DaveT

No problem. The cap being loose as you describe means that the rubber seal ring is dried out and hard. Needs to be replaced. Massive quantities of oil won't come out, if everything else is normal. But it will likely leak some oil mist, make a mess. You can try with a few o rings from any hardware / car parts store. Try a dealer I think one of the following may have one, but I am not sure: Fel pro head set HS 9392 PT-2 or conversion kit CS 9390

There are 2 solenoids on an EA82 engine. One is for the EGR valve, the other is part of the purge system for the vapor recovery system. Neither of them effect idle speed intentionally. The IAC valve does that. It is mounted on the throttle body. If a vacuum line is broken / open on either of the 2 solenoids, it can adversely effect idle, since air is getting into the mix after the MAF, and the computer doesn't know. The cold idle not being raised could be caused by the CTS out of spec.

Idle Air Control Coolant Temperature Sensor

If it happened suddenly, out of the blue, 1st 2 things to check: IAC valve and CTS Any other typical maintenance stuff, like plugs, wires, vacuum leaks, should be checked also, if they have been ignored for a long time.

What I did for my first reseal was get a spare engine. Takes all the pressure off. Only tricky part is knowing it's otherwise good, so a trusted source, or pulled from a known running car.

Take a close look at the front tires. Specifically, the tread. Easiest to do with the wheel off the ground, or off the car so you can roll it and look for a patch of tread that is bubbled off the belts. I've had this happen to some tires when the alignment was off. It made odd speed dependent shaking in the steering that would vary in intensity with speed. When both tires had it happen, it would even come and go as they gradually would be in sync and 180 degrees out. Oddly, the car drove pretty much normally otherwise, so I destroyed a couple sets of used tires before I figured out what was happening. I corrected the alignment, it did feel like it steered a little better, and the tire destruction stopped.

Follow the procedure in the manual, regarding order of tightening, and torque for each stage. It is quite possible to over torque them, and strip them. Clean the holes and the bolts, and oil them before assembly.

Were they noisy before you took it apart? If the lash adjusters are loose, the clicking is a very ticky sound, not a deep knock, like a rod would make. I never did anything with any of mine in 3 reseals I've done. Just put them back in. But I knew the oil history, and they were queit before I began the reseal. Before I put the timing belts on, I use a drill with a socket drive adapter to spin the oil pump for a good minute or so to prime everything. Later, when I start the engine, the lifters will tick for a while, then eventually quiet down as a ll the air bubbles get worked out. I just took a look at a couple of spare ones. If they are full of oil, they don't move much by hand pressure. Took one apart. Put it back together, w/o oil, it moves a lot further. It's a close fitting piston kind of thing, and the extension that comes up with the ball on top for the rocker thingy. IF they were gunked up, I'd clean them.

I have not seen anything about modifying them. I do remember a thread or 2 about disassembling them and cleaning them, if they are not scored or otherwise damaged. Yeah, if one or maybe 2 went bad somehow.... More than that, probably less than ideal engine maintenance contributed? I've been running Amsoil synthetic since 1988 - don't know for sure if that has anything to do with it, but have yet to have trouble with lifters. Bad oil pump seal will cause the infamous tick, fix that, it goes away after a while.

Yeah, If it were mine, I'd probably look for one similar sized. Disassemble it and rebuild the Subaru one. I did something very similar to an old fuel pump once. On of the kind driven by a lever riding a cam, on a flat head 6 cylinder 404cu" engine.

What adjustment? They are hydraulic, self adjust.

At the very least, you have to disconnect the exhaust, motor mounts and lift the engine some, while watching to not over stress a radiator hose, etc. I've only done it with the engine out for a full reseal, which is where mine always were leaking a lot more.

+1 what dfoyl wrote.

You will have better results in the old gen forum, or the for sale / wanted forum.

Small cracks in the head are normal for ea82. Unless it's leaking coolant, or the valves are not sealing, it's ok.

that is not uncommon when the alternator has no output.

I've been reading these threads. Not sure how to be helpful. I've seen may threads about mods for EA series engines, over many years. How much HP are you looking for? Anything more than just small numbers [like single digit HP] of increased output ends up getting into expensive / complicated / time intensive. Usually 2 or 3 out of the 3.

There are lots of threads abut the wheels and drilling, etc.

The cat can get clogged by running long enough with any of a number of minor malfunctions going on. Some may not even cause the CEL to light. Miles alone doesn't have anything to do with it.

I have done a check with a vacuum cleaner. It's not if you can feel the suction, it's listen to the pitch of the vacuum cleaner motor. It will barely change if the exhaust is unobstructed. Other way to check is loosen the y pipe manifold from the heads, so there is about a half inch gap. Take a short drive. It will be loud, but if the trouble goes away, your exhaust is plugged.

Egr would not have this big of an effect. Starving for fuel comes to mind, since you ruled out some of the others.

Rear wheel bearing web page: http://www.dynahoedave.co.nf/rearwheelbearing.html

Have to measure the head temp with a real thermometer. The dash gauges are notoriously not calibrated. I have had more than one of each of the following: Normal temp reads as about 1/8th scale, 1/4 scale, 1/2 scale. By scale I mean where the red starts is full scale. They have on the other hand, been very consistent, so once I know where normal is for that car, I know it's normal. The heater may be not working well if the core is blocked, or if the blend doors are not working correctly. Check the temp of both of the heater hoses - better still, the pipes right where they come through the firewall, if you can sneak a sensor in there. Do this after a drive, put the heater on heat, with the fan on high, and on low.

It's old enough to need a reseal anyways, I've never had one go much past 10 year / 150K miles without leaking oil from the head gasket / cam tower joints. I can also say that every time I have ever run one over normal temperature while low on coolant, it has eventually needed head gaskets. Maybe in 6 days, maybe in 6 months, but none the less, same end. Just different duration between the initial event and first signs and deterioration to the point of unusable. It is critical to verify that the entire cooling system is right & tight as well, so you don't end up repeating the cycle. OEM or Fel Pro Head gaskets. OEM only for the intake gaskets and the O rings for the oil passage to the cam towers. The Fel Pro head set and conversion kit give you everything else, including the seal for the oil pump shaft. The micky mouse oring, is OEM only as far as I know.

No one wants it to be. I try to be extra careful when diagnosing this over a forum, since it's not the same as being there, and its not a trivial project. I've done it a few times, and it's no big deal to me, but it still a lot of time.