TROGDOR!

Hey Jules, I could use a couple spare 25 spline EA82 axles. Also need a 3-door master power window switch, got one?

So I've seen this done before. I know it's an easy swap. I want to put a nonturbo XT MPFI engine into one of my RX's, since they are easily available, cheap, and very hard to kill (unlike every EA82T I had). So what's required? From what I can guess, I need the following from the donor car: -Engine, of course -All intake plumbing -Y-pipe And I'll need to swap all the belt-driven accessories, since the XT uses a serpentine system. I've heard the electronics are identical- is that correct? Are the exhaust systems the same behind the Y-pipe? Or Will I need to get the center exhaust pipe as well? My time is limited and I'll be needing to drive the car 2 hours back home after doing the swap, and will be needing it to get to school the next week. I need to have all my ducks in a row before I do this. Basically I need to spend ONE day on this and have the car 100% drivable at the end. Also, which model engine would be easier to get working? The early style MPFI, or the Spider Intake style?

Very hot day. Remove seats, take to do-it-yourself car wash, spray with the high pressure sprayer. Use soap, but be sure to spray it all out. Set seats in bright sunlight for 4 or 5 hours. Never had a stain I couldn't get out with that method. That's how we used to clean them when I worked at a junkyard. The fabric will feel a little coarse afterward, but once it's been sat on a bit it'll return to normal.

Sounds like the transmission cooler lines for an automatic. If the car it's going into is a manual, no worries. Just leave them alone. A/C and non A/C radiators are the same- the different equipment was in the fans.

I forget where, but there's an excellent article somewhere on the net about headlights and why the gimmicky ones are no good. In a nutshell, the article says this- don't use ANY bulb with a blue tint on the glass. The blue tint will make the beam LOOK white, but it's actually full of scattered blue light, which is the absolute WORST light to have. Blue light scatters very easily, which means in any condition where there's something in front of the light or something to reflect off of, your vision will be severely limited. This means in rain, snow, fog, on a wet road, etc- when you need your lighting the most- you're drastically limiting the performance of your lights. Silverstars are not worth the high price IMO. If you want something cheap, long lasting, and bright- the best one to go with is a Halogen Xtravision. DOT law requires that headlight bulbs shine at x lumens plus or minus y lumens- most of the gimmicky "superwhite" bulbs naturally shine at the high end of the limit, and the blue coating brings them down to the low limit. Or they aren't legal at all! The Xtravision bulbs are a pure, clear bulb, which burns at the upper end of the limit. Best bulb you can get, IMO. FYI- don't buy ANYTHING with greater wattage than stock. Your car is not designed to handle this wattage and will most likely melt the headlight wiring harnesses.

Yeah, both of these are a classic case of a PCV failure. FYI, go for a genuine Subaru PCV. The aftermarket ones, in general, are junk. Use a 19mm wrench, screw it into the back of the intake manifold, and that's all there is to it.

PCV valve. I'd put money on it. I've bought several Roos that had this exact same problem. Welcome to the world of old Subarus. I see you've got over 100 posts, so you're not totally new... but... I'll tell you one more thing to get used to about these cars: make sure you get used to the function of the switch on top of the steering column as well.

Look at his modifications. I smell BS.

Never had any boiling. The pressurization of the cooling system raises the boiling point of the water. If your coolant is boiling and the temp gauge isn't in the red, it means you've got a pressure loss somewhere.

Radiator looks great. It's not new, but is one of the best looking ones I've seen.

Yes, both fans, and they both work. Electric fan cycles just like it should- which means it clicks on shortly after leaving the house and stays on until I shut the car off, in this kind of heat.

This disgusting heat is pretty bad for my car. It keeps heating up when driving in town. We've been holding steady in the mid 90's, bright sunlight, and high humidity. The fact that the car is black doesn't help. When driving in town the temp gauge just keeps creeping upward, even if I don't have the A/C on. I've never let it hit the red zone, but it gets well into the top 1/4 of the gauge almost every time I take the car through town. Thanks to the people in this town driving like a flock of sheep, I rarely break 25-30mph anywhere in town (even though we have 35 and 45 zones all over the place). The temp gauge does NOT come down either- matter of fact, if I sit and idle anywhere on pavement, it gets even hotter. While driving it just won't drop unless I coast down hills in neutral. But, I know there's nothing seriously wrong with the engine or cooling system- when doing over 35 or so it stays around the middle of the gauge, and on the interstate, I can do 70 with the A/C cranked and the temp needle stays at about 1/3 of the way up the gauge! The car has a brand new CCR engine with a brand new water pump and brand new thermostat. The radiator is in great shape and full of a 50/50 coolant/water mix. What the heck else can I do? This high temp has me really concerned.

