idosubaru

I can't find his new gen to old gen conversion thread - maybe someone else can find it? Nakedbuell is another user here with an EJ suspension under his brat currently, one thread has pictures of it, but I'm not sure there's much information about it.

None of that has any compatibility. All of it requires significant customization and fab work. so it doesn't matter. take your pick. 90's impreza/legacy/forester front and rear are all interchangeable so it's the same geometry with very little differences. baja rear is the same as 00-04 outback and isn't going to be any more advantageous. Gloyale (maybe under a new username, i think his account got screwed up and he changed) was doing an EJ (legacy/impreza) retrofit to an old gen 80's Subaru.....he posted pictures of his progress, find his thread, maybe that will help.

If you cut the one wire to the Duty C solenoid that will force it to "lock" the clutches plates into 4WD. That would be a test - you could depin that pin from the TCU or trans harness and then repin it if you want to be stock. Or just cut it and splice it back together as a test. Or you could just do a simple modification like a few of us have done. That's how you install the "locking switch" on 4EAT's. I've done it a bunch of times. Cut one wire (the duty C wire at the TCU or trans harness passengers rear side of the engine bay). Install a simple on/off switch in the cabin and run one wire from the switch to each wire on the Duty C wire you cut. then you can turn on and off at will. One way will disrupt the wire - "locking" the 4WD. The other way just returns it to normal. Iv'e done it a bunch of times so I can "lock" the 4WD in snow, offroad, mud, or to keep a subaru in bad shape drivable for a little while longer.

Yeah that makes sense to just replace the wires. Just hope that whatever damaged those wires doesn't damage other ones...I'd guess statistics are on your side for that since none of the harness goes through an area that sees motion like the trunk or doors do. Did you do your tests from the ECU connector to the injector or from the ECU to some other plug? If you tested to the injector - I'm saying there's a really easy main harness connector you could test and see if it's on the engine harness or in the body. If it's on the engine that would be a much simpler wire run to repair and you wouldn't have to do the entire vehicle. Just run it from the injector to the main wiring harness plug on the rear passengers side of the engine bay sitting above the transmission.

You'll need a used fuel cap and new oring. New aren't widely available though they were for a short time you could get a "filter kit" for other models that came with a cap that would work, but they're not widely available any more. I have a good cap and new viton oring i can send you for $20 or so, or you could post in the parts wanted section someone else probably has some. I think this oring works: https://www.amazon.com/928-Viton-Ring-Durometer-Round/dp/B0051Y1TUK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Good job, I'm glad you did those tests! That's gotta feel good to know what's going on. The next step you can do to save yourself some work: Disconnect the engine harness connector on the rear passengers side of the engine bay and try to determine if the wiring issue is on the intake manifold wiring harness, or the body side wiring harness. It'll be really easy now that you're all set up to do it. Repeat the same test you just did twice: 1. between the injector and the *engine side* of that large main connector and also 2. between the ECU and the *body side* of that large main connector That will tell you if the issue is bewteen the ECU connectors and engine bay or engine bay and injector. Then you can address your repair to just the problematic section rather than rewire the whole thing. You could also choose points in between to narrow down. The benefit to doing this is that if there's a pinch area or the harness was damaged due to some engine removal many years ago you can find other potentially broken or problematic wires as well. I've pulled conduit apart when tracing stuff like this and found the broke wire along with 2 others that would have been problematic in the future. It's more common around doors and trunks, areas where the wiring is moving back and forth.

