el_freddo

It’s both here too. The L series RX is the EA82 turbo. The Gen 3 RX is the larger displacement engine with the EJ251 (2.5L), as opposed to the bog stock Legacy with the EJ201 (2L). That’s how it is in Australia, I assumed it would be the same in the US, which could be where there’s an issue in my info. Cheers Bennie

Another car to consider is a Gen3 Legacy - especially the RX model. Plenty of punch for a first car, comfortable to drive, looks good in my opinion. You also get good fuel usage if you drive it neatly. I say this as we have one of these in the family too. It’s my sisters and last time I saw it I checked the odometre and it’s got 470,000km on it. We got it at 330,000km. I did the HGs on it (didn’t know about the factory HG issue and had the external leaking coolant issue). At about 400,000km I redid the HGs with the multi layered steel units GD recommends. Haven’t had an issue since. This thing regularly pulls in 8.6L/100km. Namely country kms. Solid body, loads of room and a good dose of power under the bonnet makes this one a good first car in my book. I wish vehicles like this were accessible to me when I was first driving! Food for thought. Hunt around, see what you can find. Read up on the EJ251 and EJ253 engines. Both are good if maintained - and HGs are swapped with decent units when the time comes. Cheers Bennie

Yep, make a sleeve for the lower shock mount bolt and use the factory L series bolt Cheers Bennie

@hippyloc- you got your issue sorted and it was the same loose main plug? Cheers Bennie

G’day @linkthehero1234, Best thing you can do is learn how to actually drive and master situational awareness. That’s the only real way to improve your safety. As others have said, the XT isn’t the safest car on the road, nor will it be boring to drive because you HAVE to drive it. I think many new safety features make for lazy drivers, and lazy drivers = a crash waiting to happen. Like KiwiGL said, if your parents are buying get yourself into the SG foz. Personally I don’t like the styling of the later series but that’s up to you. It will have front driver and passenger’s airbags, ABS and can be an awesome first car to own. Some minor exhaust mods can have it sounding like a WRX easily if you want. You can raise them for offroad or slam them to the ground, it depends on what you want to do/look like with your vehicle. While you drive that one, work your job and save for the right XT for you. Drive that as a classic and not a daily. Going back to the learning how to drive but - watch some YouTube videos on bike stacks and what they could have done to avoid it - many principles are the same on four wheels in the “cage”. I recommend dandanthefireman, some might not like him but he goes well for me. Cheers Bennie

Very clean L @errantalmond! That just about sums up the EA82. If it’s not leaking it’s probably very low on oil Well done on taking the time to learn. The EA82 is a good engine to learn on. It will teach you all the tricks for sealing an engine successfully Also if you can, start collecting some parts - many say the L parts are drying up... Cheers Bennie

G’day Nutza, you’d have a better response in the EJ sub forum. It could be done with a lot of effort, others will have more to share with you in the other forum. Cheers Bennie

G’day mate, what vehicle are we discussing here? Cheers Bennie

Make sure there are no burrs on the selector shaft. Last thing you want to do is cut up the new seal as you install it! Cheers Bennie

They seem worth the effort for $50. Leave the bases with the seller Cheers Bennie

Yeah wow mate, that’s crazy! Dunno how that could happen without the retainer pin being removed. Cheers Bennie

The tow bar unit that requires holes could be a 50x50mm receiver hitch style, typically seen as the heavy duty unit. These have the advantage of easily removing the tow ball tongue/hitch with a clip and a pin. I pulled one from a 2002 foz and sold it here locally with all bolts and trailer wiring for $AU120. Holes needed to be drilled at the top of the spare tyre well where sandwich plates were fitted from memory. I much prefer the self serve yards - when you know what you need and can get EVERYTHING rather than having to communicate with the wreckers about all the little bits that complete the kit (this happened to me recently with a good self serve and “premium” wreckers... just the small but critical items x2). Cheers Bennie

