daeron

pretty sure thats standard.

Wish I had some junkers I could ship ya to rebuild.. I will keep my eyes peeled, 32/36 DGVs right? For some reason the thought of that little pushrod motor with a pair of those webers dumping down into the cylinders.. it just begs to me to get blown through, and something tells me you are the man to do it the short stroke and the wide bore are key. That ratio is made for power, and if you could sculpt the right shape combustion chamber into the head, I think you could have an excellent mid compression motor to aspirate into. The cylinder heads are so similar to the L-series Datsun engines (and I have a line that has suggested a STRONG possiblity of FHI being the manufacturer of those cylinder heads for Nissan) that I KNOW I can help provide vital info on CC shape and quench design.. dammit, I wanna build a motor.. any motor.. I am sick and tired of "turd-polishing" :-p

Volvos arent awful.. They call em "bricks" heh... I had a buddy who owned both a turbo 240, and a turbo 780 intercooled. nice enough cars, but very rare to find em in a fivespeed.. thats my biggest beef with em. Actually, right now there are two attractive lady friends of mine who count on me to care for their Volvos

Old fashioned, crank the car then pull the positive battery cable test, BAD IDEA ON EFI SUBARU!!!! best way to kill your ECU, or so I hear tell. "just sayin'" heh

whaaaa??? THAT is interesting!!! chopped out the bit that you might have been able to sleep in, heh.. but its an ea82 hatch!!! wacky! more fotos por favor!

What I would do, is take off the shroud around the steering column. Also, remove the plastic panels above the driver's legs. Find the wires attached to the ignition switch, and with the key in the on position, jiggle those wires on either side of the plug and also at the solder joints where they go into the back of the switch. Watch to see if the CEL comes on; because you are right, that light should come on with the key and turn off once the engine starts. This *could* be a bad ECU.. it *could* be explained by them leaving the battery connected when they did the welding... but more likely it is an intermittent connection issue. The wiring in the ignition switch is not all the greatest; many people have to rig a bypass for the starter section because the switch fails to carry enough current to activate the solenoid. Thats not exactly relevant to YOUR problem, but it is a similar situation to what I am trying to eliminate. If you can get ahold of an FSM (http://ch601.org/engines.htm) and identify the applicable relays under the dashboard, try wiggling those wires as well while watching for a CEL. Also, go check your fusible links again. Have someone watch for the CEL while you wiggle each side of each contact.

just to rule out any possibility of a problem, block off the vacuum line going to the brake booster until you get your engine running right. Vacuum diagram?

VG30, SOHC, TT. Aftermarket exhaust, those motors were only ever single turbo from the factory. Nice lookin; I have always wanted a six cylinder from an XT6 just to make it the ultimate competition for the maxima.. ..and ALTHOUGH it would be sacrilege, I suppose I could be convinced to drop that motor and a matching trans into my 280Z.. I <3 the inline six tho, so I would feel guilt pangs about it while burning rubber into fourth. 300ZX, Maxima, Pickups, Pathfinders, even 200SXs got them. Good motor, until its time to do some work on it.. then, most of the vehicles they went into become a hindrance, heh. Water pump job on a 300ZX is a PITA; I can only IMAGINE what it would be like on a Maxima in FWD configuration. An S30 (first generation Z, 240-280noX) would have plenty of room for one, though. The turbos *may* interfere with the steering; that would also be a problem on the EA82 swap. It WOULD be sweet to get a dummy exhaust pipe, and a stealth system on it (nice and quiet) to surprise the ever loving **** out of people.. somehow I doubt you could adapt it onto a 4WD driveline though, you would have to go nissan all the way. Not that THAT is such a problem, heh. anyhow, +1 on the Between the valve head cracks being A-okay, as long as you dont have anything showing up in the exhaust ports. My heads cracked!!!!!! (yes, I said it.)

This does not sound like a bad check valve to me.... Do you have a vacuum line diagram under the hood of the car? It sounds like somehow things arent set up right, and its possible that certain vacuum sources aren't going to the right places.. this could be keeping your wastegate from actuating properly, among other things. This floating pedal puzzles me... I really cant help much, but I re read this whole thread and thought I might throw this out there. While I am at it, I will say with a painfully self conscious grimace on my face.. Change your spark plugs. NGK BPR 6ES-11, or if you have a preferred number then by all means use it.

Plenty of us have removed the catalytic converter, or gutted it. Uhm, not me, Mr. Officer! if you have a CEL, then check the code. its easy, you know how to do it don't you? I cant see what code it would throw, but I suppose if you have a clogged cat then the chances of having a good O2 sensor are rather low (unless you know otherwise) and that WOULD cause a CEL. But, it says "check Engine;" Check It! :-p (btw yes I run a gutted cat and it runs fine.)

