GeneralDisorder

Oh how I am trivialized! I remember taking care of quite a few things besides head torque. I recall setting front/rear mains, removing that horribly fretted crank timing sprocket, sealing the oil pump and pan, and setting the timing belt..... among other thing's I'm probably forgetting. And who got the engine to sit down into the cross-member hhhmm? All while finishing a valve job on a '97 Legacy and test driving it. The verbal abuse is the most fun. I still think people will pay me to abuse them in my shop GD

Pulling the engine is much easier than dropping the tranny on a Subaru - especially an EA81. I can have the engine out in less than an hour. You have to figure down-time for the flywheel resurfacing and if you are doing it you should upgrade to the 83+ 225mm clutch setup and flywheel. It's a direct swap - just order a clutch for an '84 and get the right flywheel. GD

Yeah - the EA81's aren't very loud even with no muffler at all. The cherry bomb takes out some of the higher pitches and gives it a nice exhaust note. GD

Sounds like a classic wheel bearing to me. Get yourself some 6207-ZZ-C3's and the seals and knock in a new pair. Ball joints do not cause roaring noises - they can knock, and they will sometimes cause steering slop or the car to steer with the gas pedal. Doesn't sound like your problem at all. GD

If it's slipping then the only adjustment that would make any difference would be to *loosen* the cable - but since the tendancy is not for them to get tighter with age but rather looser anyway - you need a new clutch. Mileage has little to do with it. It's all how it was driven. Low mileage probably indicates an elderly driver or someone very cautious - they tend to ride clutches more trying to go slow or accelerate slowly. In the end they cause accidents due to their inability to keep up with traffic flow and wear out clutches and brakes because they don't understand that what they are doing is detrimental to the mechanical components. GD

You can also look at the push-rods themselves - hydro are steel single-peice units while the solid lifter one's have caps on the ends. GD

Yeah - leaky heater core hose or manifold hose or leaking manifold gaskets would be my first suspect. The only time I've ever heard of an external coolant leak on an EA head gasket was when someone used copper head gaskets. These just don't generally fail in that way. It's possible but experience indicates it's VERY rare - so much so I've never heard of it or seen it. GD

I drove it. It's nuts. Brat's should not have that much power. Very dangerous. Steering under acceleration like that is like trying to steer a jet-boat by dragging and oar alongside . EA81 Suspension < EJ25 Frankenmotor. It will BURY the speedo. I have no idea how fast I was going but I'm sure it was close to triple digits. Something is going to break - I wouldn't be surprised if it frags that transmission on dirt. There's more power than I could even use on my test drive - it's like driving a WRX but without the turbo lag and with a really sketch suspension - feels like a WRX powered sand rail on the freeway GD

Don't get me wrong - they are better than nothing. But *most* of the time I find that the questions I need answered are not part of the "normal" repair procedure. What they lack is accuracy in their wiring diagrams, wire colors, etc. And then the "hard" stuff they cop-out and tell you to take it to a shop. LAME . Without fail I have accomplished all of the tasks they claim I can't accomplish. WITHOUT FAIL. Granted I will not accept defeat and if it means I have to buy a new tool then so be it..... I have been to the dealer for a repair only twice - both times for warantee replacements of "lifetime" seat belts that were freyed . I'm not forking out the $300+ for the parts and I'm sure as heck not doing the labor when SOA is picking up the tab. GD

Likely just needs some lube - I agree. GD

Yes - we are all cheap. I am getting a little less so with age though. Money well-spent vs. poorly spent is the distinction I try to make now. 2.25" (what I meant) will just allow it to breath better after the cat. The stock exhaust is 1-7/8 IIRC. 2.25" is easy to get and will help a little. The header should be left stock for a stock engine as they really aren't much of a restriction and they do well at scavenging. Replace the muffler with a cherry bomb, etc. Makes for a nice exhaust note. GD

Excelent! I'm really glad to hear that you got it fixed and it wasn't neccesary to change the throttle stop. It's nice when we hear back from people on what does/does not work. So many posts end without a resolution . I too have had issues with the IAC (seemingly) and idling too fast/too slow/hunting. Do you have any idea what was wrong with the previous two units? GD

Depends on the year - in any case the front O2 (before the cat) is the only one that matters for mixture control and thus fuel mileage. I use the NTK brand one's (made by NGK spark plugs) and they run about $75 for the EJ front O2's. Being that the car has 240k on it and the exhaust sounds original from what you are saying - if it hasn't been done in the last 100k then it probably needs a new one even without a code - they get slow to respond and cause mixture issues which reduces fuel economy. Tire pressure, etc is also a factor. And a roof rack will grab about 2 MPG on the freeway..... GD

