Greybeard

I understand I can "flat" tow (all four wheels on the ground using a tow bar) a 4 wheel drive, manual transaxle EA81 (Brat) in neutral. If I put the front wheels on a dolly, and leave the rear wheels on the ground, will I damage the transaxle? Will the transaxle still get lubricated with the back wheels and driveshaft turning but not the front differential? Or do I have to pull the driveshaft?

Years ago ('60s) I had a similar problem with a Chevy Nova drag car. It turned out to be something normally non-adjustable on EA81s. It was the caster in the front alignment. Not saying it's your problem, but it can effect how the front wheels "track". If I remember correctly it had to be near "0". The correction didn't effect driving much, but then we only drove it 1/4 mile at a time.

Anybody out there know where I can find synchros for my D/R 5 speed? I need 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, plus all the gaskets and seals to put it back together. My local dealer says not all the parts are still available and the "usual suspects" on line don't list them at all. If I can't find everything I need, anybody have a good trans for sale? BTW, I have a free D/R 4 speed available in southwestern Pennsylvania, you pick it up.

Recently I replaced my stock brakes on my '05 Legacy GT (all four) with drilled & slotted rotors from these people: http://www.r1concepts.com/ Used a set of Hawk HPS pads, difference was amazing, but not cheap. Break-in procedure was a pain, but after 5000 miles it still impresses. Don't know about wear, that's never my priority when it comes to brakes.

All good points, I'll take a look at the transmission oil first, and try bleeding the slave cylinder too. Then, if I must, I'l replace the slave cylinder before I replace the clutch master. I've been putting this off, I don't want to pull the I/C. About one year ago the dealer reolaced the mainshaft bearing / bearings in this transmission, but he wouldn't pull it and look at the actual gearbox internals. In the last 3 months the clutch travel hasn't noticably changed. That seems like curious behavior for bad hydraulics.

Funny thing, it shifts fine, IF you push the pedal all the way to the floor, if not it drags, but it has for some time. My wife drove the car further last night and it was trouble free, leading me to believe it is a transmission problem. The only problem with that is I need to demonstrate the problem to the dealer in order to have him repair it under warrenty. She does park in a parking garage all day, so there is an opportunity for someone to hit the car without my knowledge, no marks on the rear bumper though. Could another car just bumping into it cause the transmission to jam in gear?

This afternoon my wife called me and said she couldn't get the shifter to move in her 70,000 mile '05 Legacy GT. For some time we have had to push the clutch all the way against the floor to shift. I assumed it was the clutch not disengaging, now I'm not so sure. When I got to her work I found the shifter to be stuck in 1st, a good hard tug freed it and the problem seemed solved, it worked normally all the way home. The car has the dealer installed "short shifter" option. Does this sound more like a transmission, than a clutch problem to anyone else? There are about 5000 miles left on the extended warrenty, so if it's the transmission, I definitely want the dealer to repair it.

Not too much information, but it looks like the FT 86 isn't dead yet. Toyota had a prototype at a show in Tokyo. http://www.nextautos.com/tokyo-preview-toyota-ft-86-concept-is-what-weve-been-waiting-for?src=Nextscreen

Nathan, Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure about the hydraulics, all I can is bleed it and check again. I plan to pull the trailer a lot, I'm retired and my wife will retire in February, so I plan to be on the move alot. Thanks for your input Subaru 360. I'll take a look at Exedy. Everytime I replace something on this car I try to make an improvement. First time I replaced the air filter, it was with a K&N drop in. When I replaced the brakes I put on drilled and slotted rotors with Hawk pads, big improvement! I'm not trying to build a "boy racer", I just figure if the component failed, it should be upgraded when I replace it. When I replace the clutch it will be with an improved unit. Bob

I'm going to be towing a 2000# trailer behind my Legacy GT, at 70,000 miles the clutch is worn, (draging, hard to shift, engages just off the floor) and I plan to replace it before I pull the trailer any distance. Anyone have a suggestion for a clutch that will hold up better than the OEM one. I don't mind spending more for a better clutch, but when I look at aftermarket they are either stock or exotic. I'm not familiar with a kevlar or ceramic clutch, will they work well in day to day driving? Anyone have any better ideas?

