GeneralDisorder

Exactly - and it's not just the pressure - you have to consider the CFM @ 9-10 psi (which is still higher than stock). With your TD04, you are pushing probably 50 to 100 CFM more than the VF7 @ 10 psi. Pressure is only a static measurement - one must consider the CFM if you are talking about a non-static system. The real question is - from your experience, how much life have you drained away from your short-block by running it the way you have it set up? If a bone-stock EA82T could make 250k miles, what would your's accomplish given the mods you have done. 75% reduction in overall life of the engine? (just a guess). GD

Since you are going to all that trouble anyway, why not make it really fabulous and do a blow-through turbo setup on it? You could easily push 5 psi through it and probably push it up around 125 HP or so. Wouldn't hurt anything - the bottom end will handle 5 pounds without issue. I have an extra EA81T engine cross-member in my collection that I might let go if you promise to build it right GD

So the EJ dual-range offered a locker for the center diff (lockable VC?) which was not offered here? Could this component be added to say an RX tranny making it capable of true 4WD and compatible with the 1.59:1 and 4.111? GD

What is the symtom of the "cracked" head gasket? Typically the SOHC EJ25's leak externally when they go. 50,000 is pretty low mileage. It would not need the timing belt/water pump job till it reaches 105,000 so you don't need that yet. GD

Correct - front diff, transmission, and transfer case are all in one unit. More correctly refered to as the "transaxle". They all share fluid. GD

If they are loud enough to annoy you then they aren't being caused by a faulty anti-afterburn valve. That was my point. I haven't a single one of them installed and you have to know what you are listening for to even hear the difference. It's more of an economy device to appease the EPA than anything. Cars didn't have these for 75 years - it wasn't until the 80's that stuff like this caught on. GD

If it's an automatic then the above amounts do not apply. I just mention it because you said "front diff" and terminology like that is often applied to the auto's because they have a front diff section that runs gear oil while the rest of the tranny runs ATF so..... More clarification would be good. GD

I want what you are smoking! With those modifications, leaving the boost set to factory, he would be lucky to make 5 more HP, let alone 35 . Rob isn't even making that much WITH more boost from a higher CFM turbo. And he HAS all those mods with dyno sheets to prove it. A lightweight pully will not do much. The general rule is that each pound you free up from the rotating assembly = 1/2 HP. So if you lost the whole freakin pulley you might get 2.5 HP - but you wouldn't get very far before you were wanting that pulley back..... To make 150 HP on a tired, EA82T with mileage on it, you need to increase the boost - but the engine will last about 5 to 15 thousand miles. Maybe less. It happens every single time someone does it. I've been here quite a few years now and one thing is a constant - the EA82T sucks balls and no one wants to invest the $5,000 to $10,000 into making one put out 175 HP reliably when EJ22's putting down 135 or 147 HP are readily availible for under $1000 complete with donor car for wireing, computer, etc. Bonus that there's no troublesome turbo to deal with on them either. Even bigger bonus - you CAN put 5 psi through an N/A EJ22 and it will shoot up to around 200 HP - and it's even reliable! People have run used, higher mileage EJ22's with 5 psi through them for years without issue. Makes for a fun ride on the cheap. GD

I'm about to dig into this - anyone have any sugestions or ideas? Anyone even seen something like this before? It's a new one on me but then I haven't dealt with many AWD 5MT's - my experience is with the 4WD 5MT's but I don't think the differences are huge? GD

Cool - good to know. I snagged one with ABS because I forgot that they were part of the hub and wasn't sure if the car had it or not after getting to the yard. I'll just install it anyway even though the car doesn't have ABS as the tone-ring won't cause an issue and the one I got seems to have the axle stuck in it (I need to replace the axle anyway and the one from the yard has good boots, etc). I'm learning still about the EJ stuff. I like the easy axle swapping, but I dislike the screwball pressed in bearing setup. I've noticed while doing a lot more EJ land stuff in the last year that Subaru really has gone more mainstream with their engineering design's - which may be due to what their supplier's are reccomending they use, but gone are the days of the EA series cars where Subaru's design's were quite strange by comparison to other japanese brands. That's not neccesarily a bad thing either (EA front parking brake's for example ). It's also quite noticeable how cheap the interior's and body are now. The difference between even a gen 1 legacy and a gen 2 is noticeable - the doors are quite a bit lighter on the gen 2. I'm used to EA series doors and that's a world of difference. Even my 91 SS doesn't seem half as cheap as this poor '96 plain-jane L series does. GD

