newgen85brat

Got a low mile Justy, original owner but setting for 5 years. It was at a mechanics shop and the lady that owned it did not want to put the price of a new tank and fuel pump in it. The tank was really bad and had to be replaced, so was the pump. They tried to start it with dirty rusty fuel. The injectors were plugged. Now, I have a new tank, pump, filter and injectors. New plugs and will replace the distr. cap and rotor plus wires. The car will start only with fluid. I am getting good gas to the rail but still think the injectors are not getting the signal to pulse. All the fuses are good. It is starving. This is my first fuel injected project except my Outback but it needed no injector parts. I am stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Sorry, it is the one with two set screws. It appears to be newer as the clutch was just replaced 12K ago. It was just really sloppy and there appeared to be no grease on the pivot or the sleeve. I just want to know what TOB they usually use for that style. I will order it from the parts house and make sure. There is no name stamped on the sleeve.

Great, thank you for the help. The teeth look good. Someone was just in there 12k ago, they just did not replace the main bearing or else it would not have occurred. Do you know what TOB they use for the sleeve repair kit? No one has replied about that and I will order a new one from the parts house and just check it out to make sure it is right. The one on the sleeve was pretty sloppy towards the outside of the bearing and was really moving around. Nobody put grease in there when they worked on it nor did they grease the pivot for the clutch fork. Thanks again.

I got it out and found the problem. The large bearing on the input shaft was toast. The cage was broken and the balls chewed up. Other than that, it seems pretty good. Someone had been in there before but just did not replace it. I think I will try to fix it. At worst case a pull it place only gets 65.00 for trannys. The only thing I question is the sleeve kit someone had already put in it. The TOB is pretty sloppy on it. The sleeve looks like new but the TOB is rather worn. I just need to see what TOB to get for it. Thanks for the help.

I recently pulled my tranny and found what was making noise. Before I split the case I realized I already had a sleeve kit to repair the snout from the previous owner. There are no markings on the TOB so I was wondering if all repair kits for a 96 Outback would use the same oversize TOB. Thanks

Okay, finally got the tranny split front to back but not in half yet. On the rear section I found a little bit of metal in the bottom of the case. When you turn the output shaft, it is pretty loud but not really a bearing noise. It is one of the two bearings there. How noisy are these normally? How hard are they to replace? I will split the tranny the rest of the way tomorrow but still wonder if I should give up with 227K as suggested by 1 Lucky Texan. Maybe just go to U-Pull it? What do you think?

Sorry guys, i have been sick and just got around to getting back to responding. Yes there was a little bit of shiny bits in the oil. Nothing big though. I will break the case apart when I get feeling better. Thanks for finding the great write up, I am not so worried now. I am worried about the suggestion for a new tranny. Is 227k a bad amount to have? Is there a measurement or something that you determine you should put the shaft sleeve kit on? My shaft does not look bad, just the center of the TOB was pretty worn. Thanks again. Influenza A sucks by the way,

I just bought a 1996 Outback. It is in great shape. 227k. Burns no oil, pretty clean motor. The guy had listed and shown receipts of all work in the last 3 years. He just replaced the clutch last year (10k ago). He had done so much work to it in the last 3 years and when the clutch started making noise again, he decided to give up. I have searched a lot of threads and I am pretty sure that the TOB is worn and will require the sleeve and larger throw out bearing. I pulled the tranny today and found the throw out bearing is very sloppy where it rides on the shaft. Also the clutch fork was really sloppy. The front main shaft from the tranny is what I suspect (the bearing). You can pull the shaft about 1/8" forward and also wiggle it about 1/16". The sound it was making prior to this was that of a worn TOB. It would quit when clutched about 1/4 of the way. But it also would make a dragging sound like a bearing when the car was moving. This sound would quit when the clutch was depressed. I read GD said you can put the bearings in a day. Is there any good pictorials or videos (I have searched) that anyone can point me to? I am worried about tearing into the tranny. Any suggestions or hints? Do you just split it? Do all the guts fall out if you do it wrong? I have a Chilton, but lots of times the generic one application covers all approach makes me nervous. Please help, thanks.

