GeneralDisorder

I know - it wasn't ever meant to be pressed like that. I doubt we can use it anyway. A puller probably would break the hub. It's THAT stuck. This one is no joke. My goal is to save his OEM axle at this point. I think heat will be used . GD

Probably due to their supreme rareity there. It's still not common to see them here but was more-so when I was driving mine around. Been a few years. I did get approached on occasion but nothing like what most people here talk about. GD

That is very interesting. It does make sense though - since the EJ was developed as a 2.0 from the beginning. They eventually came to the conclusion that it was going to take a redesign to keep the fuel economy down I suppose... Really cool how he was friendly like that - having obviously never met you. I Wish people were like that in the US..... people here have no time for being friendly and having lunch with someone they just met off the street. Too bad.... GD

Mostly people that get hurt are hurt because they compress the damn springs too much and then the compressing tools slip off or fail. I remove strut tops fairly often without compressing the spring first at all. With the strut assembly removed from the car there is very little compression taking place. They usually "pop" about 2" or less. It's kind of a let-down how little they do when you just zip the nut off with an impact . Disclaimer: No one should actually do this. GD

Sure - zip it off there and make your spacer to fit that pulley. The spacer will be a little shorter than in my pics. GD

Alignment is important. Enough so that Subaru felt alignment dowels were needed between the transmission and engine. Some monkey at a clutch place (that uses bottom-of-the-barrel Korean clutch components) should NOT be the one to second guess the Subaru engineers. I think you have a real complaint that should be brought to the attention of the management there. You should get them to pay you back and pay for the new tranny. Sic your wife on them...... GD

I will work on getting the axle out of that hub - I am going to hit it with some more Yield in a bit..... we shall see. I may leave a few tons of pressure on it all night in the press. See if it gives any by the AM. You have definately taken the award for the "most severely rusted EJ axle/hub splines seen at GD's shop". That thing is rediculously stuck. If I didn't know better I would say you had a visit from the rust-belt gnomes. I'm afriad that enough pressure to get it apart is going to damage the bearings. They were never designed to have to press the axle from the hub. At this point it may fail in the future anyway. Fortunately I can press in new bearings when/if that happens. I would like to save your OEM axle if we can though. I'm pretty skeptical of the remaining life on that bearing given what we have already put it through. I suppose we can just get the torch out and say "to hell" with the bearing..... at least your axle could be saved that way. GD

Yep - you can use that EA81 pulley. That will look great in there! What a nice engine bay! Please post a pic when you get it installed.... GD

That's correct. That's how they are done. Even on the phase-II engines this is still the procedure. GD

You need intake, exhaust, and head gaskets for sure - get them from the daeler. You should probably just get the valve cover gaskets there too - bring the valve cover with you to match them up as there are about 4 or 5 different valve cover configs for the EJ25D. DO NOT REPLACE THE HEAD BOLTS. This is not done on Subaru's unless they are damaged. Adjust the valves!!!!! Can't stress this enough..... if you don't you could be looking at a valve job sooner rather than later. Is this an '96 OBW with a 2.2/manual or a 2.5/automatic? GD

Those early knock sensor are hard to R&R without breaking and were only used for 2 years. You are probably better off in the long run buying a new one. Especially since knock control on that engine is so important to prevent damage. That engine is a known problem in the world of Subaru's and you best be replacing anything that's critical like that knock sensor with a brand new one from the dealership. GD

This is what you need to do: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86901 And if you want it REALLY tight: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=846007&postcount=3 GD

I know what you mean about the GM fuel pumps Ski - I've replaced two of those in-tank truck pumps.... what a pain! I too heeded all the warnings and convinced those folks to go with a dealer pump over aftermarket. One was already replaced by some shop with an aftermarket - only lasted a little over a year. The benefits of the internet and discussion forums is amazing! More people should look before they leap. GD

You don't have to check the module directly - verify power to the coil, and coil resisitance. If you get no pulse from the negative side of the coil with a test light while cranking - you have a bad module. Pretty much as simple as that. A bad module could spark intermittantly, or it could cut out with temperature (I've seen this a couple times). At any rate when the engine stops running - do the pulse test. If you have a steady pulse and a hot spark while cranking - chances are that your timing is off or your problem is not ignition. GD

Lets play "how many acronyms can I get into one post?!" Did you monkey with the IAC? Have you checked the resisance of the CTS against the book spec? Have you reset the TPS per the FSM procedure? GD

Did you mic. out the pump and it's component parts? If you didn't you really don't know for sure..... GD

Not a bit. It evaporates. GD

Personally..... I use aftermarket brake stuff a lot. Mostly due to price as the daeler is rediculously expensive. I buy quality aftermarket rotors and pads for half the price and I haven't had any issues. A BIG part of it is proper installation. Proper grease, proper fitment and operational check, proper fluid that's regularly flushed to rid it of water, proper lug-nut torque to avoid warpage, etc, etc The other big part is how you use your brakes. I compression brake, I don't tail-gate, and generally if I touch the brake pedal it's because I have to actually stop the car. The engine regulates my speed well enough that I rarely have to adjust it with the brakes. I think a lot of people were never taught proper driving techniques - stopping distances (so they tail-gate), not using the left foot in an automatic, letting off the gas pedal to slow the vehicle, downshifting, etc. Most people thing slower = brakes - and that's all the thought they put into it. Thus they get raped at the brake/tire shop every so often. Such is the plight of the ignorant. Being a mechanic I will tell them what they *should* do one time. After that if they want me to keep doing brakes I've got no problem taking their money. A fool's dollar (or even a few hundred of them) spends just the same as any other. GD

