phantomD

Very interested to see photos of another immaculate 89 Brumby, thank you. By the way that mechanical fan has no clutch, I should have taken a photo of mine tonight (removed from the engine).

I'm not technical when it comes to carbs but I had this EXACT same issue and the pin the butterfly sits on needed new bushings on each side (worn out completely). Or that's what I think I remember from the mechanic.

BRATs (Brumbys) were standard in Australia with a crank driven mechanical fan. Also, he is not talking about the thermostat but rather the thermoswitch on the radiator. They also had a different console and selecting defrost will NOT engage the a/c. For Australia-specific information I would recommend posting on http://www.ausubaru.com. Answering the question, I agree that hot temperature running for a short period should not cause concern. If anything leaving that fan hard wired is OK but getting a colder thermoswitch on the radiator will help stabilise temperatures. The best setup is the twin electric fan with a colder thermoswitch as otherwise your engine temperature will fluctuate quite a bit. This setup does however put a large strain on your electrical system and you may run into trouble if you also have spotties, a/c, a decent sound system, headlights on, etc. I use a 90A alternator which eliminates these issues. Yours is overheating up hills, mine would always overheat when doing stop-start driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but this has disappeared with the electric fans. The mechanical fan doesn't quite cut it by itself, and the electric fan was always an emergency thing when the engine would REALLY heat up (hence the need for a colder thermoswitch with the twin electric fan setup).

Where is the rest of this list?

Are you sure? I thought that all EA71 manifolds were an inch short to fit to an EA81.

I'm the opposite, I'm putting plenty of K's on my car and wondering when I'll be able to fit the treasure trove of items sitting in my spare room!

Anybody know what would be involved to do this to a BRAT? Where would you have to run the wiring to?

Photo above this post: that is one helluva good looking Brat. I'd be happy if mine looked half as good as that at the end of this year when I do it up.

Has the same battery suffered all of your bad alternators?

If EA82 alternators are swappable with EA81 alternators then they are definitely internally regulated because I know for a fact that EA81 alternators are internally regulated. From the original post it looks like classic failure of the excitor diode in the alternator which is easily replaceable and causes the alternator to fail to kick start, e.g. +12V and -12V which is 0V and a non-charging alternator until you rev the engine. If it is overcharging then yes you also need a new regulator.

Something might be badly shorted or miswired in your wiring loom. Not going to be an easy fix I don't think unless you know what you're doing or have changed something recently. When the headlights are on the second slimline radiator fan should cut out if it is on, no matter whether it was tripped from the thermoswitch or whether the a/c is on. With park lights the fan is on, full headlights the fan cuts out. Start there and check your circuits for visible problems.

'89 Brumby (Brat) - where would you like me to start? Air conditioning failed Auto choke issues Exhaust problems (multiple) Grabby brakes (particularly RHR drum) Shaky steering (wheel balance) Huge flat spots when cold Electrical issues

Thanks very much for the replies. All taken into consideration.

Hi from Australia to everybody, I have just begun searching for a dual carb Hitachi setup with manifold to fit to an EA81 that has not yet done 30 000km. This setup is virtually impossible to find in Australia, and the dual-port head engines even harder to locate. I'm hoping that some of you can suggest places where I can try enquiring, in the hope that such a setup can be found and sent to Australia. Certainly if somebody would be willing to sell this setup to me then I would be very grateful indeed. Thanks VERY much in advance for any assistance provided.

With the lack of a reply from anybody else, my understanding is that the secondary slimline fan runs off the a/c wiring, there is a special plug for it on that side of the a/c harness. It runs whenever the other fan is on, but via a relay...so I'm not sure whether you can simply run the two fans together off the same source. I'm certainly not an authority on the matter.

I'm not sure where my Brumby idles but it's definitely not a low RPM, about 800 I think. The electrical guys swear that the Maxima alternator is OK but I swear equally black and blue that even the stock 50A alternator seems to be working better!!

Sorry for the thread revival guys, I'm new to this forum. I have done the Maxima alt conversion on a 1989 Brat (Brumby over here in Australia) and can confirm that because (and I verified this) the alternator is exactly the same size specs as the stock EA81 alternator, it fits fine and no trouble with the stock Hitachi carb/air cleaner/air conditioning compressor either. I simply made an adapter cable for the Maxima alt, nice and easy to swap the two over again. Now for a little help please. I seem to have landed myself a dud alternator. Can somebody confirm that the 90A Maxima alternator should be able to handle a/c, stereo, headlights, blower fan, the works without breaking a sweat at idle? Thanks in advance.