GeneralDisorder

The fan (passenger side primary fan) should come on with it just idling in the driveway. It should come up to temp - the fan should come on to cool the radiator and when the temp drops below the switch set-point the fan goes back off. It should continue cycling like that indefinitely. You should not have to drive it to test the fan. The thermo-switch is in the passenger side radiator tank - it's a single wire connection and it grounds through the radiator so if the grounding wire for the radiator (usually on the top near the center of the radiator and connected to the top of the core support) is loose, corroded, or missing then the fan will never receive a closed circiut and never turn on. GD

The spring side always points toward the contained fluid for situations like wheel bearings, etc. GD

You should do a leak-down test before you do anything. You may indeed find that it's rings - and I think it's likely that as well being you did a head job on it - anytime you do the top-end without doing the bottom end you put higher stresses on worn components. The valves might seal good and run great for a time, but that means higher compression and more stress on parts left untouched. Subaru engines in general do not typically exhibit ring/bore problems. Though it's not impossible, it's way down on the list. Valves stems are a much more common way to burn oil. You may find something entirely unexpected though. And have you checked the PCV system? I bet it's not routed properly and that can both cause oil consumption issues, as well as not exctract acidic blow-by gases that can cause internal damage - especially if the engine isn't run up to operating temp or sits for long periods of non-use. GD

Low end cheapo amp it sounds like. I found some posts on a car audio forum saying they are notorious lier's about the wattage rating of their units, etc. Not that it won't work - just probably isn't rated at the power it claims it is. GD

That's not too bad of a drive - I've been there a few times for Subaru show's and such. Been a few years - I think it was about 3 or 4 hours. There are people closer that know these engines but most of them are busy all the time. You might contact Tubone (Rob) - he is in the seattle area and might be able to lend a hand. I'm not sure he knows EA81's like I do, but he definitely can handle it - he's built a number of EA82's and has some pretty custom turbo stuff. If you are interested in comming down it would make a nice day trip. And I won't lie - I could use the business as I'm laid off currently. I have some customer's from up north - one faithful gentleman brings me his '90 Legacy from Tacoma every month or two for one thing or another. I guess honest, knowledgable Subaru mechanics aren't all that common :-\. Or if you are willing to follow direction you could likely do most of it yourself. As I said most of it is pretty simple and frankly it's just common sense when you think about it. Your mechanic probably just isn't interested - sounds like he would rather work on something else and explain away your problems with "that's just how it is" rather than find out what is actually wrong and fix it. EA81's don't "just blow oil out the valve covers". It's getting sucked out because the PCV system is a mess. GD

I must have them confused with that darn Q-Jet I've been working on In any case there is not a secondary idle system present on most of the EA carbs (they are cast for them, but not actually present - no mixture screw, and vacant jet holes), and the idle jets aren't interchangeable with the mains so I doubt he's got them in the wrong place, etc. More likely all the passages weren't open to the cleaner when it was dipped. It's common for people not to strip carbs far enough to get them 100% clean inside. GD

All of those problems are easy fixes for someone that knows these cars. Where are you located? If you are near the Portland metro area I could take a look at it and probably fix it right up in a few hours. Very likely it just needs some cleaning of the PCV system - new valve and filter, and an oil pump seal kit. The mileage on your engine is very low and it's actually age more than mileage that's causing you problems. The oil pump should only be replaced if it's actually worn out - which is possible depending on the maintenance history, but not typical at all - and if it does they are about $75 give or take and they take about 15 minutes to change out. Bring it by if you are near and I can set you straight - probably very inexpensively. GD

No problem. It wasn't *really* my idea. The speculation that they might fit came from a member that was formerly into Datsun Z cars - the Maxima alt is a popular upgrade for them and they happen to use an almost identical alt to the EA's. It wasn't hard to do the math after seeing pictures of all three (EA, Z-Car, Maxima) - then it was just a matter of trying it out. GD

As far as I know, no one has tried it with a multi-rib setup - you can be the first. GD

Jet sizes won't affect the idle circuit. When the throttle is closed enough for the idle to operate the mains aren't online anyway. Hitachi idle jets are fixed - you can't easily change them - the only adjustment is the mixture screw. GD

Check the manifold gaskets - it's a common failure and often mistaken for head gaskets. GD

'83 and '84 Automatic's only (including turbo's), and ALL '85-'89 models. And yes that includes Brat's. My '85 Brat had a hydro engine stock. GD

'99 Forester was the first year for the phase II 2.5 (SOHC) so older 2.5's (DOHC) will not work, but some older 2.2's (SOHC) will. Newer 2.5's will work as well. I am not familair enough to say *how new* will fit but at least a couple years and maybe more. GD

Yeah - EJ seats will sit you higher when put into EA vehicles. Plus they require welding and other modifications to bolt up. EA82 seats are interchageable - sometimes you do have to swap the rails around as when putting Loyale seats (auto belts) into older GL's. GD