I don't really know the MPFI system on the soobs so well, but this kind of problem is sort of universal on fuel injected vehicles, and I know that alot of what I know about other cars is relevant through reading other peoples experiences. I just haven't done any work myself, so after writing most of this I came back up to the top and put in the little disclaimer to test for whole harness continuity, you could also unplug both ends of the harness, use a paperclip to short between the two connectors in question on one side, then check for continuity between those connectors on the other side. If you get good continuity, then you know without finding or making a long lead wire that your wires are good; if not, then you need to get a long lead wire and check each side independently. There should be a resistance level check to run on the injector as an electrical check; there should also be a dropping resistor somewhere that controls the positive power supply to all four injectors. The way the injectors operate is thus: the system maintains a constant fuel pressure versus the intake manifold pressure via the pressure regulator. The injector (I believe) a 5 volt solenoid that opens a valve to spray fuel pressure out through the nozzle and into the airstream. The ECU switches the ground to the injector; the 5VDC comes from the dropping resistor. You should be able to test for DC voltage on the injector plugs that ARE working, and get pulses of some DC voltage (I may be wrong on the 5 volts figure, but its usually lower than twelve.) Some multimeters wont pick this up; a timing light may, but there is a specific type of light you should plug in. If anyone knows for certain what the operating voltage of the injectors is, then a bulb of that voltage could be found (low watts) to use as a test light.... I am thinking a flashlight bulb ought to do. Good luck.

+1 Also, best part of this site: top right corner of your screen. USRM== Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual. Its only as thorough as we make it; they are user submitted threads that get mod approved (generally with public support) and are what we use instead of stickies.

which two cylinders were firing and which two were dead?

OEM intake manifold gaskets, and OEM cam case O rings. It is a metal reinforced O ring that sits between the cam case and the cylinder head. (the cam case forms the top part of the "head," it is what the valve covers bolt onto.) Both OEM parts are available through thepartsbin.com. Head gaskets should be either OEM (must re torque after XXX miles, 500?) or Fel Pro Perma Torque. No retorque needed. Felpros are about 40 shipped from autozone, gaskets only. Some people recommend buying a cheapo Ebay "headgasket" kit because they include many, many of the other seals needed for a bargain price. Just make sure you throw the intake and head gaskets in the trash where they belong. A ratcheting 10mm box wrench makes doing the HGs with the engine in the car VERY doable; without it, five or so bolts on the driver side valve cover will be difficult to remove, the rearmost one ESPECIALLY. With the ratcheting wrench, by myself, going slowly and patiently, it took me one short days work to disassemble the engine, two or three days were spent in cleaning and milling, and one day was spent on re assembly. I did not drive it home that night because I didnt have the timing light from my uncle; but by the time my ride arrived I was DONE. It cranked right up on the first shot, too.

Weld a tow bar onto the front tow points, remove ALL unnecessary mass including dash, bumpers, etc. Install a ten horse diesel under the hood (maybe set back into trans tunnel?) to power a small generator, also install cooker, etc. Use stock gas tank Install drapes, shades, blinds or something to cover inside windows.. if you want to be green about it install solar chargers on the roof, and use a couple batteries, an inverter, you could do all SORTS of things with electrical. Air conditioning, anyone? (maybe run the stock AC compressor off of the diesel? or something junkyardish resembling an auto AC rather than sticking a window unit somewhere, a la mikeshoup??) Then, get a real truck and tow that around. "Naw, thats just my camparu."

before you start yanking the axle apart again... what does the inside of the wheel look like? any chance that something is rubbing on it that is not quite in the right position?

cars dont just overheat sitting in traffic. (I am not trying to badger you, I am trying to convince you not to leave the Dark Side :-p) They Overheat sitting in traffic one day, only after 15+ years of reliable service, and accumulation of god only knows what kind of crud in the cooling system, or possibly water pump issues, or for any one of a number of reasons. My understanding is, just about any Subaru, you NEED to watch your radiator pro-actively, and make sure it stays in good shape; it is a regular vehicle check type thing, not unlike checking oil level, tire pressure, belt tension.. these things get more obscure, and more ignored, the further down the spectrum you go. How many people in RWD cars actually change their rear diff oil? or even CHECK it? Anyhow, my point was not to badger you and imply ANYTHING; my point was to say that any EA82 or 81 should not be considered "reliable" unless: the radiator has been inspected, cleaned, flushed, checked with the hand test, and you have a dependable aftermarket temp gauge in the car; or, you have replaced the radiator, hoses, water pump, and thermostat. It has to be done periodically; ANY used car is a gamble unless you have documentation. However, you will still have to do it sooner or later; thats the used car game. Keep your eyes peeled for a good running subaru.. and buy it, along with new all of the above. THEN, if you still blow your headgaskets because of a random overheat in traffic, go back to your swedish solution. Personally I'll have the Subaru.

