daeron

Exactly! Now, the question is, has anyone ever had a custom ea-81 cam ground that more closely matched the characteristics of the EA-82? I think that someone could probably teach themselves SO MUCH about cam tuning in general playing with these engines, IF they had the ability to conjure camshafts up at will.... Unfortunately, that takes the kind of money not frequently found in Old Subaru Town...

Removing one bolt from the intake manifold SHOULD not disturb the seal at all. IF, however, that bolt presents difficulty, then you are liable to have more problems. That is the conclusion to be drawn here. Give the bolt a shot. Unless the bracket in question is somehow configured such that IT disturbs the gasket (it IS on top of the manifold, right?) then as long as the bolt breaks loose easily, you are golden.

I assume you are "losing" coolant? and this is what is making you run the cooling system pressure test in the first place? Coolant can get into your air intake at the intake manifold, it can get into your exhaust directly and cause steam, it can leak into the oil passages, it can blow between the combustion chamber and the coolant passage (this would cause a constant bubbling into the radiator, eventually OVER pressurizing it, and bubbling all the time into the overflow.) Now, in the case of oil and coolant mixing, there are two checks. For one thing, your coolant should start looking nasty foul brown, like a bad melted milkshake. You might also want to fill the radiator up with some full strength antifreeze, and run around for a while.. let it "lose" the antifreeze and after adding say, an additional gallon or water drain the oil into an open pan. Look and see if you can find any indication of the neon colored antifreeze in the oil. I agree highly with others, the people in this shop you are going to dont seem to have their heads up their taillights. If you don't want to figure this problem out, it would probably be wise to take it elsewhere. a coolant pressure test is NOT, by itself, a barometer by which to decide it is time for a new headgasket.

I don't want to sound belligerent; it is NOT my way. I really, hate to suggest you go so far as small claims court for ~140, 150 dollars for a towing bill... but still, you should twist this guy's walnuts a little. I would go in there satisfied that he is taking care of the car, and thankful.. but still rather upset that he is not paying for the tow bill. This IS DEFINITELY a serious case of utter ineptitude, it is NO different from medical malpractice except in that it was a car and not a human being. What would you do if your vet gave your dog a cat vaccine and it went into non-fatal allergic seizures?? Would you be satisfied with him re vaccinating the dog, or would you want him to treat the animal in it's emergency for free? At least get the guy to pay for the tow bill back to the shop so they can fix things. He should have a tow truck service he can call and get the tow taken care of for you without having to pay normal rates anyhow.

Have you discovered the cleverly hidden water pump outlet, and its FANTASTICALLY idiotic weak point in the design? the pump outputs into a steel (?) pipe that fits snugly in and seals with an o-ring, and THAT goes up to underneath your alternator, and back into the rest of everything that way.. I ask because this is one possible place for a leak to occur and get missed. IF you do have a blown headgasket, do not let yourself get intimidated by that task!! I have never really felt too overwhelmed by any project my series of old cars has thrown at me; but my recent head job was the first MAJOR engine work I have ever had to do and it took me all of two days work. One easy day for disassembly; a couple days between for cleaning and machining, and one easy day re-assembly and timing. It fired up on the first shot. Now granted, I have a non-turbo so it *is* a tad simpler, but not incredibly so. What does the radiator look like? Is it nice, brand new and shiny; is it just kinda, stockish; or is it all old, foul and nasty? An Old, Nasty radiator or a New, Shiny one could also be signs of recent cooling issues. It sounds like the hoses were a mess. I say this because I am thinking, along with others here, that these things plus the missing thermostat are indicative of previous cooling problems, a la blown headgasket; and the turbo cars as well as non-turbo do NOT like being overheated even once, even mildly, once they get six digits on the odometer. Naturally (no pun intended) the turbo cars will have more of a tendency to do so. This forum can be one of your greatest tools, believe me. Nothing helps solve your problem more than 1260 other active members (20,000 total) thinking about it to help you out. USMB ROCKS!! Seriously, the tools are the greatest obstacle in the headgasket job; it has been done enough that we can all point you in the right directions regarding parts, what to do, FSM (if you want it clicky) and how to deal with what problems arise ("Oh no!! Theres cracks between the valves!!" ) on the other hand, just in case its NOT a headgasket, one good idea for finding a leak is to let it get good and hot, at night, and get a laser pointer to see if you can find any steam. Hopefully you find something short of a head gasket to fix your car, but like I said, the job isn't that major. My guess is that if you have the tools, its well within your grasp. You CAN do it without removing the engine from the car, if you have a ratcheting box end wrench. The one I used came from harbor freight and its part of a $15 set, worth paying to use it once. Good luck!