Bumping this old post I started. With 15 inch 10 ply BFG tires, I know that my wheels alone sap precious power but even before I lifted it, 6 bolted it and 10 plied it, this thing still would not hold 50 mph on straight runs of highway. Compression is okay but one cylinder is 95lbs, one 105lbs and two others 115lbs. It uses no oil and does not smell but I still have problems with it inconsistently idling. It is too nice to not use with very little rust and 109,000 original miles. I have two options I want to pursue: One, either rebuild the original 85 engine with the crank that is at an odd angle and the disty getting pushed out or 2; drop in a 2.2. I have never had an actual 1.8 that did not have some problems so I do not know what to expect for power if you would rebuild one. They have always been weak or just did not run well. How would a 1.8 freshened up run compared to the used 2.2 with fuel injection? I just want to be able to run it on the highway as a daily driver. I just got an outback with the 2.2 and a 5 speed. The power seems awesome and it runs so nice. (625 bucks with clutch problems). It is too nice to cut up so I am thinking about a salvage engine, y pipe etc. As always, thanks for the help.

Thank you so much, it makes sense the way you state it. I do think that I may be pushing some oil out of the passenger side valve cover. It is pretty messy and there really should be no reason for that. I will adjust my hoses accordingly. I will work on that today. As far as fuel pump goes, I have a NOS one ready to go back in as soon as I get a bay ready in the shop. I don't want to mess with freezing in my non heated shop area. The fuel pump I put in was a low flow Mr. Gasket from O'reilly's Auto parts it was rated to 3gpm. My original stock unit would not put much more than .75 PSI out so I went to the Mr. Gasket one. I always thought my plumbing was a mess from the fuel tank. So should the small 3rd line out of the filter (currently c clamped) should go to the plugged black hose (Not the blue cap, but the one with a bolt in it at the top of the c clamp area) which would be a return line? What is the line that goes into the firewall?

Any pictures of it?

Thanks guys. I will get back to it soon. Probably in a week or so. So on the return line, if I hook back into the main line of the "Y" fitting, where does that go when the ling goes into the firewall? Should I leave the other line to the tank plugged like it is in the picture? As far as the valve covers hooked to the filter base. Right now it comes from the passenger side into the "T" with one small side into the breather, the other side splits off and into another "T" one side going to the PCV and the other to the other valve cover. Basically it is all connected together but in a convoluted kind of way. What do you suggest? A "T" connecting both valve covers, then the third side to another "T" that one side goes to the PCV and the other to the breather? It is hard to explain in writing but thank you for your help and patience.

Just went out to look at the Brat. The disty is hooked correctly to the carb. The oil cap will not blow off but just floats on the tube. I am still wondering about the distributor. The shaft was wobbly but not terrible. It is not eating caps. I do remember once that one cylinder dropped out of firing and when I pulled the plug wire, it really showed no difference in the idle. I think it was the bad compression cylinder. I put it back together, wiggled wires and the next time I started it, the miss was gone. I still hear a slight spitting in the exhaust. Here are some pics from my PCV routing, EGR block and fuel return lines. Brat Engine 1 shows how I hooked both valve covers, air box and PCV. Brat Engine 2 shows it again from a little farther back. Brat Engine 3 shows my current fuel set up (temporary) Do I need to hook the return line from the filter to the return line from the tank? Brat Engine 4 shows the plumbing again from the other side.

I will search for routing of PCV and Weber. I do say though that even with all the hoses unplugged from the valve covers, the cap still blows off. Not way off, just enough to make it high enough that it will fall off the filler tube. Also, when I had the 205-70-13's on it, it still was a dog. I have tried to "plumb" it correctly but many different opinions exist on canisters, EGR removal etc. Maybe I can take a picture of it. I am not too computer savy. I wish there was a step by step video for dummies! I will do some searching. Thanks again.

