el_freddo

Read your codes from the ECU. Decipher them from the list. Go from there. Sounds to me more like one of the following: - bad or dirty AFM - dead O2 sensor - bad/dead coolant temp sensor Don’t go throwing money at it until you know what the codes are Cheers Bennie

Definitely EA81. The giveaway is the sideways mounted thermostat that faces to the rear of the vehicle. The EA82 unit has the thermostat housing on the front of the intake manifold and it sits horizontally. Hope this helps! Cheers Bennie

G’day Alan, Anything is possible so you probably could adapt the Weber to the carter carb intake manifold. I’m not overly familiar with this intake or carb but I think it’s a single barrel job and the intake has a smaller hole for the carb as a result. Someone will know more than me on this. As for the resto, this to me is an easy one to sort out over all of the vehicle is in as good condition as you’ve described. Even if the carb isn’t factory, it allows the rest of the car to do original/factory thing - and the carb allows the car to be used/enjoyed for what it is. The old carb and intake can be boxed up for someone who wants to be full original if they ever feel the need. Other option is a bigger project - EJ conversion for a sleeper - classic looks with a stealthy and more modern level of performance and reliability Cheers Bennie

The kit I’ve seen is advertised for $450. Quite reasonable I think considering they were being snapped up for $600 at one point! brat/brumby vs population ratio would be interesting. Cheers Bennie

They’re a cool item Steptoe, but I can’t see their worth other than them being a rare item to own and put on a shelf. Fog lights aren’t really necessary in Oz generally. The only time I’ve ever found them useful was when I was living in the Australian alpine areas - even then all I did was cover my lights with yellow cellophane. Worked a treat! All the best to your mate and the sale of his items. I’ve seen a power steering setup for the MYs sit on Gumtree for a number of weeks now - it’s very well priced too, I think it’s a sign of things slowing down in terms of what ppl are putting into their vehicles - that or PS systems don’t rate highly (but they transform these vehicles!). It would be interesting to find out how many Brats were delivered to the US and how many to Australia in total. Cheers Bennie

Keep it! You won’t find another one in that sort of condition! Any manifold off another EA81 will fit and work the same. The EA82 manifolds will fit and work but may need some grinding under the centre of the manifold for it to bold down properly and the thermostat is on the front of the manifold. Small work around to plumb back into the factory rad hose, or just run the EA82 factory upper hose. What you’re looking at isn’t a difficult job as far as conversions go. Others will tell you to throw a Weber on it while you’re at it. Then enjoy! Cheers Bennie

Yeah sorry, that was me making a poor joke - that’s me flogging the dead horse, not you or your Justy! Steptoe could be on to something there, it could even be sticky valves if it’s sat for a decent amount of time. How’s the search for the manuals you need going? Cheers Bennie

I need one now! I love the L series coupe and it’s worse because we don’t get them here so getting me one is near impossible! Cheers Bennie

You sure you don’t have high compression on cylinder #2? There's a website that has a whole bunch of Subaru manuals to download, I’m 99% sure there’s a Justy manual on there. It should have all the info you need There’s this page - Wade past the ads to the manuals you want: https://www.onlymanuals.com/subaru/justy?category=cars This site also has some Justy manuals available: https://workshop-manuals.com/subaru/ Hope those help. Cheers Bennie

Pics are good on a phone! I’m glad to hear your RX is still kicking around. Seems to have the same sort of hiatus as my offroad L wagon, but she’s outside rather than under cover 😢 Also needs some work. Keen for some pics of the car itself! And the blue tape on the combustion chamber - I’m guessing it’s for porting purposes or am I missing something? How long did you spend on porting as it looks really good, quite a bit of polishing there I’d imagine! I hope that paint bakes on after the first decent engine run! Cheers Bennie

Great update Todd and as always a good spread of pics too. The falls shown right up the top of this post was really interesting the way the water cut across the rock like that! The centre diff noise - sure it’s not a bearing in the gearbox? It’s good to hear the centre diff is wearing ok, nothing wearing faster than expected? Cheers Bennie

