DaveT

All of the OE ones I have looked at had that. It is to support the wire - it can get very hot. Vibration and temperature cycles break it up over the years.

Don't worry about coating them. If you have nichrome close in diameter to what was there, it will take years to break again. I usually found some nichrome a bit larger, so low is a little faster than stock, but none have failed after repair.

On an EA82 it is mounted on the blower housing. The resistors are in the air flow path, so you can't see them. Just a rectangular cover. They have a 4 pin connector.

Ok, I missed that. Almost 20 years ago. :eek: I've never had a problem with my 3ATs. Anyways, if it has been burning lots of ATF, you can at least fill it until you get oil on the dipstick / low mark.

If the body is good, swap in an engine & tranny. Depending on weather & time, the water could be from condensation. Try to fill the cooling system. If the water doesn't stay, it's probably going through a freeze plug. (into the crank case)

...not sure what that has to do with it.:-\ You don't need the engine running to check the ATF.

I recently got faked out by that. Do the plug test. Somehow, the oil was not staying there, I couldn't see anything unusual. But it eventually burned up 2 quarts of ATF. I had the smoke intermittantly but when the tranny started slipping, I checked the level, sure enough it was low. New modulator + 2 quarts fixed both problems.

Hmmm, on the spare head I just looked at, the 2 inner ones intersect 2 of the head bolts. If they are connected to the coolant, I can't see where. There is evidence of water / coolant crud in the head bolt holes also. Maybe it was getting past the headgasket?

Probably not. The bolts are not supposed to be in contact with water. The gasket should keep them away from the coolant. But nothing's perfect, and humidity from the air could work it's way in also. Some are pretty rusted, some not so bad. The best luck I've had is soaking with Aero-kroil / WD-40 / PB blaster / etc. (insert your favorite here). Then gently turning the bolt. Alternating CCW and CW. Add more penitrant. More alternating CCW / CW. After you break a few bolts, you have a good feel for how hard to push it. Oh yeah, they don't put anti siese on them because that would cost more, and typical owners wouldn't ever deal with the problem.

I have run Amsoil gear lube in all of mine (EA82 3ATs), never had a problem in almost 20 years.

Look for a label on the bell housing near the heater hoses. If the number is EA82xxxxxx it is a 2 timing belt engine. I don't know about the Chiltons manual, there is no substitute for a factory service manual.

I'd be careful with stainless. The corrosion reaction between stainless and aluminum is worse than rust. It is very hard white stuff. I discovered it when modifying my aluminum & stainless roof rack. Grade 8 with anti-siese solves the problem. +1 for hot engine loosening stubborn & sensitive bolts. The problem with impact wrenches is you can't set / control the force fine enough. If there was a way to reliablely limit the tourque below the breaking strength of the bolt, it would probably work well. I freed up some very stuck brake adjusters with one of those little air powered hammers once, set very low.

Remove the front bumper. Then you can see them, one near each end. I believe there is a relay involved also. This is pre OBDII. Under the steering wheel there is a plastic panel that goes almost to the firewall. Remove it. There is a about 6" x 8" box that is the ECU. On the front edge is a hole. Get the angle right, and you can see a red LED. It blinks the trouble code (if any). There is no substitue for a factory service manual. I have an 86 & a 90. Best bet to get one is probably ebay. There are some minor differences between different years.

Put on NGK wires. Are the plugs clean? If it was burning oil , they could be fouled. How old is the O2 sensor? Take a drive. Long enough to heat up fully. Measure the temp of the exhaust pipe before and after each catalytic converter. Best if done at something like 1500RPM. The temperature should be higher AFTER each cat.

Could you post a picture of them?

I agree. Don't let them touch it. Sounds like it's ok now. The legal rout wouldn't be worth the cost, too small amount of $. Keep a close eye on the coolant. Maybe the intake manifold gasket/s are intermittantly leaking. I found it helps a lot to put the manifold on (no super tight) while bolting down the heads. The head sfloat around a bit, and this keeps them aligned with the manifold. As you tighten the head bolts, loosen the manifold bolts & retighten to relive any stress.

Nope. I have had many miles with no shield. When they get loose, I remove them. I've been running EA82 4WD 3AT wagons for over 15 years.

While you're in there - if the rad hoses are due for replacement, do the 2 heater hoses and the 2 small ones on top of the engine. One goes to the back of the intake manifold, the other under the thermostat housing. Also the little 90 degree one at the water pump. Any of those can fail just like the 2 main ones.

(assuming you checked the plugs & wires, including checking that 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4) If a piece of the catalyst broke off, turned sideways, and stuck in the outlet, it would make it run very bad. No power, pinging. Mine didn't shake when that happend. My test for plugged exhaust is to drop the Y pipe 3/4" from the engine and hook a vacuum cleaner to the tail pipe. There shouild be a small change in vacuum cleaner RPM with exhaust VS without. A large change indicates blockage. Try not to bang the exhaust around while preparing the test - you don't want to dislodge the blockage.

It is hardened spring steel. Good for making dull drill bits. The only thing I am aware of that can drill that is carbide. Specialty industrial bits that can drill bearing races. But they won't be happy drilling a roll pin due to the slit down the side - it will probably catch the edge & shatter the bit. Maybe if you can drill the busted off nail out, the proper drift will then move the pin.

I kind of wondered what that screw might do. I wouldn't mind adjusting the shift points a little. Maybe it got turned all the way one way -> don't shift? Is the old one so bad you can't do a quick test drive? Are you aware of the little pin that goes into the modulator? It usually stays in the transmission, but nothing really holds it there...

Ok, I'll get an oem - I found an online Subaru dealer w/ good prices when I did the timing belt stuff. If nothing else, I'll have a spare front O2 sensor. I haven't checked the others, as I only got the 1 code. Good point. When I scanned it (and started this thread) I cleared the memory. The CEL has not come back on yet. I read that some codes take a coulple of cycles to light the CEL.

Here's the story: 2001 Forester. 100K miles or so. P0240 code. Still in warranty, used car dealer replaces cat. Code gone. At some point, I replaced the front O2 sensor, (with NAPA / Bosch) I don't rember what code led me there. Time passes. P0420 again. Replace the rear O2 sensor. (with NAPA / Bosch) A couple of early re triggers of P0420, but it stays gone after a few trips. 2 year emmissions test due now, so what happens?? Now I am getting the P0420 code again! (I have a scanner, cleared the codes to verify not just a fluke, etc.) Any ideas? If were solely up to me, I'd sell the Forester and get another EA82!

The buttons are valves, with some switch contacts also. The mosty common cause of what you describe is a disconnected vacuum line. There is a line from the buttons to a canister under the hood. Then from the canister to the intake manifold. The canister - fairly small- is on the passenger side between the spare tire and the strut tower.

Do you have a refrigeration gauge set? What are the 2 pressures? If the system was leaking (not working due to lost freon) for a long time, you need to vacuum the air out first.