Snowman

Have you replaced the PCV valve with a genuine Subaru one? This is a common problem, even on the newer engines.

Sounds like a cool project. The wiring for this fuel system is not particularly difficult. Do a search on the board for "SPFI conversion manual". That will yield the link to the manual I wrote last year, which explains how to put the SPFI fuel system into a carbed Subaru of that vintage. In short, what you'll be doing is taking the entire wiring harness from the dash forward, hooking up all the stuff the engine needs to run, then hacking everything else away. As far as the oxygen sensor is concerned, I can't see any reason why just putting it in one of the pipes wouldn't work. It might not be quite as accurate, but it should still be darn close, and definitely good enough to make it run well.

Wow, that's a LOT of people. Having been to two WCSS's, I can say that I've met quite a few people off the USMB. It would take a long time to come up with a list, so I'll just say that it was a pleasure to meat you all, and from my experience, Subaru people are some of the nicest and most helpful people on the planet.

Subarian is correct about them being on A/C equipped cars. You may also have have some trouble with your thermostat or heater core, but try removing the fan first and see if that helps.

It should be an easy swap. I put seats from an early-model impreza in my EA82 wagon last summer, and it was a cakewalk. The spacing of the seat rails is identical. You have to drill two new holes for each seat, but that's easy. I don't know if this changed when they updated the Impreza in 2002. If the rail spacing is different, it wouldn't be hard to fabricate some adapters out of some flat stock.

The more I learn about Subarus, the more I find out they're built more like miniature heavy duty trucks than regular automobiles. That's why they last forever, take a beating, and are easy to maintain.

Permatex Anaerobic Gasket Maker is the same stuff. It works great for flanges like the cam towers and block halves. It also works very well on the oil pan gasket. Do not put any sealant on the oil pump or valve covers. Rubber gaskets and o-rings are NOT designed to be used with sealant. Especially on the oil pump, using a sealant like RTV would cause little chunks of it to break off and get into the oil passages...which is not good, to say the least. For intake manifold gaskets, water pump gasket, etc, use the copper spay-on stuff. It just barely coats the gaskets, providing a good seal without any excess sealant.

I've bought my engine parts from 1stsubaruparts.com. Oh, and definitely replace the rings. Even if they were almost new, if I had an engine that far apart, I would definitely do it.

Have you checked the fuel pressure? How about under load? How about changing the spark plug wires? (Although if it was missing, the check engine light should come on).

I would go with studs, but that's personal preference. You'll have a lot more control if you get into a slide if you've got studs. The most important thing to consider when buying snow tires is to get the narrowest ones you can buy that will fit your rims and your car. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but the increased ground pressure will give you much better traction, and a skinny tire goes through snow way easier than a wide tire.

It appears to be a matter of personal preference. So, personally, I've had good luck using the Spray-on copper stuff on both the manifold gaskets and the carb gaskets. Leave the EGR gasket dry though. Anything you put on there will just burn off from the heat.

Just curious, how did all the bearings look? (Aside from the ones on the rod that flew apart).

Both of those prices are pretty low for a "good" brake job. I don't know about Les Schwab, but Midas, etc are not to be trusted in my book. From what I hear, Smart Service really knows Subarus and is a good place to go.

That's because that car has a 3" body lift, just like mine. My EJ tranny doesn't stick down any farther than my old EA tranny did. For comparison, here's my current setup. The Australians built a whole new crossmember on their car, but I just welded the EJ mounts to my EA crossmembers.

I would go with a 90-96 Legacy, hands down. Non-interference engine, so no worries there. The EJ-series timing belts break a LOT less than the EA82 timing belts do, so as long as you change it every 60k, you don't need to worry about it. The Legacy is also way more comfortable and refined than the EA-series soobs, and the AWD is awesome for highway driving in slippery conditions. In addition, the EJ engines are less prone to overheating, blowing headgaskets, and lifter clack than the EA engines.

Awwww, come on..... Looks like I'm taking my 86 wagon on that trip. It's almost as old as Matt's brat, and obviously I place the utmost faith in its reliability. This is the same car that I use to drive between college and home, which takes me through interior Alaska, where, due to the abundance of cold and scarcity of traffic, if your car dies, you may very well follow in its footsteps.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46624 I would peruse this thread, especially when it gets into electrical testing procedures a little later on. Good luck!

Ended up ordering one from NAPA (finally the correct one). They didn't even have a listing for the 90-94 loyale:drunk: . Looked everywhere else in town, and had no better luck. What really yanks my chain is that you can't easily get parts like this for an EA82 subaru up here, while they are so bloody common that you can't stop at a light in Anchorage and NOT see one.

Having run a stock carb, a weber carb, SPFI, and finally an EJ22 in my EA82 wagon, I would advise against "de-evolving". It might just have been that I'm not that good with carbs, but I had bad luck with mine, especially in cold weather. The SPFI system gives you about the same power as a weber, with better drivability and fuel economy. I know of more people that have converted their cars from carb to SPFI than the other way around, even though it's a lot more work to go from carb to SPFI, and I think there's a reason.

It's my understanding that the reason you have to turn the caliper pistons back in on these cars is that you are backing off the parking brake self-adjustment mechanism. Perhaps if you turned the caliper piston back out a ways on that side, the problem would at least be fixed temporarily. I'm guessing that the adjustment mechanism is binding up or otherwise stuck, and not adjusting properly.

The rear springs will be slightly heavier on the wagon.

I have done it without opening the valve, but ONLY on systems where the fluid appears to be in very good condition and is not likely to have contaminants that can be pushed back into the system. If your fluid is more than a few years old, you really should flush it anyway.

You only need an isolator if you plan to run one battery way down while powering your stereo or whatever while saving the other battery for startup. If you just want more cranking capacity (which is why I just bought two 750 CCA orbital batteries), an isolotor is not necessary.

Ditto on the Mobil1 Suggestion. I'd go with either 10w30 or 5w30. I stick with the 10w30 year round because its flash point is higher, resulting in less oil consumption when driving at high speeds for long periods of time. I haven't had any trouble with it being too thick at cold temps either, and it can get to -20 or -30 here pretty easily in January. If you feel that a lighter oil is necessary, try the 5w30, and if it doesn't start burning more oil, stick with it. If you start going through oil, try switching to the 10w30. I would also strongly suggest getting both a block heater and an oil pan heater. Having the oil warmed as well as the engine itself gets things lubed up much faster in the morning.

That's some good info, especially since the sensor itself is usually fine, and they're quite expensive.