NorthWet

What type of surface are you on? And, are you moving or standing still? Since there is no center differential on your Brat, the front and rear differentials are locked together and unless one of the wheels can slip the driveline will start to wind up, putting load on the transfer gearset and making it hard for it to disengage.

I'm thinking that that last calculation is a little off. The 22 watts is the total power dissipation for injector and dropping resistor. The dropping resistor itself would dissipate approx 14.75W. Still same conclusion, just slightly lower requirements. Mouser Electronics, Jameco, and a few other electronics houses are also good places to look. Or just grab a resistor pack off of another vehicle... I think Nissan used a similar rating.

Coming through Sunday... sent you a PM.

Propane does have a higher ignition temperature than gasoline, but that in and of itself has no real bearing on detonation. And with flame propogation speed ("slow-/fast-burning"), it is better to have faster-burning. (The slow-burning "high-octane" gas requires more ignition lead in order to optimize where in the power stroke maximum combustion pressure is reached, all the time wasting energy as it burns prior to TDC.) Gasoline is just chock full of not-terribly stable complex carbon bonds (pentane, hexane, heptane, octane) that tend to decompose in the heat and pressure of the endgas, producing molecules that have a lower flash point than the original molecules. If the flash point gets low enough and the endgas temperature gets high enough, spontaneous ignition of the endgas occurs (aka detonation). Propane's advantage regarding detonation resistance is that it does not have complex carbon bonds that can decompose in the endgas after primary ignition has occured. Methane, an even simpler hydrocarbon, has an even higher resistance to endgas detonation (equiv of 120 octane, IIRC). Another advantage to propane is that it has a wider burnable air/fuel-mixture range than does gasoline. Regarding diesels, supercharging allows the engine to be smaller/lighter for a given power output than an NA engine. And diesels operate on "detonation" (well, spontaneous ignition of fuel/air). Their fuel is given a cetane rating rather than an octane rating. The higher the pressure/temperature at the time of injection the better, and the higher the thermal efficiency. Diesels are set to blow black smoke in an attempt to get the most power; it is an attempt to burn every possible oxygen molecule in the cylinder. Supercharging allows much more oxygen to be available to burn, so the engine need not be set to run overrich at max power, improving specific fuel consumption and emissions.

Does the compressor even try to kick on? Have you had someone watch the compressor clutch while someone else turns on the AC? Also, it might help to know if this is factory or dealer installed AC. And, yes, the fuse is on the right-(US passenger-)side strut tower. On my turbo, it is on a bracket mounted on the backside of the tower using the strut studs.

I am reasonably sure that they are physically interchangeable. IIRC, there is a difference in KW between the two, or at least there are 2 versions with significantly different KW.

Glazed?!?! What kind of cra... er, nonsense is that? Rotors can get glazed, but I wouldn't expect that it would make a grinding noise. if the rotors are just glazed you can sand off the offending crud. If they are hot-spotted, they can be turned (as long as they are still within spec). A sudden onset of grinding noise while the pads look fine does not sound quite right. I like Schwabs (at least for tire service), but this makes me wonder. Schucks has rotors for as low as $16 each. Haven't checked NAPA yet, but should be equivalent. My offer still stands. It would take me far longer to drive over than for the job to get done. I'm still hoping to be out in your side of the water this weekend.

Alan, I can help you if you need it. Still got a box or two of jackstands. Brakes aren't that big of a deal as long as you use common sense. New rotors often do cost less than turning, I have never had caliper problems, and the pads are pretty easy to replace.

Sorry for your loss, but I have two less-than-pleasant thoughts: 1) Our 87 t-wagon was "totaled" with just 2 mildly scrunched fenders and hood. If the other person's insurance makes the decision, your car is probably totaled, as they don't care about you as a customer. 2) In most places, unless you were backed-over, if you hit the back end of another vehicle then you bear some of the fault. The reasoning is that if you leave a safe following distance then you will not hit someone even if they unexpectedly stand on the brakes. I agree that as long as your car is fixable/driveable, keep it. If the insurance company "totals" it see how much buyback would be. In our case, it was less of a hassle and expense for the InsCo to let us have the car as part of the settlement. (Buyback would have been about $100.)

I am currently looking at the dead digidash situation. On first blush, it looks like the problem is burning-out of the standard 5-volt regulator IC (7805), and some other issues with overheated solder joints deteriorating. almost everything in there looks like an off-the-shelf electronic part. According to one of the members local to me, he has an FSM that shows the digidash connections and how to test/troubleshoot it. I hope to borrow it in the next week or so. In other words, it might be possible to resurrect EA81 digidashes for little more than a US$0.50 IC and some time spent touching up solder joints.

...(open image-processing software, click "rotate 180", save)...

I've never seen a Chilton's manual that I felt was worth the paper that it was printed on. My personal opinion. Haynes has known problems, and not a very good reputation on this board. The Factory Service Manual (FSM) for any make is the gold standard for any manual, as it is what the Dealer's mechanics use.

