idosubaru

easy outs suck. if an easy out works on something then it probably would have came out with vice grips or some creative means. whatever you do, don't use an impact method if you really want to take the risk of using one of these. they are very strong, but they are also brittle....think like a concrete block, it can hold tons, but will break if dropped from a very small distance. easy outs are similar in my experience. maybe you can find some that are made with better materials, but the ones i've used from craftsman, sears, and local shops have broken a number of times. and being hard, they don't come out very easy and usually break off with not much material to work with. use a left handed drill bit. they work better than easy outs and don't BREAK OFF. when you deeply imbed an easy out into something it often results in 4 letter words and such.

i've driven an AWD soob in FWD for extended periods of time and experienced no gains in gas mileage. i think the only way you *might*, and this im doubtful of, but the only way i could see you noticing a difference is with more city driving than highway driving...which she wasn't doing much city driving if she got 30 mpg. an AWD running in FWD mode is not like a FWD trans. i didn't design the thing, but the internals of the AWD are still present and there will be more internal resistance than a FWD. and the AWD weighs considerably more as well....heavier transmission, rear drive shaft, rear differential, rear axles, heavier rear hubs, sometimes other things are beafier as well....control arms, struts etc. installing that fuse will make little difference. a FWD auto XT6 can get close to 35 mpg. an AWD XT6 can't get more than 28 mpg stock. i ran my manual AWD XT6 in FWD mode with the rear driveshaft removed and experienced no highway mileage gains. i'm confident of these results as i drove 40,000 miles per year or more during that time and had very consistent stretches of roads to compare. maybe newer trans are different, but that's been my experience.

would it not be easier to just swap the hubs instead of pressing the bearings in and out? front hubs are typically easy to remove assuming the rust on the bolts isn't too bad, it's only a few bolts. heck you could probably even just leave the cv axle attached to it and swap that as well without removing the axle nut.

300 is ludicrous. seal kits should run much cheaper than that. word on the street is that Fel-Pro makes a gasket for the EA82 that you don't need to retorque...saves lots of time. finish the job and drive. no need to get back in the motor again for a retorque. ebay has EA82 python injectors for cheap....i'll probably send mine off unless i find good info on these python guys. definitely replace your throwout and pilot bearings while you're in there. someone on the New Generation Subaru board a few months ago had a mechanic take the motor out and had one of those bearings fail very soon after getting everything back together and was quite pissed about the whole thing. it's cheap, replace it. new/rebuilt HLA's from mitzpah engineering are a good idea as well. like 5 bucks a piece, you can't beat it. you can try to reseal the oil pump and probably be fine but if you really want this car to go another 150,000 then i'd go for a new pump. definitely water pump, timing belts and i'm doing the same thing to my EA82...i'm buying all new timing belt tensioners (http://www.thepartsbin.com has them for 20-30 bucks each). these pullies fail quite often, the bearings seize up and overheat the timing belt and it breaks. you can also replace the bearings on your existing pullies, but sourcing the bearings and pressing them out/in is an annoying process that requires some research and work. if you can press them yourself then that would be nice.

the 4EAT on the XT6 gets the same highway mileage as the AWD manual trans in the XT6. technically i've actually gotten better in my AWD auto than any manuals and i've owned like 10 XT6's. best auto AWD highway mileage was 28.5...never quite gotten to 28 on the manuals...upper 27 range. the reason you wonder...the manuals are geared lower. at 75 the auto is doing 3,000 rpm's while the manual is pushing 4,000. these are really rough numbers, but you get the point. i find it annoying too....going 80 the motor is loud on the manual because the RPM's are so high. manuals have 3.9 gear ratio and the auto's have 3.7. this is all XT6 specific numbers and info.

yes, it's from a turbo XT. i might be willing to trade. i don't know much about EA82's, so i'll wait until i pull the motor and pick up this new block this weekend and see what is what. i'm used to the ER27, there are no differences to contemplate. can you just remove the EGR without any consequences? is there a benefit to doing that? the NA manifold you have will bolt right up to any EA82 block and turbo heads just fine? that thermal efficiency talk is giving me a headache. thermodynamics is annoying.

