GeneralDisorder

Both solid lifter. And if my suspicions are correct, then it couldn't happen on a hydro engine as their valves are never out of adjustment such that the valves hang open. GD

I think in this case that can be ruled out. The seat actually looks very nice and my head guys don't even replace them - just the valve itself and lap it in. That's a possibility - this car has had both cat's replaced. In fact they fabricated a whole new J-pipe for them. I'm betting it was from a P0420 but it's hard to say at this point. The EJ22 I worked on did not have any cat problems that I could find. No codes to that effect and no unusual exhaust sounds or lack of power after I did the valve job. GD

Ok - little update. As I suspected it's a burned valve. It's the forward exhaust valve in the #4 cylinder (as it was the last time I found this). About a 10mm section along the edge of one face is missing and the valve is VERY deep in the head compared to the other's. It's obvious that it was quite hot. It has no deposits on it - they were all burned away. Before I removed the head I checked all the valve clearances. They were as follows: (front) .005"/.010/.000"/.010" (rear) The burned valve had no clearance with the cam lobe. Thus it was not in contact with the seat. I'll get a picture in a bit. I noticed one thing right away - the burned valve is closer to the exhaust port exit (and at a more favoreable angle) than it's brother in that same cylinder and the #2 cylinder has both valves about equally distant from the port exit. That might indicate that the burned valve handles a higher volume of exhaust gasses. Having given some thought to the EGR theory - that should actually cause a rich condition because exhaust gasses are inert. The EGR being open will not affect the pusle width of the injector so you would have less intake air for the same amount of fuel. Same basic deal with the brake booster. It takes air from the intake runner but since the injector is down right next to the head the amount of *fuel* doesn't change. This would cause a rich condition not a lean one. So far my theory boils down to two basic factors: 1. The modern DOHC valve train is very robust. Very little wear occurs because you only have two wear points - the cam lobe and the lifter shim. In the case of the EJ22 it had roller rockers and they are similarly light on wear. Throw in modern oil technology and you have a recipe for almost no wear to occur in the valve train. 2. If valve adjustments are not done in a timely manner, the only wear in the system is to the face of the valve and this has the complete opposite effect of wear to the valve train - it causes the lash to close up rather than to enlarge (which is what I'm used to with older engines - EA81's, etc). When it reaches zero the valve hangs open and rapid deterioration results as no heat can transfer to the head through face/seat contact. GD

Unlikely - the 1.6 was not common in the correct bell-housing to fit that car's transmission. It would have had to come from a JDM car or from a late 80's STD model hatch. If they had bought a JDM engine there would be no reason to install an EA71 in place of the EA81 because EA81's are more common and probably cheaper anyway. But I do see your quandry, yes. If you find something near Portland or Salem send me a PM and I'll take a look at it for you. GD

Yep - never replace any of those. Subaru's do not (to my knowledge) have ANY fasteners that are single-use. The only time I replace them is if they are so rusty or pitted that it could comprimise their function. Usually that means exhaust studs and the occasional EA series head stud/bolt. GD

Sweet find. Never seen a set here in the land of RU. GD

Well - that's as good a guess as any. Indeed both of the one's I've seen had EGR and the EGR pipe is located on the #4 exhaust port as well as the EGR valve being located near the #4 intake runner I'll have to think on that one and have a look at the manifold..... GD

STD is below the DL. Even MORE stripped down than the DL and with the EA71 (1.6). That '83 wagon is a GL and it's a 1.8 (EA81) not a 1.6. People don't really know what they have most days. That would be a $500 car here. And you could have your pick. For less than $1k you could have it shipped. Not really a good deal no matter how you look at it for the price being asked. GD

Well - the guy's information is *partially* correct. 1. All EA81's from 85 to 89 do have hydraulic lash adjusters (which is nice - no 15k adjustment). Also '83 and '84 Automatic's got the hydro's. 2. The hydro lifters are not the source of the "more HP" claim. Though it is true that the switch from small intake valve to large intake valve heads did net a whopping 1 HP increase - that change occured in '83 and ALL the EA81's got them - not just the hydro engines. So '80 through '82 EA81's are 73 HP, and '83+ are 74 HP. And actually the solid lifter engines with large valve heads ('83 and '84 Manual transmision's) would be the most powerful since the hydro lifters cause drag on the valve train and reduce the performance. The difference is negligable at the power levels of the EA81 though and wouldn't even be measureable except under lab conditions. 3. Correct - any GL hatch from '82 to '89 will have the EA81 engine. DL's too. STD will have the EA71 (good engine too but 65 HP....). GD

How much are you willing to throw at it? GD

Stock WRX's can be had for $8k to $10k now. And one's with blown engines for around $5k to $6k. It's pretty easy to source an engine for one with everyone yarding them out for EJ257's. I don't have to break my arm to know I wouldn't like it. Lot's of experience with Fail is not something I'm familair with - you are right on that account . True. But a stock WRX can be pushed right up to 300 HP without any concerns of reliability on the part of the engine and the peices to do such performance mods are inexpensive by comparison to an EJ swap into an RX. Plus you get out-of-the-box suspension and brakes that are adequate for such power without touching a thing. GD

The EJ timing belts proved to be so reliable that non-interferance wasn't a priority anymore. When was the last time you heard of one breaking? It's just not something that's a huge problem. The new belts are rated at 105k miles and would likely not be in any danger of breaking till over 150k. They are just that strong. Thus it's just not an issue in practice and there are good reasons to want an interference design from an engineering standpoint. Effeciency and power can both be improved. That said - 188k is still a baby by comparison. These engines typically last well over 300k. GD

