GeneralDisorder

The check engine light indicates a fault - have the codes read and it will, in all likelyhood, point you directly to the problem. Without any conjecture on our part. GD

Only the older Turbo's and the STi use the pull-type clutch. All the NA Subaru's use a push-type that does not require removal of the pivot pin for seperation. The fork pivots on a ball/socket instead. GD

I have no "personal" feelings one way or the other about your engine. I don't "hate" anything that's an inanimate object. Hell - I just built an SPFI EA82 for a board member. It's a machine that does a job. If another machine that does the job better can be procured for less $$ - that's a better machine and a better deal. I have worked on EA's and EJ's and I know what works with them and what doesn't. It's that simple. It's an equation to me - nothing more. You put in $X and you get Y HP and Z reliability factor. The EA82T equation is less cost-effective than the EJ22/25 equation per HP. Simple as that. And if you can't understand a simple cost analysis or you assign some kind of sense of attachement or "feelings" to your engine build - you have already lost me. I don't understand that level of thinking - that is the same type of mentality that my woman uses for buying shoes. I have no use for it. GD

The large white wire in the EA harness plug just ends up crimped back to the main alternator output wire.... usually back about 24" or more inside the harness. The white/red is the charge indicator/field flash wire. GD

Find a local board member that can do them - I do them all the time for around $800 to $1100 - depending on the need for timing belt, seals, clutch, etc that needs doing while the engine is out. The cheapest car is almost always the one you already own. GD

Paraut is one of the OEM manufacturers. If you look at the pump it likely will say Aisin on it. But either way both are Japanese and inter-related brands. A long time ago I bought a Paraut branded pump and it was OEM inside the box. There aren't any aftermarket makers of oil pumps for EA engines that I have ever seen. So if you got an oil pump at all - it's OEM. You may be able to do just the drivers side belt - only thing you can do is try. GD

You'll change your tune. They all do eventually. Even the stubborn and the old. For some it takes a number of years - Turbone ran an EA82T (well - actually like a dozen of them :-p) for half a decade till he finally got tired of breaking things and throwing away assloads of money on trying to make a tractor engine into a hi-po race motor. You just can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Granted - you have some skills. But you don't listen well and you don't have a proper grasp of the engine management required. You are spending inordinate amounts of time on stuff that just doesn't matter and will not get you to your goal. Stop messing with cam-tower o-ring cord, and adjustable cam sprockets and get the thing built so you can blow it up and we can stop hearing about it! GD

Hhhmmm - well the one I have seen where it was the supply hose was causing the steering the "judder" like a take-off with a bad clutch. (Apparently this is a common failure point and if you change the pump I would reccomend you replace that hose also). Power for 1/8 turn then no power - repeating in a cycle. If the pulley was stopping and starting again (didn't notice that with this one) then possibly the pump is bad..... They are very expensive - and earlier pumps are not compatible. They aren't even availible from remanufacturer's that I have seen except as a rebuild-and-return service where they will rebuild your pump and send it back. GD

With the price and rarity of XT6 parts being what they are - I'm sure there would be plenty of interest in 5x100 spacers if they are only 25mm thick. That would make a lot of people very happy. Heck I might buy a set for my daily driver '83 hatch. Would be much easier than converting to 5 lug on an EA81. GD

Excellent! I'll add that to the new document. Any other contributions? GD

Probably not. But are you sure your pump is going out? Usually its the hose from the reservoir to the pump inlet thats letting it suck in air. GD

Nope. Definitely not. GD

Sounds like your trouble started after messing with something in the engine bay - I would pull the drivers side fender and you will see where the harness goes into the engine bay and into the firewall to meet the dash harness. The ECU connectors are on the engine bay side of the harness so I would just replace that. It disconnects from the dash harness near the driver's left foot area. GD

Yes I am making some changes that are overdue. I've done a few more swaps since I wrote it and have changed my methods to make things easier..... Mostly with respect to wiring. GD

Reclock the torsion bars. GD

You probably have a bad driver circuit in your TCU. I would replace the TCU if it fails to recognize the new Duty-C. Would seem the logical and simple solution - either that or there's a wireing issue somewhere and in that case running a new set of wires to the TCU would seem to be the most prudent course. Ruining a new Duty-C by putting constant 12v to it seems counter-productive. That's supposed to be a temporary solution and for diagnostic purposes only. GD

