mudman

Yeah IHscout54, Oldtimers have all kinds of things that they say will work, but most of them are quick fixes and not exactly the correct way per say. A guy over here told me about the petroleum jelly thing, but I just kept on telling him that he's crazy. Well he kept on telling me that I'm crazy and that they did that sort of thing all of the time. We wnt back and forth forever about it. Probably does work, but I cant imagine even thinking about trying it. I'm just stubborn though and won't try unorthodox methods. I feel safer that way. The wife tells me that dryer sheets will keep gnats off of you, but I won't even try that.: Good luck with you rebuild. The guys over at CCR Engines gave me alot of helpful advice, along with everyone on this forum. Thank God for ultimatesubaru.

I didn't even dunk mine. Maybe that's my problem. If you take the line off of the oil gauge, you're correct, there should be 57 lbs of pressure behind that oil. Should shoot out pretty good!!!!!

Oh, of course I put oil in the engine. I'll try and remove the line from the gauge and see if oil is flowing through it though. I put in 10W30. I live in Louisiana, and when I ran it yesterday, it was about 60 degrees out. I did notice a small leak near the rear engine seal, but it's just a drip and only when the engine is running. I don't think that the leak has anything to do with pressure, or the oil pump, since the timing gears just pickup oil from the pan. I'm going to try and manually prime the pump (which I did not think was necessary) and then use a professional oil pressure test gauge. I hope that this will tell me I have a serious problem or not. I've heard about the grease, or petroleum jelly in the pump, but I believe that it is a very bad idea. Once grease gets hot, it will turn into oil anyway. But when its cold, its back to grease. I don't see how putting grease in an engine is a good idea, especiall after I just cleaned all kind of crud from the inside of it. That stuff will stick to everything ,and change the oil viscosity. Wouldn't the grease plug up holes and tubes that the oil is supposed to go through until it gets hot enough to liquify, maybe even clog up the oil filter? This may cause a starvation of oil to one or more critical places, like inside of the pushrods, crank bearings, etc. I HAVE heard of it, but sorry, I just don't trust the idea. It MAY work, but I don't want to take the risk.

The line is a clear plastic line. There is some oil in the line with air pockets. Is it supposed to have air, or oil in the line? I also spoke with a guy at the local auto parts sotre just a few minuites ago. He told me to take the oil pump off, submerge it in oil and spin it both ways until it is primed. He said that it you don't do that, the pump will always have an air pocket in it and will not pump. It this true, or will the oil pump on a subaru suck up the oil and prime itself?

I recently rebuilt my EA-71. After reinstalling the engine, it cranked right up, and boy does it sound great. I put plenty STP Oil lube on the bearings and cyl walls during rebuild. I put in a new Oil pump. Well I ran it for about 10 minuites, but I have no oil pressure. I ran a direct line from the oil pump to the gauge, so there is no sending unit. The gauge is new and the oil pump is new. Anyway, zero on the oil pressure. I did not prime the oil pump, but there is oil in the filter. I ran the engine for 10 minuites as I said, mostly at Idle, but only brought it up to about 3500 RPM for a minuite, hoping that this would get some oil moving. I hear no noise from the engine, and it sounds super smooth. Why don't I have pressure? Should I try and prime the pump? How do you prime the pump anyway? I know on 350's you take off the distributer and run a rod all the way down to the oil pump, is it the same for a subaru? If so, is this rod available at any auto parts store?

Like hatchsub said, you can remove all emissions lines and plug them with a proper fitting cap on the Hitachi. Put a vac from the manifold to the vac advance, and also to the choke. The only line to the carb should be the fuel/fuel return line. You can hook up the EGR if you want, but I found that it is not necessary on my particular engine (EA71). There should be a vent to the bowl which you do not need to plug. Be sure all ather nipples on the carb are plugged properly, and it will work just fine, al long as you don't have to worry about o2 sensors and stuff. You can get more power if you go to the carter/weber though. I actually replaced mine with a Rochester 2-jet. Works fine. A small "simple" carb will work fine on these engines. You can pick one up rebuilt for around 60 bucks. I built my own adapter plates with nothing more than a drill press and a jigsaw, with a scrap piece of aluminum. I've seen everything from the hitachi's to 4bbl Hollys on these things. Again, all those emissions vac lines are not necessary for the "engine" to run as originally designed. Most emissions on these engines were an afterthought.