I shift up anywhere from 2500 to 3000. I did check the vac advance when I first put it in. It was good but I will check it again. It has new plugs, dist cap, rotor etc. There is a slight sound coming from one cylinder which I was always worried about but the previous motor sounded about the same. It is not a knock but more of a tick (closer to a slap that sounds like a diesel). I just thought that was normal from the EA81 since I have heard no others. The previous motor had a blown head gasket or something that leaked AF from the bottom of the engine on number 2 and 4 side. I cannot say without looking but I do think I plugged the vac advance to the manifold. I will have to check. I did eliminate all the extra hoses from the hitachi and think it is plumbed okay. There is a fair amount of blow out the oil filler when you pull it while running. Enough to blow the cap off seat and up to the point it would fall off. I timed it at 10 degrees the last time I set it but will check it again. The distributor was kind of sloppy but similar to the other donor engine but I did switch it out at one point. I was flirting with a new disty when I first swapped the motor. The motor in it now was somewhat not too well set up as I said before. The engine oil was black as diesel oil when I got it. I will run some seafoam in her as well. I did at first but that was a while back. I still need to switch back to the original fuel pump. I switched out the one before because it was surging and bucking. It was putting out about 1gpm at best. The one in it does fine but makes so much noise from the ticking that it is kind of loud in the cab. I still want to freshen up the original 85 engine. I took it out because the crankshaft was setting at an odd angle and the guy I bought it from said he forgot to put AF in it and broke the crank. I have to get around to it later this summer. I may bore it slightly and have looked at Clegg engine kits. Thanks for the great advice guys. Keep it coming....

It revs out pretty good in low gears. Today I got a new compression tester. It is a good quality one. My compression was #1, 145lbs; #2, 125lbs; #3, 150lbs and #4, 150lbs. What should the compression be? I put new exhaust on it but I wonder if I should check the cat. We do not have inspections in Iowa, so I may "rod" the cat out. The brakes are not dragging, I have new wheel bearings, cv shafts and brakes on the front. Rear brakes are good with no drag. Timing is okay, no pinging. I am not sure about the advance stuck. It was working fine when I timed it. For right now, I am just wondering about the compression. Mainly I am wondering on the 125lb cylinder. Thanks for the help.

I don't usually floor it, in fact I only recently tried it to just see if it would pick up speed. I can hear the carb open up when floored and know to stay out of it. I realize the speedo is off, but base the fact on how many people are pissed off behind me as I limp to the passing lane if there is one. I got a new compression tester today to see what the left bank is like on compression. I know when I bought the motor, whoever owned it before me had modded it somewhat stupidly like using panty hose for a breather etc. The thing has good power up to about 40mph around home on gravel. It is just the highway. I don't really mind too much as the attention I get is usually one of awe that a brat still exists and is pretty good looking. Then I get a lot of offers to sell her. Most people back off when I say 3500.00. I think my carb is adjusted pretty well. I used the instructions with my redline kit. I do have an aftermarket fuel pump although am switching back to an OEM. I am suspicious of my fuel breather lines and some of the lines removed and plugged when I went to the weber so I may try that again. I have no regulator on at this time. I just figured that flooring it on a down hill run should result in a little better than 65 with a 15% variance. It just topped out and will not climb above 3200rpm. Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming.

I have a EA81 4spd in my 85 Brat. It is really an older engine with the non hydro lifters. I have all new everything on it, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, weber, clutch, fuel pump, you name it, I have gone through it. (I bought it not running with a bad motor after it had sat a while so I just went through everything to avoid issues) I have a 2 inch lift, 14inch tires with 10ply BFG's so they are a little heavy. My main question is this: Since I have only had bad motors in it since I have had it, what kind of performance should I expect from this on the highway? Driving on good paved highway, while going up hills, I am lucky to top most hills above 45mph. I am flooring it, even down hill, I floor it and the best I can get is 65mph. Since I have never owned a "good" roo, I am not sure what I should be capable of. Do you think the tires being heavy are that sapping on power? I have never checked compression yet as I was told by a USMB member it was a strong engine when I bought it. I am still planning on building the stock motor sometime but for now just wondering. Oh, and also I get about 22mpg with the weber and it uses no oil. Maybe I am missing something? Thanks for any suggestions and help.

To run 15's you are going to have to have a good size lift. I have 14's with a two inch lift and I am planning on upgrading to a 3 in front with 2 in back as a straight 2 inch still hits on the fenders when turning. Of course you can cut fender wells out.

