GeneralDisorder

EA81 and EA82 Hitachi carbs do not share the same bolt pattern and will not swap. It is possible to swap the whole manifold but it will take some work. GD

Sealed is best for automotive applications. Sheilded bearings are typically used in dry environments such as electric motors, etc. GD

You don't need a press for EA wheel bearings. They are 6207 ball bearings - you drift out the old one's with a brass punch and install new one's. No pressing, etc required. You can do them easily on the car without removing the knuckle. Hit up your local bearings supply for 6207-2RS bearings - should be about $8 to $12 each. You need two for each side. GD

EA82 is not a hatch. It's a three door coupe. We make this distinction in our community to avoid confusion as they were produced in the same years. GD

There are cases I've seen where the circuit through the ignition switch and inhibitor switch doesn't carry enough amps to kick out the solenoid hard enough. New battery cables won't solve that problem and a simple voltage drop test doesn't show anything - but installation of a relay for the crank circuit solves the problem forever. I've done half a dozen of these and it always seems to be the automatic's that suffer from this most. I've seen corroded cables from split insulation also. I would say that about 50 percent of the time it's solenoid contacts, 40 percent battery cables, and then there's that last 10 percent where it's the ignition circuit that won't carry enough capacity. GD

We know it's pin #50. Since multiple ECU from running vehicles have been tried - the problem is almost certainly an external ground for the ECU. So why does the ECU control both the power and ground to the pump? All the newer systems only control the power side via the fuel pump relay. This controls both? To what end? Apparently there are not codes present. He still doesn't have a CEL and the previous mechanic surely checked for codes - he's an idiot but he did work for Subaru and surely he knows enough to check that. The problem is.... finding those ground points. FSM doesn't say.... I agree that a ground somewhere leading to the ECU is dirty or disconnected. That is almost certainly the case. The problem is - he doesn't know where all the ground points are located and the FSM isn't helping. I would find out which pins on the ECU are supposed to lead to ground - and check them all. Any that are suspect can be spliced and new ground points added near the ECU. GD

Classic wheel bearing. You may not feel any play in the bearings - you can check but remember to disengage the parking brake when you check since it's on the front calipers. GD

-2RS is a double sealed bearing -2Z or -ZZ is a sheilded bearing and is not sealed. Grease is allowed to move (albeit slowly) from the sheilded bearing to the bearing pocket. Thus sheilded bearings can lose grease and can exchange grease and particulates with the bearing pocket. And there is such things and -RS, and -Z; these bearings have a seal or a sheild on only one side. They are rarely seen in practice because most often they just sell the ZZ or 2RS and tell you to remove one side. I have also bought "open" bearings without seals and then been given -ZZ bearing and told to remove the sheilds and wash out the grease from the bearing GD

Frankly it sounds like some front wheel bearings perhaps. Those are easy - just 6207 ball bearings. Worth a look for sure and I've heard them make serious clicking and growling noises, etc. To check the u-joints - when driving in a straight line - engage the 4WD and see if the noise changes. GD

The Bosch branded reman's are the best I've used apart from the one's from the dealer. I've had really excellent results from them. I occasionally find the Bosch reman's on the Maxima's also. One thing to note about the Maxima alts. Even the cheap remans tend to do fine in an EA Subaru. Remember these alts have 90 amps of capacity and aren't working very hard in a Subaru that came with a 50 amp when it was new. GD

+1 Starter contacts. Dealer sells them for $10. If, after new contacts, it still occurs - you need to add a relay to the crank circuit. You may have a poor connection in the circuit somewhere. A relay will cure the problem forever. GD

Yes it's a direct bolt-in. I have done it. You need to send Delta the 96+ cams for grinding the 1000 cam's though - the RR cams are made from stronger material and have to be finished differently. They can't use the 90 to 95 cams for that grind - has to be one of the RR variants (96 was RR and HLA while '97/'98 was RR and SLA). GD

:eek: Wonder if the bad O2 precipitated the loss of the #4 piston on the last engine.... O2 reads rich and ECU tries like hell to lean it out..... GD

Sounds like the O2 may have got fouled up by all that oil in the exhaust. Blown engines tend to have that deleterious effect on O2 sensors. GD

Yes - EA81 and EA82 alts will cross over. But the better choice is the late 80's Nissan Maxima alternator. 90 amps and bolts right in with a pulley change. GD

It is unlikely to have any axles with reman tags from those places. The previous owner is a member here and bought virtually all his parts from the dealer. It had a brand new Hitachi carb just a couple years back from the dealer... for example. Good chance that the axles are just worn out. I would buy a new set of EMPI axles for it. GD

Are you sure it's not a lifter tick? It can sound like a rod knock if you haven't heard one doing it before. Drain the oil and check for metallic swirl in it. If it looks like metallic pain pen..... probably communist gnomes making weapons in there. GD

You will need the ECU pinout and someone knowledgeable with a multi-meter to effectively test it. GD

The weird part is that it still uses a fuel pump relay for the 12v supply to the pump. And switches it via the relay coil ground as normally seen on any other Subaru. I really don't know why the ECU has the fuel pump ground going into it.... but that's the way it's wired. It may not be switching the ground with a transistor at all - it may just be going to a ground junction that, for whatever reason, the engineer's put inside the ECU. GD

The seal should not be driven all the way in. It should only be flush and it's critical that it be even and that you don't roll the lip. I usually rotate them as I'm inserting them so the lip slides over the crank properly. Having a shop do it would be expensive - since they have to pull the engine to access it. Probably at least $300. GD

Three different ECU's were tried by his mechanic. Same problem. Seems very unlikely that it's the ECU itself. GD

Not correct. '95 was the "faux-Outback" that didn't have the suspension. '96 was a real, correct height Outback. It was the only year for same that had the EJ22 in the 5 speed models. '96 is NOT the same for Legacy vs. Outback. The Outback struts are 2" longer than regular Legacy struts. GD

The rear main's on these engines are tricky to install due to their large size. You probably rolled the lip on the seal when you installed it. Get a new one from the dealer and install it with a 3" ABS pipe cap from Home Depot. GD

I've driven quite a few EA81's with straight pipes. A glass pack will quiet it some. They aren't bad with the cat and resonator and a straight pipe so anything else you add will just make it better (quieter). GD

Generally speaking the ground(s) for the ECU are located on the intake manifold sub-harness to insure that the 5v powered sensors on the manifold have a very tightly controlled ground loop back to the ECU. But I only have experience with SPFI systems (86+ throttle body non-turbo injection) and new stuff from the 90's. I would also be checking for grounds under the dash in/around the fuse panel, steering column, and ECU. GD