All_talk

I was thinking about buying Qmans GL 3-door RX clone and I know where I can get a EJ22T swap for about $900. And my current RX can continue as my DD for a while. Of course this is All talk tell the money is in my hand. Gary P.S. Junkie, My daily commute is 175 miles a day over Snoqualmie pass.

BTW, The frozen/semi-frozen water technique is the method used to make musical instruments like trumpets and trombones. I saw it on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood when I was a kid, I miss old Fred he was a great guy. Gary

Nope, you're just compressing it into its groove, and most to the outer boot kits I've seen come with a new one anyway. Gary

Well the RX has rolled up to 281,000 miles (that’s 30,000 more than I bought it with about 9 months ago), and the small oil leak is more like the Valdez now. It’s still running well, but I may soon have the opportunity to spend a bit of money on a daily driver, maybe as much as $2500-3000 (if my Datsun Z sells soon), this may be my one shot at a decent car for a long time (been drivin junk my whole life), so what to do? Option 1, rebuild the RX… the high mileage and body damage/rust on this one make it a great parts car, but not really a good candidate for that kinda investment. Option 2, find a REALLY nice replacement RX and maybe mod up the stock engine a bit… good, but not really what I’m dreaming of, I would like some real power. Option 3, buy a solid Legacy Turbo… I like the “buy it and drive it” instant gratification of this, but I love the off beatness and smaller size of the RX. (Is beatness a word? ) Option 4, building the dream… Find a nice RX, maybe with a bad engine and transplant an EJ turbo drivetrain. Maybe start with a 2.2T and add JDM twin cam heads or a whole JDM WRX swap if one can be had for the right price. Down side here is the time to build and I will really miss the D/R tranny. Anyway, if you’re still reading, thanks for listening. And I welcome your opinions… Option 5 ? Gary

Good work Calebz. Now I can see why TWE went with 1 7/8" but given the stock heads limitations I agree its a bit large. The 1 1/2" proposed should work well. Right, the flow doesn't mind being squeezed a bit but abrupt changes consume large amounts of energy. Are the turbo heads larger, I would have guessed they were the same, can someone confirm? Could the smaller gaskets be for the EA-81 maybe? Gary

Yep, ya beat um off. I've done a few for re-boots, some go hard, some VERY hard, some dont go at all (a press would do the trick). On the really stubborn ones I just disassemble the inner and reboot from that side. The parts are very hardened steel but I normally go at them with a brass or aluminum drift, a helper to hold the drift with vice-grips is a big plus. And like mikie said put the force into the center star. Gary

Looks great, I may have to steal the idea. And nkx might be right... I bit of flat black mesh might finnish the look nicely. Gary

With the common port at the head and an equal length (or near) Y header what you get is a Tri-Y system, so the port at the head is the first collector. The ports are very large compared to the actual runners to the valves. If you look at the stock pipe you will see it necks down some from the port, as a collector should. For a turbo system you want to preserve exhaust velocity so an overly large primary can be detrimental. The stock heads don’t flow very well at high RPM so unless you have done some head work, sizing the piping for top end is kinda pointless. I would say that pipe ID matched to the port size would be max, and if you are looking to keep/build bottom and mid power, slightly smaller would be best. Whats the head port size (I don’t have a head loose to check)? Just my thoughts Gary

... and the search for the grail continues, Dr. Jones.

I'm sure there is a way but I haven't looked at it. It is awkward to hold the handle up and close (specially with the air tight 3-door RX)... I just use the key. Gary

I dont have a exploded view (haven't ever seen one), but there are some pic in this thread that might help. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15410&highlight=inside+gear+d%2Fr Gary

Ideal combustion for octane (root hydrocarbon for gasoline). 2 C8H18 + 25 H20 ---> 16 CO2 + 18 H2O Of course gasoline in not pure octane, nor is the air pure or the combustion perfect in the real world, so this never really happens in practice, but that’s the theory anyway. Gary

I'll take a look for it when I get a chance, does this component show up on the wiring diagram? I sure hope it is the over boost fuel cut control, but I wonder if it might not be the relay that "cuts" the fuel pump when the engine dies? On my Datsun there is one relay that powers the fuel pump only when the engine is running and another that by-passes the first when the engine is cranking, similar system on the our Subies? Or does the ECU do all this with the one fuel pump relay? Gary

Water vapor at cold start is very normal, and to see some at idle in cold weather seems pretty normally too. Like Oddcomp said, water is a product of combustion (in prefect combustion water and CO2 are the only products), but under most conditions its expelled as a gas so you dont see it. First guess on the leak is intake gaskets, but a small leak that puddles on the block or only opens up under heat/pressure may never leave a drip. Take it out for a good hard romp or a long freeway run, then let it idle and get your nose under the hood and see if you can sniff it out. Also check the plugs, if there is any significant amount of coolant going through a cylinder they should show it. Good luck Gary

With an ALL STOCK system you shouldn't get ECU induced fuel cut, there may be some other problem. Measuring the voltage output from the MAF would be the only way to know for sure. Gary