I have only theorized about solid lifters on the EA82..... I could make a set but as far as I know no such thing was ever done by Subaru. It would be a real pain in the rump roast to set them - you would have to dissasemble and reassemble the cam tower multiple times to set them up and then there wouldn't be any adjustability unless it was dissasembled again..... but then the EJ25D and later DOHC EJ's use setup a bit like that. I would only consider doing it on a fully rebuilt head with new valves and seats, etc. I no longer own any EA82's (turbo or otherwise) from which to work on such a project..... I likely do not have the time unless someone wanted to drop money on me and parts with which to build them. It would be an experiment at best..... The HLA's on the EA82's are troublesome but it's far from the worst problem they have. Get your's rebuilt by Mizpah, replace the oil pump, mickey-mouse seal, cam tower o-rings, and the relief valve springs. Insure there are no leaks around the pickup tube as well - that can cause aeration of the oil and you will never get them to shut up. As for changing out some of the lifters - it's not ideal but it shouldn't cause any real issues. Last one of these I worked on I got a set of 8 (actually 9) ER27 lifters from a board member, sent them to Mizpah, and installed them along with all new seals and a new oil pump. The ticking is gone as expected. GD

You should do some searches about lifter ticking, tick of death, etc. It's well documented. The solution is often a combination of things - oil supply is critical and its not all about volume or pressure - its at least partially about aerated oil from poor seals, pump cavitation, etc. Ultimately replacing all the seals, the oil pump itself, and all the lifters is often required to stop it in any kind of permanent way. It's not a cheap proposition. The lifters get gummed up and worn. They can be rebuilt but you would be well served to have that done by mizpah precision. Do a search.... GD

I call them like I see them. You shouldn't have such thin skin about it. I'm making a prediction - if you don't think it will come true then that's fine. I've been doing this a while and I do it every day. You get a sense for it after a while. You have to LOOK at stuff that you take apart. Do some research before you just start pulling fasteners off. That means reading - may not be glamorous but if you want to do the job right the first time..... Counter-sunk areas that are round and are surrounding a hole are typically used for o-rings. That should have been pretty obvious when you were applying the sealant. At the very least it should have caused an eyebrow to go up in question..... GD

There hasn't been a whole lot of rhym or reason to the transmission/input shaft bearings I've seen fail. Usually it's somewhere north of 200k but that's not a hard rule. I have one of a 96 OBW here in the garage that's completely shot at 213k. I just did a gear oil change on a '90 with 265k and it was perfectly clean - no metal and a nice golden color. He is pretty sure it was done at 90k for that service at the dealer. He has owned the car since new and it is absolutely the original tranny. That's at *least* 175k on the fluid I drained and there is no indication of any type of failure. I've seen 2nd gear completely destroyed at 118k on a plain L series Legacy. I talked to another member of the forum that rebuilt a 5 speed with around 200k on it and the input shaft bearing was shot - had been making noise since around 165k. All I know is that I've replaced a LOT of them for this problem (at least 8 or 10 now). By comparison the Automatic's are nearly bullet-proof. I have replaced only one of those. Also the older 5 speed D/R transmissions with the added input shaft bearing (split input shaft) at the front of the transmission seem to last basically forever if cared for even a little bit. Subaru 5MT AWD tranny's = At least by comparison to the usual Subaru standard. Too many failures before 200k for me to like this component..... GD

Dealer, junkyard, wanted forum..... etc. GD

You realize you are going to kill this EA82T with your lack of experience and attention to detail don't you? Just saying..... You are not getting proper oil pressure to the lifters - and by the sounds of it probably not to the cams either. Every mile that you drive like this holds the potential for SEVERE damage. Nasty things will happen if you don't stop driving it and fix it immediately. If you hot-tanked the heads and did not remove the HLA's prior to doing so you have potential for oil contamination with solvent, etc. Further if you do not understand the function of an HLA nor how they work or if you even have them..... you have no business tearing apart anything as complex as that engine.... let alone one with so many fatal design flaws that it will shred itself if you look at it cross-eyed. The cam carrier o-rings are very important for proper lifter oil supply - as is the oil pump seals, and the pump itself. If you let them tick for an extended period of time - be prepared to send them out to be rebuilt. You will damage them allowing them to tick like that. If you put any RTV around that passage where the o-ring goes...... I would hate to be you right now. Bits of it are probably all through the lubrication system and it may be easier to just replace the cam towers to insure there's no possibility of oil starvation later. You claim you tore the engine all the way down.... how far did you *really* take it? You split the main case? What did you do in there? I don't beleive you have the experience or knowledge to properly "rebuild" an engine. Just doesn't come through in how you talk or what you seem to know. If you really did that...... my best sugestion for you is to find someone that KNOWS what they are doing to help you take it back apart and do it right. This is not the full extent of what you have done wrong - I just feel it. I have a sense about these things..... GD

The compression increase is better with the SPFI pistons and they are a newer, better design and stronger too. Remember they came from a 90 HP engine designed to run at that high compression. The EA71 pistons came from a 65 HP engine designed to run at lower compression. I would pickup some used one's from a member here - try the wanted forum. Pistons aren't typically a wear item unless scuffed to oblivion. No problem - love talking EA81's. Still my favorite Subaru engine..... GD