GeneralDisorder

Harbor Frieght makes a kit for "FWD bearing service" or something along those lines. It was like $80. It's basically a cheap version of the hub-tamer and I've used it several times to do EJ front wheel bearings. With a decent 1/2" impact and the addition of a two-jaw puller to remove the race from the hub once dissasembled it works quite well. GD

How many 4 speed D/R transmission's have you owned? I've lost count on my end. The donut on the pivot of the shifter usually does need to be replaced, but that's not the "problem" area for most of them. The shift rod and sleeve looseness problem has been around since before I became a member here. Many articles and pictures of it have been done - it's VERY well known and documented. Many different methods have been tried to eliminate it. So far I've had the most success by threading the holes. Replacing the bushings and the pivot donut are obvious and we have all done that as well. If it were that simple no one would even be talking about it on here. GD

I'm partial to my own garage. I do side work on occasion and I've been known to "assist" or lend some garage space now and then. I'm very particular about the parts I will use and how the job is done. I'm not a "shop" and I don't treat people like customer's - if your car is here it's because you're a friend. And that's just how I like it. GD

The hub probably wasn't fully seated in the bearings. That's on the guy that pressed them in. According to Subaru you are supposed to check the location of the hub after pressing it into the bearings. Squeeking is not good. They shouldn't make any noise. Sounds like something still isn't right. GD

That is a completely different pump, but they are also noisy. It's a solenoid style pump so they are naturally going to make a rapid clicking noise. Sounds a bit like a helicopter. GD

Well - you offroad with what you can afford - I get that. But having some of these things allows more fun with less stress. Such as having a AAA membership in case it's just not going to drive home by itself. Without a doubt the most important peices of equipment I have is my cell phone/CB and my AAA card . Knowing what air pressure gives you a decent contact patch costs nothing. It's worth the few minutes it takes. GD

The SPFI pumps tend to make a whirring noise when running. It's pretty much normal. Most of them do that. They can fail but it's rare. Mostly they either last till the end of the car or in some parts of the country folks have problems with the surge pot on the end rusting out if exposed to too much salt. They are also VERY expensive for a direct-fit replacement. If you have to replace it there are a number of posts about some Ford F-150 pumps that will work as an alternative. GD

One thing I think is essential is knowing what tire pressure you need to be at to acheive a proper off-road contact patch. It's much lower than you think. With the light weight of a Subaru you have to go pretty low to get decent contact. You can check it by spray painting the tread while the wheel is in the air and letting it down on a bit of butcher paper, etc. Test it at full pressure, then lower it to about 15 and check it again. You want about 4x to 5x the contact patch that you had when fully aired-up. Most likely that will mean about 7 to 10 lbs of air pressure per tire. Carry a full-sized spare of course. As well as at least a tire repair kit (the sticky string's and the tools), and an inflation pump. Both are cheap. GD

No, and they are more complex electrically. Though an EJ22 harness could run one with some modifications. They have head gasket issues at least up till the 2005's or so and evidence sugests that it may not be fixed yet - they just upgraded the head gaskets again for 2010. Early 2.5's suffer from piston slap and higher than normal rod bearing failure rates. GD

Not on EA81's - the thermostat is on the manifold so you only have to drain out enough to get the level below the thermostat housing. GD

I've never had that happen but in the rust belt I've heard of such things from other members - you will likely have to remove the MC and either replace it or drill that bleeder out. I would probably just go buy a new MC or get a used one from the JY. IIRC, the MC's aren't that expensive brand new. GD

Axle joint breakage is a function of angle AND speed. The steeper the angle they are at, the slower your can safely spin them without failure. My guess (and my experience is the same) is that you are breaking them when the suspension is hanging at full downward articulation - possibly with the wheel free-spinning in the air? This is partially a problem with the way you are driving it - don't spin the wheels real fast like that when one is hanging down - it's doesn't usually help anyway and often just digs holes. 10% wheel-spin gives the best traction. The other thing that can help is to add limiting straps to keep the suspension from dropping down so far. This really doesn't hurt your off-road much since if the wheel is hanging down like that there is no weight on it and it really can't propel you forward anyway - no weight = no traction. The EA82 cups help with over-extension - I've had problems with the joints actually pulling so far out of the cup that they walk over the retaining ring and in the process split the cup open. The EA82 cups will allow farther downward travel safely. You may have broken your set with EA82 cups using the welded rear and are now having problems with over-extension because you aren't using the right cups anymore. DO NOT drive on dry-pavement with a welded rear, both rear axles in place, and huge tires. You will break the axles every time if you make even a mild turn into a driveway, etc. This is simply a lose situation - just don't do it. No matter how it's setup the axles aren't strong enough to handle that kind of abuse. GD

You need to do a full system bleed - starting with the master cylinder first and working your way in from the farthest point in the system. The procedure is MC, left-rear, right front, right rear, left front. GD

Not at all common - I wouldn't even consider rebuilding it with used transmissions being likely cheaper than just the ring/pinion set. GD

