NorthWet

I do not know that a threadchaser has any looser fit than a tap, but they are handy to have. They can also clean out the threads of the O2 sensor bung if you ever strip out a sensor while removing.

I'm glad it is not jsut me!!! I blame it on my drink-soaked keyboard. I have pretty much noone to help me, and 10 times as many projects, plus a family, plus having dropped $70k/year in income. Oh, and no garage or even hard surface to work on. Such is life. Get over it and decide what YOU want to do, not what others want to help you do. If it is a hobby and not fun, why are you doing it? I like nothing more than to sit and fiddle with mechanical things. My problem is that the demands of my life make having more than 2 contiguous hours to do so is rare, and I do like to do things on my own leisurely schedule.

Will, the amount of exhaust gas that passes throught the EGR is insignificant from the point of view of "reburning". And with an oxidation catalyst there is absolutely no point in doing any "reburning". The EGR gasses are nowheres near 1000degF when they are brought into the intake manifold. That would mean that the EGR tube should be glowing cherry red or better, would risk melting both the tube and the intake fittings, and would cause ignition of the intake charge in a carb or SPFI system. It would also mean that the EGR passages wouldn't coke up. NOx emissions are very hard to control, and the EGR was the original go-to technology to handle this. With the advent, and advancement, of reduction catalyst technology, EGR is not necessarily needed. As tougher emissions standards get implemented, that old go-to of EGR might bridge the technology gap. So you might see some that have EGR and some that don't.

The EGR gasses enter the intake of a carb'd engine after the mixture is set. It is merely a dilution of the mixture that the carb provides. The EGR in an EFI is after the system decides what amount of fuel to inject. Again, it is merely a dilution of the charge. Removing EGR gasses does not significantly affect the A/F ratio, just how far apart the reactant molecules are away from each other, and how much energy-absorbing "inert" material exists inbetween. A mixture that is lean (excess oxygen) does not burn hotter. In fact, it will burn cooler than a slightly richer than stoich mixture. We perceive it as "hotter" because it burns slower, so it does not reach peak pressures at an efficient time to produce power, so we have to increase the throttle opening to compensate, and the mixture is more likely to still be burning during the exhaust stroke, again sapping power and rejecting more energy as heat to the water jacket and into the exhaust sytem. No significant amount of carbon particulates should be reaching the oil control rings, and they are constantly being washed with filtered oil. Gummed up oil control rings would be caused by degraded oil and/or very worn compression rings allowing hot gases to cook the oil in the oil control rings.

No (practical) connection between combustion chamber and oil supply. Even if it got down into the pan either the pickup screen, the oil pump gears, or the filter would have trapped them. The usual scenario for foreign objects entering the combustion chamber is they may rattle around and ding the piston crown and combustion chamber and then exit out of the exhaust valve and on downstream to pipe (or turbo...). There is no obvious combustion chamber damage (though there is some odd looking stuff in the picture to the left of the valve), and the exhaust valve itself does not appear to have "broken" inwards anyways. I still hold with a badly burned valve.

Different years of the same application either have EGR or don't. The examples that I have seen (and I expect is Calebz's case) are the most electronically controlled examples, the Turbo MPFIs. EGR does not require electronic electronic managment, no more than a carburetor does. EGR just "is". Without electronic management, they jsut setup the carburetor to compensate. EGR exist for one purpose and one purpose only: To reduce peak combustion temperatures that promote formation of oxides of nitrogen.

Nice find. I do have a question, though... Exactly what do you think is the difference??? Unless you add extra tires, you already should have AWD.

Wheel bearings are not a simple task, as is the case on most front-drive cars. It is not extremely difficult, just time consuming and requires a considerable amount of suspension disassembly to do it right. That, and the bearings are not inexpensive ($50 per side was what I paid 10 years a ago.) Don't immediately assume it is wheel bearings. First culprit, given brake condition, is brakes/rotors. Other likely problems would be axle/CV-joint aand/or a loose axle in the hub caused by improper tightening or assembly (the noise is made by the axle splines moving in the hub splines). Ensuring that the washer underneath the axle nut is faced in the proper direction (concave side towards split-conical-washer/hub), tighten the castle axle nut to 145 ft-lbs. Subarus are wonderful in the winter. And spring, and summer, and...