Clock spring could be an issue depending on the design. I reckon that mechanic was politely saying no to your request. I forgot about the trick @nvu posted. Cheers Bennie

Double post

You can slide the knuckle up the steering shaft and release it from the steering rack input shaft, rotate 180 degrees and refit. Or pull the steering wheel, rotate and replace, do up the retainer nut and put the wheel back together. No need to drop the rack Cheers Bennie

G’day Chuck. Do some searching, the digi dash is known for issues in the board behind the cluster. I can’t remember if you replace a part in there or if you just resolder it. All the best with it. Cheers Bennie

I’d use the EJ205 bottom end (block) with the EJ20k heads. Are the internals of the EJ20k aftermarket? They’d be worth holding on to if you wanted to properly build an engine. If they’re factory they’ll be no different/better than that of the Ej205 internals. If the internals of the EJ20k are aftermarket and quality parts that you want to build an engine with, and you don’t have a tight timeline, you could have them built into the EJ205 block, or if you’re going to the extent of splitting the block, why not just build up the EJ20k block? Is there something wrong with the 20k block? Cheers Bennie

CV shafts aren’t an issue - same as L series so parts are still available. Best of luck with the sale! Cheers Bennie

Two options for a dual range. That’s interesting. I’ve not known the EA82 dual range to have two different input shaft sizes. My bet would be the 25mm input shaft size - it’s the same as the EJ gear if that helps Cheers Bennie

The other difference not mentioned are springs. Firmer springs will give a better feel on the open road. I know my L series felt much better after the factory springs were binned for aftermarket springs. Same for our Pajero/Montero/Shogun - that's now lifted and drives much better than it did before! Most of this will come down to the aforementioned tyres and alignment. Just thought it worth mentioning differences in springs that should be considered too. Cheers Bennie

Not ok to drive it as it is! Emergency drive to get it home or to a shop maybe, but other than that I wouldn’t be driving it any more than that! Cheers Bennie

Bust out the welder and weld on a new Sturt top section, I’d bring it down the side of the tower and weld around it too. The weld from the inside of the strut tower, seal it up to reduce future rust. Then check the other side. Add a steel strap over the top of that if you feel the need. Ive never seen these rust belt issues, but I’ve read of this happening many times on this forum Cheers Bennie

If it’s dealer fitted it could be listed in the owner’s manual if you’ve still got it. I don’t know why you’d get a dealer fitted AC system when the factory fitted AC is so much neater and a better package overall IMO. I don’t think we got many dealer fitted AC systems if any in the L series. Everything EA81 seems to be very similar to the dealer fitted EA82 AC system, but it still looked quite factory - every unit I’ve seen in the EA81 is the same layout with the same cast iron brackets. Anyway, slightly off topic. Check your owner’s manual for possible details of the belt you require. Cheers Bennie

Can’t have the rad shop weld on a box shaped top to get you going? You won’t see that bit unless you’re really looking anyway, depending on how far down the damage is. If it’s below the tank mounting tabs then it’ll be a bit harder. Or they could make you a complete new unit like a touring car (Aussie race car) “drop tank” - a larger fuel tank than stock. They used to look mint back in the day on the track, and they still tough looking on our Aussie muscle cars in my opinion: ^ that might be a bit extreme for what you want but you get the idea. Shouldn’t be too hard to pull it off and make it look good too Cheers Bennie

Do it yourself! Save the 1200+ for a mechanic to do it. No crane? Three or four blokes can lift the engine out easily enough. You just need some basic tools - flat and Phillips head screw drivers; 10, 12, 14mm spanners and sockets, ratchet and an extension bar should do the trick for tools. Can just get a new clutch disc as this will be the worn part unless the fingers on the pressure plate are well worn and the throw out bearing is making noise (worth replacing this part while you’re in there). Also a good time to drop an EJ22 in there (sorry, had to say it!) Cheers Bennie