idosubaru

next up is an LSD trade for megasquirt !!!!! ha ha. that wagon is awesome.

not to sound like gloom and doom, but if you're speaking about major rust issues on the rear tubular cross member, whatever that thing is called i suggested quit driving that car as soon as possible. i have an RX that suffered the same fate, large crack/bending due to rust in the rear subframe. the rear wheels caved in and were riding on the body. i have pictures of the car in the for sale forum, look up "RX Turbo" if you want to see scarry pictures of the wheels. the drivers side assembly was not far from becomign completely detached.

you won't notice any difference in gas mileage. all the weight and internal parts associated with the transmission are still there and moving. i've done it on auto's and manuals even to the point of removing the rear driveshaft connected to the trans. not even a "little" difference in my experience. there's a button you'll notice with a drop down menu it says "search" on it. if you want more information this has been asked many times so there's a good amount of discussion about it. as a general question this applies to both newer and older generation but your car is an impreza, this would be considered a "new" generation and impreza specific stuff is in that forum.

2 ft, that's it? just kidding, but i use longer. the 2 footers still require some stank. get it horizontal and jump on it usually will break it free. at least taking to the garage will save your tools. axle nuts have ended the lives of many tools.

i like the comment about coming from a 240, no doubt! the 2.2 will feel like a rocket. if he's looking for speed then the 2.2 and 2.5 are both horrible options. anyone wanting inexpensive power takes a wrong turn buying an NA motor. 165 NA hp isn't much on a large, AWD, heavy vehicle. it's not much on a light vehicle. turbo is the way to go. i'd suggest starting to look at and drive a couple late model 2.2's and go from there. get the features/body style/options you want, late model and low miles. that's my suggestion if you like troublefree. type in "headgasket" if you'd like to see the track record of the 2.5's that would be in your price range.

i don't know about Zep, but the liquid wrench and PB blaster seem about equivalent for the uses i've put them too. both much better than WD40. i have two stuck roll pins on rear axles, quite annoying, i need those axles!

not throwing money away at all. pulling an engine requires time, equipment and space. most people would like to avoid doing that more than once. i just installed an engine in my XT and would hate to have to pull it again for something i could have prevented. i replaced everything, TO bearing, TO bearing clips, pilot bearing, pressure plate and disc. and had the flywheel resurfaced. and the rear main seal. not really that much stuff, clutch kit basically has everything you need clutch related except the TO Bearing clips (different set up if yours is FWD, mine is AWD) and rear main seal. flywheel machined for $30-$60 depending on local rates. if you don't want to replace everything you can check the TO bearing and pilot bearing for play/noise when you remove them. they are usually not too nice on the ones i've pulled. you could just buy new bearings for them too, which would be cheaper if you can install them yourself or the machine shop has good prices.

axle nuts can be very tight. i bought 3/4" drive set just because of axle nuts. i've broke 3 1/2" sockets and breaker bars on axle nuts.

brad, did you swap control arms or get the pins out? if you got the pins out, how?

*** EDIT *** found using the search mods delete?

i actually had a converter "shell" on mine so i guess i would have passed in VA? the main converter is designed to work at a high temperature and so is inefficient at start up (if the exhaust is cold). the pre-converter at the y-pipe is designed to work when cold.

wonder if states have different regulations? i've heard this before and tried to get my XT6 through without a cat, it didn't pass.

i'm not that familiar with 86 models, is that an EA81 or EA82? and by flywheel, you're saying it's leaking where the motor and trans mate together? the oil pump is on the other side...front of the motor on an EA82 so i dont' think a leak at the flywheel would be oil pump related. i would guess rear main seal but i'll wait 'til i find out if this is EA82 or EA81 before saying anything else.

i put a couple gallons in my XT that had been sitting awhile and it started...eventually (lots of other issues). sounds like that ought to get you going. i did what someone else mentioned - pulled the hose at the engine and pumped some into a bucket to get some of the old stuff out.

if you're reusing the tensioner due to failure possibilites then you're also looking at replacing all the timing pulleys for the same reasons. they have bearings that can fail and do the same thing - ruin the belts and valve/pistons. with 100,000 mile change intervals it's a good thing to replace anything as that's a long time to hope it lasts on an interference engine. the good thing is that you can at least inspect the timing pulleys by rolling them. if they feel good and tight and don't spin freely then the grease and bearings inside are good and you can keep it. if the pulley spins freely, noisey or is not tight then it needs replaced as there is no grease left inside. you can also repack the grease yourself or replace just the bearings. that requies some resourcefulness, but i've done it. the pulleys can be upwards of $100 each.

