idosubaru

anyone installed one or have pictures yet? for stock motors and daily driving is it better to not have one? should the oil temperature reach a certain temperature to meet it's designed operational temps or is it always better to stay as low as possible? does it affect oil flow at all?

NGK's are excellent plugs, though i'm not familiar with turbo motors. for the non-turbo's, there's no added value in using anything other than NGK's. best bet it to change them frequently...frequent is relative - i drive 40,000 miles a year. with lots of mods and playing with the turbo, going with a different temperature might be advisable, but only with major mods. on a side note i have had very good results with torquemaster plugs, check out their website. mostly due to the high mileage i drive each year. they are expensive, 12.50 a piece last time i purchased a set, and will last the life of the car. i like to run those with magnecor spark plug wires and never think about them again.

AH! always assume it's overheating unless you're positive that gauge is inaccurate. heat is too damaging to mess with. these guys got you on the trail, replace that thermostat. have you drained any coolant lately? it's doubtful, but you could have some air pockets in your cooling system. questions: any coolant loss? any coolant leaks? is your radiator old (possibly clogged)? has it ever been flushed? this should not cause overheating but can easily cause no heat, so i doubt it's your problem but if you're looking for something to tackel - pull your heater hoses out (should have hoses going to your firewall for heat), pull one out and blow it out with a water hose.

i'm tired. straight to the point and to bed: the side tanks are plastic, making them difficult to repair. although they can be replaced (with used ones, can't buy them new of course), i mailed one to a guy in New Zealand. plugging, brazing, soldering, welding....etc is low percentage. someone this summer had a leaky radiator and kept trying to fix it....he blew his head gaskets. once they get green, corroded and old, repairing them becomes marginal at best. don't take your radiator seriously and your head gaskets won't take you seriously. i hated it when i was in college, trying to replace a radiator was not convenient. i went the used route back then, not any more. you will not fit any air suspension to the XT6 without major modifications. if you do, you are either very experienced with custom fabrication and welding, know someone else who is or are willing to put alot of money into the suspension. if you're not concerned about ground clearance, go the coil over route. FWD XT6 and even certain front legacy struts (withe one minor mod) are bolt on replacements. hope you get it, i like 'em. the 4WD rules.

150,000 isn't abnormal, probably about average. but making it 200,000 on a head gasket isn't all that surprising either.