This is my BRAT currently. I have never really posted it as I always am fixing or improving something. I don't have much left so I guess I can show it off now. I drive it to work daily but it only gets 20mpg and will not accelerate up hills. It barely holds up hills. The engine uses no oil and seems to have okay compression but I still think it is weak. I should be able to go a little faster and not drop to 40 mph up hills on highway. The current mods are: I have a 2 inch home made lift on it but want to drop the cross member one more inch to lower angles. I do not want to cut fenders to turn so I will crank the front struts to full height essentially making it a 3 inch front, 2 Inch back. I used bed liner on the inside bed and up to the trim line on the sides. The pain was good but the clear coat shot so I shot new clear coat on it to save it for a while. The roll bar is original as I bought the rig for 800 with a broken crank? (It tried to start but locked up and the crank pulley looks to be at an odd angle plus the disty shaft rose up 3/8 inch.) Never tore into that motor but am planning on a full rebuild including practicing porting/polishing. I have a Weber on it, new clutch etc. I dug up factory mud flaps and painted them red to match the roll bar. The cow (deer) pusher on front was from a 95 Toyota pickup. Tires are 10ply BFGs. 14 inch Nissan rims and converting to 6 bolt hubs. SAAB seats. All the work I have done has been on my own and some hit and miss. Most all came from help and lurking on posts. It is really pretty easy to do. It gets huge attention and offers to buy it for hunting etc. (Sadly, to sell it would take around 3 grand to break even). Like I said this winter's project is a "new" built EA81, lower cross member, rear class 1 receiver, a better alternator system, fix the A/C, (I need a hose from the drier to the cooler) more LED's and maybe more bed liner under the body. I had a Polaris Ranger I hardly used and sold it to put this into it's place. It is a great hunting, farm service and work vehicle. Thanks everyone for helping whether you realized it or not. Some of my pics are before lift and tires.

I understand what you want. I have done mine very similar to that. I have weberized it, 2 inch lift, 6 bolt wheels, 14 inch tires, NOS gas tank, 14 inch Nissans and center caps, NOS exhaust and just about everything else. So many things I hate to say. It has been a long journey getting there but it is all easy enough if you want to do it. I used the forum for help but basically just looked at posts and pictures and then took educated guesses. I love my 14 BFG's. They are 10 ply and although stiff, they stand up to bean and corn stubble for hunting or playing around. I made my own 2 inch lift out of 3/16 wall square tubing. It took about 2 feet total. I dropped the pumpkin 2 inches with 3/8 plate steel. I only use CV shafts that are new, the remanufactured ones always clicked. I used a bed liner for the areas in the bed and under the stripe and kept the original paint with a clear coat cover up. Seats are from a u-pull-it. I made the shock towers myself. I looked at vendor photos and then kind of guessed. I simply cut 4 inch heavy walled pipe at a 15 degree angle then cut a hole in the flat plates and welded them together. This stopped any bad toe problems. Next items I want are to completely build a new motor from the ground up. Lots of advice here says to buy one from somebody and swap it. Well, I did it twice with not too promising results. I am going to get a Clegg build kit and do the work myself. One other thing is the front drive angles of my CV shafts. I put a 2 inch block system on it but am going to raise the struts to the highest setting then drop the cross members and engine another inch. This will lessen the angles. Too much and it started to rumble like the shafts were coming apart. The ride is a little rough but that could also be the tires. The rims I got from a mid 90s Nissan truck. BFG's 195-75-14 are a good find and I love the white letters. I have a little rubbing but not when I lift it another inch. In the pics, the one with no grill guard is with the full lift. ( I don't like jack rabbit look- I want it pretty level) Oh yeah, the grill guard was a throw away from a mid 90s Toyota. The lift can seem a little scary. Just take your time and think it through. If I could do it again, I would 5 speed it, lift the front 3 inches with a 4 inch engine drop. I still have to ad more lights and finish the engine and lift. I also need to fabricate a class 1 hitch. I use the LED lights to save on power and they are great for hunting and working in the field. This is my Ranger/Mule/Rhino

Hi again, I want to lift the back of my 85 Brat to the full height. How hard does this bolt normally turn? Mine is so hard to move, I am afraid to break it plus the leverage point is not too easy. Do most people heat it? Is it easier with the weight off the wheels? I assume you tighten the bolt to increase height. I do not have the owners manual which I would assume would tell me. Thanks for your help.

Thanks guys!

Thanks, not to sound too dumb but what year and model do I need to order the KYB front and rears for to get the EA82 parts you indicate? Thanks

Okay, I pulled my motor and forgot to disconnect the resistor that goes from the positive side of the coil to the ground on the engine. The unit ripped the wire off flush and cannot be fixed. It has the following markings 0169-17 150-05. What is this for? Will it still run? Where can I get it? Thanks.