Bishop

Give coilsprings.com a call and they should be able to make whatever you need for a very reasonable price. I've bought probably a half dozen sets of springs from them over the years and they are always flawless, plus they'll tune them to whatever spring rate you need for your application.

I can't believe people are still posting to this thread. I ended up tearing the shortblock all the way down. I had to get a couple specialty seals from some enthusiasts (board members) and the block, rocker arms, pushrods, and other irreplaceable parts went to the local engine shop for a good cleaning. I had them hone out the bore, and I bought bearings and rings from them as well. I think I spent under $200 for all that work, then I just put it all back together. The engine ran fine, but I always had problems with the carb. The stupid electronic choke on those old Hitachi's were a joke. However, it was my reliable daily driver for another two years or so. I finally sold it to a local kid who took it up to Washington I think. EA81's were great motors if they only would have made a EFI kit for them . . .

I contacted the seller again, pressing him about the interior and reason for the salvage title. He admited to swapping the interior out with another Outback, so that at least explaind the color combo mismatch, but he wouldn't elaborate on why the vehicle was given the "reconstructed" title. BUYER BEWARE!

I contacted the seller, he wrote back that white is the original color, and the car has not been repainted. I have my doubts. The whole thing smells fishy to me. I'm betting that this is a flood car that had the interior replaced with one from a salvaged / totaled vehicle.

It's tough to tell on this one. The strut towers and firewall look to be white, but a slightly different shade. I'm thinking this was a two tone car, but even then, I didn't think they offered up Black Leather with any of the lighter colored paint jobs. It could be something else, but I'm still suspicious. I was hoping to find someone to confirm or deny the availability of Black Leather with the White paint in '06. If it was available, this is the only specimen I've ever seen.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006-Subaru-Legacy-Outback-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ320160951688QQihZ011QQcategoryZ31869QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The auction description states "black two tone leather" but that doesn't really mean anything. It's just that I was looking for a white outback with a dark interior, but they never offered that color combo (that I know of). All of the all white (not two tone) exterior cars came with either a tan leather or a "taupe" cloth interior. Makes me suspicious of this car, exactly how extensive was the damage that it required a complete repaint?

http://ebay.carad.com/viewItem/viewAllPhotos.cfm?listing=9141327&template=48 When did Subaru make a White Outback with a Black Leather option? Was this an actual option for 2006, or is this a repaint? It does state that this vehicle has a "reconstructed" title.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=MCQ&mfrpartnumber=ES2187R&parttype=81&ptset=A is what you need. They are the same for either side, and they are fairly easy to change.

Thanks for all the reply's. All good stuff to look for. Fluids are a no brainer, the head gasket issue and water pump are good too. Out here in CA the cars dont usually have problems with the rust many people experience in the East, so that makes body work a little less likely problem. I agree that the price is to high, but for a running / driving car that can pass smog and has electronics that work you're looking at around 2500 - 3000 range out here, even if it has high miles. I didn't make it out to test drive it today (got a sick baby at home ) but I should be able to go look tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Im going out tomorrow to look at this car: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=203668046&dealer_id=909739&car_year=1998&model=&num_records=100&make2=&start_year=1981&keywordsfyc=&engine=&keywordsrep=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&search_type=both&distance=50&make=SUB&color=&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=yearASC&address=92346&advanced=&end_year=2007&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=25 I've had about 8 suburaru's over the years, but the newest one was an '86 GL-10 (still have it, hehe). I really don't have a whole lot of experience with the newer vehicles, so I'm looking for a little advice here. What problems should I look for in a '98 Outback with 200,000 + miles on it? TIA! Bish