No specific information from me. But, ... If all else fails, take the car/CD player to a place that installs stereos, and they can either tell you how to do it or will do it for you. In general, most CD players have a little hole that you either poke with a pin/paperclip, or use a small-bladed screwdriver to crank out the mechanism. The one experience I had with CDs not ejecting was caused by the thickness of the disk apparently being greater than what the player was designed to handle. (Thicknesses do vary.)

I think that the basic problem is that the "computerized" parts systems are not properly setup for Subarus. They get really confused that there are both EA81s and EA82s available in 1985 and next few years. So the counter person really doesn't have a clue unless she/he grabs a book... and how often does that happen? I keep getting EA81 parts given to me for my EA82T. Just got to convince the parts guy that your Hatch has an EA81 in it.

Maximum Gross Vehicle Weight is just that: The maximum allowable weight of vehicle, consumables and cargo. Driver, passsenger, and luggage is already included. Again, it is a never exceed value. *edit - Oh, and the total GVWR (the 3665) is supposed to be reached within the individual axle ratings of 1770 and 1895... can't just throw 4000 lbs on one axle and call it good - end edit*

On Topic: I would strongly suspect that your toe-in/-out is out of spec and needs to be checked. Any other suspension quirks, such as steering wheel vibrations/shaking? What does "redline" on your engine mean to you? Is it the engine speed that you should run at to get best mileage and wear? No, it is the maximum engine speed that the manufacturer says that you COULD run your engine without it being likely to handgrenade on you, but it is not recommended that you do so. The max-pressure/max-load on the tire sidewall is analogous to redline: It is the maximum set of conditions that the tire manufacturer says that this tire will safely handle without failure. In practical terms, it is the maximum amount of weight(mass) that the tire can handle. To support that weight(mass), you need to inflate the tire to that max pressure. If you are running only half of the maximum load, then the tire pressure should be approximately half of the max pressure. The car manufacturer's recommended tire pressures are usually set for how the manufacturer wants the car to ride and handle at that load. This has little to do with what is best or what you would prefer it to be. Example: (IIRC) A 1971 Ford Capri had recommended front tire pressure of 16PSI!!! The prevailing interpretation of this very low pressure was that Ford marketed this car as a "sporty" car, but wanted to keep drivers out of trouble by making it strongly understeer. The car handled 1000% better with tires inflated to around 28-32PSI.

My 90 Legacy Automatic has an interlock solenoid that prevents the key from being removed unless the gear selector is in PARK. There is an override button on the quadrant, and there is also supposed to be something on the solenoid attached to the lock mechanism. That being said, my 90 Turbo Loyale Auto does not seem to have any such interlock.

3M "Yellow Death" Yellow Death was *THE* stuff to use in the 70s and 80s for weatherstrip and trip adhesive. It could be very messy, but was very effective in its day.

Almost impossible to say, as it depends too much on unknown variables. The corrosion would not occur from the antifreeze per se, but rather from a depleted anticorrosion-additive package in the antifreeze, along with contaminants such as acids and salts. If the engine was stored with fresh antifreeze and/or anticorrosion suppliment, then the headgaskets may be pristine. This would be aided by a fresh pre-storage oil change, plus pre-storage cylinder lubrication. In general, headgaskets (and most other gaskets and seals) live longer lives when the engine is regularly run.

Sounds like an exhaust leak. The HLA tick should not be load-related, and am pretty sure that the SPFIs do not have ASVs (whose noise, after all, is really just an exhaust leak). The other possibility for load-related noise is rod bearing. But I would go with the more likely first.

You would have to understand the relationships and politics of the Japanese industrial families/conglomerates to understand this. They do not operate like US auto makers. About the best analogy that I can come up with is NASCAR car owners: Highly competitive, but also highly cooperative.

If the car was driven regularly and frequently, even for short distances, most things should be in pretty decent shape. That driving is a little rough on oil, bearings, and rings, but not too bad on other things.

Might not be Subaru's fault so much as the engine's previous owner. Think about it: What would YOU do if you had only a few hundred miles left before the law told you that you had to replace your perfectly good running engine? I personally would not flog it into the ground, but others might. This is not a good sign on a JDM import engine. Most importers (that I have seen) clean up the engine, often spraying a coat of clear paint all over it to make it look clean and shiney. If your engine looked dirty and disheveled, I would be concerned...

If you want rebuilt, ask CCR. I believe that they do transmissions, too. If used is acceptable, you live in one of the easy places to get JDM engines and transmissions. They are imported used pullout Japanese market units with approx 40000 miles on them. Reasonable prices and, in my experience, decent units. There should be several (maybe a dozen) importers in the Bay area, some in the Berkeley/Emeryville area.

I haven't seen/heard much about the carb and SPFI engines cracking their heads... that seems mostly to be an MPFI-style head thing, and even more specifically on the turbos. So, I wouldn't "borrow trouble" until I pulled the heads off and looked. If it had been sitting for several years, you probably had the headgasket corroding as the antifreeze aged. My guess is that unless it was a spectacular overheating that the headgaskets just gave up and died. In the same vein of sitting around, many of the other gaskets and seals have probably not aged gracefully, including the carburetor gaskets (fuel/vacuum leaks) and the various oil seals that Subaru owners are encouraged to replace for a "reseal".