shat this gets confusing. compression...then turbo/non-turbo cams. someone else mentioned they thought the turbo cams installed on the NA block would offer better gas mileage. i'm just looking for gas mileage. i guess that's a weird request so that's why i'm getting conflicting information. i can always try more than one set up. the NA cams definitely work with the NA block so i guess there's no reason to try the turbo cams on an NA block built for gas mileage. anyone know if they are definitely different? NA block (start with carbed block, switch to SPFI if i don't like the mpg) NA cams turbo heads spider intake thanks kids, this will be fun. hoping to pick the block up this weekend and get started next week.

if you're doing anything engine related like that then pulling the engine will make that much easier and cleaner too. as a matter of fact if the cam case is leaking at all (particularly that o-ring at the corner) then now is a great time to reseal that as well since you can put it on a stand or put the motor on it's side to keep the rocker arms from falling off. doing that in the car is possible but most people find it really annoying as you can't keep the rocker arms on without a glob of grease. then if you bump them while install the cam case they fall off and you start all over. out of the engine this job is much easier. and that lower corner o-ring gets old and is very important for good oil supply as well and only costs 2.13. the cam case sealant is in a tube, so no expensive gasket/sealant their either. but you'll know more once you get a good look. i like http://www.thepartsbin.com for good prices.

pulling the engine is the general consensus. few (if any) will say to pull the transmission. just for rambling..... if it were a speed contest i could have a transmission out before anyone could pull an engine (unless they're allowed to cut wires and hoses and cables...which you're not going to do if you still want to drive the car). transmission come out easier in my oppinion, but that doesn't make it the best way to do it....they go back in trickier. working from underneath the car is so annoying compared to pulling an engine above the hood.....much more annoying to do it that way though so in the end i say go for pulling the engine if you can. transmission comes out super quick, less hoses, electronics and such to deal with....but i've always done the XT6 six cylinder so the engine is stuffed in and less room to work with too so that makes it a tad harder i suppose. only way i'd do it from underneath is if i was swapping auto trans and time was critical. for a clutch swap time shouldn't be critical because you have alot of work to do and should be getting the flywheel turned. you can always pull the motor and trans as an assembly too, done that before. pull them both out, assemble it all on the floor or workbench and install it all back in together if you have an engine lift.

i'd check the cam sprockets again, seeing the marks on them is the best way to do this. t-belts have to be exact, i don't see that happening using the TDC method....i have the FSM and know what it says, but you need to find those cam marks. did you install the cams backwards or something? do you know what the marks look like, they are smallish.

the cheap fix is picking up a used one from a JY. but they already have miles and age on them. i had like 3 go bad in a year or two, all used units. very annoying, but i do drive alot of miles. i had all my ujoints replaced with serviceable (grease fittings) and replaceable ujoints. have to cut the olds ones out and do a little work to get the new ones in, but it is possible. Rockford makes direct replacements for your staked in OEM ujoints. their website lists part numbers for your make/model. i purchased my ujoints from http://www.staugustinefwd.com/, but i think their prices have gone up a bit since i bought mine. if you go one piece then you'll only need 2 instead of 3.

no issues with one piece. i'm with him, if you spend any money on this deal go solid one piece and get replaceable ujoints on the ends that way you're not dealing with problems down the road. the ujoints are already old as nuts.

horsenuts, can't seem to get a consensus here. guess i'll run the carbed block for awhile and see how it does. i have another block and set of turbo heads that i can rebuild if it's a big difference. i'll definitley post results to clarify some. thanks all,

engine/transmission mounts, engine torquing when you gas or decelerate and hitting something. i've heard of engines hitting the hood when engine mounts go out. check bolts - tire lug nuts and axle nuts for tightness. is this an AWD? if so i'd inspect the ujoints of the driveshaft. best to remove and inspect unless you're really good at inspecting them on the car. off the car a bad ujoint will look terribly bad or just feel very "lump" when you move it by hand.

