GeneralDisorder

I understand the confusion. It gets old after many years of telling people the why's and wherefore's of buying OEM parts. In defense of us that are brief about that sort of thing now - it's because we have covered it before (probably more than once) and a search of the forum would yeild most of that information. Sadly I find that I have to but a LOT of OEM parts. Mostly gaskets and seals but also a few other items like the EA series coils. I get them through a local import parts house that does a really good job of getting OEM parts through other supply chains. On the odd occasion that I actually buy a new one - mostly I just use junkyard coil's since the OEM (ND and Hitachi) coils last virtually forever. I've never had one fail on a car with a matched set, decent wires and properly gapped plugs. It just doesn't happen. GD

Let them total it then buy it for $100 and repair it. I would kill for that to happen to one of mine...... that's payday right there . Having plenty of other cars to drive really makes it hard for them to press you into a settlement. If they try to mess with you - retain a Lawyer for $500 and really stick it to them (damages, legal fees, time and loss of work, etc, etc). I know I would. Probably just the threat of getting a lawyer will raise their offer a whole bunch GD

This is known as "voodoo mechanicing" - basically you are hoping to have more amps availible for the damaged circuit. That is a good clue that it's amps and not voltage that's your problem. Your mechanic is guesing. Here on this board we have LOTS of experience with this problem. Find a mechanic (or do it yourself - it's really simple) to install a relay for the crank cicruit. This WILL fix your problem and it will be the last time/money you spend on this mess. I'm handing you the answer - serving it on the finest silver even - just do what we say and live happily ever after. GD

Sounds like those aftermarket coils burned up the distributor module. Wouldn't be the first time. There's a reason we said to use the correct coil for your distributor. The module's are sensitive to use with non-spec coils. GD

It's got to be more than 160. The stock EJ25 is 165 and with this high-compression setup it's definitely more than that. Conservative estimate I would put it around 180 at least - increase of compression from 9.5:1 to around 11:1 would account for at least 15 HP..... Maybe closer to 200 considering the header, cams, large exhaust, etc. With the torque ground cams it's hard to say what the HP is because the torque is so amazing that it's overpowering - you can't even really wrap the thing up much because it's just wheel-spin city. If we could figure out the idle hunting and tendancy to die after cruising it would be perfect. Something is screwball and I think the OBD-I EJ22 ECU is totally confused with this engine. Might be that it's requireing fueling outside the bounds of the idle maps. We may fix this with MegaSquirt. I know I want to - just depends on his funding level. GD

From what I have seen - none of the pressure sender's will fit under the alt. You might be able to convert to NPT then run a peice of 1/8" NPT pipe straight up out of the hole it's in and put the sender bulb on top. As long as it clears the hood you can do that. But a stainless steel braided hose to get the bulb out on the fenderwall or firewall is just as easy but maybe slightly more expensive. I think I paid about $40 with shipping for a 36" braided hose from summit when I did a similar thing with my lifted EA81 wagon. GD

You can put a T fitting in to run both is what he is saying. Not that leaving the idiot lamp switch out is a problem - if you have a guage then presumably you will actually read it GD

Yeah - that's about the size of it I would say. Plus gas for the two hours of driving GD

So it was the damper spring/PP interferance problem? That was my first thought since I've looked at that problem before and noted the intereferance between the two. Plus Jerry brought it to my attention when I was at his place and got my 5 speed and his kit. Then it came up on the board a while back and it was determined that 85/86 has the compatible damper springs. GD

Likely going to be around $150 plus fluid (two gallons of ATF). Figure about 4 hours and my rate is $35/Hr. Have to get the car up on stands, remove the exhaust, wrestle the tranny out and the new one in place..... etc. An excelent time to do axles or boots if needed since they have to come off the tranny anyway. GD

From experience I can say this would be a VERY bad situation and he would probably know about it. Without the SPFI's pressure regulator keeping them at 21 psi, the SPFI pump's actually put down about 50 psi. This would be thrice-over enough to blow the needle right off the seat and flood the whole engine bay with gasoline. Definitely a bad day. This occured on my truck actually when the mechanical fuel pump developed an issue with it's internal regulator - the carb was spraying fuel from the throttle shafts - all over the hot cast iron intake manifold and exhaust headers..... I would have to say that if he's driving it well enough to track the mileage then it's highly unlikely that he's got an SPFI pump. GD

You don't need a FPR. The stock pumps are great on the Weber. Definitely check the float level. Try the docs over on carbsunlimted.com - should have the spec you need. When did the mileage take the hit or has it always been poor? With my lifted wagon I've found I'm lucky to get over 20 MPG. Part of that is that it has to be driven like you stole it to not get run over. But I'm also running 27" tires. GD

Zombie Thread! .....It lives again! You have to kill the witch doctor that brought it back or it will just keep feeding on the minds of the living Everyone! Quick! Hide your Brains GD

