markjw

Man,that tie rod is DONE! To even leave the driveway with that is insane. After you get that replaced,make sure the castle nut on the wheel end of the cv axle is good and tight. Judging by the condition of the tie rod end,you should really inspect the entire front end of your Brat and all the related steering components. That thing about one wheel not turning with both off the ground,thats normal.

Carbs Unlimited is located in Auburn. They can probably come up with anything you will need. I think they use to be in Fife,but moved. Maybe the same place your thinking of,Ed. http://www.carburetion.com/

Get a new can of carb cleaner. Make sure it comes with the little red straw so you can direct the spray into specific spots. Start your car and let it idle. Spray the carb cleaner a little at a time at places like the intake manifold gaskets,base of the carb,vac line connections. If you have a vac leak in a particular area. A vacuum leak will suck in the carb cleaner and your engine rpm will increase at least a little. Sometimes alot. Just listen for it. Take your time and be carful of the acc. belt/belts. I found a really Big vac leak in the intake manifold gasket of a sedan I picked up recently. It had the same symptoms your describing about your vehicle. Don't spray this stuff into your carb while your engine is running. In fact,I'm pretty sure its only for cleaning the outside of your carb.

I'd install the strut,loosely. Meaning just thread the nuts on a little from up above. Then install the knuckle onto the strut. Pull the axle thru the hub and install everything else. At least, I think thats how I'd do it.

Yes,thats a good looking Hatch! $450 seems a little low,but you probably made someones day. Don't feel bad about maybe not getting every dime out of a car deal you could have gotten. We aren't car dealers,we're car enthusiast. I have sold so many cars for less than what they are worth. And you know what,thats fine with me 'cause I just make up for it by seeking out good deals for myself. Don't sweat it.

Be careful of the torque converter.Its full of ATF and it can slide off the trans input shaft and hit the deck. Huge mess. Just make sure when you begin to seperate the engine and trans,your aware if it. Try and keep it pushed back towards the trans. Of course,it has to be unbolted from the flex plate.

Take it down to the car wash place. Spray it down with the cheapest engine de-greaser you can find,(wal-mart) and power wash it with the wand. It works Great..Of course,there is a environmental impact issue to consider. You can use Simple Green and it works well,but is kinda expensive. It doesnt take much,thou. The car wash place I go to has some kind of water seperation system for the run off. Good Thing!

I bought the Axle Installation tool that was on CL a few days ago. I met the guy at his shop in the Capitol Automall in Olympia. He also gave me this Flywheel tool that he says is for older Subarus. Apparently it keeps the Flywheel from turning while removing the crank nut. Anyone have any idea how to use it? I forgot to ask.

It seems to flood in that area almost every year. Several rivers run there. The Chehalis R.,Skookumchuck R. and the Newaukum R.,too. I know that when the snow pack is really high in the Cascade mountain range,just east of Centralia maybe 40 miles, and a warm rain comes in off the Pacific ocean in early spring,thats when the Real flooding problems happen. The snow melts so fast it floods all the rivers....Thats pretty much everywhere in Western Washington,thou. Occasionally,Interstate 5 is sitting under 10-12 feet of water thru there. Thats Feet,not inches. But,to answer your question as to why this particular wagon was flooded,the previous owner was in Texas when the flood came. No one thought the Subi was worth saving. 'cept me Chehalis River swallows up homes, residents airlifted out The freeway overpass in Chehalis was underwater, including Wal-Mart on the right. I-5, which runs below, was completely submerged. A Centralia neighborhood that runs next to I-5 which is fully submerged at the right. Flood waters from the Chehalis River inundate a neighborhood in Centralia. Looking south, semi trucks sit stranded on high ground above the flooded Interstate 5 at Exit 77 in Chehalis. Airplanes were moved to high ground at Chehalis Airport. Officials said it's the worst flooding in years in and around Chehalis and Centralia including Interstate 5. The barrier on Interstate 5 between the northbound and southbound lanes is swept away in places as the highway passes through Chehalis.

The wash went well. I blasted everything. I tried to stay away from the dash as much as possible. The seats are Nice. It was hard to tell thru all the mud,but they cleaned up well. I got some hard learned advice to pass on. Don't ever,ever ever ever,point the power washer wand at your headliner. It can't take it. The good thing is,it was 90 degrees today,with a breeze. It literally dried the car out in about six hours. Including the seats. For the most part,anyway. Check out this "gear lube"...

Heres the $100 Centralia Wagon I dragged home the other day. It has a Ton of mud in it. The doors have problems opening as well. The biggest problem with the doors is,the locking mechanism were froze up,but someone tried Very hard to still get in. So,one broken door handle and a little PB blaster here and there, all is Almost well. If the water had gotten into the dash,the car would not be worth salvage. Except maybe the motor and tranny. It only got a couple inch's above the froor, and its a mess. The old guy who owned it took pretty good care of it before the flood. It runs good even with the original feedback carb. Heading down to the car wash place tomorrow with all the interior parts including the carpet. I'm going to power wash everything. With the warm weather,hopefully everything will dry out fast. I really like this car. It has good wheels and tires on it,and it hasn't been messed with too much. Wiring and such. Thanks to Flowmasters post in the Craigs/ebay sub-forum,I was able to get it. Thanks again,Flow. I owe you a cold one.

