DaveT

Yes The center bearing mounting point is left off of the 2WD - I had to fabricate 2 pieces to make the mounting points for the center bearing. The holes for the rear diff support mounting holes were partly there - one layer of metal had them, so I could just drill them through.

4WD can be added to a 2WD. I did it to my 87. You will need to fabricate the center bearing mount for the driveshaft. Drill 4 holes to mount the differential. I cut 1" access holes through the wagon floor to put the nuts on. Weld the differential mounting tabs on the tube that supports the rear suspension.

The A/C only loads the engine when it is on. You can feel the A/C compressor when it engages. I doubt you could feel the difference with the fan change. You can feel the difference between SPFI vs Carbed.

That would work. I swapped a carbed EA82 engine into a SPFI car - but I kept the SPFI the car came with - just swaped the intake manifolds. SPFI has more power.

Yes. I'd consider swapping the harness, since you have the whole thing anyway. The big differences are in the legths from the engine to under the dash.

I'm not 100% sure - I think 86 / 87 - I had a 1986 EA82 w/carb, and have a 1987 EA82 with SPFI.

I have a Coil Sert repair kit for M11x1.25 part number is IK405-11. I bought it online somewhere a few years back.

SPFI EA82 1987 = 88 = 90 = 92 use the same fuel pump. Very likely other years also, but I have owned those years.

A few thoughts: The rear suspension is built lighter than the front. Just by looking at the size of springs, diameter of the strut / shock rods. The front has to carry the engine & transmission full time. Any "normal" load you put in the wagon will mostly be on the rear wheels. When I can, I place heavy loads in the center of the car, over where the rear seat would be if it wasn't folded down. About 1/2 the load is on the front & half on the rear if the load is centered in the front to back direction.

There seems to be confusion here - A 92 Loyale would have been SPFI. I didn't see any reference to the OP installing a weber. But I have missed things ocasionally. An O2 sensor that old wouldn't surprise me if it were bad. Side note / trivia: The EA82 O2 sensor is a lot cheaper than the 2 required for a 2001 Forester.

I have not had a bad coil. All but one of my EA82s have been run to 160K-205K miles. Years ago, I went to do a compression test on my 86. So I did what I always had, remove the plugs, unhook the high tension wire from the top of the coil. When I hit the starter for the first test, the arc jumped right up and out of the coil to the nearest screw terminal. So a normal working coil can throw an arc over 1" long.

Probably a coincedence. How old is the O2 sensor? Has the engine been running properly? I have had no trouble using the Bosch O2 sensor from NAPA in my EA82s.

+1 to that. Been there, done that. Almost fried an engine when the fuel line failed only a year or so later.

The only thing the ECU is checking to generate this code is that the coil of the solenoid is not open. (or possibly shorted) It has no idea if the EGR valve is working, or if it is even there. My fix for "normal" operation: http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/solenoid.html

A few bits of info: I have a rotary compressor removed from a window air conditioner. I attached 1/4" flare fittings to the input & output so it is compatable with the standard A/C meter / manifold hoses. I have used it to recover refrigerant, and to pull a vacuume on a system. It will boil water at room temperature. It can only be run for 10-20 minutes as a vacuume pump when pulling a hard vacuume, as there is no cooling. So I cycle it. NAPA sells the dye that helps find leaks. My 86 3AT 4x4 wagon had a relay in the A/C control system that dropped the compressor when you hit the gas. I have moved this relay from car to car as the bodies have rotted away...

The timing belts are no mystery - if you read the descriptions found in various threads & procedures here. Having replaced I don't know how many timing belts in 20 years, I have never had to adjust the timing. If I had to guess, from experience, I'd say intake to heads gaskets are most likely. If you haven't done things at theat level, maybe set out to do just the intake to head gaskets. A good way to get to the point of feeling comfortable taking on a big job is to do a few smaller ones first. BE careful removing the bolts. Old steel bolts in aluminum are often stuck. I don't know how to learn this, other than the hard way, but I can usually feel if a bolt is turning & sticky or if it is twisting off. Stickyness is just resistance / friction to turning. If you are feeling a bit of springyness, you are aproaching the yeild point where it will twist off. Working CCW then CW and repeating, even if it is only a few degrees will gradually loosen and go a little further each time. Use patience, not force. I have had the best luck running the engine to normal operating temperature first. While everything is still hot, drain the coolant (be careful, as the coolant should be under pressure - unless the leaks are really bad..), and work at loostening the manifold to head bolts. Penatrating oil helps also. Reassemble with anti seize - I have found that I have to go to the lighter end of the torque specs due to the lubrication qualities of the compound.

