carfreak85

Didn't get to drive mom's '14 Foz in the snow this winter, but I'm interested to see what it's like.

I think that's a Gen 1 radio box.

Do you have: Any Enkei or alloy wheels Blue EA81 2WD radio box Tan EA81 2WD radio box Tan EA81 door handle cups

Holley Sniper EFI 2300

Remove the radiator cap, jack up the front end as high in the air as you can and run the engine with the heater on hot as you massage the heater core and radiator hoses. Look for bubbles. Wait for the thermostat to open then let the cooling fans cycle a few times. Close system, lower car, drive around and observe temp gauge.

My EA81T wagon has 500s. I like them and they come in a few flavors of beam shape, IIRC.

Just looked up the kit on Holley.com. It's rated at 350 N/A hp, but in the Q&A section they say they have tested it down to ~100 hp. That's still a solid 30+ hp more than even the healthiest EA71 ever made, so it would probably work, but you'd be running pig rich all the time. I would pass on it, but it is intriguing. Though for the $900 MSRP, I think you could come up with a similar solution that is closer to the fuel needs of your EA71.

My guess is that that system won't be able to turn the wick down far enough to not be constantly over-fueling that little 1.6L engine, even at full chat.

Ok, that's what I was getting at, you're talking about the electrical connections in the gauge cluster, I'm only talking about the dashboard itself, not any of the electronic bits.

Both my EA81s are factory turbo cars, which run a slightly different version of the Hitachi distributor. My ICM has four pins where the carb'd cars use a two-pin ICM. You might try swapping the ICM between distys, if they look identical.

I'm just going to leave this here...

That's as good a reason as any to run a catch can.

On our '99 Forester the plastic plugs that connect to the headlamp bulbs had some heat damage from poor factory wiring. This allowed play in the connection that would quickly damage bulbs. My solution was to install a jumper harness between the factory lamp plug and the bulb with a ceramic plug for the bulbs in place of the plastic OEM plug. Filled the jumper harness with dielectric grease, zip-tied the new jumper harness so it wouldn't flop around and haven't replaced a lamp in about a year+. Pretty happy with this band-aid fix.

HIDs are not designed for any particular style lamp. The geometry of the lamp's reflectors and lenses are what dictate what is compatible. For example the 04-05 WRX has halogen headlamps while the same body style STI uses HIDs. Put both lamps side-by-side and look at the geometry of the guts inside the lamp. Similar, but different, because of the way each different style of bulb (Halogen/LED/HID) produces light.

Are you saying the later dashboard wont physically fit the '85, or that OP needs to swap over all the electronics to maintain functions?

I have this exact same issue with my wife's '99 Forester. In snow, I can stomp the pedal and the car will act as if it is 2WD until I ease up on the throttle. When I do, the AWD system kicks in with that signature BANG!, like someone is hitting the bottom of the car with a baseball bat. This doesn't seem to be as widespread an issue as the head gaskets or the clocks that cut out. Based on my research there are a couple issues. First, the early Foresters ('98-99) have a TCU with a very aggressive AWD engagement. There is a TSB that describes this and suggests installing an alternate TCU part number with a more mild AWD engagement algorithm. The second issue is that the RWD transfer clutch pack can wear, or the Duty-C solenoid can fault. I have yet to do anything about it besides the research above, but this really bothers me as we depend on this car as our all-around ski/dog/haul vehicle. @GeneralDisorder, do you have any insights on this particular issue?

Your axle is installed 180* off, I use the same tool on EAs and EJs, it should NOT be getting stuck in ANY, if the axle is properly aligned.

Have you tried swapping the ICM between the two distributors? (Not sure if they're cross-compatible)

Just get any old coil. I'm running a 15-year-old MSD Blaster 2 (or something) and the car doesn't know any different.

Meh, I've got a few of these MCs squirrelled away in the shop. Not a fan of adding two additional leak points to the brake system either, so the four-port SVX MC was the only option that works for my needs.

Out of production....

Just got a notification from Rock Auto that this part number has been discontinued and they do not anticipate any new stock in the future. Some quick Google-Fu shows there are still a few places around the web that list them, but who knows if they actually have anything in stock. I just bought two spares, I hope I don't get an "out of stock" bounce-back email...

You have multiple profiles?

There are likely no "direct swap" lamps on the market. Find something close and modify to suit your needs. I'd stick with a name brand, for quality design and long-term product support.