Okay, I probly wont get a chance to do any work until tomorrow.. In order, I will: Check O2 sensor change fuel pump (easy to do, I had mine off already, no tricky bolts, hoses come undone easily enough) bypass EGR. ahhh... some time ago the vacuum connection to one of the two solenoids got broken off, and I winded up JB welding the hose,with the plastic barb broken off inside of it, back onto the body of the solenoid. This was before I joined the board, and had no clue what the bloody thing was; it ran FINE for many months after this "fix," but could that somehow be my issue, without it throwing a code about it? (i KNEW I should have just gotten the solenoid outta the loyale in the JY) I have like, three new ideas now to check on the thing. This is GREAT, three days ago I was at a dead end. Education continues...

By the way, Im rollin wif da crappy 3 speed auto box.... and the transmission is NOT "bulletproof," "solid," or any other positive adjective. its not dying or anything, but ive got the governor gear, "wont shift outta first until i hit 25mph for the first time then shifts fine" problem...... but nothing beyond that. Is there any chance that this problem might be arising from something wrong with my tranny??? might a simple drain five quarts, fill up, drive a few hundred miles, drain five quarts again maybe help?? could the tranny be emulating a major vacuum leak in some way? The peculiarity of the nature of this problem, the way it comes and goes, has made me wonder if there was any way the trans might be even partially to blame. maybe? any ideas?

Answer: SPFI swap, and in the future sell the engine complete with wiring and ECU once you get your "mega-swap" done.

holy ancient thread, batman!! Skip, did you ever find an answer to your question?

well, the advance curve of the distributor would be different.... but the EA82 distributor doesnt HAVE an advance curve, it is all done electronically. The distributor for the EA82 is nothing more than a physical spark distributor, the method of setting the base spark timing, and a housing for the Crank Angle Sensor. There IS no advance mechanism underneath that dust plate; just a disc with either 180 or 360 small holes in it, and four large holes; an LED; and a photoelectric sensor. The disc spins with the rotor, and the light signals tell the ECU where the engine is in its rotation. Now, all that being said, I have NO idea what kind of difference may exist between the advance curve on the EA81 dizzys, and the programmed advance used on the EA82 ECU. so, no real help from me, either... sorry :-p I think GD would be considered by most to be the resident expert here, maybe try private messaging him?

I was delivering pizzas for some time in this vehicle. While I was doing that, I noticed an excessive amount of odd engine noise when trying to accelerate uphill (turning from a stoplight onto a bridge in two or three spots.. but I went through those spots ALOT) The engine noise was accompanied by a lack of power; I asked my brother about it, the ASE certified mechanic who gave me the car, and he almost smacked me upside the head when I said I was running low-test; he said he had TOLD me it needed high test or it would ping. It certainly smoothed it out a year ago when I started using high test. I haven't tried "going back" until recently, when fundage forced me to pick up a couple gallons here, and there, and they were usually low test. Really, seriously, HOW do you detect pinging?? I mean, I have a VERY good vague idea.. but its vague. I know what pinging/predetonation IS, I just don't know what to listen for.. And YES, I DO have ghastly exhaust leaks.. some minor leaking at the manifold, one leak on one side just after the first 90* in the y-pipe, and the cat was opened, gutted, and welded. The entire weld line kinda looks perforated... and the system beyond that is kinda patchwork going to the muffler. It doesnt leak so bad that its very noisy or anything... but its louder than it could be for sure. I call seafoam my exhaust leak detector If I were to try to quantify how much of the exhaust leak is AFTER the O2 sensor, I would say ~85%. I went to the boneyard and snagged the fuel pump today (someone else's dime, my friend needed a fender and she didnt want to get visually raped by the mexicans in the yard.. so she needed a big strong man to help her out) I will try swapping it out. Free diagnostic info, and a spare if nothing else.

