GeneralDisorder

I would order them from the dealership. Probably around $100 to $150 each. These aren't that common anymore and most glass shops can't get them. Alternatively, a good glass shop can glue the windsheild in place like the EA82's and other more modern cars are done. This takes some skill but it can look alright if done properly. It's a better process than the original gaskets which suffer from leakage after a few years. GD

Yeah - you can jumper the wires from the pedal switch to overide the clutch safety. The EA81's didn't even have them - only EA82's and newer. It could be that the switch is worn or the rubber bumper that engages it is worn on the pedal assembly. There's a couple switches down there - one is for the ECU. The crank safety is a different switch and may be on a seperate diagram. Sonic - good to see you back. Your problem is likely a connection issue if you are hearing the solenoid click. It could be a lot of things - go through the whole crank circuit and see what you find. GD

Interesting - that's what I had suspected. Perhaps something clogged in the muffler? You already gutted the cat so unless some peices of it got into the muffler......? Maybe it rusted out internally and has a blockage? I don't know where the restriction would be, but sounds like you found something with your test. Let us know what you find in the exhaust. I've hit 75 or 80 on the speedo with 28's on my lifted wagon..... but it has an EXCELENT used hydro-lifter EA81 on it from a low-mileage automatic coupe. Have you done a valve adjustment? GD

The belts flopping around causes unpredictable valve timing. Apparently that really screws with the SPFI. On a carb it wouldn't matter as much. If you need a comp. tester - Harbor Frieght has one for like $10. Just be careful with them as the mechanism inside is soldered and they like to break. I've resoldered mine a few times - now it's just a backup as I got frustrated and bought a nicer set. GD

Have you checked the timing belt tension? I had a meduim-mileage EA82 (115k) that would bog right off idle - was really annoying and I couldn't figure it out. Flushed the tranny (3AT), removed and dressed the edges of the modulator, checked out the entire fuel system, etc. Wasn't until the timing belts broke while I was on the freeway that I found the problem. It must have been a stretched belt. The problem never returned after I did the belts and tensioners. Just an easy thing to check for - remove the outer covers and feel the free-play in the belt. If the belts are good, perhaps just a retensioning would help. Beyond that - have you checked fuel pressure? Checked the hot/cold resistance of the CTS? Checked for dead spots in the sweep of the TPS? GD

It very well could be the ignition switch too though. They are a common failure item on EA's. Can't pass enough current to engage the solenoid. Basically you just have to go through the whole crank circuit from the battery to the starter and see where you are losing your current. GD

It shouldn't move much. There is a bearing there and it's probably worn. That's a pretty common wear point on the 5's. GD

If it were me, I would switch over to an EMPI filter with a serviceable element. They are like $8 at my local VW house. It's an EMPI part number 00-9104-0 "In Line Fuel Filter". They are awesome since they are glass and you can see inside them, plus they just unscrew and the element can be cleaned or replaced. GD

Yeah - the 4's are good for boat anchor's and I would much rather just install a 5 and be done with it than burn through all the 4's in the world till I run out. Changing transmissions is a biotch. I would almost rather chew my arm off. GD

Heh - yeah that's true about the heater core topic's. Hadn't thought of it but there will be a lot of frustrated people pulling dashes in nasty weather. It's kind of a rite of passage among Subaru enthusiasts - you haven't really loved a Subaru till you've replaced it's heater core, wiped everything under the dash down with disinfecting wipes, and replaced all the rotted foam on the ducting and flapper door's. Then succesfully reassembled it with everything operational. GD

Depending on the axle, some dissasemble from both ends (DOJ's on both ends), and some only dissaseble from the inner end like all the front axles. I don't know what the criteria was for which car's got which types but I tend to see more of the one's with CV's on the outer and DOJ's on the inner (talking EA82's here - EA81's all have double DOJ's). If the outer joint doesn't look like a DOJ, then it's not going to come apart while still on the car. The inner side will - just like all other Subaru DOJ's so if you can get that side loose then you can replace the boots easily without pulling the axle off the car. GD

If you can't do the work yourself, you are much better off selling the car and getting a first generation Legacy. They are much nicer cars and don't tend to exhibit the failings of the EA series engines. It's not at all uncommon for a 90 to 94 Legacy to go 300k+ with only maintenance - no real failures and it's rare for them to blow head gaskets. They can be had most any day of the week for less than $1,000. The EA82 cooling system MUST be maintained properly or you will have failures. The rubber parts in the cooling system can easily amount to $150 and should be replaced on ANY used EA series. They are the biggest source of failure in the cooling system followed closely by the radiators as they are really too small for the engine (not enough overhead in the design). Again - if you can't or won't do the work yourself, you are throwing money away by owning that car. Period. GD

180k is nothing. You probably do not have cracked heads. The non-turbo engines almost never crack the heads. Replace your head gaskets and it should be fine. The EA82's typically last 300k+ if they are well maintained. I would stay away from anything that has been "remaned" unless it's from a very reliable source such as roobuilders in CO. Subaru engines aren't your typical cast-iron inline 4 and few shops are qualified to be rebuilding one IMO. Pull it, reseal it, and put it back in. Just make sure you use Fel-Pro head gaskets and OEM intake, exhaust, and thermostat housing gaskets. Torque the heads to a final torque of 65 Ft/lbs, and torque the manifold gaskets to 12 Ft/lbs. Only buy OEM thermostat's. These aren't Chevy's and you can't go down to the podunk auto parts store for parts. The aftermarket stuff (in large measure) sucks in a big way. GD