The hot wire MAF is a mass flow device, I doesn’t measure volume (size), its calibrated to measure the amount (mass) of air flowing through it, air fuel ratios are mass ratios. Because it uses heat transfer into a fluid stream, it compensates for density changes from ambient temp and altitude. And because it measures actual flow (not calculated, like a MAP system), it can also compensate for changes for in volumetric efficacy, from wear or mods. In some ways the hot wire MAF is a superior, the down side is that it does present an inlet restriction, but if properly sized that not a big issue. I think the reason that a lot of factory systems have moved away from them is cost. The ‘87+ EA-82T ECU does not sense boost level, so the fuel cut is based on flow, the designers picked a flow level just above what the engine can achieve under stock conditions. To much flow = failed waste gate, so it shuts off the fuel. Its conceivable that mods that increase overall flow aside from boost increase like intake, exhaust or cams could bring on a fuel cut. Hope that helps Gary

Very common problem, a lot of us get it to some extent. I haven’t heard of a fix yet but it appears to be a problem in the speedo head. If mine gets bad enough I will pull it apart and see if I can find anything, for now I just watch the tach. Gary

Assuming you have checked all the fuses, check the fuseable links. Maybe pull the fues box loose and look for burnt wires on the back side. Might be time to get out the multi-meter and start chasing wires, bummer. :-\ Good luck Gary

Yeah, should be available at the parts house, I think the year change for the spider was '87 1/2, an '88 XT intake "set" should do the trick. Gary Post whoring is complete... this should be 500... lol.

I dont think the EA-82T has enough flow to see much difference above the 2 1/4" to 2 1/2" range. Like Vanislru said, save the money between the 2 1/2" and the 3" pipe and put it toward a good up pipe. Side note: Personally I think the TWE header's primary pipes are a bit large for a stock or near stock EA-82T, unless you have made significant changes to open up breathing in the upper RPMs (cams, head work). I think a more useable power curve could be had with slightly smaller tubes. Gary P.S. I'm post whoring today... trying to make 500. / looks around for another post to through two pennies at /

Heads up Inc. 1320 26th St NW, Auburn, 98001 - (253) 833-4546 I got a rebuilt head for my carbed wagon from them a few years back, good people to deal with. Pressure checked both my heads, said one was good (with small crack between valves) and one was no-go. They were happy to sell me just the one head and had it in stock. Gary

Water injection does work as a detonation/pre-ignition limiter, its based on the idea that water takes a lot of heat energy to evaporate (true phase change, not vaporize), normally this heat extraction occurs in the cylinder under compression, as most turbo systems don’t generate the proper temp/pressure requirements to evaporate the water in the intake tract. But as long as its done before ignition the effect works. The down side is that it takes up space in the cylinder, reducing volumetric efficiency. Its been around a very long time and I know it was used in planes during WWII for high boost “emergence power”. But in the modern automobile its bit of a band-aid, popular in the ’60-’70 when adding a turbo to high compression N/A engine. With a proper engine management/FI system it really shouldn’t be necessary. ’80s vintage turbo systems like our Subies use supplemental fuel for much the same effect, that’s why they run very rich under boost, this and some timing retard form the knock sensor control detonation/pre-ignition. Newer systems normally use a combination of intercooling, timing and some extra fuel to do the same thing. Gary P.S. Water injection might be of some use on a N/A engine…. Say I wanted to run my ’65 Pontiac with 10.5:1 compression on 87 octane gas with stock timing. But some later model, lower compression heads (with hardened valve seats) might be a better choice.

I wasn't quite right, there is a bit more to it, the following was extracted from this site: “Basically, a non-ballast coil is designed to produce full spark output with 12 volts on the input (+ terminal). A ballast coil is designed to produce the same spark output, but with only 6 to 9 volts on the input. With a non-ballast coil, the input to the coil is the same, 12 volts, whether the engine is running, or being cranked by the starter motor. With a ballast coil, the starter relay by-passes the ballast resister when the starter motor is spinning the engine, and applies the full 12 volts to the coil. Since the coil is designed to provide full spark with reduced voltage, the application of the full 12 volts produces a much hotter spark, which is an aid in starting. After the engine starts, and the starter motor is off, the coil voltage is dropped to the lower voltage, and the coil output is the same as for a non-ballast coil. The reason the ballast type coil is not run at the full 12 volts, for a hotter spark, is to prevent damage to both the coil and the points. With a non-ballast coil, power is applied to the coil directly from the ignition switch. Power to the ballast coil comes from the ignition switch to the resistance wire, and then to the coil. When the starter relay operates, power from the battery, is routed through the contacts of the relay, to the coil. This shorts out the resistor wire, by placing 12 volts on both ends of the wire. With the same voltage on both ends, no current flows, so no heat is generated. The current flow is shunted around the resistor wire. This bypassing of the resistor wire places the full 12 volts on the coil. “ In the sprit of complete information, I stand (self)corrected. Always the humble student Gary

Coils are designed to work with or without a ballast resistor and dont mix well with the wrong type ignition system. I dont believe the stock Subie system uses a ballast resistor, you could add one I guess, or there should be a similar coil that doesn't require one. The origins of the ballast resistor root in the days when cars were switching from 6 volt to 12 volt, I think that running without it will supply a higher than designed input voltage risking VERY high output voltage (personal injury) and coil burnout (product damage). I know that when switching the old VWs to 12 volt you can run the 6 volt coil for a while... but sooner ot later it would leave you on the side of the road. Gary

Good catch Pat. (I was in the reply screen... it doesn't show sigs ) In such a case, try it with and without adding throttle, the accelerator pump will add fuel when you give it pedal. If more fuel helps it could be vapor lock… or fuel pump (can you hear it), maybe clogged fuel filter. If it starts better with no pedal, its rich, could need some carb tuning, and check the choke adjustment. Just some ideas Gary