All Activity

Thanks for the responses. I think it's probably the centre bearing on the two section drive shaft, or the transfer box to the rear wheels. If I could find a replacement for that centre bearing and rubber bushing I would replace but I have not succeeded in finding one. So if I could find a replacement for the power transfer solinoid and if i could replace it easily I would do that so I could drive it FWD only. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

I’d say the most effective way would be tank out and clean with whatever method of choice. You could source a good, clean tank, put that in and be done with it too.

DOHC EJs fit in an L series engine bay without chassis rail mods. The dual range gearbox is only good if you’re going offroad - or might have situations where towing up an incline requires traction and “leverage”. If you’re building a road hugger, I’d go with the AWD box for better traction under acceleration.

Got my strut from PEC Australia today. Looks good. If you absolutely need front struts, they have em. No clue on how long their inventory will last though. :]

IIRC, the ecu pinout table in the FSM is wrong, and you need to *not* ground the pin if it's a manual. Does the DOHC even fit in the frame rails on an 89 hatch? I know it doesn't on an 84. The wiring isn't bad. Takes a weekend if you're good with a wiring diagram. The mechanical aspects of the wiring (mounting the computer, getting the harness to it, etc) takes as long as the actual wiring part. I'd suggest keeping with an EA82 transmission, and using a bellhousing adapter and redrilled flywheel. The 5-speed dual-range is pretty much the ideal old gen transmission. Sticking with it will be direct bolt in (no messing with mounts, linkage, driveshaft, etc), and you get low range! There's several people who make the adapters, like https://awdadventure.com/products/ea-ej-adapter-plate . Sticking with an EA82 tranny will be a much faster swap, and having low range is very, very nice.

So, my 86 XT has eaten two fuel pumps now, and quite a few fuel filters because of vanish still sitting in the tank. The tank doesn't appear to be rusty in any way, which is great, but the poor thing had been parked for 10-13 years, with about a 1/8th of a tank of gas, which I can only assume has turned into a thick layer of gunk on the bottom of the tank. I did drain out that gas and tried to flush out all the old stuff but that clearly didn't do the trick. I've seen a million recommendations online about cleaning varnish out of a tank but what have people here had the most success with? Should I just throw some fuel treatment or seaform or something and let it sit for a couple of days, or should I just take the whole tank out and get shaking it with vinegar and rocks? I would hate to take the tank out, only because I know how annoying it can be, but I guess it would be just as annoying to keep buying fuel filters 😆.

And in the back of it too

Very clever. So rather than continue to reduce your hoarded inventory of Subie parts, you intend on hiding it in plain sight from your wife in the form of a Baja?

You need an AWD dual range box to achieve what you’re wanting to do. The single range AWD gearbox is a solid upper shaft and the bottom lay shaft is a tube that has the front pinion shaft run through it. AFAIK the dual range 4wd gearbox uses a setup with the drive gears mounted on the pinion shaft for the front diff. I know more about the AWD L series box with the locking centre diff than the specifics on the dual range 4wd pinion shaft setup as I’ve not pulled that section apart. We’re lucky in Oz because our market came with dual range AWD gearboxes right into the late naughties. These parts are somewhat interchangeable with that locking centre diff gearbox you have. For example: my L series “Ruby Scoo” runs a bastardised locking AWD gearbox with the following setup: - phase 2 front cases with matching drive gearsets - L series 1.59:1 low range - L series locking centre diff pinion shaft - modified for 4.111:1 diff ratio - matching rear locking centre diff housing, shift linkages and tailshaft - oil “feeders” over the low range gearset to lubricate and keep cool on long climbs. The key is a phase 1 dual range AWD gearset - if you manage to score one of these it will fit into your L series front cases. The low range hub internally will need a small amount of machining to fit the EJ upper gearset shaft. There are threads around that explain this. Your biggest hurdle is the EH dual range gearbox/gearset if you’re in the states.

Ooh good questions. OBDI or OBDII - it doesn’t matter really - the wiring cut down is basically the same. Find the FsM that matches the engine and ECU to get the wiring diagrams and work out what’s what. Sometimes the Haynes manual will have a good pinout of the ecu with accurate wire colours too. The auto EJ22 can be told it’s a manual and work as such. You need to ground a certain set of pins at the ECU to “tell” it that it’s a manual… The EJ22 is bullet proof. Gen1s are non interference, Gen2s are interference. The difference is hydraulic lifters (gen1) and roller rockers (gen2). The EJ25 - it depends on which model. I’d avoid the DOHC EJ25D. But I’d do the EJ251 any day. Replace the head gaskets with the STi turbo EJ25 MLS gaskets and never look back. The EJ251 is a wicked engine with a flat torque curve through the rev range. It just feels like it keeps pulling! I know as I daily a Gen3 RX Liberty with the EJ251 and manual. I didn’t think the L series coupes came with a 4 speed, only the MY hatch - but this model runs an EA81 and I don’t believe they were still building them in ‘89. Gearbox will need custom mounts, probably need shift linkage mods and a custom tailshaft if you can’t work out a combination from OEM parts. I also recommend getting a donor vehicle that’s running. This way you know you have everything you need. Unless you know what you’re doing I don’t recommend mix and matching engines and ECU/wiring looms. On that note, the “rule” is phase 1 sticks with phase 1 engine management and vice versa with phase 2 gear; generally the ECU, wiring loom and intake manifold need to be a match and need to be same phase as the engine phase being used. Hope this helps