They are all EA81 or EA71 (1.6). Only the STD model hatch would have the EA71 or possibly an '80 or '81 GL/DL. You should stick to '82 though '89 GL's and DL's (they will all be EA81 engines). You likely don't want a STD model as they are totally stripped down. And in any case they are fairly rare. You don't want a "three door coupe" which is what they called the EA82 hatchback. It's not the same animal and you don't want one of those. GD

They are great - the best of the EA81 body cars IMO. I will probably own one or two for as long as I can keep them on the road. Your best bet is to buy one from around here (good knews is that they are often very cheap - got mine for $250 needing a clutch cable. NO rust at all). Then just arrange to ship it to you. Should be less than $1k for shipping. Well worth it to have one without any rust at all and still cheap as cars go. GD

The rear suspension isn't that great but no - the car is ok if you just replace everything that totally sucks *most* people will spend more money doing this than they can buy a WRX for. That's just the nature of the RX and other EA82T cars. Can it be done? Sure. But generally speaking if you don't have access to a whole lot of parts and peices and knowledge it's going to take a pretty penny to do it. GD

Have the transmission flushed by a reputable shop first thing - cheap insurance with the 3AT's. The biggest potential for failure on that car is that auto tranny. Flushing it every 30k is a very good idea. Otherwise - about the only thing you have to worry about on the EA81's is the carbs and oil leaks. Wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the pan and valve cover gaskets (only buy them from the dealer), and do the water pump, radiator and heater core hoses. Age is the real factor here not the mileage. 27 years will take it's toll on the rubber stuff and the water pump seals. When (not if) you have carb issues - replace the carb with a Weber 32/36 DGEV. You can get the kits to retro-fit these from Redline (the US distributor of Weber products) for about $300. It will help the performance a *little* and will solve all the stock carb issues that these have. GD

If the ECU is detecting a problem then it's electrical in nature so no amount of cleaning will fix the IAC now. Should be fine till you get back here or just post on the wanted section for a good one. The IAC really only is needed when the engine is cold. GD

Yes - I do own a 22T. And I've owned, wrenched on, or at least driven nearly every Subaru ever made.....I have other qualifications too and I'm pretty handy with electrons. Good luck *building* a FWD transmission. It can be done, but I doubt you will like the price since it's not done in the Subaru community so there's not much (if any) support for such an endevour. I never said it can't be done - I said it's pointless with that much power on a light frame - it can't effectively transmit the power to the ground. Even the Honda guys will tell you that over 250 HP is nearly worthless with FWD. You can't move the power to the ground to benfit from it. It's great that you are enthusiastic and have this ambition, etc - but you would do well to learn from some of us that have been wrenching, modifying, and driving Subaru's since you were gnawing on a fudge-cicle and watching sponge bob. GD

Yeah - pretty much the pedal pivot point is all that's accesible. The cable is dry-lubed and if that is comprimised the best solution is just to replace it for $25 GD

No need - just go get an "inline fuse holder" from the auto parts store - attach one end to the battery and the other to the wire running to the contact in the relay. GD

The stock 22T ECU is garbage if you are going to be modding the engine like that. Just go with a stand alone setup. And if the engine is truely a 91, then you will need a '91 ECU. They changed some stuff in '92 and up 22T's. How are you managing all the electrical if you don't know "crap" about it? A 22T swap has a fair bit of electical - especially going from an OBD-II car to an OBD-I engine and ECU.... just curious. Oh - and you won't be keeping it FWD for long. Properly tuned and with the mods you sugest you could easily be putting down 300 HP - no FWD transmission can handle that nor can it's clutch. You will need to be looking at an AWD turbo transmission swap to get that much power down reliably. GD

They made a lot more than 2600 of these. Don't know where you got that figure.... The RX has the EA82T. The only cure for that weapon of mass destruction is to yank it and put in an EJ. Performance parts? . You're a funny man. Performance parts for that car come in the form of a complete drivetrain swap to EJ series stuff. Pretty much a dead platform. By the time you build it up you might as well have just bought a WRX in the first place. Put the 5k toward a WRX and forget the RX. GD

It's just black Moly grease. A tube should run about $4 or less. GD

It certainly doesn't strike me as the gigantic change these articles report it to be - VVT, a serp-belt, some strange water pump jigery-pokery, a timing chain..... and they stroked it..... big fat deal. This is nothing like the change from EA to EJ. . Reporters and marketing types. They would like you to beleive the whole world was "new and improved" on a yearly basis. I'm sure the same evil marketing tactics were used from EA81 to EA82. Even though we all know the EA82 is just an EA81 with some OHC's clabbered onto the top of the heads in some engineer's spare time. Looks like a whole bunch of extra crap to fail - all for no increase in HP, a slight increase in torque, and a whopping 1 MPG increase. Smoke and mirrors for the masses. And us poor mechanics have to deal with all that electro-mechanical VVT garbage when it fails. Joe public will not like the price of those parts...... GD

The last one I did was an EJ22 ('97 single port) and all EJ22's are SOHC. This new one is an EJ25D which is DOHC. It doesn't seem to make a bit of difference as to DOHC vs. SOHC. *something* is making this happen with #4 and not the other's though. I find it very strange that it's so consistent. Something about that cylinder runs hotter. It's not the heads because the same basic casting is used for both sides so if it were a coolant flow issue it should show up on #1 and #4..... but it doesn't. Obviously when I say "consistent" I mean *when* this problem crops up. There are thousands..... nay - tens of thousands - of these engines on the road that this never occurs on. It's still an unusual failure in the scheme of things but when it *does* happen it seems to be always the #4. Neither of the one's I've seen have had a single head gasket failure. Both have known history from the original owner and in the case of the EJ25D I have here now I can see they are original. The EJ22 also had it's original gaskets in place and they were not blown. GD