Well, I haven't messed with it for a while, but I need to drive it tomorrow so I went out to start it up today and when I turned the key. . . nothing. Not even a click. Turns out the inside light got left on and the battery was totaly dead. Anyway, I got a new battery in it (got to love that free Wal-Mart replacement policy) and I squirted some starter fluid in the carb and she fired right up and ran perfect. Well, maybe not perfect, but just as good as normal. I went down to the gas station and filled her up and she started normally afterwards. Back to GD's question, I did open the choke housing and checked the thermostat spring thing with the hook on the end and it looked brand new. So that's not the problem with the cold start. I'll have to check and see how it runs tomorrow in the morning when its really cold outside. That will be the test to see if whatever was causing the choke to be stuck open is randomly fixed or not. Now. . . did I remember to screw the choke housing all the way closed or not??? I guess I'll find out in the morning

I recently swaped out a half shaft from Kragen myself. It clicks pretty bad and I'll probably end up replacing it soon. It's just the cheap crap that they sell from Kragen, but hey, you can't beat $59.00 for a half shaft!

Allright, I've looked around the site quite a bit, but I can't find any info that pertains specifically to this carb: Here some pics of the carb in it's current state: http://www.iehardcore.com/pics/100_2273.jpg http://www.iehardcore.com/pics/100_2274.jpg http://www.iehardcore.com/pics/100_2275.jpg These are High Res pics so dial up users beware! Also, please note that in these pics the thermostat cover is loose because I was checking to make sure the choke wasn't hung up on something in there. It looks like brand new inside. Now for the story, sorry if it's long. This carb is probably off of a 1980, but it's really anybody's guess at this point. This car has parts from just about every type of ea-81 around. Anyway, I had this carb rebuilt about 2 years ago and it ran fine for a little while (about 3 months), and then it had a problem where the choke would not open up. So. . . it would start right up and drive for about 5 minutes and then die. You would have to get out and stick a rock or something in the choke to hold it open to continue (I'm sure everyone has had that problem before, pretty common really). It turns out that for whatever reason I wasn't getting any voltage to the choke and if you look at the pictures you can see the patchwork I did on the heater lead line. Anyway, that worked for a long time, but the other day my wife went out to move the car and she calls me and says it wont start. Sure enough, when I got home the car would start fine, but as soon as you take your foot off the gas it would immediatly stall. Vacuume leak right? Wrong. I couldn't find a single leak so I took the air cleaner off and the choke is right there, stuck wide open, and it couldn't even be forced closed. I fooled around with it for a while and I found that by opening the throttle ALL THE WAY the choke could be moved by hand and it could be closed. The car would then start and run, but as soon as I depressed the accelerator it opened the choke 100% and the car would die. So, I can run the car by basically cramming my foot all the way on the gas to get it started, and keep it running by playing a game of pumping the pedal to keep the RPM's up until its hot, but even then it's running like crap. I've checked all the springs and they are all in good shape, looks like they replaced most of them during the rebuild. The linkage all looks correct to me and like I said the car runs and idles fine if I manually open the throttle all the way and then manually close the choke before starting it. . . but as soon as I hit the gas it dies! This is a totaly new problem for me and any help would be much appreciated!

Excellent, Thanks GD You always come through when I'm in a pinch. I'll check it out this weekend and I've got plenty of carb cleaner so I should be good I'll let you know how it goes.

I'll have to take a look at it this weekend. I'm pretty sure the smog shop guys told me that they unhooked the EGR and then tested the manifold passages directly, but now I'm not exactly sure what they did. I need to look at the manifold to see what they are calling the EGR again, because this subaru isn't set up like any one I've seen in a manual. I've just got to look at it again, then figure out what I need to do.

Allright, it's that time of year again. I figured rather than start a new thread, I'd just build on this old one. I passed last time, but this time I had a sneaking suspision that I might fail. The car has been running rich (I know we disputed this before) I can tell by the fuel smell coming out of the exhaust and the semi-crappy gas milage (less than 20mpg). So I had them run a Pre-test, here are the results: As you can see, I passed the pre-test. . . and I did OK. BUT!!! I failed the EGR functionality test. Supposedly when you apply vacume to the EGR the engine should stumble or stall completely, but mine did nothing. They tell me that I need special tools to clean out the carbon deposits from the EGR passages in the manifold, but I think they're full of crap. Anyone ever run into this issue before? If so, what the heck did you do to fix it?