*not-so-modest-grin* thanks, man. I was posting about 1/4-1/3 of all that over and over again in different situations, so I figured I might as well just write it all up so in the future, I just have to link to THAT instead of telling you in your thread Those are BEAUTIFUL fog lights.... if you EVER want to get rid of them, my uncle has a few datsun roadsters that would LOVE a set of those on the bumper... he has one pair similar, but i *think* one lens may be cracked, Make sure you post pics once you get 'em all mounted and purdy lookin'

Yes, I calibrated it by checking at both warmed up, and cold temperatures.. regarding the fuel filter, it IS a possibility, but when this first onest several months ago I checked the filter and it did NOT seem excessively dirty to me. Nor did the fuel pump pickup screen. The filter was replaced about, eh, 20K ago.. The short version is, I need a fuel pressure gauge, pronto. I am going to bring all my wits and resources to bear on that issue starting tomorrow. With an ASE certified brother, that should NOT be as difficult as it has been. I also would like to get an analog ohmmeter to test the TPS, to increase my peace of mind. And I am twisting my landlord's arm tomorrow and forcing him to help me observe the spark and the injector spray pattern. I am THROUGH with fretting about this half-assed; if push comes to shove I will borrow ten bucks from someone and buy a cap, or a rotor, etc one at a time and exchange them back ("wrong part") once I confirm that changing it did nothing.. I am NOT going to be defeated on this one

doesnt RAM engines sell a high performance headgasket for the EA82? Naturally, this would be even pricier than the SOA part, but probably worth it.

okay.. will do just that, thanks a bunch. So, the other FPR did virtually nothing, if not literally nothing. I managed to go out and get some fuel, actually some HIGH test this time like she usually eats... the problem i have with the idea of me running lean, is my TOTAL loss of fuel mileage. obviously I haven't been running through TANKS full, more like a gallon or two at a time.. BUT it seems to have gone from a norm of 25mpg bulletproof, highway or city.. to well under 20mpg. Maybe as low as 15, maybe not quite.. THAT is the biggest reason I cant believe in a lean situation being my problem.. Naturally, I can't for the life of me enroll ANYBODY to hit the bloody key while I watch the injector spray pattern, or eyeball the spark....... some friends, huh? Ten minutes of somebody's time I need... and I can't find anyone to help me do it during the daylight. I am about to start screaming at some of my friends over this.... I have only been trying to politely suggest, cajole, or outright ASK for some help for like three weeks now and no one seems to give a damn. Just another thing about this entire episode thats making me angry.. along with the lack of funds for new plugs/cap/rotor/fuel filter when I already HAVE recently changed all of that..... and the lack of fuel in my tank (the entire three months this problem has been gorwing, I have had a high point of about four gallons in my tank...) and worst of all, the lack of reliable, economical transportation to help me GET A JOB. so yah, thanks for letting me vent a little on it, too.

adding propane to the intake??? I presume you mean, turning the valve of a blowtorch on and feeding that into the air intake by opening the filter box... but wouldnt that increase RPM regardless of whether I was running lean or not? My spark plugs do not look like they have been burning lean, but your suggestions are interesting... I have listened all through the engine bay with a tube in one ear and heard NOTHING but bearing noises from tensioners, etc. No vacuum leaks traceable by my ears, and they still work pretty good. The fuel filter has been changed somewhat recently... it MAY have 10K on it but not the full 144K of the engine. and what would monitoring O2 sensor voltage DO? what would I be monitoring it for, and against what baseline? I know that the O2 sensor is specifically MADE for checking air/fuel ratios, but how do I turn the old DMM into an A/F gauge?