not GL, or nothin?!?? hrmmm... Well, regarding the fuel injector cleaner, I would recommend buying a bottle of Sea Foam and using the recommended amount (1/3 pint?) sucked up into a vacuum hose (directions on the bottle or the website IIRC) and then pour the rest of the bottle into the gas tank, then make sure you fill up to an appropriate level for 2/3 pints (~10 fluid ounces, roughly ten gallons or less gasoline in the tank) NGK plugs only.. other brands will work, but some of them suck, and its a japcar. it wants NGKs. period. Stay away from Fram oil filters. You *might* want to consider a coolant system flush as well.. and if I ever buy a turbo car the very first thing I am going to do is drain the coolant system (probly remove the T stat and power flush it with a garden hose, but thats not the important bit) and remove the radiator to FULLY inspect it, power blast IT, and fully degrease the coils to ensure 100% thermal transfer capacity. If you find ANY reason to doubt the radiator at all, replace it ASAP. These cars do NOT like to overheat.

there is no tricking the machine.. the alcohol burns that much cleaner, in regards to smog gasses... sounds like NOx numbers?? its been years since I had emissions testing to think about (and West Palm Beach is second only to Honolulu for "metropolitan area" in the US with the cleanest air ) anyhow, if memory serves, the number that was x.x... on our van went from like 5, 6 ish (bad flunk, our limit was i think 2?) to zero, and the CO ppm went from like 400 (just barely passing) to like 120. drive around with gallon of gas, and gallon of alcohol, until you run totally dry. Get out, put enough gas in to get you home. Get home, pour in the gallon of alcohol. (provided you live less than ~20 miles from inspection station ) Before you go to the test, go on a good, long, hard, hot drive. Avoid fifth, if its a stick. avoid fourth, if you have to. I am just saying, good hot run. Go for the test. Pass with flying colors. Get out, pour the rest of that can of gas in to get you to a station, put in maybe half a tank, and just to be on the safe side, run that mostly dry before filling up. The only, ONLY "problem" with running pure denatured alcohol on a USDM vehicle is long term rubber dissolution issues, and that takes weeks of constant exposure to straight alcohol.

the dampener takes the "Pfft-Pfft-Pfft" pulses of fuel being put out at high speed by your fuel pump and turns them into a smooth "Psshhhhh" flow. If memory serves, there are two built into the EZ82 SPFI.. but I may be wrong. Most any FI car should have one, and all it has to be is there to work.. Not in that location, nothing. You just have to have one in line before the TB, the earlier the better. Shouldn't be too difficult to bypass and install an oddball one from the JY.

NONONONOONONO!! NOT Isopropyl Rubbing alcohol, Denatured alcohol used as paint thinner sold at home depot. Two TOTALLY different chemicals. "Alcohol" isn't a chemical formula, is a family of substances. However, Alcohol IS the best solution to this problem. (solution, what a pun, har har) A gallon or two down the hatch (so to speak) should have you batting at an acceptable average.

Maybe for some things my friend... but not for everything.

It certainly COULD be something smaller.... There is a nonzero chance, at most 2% according to the odds I rated it at above (remember, I said above that the "2%" figure is probably MUCH smaller than that) that your headgaskets are NOT fried.. if you didnt actually come into the red zone over and over again (uncertain what actual temp range that is, sorry) then maybe they are okay.... BUT, experience with these cars says the headgaskets are their weak point, followed closely by tendencies towards head cracks.. both due to overheating. Yours is a tragic, yet all too common tale. Of course, that doesnt NECESSARILY mean to junk it!! if the car, otherwise, is in good shape, and has good options, then it may well be worth getting a set of heads and rebuilding! But probably not to you. Hopefully, if this car is in nice shape, someone somewhere will save it! but I am probably being naive.

Hit the nail right on the head. Thanks for the analogy, and the advice. Good to know what flavor job I am getting into. I "rebuilt" my starter by simply disassembling and reassmbling, and with three semi functional, utterly worn down brushes and one totally frozen one my "rebuild" made it last through four months of delivering pizzas, almost NEVER hesitating to cut the car off.. so figure, fifteen starts per day average, five days a week, for eighteen weeks.. thats almost 1500 starts before it finally crapped out on me. Anyhow, I will try to take lots of pictures.. but dirty jobs like this arent easy to document.

what about just a new fuel line, high volume low pressure pump back by the tank, feeding a surge tank under the hood, and install a high pressure FI fuel pump under the hood feeding from the surge tank? Might be simpler and cheaper, definitely more effective as it is only as limited as the new fuel supply line you run... The old supply line should be ample for a return.