GeneralDisorder

The 3AT (3 speed automatic) that would be the obvious choice (since Brat's indeed came stock with these in automatic config) is a big pile of crap. That's one good reason not to. The transmission tunnel sheet metal is physically different and larger on automatics so either the Brat would have to be lifted or have the tunnel beat out or modified to clear the auto..... You would need: 1. Flexplate and torque converter 2. Transmission 3. Rear driveline 4. Rear differential 5. Transmission x-member and front suspension radius rod plates 6. Pedal assembly 7. Shifter assembly and all interior consoles 8. Vacuum system for the modulator..... I'm probably forgetting some stuff since as Ed mentioned this is not a common swap - people go the other way because the automatic's are junk and tend to die. The later 4EAT is electronic and won't work on a car that doesn't have fuel injection as the TCU requires signals from some of the FI sensors like the TPS. Most of those parts other than the tranny and rear diff would need to come from a 4WD automatic EA81 - 81 to 84 wagon/sedan/coupe or 81 to 87 Brat or 81 to 89 Hatchback..... the tranny and diff could come from any 3AT 4WD car including the EA82's made till '94. GD

An '85 Brat does not have a 5 speed stock - never happened. It would be a 4 speed if anything. Or it's already been swapped. Automatic tranny swap would be a nightmare and would ruin the collectible value of the Brat. No one wants an auto in them. Put in a 5 speed D/R - you won't regret that upgrade. GD

I agree - and the fact that you lost spark, had it come back, and then lost it again would tend to rule out timing belt breakage. Thus why I didn't mention that. But easy enough to verify that the driver's side cam is turning when you crank it. GD

Could still be exhaust back-pressure too - that would cause blow-by under heavy load and loss of power, etc. GD

You can trace which pin on the ECU is for the read memory function - just go to my SPFI conversion page and download the PDF factory service manual at the bottom - it has the ECU pin-out for both SPFI and MPFI (I think). The pin is one half of the connector pair - the other half is just a ground wire. You can make a new pair of connectors by just crimping some male/female spades on - one to the ECU read memory pin and another to a ground wire with a ring terminal on the other end and bolted to a conveient ground under the dash. http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html

EA series wheel bearings are standard 6207's (2 per side) availible at any bearing house for about $5 to $10 each. You can get 6207-2RS bearings and have double-sealed wheel bearing assemblies. The seals are about $6 each from most auto parts stores. If you drift out the old bearings - using them to push out the seals - you can usually clean the seals and reinstall unless they are damaged. Typically they are just dirty. If they are still soft and not nicked or damaged - just put them back in. Especially if you use 2RS sealed/pre-greased bearings. GD

It should bolt right in to any of the EA81 body cars - 80 through 83.5 when they switched to the newer pedal. Though if you have a top-mount starter tranny..... you will have issues because the EA81 cables are longer than the EA71 top-mount starter cables. Might not work if you still have the old EA71 and tranny in there...... but a new dealer cable for your '80 pedal assembly will still be much better than the aftermarket. And if you have a *good* welder you can probably reinforce the '80 pedal assembly so it won't fail again. GD

I would get a new cable from the dealer (about $25) and a used pedal assembly from an '84 or newer EA81 - they have an improved cable mount (you have to buy an '84 cable to match). That will solve your problems with the pedal assembly cracking and having to be welded, and your cable length problems as well (dealer cables are much better). Don't forget the cable goes under the steering shaft AND the heater core hoses. GD

Yeah - the carbon can retain heat and cause pre-detonation if there is a lot of it built up in the chambers. You know they made a kit for that right-hand sweeping turn issue right? GD

Stock header (y-pipe), 2" out, straight through glass-pack on the end. GD

That is the ignition amplifier - they are REALLY expensive from the dealer and it's pretty rare to see one fail (I've seen many factory units that work after 250k miles). Your best bet is a used one - sounds very lilkely that this is the problem. GD

Check for an exhaust system blockage - perhaps the catalytic converter has failed or is plugged up. Seems like you have a lot of back-pressure under load - that would cause blow-by and lack of power. Also make sure all the breather hoses are clean and clear as well as the ports in the valve covers, etc. The critical one is the small 1/4" ID hose that shoots off from the driver's side breather line - that is the vacuum break for the system and prevents it from creating too much suction in the PCV system. The ticking could be pinging from the increased cylinder pressure of the exhaust blockage or it could be the timing is advanced too far..... You have a few things to check before you call the engine a lemon. Definitely sounds like there's a problem but I wouldn't call it a boat anchor just yet. GD

Wow! That is really bizzare! I'll have to look into that one for you. I have never heard of that or seen it before either. The speed sensor is obviously working since the ECU is not complaining and the speedo works. This could be related to the possible odometer roll-back we uncovered with the car-fax on that one. They may have dissasembled the cluster and tried to manually flip the odometer wheels back - possibly damaging something in the process. That would be my first guess. I would replace the whole gauge cluster probably - but there are alternatives. If you have GPS that will tell you mileage (probably cumbersome though), or you can mount a 12v hour-meter and track the hours of engine-on-time (which is actually a more accurate way of doing maintenance anyway). I can likely find you a gauge cluster if you want to change it. Other than some screws in weird places it's pretty simple - remove the surround, unbolt the cluster, and bolt the new one in place. If you want me to find you one you can have it for what the yard charges me - I'll consider it a warantee job. I'll swap if for you if you want to take a road trip :-p GD