I just scanned my fuse box cover from my 85 GL-10: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=7315 Does this help? And, if so, which fuse is it?

Help us to help you... 92 Loyale, I assume that it is Single Point Fuel Injection (SPFI) rather than carbureted? How about transmission? Manual or automatic? Setting the timing on the SPFI and MPFI engines requires a couple of connectors of be connected... should be a pair of single-wires with green connectors by the wiper motor. This will tell the ECU to quit diddling the timing and hold it at base timing. Idle speed depends on transmission type. Idle adjustment depends on intake type. If you do not have a carb (almost certain), then the idle speed whould not effect the base timing with the green connectors joined. Back to your original problem. An electrical tach bouncing around usually means that there is an erratic electrical signal getting to it, erratic in the sense of voltage fluctuations. I would look first to quality and condition of ignition parts, particularly sparkplugs, wires, rotor and cap. Also, look at coil for general condition and any dirt that might provide a conduction path to ground. You might also check that power grounding points (battery,engine, etc) are in good condition and that your alternator is working properly.

Replace the cam carrier o-ring for sure. The most often recommended material for the camcarrier to head surface seems to be anaerobic sealer. Threebond 1215 is what FSM calls for, but Permatex markets it also. It is pricey stuff: $10-15 for an RTV style tube, plus another $10-15 for prep/activator spray. Thanks Emily.

My guess? Something (pick a reason) caused the valve/seat to "burn", and it just devolved from there. Once the valve head can't make proper contact with a spot on it seat, that part of the valve head will start to overheat and erode. Saw something similar in a motorcycle engine... Beautiful pics!!!

Yes, it is important to we enthusiast who are interested in the mechanical aspects of our vehicles. However, it is arguably unimportant to the great unknowing masses to whom Subaru (or any car maker) wants to sell its products. If it were important to said masses, we wouldn't keep buying vehicles that use a valve drive system that regularly fails and risks engine destruction. Look at the state of car commercials today; what are they selling? Flash, sex-appeal, "safety" and/or transportation. What is under the hood is unimportant; what those big alloy wheels are attached to is unimportant. It is an appliance, and as long as the appliance does its job we should not be concerned with how it does it or what happens when it no longer does. Just take it to the appliance repair shop, or buy a new appliance. The above is not meant to be a "conspiracy theory", just the practical corporate view of things. I have a novel idea: Could the Subaru West folk that were at WCSS7 be convinced to shine some light on this? They KNOW that we are "the choir", and that we will not go buy Hyundais if we know "The Truth".

Just something to rule out: Is your sparkplug socket getting jammed up against the walls of the head casting? On my MPFI heads, this is a real issue, as one of my 2 sparkplug sockets has too thick of a wall to fit into the plug well properly (will go in, but "sticks" once torque is applied). Guess which one I always seem to grab first? Otherwise, I would try the socket and extension on the neighboring plug, memorize the "look" of the angles, and try your PITA plug again.

