el_freddo

Ensure you have all the bolts out. It should tap apart with a little bit of effort after this. Some times having the block sitting with the cylinders vertical and tapping the top half upwards can work well. I’ve pulled an EA82 and EJ block or two apart, but not the EA81 specifically. Double check there’s not a bolt missed as this will stuff you up big time and then lock will never split. Cheers Bennie

Two things come to mind for me - first was the EFI pump dampener is dead or non existent. Or the pump itself is not performing properly. The other thought - and it’s a bit of a long shot - is the coolant temp sensor doing some funny stuff. It starts ok? Here’s another thought - these have a knock sensor? It could be on the way out or picking up something else that’s not detonation, holding power back. Cheers Bennie

Ah bugger mate! Epic thread dig though, I reckon this one is a record! I hope you found the info you were looking for. Cheers Bennie

You could try using some rust buster in the bores - this might free up the engine once all cylinders are done. Hammerbarn stocks the product of that name. It’s good stuff! Cheers Bennie

One of these usually does the job for me. A bit fiddly setting it up and getting the right angle for it to work best on, otherwise it’s the first thing I go for! https://www.repco.com.au/tools-equipment/automotive-tools/engine-drivetrain-service-tools/mechpro-red-valve-spring-compressor-mpst135/p/A9400120?rgfeed=true&cid=google-shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&region_id=100245&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC9C92i3cTaz1a0-V0xqSruda0Yl6&gclid=CjwKCAiAneK8BhAVEiwAoy2HYaj0UcKxCd10d6BEEWlaRVPPl-sNAEkiDo4ePdzXnmsgX350epdpXBoCUDIQAvD_BwE On special at the moment too by the look of it. Just make sure it’s big enough to put the head inside the “G” bit to clamp either end of the valve setup. The pic doesn’t give an idea of size however it’s the exact design of the one I steal from my dad when I need it. Cheers Bennie

If there’s play in the throttle shaft you can usually find this by physically wiggling the shaft with your finger or gently levering against it with a screw driver. Any lateral movement tells you there’s play in the shaft. Otherwise I could be some grit, or a burr on the shaft, butterfly or a frey in the cable that sits in the throttle linkage round piece (clear as mud I know, I can’t think of a name for it). Or there could be a missing/broken/stretched spring that’s not applying its full pressure on the throttle shaft to properly close it. At least you have a lead at this point in time! Cheers Bennie

No, but you might feel it slightly sometimes when reversing. I believe there’s something in the device that uses gravity to activate the hill holder. If facing down hill it won’t hold the brakes on - and it seems to only act on one part of the system. EG: brakes the front left and rear right or vice versa. Pretty sure it’s the FL and RR circuit that’s used. Cheers Bennie

You’d be right in assuming that! As Moosen’s said, allow a bit of play - then test it out, you should have the hill holder let go just as the clutch takes up some bite. You don’t want the clutch to be fighting the hill holder (too tight). Test, adjust, test etc until you’re happy with how it behaves/feels when you use it. Looser is better than tighter - you’ll learn how to drive with how you adjust it. I disabled mine in my L series - had too many sketchy situations when reversing down steep hills I didn’t make it up. I just live without it and don’t really notice any difference really (my brumby didn’t get one so they’re basically the same to drive in that regard). Cheers Bennie

Cam and crank sensors aren’t hard wired into the harness, at least for the Gen1 series2, they’re independent of the engine harness, connecting to another part of the harness on the bellhousing (or near it) and disappearing into the firewall. On RHS vehicles this part of the harness pops out on the RHS of the firewall. Cheers Bennie

Checked the rear wheel bearings? Ensure the handbrake is released to check for any unwanted bearing play with the wheel in their air. If the handbrake is on this will hold the hub in tight and you won’t be physically strong enough to wiggle the wheel enough to overcome the hold of the handbrake. Cheers Bennie

A decade ago I got an all brass/copper unit for $AU220. I dare say price skyrocketed due to lack of units being moved and possibly special order only with long lead times. Get a new all metal unit and forget about it. The wallet pain sticks around for a while but you’ll get over it when you have long lasting reliable heat every time you need it. Don’t shove a second hand unit in there, ask me how I know this is a crap move!! Twice Cheers Bennie

Only the block is good for this swap. You’ll need to drop the block between the 2006 heads. This will allow you to run the factory engine management etc with the EJ22. There’s no other east way to do it without a whole lot of bastardisation that would need to be pioneered - even then it might not be too reliable. The other way to do it is with a complete harness layover of the EJ22’s engine management and ECU. This will have complications as your 2006 may be a CANBUS system and will throw a tonne of codes at you since it won’t know it’s running another engine. Emissions stuff may also be an issue doing it this way. In Oz you can’t put an older engine into a newer car like you’re suggesting. Swapping the block in between the factory 2006 heads would be the way to do it if it were me. You’d be copping a power loss with the reduction in displacement and there may be an issue with the “mushroom” shaped combustion chamber created with the EJ25 heads on the EJ22 - might not be an issue, I really don’t know for sure. Food for thought! Cheers Bennie