Ah - I see how you did it. Most people route the cable around to the front, etc. I suppose that will work too though. GD

Technically - only another '99 since that's the 8-bolt phase-I EJ25D. But with a few simple modifications any older 4 bolt tranny will work. You might have to swap the TCU as part of the swap and you will have to insure that the tranny going in has the same final drive ratio as the one that came out - or swap the diff to match. Pretty much the 4EAT tranny's are interchangeable if you remember to swap the diff to match. GD

Why they put them in N/A Foresters? Got me.... I think they were afraid of something that didn't end up being a problem - the Forester and 2.5 RS both got the SOHC EJ25 phase-II one year before the Legacy line. Probably some kind of CYA thing. Mostly it's a turbo-only item. GD

The oil cooler has been used on the EJ's since they were designed - just not on many US models. The first US model (and only one till I think the Forester's) to have the oil cooler was the '91 Turbo Sport Sedan (I own one) - they were dropped from the SS/TTW after the first year. The oil "cooler" is technically an oil-over-coolant heat exhchanger that keeps the oil temp closer to the coolant temp by circulating coolant through that "sandwitch" between the block and filter - it can be installed on any EJ engine if you buy the right part number water pump, the coolant sandwitch and it's associated coolant tubing and hoses. GD

I would imagine a good shop could take a set of EA82 tanks and core it with a dual-row core..... I know the guy I use has talked about having to "recore" stuff - he does a lot of non-automotive. Semi-trucks, equipment, generators, etc. I can ask if someone is really, super intersted in having one built. The cost might not be super-cheap but for something that you now can't buy on the open market..... maybe $200 or so would be worth it. GD

Yes - that looks fine. Not the way I usually do them but looks effective. GD

Replace the EGR valve with one from a Legacy/Impreza (EJ), or one from an SPFI car - that will eliminate that pipe (which is a GIGANTIC vacuum leak) and toss the other valve up in the corner - that's an anti-afterburn valve and you don't need it. No - just cap the manifold ports. The hard line assembly has no supply if you remove the hoses from the manifold ports and cap them. The cable has to be OVER the wheel - that won't work. Try it and you'll understand . GD

Dealer - about $100 for the two driver's side rails and about $75 for the passenger rails. GD

If you find anything in the oil itself then toss the motor in the dumpster . If you really want to look for shavings you need to cut open the oil filter, stretch out the element, and look in the deepest part of the corrugations for metal. Typically I use a clean magnet and then wipe it off onto a white paper towel and inspect closely. Getting the oil filter apart without *creating* a bunch of metal shavings..... I'll leave that up to your imagination. GD

Have you checked the driveline u-joints? The front diff bearings are not serviceable - they are pressed onto the diff carrier and cannot be removed and installed without removeing the diff from the transmission - which requires complete dissasembly. I have never seen these cause any sort of vibration - you can tighten the bearings by threading in the outer race/seal holders but you have to be careful as these also set the front diff R&P clearance. If you were to tighten them (I'm not sure I would even bother - just find another tranny), then you would want to adust them BOTH equally to avoid any massive changes to the R&P setup. At any rate that play is not the cause of your vibration nor is it likely even important to mess with it. The play you are feeling might just be in the stubs themselves and not the bearings - they are seperate entities. GD

Check with a radiator shop - they can "recore" a good metal tank radiator and may be able to build something that's even better than a stock 2 row. Radiator shops are an interesting place with some very interesting people who often have skills that aren't "common" anymore. For about 15 to 20 years now the radiators that have been used by the automotive industry are "throw away" units with plastic tanks and aluminium cores - they cannot be repaired in a cost effective way compared to the price of a new one - but with the older stuff that is not the case. I just had my ORIGINAL EA81 radiator for my '84 wagon gone through - fixed a couple leaks, changed the (broken off) plastic drain plug to a brass pet-cock (soldered in), flushed, cleaned and repainted - $48 out the door. That's less than half the cost of a new one and it's an OEM radiator which runs about $300 from the dealer. Custom aluminium radiators are possible as well and while they may not cool as well as the brass/copper of old they can be built to any specs so can be enlarged to compensate. Also useful to note that radiator shops can do things like - change the inlet/outlet sizes for EJ swaps, change the filler neck size/location, eliminate troublesome plastic drain plugs, and all sorts of other cool and unique things that most people don't know about. Most of them have somone that's skilled at TIG welding also. And the few that are in business still will appreciate your business and make you a great deal because frankly most of them are starving. The shop I use is just a two-man operation - the owner (who has been doing it for 25 years), and a college kid he hires part time. I take them business when I can. GD

I haven't listened to it yet (no sound on this machine), but rod knocks tend to change under load - they will get louder under load, and then when you let off the hammer you get a "decel knock" that changes pitch as the loose rod slaps the crank in a different way..... a startup noise on the EJ25D's is typically piston slap - which is a tiny bit annying but not in any way detrimental. Most of them have it to one degree or another and it doesn't seem to affect them lasting 300k+ just like any other Subaru engine. Rod knocks get *louder* as the engine warms due to the oil thinning out to it's proper SAE viscocity. If the noise goes away (or just gets quieter) with increased engine temp then it's either valve train noise (on hydro lifter engines which your's is not), piston slap, or an accesory item like a t-belt idler, alternator bearing, AC idler, etc. GD