GeneralDisorder

Agreed - you can't get that high of an HC reading without a severe idle miss. It's either a large vac leak somewhere, poor ignition, or low compression. GD

That's an interesting theory. Worth checking into. Although if you can get the tire place that sold them to you to rebalance them for free I would try that first. GD

That's actually not a bad idea for worn lifters - it moves the piston to a new spot inside the lifter where it's not worn. What generally causes this is a worn oil pump that doesn't put enough pressure out to the lifters - this results in lifter wear and TOD that you just can't stop without early intervention or replacing the lifters and the pump. As far as what causes the cam-case o-rings to get sucked in like that - my current theory is that the lifters are acting as tiny vacuum pumps - they are trying to suck in oil but the pressure from the pump just isn't there so they end up sucking on the o-ring's instead. It could also be some kind of strange venturi effect. I doubt we will ever know for sure.... but I'm betting someone at Subaru figured it out when they introduced the metal-reinforced o-rings for the cam cases. I wonder if there was a TSB about it.... GD

Yeah - I'll agree with that. I see more TW's than I do RX's.... but compared to EA82's as a whole they are about as rare as turbo legacy's but less common now due to being older. You don't see a lot of them that's for sure. GD

Or grind the ridge off on the bottom of the rotor and rotate it to where the pads are located. GD

They aren't that rare - I've seen at least a dozen in the last few years. Not counting any from the board. It does up the price a bit though - more desireable IMO. Of all the EA82 bodies - the TW and the RX are the most desireable. GD

THIS is sucked in: EA82 cam case o-ring (non-metal type). GD

That's not even close to sucked in - sucked in o-rings will have a V in them and be completely inside the oil passage. Been there, done that. And at 183k, it's a pretty safe bet that it needs a new oil pump... AND lifters. Their both done. I can virtually garauntee that your TOD will not change any appreciable amount by replacing that o-ring. It's not bad for one, and your problem is the oil pressure and the lifters. If it's been ticking for as long as the PO says it has - long enough that they have tried repair's in a bottle - the lifters are worn out. As I noted above - the o-ring isn't sucked in to any degree that would indicate a problem here. That is a problem mostly with the ER27's, not the EA82's. Your's reinforces that. It isn't sucked in, thus there isn't a problem, thus I wouldn't do anything stint wise - just leave it be. And if I were going to do something like a stint - I would want a better fit than that. But that's me. It would probably work - if you count "doing a job that doesn't need to be done" *working*. GD

I haven't had any problems. They have pictures of the parts online and if it doesn't match what I need then I don't buy it. You do have to be somewhat intelligent about searching for parts in any inventory system. It's the nature of the scale of consumer production. GD

Just the oil pump gasket will likely not fix the problem. First, as you can see from the old gasket, the EA82's don't suck the gasket in like the ER27's do. It's much less common anyway, and while it's good to replace the gasket it's most likely not going to fix ticking lifters that have been ticking for a while. You will probably have to replace the cam case o-rings - the new ones are metal reinfoced and the old rubber ones have likely been sucked in. If that doesn't fix it then you probably will need new lifters. Once they start ticking for any length of time they get worn and will never stop. GD

www.rockauto.com GD

Yeah - it's no problem when you have access to a 45 CFM blast cabinet with a lazy-susan inside! Takes about an hour to do a set of rims generally. GD

I have noticed that the EA81's are VERY sensitive to wheel balance. So much that the normal wheel balance that schwab does doesn't seem to be good enough - either their machine isn't calibrated right or the monkeys don't know how to use it. I would have them redone and have the weights put on the inside of the rim. If you are getting that much vibration at speed it is probably because the wheel balance is off and it's transmitting it through the steering rack directly to the wheel. GD

Yes - if you want it bad enough. As he mentions the older units have external ignitors mounted on the coil. GD

Check the driveline u-joints and all four drivetrain rubber mounts. Just for giggles - put a dial indicator on each rotor. Probably won't find anything but it would still be nice to know. GD

The fan has nothing to do with the thermostat - you need to troubleshoot the fan wireing - check the thermo-switch as sugested. DO NOT overheat the EA82T. You will kill it. That engine especially can't take it. GD

Their nuts. $1000 tops if you really want it. I wouldn't give more than $500 for one around here but your area might have less Subaru's. GD

The struts are never straight up and down - the casting of the knuckle sets them at an angle and that angle has to be preserved. 15 degrees is about right considering only the strut was moved. I understand your confusion. The caster *did not* change with the lift. The problem is that the caster *is* present to insure that the wheels return to straight after a turn. Normally it's no issue because the stock camber is set for stock sized tires. But when you change the diameter of the tire the problem is magnified as you push the center of rotation further away from the contact patch of the tire. The tire tends to roll more on it's edge than on it's tread because the downward force of the vehicle is over the edge of the tire and not over the tread. To correct this you have to reduce the caster of the strut to move the center of gravity of the wheel back over the tread and not over the edge. I don't know how I can explain it any better without drawing you a picture. GD

Best way to do it is to have them sandblasted and powder coated. It's not as expensive as you think. About $100 for sandblasting and $100 for powder coating. Anyone local can just bring their wheels to me and I'll sandblast them for $50... does wonders even if you are going to paint them. There is NO rust when I'm done. GD

When you want to move metal - you need a BIG hammer. Get a 4 lb sledge and a steel drift punch - drive the caliper up from the botom edge - it should swing up - rotating on the upper slide pin. As gary stated - you may break something doing this - it's just the nature of frozen rusted parts. I recently had to resort to a sawzall to remove a rusted inner control arm bolt. Mostly because I wasn't interested in trying to save the control arm and I wanted it off NOW. The nut wouldn't turn.... the bolt wouldn't turn.... both rouned off.... I cut the head off the bolt with a die grinder and then BENT a brass drift trying to pound it through....finally threw up my hands and pulled out the sawzall and die grinder. It was easier to just find another control arm. GD

His blocks *correct* the static camber by moving the top of the stut inward by 15 degrees - at least so he claims (looks that way in the pictures too). Looking at the pics you can see that the camber when the wheel is straight isn't the problem. It's the camber when the wheel is turned to full lock that is the problem - thus you have to change the CASTER to effect a change. Doing this would require moving the strut top forward or backward - not in or out. Changing the length of the control arm or dropping the engine cross-member will screw up his static camber - making it ride on the inner edge of the tire when he isn't turning. GD

Order one for an '84 4WD wagon. GD

Dangerous. You don't want to make it to 25 do you? At least wire in a FPCU from a carbed rig or something. So when you are unconcious at the scene you won't burn to death when the wreckage catches fire. GD

Ok - I got you pictures - so all you people that are running your PCV wrong GO FIX IT! I'm tired of trying to explain it anyhow... Overview of the system: This shows the "special" EA71 (gen 1, round air filter type) hose and special T fitting that makes this setup easy and clean - if you can find one. I suppose there are part numbers associated with them and you could order a set - I don't have any extra so don't ask! The blue T-fitting from the filter is from an EA82 SPFI. Hey look..... I guess I do recycle! And here's another angle: Re-read my last post and then look at these pictures. I'm sure it will make sense to you if you stare at it for a while. Any questions? GD

I would take pictures with the wheel off of the strut lift block if you can get them. As the other's have said - perhaps your problem is being made worse by how it's put together.... but you aren't going to totally eliminate the problem. You can most likely get it back under control either by moving the strut forward/backward to adjust the caster, or by changing the angle (forward or backward) of the lower control arm. GD