The best way to go is always the factory service manuals. They are not cheap. But I beleive Subaru has a web site setup where you can pay a fee to get online access to the FSM's. I'm not sure if you can order paper copies for a '99. Check with your dealer. I think some of the newer stuff they no longer print but '99 is old enough that they may have produced them. If so you should be able to order a '99 FSM set from your dealer. There is probably 5 or 6 volumes to the set. A Haynes or Chiltons manual is like $20 and that's about what they are worth too. . I wouldn't rely on what they say farther than I could throw one. GD

Jeez! You guys need to check your sensors and tuneup stuff. My last DD EJ (besides my '91 Turbo ) was a '94 GT wagon and got 25 to 27 regularly and 30.5 on freeway trips. My '83 hatch gets 27 around town and 31+ on the freeway and it's got over 260k on it, a low comp. cylinder, a tuned Weber, and I drive it like I stole it . Other than my EJ22T Legacy, I've never had a Subaru that couldn't get at least 25 in town and over 30 on the freeway. My EJ22T get's 16 and runs premium..... and I wouldn't have it any other way GD

I wouldn't worry much about it - all kinds of junk get into bell-housings. Rarely does any of it cause an issue. The back side of the flywheel is a good place for it in the scheme of things - eventually when the peices of it get small enough from rubbing on the (cast steel) flywheel they will fall to the bottom and be just one more peice of debris in there. Just run it. Don't worry about the stuff in there. Most of the Subaru's on the road probably don't have that cover either - they get hard and cooked from engine heat and then when someone removes it (which is odd that they would on an EJ MT since there's no real reason to - it's the access for removing flex-plate bolts on AT's) they break and won't stay in place anymore. GD

I just ordered one of these off Amazon to put in my '83 Hatch. So we'll see just how well they fit an EA81 (should be awesome being only 4" deep). I'm going to probably be putting it where the map pocket is located and putting the pocket where the old two-knob stereo was. Stay tuned for my install pics. GD

The Justy's have a bad tendancy to eat oil pumps and end up with rod knocks. They have that really aweful CTV transmission in the automatic's (avoid like the plauge). Ultimately, if you can find one in really excelent condition that's been run with synthetic and/or has had the oil pump replaced regularly - then they can be an ok choice. Parts availibility is not the best. Ultimately - we all know how much distaste I have for the EA82's - yet I would pick one every day over the Justy. At least with the EA82 you can always put in an EA81 or an EJ. GD

Actually it's metric (5 or 6mm) - 3/16" is probably what you will end up using. They don't sell vacuum hose in 5/32" GD

Frankly it should be closer to 25 unless it's a turbo. Maybe you are due for an O2 sensor, etc? GD

I know someone that uses a 1980's IBM 3000 series mainframe as an industrial label printer for mass-mailing..... he lives in a warehouse along with his mainframe and other stuff he has collected through his junk hoarding proclivities..... Beat that for geek-ness . I know I can't. GD

Sun bleached? Red, green, and black are the only colors I know of from EA Subarus. I don't think you do know what happened. The fusible link box is plastic so unless something is seriously fubar you aren't going to get a short. A "short" is a path to ground. What you probably are seeing is a poor connection between the male/female spade terminals on the box and the link - causeing resistance - which causes heat and eventually burning of the link and possibly melting of the plastic. You have this board - which you obviously didn't consult prior to wiring in a fast blow inline fuse in that location. The fusible links are the only thing that keeps people from burning their cars to the ground on a regular basis - it happens enough without them messing with that stuff. I've seen it happen. If fusible links didn't exist the road would be littered with burned out hulks. You just need to carefully consider what it is you are messing with and how dangerous modifying it might be..... that's all I'm saying. GD

PO changed the driver's door to a manual one and cut the window harness off at the jam . Probably just needs some wires jumped in the harness to complete the circuit to the other windows. This car is a nightmare. And part of the harness is melted from a fire - don't underestimate what may be required to make those windows work. GD

It's a small displacement 4 cylinder - over 2k lbs of car will turn the engine over. When turned over slowly the cylinder compression is of little consequence. That's why they included a parking brake. You aren't supposed to rely on the transmission to keep the car from rolling away. That's bad form. Putting it in gear in *addition* to the parking brake as well as pointing you wheels toward the curb is not a bad idea but the transmission alone is not going to hold it. GD

Yeah - I have one of the early stereo bluetooth decks in my '91 SS. Sucks for taking phone calls but rocks for playing music from my phone. Love that feature. But on the geek side of things - CD's are pretty much outdated. I would give a mechless deck with a sleek install that doesn't use a spacer MORE geek points I'm a former software engineer. You can't out-geek me I assure you . GD