Anything you swap is going to be an EJ engine. Look at all the threads relating to doing an EJ swap into an EA chassis and you will get the idea. The XT6 is the same amount of work as any other EA.... but with some of it's own special quirks. The EG33 (SVX engine) and the EZ30 have both been done I think - both are relatively expensive. Cost for a standard EJ22 swap is usually around $1000 - figure anything you do involveing an H6 is going to be double. I would not be at all surprised to see you spend $2000 to $3000 swapping in a newer engine. GD

Should be interesting. Let us know what you find when you get in there. Pay very close attention to the depth of the cam and crank seals - not just how deep they are but how consistent that depth is around the OD of the seal. Seal life is directly related to how *even* the seal is installed. It must be perfectly perpendicular to the axis of rotation or the seal will not run in a true circle and will have a very short and leaky life. GD

Check for power where it ought not to be. That's what will smoke the ECU. Power where it should be wouldn't be a problem. Power to a ground wire would blow a fuse or burn wireing. What you have is a short from a power lead to a sensor lead, etc. Thus you have 12v on a signal line, etc from a sensor. Pull the ECU connectors and start figuring out which one's should have power, and which one's should have ground, and which one's shouldn't - check all the wires that shouldn't have power with whatever they go to - when you find something disconnect the sensor, etc and see if the problem goes aways - could be a short in a device rather than in the wireing itself. Too bad you aren't closer - this is the kind of problem I live for :-p. I solve stuff like this when no one else can. It's just a matter of patience, consistency, and deductive reasoning. I also have the benefit of having stripped and rewired a dozen or more SPFI harnesses. I know their weaknesses and how they are built. Again I wish I were closer to help you hands-on. GD

Don't forget the filter - could be a leak there also. Probably the cooler lines though. GD

It's a toss-up as to which side wears faster. In the case of my '91 Sport Sedan it was the flywheel side - rivets made a nice groove in the flywheel surface. That's strange about the springs touching the flywheel - never noticed one that showed that type of damage before. If you hadn't owned the car for so long I would have sugested you check the thickness of the flywheel and see if it was surfaced in the past. Hope you had the flyhwheel surfaced in any case and checked the transmissions snout for grooving - those are the two primary causes of the judder. GD

MikeW, Bratsrus1..... it's been done with the SPFI manifold. Benefits really aren't that great. The problems is the heads and their cheesy ports. Too many turns and too much shared between cylinders. And if you are going to run an SPFI manifold - might as well run the SPFI system. Better than most carb setups, dead reliable, plentiful in the yards, and cheap. Carbs have been done to death - MegaSquirt and FI is where it's at. With FI you can run ANY sized throttle body and not be limited by venturi's being oversized for the CFM of the engine and not operating properly at low CFM (idle, progression, etc). There's even a Nissan V6 injector that drops right into the SPFI TB. I am one of the few people on this board that knows as much about carbs (done blow-through and draw-through forced induction, etc) as well as FI (former software engineer). I have lots of experience with both as well as training in hydraulics, compressed gasses, vacuum systems, etc..... FI is far and away the superior solution. Carbs are fine for what they are - but at some point you reach a tiresome stage with them - it's too much bloody work to tune them every time you change some little thing. They don't like it when manifold vacuum goes +..... funny and unexpected things happen with the e-tubes and they are just a huge pile of voodoo and chicken bones. The 1's and 0's of FI are much more tangible and easily manipulated. No funny bendy-screwdrivers required. GD

Sorry - my cat walked on the keyboard..... not kidding. She actually must have run a search and then posted " '1 "..... this probably means something. GD

Ask for a TC over on www.legacycentral.org - should be any number of them around from people doing manual transmission swaps. GD

If the o-ring fits into the groove with interferance like that it will not crush properly. O-rings need room to spread out when they crush. If they don't have it they WILL create a gap that can break bolts and shatter parts if you try to continue compressing them. The fact that the groove holds the o-ring in place is actually a bad sign - the groove is too narrow. I know a thing or two about o-rings. I've been certified by Parker for one thing. Anaerobic flange sealant is FAR superior here. It's designed for exactly this type of job. Close fitting machined flanges - especially aluminium. If you really want an awesome seal - fill in the groove with aluminium epoxy and resurface the whole thing completely flat. And "while we are on the subject" - Red silicone is not OEM. The OEM is a Three-Bond product and is slightly off-white when new and often is a darker grey when aged. If they had Red RTV on them it was resealed at some point. Had they used anaerobic it would not have leaked.... ever. GD