Snowman

Rattling sound could be ball joint or strut top mounting. Jack it up, give it a yank, and see what gives.

Hmmm....mine is pretty worn down too. Never thought about taking a passenger seat cushion, but I've got one of those in the shed.

Good to hear you're allright!

What kind of sealant was included for the cam-carriers? If it's RTV, I would highly recommend not using it. Many do use that type of sealant there, but that's not what came from the factory. The original sealant is difficult to impossible to find, but suitable replacements are Permatex Ultra Gray and Permatex Anaerobic sealant. These do a better job sealing and don't gunk up the inside of the engine (i.e. oil passages and stuff) like RTV can. Ditto on the intake gaskets. I go with genuine subaru replacements, but generally as long as it's not the cheapest stuff, they'll work fine. Never had the pickup tube off myself. Haynes says it's a high failure item? Any other info on that?

You could have EA81 wheels on there, and maybe with the pads worn and the caliper farther in they didn't rub.

I like where oddcomp is going with this. What's the psi for the fuel pump that you are running? I don't know what pressure the Carter-Weber carb requires, but the Hitachi that the subarus run needs relatively low pressure around 3. If the pressure is too high, it's quite possible that too much fuel is being dumped in.

Geeze that's a bit of a setback. Do you know what happened? Yeah, it's frustrating (I had my rebuild blow up after 5k the first time), but you can't give up, man! Find out what went wrong, fix it, and make it faster. If anybody can do that, it's you. Don't give up!

Yeah, I second the oil pump replacement. It really is worth your money, and they can be had from 1stsubaruparts.com for around $130 if I remember correctly. Even if you get an oil pump shaft seal, the shaft is likely worn and will never seal properly. I even used the shallower seal that relocates the sealing surface and it still leaked. Cam towers have no gasket. Use Permatex Ultra Gray or Permatex Anaerobic Sealant there. DO NOT use RTV on that joint. The oil passage in each one seals with an O-ring. I think you've got everything covered there. I wouldn't worry too much about the timing belt cover sealing, as all that does is keep dust and stuff off the belts. Is your rear main seal leaking? It may be time for that by now too if you're doing the other stuff. One final thought: I would recommend aviation gasket maker to coat that oil pan gasket with. This is mostly a personal preference, as RTV works fine too, I just find that the aviation stuff if easier to clean off and less prone to leakage in my limited experience.

Does the joint between the heads and the cam carriers leak? I would recommend pulling the cam carriers off and resealing that with Anaerbic sealer as well as inspecting the HVLA's themselves to make sure that's not your problem. The O-ring that seals the oil passage going into the cam towers also tends to leak either internally or externally, which can contribute to the ticking. I haven't looked into replacing that little spring, but if you can get a replacement cheap (just go find a spring that's the same size and similar "springiness") it wouldn't hurt anything. As far as synthetic oil, there are mixed feelings. This is probably one of the most highly debated topics on the board. My personal feeling is that synthetic ROCKS, but I wouldn't switch on an engine with those kind of miles on it without doing a complete reseal first, as any minute oil leaks will become aggravated. Dunno about the weird idle problem. I don't know much about FI yet. The ticking often comes and goes though. Oh yeah, one final thing. Lots of people recommend Marvel Mystery Oil. Some use a quart at every oil change while others do it periodically. That's personal preference, but the fact is that this stuff is a good lifter detergent and can help reduce ticking and keep it from coming back. I would recommend using the stuff even after performing the fixes, as it will ward off future problems and other bad spirits.

I've reused them several times with no ill effects as long as they're not damaged in any way.

I'm pretty happy with the Quaker state synthetic that I'm running right now.

I'll get the ball rolling: If you're interested in being a part of this organization, please send your contact information to the "official" email address: subaruklubofalaska@hotmail.com Please include the following (if you want to keep information private, that's okay too): Name Board name (if applicable) Phone number Address Location in state/Canada Vehicle(s)

That would be GREAT if we could get some Canadian guys involved! Basically anybody farther north than the continental US is more than welcome to join. I dunno about the whole "...of Alaska" thing then, but maybe we could form an alliance of two clubs or something.

1. Connect lines and tighten down fittings. 2. Crack one fitting at a time open. 3. Push down pedal. 4. Close fitting. 5. Release pedal. 6. Open fitting..... Edit: Make sure that all the bleeder screws in the entire system are tight prior to this, then bleed the whole system afterward.

There are a wide variety of things that can cause lifter tick. Since it's only one side, it's not likely anything relating to the oil pump seals, which is good. I would try running a can of Marvel Mystery Oil at the next oil change, as it seems to be the lifter detergent of choice. If that doesn't fix it, I would take the cam tower off on that side to inspect the O-ring as you mentioned and take a look at the lifters themselves. Also look at the oil relief valve that somewhat governs pressure to the lifters, as this can be problematic as well and may simply be clogged and bypassing. Yes, you do have to remove the T-belt to do this. Yeah, it's a bit of work, but hey, you can fix anything else that's wrong at the same time. If the lifters themselves are bad, a few people on the board know about a place that sells rebuilt lifters for a few bucks apiece. You can probably find that with a search. Good luck!

Yes. Use the brake line fittings just like bleeder fittings on the calipers/wheel cylinders.

Haven't done the swap myself, others should chime in there any time. I would recommend just getting a junkyard tranny for the car, the most desirable (depending on your tastes) being the dual-range 5 speed, which was available through 1989 and will bolt up no problem. The subaru manual transmissions generally go for a long time just like the engines. Find one that shifts well without much slop, and make sure that the gear oil if not relatively new at least is not disgusting. As to the 3 and 4 speeds being listed, I would venture a guess that the 4 speed comes with turbo models and the 3 speed comes with the naturally aspirated models. I'm not positive, but that's what I've seen on the older cars.

I would highly recommend doing the rear diff while you're at it, not only for the sake of having synthetic in there, but mainly to get all the crap out that's likely in the oil by now.

Wow! I always thought that getting a bigger alternator would be either a high-dollar or major fabrication affair, but this looks like a cakewalk! Definitely on my list of mods, probably not until next summer though. Thanks for all the great info.

They come off of the FRONT struts on 86-89 Honda Accords. Apparently they are a direct bolt-in but are stiffer and a couple inches taller. Hee hee, more ground clearance!!!

Freshwater cooling would be the best alternative. Probably on a jetboat you could just run water to a water-to-water heat exchanger from the jet drive itself, rather than having cooling coils on the bottom of the hull that could get damaged in shallow water. I saw pics of an n/a EJ20 in a jetboat once, but I think this sounds cooler!

Many people here have converted to a Weber 32/36 DGEV carb. It's a bit bigger and has a mechanical secondary. Most have had pretty good luck with that carb, but I would warn you that they suck in cold climates. That's probably the most common and inexpensive mod that can be done. Other than that, open up the exhaust a little and put on a hotter coil. If you really feel like doing some work and spending some $$$, you could get your cams reground by Delta for a couple hundred bucks.

Mine is like that too. It actually does so more on the drivers side (car doesn't sit quite level any more). I would attribute it to spring sag, as the rear of the car is lower than it used to be from carrying too much stuff, towing boats, etc. I'm going to get a set of Honda Accord springs to put on there, as that will actually raise it a couple inches over factory height. This is desirable on an offroad wagon, but I dunno about doing it on an XT like yours. Might look kinda funny.

I'm leaving for Alberta on friday morning.

Yes, the engine drops 3" with the suspension, and the transmission drops 2".