The carb fuel pressure should be around 1.5 to 2.5 psig. That's off the top of my head but it's close. It will be hard to test that small of a pressure unless you have a gauge specifically for it like a 0 to 5 psi gauge. Pressure *may* not tell you much though unless you test it while driving - the problem is most likely a volume issue and not a pressure issue. It can build enough pressure to keep the float bowl filled while idleing and driving slow, but it can't keep up with the volume requirement at higher RPM/Load. You would see a pressure drop if you drove it with the gauge installed but likely a static test won't show you much. Although it would be a good idea to check that "new" pump for proper pressure or just put the old one back in. They rarely fail. Oh - and when you are blowing stuff out - regulate your pressure down to maybe 25 psi or so. You might damage something that's close to rusting out if you put too much pressure to it. GD

Yeah - blow out the hard lines with compressed air. The tank may need to be replaced if all the filters are clear. I would check that the rear fuel filter isn't clogged (again) due to excessive deposits flaking out of the tank. You can try blowing back through the pickup line to see if that dislodges anything. Remove the sending unit if you dare to see if there is a lot of debris in the tank. GD

EA81's did not have inhibitor switches. At least they didn't have them on the manual transmissions. Maybe the auto's did but I've not owned one of those. On all the EA81's I've owned, you can start them in gear - which is actually nice when the clutch cable breaks. GD

Perhaps there was debris in the cooling system of the replacement engine.... the cores aren't too hard to clog up. Other than that, make sure there is flow through the heater core lines to the engine. You may have to pull the dash and replace the core. It's fun, you'll like it GD

Typically, the reverse gears break because of years of partial engagement. The linkage leaves much to be desired with respect to fully engaging the reverse gear set. The tranny is junk. It will have eaten most of the teeth off the reverse gears - one of which is part of the main shaft. It would be a mistake to repair it as the cost would be high and you still have a lot of metal floating around in there. This is not as common with the 5 speeds - they have a better linkage for one - you should probably ugrade. GD

Yes, it's worth the extra money. The reason the 2WD clutch is so cheap is because no one wants them. They don't hook-up well when you are in 4WD. And yes, it is 100% bolt-in. GD

If anything, the higher compression would mean you would have to retard the timing. Maybe to 6 or 7 degree's. GD

Correct - the driver's door has no power capability since it is the only way the factory power locks are operated. You will have to add an actuator to it to make the system work. GD

You are making a mistake ordering the clutch kit for an '81 if you are going to replace the flywheel. What you need to do, is order a flywheel AND clutch for an '84 4WD GL (doesn't matter which body). This will give you the large 225mm clutch setup and matching flywheel instead of the 200mm flywheel/clutch you have now (which suck). Do this. The Subaru gods will smile upon you. You don't need or want an alignment tool for this job. Leave the pressure plate bolts loose and eyeball the disc to the center of the assembly. Install the engine and tighten the bolts when it's together. The alignment tool will give you premature grey hair I assure you. GD

Timing for EA series carbs is 8 degrees. 20 degrees is for the various forms of fuel injection. GD

Idle speed and mixture are a balancing act. Generally speaking, the idle speed screw should be set as low as possible to maintain a good solid idle and smooth progression. Start with the mixture screw about 2.5 turns out. Then set your idle speed to 700 +/- 100 RPM. Adjust the idle screw IN till it begins to stumble and the engine changes pitch. Now count the turns OUT till it does something similar. Set it just about in the middle, maybe a schosh on the rich side. Then set the idle speed screw a second time to 700 +/- 100. Then tweak the mixture till you like how it runs and the progression from idle to primary is smooth. If you can't get a smooth progression then you probably have vacuum leaks or other carb issues besides the idle settings. To set the timing, get a timing light and turn the distributor till you show 8 degrees BTDC on the flywheel. If you don't have a light then set it with the engine not running. Just set the flywheel to 8* BTDC, then adjust the distributor till the rotor is pointing at the #1 plug tower. If you have a good eye you can hit 8* within about half a degree. Good enough anyway. If it was way off before you set it, then you probably will need to adjust the idle speed and mixture again. GD

The dealer is the only source. If the cone washer is chewed up, good chance the hub mating surface is worn as well and possibly the splines are chewed out of it. The "cone washer" as we refer to it, is actually a taper-lock bushing. What most folks don't understand is that it is IMPERITIVE that the OD of the taper lock bushing be smooth, and that the slot be clear and clean. The slot is what allows the taper-lock to clamp down on the axle shaft - it's what centers and affixes the hub to the axle shaft. These are precision machined parts and when worn they are worse than useless. The axle nut drives the taper-lock into the hub, closing it - clamping and centering the hub to the axle shaft. An improper fit here will allow movement of the hub on the axle and everything will wear out in short order - taper-lock, hub, and axle are all potentially wrecked. The torque value of the axle nut is set to 150 Ft/lbs as that is what is needed to properly seat an UNDAMAGED taper lock bushing into the hub. No amount of torque will properly seat a damaged bushing - the key is to use undamaged parts, assembled in the right order, and with the reccomended torque value. GD