You don't have to locate the sender on the block - you can run a hose or tubing from the block to the sender and locate the sender on the firewall, etc. The threads are either 1/8" NPT or BSPT. Probably NPT. GD

It's not the most fun job - basically a bunch of wallowing around on the ground if you don't have a lift. I highly reccomend investing in an $80 tranny jack from harbor frieght to do any of the Subaru automatic's - they are heavy suckers and awkward to try and lift into place without the right tool. I've done a number of transmission swaps before I got one and I will not willingly go back to bench-pressing Subaru transaxles off my chest and into cars . This is not your typical Honda FWD transverse transmission - these are BIG heavy things. Think RWD GM automatic - about 75% as large as a turbo hydro-matic. Or you can fold some green into my pocket and I'll gladly do the dirty work for you. GD

It's all good - just learn from it and do better with the next version. You are young yet - younger than I was when I first lifted a Subaru. Give this stuff a little more time - patience is key to making your splash in the gene pool. Too much desire for instant gratificiation can snuff you out like a candle. GD

Hhhhmmm - try putting some washers, etc under the nut for the clutch cable to get more adjustment. Could be that the cable needs replaced and has stretched? What about the cable sheath? Secured at both ends properly? If that doesn't do it - take it back apart cause something's wrong. The PP fingers going flat like that is normal when you tighten them down. I always tighten them through the starter hole though - makes fitting the engine up to the tranny easier and faster. GD

Voltage is only half the equation. You need amps too. Somewhere, something isn't happy about giving you enough amps to close the solenoid. Since it's been checked over by a lot of mechanics - I would check the inhibitor switches (clutch pedal on a manual, or the park/neutral switch on an automatic) just to be sure that's not the issue. And if not, install a relay run by the old solenoid wire that gives the solenoid full battery voltage. Here's a recent thread with the same issue on a '95: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=115119 GD

Flywheel with the wrong step? Was it resurfaced? If it's too shallow it would grab too hard and be unable to release even at full travel of the fork..... Did the two just slide together? No forcing involved or drawing up with bolts, etc right? The pressure plate bolts are tight and both of the dowel pins are located beneath holes in the pressure plate right? I've see a pressure plate torqued down with a dowel pin not properly located and holding up the edge of the plate. GD

Is this an automatic or manual? If it's an automatic it will be a 3 speed. I have one from an '87 that was working great when pulled. Your's for the price of a 12 pack of Rolling Rock..... If it's a manual then you are looking at probably a clutch job. Which isn't too bad. I do them for $100 flat rate (plus parts) on the EA's. It's a pull-the-engine part way out job. I can have them done in 3 to 4 hours minus the time to resurface the flywheel. GD

Some of the EA82 disc's will not fit inside the EA81 pressure plate. IIRC it has to be an 85/86 disc with the small, round damper spring assembly. The larger "squarish" damper spring disc's will not fit down in the pressure plate and so cannot be used. The recipe for what you are using is: EA81 225mm flywheel (best way to go since you retain the timing marks and no bell-housing mods) EA81 225mm pressure plate 85/86 EA82 4WD clutch disc EA82 5 speed 4WD T/O (yes it's a bit large but will work) Any Subaru pilot (all the same) The other option is to have the flywheel reground to the EA82 step (.815" instead of .900") and use the EA81 flywheel and any off-the-shelf EA82 4WD clutch kit. GD

Yeah - I'm basically at sea level most of the time. So that could be your problem. You will want to lean it out across the board them - not just in the primaries. And you may have to change the air bleeds as well. I would try a set of 130's in the mains and drop the air corrector by 10 each as well so put your 160 in the main and get a 150 for the secondary air corrector. Try just buying two 130 mains and a 150 AC and seeing where you are at. Half sizes (135, etc) are not usually a big enough change to notice so I would drop a full size on all your jets. That should at least get you close. It's a trial and error game and you can quickly hit that $70 mark unless you have better tuning gear to work with. This is one of the biggest reasons I invested in a Wide Band O2 setup - for tuning carbs as well as my EJ turbo. GD

Go to carbsunlimited.com - the sell them individually. How do you know it's rich? The stock jetting on the kits is usually pretty darn close. My hatch runs stock jetting and I've verified it with a wide-band. It's dead on. GD

That Legacy isn't that good of a deal. Last '91 I bought was $200 and I drove it home plus it had no body damage. It needed one injector replaced which I got for $10 at the junk yard. Those are a dime a dozen around these parts. Just have to watch craigslist and jump on em. I put $800 (including buying it and registering it) into that one - timing belt and water pump, injector, trans flush, and resprayed the hood and fender that were peeling (clear coat failure) and sold it for $1500. I don't touch gen 1 Legacies unless they have a straight body, decent interior, and are under $500. That thing is a mess. Will cost more to fix the body than it's worth. GD