There is no kit specifically for the XT that I know of. However, the factory stereo brackets will fit an aftermarket one just fine, and there is plenty of room for it in the dash. You'll just have a little tiny gap on the bottom right, hardly noticeable. The main reason us GL owners need the kit is for depth- the Leone series dash is too shallow to accept a standard stereo, and the kit adds an extra inch of clearance.

I remember reading something about someone installing a front main seal backwards once, causing all kinds of oil leaks. But, it's been so long that I don't remember what message board it was on or even what brand of car it was. May be worth checking into, to make sure the mechanic did everything right. Many mechanics are clueless as to what to do with "one of dem thar Japanese cars" and end up screwing things up, and bad.

Pay attention to what the car was sitting on. If it was sitting on anything besides concrete or gravel, a tarp, or a bed of pine needles, take a GOOD look at the undercarriage. Odds are it's rusted bad underneath. As for the gas tank- unless he did it right, it's a lose/lose situation. No gas equals rust in the tank, full tank if the guy didn't put fuel stabilizer in equals bad gas. More than likely you're going to need to remove and drain the tank, possibly replace it. One of my RX's sat on a bed of pine needles for two years and underneath it's the cleanest Soob I ever had. The needles make for a very dry area.

Subaru PCV valves tend to dump all kinds of oil into the intake when they clog up, causing a huge cloud of blue smoke. This oil collects in the intake manifold and vacuum lines until you make a long, hard turn... most of the time a hard right. Your typical interstate on-ramp will do this. I'm referring to the usual cloverleaf type interchange- make a right to exit the road you're on, make a long, round turn, almost a complete circle, and merge onto the right lane of the interstate. If your PCV is gummed up, that'll have you burning oil almost every time.

Did this by chance happen after merging onto the highway after going around a long, sweeping, right hand turn ramp? If so, I guarantee it's your PCV valve.

Dan - Something is binding up in your 4WD system. Either you have a tire at a different diameter than the others or your differentials or mismatched. Note- this could be ANY of the tires, by no means the same wheel or even the same side of the car where you removed the axle shaft. Say for example your left front tire is worn more than the others, causing a discrepancy. You remove, say, the left rear axle shaft. Surprise, the problem goes away! Why does this happen? Assuming your car doesn't have a rear LSD- when in 4WD, both differentials ALWAYS turn at the same speed- this means ONE wheel in the front must be turning at the same speed as ONE wheel in the rear. This means that if you're in 4WD, with all wheels on the ground, and you have a mismatch- you'll either get binding (resistance in the differential is less than the resistance of the tires against the ground) or wheel hop (resistance in the diff is greater than the resistance of the tires, forcing them to hop to keep up with the change in ratio). Removing ANY of the axle shafts will allow you to have an axle stub spinning freely. This free-spinning axle stub will spin at the same speed as whatever tire is currently mismatched, making the car run smoothly again- no matter which tire is off and which axle you remove! Does that make any sense? In a nutshell- check your tires, and precisely.

Yes, the system does indeed need to be pressurized to work. Make sure the system is 100% empty beacause mixing R12 and R134 will rot your seals! Once you've verified everything, start the car, turn the AC on max, and start adding refrigerant through the low side service port (the one by the battery). It'll suck it in and eventually the compressor will kick back on. 2 cans of pre-mixed refrigerant and oil charge do pretty well for a Subaru.

Because if you did, and if you ordered it from Advance Auto Parts, I may have gotten your core. I'm NEVER shopping there again unless I have no choice. First of all, I went in there looking for this axle, and I checked everything they had in stock that is SUPPOSED to fit a turbo EA82 5 speed. Each and every one had 23 splines in the DOJ. We finally found one that was supposed to have a 25 spline DOJ. Took two days to get the thing in. Today I go to install it... and open the box... and I find a filthy old axle caked with mud, with the boot ripped wide open and grease oozing everywhere. I'm FURIOUS. They ordered me a new axle, and following the completion of this repair, I'm never going back there. $#^#$%@#ers. However, this one did have a 25 spline DOJ.

Getting out and locking the hubs is a pain. Subaru wanted a system that could be engaged on the fly from inside the car. But why didn't they just use automatic locking hubs? The world may never know.

Recommended every 60,000 miles. Though if you do let one break, Subarus have non-interference engines and won't suffer any damage. Just an inconvenience.

Should be, I had an 88 XT with spider intake and no A/C. May be tough to track down though.

I had one that was busted open but not clicking, and I didn't know about it. Took it offroading in the sand in Jersey all day and got it packed totally full of sand and grit. It made all kinds of horrible noise and actually smelled when it got hot. But, it still made the 350 mile drive home, plus 100 mile round trip to the junkyard for a new axle and probably another 100 miles around town. Another quick fix is to wrap a heavy duty garbage bag around the boot, and duct tape around the ends- at the axle cup and a bit on the axle shaft.

They're free. You have the means to haul them. You have a place to put them. Need I say more?