el_freddo

Can’t help you there. I thought you were asking where the location of the fuse box was. Put up a wanted ad in the sales section of the forum. Cheers Bennie

Oh wow, I didn’t expect the seals to be completely different! I hope you manage to get something back together to get you going again. You’re still using a Gen1 on the postal route? What about shipping a RHD Liberty wagon from Oz? Crazy idea I know but it’s newer and RHD that you seem to need. Just the $$$$s are the killer in this economic climate! Cheers Bennie

The phase 2 are “better” because the cases are stronger and the gears a couple of mm wider on 1st and 2nd. I can’t remember if they widened 3rd to 5th too. Cheers Bennie

There’s a brown box with three or four fusible links in it, mounted to the side of the radiator overflow bottle. Internally, the fuse box hides behind a removable panel above the driver’s feet near the driver’s door. Pull that panel off to reveal the fuse box. That panel will have the diagram of fuses on the back of it so you know what’s what Cheers Bennie

When it refuses to start, do you have voltage where it needs to be? Eg: at the ECU power wires, ignition coil, do you get spark when turning it over when hot and not wanting to run? If you have spark does it try to fire up with some start ya bastard or aero start sprayed down the intake? Cheers Bennie

Direct swap. Will need to ensure the rear diff ratio matches the gearbox ratio. Swap the centre console to accommodate the dual range lever. Everything else will bolt in the same. Fair effort on the ‘87 with its history!! I’m guessing it was only a roll onto its side type of rollover? Down here anything that involves the roof in a rollover is an instant ticket for a write off - unless you know someone who’s really good at re-grafting a replacement roof and pillars to your ride. Not a common thing to happen here. Cheers Bennie

Have you seen the size of the air inlet on a Gen1 air box vs the diametre of the rest of the air intake between the air box and the engine? There’s a huge difference between the two, thus theory would have it that the air box inlet would be a restriction of some sort. How much for an NA? I don’t know and wouldn’t know how to test for that. But an air inlet to the air box matched to the engine air ducting between the air box and engine must reduce any restrictions in the setup. This includes deleting all the air ducting and boxes inside that front guard too. All of these changes will make things noisier, who doesn’t love a bit of induction noise? Cheers Bennie

Didn’t miss read - just miss represented what I was trying to convey. In my experience after loading up the two first rounds of torque settings, when you back off the full 360°s in two rounds of 180°s each, the bolts end up finger tight. This might not happen for you for whatever reason but it did for me on two different engines, reusing the head bolts each time. This is what I was trying to say in my original message. Cheers Bennie

And “Wait Awhile” Western Australia is a BIG place! @PostalLeggy - the Gen1 was quite popular here. We just don’t see them that often in the parts yards anymore, they’ve had their peak time already but aren’t yet “rare” enough for one to be stripped out the day after it lands in the parts yard. So the few examples you see will sit there for sometime until they’re turned over due to time in the yard. I hope the LHD parts can be used in the RHD rack to solve the issues you’re having or trying to resolve! Cheers Bennie

@PostalLeggy- there *should* be a reed switch setup built into the instrument cluster inline with the speedo cable. This is how Subaru did it in the EFI L series models. If there is no sensor hooked up to the system that would make sense as to why it’s not holding the set speed. Cheers Bennie

Hey mate, RHD racks are not unobtainum! In self serve parts yards we still have the odd Gen1 pass through, they’re typically Granma spec too - so sad to see! I’m sure later model steering racks will fit too - many in the early turbo Subarus fit other racks from later models that are “quick turn” easily enough. I don’t know if there are other mods required to make them fit but it can be done. This will open up your options, the hardest part is shipping them to you after suitable low km units are found. Getting stuff into Oz is generally cheap, getting it out is typically not ;( I’m typically good at sourcing parts but hopeless at shipping them… and I now live even further away from the parts yards I used to frequent regularly - I’m about 2hrs away from the closest self serve yard in Melbs and about the same for the one down G’town way (Geelong). pick-a-part.com.au and jollysupullit.com.au are the two sets of parts yards that I would visit. I don’t see this being difficult sourcing the racks needed in RHD spec if you wanted to. You’d just have to be patient with me to find the time to get down there between family commitments etc Cheers Bennie

What year/EJ25 engine are we talking about? I follow the FSM - on the two EJ251s that I’ve done HGs on following the sequence in the FSM (and using the MLS HGs as per GD’s recommendations, they’re going very well without any issues thus far. That part about backing off the head bolts x degrees as referenced by ocei77 will most likely remove all torque or tension you put into the bolts during the steps prior from what I recall. All the best with it! Cheers Bennie

Stock air box and paper filter will move more air than your NA could ever need. What could benefit is making the intake hole into the air box larger, and scoop air from the front of the vehicle like later model cold air intakes do… how to achieve that on the older Gen1 is anyones guess atm - but I’m sure it’s been done before on an RS or other Gen1 turbo models that use the same air box Cheers Bennie

