GeneralDisorder

This belongs in the new generation forum - just so you know. Mine was in similar shape - bought with a "head gasket blown". Unfortunately that was the least of it's problems by a long way. The engine had become so hot that it melted part of the cylinder liner for the #2 cylinder and absolutely destroyed the bottom end. The whole short block was toast - not even rebuildable - timing belt covers and knock sensor had melted into puddles on the block. Another engine was sourced along with a turbo, radiator, and associated components. After installation I found that the thing had over-pressurized the cooling system so much it blew the tank off the tubes in the heater core so out came the dash..... It's a daily now, but if it weren't for the fact that I got it in a trade after a friend had already dumped about $3k into it and couldn't make it run it wouldn't have been worth it. Cared for properly, these engines are actually very reliable. The car's weak point is the transmission - much over 200 HP and they tend to eat 2nd gear. The syncro's are pretty poor as well. Mine has 165k on the tranny and it grinds into 2nd if I really try to shift it fast. I'm careful with it for now and eventually I plan to replace it with 6 speed or rebuild it with a heavier gearset. I love the car though - mine is pearl white and in decent shape. I've got a TD05-16G and a Forester XT intercooler sitting here for it as well but I'm going to pull the engine back out for a reseal - it's a 110k long-block from a wrecked 94 turbo touring wagon and I notice it uses about half a quart of coolant over an oil change interval. You'll want to check out www.legacycentral.org - That's where the action is for these cars. GD

You crawl under it and look at the adjustment bolt on the torsion tube assembly. It's not difficult to access. GD

But have you actually checked the torsion bar adjustment to see where it's at? GD

Is it possible that your "nose down" impression is because the rear torsion bar assembly has been cranked *up* thus giving more of a rake than you remember from your previous vehicle? I think this a more likely possiblity than someone having installed lowering springs. Anything is possible and the turbo springs would indeed lower the nose about 1 cm. EA82 springs I don't know about.... I suspect they could be used but I don't know what effects they would have and it would depend on the one's used as there were several more spring rate's availible for the EA82's such as the turbo/RX springs and the XT's. GD

Grind the mushroom off that thing , and take it to a shop that has a press. Or go buy one of the inexpensive shop presses at harbor frieght. If you want to move metal, you have to put some serious force on it. GD

If you added enough weight then you would need different springs. It doesn't sound like you are adding enough to matter though. Subaru offered all kinds of options including winch bumpers - no differences in spring rate were required or offered. The adjustable strut's can be used to increase the compression of the spring and thus counter any added weight. You won't have any issues with cranking the struts up regarding binding of CV's. What you WILL have problems with is terrible camber issues that can't easily be corrected without making camber-adjustable strut tower blocks as part of a lift (if you are installing one). The adjustable struts are only good for about 1". That 1" isn't worth the camber issues or the stiffness it brings with it. I have a 5" lifted wagon and I've had it both up and down on the strut adjusters - they are best left all the way down (stock) and the lift accomplished with blocks instead. There are just too many issues with using the adjusters - they are slow and problematic as the camber is never where you want it if you use them. Invariably they are a hassle so you end up driving on pavement with crappy camber or just don't bother cranking them up off-road. The only spec given in the FSM is for "free length" - with the spring removed from the strut. The spec is 319mm for non-turbo, and 310.5mm for turbo springs. GD

Yeah - steering wheel puller's are cheap - like $5 to $10. EA81 and EA82 will not interchange. EA81 and Justy are the same though. GD

The struts are not at all load-bearing - they are dampener's. All EA81's from 1981 on were "equipped for installtion of AC" - the components of same weigh in at about 40 lbs..... the springs were designed to handle this load as they are not replaced when adding the AC compoenents. I'm afraid you are over-thinking the situation. The springs on EA81's are VERY large for the size of the vehicle. Additionally they are not prone to changes in spring rate - at most with a spring that size you might have an actual failure of the coil. Being hardened spring-steel, they will simply break. They aren't a wear item and my sugestion is that you replace the struts only. I am 100% confident that you will not need springs. Don't waste your money. GD

Pull the pan, sand-blast it, or wire wheel it, and paint it. Then reinstall it. You may have to jack up the engine to remove the pan - that's typical. This isn't rocket science and it's not worth $400. Those guys are nuts. A decent shop would just sand-blast and paint or zinc coat the thing and put it back on - you are talking maybe 2 hours shop time plus $50 to have it zinc plated. Nowhere near $400. There is no gasket on the pan. It's RTV. Use ultra-grey. GD

I've never replaced a set - why would you bother? They are very large for the size of the vehicle and I've never heard of them failing or the spring rate changing. The dealer, or the wanted forum is your best bet. Otherwise I would look up some of the aftermarket spring suppliers. GD

Yes - the Monroe's are well known here. Autozone (cragen) also sells adjustable struts. All EA81's use the same 4WD strut. Travel is not an issue. GD

