Subarian

It's probably not locked up, or you'd have smelled the burned rubber long ago. If it's not coming on, there are two common causes: 1. low refrigerant - the system on most cars is designed to not allow the compressor to come on if it's low on refrigerant. That's to save the compressor from burning itself up. My 86 has a low pressure cutoff, but I don't know if your 84 does. 2. bad connection to the AC clutch. The AC clutch is electromagnetic. It's a pulley that freewheels when not engaged with a magnet that engages when energized. Find the single lead from the AC compressor and run 12 volts to it with the engine off. You should hear the clutch click as it engages and click again when you remove power. If it does that, run the engine and connect 12 volts again. If it turns without making too much noise, the probability is that you're just low on refrigerant. The reason the defrost kicks on the AC compressor is that a byproduct of cooling the air is condensation. Condensation removes ambient moisture from the air, which means that with the AC removing moisture from the air going to your defroster, you're sending warm, dry air to clear your windshield.

My advice: don't get it aligned at a tire shop. I take my vehicles to a shop that does nothing but alignments. It costs 10 or 15 bucks more, but they get it right.

It's something that's been done by a lot of board members. The question is how prepared are you to deal with the issues involved in an engine swap. You'll need to modify your wiring harness, fabricate or buy an adapter plate to fit your transmission, reroute cooling hoses, etc.

I'd just keep an eye on it and not worry too much.

I played in the snow in Utah a little bit, but it was my wife's birthday Saturday, and she didn't want to go wheeling....

The needle valve is located in the inlet. The float pushes the valve closed when enough fuel is in the bowl. It's not difficult to change. If you buy a rebuild kit, it will come as part of the kit, or you can usually buy them separately as a valve and seat.

DL just means you've got more of a blank canvas to start out with

Sorry, non-AC cars have a vent button instead of an AC button; it just blow air through the AC vents. And if your vacuum canister is disconnected, the pushbutton 4wd and defrost problem should both be fixed by reconnecting it.

Since you have a carb, my first suspicion would be a sticking float needle valve.

Even without boost, you should be getting better than 10 MPG. How old is the O2 sensor? I'd also check timing and look for error codes.

Just to clarify: the throwout bearing isn't between the engine and transmission; that's the pilot bearing. But what you're describing sounds like a throwout bearing, which is between the clutch pressure plate and the transmission. The worst case scenario is that your throwout bearing fails completely, you damage your pressure plate, maybe your clutch fork, and you can't get into gear. It's not going to hurt your engine, but it might leave you stranded.

Just out of curiosity, what's your idle RPM? It sounds like your clutch is wearing way too fast, and that's often caused by high RPMs at idle.

If you have the skills to replace a V8 Chevy, you probably won't have a hard time with your timing belts. I would also recommend that route, for several reasons: 1. It's easier than messing with an engine swap/ intakes/ resealing. 2. You know your engine and how it runs. If it's the timing belts, it will run just like it did before. 3. As hoozie said, you're going to lose some power going to the carbed block, and EA82s don't have a lot to spare. If you decide to swap motors anyway, swap the entire intake manifold. It's actually easier. Just disconnect vacuum lines and wires running to the front (carbon canister, for example) and unbolt the manifold. Then lay it back on the spare tire well and it's out of your way. You have a lot less to reconnect when you're done installing the engine.

In order of cost and difficulty, lowest to highest: Check the belts. If your water pump isn't turning, your engine isn't getting cooled. Replace the thermostat. You can check it once it's out by dropping it in some boiling water. If it doesn't open, it was probably the cause. Check for a blown head gasket or cracked head. You can do this with a combustion gas tester. It's sold at most auto parts stores and is pretty simple to use. You put it on the open radiator and fill it with test fluid, and the fluid changes colors if exhaust gases are present. This one goes to most expensive if you find combustion gases. Replace the radiator or have it rodded. With as many years and miles as these cars have on them, a blocked radiator isn't unlikely. Hope this helps.

Here's a simple fix that works most of the time. Change the oil and filter. Put in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Run the engine at high RPMs. Going down the road at 4000-5000 RPMs for a while will usually get it loosened up.

The pushbutton switches on the dash are sometimes worn out. They operate the vacuum lines. Check to make sure you have vacuum at the switches - if you can go from vent to heat and back, you have vacuum. The switches might be at fault or the vacuum motor on the door flap.

Are you sure it's the master cylinder? If you are losing fluid and it's not apparent around the MC, and since you haven't had the drums off, I'd suspect a wheel cylinder.

I'm guessing you have the SPFI on your engine. If you remove the air intake tube from the top of the throttle body, you can drip fuel or brake cleaner or carb cleaner or just about any flammable fluid in there (I don't recommend ether) and it will fire momentarily if your problem is fuel delivery. You don't need to mess with the internals of the fuel system to do this.

The SPFI heads have single ports, not the twin ports of the MPFI turbo heads. That doesn't mean that they can't crack, but they're not any more likely to crack than carbed motors. You might be able to pull the spark plugs and look for coolant in the cylinders while you're doing your pressure test. That would give you an idea if it's maybe a head gasket.

No, they're not related. The EGR light is a mileage-driven reminder to check the EGR. It doesn't in any way display an actual fault. You reset it by switching connectors under the left side of the dash, but I can't remember if they're green or blue. The EGR (exhaust gas recirculation valve) introduces exhaust gas into the combustion chamber to lower combustion temperatures. Its purpose is to reduce NOx emissions. You don't really need it on a Subaru. Many of us run with them blocked off.

It basically only lifts it enough to make it a little easier to get out. It doesn't have a lot of tilt.

Just a couple of thoughts- Is the wrist pin in place on the inboard side of the CV, and is the castle nut on the end of the shaft tight? Since the front differential isn't limited slip, if one side spins, you won't go anywhere.

Check the hose under the intake manifold. It's about 5/16 and you can replace it with fuel line.

The advantage to dropping the tranny is that you don't have to mess with all the vacuum and fuel lines and such. Your shafts will die pretty quickly without boots, but if you're going to replace them in a couple of months anyway, you might want to risk it.

Very nice ride.