Many have done the Lock up switch mod and not reported cruise control issues. I’d be looking into how you’ve hooked up the VSS as this will be required for the cruise to work, in these earlier Legacy’s the sensor is in the back of the instrument cluster, unless you have the turbo SS model where it will be on the gearbox if it’s electronic speedo like our Aussie delivered RS turbos are (the SS is the US version of the RS and early JDM GT, except US SS was only available in sedans I believe). Anyway, side track there. Why not hook up an aftermarket cruise control system? Much easier than trying to retro fit a factory setup. I’m hoping we can get to the bottom of this one easily enough! What year is the cruise control “ecu” module from? And did it come from an auto or a manual? If from a manual it’ll need a clutch switch bypass - probably just a wire across those pins to say the clutch is always engaged (pedal is at rest position). Cheers Bennie

All of us started somewhere with our mechanical knowledge so stick with it. Same goes for the girlfriend thing too, it helps if they’re into cars a bit though If you were being sarcastic, well played, if not, the above still stays as it is Cheers Bennie

There are two different types of six speed - one that’s a different design to the 5spd and is considered the “proper” six speed because of its strength. The other is a split case 5spd with a sixth gear built onto the back of it. If you’re after performance the proper six speed is the way to go. The best is from the STi from what I understand. As for what you need depending on what box you have, I’ll leave that up to those that are in the know. Cheers Bennie

That’s a question only you can answer @RudyTudy! Have you tried adjusting it? If just using the auto trans park setting to hold the weight of the vehicle it’s perfectly normal for the vehicle to move forward (or backwards) a little as the trans brake takes effect. It all depends on the incline you’re parked on. Cheers Bennie

I wonder if the issue lies with your IACV. My sister’s EJ251 has an issue with the IACV where it will stall sometimes when coming up to a stop or when changing down gears into a slow intersection turn. From time to time the check engine light comes on and the code is always for the IACV. Sounds like your issue could be along the same lines, particularly if your IACV is the plunger style unit with the rubber dome shaped seal on the end. Seems that these seals wear or crack at the contact point and leak air, resulting in the idle issues and resulting check engine light. Cheers Bennie

If you’re messing with the throttle body idle position, read up on the requirements of the TPS adjustments (if needed). On the earlier models, any adjustments of the throttle butterfly required an adjustment to the TPS so the ECU was still getting the correct readings from the sensor. Does the FSM say that you need 0% throttle at idle? I’d check into that first before adjusting anything. Are you experiencing any issues or have you just looked into the data/sensor readings and thought “that’s not right”? The engine still needs air at idle! Cheers Bennie

That’s an EJ thing. No screws on the EA82 oil pump as the two rotor pieces live in the block. Cheers Bennie

Too true. Kids here that I deal with trying to reengage in education will steal high end cars that are auto. Those key fobs are not great security as they’re only as good as the security of your house/purse/handbag etc. Once they have your key fob you can expect to be visited by the police asking you where you were at X time and explain why your car was where it was doing 3 times the posted speed limit in town… My brumby/brat currently has better security than newer cars because it’s manual and requires a Hotwire job. Plus there’s no Bluetooth to play their tunes as they flog my ride, no kidding! Cheers Bennie

Got on top of the lifter tick rather than just run with it. If you leave it be you wear them out and will never get rid of the lifter tick without replacing lifters. Other things you can try doing - placing a spacer behind the spring in the oil pressure relief valve. I can’t remember, but there might be a restrictor in the main oil passage in the head, if so pull it out and clean it up. This was over a decade ago when my lifters went noisy. It lasted two weeks then they went quiet again. Dunno why as I didn’t change anything between noise and no noise. The lifter tick is one of the reasons why I went EJ too: All a good bit of fun. Cheers Bennie

My brumby self-installed a new security feature in the driveway today when I shut the driver’s door to shut the gate - and was promptly locked out of the cab as the engine sat there idling. The driver’s door handle decided to disable itself with my only set of keys sitting in the ignition and the passenger’s door still locked… That was fun. I’m yet to fix it as it was too busy buzzing around town for things. Cheers Bennie

Why are you rebuilding it? Is there a bottom end issue? If no bottom end issue I’d leave the block alone. Most to do would be re-ring it, new gaskets all over and call it a day. Cheers Bennie

That’s interesting about the raised strut setup. I wonder if Ironman in Oz will be offering the same thing, not that I’ll be needing it. Clearly the US market has identified a market big enough to cater for. Now they just need a decent low range… And Subaru should drop a ute into their line up again. It would be awesome to see a modern day Brat/Brumby built in the same manner as the original was - and make the tray/bed area big enough to hold/carry a dirt bike and some camp gear, then they’d be onto a winner… Cheers Bennie