This is the distributer that I have. http://info.rockauto.com/Cardone/Detail3.htm?/31/31634-01.jpg I also know that the engine came out of a 4WD vehicle. It had a Hitachi Carb on it. Top mount starter. Ummmmm Ohv pushrod. front mounted water pump attached to the block. The disty that is shown is from a 1979 brat. Is this correct? (I don't trust auto part stores) If so, I suppose that I'll buy the engine rebuild kit for a 1979 4WD Brat. Is there anything else about the engine that may help identifying the year, or could I buy all rebuild parts individually? If so, can enyone tell me exactly what parts I need, even if they are from different year EA71's? I know that I'll need gaskets. bearings, oil pump, wrist pins, main and rod bearings, pistons and rings, camshaft, valves, springs. Timing gears are not available, but I want those too. I'll probably have to grind the crank. Any thouhts on boring 20 thousanths over? How much heat are we talking about? How much Xtra power? The guy with the kit also told me that the lifters are available, but they are about 300 bucks for all 8!!!!! Are these magical lifters? I suppose that they are hydraulically delecious. For that kind of green, I might just buy a crate engine. Sorry, but I haven't opened the case yet. The engine runs fine, but has some smoke from one side. Keeps on fouling out the p;lugs on the no. 1. I'll rebuild, but only if I can make the engine like new again. I really want to get in there and scrub out the almost 30 years of use. Any suggestions? I plan on doing a complete post from start to finish of this project. It should only take a few days though.

I read that post about not being able to get factory replacement head gaskets also. I don't mind aftermarkt though, as long as it's quality. Anyhow, I called RPMRON and he told me that without a specific year of my engine, he can't help me. He says that EA71 engines have different gaskets for different years, and also different main bearings. He doesn't offer timing gears though. With this information, I cant see how parts from a EA81 can fit the EA71 Gen 1. I heard that the pistons are the same, but the stroke is different. Therefore the crank is different. The heads should be different also, I think, which means different head gaskets. Valves and seats may be interchangeable, but I dont know. Are timing gears interchangeable? I also understand that the EA71 had 6 different configurations. I don't know how many of those were the gen 1 though. How can I narrow down the year of my engine? What information would you guys need to get an accurate year? I can take some pictures, give information, etc. I just want to make sure that I get the correct parts for this rebuild. If It's done right, the engine shoud run for another 35 to 40 years.

I can't find a rebuild kit for an EA71. I want to completly rebuild the heads, hone the cylinders, replace all gaskets, grind crank, new bearings, oil pump, etc. I found this guy. http://rpmrons.com/Subarukits.html Are these quality rebuild kits, or is there an alternative? I'd rather buy all parts in one complete kit rather than buy them individually. Next question is, which kit do I buy? I have an ea71 gen 1. I don't know the year, but I suppose that the kit from 76 thru 81 will do the trick? Engine has a top mount starter and is not the fat case. The distributer looks like it comes from a 79 brat, but I was told that the engine is an early 80's model. I can only speculate that the kit from rmprons for the EA71 82-89 is for a fat case design.

Sounds like a fuel problem to me. Could be lots of things though. PCV valve, vac leak, fuel mixture, etc. I'd start with vac leak first, then check all vac hoses for oil as previously stated, alond with PCV valve. Then move checking the fuel filter, pump, carb. It also may be contaminated fuel.

I want to make sure that I have my alternator wired correctly. I have a 1980 Brat EA71. I was under the impression that one wire goes to the battery from the post on the alternator. then on the plug of the alternator there is a ground, and a momentary hot, to excite the alternator while in start. Well, I'm not getting any juice that way. I found that if I take the wire which I believe to be momentary during start, and move it to hot in run continously, I get 14.5 volts. Is this correct? Is the wire from the plug on the alternator supposed to be hot in the run position, or in the start? I haven't seen an alternator hooked up to have the exciter wire in the run position, but then again, it's a subaru. It seems to be correct, but I don't want to fry anything. Thanks in Advance.

That is very interesting information. Here I thought that I might need to buy a new distributer. I'll replace the plugs today and see if thats whats causing my problems. From what I'm reading, it makes perfect sense. I never would have thought that the gap increses voltage to the plug. Crazy how those guys would cut the wire and put a button in the line to create a gap to increse the voltage to the plug. Really neat stuff!!! Thanks.