I wanted to post yesterday after first seeing this thread, but had to work instead of play... Adam is mostly right, and thank you for shining some light on this. The EGR is not there to effect air/fuel ratios or do anything to oxygen or to exhaust backpressure (another totally misunderstood engine concept). The EGR allows combustion products to dilute the intake charge, causing a reduction in the intensity of the combustion process with the intent of reducing PEAK combustion temperatures and pressures. To understand this, think about running 100% oxygen and how strong the combustion process would be, and then think if we only had a tenth as much oxygen as is normally present how weak the combustion would be. Oxides of nitrogen require an extreme amount of energy to form, as do any compounds of nitrogen (think nitroglycerin, nitromethane, ammonium nitrate, etc). This energy level occurs in an engine only during peak combustion temperatures (and pressures), and lowering that peak temp causes fewer NOx molecules to be created. To a certain extent, NOx production is the sign of thermally efficient combustion. EGRs generally are only used at partial throttle, as they muck up drivability at idle, and reduce peak power at full throttle. Recirculation amounts are around 10% of intake charge. So, the electronic engine management uses feedback to keep A/F ratios at a certain level (actually richer than stoichiometric, to provide feedstock for the catalytic converters), and the EGR is not involved. And the ECU has no way of telling if the EGR system is functioning or not: AFAIK, the only ECU input from to the EGR system is whether or not there is a specified resistance value where it thinks the electrical control is for the vacuum control that moves the metering valve. In other words it is 2 steps removed from the EGR flow with no way of monitoring it and can be spoofed by inserting a 20 cent resistor in place of the solenoid. And, by the way, the ECU is pretty primitive in the 80's vehicles, with little processing power to do much beyond keeping up with A/F feedback, and injection and ignition duties in the later models. The CPU chip in the Turbo/MPFI ECUs are basically the same as in an Apple II... So, EGR is a pollution control, good for the environment, not really a concern for the driver/owner as long as it is functioning correctly, and not much of a mystery. And, BTW, several of the Subaru EA82s variants do not even use EGR; they rely on a properly functioning reduction catalyst, I guess. Also, all that talk about compression and rings and oil seemed just way off. Increased compression could cause additional gasses to get past the compression rings and be "blowby", but it won't suck more oil past the oil control rings. And given the heckish conditions of pressure at peak combustion, a little extra static compression is meaningless. And don't even get me started on this whole "exhaust backpressure" thing...

For the novice/casual reader: Edrach's description does not DEFINE the reason why any given generic engine is interference or not, he is just using sparkplug location as a "marker" or "landmark" for telling which Subaru EJ22 casting was used on its interference engine. Identifier, not reason.

Combustion = Fuel, compression, and timed spark... ...which are you missing? If you followed Qman's directions, you should get something more than what you have, unless you are not getting all of the above.

Bearings are made of layers, usually cast (last I heard, which was last Millenium ). The different layers convey different properties to the bearing. I believe that the top layer (not a "coating" in the thin, paint or optical sense) is rich in tin for corrosion resistance. I can see the coolant attacking (etching) the top layer, but I also would imagine that oil contains additives that will mitigate continued damage... once you remove the contaminated oil and get some fresh oil moving across it. The use of an engine flush would still be a good idea, but, again, I would be very cautious of "home remedies" that contain inflammable liquids. If your engine/compartment catches fire (subes leak, and all leaks find their way to the exhaust pipe... ), with a flush you may have some legal recourse, while a home remedy could get you a bill from the fire department and a whole list of legal/financial woes. A fire is unlikely, but is the benefit worth the risk? Just my opinion.

Once is all is said and done with the flushing and neutralizing, use a can of battery acid detector/neutralizer to look for spots that are still "hot" with acid. As others have stated, it is hard to overdo the flushing and neutralizing. Especially the flushing, as the neutralizing process produces salts...

Do you want the extra circumference of the tread? If you just want a wider tire than the 175/75-13, have you considered 185/70-13, which should be approximately the same height/circumference as the 175/75-13.

Did you see any gen2 Brats? Looking for tailights.

Unless you have already checked, your transmission probably just needs its governor valve cleaned. This is an externally accessible assembly, located under the dome on the passnger-side of the tranny above the drive axle shaft. If this valve gets gummed up or its drive gear gets worn, the transmission will not shift properly in "D". There are directions here on how to do this service, or if you can't find them I can help you out... but I have to leave for work right now.

Early Datsuns came with that style of hose (surprise, surprise ), and someone recently posted about datsun restorattion catalogs... Might be worth a look.

I personally would not pour inflammable liquid into my oil pan. This sounds like a recipe for potential disaster. Your father's recommendation sounds like a good start.