Open your mind to a world of possibilities when it comes to mechanical principles in general. Trust me - dual timing belts is far from the biggest oddity in the world of machines. A TON of things have been tried over the last 100 years or so of automotive history. For example - at work we have a large Hyster forklift that we are trying to find a water pump for. The water pump is gear driven and has both coolant and oil running through it - it's leaking coolant into the oil. We may have to have some new components machined for it as it's got a very old flat-head engine of some type and parts are not availible it seems..... EA81's don't have belts or chains - wrap your head around that for a bit. GD

I bought a Rigid set with drill, impact, flashlight, radio, and two batteries (18v) for $179 at the depot. The impact is mostly what i wanted and I did my research first - for the price it offered the best torque @ 120 ft/lbs. Love it but it's really only a rather superior "power ratchet". It will never replace my 650 ft/lb air gun. GD

You will also be taking off the brake components (whatever that may be). The stub will come out. It is only an interferance fit with the inner bearing race. There is plenty of grease in there so it's unlikely to be frozen. GD

Download this PDF: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/SubaruEA82-ServiceManualPart2.zip And go to page 47 (53 in acrobat pages), and proceed with the tests there. As for coil's - from what I have seen Hitachi was the only manufacturer of SPFI coil's. You can easily test the coil though so replacing it is only shotgunning parts and it's likely not your problem if the engine runs. The ECU is complaining that it doesn't see a reference pulse from the optical pickup - that's probably the pickup itself that's at fault. But follow the troubleshooting - it will tell you. GD

Since the other side wasn't moved, just screw the one side back in till it's tight enough that there is say... less than .005" play in the shaft and call it good. The hypoid gear differential is strong enough to handle it being out by less than 5 thou and the tapered roller bearings used for the output stubs are about impossible to kill at the RPM's they are being used for in that application. GD

I'll revise what's above with the correct info: EA81's with AC have two electric cooling fans. One only comes on with the compressor. EA81T's all have AC, and they have the same mechanical cooling fan as the EA82's have and the same primary electric fan as any other EA81. EA82(T)'s with AC have one electric fan and one mechanical fan. Non AC cars have an electric fan only.\ I *beleive* that EA71 cars with AC had a belt-driven mechanical fan that was not attached to the water pump. Someone in the historic section would know. GD

Engines don't just "stop" on the marks when you turn them off . YOU have to rotate it till the valve timing marks are lined up with the pointer on the bell-housing and THEN check the marks on the cams. GD

Head over to the "wanted" forum. You should start looking for a factory service manual on ebay and on here. There really aren't many good books on the subject. Depending on how knowledgable you are with mechanical subjects there is a (now out of print) book called "how to keep your Subaru alive". There are PDF copies floating around you could ask about as well. Best bet is the wanted forum. Being in NY you are probably going to have to ship one in from the west coast as this is the only place you will find a plentiful supply of good used parts and sheet metal. Only other EA81 seats without modifications. If you want decent seats get a set from a Legacy and modify them to fit. You will need a non-broken EA81 rail set and then you will have to make adaptor brackets to fit them. There are some other makes models that will fit with some modifications as well. Do a search on the Subject. Personally I usually try to find a set of decent EA82 seats and I weld adaptor brackets to the bottom of them and bolt the EA81 rails on. Works for me anyway and more comfortable than the EA81 seats. I go for the all-fabric ones and I steam clean them. GD

No the ring nut holds in the bearing. Just pound out the stub shaft like you would any EA front axle. GD

If you want to lift something, get an EA81 hatch. EA82's are not well suited to lifting. GD

Pound the stub out of the bearings and chuck it in a vice. Then you can get real heat on it. Get it cherry red with a nice big rosebud and it will fall off. You need to apply heat FAST so only the cup expands and not the stub-shaft with it. GD

It doesn't "just vary" - it is there on all models with AC. GD

'85 wagon would be an EA82 1.8 Liter (overhead cam with timing belts). It will be carbed (bad), MPFI (rare - not bad, but "difficult" due to parts availibility), or MPFI Turbo (really, really bad). Throttle body injection (prefered to all of those I just listed) was not introduced till '86. 5 speed's were standard if it's a manual. It could be a 5 speed 2WD, a 5 speed dual-range, or a 5 speed push-button single range. Or it could be a 3 speed Automatic (2WD or 4WD) (bad). '85's are a poor year to choose in the EA82's. If you must have an EA82, get an '88 or '89 GL with the 5 speed dual-range. GD

I would check to see if that cam still turns. That looks like major mechanical failure of some kind. If it still turns I would be looking real close at everything and taking the valve cover off etc. That's highly unusual - I would guess no one here has ever seen that failure mode. Flat blade screwdriver between two the of the 10mm mounting bolts will hold it while you loosen each one. Just loosen then - don't take them off as you go so you can use the loose nuts to hold the pulley in the aforementioned fashion for all of them. Then you should be able to remove them by hand and pull off the fan and the pulley. GD