All_talk

Its a Vacuum reservoir, it stores vac so the heater/vent/defrost settings hold at low or no vacuum conditions (like heavy acceleration). It has a check valve (internal or external, I cant remember), if its not working correctly things will act strange, I think VENT is the default (no vac) setting. Gary

Its a bit of a job, but if you pull the blower housing out you can get to the face of the heater core, I found that mine was quite plugged with leaves and such. I get leaves blowing out of my vents in the fall, seems these cars have no screen on the blower inlet other than the grid on the cowl (guess I should stop parking under that tree ). I had blower motor out of my RX recently and found a bit of stuff stuck in the fan. Gary

First guess... CV joint. Could be something in the brakes, try getting on and off the brakes when you hear it... does the noise change. Also might be in the rear diff... try it in and out of 4WD to see if it makes a difference. Since its a low speed noise you might try getting it up on jack stands and spinning the wheels by hand. Just my first thoughts Gary

BTW, the 185/70R13 is the stock size for the RX... 174/70R13 and 165/80R13 were stock on other Subies. Gary

From what I understand, its with or without A/C, but I dont remember which goes with which for sure and if it applies to factory A/C only or the dealer instaled type aswell (A/C pump outside alt.). I do know that when I bought thw water pump for my '87 GL wagon (no A/C) the parts guy said one is much more common, so I got that one and it fit (I still have the old pump if you want me to measure it). Sorry I can't br more help, I'm sure someone knows more Gary

Well you did ask... The ice comes from the moisture in the AIR, but you are right in that FI should not have an icing prob. And turbos even less so, even off boost the pass through the turbo does some heating. The worst conditions for icing are just above freezing with hi humidity, as the cool moist air passes to the low pressure side of the carb ventury (pressure drop = temperature drop), the water condenses and freezes. I’ve seen it stick throttle plates open and even choke of ventures to tiny holes. Gary

I've thought about cutting some down to 15" but haven't got a chance to spec them out yet (somebody wanna give me a set ). It's really a question of there being enough material left to be safe. My new lathe should be here soon... anybody feeling like a Guinea pig? Gary

I'm with the Doc on this one, make a fair estimate of the required money and time... then double the money and tripple the time, and you might be close. Gary

Hey oorabus On the transaxle, as soobnut said the stock box is tough, but if you plan on driving it hard look into swapping in a later bus trans (Type 4). And I truly don’t wish to divert discussion away from this great new forum, but I’d hate to see you go through a lot of extra effort re-inventing the wheel… its been done many times before. Check out the “Conversion Perversion” forum over at shoptalkforums: http://www.shoptalkforums.com/index.php?sid=f6ac9ba42d2104e45fcf2102e5b1e720 Gary

My shop manual says the oil pressure spec for the EA82 is 43lb @ 5000rpm. And I know the owners manual notes that the gauge showing near 0 at idle is normal. If it doesn't tick after warm up its probably OK. Gary

Great info, its good to have some real test numbers, what’s your mod list, it will be interesting to see how the EA82T responds to them. What’s are typical drivetrain losses for a 4WD car, 25%?? That would put the flywheel HP near rated. Those are good looking curves, that’s a pretty broad, flat torque curve, makes for a nice linear power curve… you gotta love turbo cars. And the A/F looks pretty rich though the boost range, looks like the stock ECU could handle a bit more boost without going to lean Any way to measure/plot EGT on this dyno? That is a pretty sharp drop at 5500 (and you can feel it in the car), I know the heads don’t flow well in the top end, but that seems steep for just a choking VE, could there be something else going on, fuel mapping, the A/F dose seem to move leaner at 5500? Ignition? Again, Great stuff Gary

A place that does vinyl graphics might be able to help. My plan when/if I repaint my RX is to document them well (pictures, drawings and measurements), and reproduce them with paint on the base coat, then clear over them. Gary

Yep, stiffer rear sway would help, its 17mm stock... the 21mm (or is it 19) off the XT6 should help a bit, and its a bolt on. A little stiffer rear spring would help... a set from a 4WD wagon cut down to size would be my first choice. And maybe just a bit more rear toe-out. Gary