that strut you posted is not for a 4WD - that site is absolutely incorrect. it WILL fit, but it's really for a FWD XT6. if you use FWD XT6 coil overs in the front and back your car will look more like a wedge than it already does...it will *lean* forward because the spring rates aren't made for the 4WD weight, it's made for the FWD. you can cut a coil and a half off the back springs to level it out, but it will set very low. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS because it's a possible safety problem if you don't know what you're doing. the air suspension for the Xt6 is an OEM subaru only product. gee whiz i have about 100 times more things to say that i have time to do it. new struts (AIR STRUTS - those you posted are just plain struts) run about 400 each (or 250 if you look around). get decent used ones and you can do things to them to make them last forever but i'm not about to type it all out. it's really simple, just wordy. generally the air suspension isn't that bad if you just maintain it like anything else. get new o-rings EVERYWHERE (that's like 2 dollars worth of parts) and RECONDITION your air struts and they'll last forever (cleaner, sand paper, paint). or convert to coil overs. the struts you show don't have the tops, bump stops...blah blah blah, they aren't complete, they'll need additional items to work, some of which may come off your existing rear air strut. i like the air suspension personally. i converted once to springs and have another XT6 with springs and i'm getting ready to sell it (because it's a manual) but i'm glad i'm keeping the one with air suspension. but i use the 4WD for off road driving so i want the ground clearance of the air suspension. tires should match - if they are all completely different tread depths that's not a great sign. these transmissions are tough, but mismatching tires can wear the internals down. smell the transmission fluid (particularly for an automatic). see what shape it's in. make sure the diff lock works correctly for a manual transmission. for an auto, have it stopped and pointing up hill with the wheels turned and floor it - see if you can feel the transfer clutch work properly for the 4WD. your tires should slip for just a split second and then the transfer clutch engages and shoots the car forward. engine - as old as it is - expect timing belts, water pump, oil pump resealing i guess unless the dude tells you it's been done recently. look for leaks. particularly the oil pump, head gasket, crank/rear main seals. they require the most work. drive the car a bit and bring it back and park it, leaving it idle for a few minutes.....look under it for oil leaks or coolant leaks. listen for valve tapping (very loud, you can't miss it) or watch the temp gauge. run the a/c on high while yo'ure driving and see how the temp gauge reacts. if it creeps up with the a/c on, might have coolant loss or pressure loss somewhere in the system. be prepared to change your oil OFTEN. these motors do not act as well with infrequent oil changes as other makes. the hydraulic valve last adjusters (HLA's) don't function properly if they get dirty. dirty oil means dirty HLA's. change your oil regularly and you won't have a problem with them (until your oil pump needs resealed, but that's another story). the benefit is that the valves never need (and actually can't be) adjusted. the downfall is the system is more susceptible to poor maintenance. be ready to change oil frequently when you get it, just expect that one of the previous 4 owners didnt' change the oil enough. it'll pay off in the long run. radiator needs to be good. head gasket is old, who knows how well the previous owner(s) took care of this thing....any extra heat on an old headgasket is a bad thing. subaru radiators - look to spend 300-400. DO NOT LOOK FOR AFTERMARKET RADIATORS. please don't waste time on this, i've owned 5 of these things over the past 10 years. i don't feel like replying to a post that someone found some, which i always do - they don't exist. when you find one, it will be 150 dollars, but it's really the 4 cylinder radiator and they don't know what they're talking about. it WILL fit with some minor modifications, but it's smaller. don't waste your time, get either the original subaru XT6 radiator for 300-400 or get a company to make you one for quite a bit more than that. power steering - no big deal. they fail - they just need cleaned internally. most people tell you it needs brushes which are only 15 dollars. really they normally just need cleaned internally, get's dusty in there. if you have close to 200,000 miles, then it will probably need brushes. i've had 3 XT6's with 200,000 miles and only one required new brushes (my current one), the others were fine, just cleaned them once each with electrical contact cleaner. if your pump broke entirely you cna always buy one for 50 bucks, but i see you're pulling it off anyway. good for building your forearms. cv axles, usually a boot or so is torn. i drove 50,000 miles on my last torn FRONT cv boot and my back one has been torn for like 70,000 miles, doesnt' really bother me that much. i drive off road and it doesn't affect them, just stay out of the sand. that's eats they alive. they aren't a big deal though, basically maintenance items. buy a new axle for 65 bucks or just put a used on it or leave it like i do until you're doing something else. brakes are about as problem free as you can get on these things. i've driven 100's of thousands of miles on my Xt6's and i've never replaced anything but brake pads and fluid, that's it. i did just buy new rotors this summer, but that's just because i'm rebuilding much of the car, the old rotors were fine. use 1999 chevy cavalier rotors - they are like 10 bucks instead of 70 dollars and work fine. they are like 1/16th inch thinner and don't have the retainer screws, that aren't needed anyway (they are actually a pain the a!!). check compression - that will give you an indication of the motor internals. the freaking blocks on these subaru motors are rediculous, they will last a very long time. i almost don't want to rebuild mine (for performance) just to see how many miles this mofo will go. compression check only requires removing the spark plugs, that's it. XT6's rule pardon the length, i hope you get this thing.... have fun,

a bad headgasket can still show decent compression readings under certain conditions. the water in the cylinder/around the rings can actually make up for the loss in a minor head gasket leak. seems like the leak down would have showed it though. depends what you want to do with your "extra" motor. if you'd like to keep an extra motor for later or to sell...keep the good one and just replace the head gasket(s) on yours. better to have a good motor than a bad one sitting around. that will also allow you to pull the heads while the motor is in the car. i did EA82 heads this summer, there is ample room in the 4 cylinder motors to do those head gaskets easily and quickly. i'm used to XT6's, the 4 cylinder was awesome, very easy to do. if you swap motors - i'm guessing your motor has similar HLA's for the valves that my XT6 has - i'd assume one of those is frozen or sticky. i just wrote a really long post about addressing them a couple days ago or yesterday or something. maybe you can find it under "lifter noise", "tapping"...or just search my posts, you should be able to find it.

i'd clean up all connections you came close to touching. it could be the bolt you removed, or maybe you bumped something else in there that caused it to start. for instance - my XT6 didn't start. new alternator, battery and wires and terminals. starter was the only thing not new, i assumed that was the problem. so i got out and hit the starter with some random tool, cranked right up. time to rebuild my starter. did that 2 or 3 more times through the week....then it wouldn't start at all and i hadn't rebuilt the starter yet but had an extra in the trunk. i decided to check my grounds and connected my negative terminal of battery to ground before swapping starter parts....car started right up. i ran a heavy gauge wire from negative terminal to ground when i got home and it's been fine since then and i haven't touched the starter yet. i really need to rebuild that freaking thing.