You can just test the wiring and save yourself the work of pulling seats and carpeting. I'm just mentioning that I've heard of this happening in XT's before and you're having issues, maybe bewteen the ECU and injector - so it's worth testing. Continuity and resistance, I think you only need to check the two injector wires from the engine bay to the trunk. Pull ECU plugs and injector plugs. If you don't have long leads (who does?!) - I have just run speaker wire or whatever long wires I have available from the engine bay to the trunk. I've even used jumper cables before just as extensions - connect a short piece of wire to two (of the same color) jumper cable clamps, and use that as make shift "probes" to extend your multimeter reach. Remember to pull all your associated connectors when testing. There's nothing under the drivers side seat unless you have an XT6, the XT's have nothing - the ECU wires run under the passengers side.

battery or cables/terminals weak? any check engine lights? fuel cap broken cap tab. replace the cap and oring. you're better off just keeping your OEM pump and replacing the cap and oring on it than buying an aftermarket one. you can preventatively check the cap now for a crack right at the tab that holds it to the base of the fuel pump. or just have a spare cap and oring on hand - I used to keep one in the glove box when i drove these cars. it's common enough it's worth checking if you're worried about it.

Unless you enjoy wrestling in piles of wiring labelling, cutting, splicing...the wiring alone isn't worth it, not even counting the mechanical work. engine, exhaust, turbo, wiring, ECU, and crossmember to clear the turbo pipe unless you're going to custom fab an exhaust around the existing crossmember or cut and weld/fab your own crossmember.

I think the wiring needs tested. Honestly I've been humoring the other suggestions to a degree and just keep repeating the wiring issue thinking it's obvious there's a short and eventually you're going to have to test it - except maybe swapping in another injector - but it seems like we need to know for sure the wiring is good. And if you're having problems this bad, all the time, it shouldn't be intermittent and should test bad somewhere. I would test all the pins from ECU plug to injector plug. Disconnect them and test. I have heard of old XT's having running issues due to the wiring where it runs under the passengers side seat being damaged. I haven't seen it myself so I'm not sure where exactly or what causes it, but I've heard of it a couple of times over the decades on XT's.

What happens if you just swap those injectors - pull #4 out and install the one that worked in your hand? Sounds like the injector or wiring is bad? Check continuity and Resistance from injector connector to ECU connector

What check engine codes are flashing? If the alt failed by overcharging - which the burnt link suggests - it may have damaged some other components as well. Overcharging alt took out my XT6 TCU two years ago, and fusible link and another smaller item or two.

1.8 liter turbo wagon. 85-88 changes are confusing theres a hundred changes on that engine over those years. theyre sometimes hard to look up at parts stores depending on their listings, I’d guess you’re finding that out? NGK plugs and wires are best on Subaru’s. While it is an EA82T, that doesn’t help look up parts. That old gas won’t do you any favors - tank pump and lines. Otherwise I’ve had some old ones that sat fire right up.

If you want help we need to know data and facts. Exactly what happens and a time line. 1. Are there any coolant leaks? Is the radiator fixed? 2. Is the coolant full in the radiator (not the overflow tank) 3. Did you BURP the cooling system? If you didn’t, that’s why it’s overheating. You you need to do that or it’ll keep overheating *if it’s still leaking no amount of burping matters. That’s why I need to know the answers to numbers 1-3. Youve given us random information that almost makes no sense - you said that trying to fix the broken radiator and hose didn’t work...then asked for help Replace the radiator seems the obvious answer. did you do that? we can’t help if we don’t know anything about the car? The thermostat won’t fix it, AC has absolutely nothing to do with the cooling system. Working AC preheats the air in front of the car and makes it more prone to oveheesting if you use the AC. But that’s only because the AC is preheating the outside air before it goes over the radiator. Otherwise the AC and engine cooling are two *totally different and unrelated systems* You’re sending that engine to the grave and it wont be fixable. You can’t overheat engines like that and particularly this engine. That’s the worst Subaru engine to run hot.

Ones that need the rear cradle replaced can have enough rust elsewhere that it’s a huge waste of time. Make sure it’s worth it with that out of the way. Rear support. They’re replaced fairly regularly. swapping a 4 and 6 is a huge undertaking, extracting, labeling trimming the nasty wiring harness because you have to swap the body side wiring and ECU and do some splicing. If the receiving car is an auto you’ll have additional issues.