That purge control solenoid is probably faulty. Best to test the way the workshop manual says to - which is probably with ohms rather than voltage. The question still remains - why does blocking the purge control line allow the engine to run properly? Is there another version already on the wagon so it’s sucking from atmosphere rather than the tank? Probably need to work out what’s different with the fuel system between the two systems this engine was run with. That will be difficult since the original one is no more.

I’ve never been too crazy about the Baja but I’m thinking I might as well dive in. We already own a handful of 2000-04 Legacys. I am aware they’re all the same platform but never really looked to close at some details. Maybe you can help. Swap over parts from a wagon or sedan that I am just looking to confirm would easily exchange: Headlights? Legacy or Outback - we have both Exhaust ? Is that a copy of the wagon? And are the Baja fuel tanks their own or shared with wagon? Anything else you think it please let me know like dashboard, controls, etc. Thanks !

Bump since I edited the title. Still love my tank. Still feel it’s a great investment. If you’re up north or east of the plains condensation can be a killer. Never cleaned the top of the tank off? Then you’re due for pinholes. When that time comes check out Moyer. No, they didn’t pay me.

The Brat has been sitting a lot . . . At the busy mechanic’s yard. Bought him a new Denso O2 sensor (front) and no change. Latest news is he’s disconnected the purge valve line at the intake manifold and capped it. His readings on the fuel trim are now good and he says ‘it runs beautifully’. As mentioned in one of the above posts, I’d driven it after substituting a resistor for the knock sensor, which alleviated the bucking, though still had a tendency to act like fuel starved at low rpm’s. So he’s been hunting, seems like through a lot of the same paths I’ve been down, and throwing money at sensors is getting old. I’d had the purge valve off the engine, seemed to test okay with jumping 12v to open/close it, and it held pressure fine, then opened cleanly. So it seems to be lack of signal from/to the ECU, to activate the purge. Mechanic suggests that running the car with the capped purge port on the manifold will be okay. So I’ll be picking the car up and trying it out, though I do wish I’d be able to run it with more of the parts it was engineered to have!

I got a 89' 2 door GL hatchback EA82 and I am wanting to swap it for something with more power. My car is a 4 speed so I want to swap the trans while I am at it. I just got a 2004 manual forester transmission and I am deliberating about what motor to go for. There is a auto subie with a 2.2 for 300 dollars and lowish miles near by which is appealing, but I have heard that it is harder to find wiring diagrams for the OBD1 cars. As I understand it the hardest part of the swap is the wiring, so should I try to look for a newer 2.2 with OBD2? There is also a newer donor with a 2.5 nearby, but it seems like most people avoid swapping the 2.5 because of the head gaskets?

UPDATE #2: I *FINALLY* found one on Ebay from a very well-rated seller for $330 Here's the LINK

I currently own a 1988 GL-10 Turbo with a center diff lock and a 1990 Loyale with a 5sp dual range transmission out of a 86 GL. I've found myself wondering if it would be possible to take the locking differential out of the GL-10 and transplanting it into the transmission my Loyale to mimic the coveted RX transmission. Any thoughts?

Also check facebook marketplace and any u pull it salvage yard. 1O.

I bought an aftermarket shaft for my 05 (I think) now sold that worked out just fine. I will search my posts here to see what other info I may have posted. check out Parts Geek. They have some for Auto at $300+ https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2000/subaru/outback/driveshaft_-ar-_axle/drive_shaft.html?rp=driveshaft

How can I reach you to possibly get this CAD so I can have none made?

Really appreciate the recommendations here! I did a parooze through ebay and FB marketplace the other day and it's quite slim on OEM axles. I'm on the west coast of Canada on Vancouver Island so the junk yard and general parts availability is pretty minimal. I have seen a few stock Loyales around town though so I might try to approach an owner and see if they have any spare parts around or can help on the local scene. I think I'll start with the RockAuto axles just to get her rolling again and keep on the hunt for OEM as I go. Thanks again!

UPDATE: I called the driveline shop and they said that since Subaru stakes the u-joints (and don't use c-clips to retain the bearing cups) they can't be rebuilt, nor can the carrier bearing (most likely). Sigh . . .

DMV always seems to be a pain. Glad you got it worked out.

90-04 Legacy/Outback with an auto is all interchangeable. Ujoints are staked in, but can be replaced. I've done many. I did a writeup on it years ago: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/driveshaft-u-joint-replacement.465866/ And yea, almost every car or crossover on the market with AWD has staked in joints, driveline shops are everywhere and generally very familiar with them.

Imdew - DUH! Of course! I'll check that out right away! THANKS!!