I should think it would work fine with that AC setup. I don't see any clearance issues but you might want to look over how close things are to the alt case. If you remove the AC, you can swap out the brackets for one's that will work for sure. GD

Discovered that the Q-Jet has the leaking welch plugs - it's getting the JB weld treatment as we speak. Hopefully that cures the rich idle and fuel leaking out the throttle shafts. Time to change the oil..... again GD

Make sure all the fuses are good and check that the screw didn't fall out of the distributor rotor, etc. Sounds electrical from your description. I would be looking for burnt fuses, fusible links, etc. GD

The manual choke is part of a larger picture de-emissioning and simplifiying of the carb. If you are going to remove the pull-off mechanisms or disable them then it helps to have manual control. The addition of the cable is about $8 and a few minutes to route it to the cabin. No big deal. I completely understand if you want to keep it stock - just a sugestion. I've gone a few rounds with the Hitachi's and found them not really to my liking. GD

VLSD or clutch type? VLSD's require no special fluid since the VC is sealed. Clutch type should have an additive added to the regular gear oil. GD

The key though - as you pointed out - is to "enjoy them for what they are". Nothing wrong with that. The folks that I don't understand are the ones that won't listen when we tell them "what they are". They have limitations - big one's for the price bracket they are in. Like you with the LS Chev engines - I have moved on past the EA82's. I'll still gladly help people repair them and keep them on the road - no reason they shouldn't do that. But I feel it's necessary to at least give fair warning when people start talking about lots of boost, high comp., and other no-no's with them. It's only fair to warn them.....and then ridicule them for not listening when it goes boom GD

Yeah - I read that about a week ago when I was looking at options. Guess there wasn't enough demand. People find them overly complex I guess. GD

I guess that makes savy business sense - the market for carbs is shrinking every year and if they can't sell you a new Holley then at least they can make some coin off you by useing their expertise to rebuild your existing carb. And maybe you'll come back to them when you do want a new performance carb. Makes sense since most of the carbs out there are now orphans - the Q-Jet is a good example. No longer produced - though at least in it's case they made millions so there's plenty of parts around. GD

I got it fixed. It was a couple things actually. Turns out - my friend that had it apart *may* not have been the first. The previous owners, upon swapping the engine, could not get it to run correctly. They proceeded to tear down the carb (I'm guessing) and tried their hand at repairing it. In the process they bent the crap out of the rod holders on the top of the vacuum piston for the primaries and bent one side of the secondary rod hanger as well. Probably trying to jam it together without much care. The rods were being held high by about 1/4". I got a parts carb at the junk yard - found almost an identical model from a Dodge with a 360 in it and used the piston and secondary hanger from it. Got that fixed but it still didn't run right. Finally pulled off the timing chain cover and layed (my) eyes on the timing marks - they were fine but the balancer has it's timing mark posistioned such that it's supposed to be timed to a scale on the CENTER of the timing chain cover - not the one that was ALSO bolted to the side of the cover. So in the end it was timed somewhere around 22 degress ATDC, when it should have been 6 degrees BTDC. I created a new mark on the balancer as the old mark and scale are entirely obscured by the water pump . Weird..... Anyway - after my carb rebuild and new ignition timing mark for the side-mounted scale it's running like a demon. I was finally able to bring the truck home 40 miles. The carb should be good for a while. It's got a sticker on it claiming it was "Rebuilt by Holley" - seems odd they would rebuild a competing product but whatever. It actually seems a simple enough carb - runs real good though I think I'll replace the choke with an electric. I like the design of it and it's not without performance potential. I particularly like the progressive secondaries - the air valve can be adjusted for speed of opening - that's a huge advantage over vacuum secondaries but retains some of their driveability charataristics if that's what you desire. Very interesting design. I may play with it more. I can see how people would argue between Holly/Q-Jet, but the Q-Jet has some serious advantages over the Hitachi's. And people do use them for some serious performance applications. The adjustable secondary air valve pretty much eliminates the secondary lag problem of the Hitachi design. The air valve system can be adjusted/modified to open rapidly and the Q-jet has the enrichment system to handle that potential. As for fuel injection - probably not on this truck. I have no real desire to mess with the SPI of the 80's GM products. Not that it's a bad system - I just have too many other things to mess with. This truck is just dandy with a carb - it's a utility vehicle and I'm perfectly at home with the carb it has on it. Someday I may consider building a 383 for it, and I don't know that SPI would scale to something built for 300 HP. I know I could make the Q-Jet do it though. GD

The kit worked out just fine - no complaints at all - here's the seller I used: http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/mizumoauto/ GD

Yes - remove the roll-pin that blocks access to the idle mixture needle if you haven't done so and remove it. The idle circuit is blocked it sounds like. You can remove the throttle base and you should be able to get better access to the idle circuit fuel gallery, etc. That's a long time to have a carb sit - chances are you just haven't got all the crap out of it yet. Boil the throttle base in a mixture of white vinegar and water. GD