I need to know what other years/models to look for to interchange the front axle and knuckle for a '96 L series 5MT AWD. It's an EJ22 car if that matters. Will the 90-94 stuff work? Those are more common in the yards around here. Or do I have to find something in a smaller year range around the '96? Thanks. GD

The dual carb engines were not just a cam upgrade - the heads are totally different - the valves are reversed like an EA82 for better flow. You simply can't get the flow needed for 120 HP from the US market heads....... unless you turbo it. A simple VF-7 with a blow-through setup is not all that hard to fab up and will give more performance than any dual-carb setup could ever give. GD

No - we did not get the Legacy hi/lo gearbox. What I'm asking is - since you aren't openeing them up, what *for sure* US market parts will fit inside them? That would at least assure us that they can be modified to fit our needs if they don't come that way off the boat. I think most of the people that are looking for these are looking for the lowest gearing possible - so 1.59:1 or comparable low range, 4.111 final drive (or at least 3.9), and locking center diff. We did get FT4WD D/R transmissions here for the EA82's and they can bolt up to the EJ engine with an adaptor plate, but there isn't any combination of parts that will allow all of these desireable features and low gearing. If the EDM dual range can't offer that feature set either then I am less open to dropping ~$400 US on one. I understand that you can't open them all up, and thus you can't really inspect their condition or gearing. But that makes it doubly imperitive that we know what parts will/will not work from the US market transmissions as besides potentially not having the gearing we want, they also may need repair in some way. GD

Haven't had a chance yet - it was dark by the time I got it home. That's probably on the agenda this afternoon. I can't imagine how or what could have caused it. The car only has 113k on it and runs great. From what I can see it's had good maintenance - I see an alternator that says "Remanufactured for Subaru" and overall the engine bay is pretty clean. Clutch seems just totally worn out - doesn't engage till the absolute highest spot in the pedal and slips very badly. Bad axle boot on the driver's side front and it sounds like a bad wheel bearing there as well.... Hhhmmmm GD

*Update* - please see the 2nd page of posts for the resolution and pictures of destruction. Bought a '96 L series last night. BAD clutch - each stoplight might be it's last. Anyway - 2nd gear just isn't there. 1,3,4,5,R all work fine, but it's as if 2nd didn't exist. Feels like trying to hit 5 on a 4 speed. I pulled pretty hard on the shifter and there's nothing - no grind, no noise, just no love at all. It doesn't feel like the shifter is notching into the gear either - it's just neutral. Any idea's where to start? I had thought perhaps racking the linkage over to 2nd gear and giving it a whack with a punch? The tranny otherwise seems to function normally - no odd sounds and goes freely into every other gear. I think it's worth trying to save it if possible. I may pull it out of the car and open it up since I have to do the clutch anyway but I would rather avoid that and pull the engine if possible. Thanks. GD

Well - this section of the site isn't about selling people stuff. And if he wants to go the plug-and-play route you are offering him a good deal on a known good tranny.... It will be twice that to do a proper 5 speed swap... but totally worth it. It's hard to exagerate how much better the 5 speed's are - I'll just mention that the 5 speed introduced in '85 is the gold standard - all future Subaru 5 speed's share this same design to this day. They have no trouble going half a million miles - the 4's rarely last much past 200k without syncro issues and the linkage issues alone are worth the trouble to do the swap. GD

The heads won't flow that much. If you wanted to hit numbers like that with the stock heads you would need forced induction. The JDM dual-carb engines (with reversed valves, higher flow heads, and matching cam) were still only 108 HP. And DGV's aren't suired to pairing. GD

