SVX

[richardean]

Is there anyone in the Contra Costa area that understands these car's? I am trying to bring this one back from the near dead.I have made progress but need some smog help and some other tune up and valve cover leaks. I also have no bushing in the sway bar.

I never have posted befor so, let me know if all this is ok.

Thanks,Rich

[100_Percent_Juice]

Welcome!

[MattR]

I enjoyed your work as MacGyver.

As far as repair shops , I don't know of any, but sperry on this forum has refurbed his SVX and spent a lot of time learning those cars...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by richardean

Is there anyone in the Contra Costa area that understands these car's? I am trying to bring this one back from the near dead.I have made progress but need some smog help and some other tune up and valve cover leaks. I also have no bushing in the sway bar.

I never have posted befor so, let me know if all this is ok.

Thanks,Rich

Welcome to the board!

What year is your car? '96 and '97 SVXi are OBD-II, so if they're not passing smog, you should be able to pull the codes and see what's wrong. Then you go down the long road of replacing all the bits and pieces that have given up on you. If the car is older than '96, it's OBD-I, which means pulling codes is a PITA via the jumper block behind the driver's kick panel. There are less codes to help you on the OBD-I cars, but passing smog should be a lot easier, since it's just a sniffer test that should be easy to pass as long as the car is running well and the cats aren't turned to dust.

For reading OBD-I codes, check here: http://www.svx-iw.com/svxiw/article/?category=codes (In fact, the SVX Information Warehouse is a great technical resource: http://www.svx-iw.com/)

Regarding leaking valve covers... I just did mine (along w/ a major cleaning of the motor, new plugs, new oil seals, and new engine mounts). The thread documenting the work is here: http://www.seccs.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7346 I pulled the motor out, but the valve covers can certainly be resealed with the motor in the car.

For the swaybar bushings (and all other parts for that matter) check out http://www.subaruparts.com. If you create an account over there and login, they've got an awesome parts lookup system for the SVX (and '02 WRX) akin to the system the dealers use. It allows you to dig through the diagrams to find pretty much everything mechanical on the car that might need replacing. They also have awesome prices on the parts, but they nail you with really high shipping... so sometimes it's not the cheapest option. I tend just to get most of my stuff for the SVX straight from my local dealership, but I get a discount there since they set me up in their system as a "shop" due to all the parts for the racecar I'm perpetually buying from them. Dealer prices are normally the most expensive prices for SVX stuff, but they're frequently the only way to get stuff.

Finally, check out the SVX Network at http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/index.php. It's the largest SVX forum online, with a few really knowledgeable folks that are willing to help out with most anything. (I also had a thread about the engine resealing over at the Network as well: http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48682)

If you've got any specific questions, feel free to post 'em up here, and I'd be happy to help out as best I can, or head over to the Network as there are a lot more people there that know the SVX than here.

(BTW, where in Contra Costa are you? I lived in San Ramon from '83 to '95!)