Still got 2, one runnine and one rotting. Mark me down for 50/50

OK, I looked around and found a REALLY corroded ground that threads into the engine wiring harness behind the drivers side headlight. I replaced the whole wire, including several small wires that feed into it, and grounded it to the same point as the small ground wire coming off the battery negative cable. Now the battery reads 14.3 steady while running, same story at the alt, and on both sides of the fusable links. I did not test while the car was off. BAD NEWS is the volt gauge is still down around 9 / 10, jumps a lot when the signal is on, wipers are slow, and the headlights are dim. I looked around pretty good and didnt find any other ground wires under the hood. I checked the one mentioned above the fuse box under the dash, and it was good. I checked out the fuse box and the wiring harness while I was at it and everything looked OK, but I didnt examine closely. Before I had the car, someone did some shade tree electrical work for a sterio system, and rewired the radiator fans. I got most of that worked out, but there are still a couple of lose wires going into the three solonoids on the firewall in the engine compartment on the passengers side. I have no idea what they do. . .any ideas about those??? What was the ignition circuit mentioned above, and how is that coorelated to the jumping volt gauge needle when the turn signal is on?????

The volt gauge does indeed jump when the turn signal is on. Where is this wire that feeds the ignition circuit?

Had the battery and alt tested seperately at the local parts store. They told me they were "good" on both occasions but I'm not sure about the exact results. Given the age of the car, and the ammount of general rust and corrosion elsewhere, I am assuming there are some ground wires that are not getting good contact. I will look into the ones mentioned in the above posts and let you know the results. Thanks for all the posts, they give me someplace to start!

Yeah, I know that the battery voltage should be higher, but it does not seem to drop off at all. I've put about 350 miles on the car since the last post and still no sign of battery discharge. The voltage still hovers around 9 / 10 on the dash gauge, 11.5 on the multimeter at the battery. The lights are dim and the wipers slow, but the car is still running strong. I figure it's a ground that is not making good contact somewhere, but WHERE?! Anybody know of any "usuall suspects" for corroded chassis gound wires?

If there are cracks in the heads they will be apparent between the intake and exhaust valves. Look closely because they are not always dramatic, but clean off the carbon deposits and examine the thinest area between the two valves on each cylinder. While the heads are off, check to make sure they are not warped using a square and feeler gauges. Good Luck!

Hehe, I just ordered one from them. They haggled with me a bit on the price though. At first they wanted to charge me $169.00 for a 2 row with a lifetime warranty, then $144.00 for a one year warranty. I told 'em no way, and I could get it cheaper locally. They freaked when I said Auto Zone and shipped it to my door for a cool $109.00

OK, I've been working on my '85 hatch for a while now (yeah it finally passed smog) and I am having some trouble with the electrical system. The voltage gauge always hovers around 9 or so, lower when the radio, wipers, and headlights are on. The problem is the alternator and battery both tested good, and the volage is constant on both sides of the fusable links. The car runs OK, and the battery never seems to lose its charge, but the headlights are kind of dim, and there is a noticable drop in wiper speed when you turn on any other accessories. So far I have tested the leads coming off the battery and they remain at 12 whenever the car is off, and stay pretty solid at 11.4 when the car is running. Same story on both sides of the fusable links. I tried replacing the battery wires, adding an additional ground to the frame from the battery, and replacing some of the ground wires in the harness, all to no avail. All the fuses are good, all the accessories work, and the car runs OK (air / fuel mixture needs adjustment), but somewhere I am leaking power :-\ Any ideas on where to go from here?

Hate to tell yah, but 94Kw is only around 120 HP. . .:-\ BHP = KW/(0.746 * eff)