I've finally got the EA71 running perfect, so I thought. I had a loss of power while the engine had a load on it. Anyway, the no 2 cylinder isn't firing. Well, when I took the spark plug wire off of the no. 2, nothing happened, no rpm change at all. When I put it back on, the engine started to rev up, but with the no. 2 wire all the way in the cap, nothing. I switched wires around, thinking that it's the wire, but still on the no. 2. So, if I put the wire just above the cap, so that it will arc, the no. 2 starts firing. I changed the cap, rotor, and the plugs for good measure, but still, same thing. Wont run if plugged in properly, will run if it arcs from the wire to the cap. The engine came out of a brat, and had a hitachi carb. No points in the distributer, and it has an ignition module atached to the coil. I am just guessing that this is an engine from a 1980 brat. I could be wrong though and I may not be buying the correct distributer cap. Anybody got any ideas on what could cause just one cylinder to do this wonderous event? It certainly doesn't make sense, but I swear that I'm not making this up.

Sorry guys, but I just want to be certain that I'm buying the correct part. I want an intake manifold for an EA71 (unknown year), with a top mount starter. It is not the fat case. Will any year 1600cc intake manifold bolt up, or do I need the exact year. I dont care what carb is on it because I'll be choping the intake for some dual carbs. I've got the opportunity to buy an 82 1600 cc intake, and also a 79 1600cc intake for cheap cheap. Will either of these fit? The original intake had the hitachi set up. Any help is appreciated.

Is any EA71 intake manifold able to fit on any EA71 engine? I'm asking because I want to get a manifold to chop up for a chevy carb to fit. I have no idea what year my EA71 engine is. I do know that it is not the fat case. Can I go to the junk yard and get a '79, '80, '81, etc. manifold to fit my unknown year EA71? That 66 chevy carb's gonna make this little engine scream. I know it.

It will work if the bolt patterns line up. It also depends if you want to strip emmissions or not. It also depends if you are talking about a hitachi or carter/weber or something else. Lots of different things make a difference. I started with a hitachi on my EA71 (new carb). I couldn't figure out where all of the vac lines went, because it was from a different year with different emmissions. It did bolt up to the intake manifold flange. I think that all Hitachi's built for an EA71 (any year) will fit. I plugged all vac lines to the carb, and all lines to the intake manifold and ripped all of that emmissions crap out. It did run well, but was very hard to start. The hitachi is junk thaough if you ask me. I replaced the carb recently with a 1966 chevy carb, manual choke. The engine is easy to start and runs great. It took some modification to the intake manifold (cutting and welding etc) to get the carb to fit properly. Some guys use the weber with an adapter plate. It's a simple carb that bolts right up, but will cost you around $350. Google redline weber. The truth is that any simple carb will work as long as you can tune it right. I would not be going with a 4 barrel pulling 500cfm though. You want to be around 150 to 175 cfm for an EA71 I think. Hope this was helpful.

Yes, you can plug the PCV valve and run "dirty". It was always done like that in the 50's and 60's on chevy's and fords. All that the PCV system does is take crankcase pressure and put it back into the Intake to be burnned off again, and again, and again.............. All thats going to happen is that you'll have some residue build up around the crankcase relief ports. Probably run a line from there and turn down under the car somewhere and just let it drip from there. Only hurting the enviornment, if you believe in that. I run mine without any emmissions, EGR, PCV, hoses, vac lines etc. I've got more power since I've stripped it also. More Flow = More HP.

I just want to make sure that any regular EA71 manifold will fit on any other EA71 engine. I'm pretty sure that my engine is early eighties (80 to 82). It is not the wide body style. Will any EA71 manifold from the 70's through the early 80's fit? I'm not worried about carb style, because I'm trying to retrofit the intake with a '66 chevy 2 bbl, and I want a barrel for each side of the engine, so I'll be doing some chopping and welding, and destroying good pieces. Just want to know which intake to purchase at the junk yard.

OK. I've been playing all evening debugging things by the process of elemination. Here's what I found out. The engine was running on only yhe 1-3 side. If I take off the 1-3 side and just hook up the 2-4 side, and give it some gas, the engine will run. I can even let it down to idle with only yhe 2-4 side hooked up. So, Therefore it isn't pistons, valves, rods, etc. The compression test also proves this. Now, as long as I give it some gas(and not alot really), and hook up both sides, both sides run!!!!! A few seconds after I hook up both sides, and let it to idle, then only the 1-3 side works. I don't think that this engine was designed to idle on only one side, was it? Bsides getting a new distributer, what can I do? New coil? NGK plugs? I really don't get what could be wrong if each side will work seperately, but not together.