Nope. You’d buy the parts and fabricate your donkey off. Id just buy a unimog

Yep just block it off. No big deal. I just use an old engine part that’s close to the right fit and cut/grind and drill holes to fit the EGR opening in the head. Use a cut to form gasket or RTV to seal it between the metal and head. Or cut a piece of steel, I’ve done that before too. You can also leave the EGR pipe attached and cut the pipe and weld it closed or bend the pipe over, stuff a metal ball in the pipe and weld it shut. could probably RTV a 50 cent piece or quarter over top and call it good. I prefer to have a flat piece of metal bolted and RTVed in place It is going to get hot but it’s not under any significant combustion pressures so it doesn’t need anything very stout Use whatever you got laying around that’s close and make it work. Or get a piece of metal and drill two holes.

No. They weren’t done right the first time. If you don’t have a good shop then headgaskets and P0420 code (“converter”) might not be worth paying up and working through on a beat car.

Here it's suggested that the distributor and injector firing are related - which is why I would be tempted to swap a distributor - but i've also got spares so it's easy for me. I would think testing the wires from the injector to the ECU as described above, or the distributor is important for injector operation. I think if the igniter (or 'resistor') was bad you wouldn't have any spark. I thought that igniter was just for the ECU to fire the coil and spark?

What we want to test is the wire between the injector *plugs* and ECU *plugs*. I'm weak on electrical but on a very basic level here are two simple tests: 1. place one probe of a multimeter on an injector plug pin and place the other probe at the ECU plug pin for that same wire - and set the multimeter to "Continuity". Most meters simply make an audible beeping noise (if the wire is good) or no noise (if the wire is bad). This means the wire is not completely shorted but doesn't tell us if there's excessive resistance, so the next step is to measure resistance - yes Ohms. 2. with the pins still in the same place - switch the multimeter to "Ohms" and check resistance of the wire. repeat that process for both injector pins of each problematic injector and write down your ohms for each one. The FSM has a detailed sections on which pins to check.

Injectors seem to be problematic - What happens if you test for continuity and resistance from each injector pin to the ECU?

Nah just an ECU. No other separate controller. What check engine codes are showing? If you clear which code(s) come back first? What does the ECU use to time the injector firing? Could the distributor pick up - is that the Hall effect sensor style - be dirty and fuzzy and sending wonky signals? I guess I’m just wasting time guessing but I think I’d install another distributor or test it if possible The distributor is the only sensor directly related to initiating engine timing and firing I believe. Can you test the knock sensor, do you have an FSM or Specs for it and does yours have one? All 88+ XTs have one

if it were me I’d determine immediately if the head gaskets are blown first. But you’re unlikely to be able to do that. We don’t have much info to go on - except that the radiator is broke and you’re asking us what to do. The first time it leaked it ran low on coolant and /or had an air pocket . You can’t just shove the hose on and drive. It needs topped off and air pockets removed (burped). Replace the broken radiator. $80 on Rockauto.com and local chains with online discounts Burp the system. Once you have a leak air is introduced into the system and it’ll overheat until you burp it. You may have “fixed it” by pushing the hose closer but it still overheated due to airpockets rather than the hose/radiator. So it might be possible to “fix it” like you did if you get the air out. But it still sounds like the radiOrr needs replaced in short order Youre playing with a grenade - those headgaskets might be blown or will blow very quickly. If they are then I’d be putting my effort into and EJ22 swap, rather than repair

Great work and thanks for the pictures, very helpful!

XT headlight switches are tricky. I’ve had a bunch apart and there are various issues. Just have to get in there and address as best as you can. The high beams same see if you can adress issues, lube or create a work around. I had one XT where a previous owner had drilled a hole and inserted a wire attached to the internal switch mechanism you could Move to toggle high and low beams Wow. Good job on the fuel injector mess. That’s not easy to guess or track down.