84gl, it's a good idea to use a more descriptive title for many reasons. like "EA82 trouble codes" or "code-alicious".... okay for real, easier for others to sift through and also makes it easier next time you or others want to find it using a search. enjoy

just read that last post - i'd check into the ignition itself, the thing your key goes into. could you have a bad contact in there? i've never really had a problem with those so i'm not sure how to trouble shoot. i think i'd start by giving the starter 12 volts directly. make sure it does indeed turn over. then check battery and connections/ground. that's the order i would go in i think. it would be nice to get it started to narrow it down.

check your grounds. first thing i woud do is attach one end of jumper cable to the NEGATIVE battery terminal and then clamp the other end to a very good ground. on the XT6 there is a ground wire that bolts close to the oil filler cap. i'd try that. you see what i'm saying right? don't actually try to jump the car, just attach one clamp of the jumper cable to the negative terminal and the other end of the clamp to a ground on the motor. you won't use both sides of the jumper cable. of if you have some good electrical wire lying around, just attach it to the negative terminal and a ground. best to have good thick, heavy gauge wire. i've seen this cause the exact problem you're encountering. with a bad ground wire, jumping with a good battery won't start the car. and of course have the battery professionally tested, sounds like one cell could be bad. autozone/advanced and others test batteries for free. check your alternator connections. car should start, but if they are bad that may cause some problems.

you wanted to put the cat in the garage to eat the mouse, then you say you don't want to kill it. essentially the same thing - either way your decision would be the demise of the mouse, wheter by cat, poison or trap. if you're okay with the cat doing it...then tell yourself you're okay with the trap doing it. either way you're putting *something* in the garage to kill the mouse. in a controlled or semi-controlled environment (in a garage or house...er uh a car) they can breed any time of year. there may be non-fatal traps available as well. similar to what they use for skunks and larger animals.

contradict away, i'm trying to track this down. the EA82 spfi motors use the exact same internals as the ER27. same pistons, rings, valves, springs....just more of them. the other EA82 motos, i don't know. but the different EA82 motors are beyond the scope of my question - i'm really wanting to know if the EA81 pistons fit in the ER27. since it's the same set up as the EA82 spfi, i figured that might help since people know more about the EA82 than the ER27. if one of the EA82 motors has different compression, it's likely the later model mpfi EA82 motors - but that's irrelevant to this thread. CCR seemed to think the EA81 pistons would fit, but i don't know that they were 100 percent sure of that.

i know XT6 motors like the back of my hand but i know EA82 motors like the back of YOUR hand, so i may be a little off in details. i've done one EA82 motor and let me tell you, it was very easy. much simpler all the way around than the XT6, which im proficient with by now. i'd personally check out www.thepartsbin.com. that place rules in price and service. i've bought obscure XT6 parts, which noone else has or gets wrong, from these guys and it's always been perfect. super fast service to the maryland area when i order. they are also very inexpensive. i bought a complete set of timing belts, all timing belt pulleys, water pump...all the reseal stuff from these guys for an EA82. the timing pulleys are inexpensive for the EA82, not bad idea to replace them at all. i never did anything but change oil in an EA82 (and that was over 10 years ago) until this summer i helped a dude out with blown headgaskets. i went in not knowing anything about the EA82 and the timing belts were very easy, but it was very similar to the XT6 (much easier though). on the replacement, it's fairly straight forward and the timing belt alignment is easy. i'd recommend getting a set of factory service manuals. or if you have a decent dealer around, they may photo copy the timing belt section for you (i've done this before for friends cars). maybe they'd even let you borrow or rent the thing? sometimes places are nice, sometimes they are not. or maybe someone on the board can give you detailed directions. basic idea is you line up the driver side cam (tick mark on cam sprocket with tic mark in timing cover) when the flywheel mark is lined up (middle of 3 dashes on flywheel with arrow on bellhousing). install the belt, make sure the marks are still lined up. then rotate the crank 360 degrees, bringing the flywheel (or flexplate if you have an auto tranny) mark back to alignment with the arrow on the bellhousing. at this point your drivers side cam which you just put a timing belt on will be pointing DOWN. then line up your passengers side cam at the same time the flywheel is aligned (as described above) and install that belt. the cams are 180 degrees off. that's the basics. you won't need any extra tools. the trickiest part doing this the first time will be loosening the crank pulley bolt most likely. and have plenty of PB Blaster to spary on rusty radiator and water pump pulley bolts if they are rusty. otherwise they shear off . while you're in there, reseal the oil pump, replace the crank and cam seals and replace the water pump and you're good to go for a very long time. with the timing belts off, all of these items are easily accessible. good luck and have fun

correct. the ER27 pistons are the exact same as the EA82 spfi pistons.

what was the problem?

