1989 Subaru Justy GL 2 from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

CV joint went at 122000,

rust (major)

auto choke not coming off.

Awesome car

economical 1.2L engine

quick off the mark.

My elderly Mother has a 1993, 4 door Subaru Justy 4WD 1.2 ECVT GL-II, which She has had from new. It has...um, charcoal leather (yep...similar to Recaro's, front & rear), air conditioning (it's dark green & like a little black cave inside and really needs the cold air in our climate), sun-roof, mags (with 185/60 R13 Michelin's, which is the biggest tyre you can get to fit on the rear), power windows and central locking (air, glass & locks might have been primarily US and Jap. domestic spec?).

The Justy is quite hard on tyres... 25K (max) for the fronts and 75K for the rear. It has had one set of clutch brushes replaced at 200,000Km (High carbon alternator brushes don't work... the brushes Subaru use, are high current ones, like starter motor brushes, with a high copper content), and both outer CV joints needed to be replaced (replacing those that we damaged by overheating on a chassis dynomometer). The fuel filter is tiny and blocks easily and needs to be replaced every year.

It has just ticked over 250,000 km now, and had been more or less trouble free up until a month ago, when for no apparent reason, it killed a big-end bearing on number 3 cylinder. So, it has been engine out and a complete tear-down. To our surprise, there is no evidence of engine wear at all (original factory honing marks on the bores!) ; which I attribute to the quality of materials that Subaru used in manufacture and also to the very clever synthetic lubricant that has been used since run-in.

The cause of the big-end failure, was the big-end bearing shells, were turning inside the connecting rod, which I understand from those that know, is very far from uncommon, with this engine.

There is no rust in this car at all: yet it is garaged only 30 meters from the sea. Most Justy's have been put off the road in New Zealand because of severe structural rust (around the roof and windscreen mostly). With this vehicle, the week that it arrived, we drenched it in my own anti-rust brew that I developed in my paint laboratory (I'm a surface coating chemist), about 25 years ago, which is:-

1 part fisholene (once whale oil, now shark oil).

1 part boiled linseed oil.

1 part white spirits (as the drier)

(thin to spray if necessary, with a little more white spirit & clean-up with a small quantity of kerosene on a rag)

Unlike the wax treatments, this brew will never completely dry, but for proper protection, it ought to be re-done every five years or so.

And to make absolutely sure, it has an electronic corrosion shield installed, which stops the electron flow from the hard, high tensile steel to the softer body metal. I make these in my garage at home and will be happy to supply one at my cost, which is about NZ$60 (30 Euros... 20 Pounds Stg) complete (with the control unit, complete with all wires, anode and cathode and installation instructions), plus air parcel postage of about NZ$10 (5 Euros... 3 Pounds 50 p).

(michael_Glover@bigfoot.com will find me)

Mums Subaru Justy has depreciated very gently, at the rate of less than NZ$40 (20 Euros...13 Pounds Stg) per week through it's life and after the engine rebuild, I'm sure it will be good for another 10 years and another 250,000 Km.

Recommend Subaru? You bet!

Michael Glover

@Tairua,

New Zealand.