All four wheels turn in different arcs, the front and rear differentials handle the left to right, but when locked in 4WD there is no compensation for the front to rear differance, (like bushbasher said). Gary

You can get to the chimer/pink connecter by removing just the lower trim panels, a bit easier than pulling the stereo. I had mine unpluged this weekend while working under the dash with the door open, but plugged it back in when I was done, I dont mine the soft chime so much... a lot better that the grating buzzer in my Suburban.:-\ Gary

I think that’s more a lack of power (for available grip) as much as actual traction balance. Not to say my RX doesn’t understeer, nearly all cars do in stock form, its just safer for a novice driver. I have also noticed that with the EA82T’s modest power (read that no rear wheel spin) that the LSD tends to push the car straight contributing to the condition. I’ve learned to keep at good firm hand on the wheel as the boost hits. I find the turn in under braking well balanced and the switch to power-on understeer smooth and predictable, all and all pretty standard for a production car. If you are looking for racecar tossability you’re going to have to do some tuning. Yep, the power steering does isolate you a bit, but I wouldn’t want a daily driver without it. On the up side, the stiffer springs and shocks on the RX do offer some feedback. I don’t have any issues with the brake pedal feel, seems middle and medium to me, again typical of a production car, longer, softer pedals tend to be safer for the average driver. I do dislike that the front rotors always seem to develop warp after a few sessions of spirited driving… or is it just me being to hard on them?:-\ I think you might be expecting a little much from a stock RX, its not a sports car, just a bit sportier than the basic econobox. Good news is anything is tunable… its just time and money, and the RX is a better starting point that a lot of similar cars. Just my thoughts Gary

Yep should be behind the little "grill" in the lower dash, just left of the radio. On my '87 RX its a pink connecter. Gary

Actually just the opposite (at least in Washington), I’ve never seen anything about “emergency” brakes in the traffic codes, I think modern dual circuit hydraulic systems have that covered (good thing too, have you ever tried to stop the car with the hand brake). In fact all manufactures now call them “parking brakes” and I know the law requires a mechanical parking brake that can hold the vehicle loaded at full GVW up to a certain grade (cant remember). I think the ideal system (for mechanical anyway) would be two non-locking levers for right and left (placed for quick access), and one center locking lever that actuated both of the others (tucked out of the way). I’ve thought about building something like this for my VW dune buggy. Gary

Not sure about two handles being legal... might be. But I would assume you would want to remove the locking button (I think it would be very tricky and possibly quite dangerous it you didn't), and I'm sure the law requires a locking park brake. I could be wrong... its happened before Gary

Thats an old VW dune buggy/baja trick, it works good for them, cant see why it wouldn't work for a Subie. Most of the VW guys have went to hydraulic style turnning brakes, which on the Subie would require a complete re-plumb of the "X" brake circuit. The cable type should work fine with enough leverage (did in the old VW days). Gary Note: wouldn't be legal for road use.

Here's the chart from the '89 service manual. I'm not sure of the cranking speed but my EA82T (RX) with 272,000 miles measures 130-135psi. Gary

Hey Andy Could be cam timing, one or both cams could be off buy a tooth, I’ve never done it but I bet it would still run (just not well). Or like you said, bad rings. Here’s an old school trick to figure out where you are losing compression, do a regular compression check (warmed up, all plugs out, full battery, throttle fully open, crank 3 or 4 times tell pressure stops building), then put about a teaspoon of oil (one good squirt from an oil can) in a cylinder at a time and immediately check again. If the compression goes up its bad rings (oil fills the piston to wall gap), if the compression is unchanged its valves. Just some thoughts Gary

Hey Shawn You probably already know about this place but I’ll post the link anyway, look in the “Conversion Perversion” forum. http://www.shoptalkforums.com/ Great project BTW Gary

Subaru dealer only... but I dont think they are overly expensive. Nobody after market does anything with the WA81/82 trannys because there isn't much market... lots of old Soobs but the trans rarely breaks. Gary

From what I have read and heard about the D/R the RX only is 1.196:1 and all others are 1.592:1. Gary