I believe it’s a little more involved than just soaking them, you’ll need to bleed the air out of them - basically pump the HLA in a bath of oil (the little hole on the side needs to be covered) to swap the air that’s in there now for oil. They should go solid once they’re full of oil. Then install. Cheers Bennie

You don’t. You go and get either a new OEM unit and fit it or you buy a quality aftermarket unit. There’s no guarantee how a used pump was looked after. These pumps use the fuel for cooling - run out of fuel often is a pump killer, even once can be enough (probably more so for external EFI pumps) to do permanent damage if not toast the pump. If you were in a bind second hand could b a get out of jail card, but only if it meant you get to leave with a working pump! And I’d pull it from a vehicle with the most amount of dirt etc around the fuel pump plate. My 5c on the subject of used fuel pumps. Cheers Bennie

With the age of the vehicle and/or if it’s sat around for a long time with old fuel in it the fuel pump will be cactus. It might move fuel, but it won’t pressurise it enough for the injectors to properly squirt it into the intake as a fine mist. If you just want to determine if you have voltage at the pump you could hook up a light to come on that you can watch when you turn the key. With the hatch and all the carpet removed you will probably hear the pump make noise if it’s working. It should be a constant noise, not a wavering one. How many miles on your Legacy, and does it look like someone pulled the fuel pump out previously? Be careful with any plastic tabs - electrical or fuel. I’ve read about ppl snapping a plastic fuel line into the pump but I’m not 100% sure which one this is or if it’s an internal item. Cheers Bennie

Good find @heartless! I never knew that. So you’ve got a real odd ball variant there @carfreak85… I thought the L series was the black sheep of the family but this model is out there! So this EJ253 - does it have the variable valve timing and the idle butterfly setup just above the inlet ports on the head? I’ve heard these can give trouble if you have them. Can you do a smoke test for vacuum leaks? Cheers Bennie

Is this a conversion or an EJ251? I didn’t think the EJ253 came in until c2004/5 Actually thinking about it this is DOHC if it’s got a MAF, meaning it’s an EJ25D. My initial thoughts (being for an EJ253 with the variable valve timing) was those little idle butterfly things being the issue if the NA models had them fitted. If it is an EJ251 I’d be looking into its crappy IACV that’s a plunger plug design. It could be gummy or the rubber on the plunger cracked/worn, effecting the air fuel ratio enough to upset the ignition in the cylinder momentarily as the ECU sorts out the mixture from idle to load throttle. The IACV could also be having issues if it’s the EJ25D, but from memory this IACV design is the same or ver similar to the phase EJ22 rotating valve design. Either of these IACVs not operating properly may not throw a CEL or store a code. I know this post is a bit all over the shop, I’m trying to cover all bases to save time at your end as I’m sure you don’t have an EJ253 unless it’s a conversion. Cheers Bennie

If you don’t think it’s a wheel bearing I’d be dropping the rear diff oil and inspecting its condition and how much comes out - and check to see if there are any obvious leaks occurring. Fresh oil in there will only be a good thing if the seals are still holding up well. The EJ wheel bearings are quite robust and will go the distance and then some to get you out of trouble. But keep running on it could lead to other issues. I recently had to replace the front hub that the wheel bolts to and the bearing mounts to on its internal surface. The hub snout had worn its chrome like finish off from the bearing inner wiggling away as the tyre rotated. This didn’t give a good tight fit with any of the old bearings so I wasn’t going to run the new bearings on it either. The other thing they can do is pack it in completely at the most inconvenient time for you. Get on to it while it suits you Cheers Bennie

Unless it’s a known performance branded fuel pump. Don’t go overboard with higher rated fuel pumps either, they can be noisy! There’s a lot of god advice about removing the pump and those little nuts that hold it in place on the tank. Luckily where I’m from (down under) we don’t see rust issues like you guys state side do in the salt belt! I recommend cleaning the top of the tank area around the fuel pump plate as much as possible to avoid fine dust and small rocks from falling into the tank. Hopefully you won’t need a replacement tank as I can attest to @jonathan909‘s account that removing and replacing a fuel tank is a right royal PITA and should be avoided at almost any cost (unless absolutely necessary)! Cheers Bennie