Lotsa people on the board have put 5 speeds behind the ea81. As far as I know,no one has regretted it. In fact,I'm pretty sure that combo came from the factory that way in a ea82 car. Seems it was only offered in other countries,thou.

You can also get your engine good and warm,and while its idling,slowly pour it into the throat of your carb. Your engine will want to stall,but just slow down spilling it into the carb and let the engine recover. Do this till about half the can is in the carb/engine then give it a Big drink to kill the engine. Turn off your ignition and let your car sit for about ten minutes. While your waiting,pour the remaining Seafom into your gas tank. Start it back up and go for a drive. Drive around till the exhaust clears up. Thats what I do. And it should give you a better/smoother idle.

I found Seafoam for $6.95 here in The Dalles,Ore. I saw it the other day in Vancouver,Wash. for $10.99. The Seafoam debate is a hot topic on every auto related forum I visit. Personally,I Seafom everything I own. I believe in it. For whatever reason,it always seems to smooth out the low idle. Is it worth the money? If you use it the way I do it is. First you have to drive downtown and park as close to a busy intersecion as you can get. Just to make sure your getting your moneys worth,invite your wife or girlfriend along for the ride. But chances are,they will only go along once.

Thanks Jeff! I'll be up in Camano later this week. I'll call ya.

Heck Yeah! I'll give you a call. Thanks.

Hey Bill, thanks for the tip! I actually already took the shifter apart and cleaned the track that the "flint" rides in.Reassembled it, and it kinda worked. Never thought to file the flint flat. I did that this morning and its perfect now. This one has a Ok interior. The thing about old cars around here,the metal parts are usually in great shape,but the dashboards and seats and rubber trim take a serious beating because of the sunshine 300 plus days a year. No digi-dash. Analog dash and power windows,thou. Everything works 'cept the radio. And,someone wired in a switch to run the cooling fan. I'm gonna correct that today,hopefully.

Yeah,they really suck in the power dept. I've recently been driving around a '84 sedan with a 3AT. Although the car is kinda gutless anyway,and the tranny is performing as it should,I can tell the Auto Tranny is robbing much needed HP away from the wheels. One thing I've noticed,I drive this car much easier because of the auto tranny. With a 4 or 5 speed, seems I rip around wherever I go.

From the paper work I have found,best I can tell it sat for about 5 years. She(the seller) wasn't being completly honest with me about that part of the deal. She was reluctant to answer that very question,and she settled on two years. Doesn't matter. I'm really happy with it. I'm here in The Dalles,Ore. Thats where I found the car. Outside of town about 5 miles. I just caught a glimps of the left tail light as I was driving down a country road. You know,I didn't just stumble across this thing. I have been "hunting" ea81's around here for two weeks. Binoculars,sack lunch the whole bit. I have found about 8 of em that were potential discards/projects. There is a decent hatch in a trailer court a few miles away. I've been eyeballing it daily and it hasn't moved. But,I had a nice Hatch already. I've never had one of these. I've decided the craptachi is the best thing Subaru ever put on a ea81 car. It's been my experience that because of that POS carburetor,people give up on these cars and just park um. And thats good for us. The 4WD button doesn't stay pushed in. It returns to the "out" position as I release pressure from my thumb. I'll disassemble the shifter handle tomorrow. Maybe a detent or something came loose. BTW. She set the price of a hundred dollars for the car. Then she wanted $80 for the studded snow tires in the barn.

I've got her running pretty good. I'm not at home,(visiting brother in law) so,I'm having to make do with the tools I have on hand. I can't do a compression test. But,I don't believe any of the cyl. have any major issues. Doesn't seem to be a smoker.That's good! I did a complete tune up, new cap,rotor,wires,plugs and such. I have one problem that I need some help with. It is an automatic and I'm not sure how the 4WD mechanism is suppose to work. When I push the 4WD button on the shift lever,the 4WD indicator light on the dash lights up. And, I believe the 4WD is engaging. I was driving around in an alley,and it just feels like its working right. But,it won't stay engaged. In other words,as long as I am pushing/holding the button,the light is on,and its in 4WD,but as soon as I release the button,the light goes off and the 4WD disengages. I hope I'm not over explaining this. My question is,what keeps the 4WD engaged? Here's a pic of the shifter. I got a couple Hubcaps at the local yard.

Yup. Steelies on the right side. You can bet I asked about the other two. She said she never had the other two and went into a story about the studded tires she has for sale and how they were the original wheels and on and on. In the end,she only had the two. I asked why they were on one side only. And not on the front or back. She said it looks better that way when you park on the side of the street. I Guess I have to agree.

Glad you made it off the freeway safely. Hey,if you need another set of studded tires,I got a good lead. I bought a sedan today and the seller had a really nice set of four,mounted and balanced with the center caps and beauty rings, in her barn. She wanted $80 for them. Good looking wagon,btw.

Found this in a lady's yard. I payed her a hundred bucks for it. She said she ran the engine dry of oil and it now needs a new engine. I trailerd it home,drained the gas tank,changed out both fuel filters and put in some new gas. After some time cranking on it I was able to drive it around town a bit. Shifts fine and doesn't sound too bad. Needs exhaust work and the starter doesn't engage all the time. It may be a smoker but it was dark by the time I got it running and really couldn't see too much to tell. I'll be all over it tomorrow morning. Seafoam and an oil and filter change for starters.