DaveT

Can't see the video right now. But description reminds me of when the bearings failed on the pinion shaft on one of my ea82 cars. When engine braking, the slop would allow the pinion to screw forwars.and hit the differential carrier. Bad noise and felt in the car, 1 or 2 per wheel revolution. When under load or acceleration, the pinion would screw back, away frim the differential carrier, and everything seemed normal. Got it home by feathering the gas pedal so it could never engine brake. On the way, the seals failed, and the atf when into the diff. The transmission just started to slip due to low fluid as I pulled it into the garage.

There is not a whole lot of metal between the cylinders. I doubt that the can be bored out enough to make a noticeable difference in power. There is enough for .02 or .03 oversize for rebuilding due to wear, iirc.

Yeah that would do it. Good to know for sure though.

I use carb cleaner instead of starting fluid. Yes, need to know specifics of the car.

Try locating a factory service manual. Either Ebay or online free download / view.

I've seen people do the reverse, to put EFI on the EA81. So I'd guess at least the big things [intake ports] mate up.

Low on oil? how low?

I once had a blocked cat on one of my older ea82s. Idled ok, but gutless when trying to drive. My test for suspect exhaust blockage is to unhook the pipes from the heads, but I have stainless nuts on the studs, and anti seize compound on them also. Use wire or the like to secure the pipes, just leave at least a 1/2" gap. It will be loud but if it runs normally, it's something in the exhaust. You likely will need new gaskets if you try this .

Axle nut is 36mm on ea 82 era cars.

A 92 should have an EA82 engine. I'm guessing you want to swap it into an 87? Swap the intake, and all that stuff, the bottom, and heads should be the same. I swapped 86 and 90's era intakes / lower end / heads / etc. The EGR stuff you might have to figure a way to deal with.

It's not likely you got to around 150ftlbs without a big breaker bar or handle extender. It seemed tight, but with heating and cooling and the dynamic loads from driving, things shifted and the looseness became apparent.

Sounds like a switch engages the 4wd? If it's a switch, 4wd isn't engaged without the power on. I have to ask, because I am not familiar with all of the various versions, and that can matter. How far was it towed? Short distance won't likely hurt anything.

How many miles? What level are you going to [just headgaskets, or all the way to main bearings?] What's the history - abuse, overtemp, etc?

The axles are hardened, the hubs are just cast. For the splines to be worn like that, it was loose for a good while. How one gets looose, yeah, odd. There isn't really any normal way for anything to wear - the parts are all stacked and compressed by the big nut. If it was assembled correctly.

I don't think the oil you found in the spark plug holes has anything to do with headgaskets. Coolant consumptuous is a possible hint, but there are other ways for coolant to sneakily dissappear. Has it been run at over normal temperature while low on coolant? Low on coolant means significant air in the radiator.

Maybe recheck it in a week. If you got it before stuff started getting torn up, it should be ok. I had maybe 1 or 2 that made noise, and found loose, but I checked them right away, tightned, and they were fine.

If it's leaking coolant, you'll notice [or should be noticing due to regular level checking] that coolant is going away. Small leaks [internal or external] of oil or coolant have no effect on power, or anything related. Internal leaks would have to be pretty bad to cause noticeable effects. Visible smoke takes a *large* leak, Very large, into the intake or the like. You would notice oil or coolant going away very quickly if you had a visible smokescreen going on. I've seen headgasket leaks to the outside of the engine, that are very small - you can get away with running them as long as you monitor the coolant level closely to avoid running low. The beginning headgasket failure of coolant to combustion chamber, the gasses are pushed into the coolant, not the other way around. No noticeable effect on performance. Not until the car is essentially undriveable for anything more than the time it takes to overheat. Visual inspection of sensors is far from a complete evaluation of function. They can look perfect and be bad.

I'd put it in and see what happens. But to me swapping an engine isn't a big deal, so if it developed a problem, no big deal, I just lost some time. I've had engines I pulled sit around for years, and then put them in and run them. I didn't drain them of coolant though, just whatever was left was left, and then evaporation likely happened. I never head of any trouble from sitting dry.

Buy a good quality kit, not the cheapest. Change every 50 to 60 k miles to be extra safe. Far cheaper the the timing belt service on the newer ones, even though the change interval is about double the miles. I only use oem for the ej and newer engines. Number is thing to stay on top of is the cooling system. Checking level frequently, don't wait for the temperature gauge to tell you it's bad.

I've had more than a few break. Put on new belts, new idlers and tensioners, good to go. It's a non interference engine, so valves and pistons do not meet.

Every one I've had from 1974 through 1993 has that arrangement but they changed from a nut with a Ridge that you hammer to the castle nut cotter pin somewhere between.

There should be a cone shaped thick washer - more like a wedge. It fills in the chamfer on the hub, and provides a flat face for the spring washer. Then a thinner .2" ish. Spring washer - rounded convex side faces nut.

Loose nut can do that. Hub, bearings, splines, brake rotor can all move around in ways they are not supposed to ...

D'oh! Stupid valves.

What I would be doing.... swap all of the fuses around -they can fail intermittent and you can't tell by looking at them. Add a temporary pilot light / test light to likely circuits to monitor if the power drops when the event happens. I once had the wire in the engine harness that goes to the iac valve break - inside the insulation. The engine would shut off if I let go of the gas pedal. It would still run as along as I feathered the gas pedal.