Well, I made it to the boneyard and snagged a FPR. I put it on there, and I *think* it solved my problems.. but if it did, I am almost dry on fuel. This, i think, is a highly possible scenario.. I've been out of work for over two months now, going a gallon at a time in the bloody tank. NOT good times and disconnecting the vacuum line was most certainly NOT more functional in actual driving.. it seemed to rev better when it was PARKED, but when I did actually try driving it like that it was a NO go. So basically, NOW I am waiting until I get some more gas to really see if the thing works right now, or not...... :-\ I do not own a fuel pressure gauge. I thought someone in my family did, but apparently no one else has ever NEEDED one for a high pressure application, D'oh! and if the pressure regulator didnt do it, then by gum if I won't go back to the boneyard and grab the pump out of the loyale there. I am getting sick of this problem; it cost me my last job and it has been a MAJOR impedance in getting another... big thanks again for the tips.

Thanks a million reveen, I am having a 100% meltdown of my cognitive function today because I have quite frankly, been beating my brains against this car trying to figure it out. if you are curious what I have been going through, just check almost any thread I have started in this forum in the last two months... but theres no need, if you dont want. the short version is, I am no longer able to hold any confidence that I am not missing something obvious.. in ANY situation involving this bloody thing. hoepfully the FPR i just picked up at the JY will fix my problem; I was simply alarmed at NOT seeing a check valve. I guess if the thing is built into the booster, that would explain it.. I pulled the hose off of the manifold after I made the post, and blew through it (no) and sucked through it (yes) so the check valve is there and functioning....

Okay, in my efforts to get my engine to run worth half a toot on a trombone, I am wanting to inspect the vacuum supply to the brake booster. I wonder "Maybe there is a vacuum leak there, I should check the check valve." Now, I should have noticed this one of the times I seafoamed the car; I always use the brake booster vacuum line.. but I can NOT for the LIFE of me find a check valve!!! Is it built into the manifold, or the booster somehow? I haven't tried disconnecting the line at the booster end and trying to see if I can blow into the manifold yet.. but I have never seen a check valve that didnt stick out and say "HEY, LOOK AT ME, I'M THE CHECK VALVE!!" so I am somewhat puzzled. Half an hour searching only turned up one other thread where a guy could not, for the life of him, find his check valve.. he asked several times but nowhere was it unambiguously answered; he seemed to think it had somehow been deleted by a PO and I am beginning to wonder if I am in the same boat. I may well just go to the JY soon and eyeball a loyale there.. I'm thinking about snagging a FPR to swap onto my car to see if THAT helps any.