I checked the fusible links and they were OK, so I started a "visual" inspection of the harness. I found several more instances of poor workmanship from the former owner. More striped wires just pushed into the back of a plug, and one broken wire. I repaired them as I found them and after 6 hours everything except the a/c and the cruise control works. I'll work on them later. No one needs a/c in September in Pennsylvania. The former owner claimed to be a Subaru tech, he could never work in any shop I owned. He had installed a/c, cruise, and power windows from a parts car, only the windows worked, and even they worked intermintently, because he never finished anything! I've spend lots of hours "finishing" the installations, he put in just enough screws or bolts to hold the components on, or never connected all the wires. I also upgraded the car to a 5 speed and added power steering. Next is the Weber that's on my bench and a 4" lift kit with 15" tires. Soon I won't be ashamed to park it next to my Legacy GT.

I own a '05 Legacy GT wagon with a manual transmission, it is rated to tow 2700# with brakes. I can find several class II and III hitches and brake controllers, but I am having trouble finding a wiring "kit." With most American designed cars & trucks I can purchase a "T" adapter that simply "plugs" into the wiring harness, allowing me to connect the trailer lights without cutting into it. Does anyone know if there is a similar product available for Subarus, or do I have to alter the wiring harness on my Legacy?

Both exellent suggestions, I have a good Fluke meter, so I'll look for the box. A fire extinguisher.......With my luck maybe a call to the station house!

I own an '84 Brat, the former owner pretty well hacked up the wiring when he converted it from an automatic to a manual. (I don't understand why he needed to hack it up either.) Lots of wires just pushed into the back of a plug beside the existing wires, wires twisted together and not taped or soldiered, and so on. I have repaired them as I found them, but I'm pretty sure there are some more I can't see. That said, I had to run a new wire fron the back up light switch to the plug beside the passsenger door. I found the right circuit, trimed the wire and connected the new one. Checked it with a fused hot wire from the battery before I connected it to the back up light switch and the backup lights worked. I turned on the headlights and they worked fine, but my tail lights didn't come on. Checked my connections (by the pass. door) , to make sure all the plugs were pushed tight, checked all the fuses and tried again, now no lights work, head, tail or backup, not even the idiot lights on the dash. (I feel kind of foolish. The car will run and the radio comes on, but no lights. ( I never have problems of this kind, I'm very painstaking with my electrical work. ) I see by the schematic in the "cheap" aftermarket manual I have that there is a fusable link for the headlights, but I have no idea where it is. Is there some sort of "master" fuse? Never heard of one, but I'm kind of new to Subies. I assumed I blew a fuse but when they checked good it leaves me stumped. I really need some help. Any ideas? :-\

I'm not sure this is something you would be interested in, but here is a unusual source for small one barrel carbs. Maybe mount them directly above the intake ports on a short custom manifold? http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi? function=goto&catalog=MAIN&section=MAIN&page=57 The old 140 horse Corsa used 4 Carter or Rochester one barrel carbs on a 164 cubic inch (2.6 liter) 6 cylinder.

I have an '05 Legacy GT, with 67,000 miles on it. In order to eliminate the "drag" on the shifter, I must push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor. It acts like a worn-out clutch, but there is no slippage or chatter from the clutch. Is there an adjustment on the slave cylinder? I can't see the slave cylinder because the intercooler is in the way.