Most people think that it is timing. I can't understand how timing would be off on one side and not the other. Could it be that little $300 dollar ignition module? Could it be that the lobes on one side of the cam are screwed up? Could it be that the fuel is only going to one side of the engine? I guess that all of these are possible, but they don't really make alot of sense. Anybody want to help me turn it upside down to shake the gremlin out of it? What could make timing off on only one side besides mixing up the spark plug wires? What could make fuel go to only one side besides a vac leak? If compression is good, then all pistons, rods, and valves should be OK, right?

I'm running just a simple 66 chevy carb on my Ea71. I bought the carb for simplicity. I was told that some subaru engines have 4 barrel holleys on them. One of the older guys at work says that back in the 50's and 60's, they would always make adapter plates for different carbs on their cars. He tells me that if you can fit it on with no leaks, and tune it right, it will run. I see no problem with dual carbs as long as you make an adapter plate to fit. I know that the on my ea71, the 66 chevy carb is rated at about 175 CFM, and those Weber 32/36's that the guys use so much must be about 300 cfm. If you google subaru aircraft, you can find some info on different carb set ups. Those guys in the airplanes do not want a Hitachi carb, I can't imagine why?

Compression was at about 170 to 175. I don't think that something like that could have happened with good compression readings, Right? All lines were plugged, so I am running the engine "dirty". EGR is plugged, PCV is plugged, all intakes are plugged. The only thing hooked up is vacuum advance. There are also some stainless tubes that run from the head (next to the spark plug) to a box. There they go into one stainless tube and then to atmosphere. I plugged this also believing that is is just another part of the emissions system. I have the valve covers venting to atmosphere. I dont think that the wires are crossed. They are hooked up just like the book says. Anyway, I reversed the wires on that one side and nothing happened. I think that I might go home and just shoot the engine.

I am trying to get an EA71 engine to run well. I have replaced alot on this engine, except for pulling the heads and rebuilding the entire thing. The last time that I cranked it over, the feeze plugs blew out and the whole engine was filled with water. I replaced the plugs, flushed the engine, and checked compression. Compression is fine, and the freeze plugs don't leak. I put a new carb on it, removed all emmissions, and plugged all vac lines. I fired it up, and I thought that it was running fine. I have the engine on a skid right now, so I'm running dual exhaust. Well, come to find out, only one pipe gets hot, and the other is ice cold. I had fuel coming out of the exhaust on the cold side, so, I figure that I have fuel. I replaced the rotor, and cap. I set timing to 8 degrees before TDC. I checked the pick up coil and it read good also. Oh, and new spak plugs of course. I checked the spark plugs and they ARE firing on the bad side (just laid it on the intake maniflod, shocked me pretty good too). I had fuel coming from the exhaust, so I have fuel. Fuel + Fire = Vroom vroom Right? Funny thing is, once it is hot, the one side gives a good POP every few seconds. The engine really runs good on only 2 cylinders, so I really can't wait to get 4 up and going. The only other thing that I can think of is the ignitor. But would that cause the engine to only "work" on one side? If it could possibly be the ignitor, then I'll probably replace the ignition system with a new distributor that has points, and a new ignition coil. If anyone has any other ideas, please, I'm all ears.

So, my EA71 WAS running fine. All of a sudden, MILKSHAKE!!!!!!. I researched and found that the Freeze plugs are under the valve covers. I replaced them this morning and put the rocker arms back on. The engine was running so good before this happened. Now it seems like it isn't getting gas????. I drained the old milkshake oil. I refilled it with an engine flush (mainly kerosene) and new oil. I planned on draining this after runing it for about an hour and refilling the oil again. Problem is , it wont run unless half choked or something. I am really stuck here. I don't want to have to tear it all down unless absolutely necessary. Thes carb is brand new. The fuel pump is brand new. Could it be a simple as the PCV???? Or it the engine screwed after the freeze plug blew? This milkshake was coming out of the valve cover.

Thanks. Man, I sure was afraid that it was the head gaskets.... If only one pops, would water come from both valve covers, or is it just the foaming action that is making it appear that it is coming from both? Anyway thanks. I sure am relieved. I'll get to fixing that first thing tommorrow.