the bolt is on TIGHT. if it's a manual trans put it in gear to keep the crank from turning when you're loosening the bolt. if it's an automatic use the screwdriver mentioned in the flexplate (i like to use a stout socket extension personally) in the access hole under the intake hose where it meets the throttle body. then use a large breaker bar or pipe over your ratchet to break the bolt loose. nothing special, it's just on there really tight. use a breaker bar. a really simple way to do it that requires nothing is to let the socket hang on the crank pulley and then crank the motor over with the starter (turn the key), but make sure the car doesn't start (disconnect the plug wires from the coil pack). the socket will spin around until it hits the motor mount and when it contacts the motor mount the bolt will loosen. make sure the socket is long enough and will contact the motor mount by turning it by hand first. i've gotten this to work everytime i didn't have a breaker bar handy. so long as you're competent and know what you're doing it takes about 19 seconds to get the bolt loose this way.

great! thanks ross! i've got a good source for a known good carbed block so i'd like to install that one but i didn't know anything about CR differences. i've always worked on XT6's, all of them have the same CR so this is all new to me. i'll try and post my results once it's installed. good news, thanks for the reply!

This will be an NA engine (NO TURBO). the car already has the turbo heads, spider intake and ECU, so i'm just trying to decide what block to put in it. someone has an 8.7 carbed block with turbo heads ready to install. i may install the 8.7 and see how it does while i rebuild the other block with 9.0 pistons. any idea if the gas mileage difference would be significant between 8.7, 9.0 and 9.5? are we talking like 0.3 mpg or like 5 mpg? thanks a ton for all the feedback fellers!

ever changed the ATF? might be a good place to start at 80k you're due anyway. with a minor symptom, changing the ATF might help. on the passengers side strut tower there's a shift resistor on some 4EAT's (maybe all, i don't know). i disconnect mine for firmer and quicker shifts. i'd unplug yours to see if it makes any difference in shifting. if your glitch went away after unplugging then maybe that shift resistor is bad. i doubt this is the problem, but since it literally takes like 13 seconds to try it doesn't hurt. better than starting with complicated diagnosis. shift kits bypass this resistor under certain circumstances...unplugging it basically does the same thing except you don't give someone else your money.

the 8.7:1 pistons will get worse gas mileage than 9.0:1 or 9.5:1 compression ratio pistons right? any idea how much difference?

might be picking up an NA EA82 with a carbed block and turbo heads on it. he said it'll be around 11:1 compression ratio. would i have to run high test gasoline with that set up? i'll be running it NA. thanks,

first you need to verify that the pump is indeed flowing fuel...not just making noise. if you had to fix someone else's wiring job i'd wonder what they were trying to fix in the first place? run 12 volts to the pump with the outlet side of the hose disconnected. make sure gas actually comes out of the pump. if that checks out then run the pump (with hoses all attached), but disconnect a fuel line in the engine bay (prior to fuel filter) and see if fuel flows to the engine bay.

might want to check with the NASIOC guys. some of them guys should be quite familiar with the performance of these trans.

if it's OEM subaru gaskets then you need to retorque. yes it sucks but it's best to do it right after doing all that work. i'm not positive but there might be a way to retorque the EA82 bolts without removing the entire cam and rocker arms??? i thought i heard of people using a special socket to reach the hard to get to bolts....but maybe that was a different motor. if you have to remove the cams, best to not apply any sealant to the cam case when you first rebuild. because you'll be taking it right back off again when you go to retorque. then you end up cleaning up all that sealant off the heads and cam case. after retorquing, then seal the cam case.

what he said...pop the trunk and the computer hangs under the rear shelf. can't miss it....a box hanging with a single blinking green LED on it. the LED blinks your codes. finding out what is causing your Check Engine light only requires popping your trunk, that is it.

okay you need to post pictures or email them to me and i'll post them. lots of talk of convertible XT's/XT6's over the years yet noone has ever produced a picture or actually seen one. i saw a convertible looking XT about 10 years ago in maryland. i did not get close enough to tell if it really was a functional convertible or just a rag top over a regular XT...a covering so to speak. go to http://www.xt6.net for XT6 specific information, there will alot of folks very interested to see some convertible picks if you indeed have one.