sounds like you need to replace the clutch.

 

[subedude]

Yup! It is the clutch. High rpm, low speed, burning smell=New Clutch

 

[mTran]

Yup! It is the clutch. High rpm, low speed, burning smell=New Clutch

Thanks people, indeed all things point to the clutch.
According to the book I have at hand, replacing a clutch in the Sub
requires removing an engine. If so, it must be a pricey repair at an
autoshop.
Anyone tried to do it on their own ? - how much time, cash and skill
required ?

thanks again
Alex

 

[Rick Courtright]

Anyone tried to do it on their own ? - how much time, cash and skill
required ?

Hi,

Did it on my '90 Loyale 4wd a little over a year ago. With no help, I
took the better part of two days. I didn't work that fast (it was
summer, and over 100 deg F, so I wasn't inspired to set any "pit crew
records"), then a lot of time was lost getting a handful of "stuck"
things unstuck (it was original clutch, and car had over 300k miles at
the time) and cleaning up a fine mess when the gearbox leaked all over
the floor--it depends on the drive shaft to complete the rear seal, and
I'd neglected to drain it (not thinking! Duh!) With a little help
aligning things, etc., on reassembly, I'd guess I'd have saved a few
hours.

Cash? IIRC, a new disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing
and some exhaust gaskets from my dealer were right at $300 US. Rebuilt
from parts house would have saved some, but with that much work, I'd
rather go OEM and new when possible...

Skill? I'm a reasonably skilled shade tree mechanic. I didn't have an
engine hoist available, so I just used my floor jack and dropped the
gearbox. I'm told on the 4wd models that's not the way to go--pulling
the engine's easier--but ya gotta go with what ya got!

HTH,

Rick