Nothing more tragic than worn out tits.:-\

okayyyy.. so I just pulled all of my plugs to get a good look at them. They all look the same, kinda whitish brownish, no obvious problems with the electrodes or anything. There IS a decent amount of black coloring around the perimeter of the plug, but the electrode and grounding point are all clean of THAT... and it doesnt look oily, nor is it very heavy. Just black coloration. I pull the vacuum supply line to the FPR while the engine is idling and nothing really happens.. No significant vacuum leak, engine continues to run fine. If I suck hard on the vacuum line going into the regulator, the engine will stutter and die rather quickly; I presume this is from fuel starvation. While the engine is dying, it DOES sound somewhat like it does when I hit the gas pedal and get my stumble... but I mean, a stumble is a stumble. When I applied positive pressure to the regulator, nothing happened. In the middle of writing all this, I realized my data was incomplete.. so I just went out, took a quick test run to make sure the spark plug clean/gap change didnt do anything (they were ~.044, I set em to about .036, no change) It ran kinda crappy, and so I tried unhooking the vacuum line to the FPR. Seemed to run smoother.... should I just run to the junkyard, nap a FPR, and see if that helps anything? BTW, i can blow back through my return line with SOME effort, but it doesnt take too much. In short, my brain is sick and tired of trying to troubleshoot this and its shutting down. I cannot process the data I am getting from playing these games with the FPR. Processing this data SHOULD be more than within my abilities, but the noggin is refusing to work any more on this problem. I need to open a dialog with someone who knows more and is more experienced than I.. anyone who has had major experiences with FI ea82s who would be so kind as to offer their one-on-one assistance would be appreciated. I know its kind of annoying having some guy bugging you about his car when he lives half a continent away, but I need help talking this problem out.

yes, adding some sort of crank case flush would not be a bad idea when you run a batch of fresh cheap oil through, to drain and clean everything out of the engine. Make sure you get the motor nice and warm, and if possible go for a bit of a drive at least once, with the temporary fresh oil/solvent combo, then drain it out.

you can click here to read my recent post on relay wiring, and sourcing bosch relays and plugs from the junkyard on the cheap. It really is best to relay a circuit like this, and its simple to do.. it IS a somewhat long post, but you can skip the parts about wiring for a starter. good luck, and post some pics for us!

Okay, well, I have just educated myself on ignition and coils, etc. Thank you on that.. regarding the possibility for leaks, I just replaced the headgaskets and intake manifold gaskets (dealer intakes, felpro permatorque HGs) I guess I will go ahead and unplug the ECU, and do the full wire check on the O2 sensor. I cranked her up this morning at about 4:00 and checked in the absolute dark for any spark "leaks" just in case.. not a thing. thanks for the response, and all help is (as always) appreciated.

I have thoroughly grounded this engine. The only things not specifically added are an intake manifold to chassis ground, and an exhaust to chassis ground; However, I get very low resistance between intake and ground cable, and exhaust and ground cable... so, I imagine they are fairly well grounded. Ran the D check. Codes thrown: 32, 33, 51, 61. In order, thats O2 sensor (i have replaced it recently, so wiring?) vehicle speed sensor, neutral switch, and park switch. Unplugging the O2 sensor does nothing to the car.. I tested the circuit per FSM procedure anyhow. It says I should get at least 0.1V+ at the terminal with the key on; i get 0.17V. Check. Low resistance between the body of the O2 sensor and battery ground, so the O2 sensor is well grounded. On another note, I started playing around with "what could I have done wrong in diagnosis procedure" and decided that I needed to double check the zero calibration on the multimeter... and I cant calibrate it at all!! I touch the two probes together and get.. guess what, 0.7 ohms, the exact amount that my ignition coil was reading over spec impedance.... I still do not understand why I was reading ten ohms between the coil (-) terminal and the negative terminal of the battery, though. Does this NOT indicate a poor ground to my coil?? Last time when I asked that, I was answered with a "why did you do that?" which made no sense to me; how ELSE would i test the ground connection? So. I am back to square one. I need an assistant to help me get an eyeball on the injector spray pattern, and i need a fuel pressure gauge. This is seriously making me mad; such a major fault should show itself after as much testing and troubleshooting as I have done on this car. I havent got cash (surprise, I am broke as always) to just throw at spark parts when they all seem good and have been replaced recently anyhow.. the sparks are the oldest part, and theyve only been around for two years, NGK of course. The rest (cap/rotor/wires) is ALL about eight months old. yes, the rotor screw is in tight. yes, the firing order is right. could one of the silly solenoids (purge/egr) be causing this kind of problem and not throwing a code?? on a side note, what a friggin time for a ~96 impreza to show up down the street for sale for $1,000..... at that price, you know its got issues though.