solution - quit dropping those mcdonalds fries between your seats. for real - pull your door panel and the kick panel under the glove box and look for a nest. without the nest, they won't have much reason to return if you scare them off. but then they'll be in the house, so take your pick. a mousetrap on the floor board or under the car (or both) should easily take care of him. i'd try this first, i can't imagine you wouldn't get 'em this way. i like the smoking him out idea as well, sounds cool. what are those old "smoke bombs" kids used to set off in the bathroom in highschool? is it just smoke, maybe that would do it.

forgot to mention - if you do need to address the HLA's directly. post again later - don't necessarily have to replace them. they can be fixed outside the car. you can soak them, disassemble them and clean them up yourself or have someone else rebuild them. i wouldn't drop the mad loot for new ones, they are quite reliable with frequent oil changes and maintenance.

HLA tapping generally is random and comes and goes as it pleases. as it gets worse, it will be constant. but normally temperature, oil level, driving conditions, etc can make it come and go at will, so i wouldn't guess you have any particular issue that can be addressed any differently than under the umbrella of "HLA tapping". here is how i would start (i always have XT6's). your HLA's could easily be dirty and not frozen beyond repair. what i would do in my XT6 and have done multiple times, but i don't recommend this unless you're very confident in what you're doing. i would drain 2 quarts of oil and add 2 quarts of ATF (do less if you have small oil capacity to start with - XT6 uses 5 quarts). i feel perfectly comfortable driving it like this for a week. get it up to operating temperature at least, since the ATF detergents will work better when warm. ATF has a high amount of detergents and can definitely free dirty, stuck lifters. if you don't like what i'm saying, try 1 quart of ATF or a bottle of marvel mystery oil. i've had much better luck with ATF, but know others that have had good results with MMO. i'd say drive for 100 miles like this - but you can drive driving it once around town for 15 miles if you're not comfortable doing it. if it works, great. if not, you can always try it again. if this is your first time doing this, that might be a good idea to ease into this. in general i never add stuff to oil and don't recommend any additives. but i'm confident in this technique for cleaning up the lifters. and it beats pulling the timing belts and cams to get to the HLA's. 9 of my 12 HLA's just turned 200,000 miles yesterday and i don't expect them to tap anytime soon. now - the oil seal. it's probably a good idea to seal your oil pump as well. first thing to do is crawl under the car and thoroughly inspect around the oil pump. really bad seals will show as leakage around the pump. unfortuantely on the XT's and XT6's (and probably most soobs) the crank seal is above the oil pump so it if it leaks it could also get the oil pump very oily. but - in general look for oil around the oil pump to indicate a bad seal. this doesn't tell you too much because a bad seal can cause HLA tapping even without noticing a leak. but if you see something obvious, it's nice to know for sure you need to address that. if you reseal your oil pump be sure to have some gasket sealant ready. when you replace the oil pump to block seal you'll need a small dab of gasket sealant at 6 oclock and 12 oclock where the two halves of the block come together. don't forget this. the two halves of the block mate together behind the oil pump. you'll see a very faint zig-zag pattern where they mesh. a dab of sealant on that zig-zag mating point is required. i know XT6's really good and other soobs not very good, so if something seems out of place that's probably why. good luck and have fun,

anyone have subarubrat email address or point him to this thread? i'll call CCR and post any good...er not so good, information, thanks kids and have fun,

know one knows for sure or where i can find out if they swap? the XT6 uses the 9.5 compression ratio pistons (same as EA82), of this i am sure. i want to use aftermarket EA81 pistons that are forged, 88 grams lighter than stock, with repositioned wrist pins for slightly higher compression. they have valve reliefs in them as well. don't know that i can find that combination in after market ER27 (or EA82) pistons. if there is a supplier of high quality after market forged pistons for ER27 pistons, let me know. thanks and have fun

from searches i've seen EA81 - EA71 comparisons or mention of EA82 pistons in EA81 blocks, but not lots of solid info on the other way around....using EA81 pistons in EA82 or ER27 blocks. i'm looking at aftermarket forged EA81 pistons i'd like to use in the ER27, they have valve reliefs cut into them as well. i could look into aftermarket EA82 pistons - but i'm fairly set on these EA81 pistons unless i see some really solid feedback on something else. thanks, gary gross moderator - http://www.xt6.net 1989 Subaru XT6 AWD Auto w/ High flow converter, dynomax muffler, locking center transfer clutch and rear LSD 1989 Subaru XT6 AWD Manual

can i install EA81 pistons in my ER27? if you know that they will work in the EA82, that's just as good since that has the same pistons as the ER27. is there a good link to the specific differences between EA81 and EA82 blocks - like the pistons?