The intake manifold gasket/s can fail, allowing coolant into the intake... Never saw one intermittant though.

If this is an EA82 3AT: Wire runs: Starter switch to connector under steering column. From same connector, under dash, to connector near floor / passenger side. Same connector under carpet to automatic shifter / inhibitor switch. From Inhibitor switch back to a connector near floor passenger side. From that connector, under dash, to big firewall connector. Firewall connector to starter. Any of those connectors could be intermittant. To find the right side connectors remove the piece of verticle trim under the dash, on the side where the door hinges are. And the plastic that covers the area under the glove box.

If it is rust free, sounds good to me. When you do the coolant system, make sure you find & replace all 7 hoses. If the fine fins are fallling out of the radiator, replace it soon. It barely has enough cooling capacity in new condition. Water pump and timing belts & idlers. Including the cam seals and the orings behind the piece the cam seals are in. Rocker cover seals. Some of the oil leak may be from the oil passage that feeds oil to the lash adjusters. Unfortunately, the o ring that seals the passage at the headgasket gets hard & leaks. And / or the seal between the head and the cam carrier.

I got my dose of adrenaline today! I'm not sure how long this took, but it wasn't long: I was driving home from work. Moderate traffic volume. 65 MPH in the right lane of a 2 lane highway. Another car is passing me on the left when I notice all kinds of stones and crap hitting my windshield. I get on the brakes pretty heavy, as the other car starts drifting sideways into my lane - I'm looking at the side of the car in front of me:eek: Sparks flying out from under the car. It's not 90 degrees yet, but it looks like it could keep spinning all the way around in front of me. Brakes are not going to do the job, I'm still getting closer. I dive right, to the gravel to the right of the breakdown lane, still going pretty fast, floor the gas. Glanced at the tachometer, it's at about 3000. (I'll have to see how many MPH that equals tomorrow) See the other car in my rear view now. As I get back on the travel lane, the other car straightens out, drifts to the left until it brushes the guard rail (cable W/ steel support posts) & comes to a stop, left front wheel dangling by a "thread" (maybe brake line?) I'm back at 65MPH at this point. A truck stopped behind the wrecked car. The only known damage I have is a small mark on the windshield from one of the stones.

It has been my experience that EA82 + overheat due to coolant loss = new headgaskets. Even one time. Maybe immediately, maybe in a number of months. In the milder one time cases, I put up with coolant seeping from the HG for many months. Milder case = last 1/2 mile to house, noticed the gauge a little high, found a pinhole in one of the small hoses spraying out coolant.

If the toe in is way off, it will eat tires. As in, the tread gets seperated from the steel belts. Then they "wobble" & shake depending on speed. The car didn't pull one way or the other. After I adjusted the toe in, it did steer better, and no more extreme tire wear. I used 2 moderately heavy straight bars. Placed on blocks, 3-4" off the floor, against the tires. Measure across just in front & just behind the tires. The length should be close to equal. The exact range is in the FSM. Usually pulling hard to one side is something bent or a brake draging.

The hitch on my EA82s I built. http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/hitch.html The lighting on the trailer is mached to the car, so no converter box is needed.

Check the ECU for trouble codes. The LED is under the steering wheel, under a plastic panel (removable)

It is actually lack of vacuume that would kick it down, or delay an upshift. But even when I ran it with the line off, it really didn't kick down due to vacuume only much differently - at least that I noticed. It is easy enough to try, just pull the hose off & plug the end to the intake. Won't kill anything for a short time, anyways. It won't want to upshift to 3rd until around 35MPH with light throttle. I have a small flatbed trailer. I have had about 1000Lbs on it maximum. Drive with longer distance ahead, downshift for engine brakeing. Heck, I used the trailer with my 1976 1400 & 1978 1600 also.