I'm not sure about Subaru, the mice leave my Brat alone. (It's parked outside) But Chrysler Corp. and Polaris have been using "soy" based insulation on their wiring for several years, the mice love it. They almost ate the entire wiring harness on my old utility quad, they seem to like my old (1981) Triumph too. Both those toys were in my shop, now equiped with permanent mouse protection. (spelled C-A-T)

I asked this question before and I guess it wasn't clear. I'm sure someone has had transmission problems before. 1) Does anyone know if you can change the "rearmost" bearing, on the output shaft, in this transmission just by removing the tailshaft housing? 2) Where can I find an "exploded" view of the transmission? 3) Is there a online manual that will guide me through repairs to the transmission? Thanks for your help.

I have an '88 five speed D/R in my '84 Brat, along with it came a vibration from about 30 mph and just gets worse as speed increases. I didn't have the vibration with the four speed, and it's not there without the driveshaft, so that eliminates the rear axle as the source. The new one piece driveshaft was balanced when it was fabricated, and I had the balance rechecked on Wednesday, the driveshaft shop assures me that's not the problem. It's still there under power or coasting, with the clutch in or out. So I'm assuming the vibration is from the transmission, probably a bad "mainshaft" bearing. I lost one ("mainshaft bearing" the dealer called it) in my '05 Legacy (five speed) and they replaced it (under warranty) without removing the transaxle, can I do the same with this older transmission? Has anyone ever done it?

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm looking for some specific advice. Recently I disassembled the front suspension replaced the struts and strut mounts on my '84 Brat. The new struts are the FWD variety, without the height adjustment, and the new strut mounts are unlike the originals, they are asymmetrical. There were no instructions to turn them according to the vehicle, and it looked like the adjustment built in the mounts was for caster anyway. I found both these parts hard to find in the original configuration. Anyway I wanted to lift the front (front only) about 2", so I installed a 5/8" spacer above and below the stock springs. I got my 2" but after assembly, you guessed it, negative camber. (top of the wheel leaning out) I haven't measured it, but it is significant, and easily see standing in front of the Brat. I inspected the strut mount, and it can only be moved in about 1/4" by relocating the studs that hold it in place, I don't think that's enough. I like the lift the spacers provided, how can I keep it and get these wheels vertical again? I would rather not relocate the lower control arm mounting point from it's original location, or install a 2" lift kit in the front only. Is there a longer lower control arm I could install? The tires are cheap and 1/2 worn out, so I can live with it for a while, but I would like to have all the tread on the ground so stopping and starting don't produce so much wheel spin and lock up.

I finally got my Brat back on the road after the five speed conversion. I had asked about clutch cable routing causing clutch chatter, well I'm writing this post to say it certainly does. I have zero chatter in my Brat now that I rerouted the cable. Amazing how something so simple can cause such a big problem.

What kind of carburetor are you going to run, or is it going to be SPFI? Exhaust? Can't wait for a report on it's performance.

My Brat had a LOT of clutch chatter when I got it, unless I gave it lots of revs and sort of "dumped" the clutch. The former owner said he replaced the clutch but didn't reface the flywheel. I have just recently put in a five speed, and when I looked at the old clutch, flywheel and pressure plate, they all looked fine. I refaced the flywheel, replaced clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and pilot bearing. But, I found the clutch cable was routed OVER the steering column and heater hoses, could that be the chatter problem I experenced? (I did reroute it.) Cable always felt fine when I operated the pedal. I haven't finished the conversion yet so I don't know if the chatter is gone.

I have to replace my Rotors and pads on my '84 Brat anyway, so I want to take advantage of the situation and change to something with a little better braking performance than simple stock metallic pads. EBC and Hawk don't even list a pad for '84-'89, the only "performance" pad I can find is a "Disc Italia" made with titanium & kevlar. I'm going to upgrade to "performance" rotors, something with slots, holes, or both. I'm not looking to convert the Brat to five lugs, so a brake conversion is out. Never heard of "Disc Italia" and I'm not sure how titanium & kevlar will work in daily driving. I've used Hawk HPS pads with a "performance" rotor on my '05 Legacy, and found their performance a significant improvement even in daily driving. Rear discs from a GL10 or a turbo may be in the future, but I still have to change the front brakes now. Anyone have any suggestions?