"should" is relative. since most people never change their trans or diff oils, now is probably a good time to change yours if it's never been done. if you got the car used i'd assume it's never been changed as most people don't. so now would be a good time to change and no reason not to use synthetics in your diff or trans. i always use synthetic trans/diff oils. i'd keep an eye on the oil color/clarity after switching over. if it gets discolored you would want to change it sooner than planned.

i wouldn't worry about it. it is more common than other subaru head gaskets, but not gauranteed to happen to yours. there is no way to say "yes it will" or "no it won't". the good news is that you know about, so if you start seeing signs then you need to worry and think of what actions you want to take. if you're attentive the car won't leave you stranded at least.

like mentioned earlier when you turn the key ON (but don't start the engine) the fuel pump should cycle for a couple seconds and then shut off. if it cycles on every 1.5 seconds then the green connectors are likely plugged in and they shouldn't be except for diagnosis or adjusting the timing. once the connectors are verified - are you sure the fuel pump is sending fuel to the engine? have you pulled a hose and verified that when you turn the key on the fuel pump cycles and gas comes out at the engine? might be hard for a mutimeter to read real time fluctuations at the fuel injectors like you said. fuel injectors have a common ground under the intake (close to the thermostat housing, behind it and the power steering pump). and there are also the dropping resistors by the front strut tower that are for the injectors. this could get really confusing so i'll try to keep it short but what year motor and engine exactly did you use? i just looked through the wiring diagrams this weekend for my issues (in the States, don't know if yours is different) and the 1987 and 1988 model year wiring harnesses are quite different. and on another note the waste gate solenoid (for the turbo) is tied into a number of different things, it branches off to the fuel pump relay for sure and some other things. not sure if this could be your issues but sounds suspicious. if you're not getting fuel at the motor when you turn it on or try to start then i'd suspect it is related to this and i can go into more detail later.

the clutch replacement part is very easy and straight forward, make sure you get the clutch alignment tool. with that, it's so easy you start thinking you did it wrong cause it takes about 13 seconds to get it right. the hard part is getting to the clutch. pull motor, transmission or try to slide them apart in the car like mentioned.

don't know if you have an EA81 or EA82. what is good for one person isn't good for everyone. i've found that opening up the exhaust a little gives 1-3 mpg better on all highway trips. the less highway driving you do the less i'd expect to see. i've taken a long highway trip, swapped exhausts on my XT6 and then taken another trip and seen an immediate jump in mpg. but i drive alot (used to drive alot) and mostly highway. i noticed the best improvement by just replacing the stock muffler. i've always used dynomax, i'm sure there are many other choices. i've removed the cat in place of straight pipe and also installed a high flow converter and noticed no difference in these two changes. like jeff said, open the exhaust up too much and you will loose significant low end power which is annoying if you drive up hills or stay in the low RPM range often as the car will want (AT) or need (MT) to downshift to keep speed. i've gone to straight pipe or no cat and just a muffler and that was too much low end loss for the kind of driving i do. this is all on the XT6, same motor as the EA82 with two more cyilnders slapped on.

is it not tapping? you're sure it's knocking? if it's knocking and not the HLA's then it's not likely that a cam swap will fix the problem. you can pull the valve cover and turn the motor over by hand to make sure all the cam lobes and such are working fine. if you need to replace the cam, there are no cam bearings, you'd have to replace the entire cam assembly. the cam rides on bearing housings built into the cam case, which is just a machined surface with oil ports.

the light duty cooler will be more than adequate. the radiator side tank is a terrible excuse for ATF cooling so don't let the label "light duty" fool you into thinking it doesn't do much. if you are racing or towing and subjecting the motor to abnormal useage *maybe* a larger one would be in order, but even in that case a light duty would be fine. oil coolers are a good option for turbo vehicles, but i'm not very experienced with those. use the recommended standard ATF unless you're having some transmission issues you're concerned about. Redline is a popular aftermarket ATF option. i know some people on here running it.

i will say that doesn't look like the stock hose. that looks like auto store ATF or fuel line hose. the stock hose has 90 degree bends in it i believe. pull it and have a look if you're curious.

the 1987 XT and 1988 XT wiring diagrams are different. the main sensor difference is the 87 XT AAV goes to ground and the same side goes to pin out #59 on the ECU in 1988. i tried mocking that up and inserting a pin for the 1988 ECU to work but it still didn't work. there are other minor differences like no EGR on the 1988 and no waste gate on the non-turbo motor and then some definite differences in routing between the engine and ECU but the rest of the ECU pinouts are quite close. but i'm going to assume this is too much to make an ECU swap feasible. and hope, however doubtful i actually am, that a 1987 ECU might run this thing. Also - the 1988 FSM lists NO knock sensor for the XT 4 cylinder. but it does list a knock sensor for the 1987 XT 4 cylinder. strange indeed. i thought all XT's 1988 and up had knock sensors. i'm going to assume from this that i need a 1987 ECU.

the canister has a vent/drain hose at the base, i would assume this is it. there's a rubber fitted end cap sort of thing, if it's part of that then it doesn't connect to anything. your car has a few vent orifices, you normally don't see them but when you do it's always like "what the heck is that and why didn't someone plug it in right!!!". i'd guess it's just how it's supposed to be. check the bottom of the can to be sure.