I use a strap wrench - they are about $25 at home depot. Go to the plumbing section - look for the Rigid tools. They make a strap wrench with a soft woven nylon strap. They work quite well for stuff like this - also stubborn oil filters, etc. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=strap+wrench&cid=14993230865432261642&sa=title#p As a last resort if the strap wrench is slipping too much you can move up to a chain wrench and wrap the pulley in an old section of belt. There isn't much that you can't turn with a chain wrench, a cheater pipe, and a torch . Useful to own. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=chain+wrench&oe=UTF-8&cid=17671462340384902247&sa=title#p GD

Hey! I didn't know they had jacking holes. Nice. I've never had one really stuck though - usually a tap with a rubber mallet near the edge of the rotor will pop them off for me. GD

That's a good point - they sell them individually or as a set with the gasket. The thermostat itself is the same for EA or EJ so all dealers carry them. The gasket they may not have depending on the dealer. But they should be able to get it within a work day. GD

Make sure that you routed the cable under the steering shaft and the heater core hoses or it will wear out prematurely. GD

Replace the thermostat with one from the dealer and see if anything changes. Could be the theremostat - that's the first thing to check. GD

I'm sure it will be fine. I've never had a problem with the stock fuel pump's though for Weber's so I've never used one. 6 amps is nothing - the stock wireing will run that. Weber's like about 5 psi so you shouldn't need a regulator. GD

22T's are rare and you run the same risks as the WRX swap - same amount of work really. They aren't much different - just a little less HP stock but it would be silly not to add a little larger turbo, intercooler, etc - then you are at or over the HP of the WRX engine. The 22T is larger and potentially more powerful. The regular 22 is a good engine choice - the 5 speed D/R can handle about that much power. More power and you will be looking for replacement's often. The 4 speed is junk and should be used as a boat anchor - they aren't even good with the stock engine. It's still a lot of work. The 5 speed required customized linkage and tranmission cross-member, and then you need the adaptor and drilled flywheel plus all the wireing, etc. My friend figures that he has spent over $1000 in parts to do this swap. Probably closer to $1500 to $2000. When you figure all the costs it adds up - little things get you like FI hoses, gaskets, maintenance items for the used engine, etc. It can be done cheaper for sure - but either that means you have a ton of parts on hand like me and some other members, or you have done it completely ghetto style and it won't be anything to be proud of let alone fun to drive or work on. GD

No need to mess with the axle nut - the disc is clamped in place between the wheel and the hub via the lug nuts. It should slide right off the lug nuts with the wheel/caliper/bracket removed. If it won't move then usually a good smack with a mallet will dislodge them. GD

A WRX turbo will absolutely destroy any of the EA transmissions - that's close to 3x the HP and more than 3x the torque. Hell - the early WRX transmissions couldn't handle it. With the light weight of the Brat you definitely at least want a WRX turbo 5 speed to go with it. There are no sensor's or electronics of any kind with the AWD 5 speed's - even the WRX 5 speed's. The 6 speed's do not have wheel sensor's either - they do have a DCCD but you can get aftermarket controller's for that. Of course the cost of the 6 speed's is typically around $4,000 to $6,000..... You will need a LOT of modfication for a WRX transplant. Off the top of my head: Engine Transmission Rear diff Custom 25 spline axles Wireing harness Pedal assembly + Clutch MC Exhaust + modifications to the engine cross member to clear the up-pipe (or replace with EA81T engine cross member (rare) Fuel pump and rubber lines upgraded to FI hose Surge tank or find Turbo Brat tank (very rare) Custom radiator/hose/fan setup. There is likely more that I'm forgetting..... This is not the project you want to undertake if you haven't worked much with Subaru's. It's not a simple bolt-in and it taxes the time and resources of established members here to do such things. If you don't have the time/money/tools/parts/people that some of the members here have - it will be even harder. Just a small example - there's an EJ swap into a Brat going on in my garage right now. The owner is doing most of the work with my guideance - it's not a turbo - it's just a plain 135 HP EJ22 mated to a 5 speed D/R. It's been in my garage over a month and I've done FI swaps into EA81's several times before so I have most of the process figured out. GD

Do you have a check valve in the vacuum supply line to the actuator? The more you open the throttle, the less vacuum there is to work with - there is a point at which the actuator simply doesn't have enough pressure differential to hold a given speed - and it can't accelerate to change speed for a hill, etc. I would think it would need a vacuum supply and a check valve to insure it works at freeway speeds for a decent interval even at close to WOT..... I would guess these are probably built into it. The check valve may not be seating properly. Try adding a second check valve in the line going to the actuator. Also - something I noticed at the yard yesterday - on gen 1 Legacy's they went back to the second cable on the throttle w/vacuum actuator in the engine bay. I wonder if one of those would work..... GD

I don't know about the Gen 1's specifically, but in the 80 to 84 body style, the supply is about 5/16" and the return is a bit smaller than 1/4" - probably about 5mm. I used 1/4" fuel injection line when I changed the rubber in the return line's over to high pressure - it's a bit large but works if you clamp it. GD