Your best bet is to simply upgrade to the 5 speed D/R from an '85 to '89 EA82 then. bratsrus1 (Jerry) makes a nice kit for $100 that will make the conversion very easy. Then you just need to install the EA82 driveline or have your's lengthened and it bolts right up. They have better gearing, better linkage, better syncro's, and it will look 100% stock in the interior - only difference is the extra gear. GD

This post is not about the tools needed to be a "professional" mechanic that puts food on the table by getting jobs out the door. This post is about ONE man that needs ONE axle installed into ONE hub. My reply's were carefully tuned to HIS ear, not your's. No one is arguing the utility of a hub-tamer if you have need for one on a near daily basis. I put plenty of clams into the Snap-On truck and I don't regret a cent of it. But I don't do these every day and as such if it takes me a couple hours to make my one one-off tool that does the job for a specific model and saves me hundreds of $..... I have no problem with that either. Plus I'm used to it - with the equipment I am used to working on, there simply is no tools unless you make them. It's really nothing to me to whip out a bearing driver or puller tool. I have dozens of them. GD

That's nice and all, but all your sources are wrong. 1984 Factory Service Manual: At any rate this valve is NOT the cause of major backfireing. As I said this is only to prevent the small pops durring closed throttle coasting. I don't have a single one of these currently installed and I don't have any backfireing either. GD

You won't make 100 HP, but you can improve it a bit. You are on the right track to make 85 or 90 HP most likely. SPFI would be a better choice than the Weber. GD

So just to be clear.... It is possible to swap in the 1.59 low range set, as well as the RX locking center diff, but some of these may have front diff ratio's lower than 3.7 thus making the low range swap more difficult? I guess the question then is - did the Liberty come with the D/R in anything other than a 3.7 final drive? If not then the only variable seems to be the locking center diff, which can be sourced here in the US and the low range ratio which can also be sourced here. Does the EJ dual-range also accept USDM front diff's? GD

So can the low range be swapped out with the 1.59:1 from the EA D/R? GD

Not a good idea. It WILL get worse over time, and ultimately you WILL blow soft-ball sized holes in the muffler. Don't ask how I know this. It's relatively easy to fix if you know what you are looking for, and it is indicative of problems that are robbing power and economy from your ride - plus it attracts *unwanted* attention from the authorities who (trust me) have nothing better to do than hassle the guy with the weird, old Subaru. Don't ask how I know that either . GD

The "anti-backfire valve", for which the correct terminology is "anti-afterburn valve" is not your problem. It's sole purpose is to prevent the engine from sucking fuel through the carb on closed-throttle coasting. Even if it were not functioning (or removed as in the case of every one I've owned [they fail anyway]), it will not produce large backfireing. What it will do is allow the engine to ingest a small amount of fuel through the idle circuit on closed throttle coasting (down long, steep hills, etc). This will produce suttle popping - completely harmless and pretty standard for every car made prior to 1980. No - your backfiring between shifts is due to exhaust leaks and possibly a rich mixture and/or poor ignition. The poor ignition/rich mixture is allowing an excessive amount of unburned fuel into the exhaust system - the exhaust leak is allowing in fresh air (oxygen) - they mix inside the exhaust and are spontaneously ignited by the high exhaust temps. Generally only leaks in the header (y-pipe) will cause backfireing as leaks farther down don't get hot enough to ignite. Your leak is either at the heads, air suction valve(s)/piping, or in the y-pipe itself (they often like to crack at the junction to the cat - check under the heat sheilds). And you need to fix the source of the unburned fuel. Sounds like you have quite a few problems. Perhaps you should go through the engine in general and give it a decent tune up. For comparison - my '83 hatch, running a Weber, and with one cylinder running 20% lower comp. than the other's - I get 25 MPG daily, and I just ran out to the Beach with it ~ 250 miles. I pulled in 30.5 MPG on that tank and the first 65 miles was in town. Running properly in top condition, an EA81 4WD hatch can turn in 27/32 MPG figures easily. You definitely have issues. GD