Can the front O2 sensor be replaced with a resistor to replicate one being there for testing purposes? Cheers Bennie

Yeah mate I’m down under! That pic is of our Liberty, our equivalent to your Legacy over there. Great car and yes, essentially the same as the outback without the lift or larger tyres or two tone paint work. I didn’t know they were doing the stop start feature in the Gen3 back then, is this legit or an aftermarket option? I too prefer older cars where the driver actually needs to drive properly. My thoughts are too many ppl become reliant on their safety systems rather than practicing proper driving techniques. Anyway, congrats on your daughter’s purchase @Ravenwoods! Cheers Bennie

Jack up your front wheels and check for bearing play or noise. Also rotate wheel left then right and vice vests to load up CV joints and listen for any creaking or odd sensations as you do this. Do this on the rear wheels too. Cheers Bennie

Was the donor vehicle an auto? I’m wondering if it is an auto ECU where the pin to tell the ECU it’s in front of a manual was not correctly fitted/removed/grounded - I can’t remember off the top of my head without looking up the wiring diagrams. If this engine ran perfect in the donor vehicle there must be an issue somewhere in the conversion and cutdown of the wiring loom. I’d be looking at any joints made in your loom to ensure they’re good and to rule them out. Cheers Bennie

Wow that’s a lot of stuff you’ve done and probably reflects the maintenance afforded to it by the previous owner. I must say I agree with things like the suspension. We replaced all the suspension bushes about 18 months after getting it on the road along with the front struts. But you expect that with hundreds of thousands of kms on the clock already. That was a $AU1500ish. The original gearbox was replaced due to a dodgy bearing from I think being run low on oil. Second hand one sourced and is still going well. I think we’ve replaced one or two CV boots in six years and I’ve done the front wheel bearings as preventative maintenance. Only real issue ours has is an intermittent issue with the IACV stalling the engine sometimes when between gears at low speeds (typically downshifting). The new IACV is too expensive so we just live with it. We swapped the headlights too - but only because the opportunity for a clearer set came up for a steal. They’ve gone the same way because the vehicle lives outside. The cut and polish kits can take care of this easily enough. The vehicle went through a period of smashing tyres and rims (17 inch aftermarket rims) on our “ultra smooth” Victorian roads, and completely obliterated a rim on a Queensland road while up north. A set of 16 inch factory Subaru rims seem to have sorted the issue so far. We’ve not had the interior issues mentioned. The driver’s seat is still firm and comfortable to use on long distance trips. A side view mirror was replaced after the lib was rolled on its side one time. Dropped back on its wheels, fluid check and off she went again as if nothing happened. Same for the driver who was fine other than a little shaken up. Paint now tells that story and some others mishaps (not ours!) but is otherwise good without any real cosmetic issues from time outside and our baking sun. It’s a metallic green in colour We added some driving lights for many hours of night driving and to upgrade the crap high beam. I reckon the low beam on the Gen3 is one of the best from the Subaru line up of the earlier models. If you DIY any work on the vehicle it’s a no-brainer to me. If you know what you’re getting and what it could cost to replace it’s the same deal to me. Here’s the last uploaded whole vehicle pic from 2017 that I could find with the 17 inch rims before they were destroyed: A minty-off-the-show-room-floor-fresh looking Gen3 Outback passed me in my Brumby last weekend. It was a beauty and had me thinking I’d have one if I was in the market. Haven’t seen one in that condition in a very long time! Cheers Bennie

We have a 2000 RX model Liberty/Legacy in our family. Picked it up cheap because of a fried clutch. While the engine was out I replaced the head gaskets not knowing the genuine replacement items would do the same thing as mentioned by idosubaru. Ours made these weird bubble looking things where the coolant was leaking from. Almost looked like a fungus. Replaced the HGs with the STi multi layered steel units and haven’t looked back. The car now has 480,000km and is going strong. If you do the HGs I’d recommend replacing the valve stem seals and reselling the cam retainer plate. I’ve found this seam between the cam retainer plate and the head is where oil typically seeps from rather than the cam cover seals. Adjust the tappets too while you’re there You’ll have a solid car there. They’re built very well. Cheers Bennie