DaveT

+1 for the open ground. ECM led flashes a "normal status" code on start.

coolant always flows through the core. Both hoses hot means you have coolant flow. Also, you got free flowing of water with the other test, so that's not the issue. Blend door sounds like the problem to me.

I looked in my FelPro head set. They put the intake seals and exhaust seals in separate bags. The intake seals are taller than the exhaust seals.

Electrolysis requires dissemination similar metals, and an electrolyte - water that is either acid or caustic. The reaction is more extreme the further the pH gets from neutral.

Possible invisible leaks- Intake gaskets. fancy o ring between throttle body and intake. Crack in head exhaust port. These can leak and not cause white smoke, when small. small leak onto top of engine block.

Possible invisible leaks- Intake gaskets. fancy o ring between throttle body and intake. Crack in head exhaust port. These can leak and not cause white smoke, when small. small leak onto top of engine block.

If the 3AT is good and not too far away, I might be interested in it if you don't want to keep it.

I don't have a manual for a 92 5 speed. But Amsoil.com does have a lookup by make and model that will show what is recommended.

I've been using Amsoil 80W-90 gear lube in diffs, and transmissions since around 1988. It made a big difference in how the car moves and shifts when cold when I put it in my 1978 4 speed 4WD. I've used it ever since. I now have only automatics, so I use the synthetic ATF, which made them shift better when cold also. Still use the gear lube in the diffs.

Coolant hoses: a small 90 preformed one right on top of the water pump. A thin one from the thermostat housing to the block. Another from the center back of the intake, behind the throttle body to a steel tube that is one of the heater hose ends, kind of back near the starter. That one should be a preformed one also, or use a longer piece and loop it up and around so it doesn't kink. When you replace the timing belts, replace the 3 idlers. An 09 battery is at end of life, just due to age, under ideal conditions.

Condition of all 7 coolant hoses. How many miles on the timing belts? Leaking oil pretty common for this old and the miles. Cam seals, main seal, oil pump, cam covers, cam towers. One brush on the alternator should wear out soon, if it is original.

Well, I have disassembled 6 of my spare front struts. And every single one of the bumpers that would limit the travel when bottoming out are crumbling / crumbled. So I imagine the ones on my 2 cars are bad also. What options are there for replacement? OEM or Aftermarket? Anything that is an upgrade? What improvement would it be? I am running 4WD EA82 Wagons, no other suspension mods. I just got a pair of the Sachs struts with the adjustable ride height so that's what is going on the car. I'll do the second one when this one is done, assuming there is an improvement.

I had another engine that after a bad overheat, and reseal, burned oil like crazy. Like 1 quart per 10 gallons of gas. I used cheap oil, surplus oil, used oil, old ATF, [always mixing stuff though] for years and many miles. It always passed emissions, which used to surprise me. It also had a bypass filter added. I ran it until one of the heads cracked. I haven't disassembled it enough to check the bearings yet. Yeah, Amsoil is pricy. It was around LONG before Mobile 1 though. I do remember seeing something comparing Amsoil & Mobile 1 years ago, don't know if I could find it again. I agree, a lot of the benefits and claims of fancy oil may not be worth it. I began using Amsoil around 1988. Why I switched: With the bypass filter, and the finer engine filter, no changing oil needed. Back when I did it, I did the ROI calculations, and it was worthwhile solely based on that. I don't miss changing oil either. Never found any problem related to oil / gunk / whatever. The other was cold weather starts. It's not super cold often, but when it is, it doesn't matter. The most noticable changes I found were when I switched to their synthetic gear lube in my 4 speed - it shifted as freely at 0 degrees as it did in the summer, even right after starting. The 3AT cars I moved to later, shift better cold with the synthetic ATF. I've got a couple of 3AT transmissions with over 200,000 miles and no repairs. But like the engine stuff above, I do not know if that is common for them.

EA82 water pump uses a paper gasket.

I don't think I have ever put in an Oem o ring on the water pump, and I have not had trouble. I do make sure the pump surface is good, and the steel tube groove is clean. On some, I did use a small amount of rtv to seal the ring to the groove, as it was not in rhe best shape. More recently, I have been using a little bit of plumber's silicon grease on coolant hoses and o rings. Let's the move a bit and seal up, also, the hoses are not stuck on when I have to remove them.

I don't know why you couldn't. Obviously, you have to use progressively finer grits to get the deeper scratches our from the initial coarse grits. Getting rid of the last few marks on the heads I've done does get frustratingly slow....

I did the flush stuff years ago, but don't bother any more. I never had a problem with leaks because of switching to synthetic. By around 100,000 - 150,000 miles, all of the EA82s I have began to leak more and more. Switchover mileage range from 15,000 to a bit over 100,000. The ones I got with high mileage were leaking with whatever oil they came with. I have one engine that at 15,000 miles, I switched to Amsoil synthetic. I also installed their bypass filter, and use their spin on filter. NEVER changed the oil, only added new as needed. Around 150,000 miles, I disassembled that engine to do a reseal. I saw nothing unusual on the cylinder walls. Hone marks still there, as they have been on the other EA82s I've disassembled. I checked the clearance on the connecting rod bearings, they were still in normal spec. with no marks / wear. Hard to say exactly - but they looked better than the other ones I've looked at that ran regular oil longer. Was it the oil, or other stresses? I don't know. This next one happened years ago - I had another engine, that I had switched to synthetic. Much later, it had a sneaky coolant leak, and got run hot with low coolant. For some reason I still can't figure out, somehow I missed the idea that I had blown the head gasket. For about 4 days, I was trying to figure out why I couldn't get the air out of the coolant system, and where all the water was going. Turned out, it was going into the crank case! When I finally figured it out, I had about 2 gallons of oil and water mixed in the 1 gallon crank case.... I made a total of 8, 30 mile trips on the highway during that time. When I disassembled it to reseal, it wasn't as good as the 15,000 mile one, but still ok. It had a lot more miles on it before I switched it. Was it saved because of the synthetic oil? I honestly don't know. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else had an engine survive 50/50 oil & water at highway speeds.

Those 2 pictures are of a carb model. I didn't realize the switch over from carb to tb was all varied like that.

I've been running Amsoil in my cars since 1988 or so. I use 10w40 in the engine. I have a 3AT transmission that I've run their ATF in since it had 15,000 miles. It now has over 200,000 miles, never had to do anything to it except replace the vacuum modulator. I can list more of my experiences later, when I am home.

87 should be SPFI. My 87 is anyway. My 86 was carby. Does it have a rectangular air cleaner in a box on the passenger side fender, with MAF, and rubber duct over to the throttle body, or an odd oval shaped air cleaner over the carb & engine?

I may be confusing and or confused. I did extrapolate my experience with GLS and Loyales to Brats. The problem sounded the same. My suggestion only applies if Brats do not have starter relays.

There is no starter relay in a stock brat. Many of us have added one to solve the click and no starter motor running problem.

Watch the coolant and that tank closely. Check it every time you are going to start the car. Check that the cooling system has no air by squeezing and releasing the upper radiator hose rapidly. You should hear the jiggle pin, not air.

There are a total of 7 coolant hoses on an EA82 engine. If one is old enough to fail, they all are ready to go. Replace all of them. Be sure to use hose specified for coolant.

Ok, I wasn't sure. You could put the 2WD in place of the 4WD easier. Me, I would drive the 4WD until it developed trouble, then use the parts from the 2WD to fix it. Assuming the problem was with the common parts.