I’d be pulling the power from the accessories wire that comes from the ignition switch, add an appropriate fuse between the factory wire and the gang switch setup. This way a factory fuse doesn’t have to do the load of what ever its task is plus what ever load you add to it. There are also a product where the fuse is replaced by a block that adds two fuses and a power wire - one fuse operates the factory wiring and the second fuse is for the added power wire. Easy to use but not the neatest looking when you pop open the fuse panel’s cover. If there’s one it’ll look better than having two or more in there I reckon. I hope this helps. Cheers Bennie

You need to remove the amplifier. I dare say it’s toast. They don’t take too well to water ingress, and there will still be water in there even though your carpets are dry. Cheers Bennie

Or used heads if you wanted to keep the bottom end of your current engine (and the associated engine number). There’s no easy fix for this one I’m sorry. Cheers Bennie

And the odd thing here is that this would re-align the timing correctly if it’s back on the crank mark. Checking compression with all valves closed will give very inaccurate readings and potentially different readings across all cylinders as no air is entering or leaving the cylinders. Unless there is something being done wrong with both compression testers and they’re both good (strange things like two dead compression testers can happen), this is a bit of a weird one. There would need to be a pretty significant blockage of the intake, or more likely the exhaust (collapsed cat could do it) to hamper the results of the compression test if the block and valves are all doing what they should be doing. Cheers Bennie

The series 2 starter motors used to become unresponsive due to a lack of power to energise the starter solenoid. The work around here was to setup a horn relay that’s triggered by the factory starter wire to give a better 12v hit to the starter solenoid via better and shorter wires from the battery (and appropriately fused). Hopefully it’s something as simple as this. Those cam and crank angle sensors will need to be sorted out but they won’t stop the engine from being turned over by the starter motor. The engine just won’t start as the ECU won’t see the crank or cam signals - which means a code or a check engine light won’t be thrown. Cheers Bennie

Good idea to me. Keeping anything out of the intake/cylinders that shouldn’t be there is always a good idea for engine health!! You could remove the cam belt and allow the cam to rotate to its free-spinning zone. This is when all valves are closed in both cylinders on that bank. Cheers Bennie

Rear EJ CV shafts won’t fit the EA gear. The outer stub axle is a completely different design. Inner cups MAY fit the original EA rear shafts but that’s a big gamble to make for two inner cups. Best bet would be to contact places outside of Europe. Subarino could be a good source, I can’t say if he’s got exactly what you want but he might be able to source and ship the parts you need. Otherwise second hand is your best bet. Cheers Bennie

Make sure your CTS isn’t installed with Teflon tape. It may need the earth/ground of the coolant passage that it’s screwed into. I’m unfamiliar with whether this needs an earth connection. I mentioned this as the brumby/brat used a temp switch in the radiator to trigger the thermo fan. Put Teflon tape on this and it doesn’t work as it requires the earth/ground provided by the radiator (that also has its own earth wire from it to the body). Other than that I’m out of ideas. Cheers Bennie

You can take the AWD manual box from the Impreza. Bits that will need mods to fit it: - gearbox crossmember - tailshaft modded to fit (can’t remember if longer or shorter needed) - possible gear shift linkages need modification - match rear diff - front drive shafts - swap for MPFI/turbo units and they’ll slot straight on. The hardest part is the EJ conversion itself for many ppl. The wiring is what gets ppl stuck. It’s worth the effort! Also an advantage of the AWD box is you retain the factory EJ flywheel and clutch. And on that, if it’s a hydraulic clutch you can swap it to a cable operated clutch by swapping the clutch pivot ball location and the clutch fork for the cable fork. You’ll also need the clutch cable bracket that mounts on the gearbox. If the gearbox is a cable clutch setup you’re all good to go! Cheers Bennie

This won’t give accurate readings as the cylinder is not able to suck air in freely to compress as it would in operation. It would only show that cylinders don’t have leaking valves, even then, depending on how the engine stopped with piston positions in each cylinder, some cylinders might not show up anything. To be as accurate as possible you’d need to ensure the cylinder being tested is at bottom dead centre. This would give the best possible compression test with both valve sets closed. Cheers Bennie

I can understand a race vehicle copping stuff like this, but a slightly modified passenger vehicle that does some mild offroading is another thing (oh, and for those that didn’t pick up on it, ^ insert sarcasm here). Well going by Meatloaf’s theory, you’re doing better than two out of three, so that ain’t bad - if you’re game! Cheers Bennie

There are many ppl that go down the Weber route and have loads of troubles with them - or just chew a whole lot of juice running with one. Give the hitachi a good service with a new kit (keep the old bowl float valve - the ones in the kit are never correct) and go again. You’ll find there are two camps in the Weber world - those that continue to run them and manage them to keep them going and those that revert back to the hitachi carb. Personally a rebuild kit was far cheaper than a Weber so I went that way with my Brumby and I have no regrets. It runs awesome now! Cheers Bennie

Nope. Disagree! Before first oil change or not, they’re squashed and had a heat cycle. You *might* get away with reusing them if you have to pull the head again during reassembly, realistically though, for all that work would you really want to risk reusing a head gasket only to have it fail prematurely? Some might have a crack at it. I won’t be though. Cheers Bennie