15 replies to this topic

[riak2]

If you guys had a choice of motors which one is better with less mainteance??? which one does not need timing belts or do they both need them???
And which is a better car the ones with the ea81 motor or the ea82 motors??? just trying to decide which one to buy, car that is.... Thanks

[GeneralDisorder]

Well - the EA81 has no timing belts. It's definately the simpler of the two, but the carbs tend to be a bit crappy for most of us (can be replaced with a weber tho). EA82's (at least the turbo models) tend to blow head gaskets, and crack heads if they overheat - EA81's seem to be able to take just about any heat you could give them, but will eventually blow a head gasket as well if they get too hot.

As for the cars - well the EA82's are bigger, and a bit nicer inside. They were also made till 94, so your chances of finding a nice one are greater. You could put an EA81 into an EA82 car if you were so inclined.... would save you from doing timing belts I guess, but you would have less power.

GD

[LostWater]

What a can of worms you have opened up!!.

The ea-82's put out over 10 hp more, but, with that additional power, comes additional complexity.

The ea-81's can easily make up the 10 hp difference with a $300 weber carb and hotter ignition, thicker wires.

No timing belts on the ea-81 make it hands down the easist to work on. they rarely warp heads, and rarely overheat.

The ea-81s are uglier, however, and not as nice in the amenities dept. Me, I like the character of them.

[ShawnW]

EA82 gets you more fuel type choices. Carb, SPFI, MPFI, and Turbo.

Ea81s can be carb or MPFI Turbo (somewhat rare).

Personally I like the ea81 much better.

[Setright]

Have any of you tried shoe-horning an EJ22 into these cars? Plenty of power....and although it does have a timing belt the interval is 60k miles.
Get a pre-1997 model and it has hydraulic valve lifters, too.

[calebz]

OTOH, I like the EA82 style better.. My turbo is not too hard to get parts for. I think it looks better.. the engine has been reliable(it came from my first soob, and I'm now on my fourth).. definitely more room inside. Heads aren't a problem unless you over heat the car badly/often.. Plus, changing timing belts isn't that hard.

See.. its all a matter of preference

[MilesFox]

Originally posted by GeneralDisorder
You could put an EA81 into an EA82 car if you were so inclined.... would save you from doing timing belts I guess, but you would have less power.

GD

an ea82 isnt so bad if you are mechanically inclined enough to do timing belts and whatever preventative maintenance. if tou are skilled enough to swap motors from one body to the other, then timing belts should not worry you.

i personally prefer the ea82, it gets better high rpms, and the 5spd transmission that comes with them takes full advantage of the power curve.

some like the 5spd in their ea81 cars, but i have an ea82 with a 5spd in my ea81 body,,,,,,the ea81 doesnt really get the rpms up there for the 5 spd trannies, but are just right for the 4 spds that come with them
(4wd's)

[JonOfScio]

Setright: Mudrat has an EJ22 in his 12" lifted hatchback.

[LostWater]

What about the computer and wiring in the ea82. Doesn't it have many sensors, etc.? The ea-81, slap a weber on to get rid of all that vacuum mess and you have a quick portable swap ready. Not much tinkering other than carb adjustments.

MD

[JonOfScio]

The deal with sensors is that they deal with solenoids, and they have to regulate air/fuel ratio for the hitachis.... there's some vacuum solenoids that have different connectors, and they deal with on/off switches (like binary) for vacuum lines, so I think it's like this: (carbed car)

EA82:
two vacuum solenoids
two air/fuel solenoids
O2 sensor
Oil temp sensor
Water temp sensor

EA81:
one vacuum solenoid
two air fuel solenoids
O2 sensor
Oil temp sensor
Water temp sensor
On some models of course... and then there are the cars without ECS/ECU/ECM.

Mine is a ECU controlled carb. In either case, just slap the weber on, unplug solenoids, plug all the vacuum lines except for a couple (disty, and vapor canister, ect.) and take out the light that appears under the dash for "check engine"

You might consider at this point a computer readout for the O2 sensor so you can see the air fuel mixture (correct tuning) and of course you'll need the oil temp and water temp switches in for your dash.

[MilesFox]

all the carb ea82 i ahve seen have no oxygen sensor. the one i had i put in an 83 wagon, went out west with 30mpg.....

had another one with all the vacuum manifold stripped off, but it ran a little rich

[JonOfScio]

the solenoids on my EA81 manifold stuck too much, keeping my mpg at about 20, when it's FWD, and I used to get 45 to 50 on plus... (89 octane)

[Russ Hill]

If your buying a car I'd buy an EA81 car. If it sounds good and drives good it probably is a good car. The EA81 is so simple that if there is a problem you'll see it coming. AS far as the bodies go, I like the EA82 wagons best. They have lots of "creature features" that the EA81 cars lack.
When it comes to motors, I'll take an EA81 over an EA82 any day. The original EA81 in my '83 wagon has never needed anything simple periodic maintenace in 200,00 miles. I'm getting ready to pull it soon for a reseal do to oil leaks but that's it
I had an '85 with an EA82, that car always needed something. It always ran, but never as reliably as my '83. Right now I'm working on the third EA82 for my '86. The heads cracked on the original and dropped two valve seats. I bought two used engines that were no good, so I'm putting one together now that ought to work.
My point is that I debated throwing in an EA81 because after two bad experiences with the EA82s, I was ready to go back to what I felt was less of a risk.
My $.02

[archemitis]

if nothing else, the ea82s will get better mileage, carb. or efi.
they are both just as reliable as far as i can tell