GeneralDisorder

The EA81's changed cables in '83.5 My write up on this covers the differences: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/clutch.html ALWAYS buy your cables from the dealer. Aftermarket are inferior and you probably won't get the right one. GD

As long as it's driveable it should be fine. Once the engine is running there is a vacuum in the intake manifold and the carb that keeps fuel from leaking out through the shaft. It's never going to cause you much of a problem unless it gets worn to the point where the engine won't idle right. Incidentally the throttle-base (the part with the shafts and the butterfly's in it that's worn on your carb) is seperate from the whole carb and is actually the source of the statement "my carb is worn out". It's the only thing on them that really can wear out anyway. You can find a good throttle base at the junk yard or find one and have it rebushed by a good automotive machine shop. Should be less than $100. You would also want to buy a rebuild kit and go through the carb as well - you'll need the gasket between the carb and the throttle base anyway. GD

Yes - it's quite possible that would be the case with the non-turbo's. My 91 SS is a pain the in a$$ to get to because of the additional plumbing and the water tank for the turbo. I haven't had to replace one on a non-turbo so I simply didn't think about it being any different (the sensor's are the same). Thanks for pointing that out. In fact mine is so difficult to access that I didn't put it back in the same location. I found another threaded boss that's easier to access and installed it there instead. Doesn't make any difference apparently. Other's on the legacycentral board have moved them as well. GD

Your's is much more complex because you have a feedback EA81. Eliminating all that stuff, while possible, will drop your fuel mileage through the floor as the feedback system will not be able to accurately meter the fuel. The carb is jetted differently to accomidate the feedback control system - it's jetted rich and the feedback system meter's air to the air correctors to lean it out for proper operation. Without the feedback computer metering the air you get full rich operation all the time. Your options are: 1: Rejet the carb to non-feedback specs. 2: Weber. 3: SPFI. If you choose #1 you can replumb the carb as in my previous post to operate without the extra plubming and components. GD

Follow Ed's advice - that is you best bet at finding the problem. I know it's tempting to *think* it's something associated with the engine swap but it's entirely possible that it's unrelated. You need to start from the battery terminal reading and follow a procedural path that you know will located the problem or narrow the search for it to only one or a handful of circuits. While the EA81's electrical system is simple, there are still about two dozen circuits in the car and just about any of them could cause a battery drain under the right circumstances. The problem may not even be in the engine bay. I feel that your frustation comes primarily from not accepting a procedure that will yeild data to help in solving the problem. I find it much less stressful if I come up with a plan before I ever turn a wrench - following the plan and then analyzing the results of the tests will get you closer to a solution much faster than what you have been doing. That, at least, is progress and sometimes even a little progress feels better than hours of shot-gunning parts at something. GD

You are much better off getting one from the dealer - they are $50, difficult to access, and most used ones are also bad. They replaced the original knock sensors with a new version because they have a high likelyhood of cracking. GD

That's the secondary throttle shaft - the bushing is shot. Short answer - get a new carb or convert to a weber, SPFI, etc. GD

It's just tubing - buy it in 10 or 20 foot lengths and bend it or have it bent to your specs. Weld up your bent sections and weld on the flange from the old pipe. If you can't do any of that then have a muffler shop do it. But choose wisely - there are good shops with people that can weld and there are a TON of bad shops that have no such tallent. GD

Junkyard is you best bet. At this point the value of an '88 is going to be less than the cost of a new/reman pump. As long as you make sure it has the correct quantity of comp. oil when you charge it the pumps almost never fail. GD

Replace your plugs with NGK's. And STOP posting in the old gen forum. Go where the knowledge is - NEWER GENERATION. GD

It will make almost no difference to move the mounting points - the effect of it being harder to twist is largely offset by it not twisting as far the shorter you make the lever. If you want to improve the sway characteristics of the EA81's, install an EA82 rear sway bar - all you have to do is cut the brackets from a set of EA82 rear trailing arms and weld them to the EA81 arms in the same posistions. You also have to shorten the sway bar ends by a couple inches but it doesn't affect the mounting geometry or it's effectiveness. GD

For a 91 it would be white, or grey if it's been replaced with the upgraded version that doesn't crack. You'll need a 12mm socket, wobbly, and a 6" or longer extension bar to reach it. It's basically under the driver's side of the intake manifold. And this is the older gen forum - your legacy is a new gen - you should not be posting here. GD

Remove the battery and put an ohmeter between the battery terminals. Pull the fuse the controls the clock power and there should be no continuity between the terminals (unless you have a radio that has been installed with a constant power tap.... usually off the ignition harness. If that's the case you will have to disconnect that as well). If there is still a path to ground somewhere - start pulling fuses till you isolate the offending circuit. Then you can determine from a schem. what devices are powered from that circuit and check each one and it's connections. GD

The kits for the Hitachi carbs are universal. They should fit a range of model years. But since you asked you have a variant of the DCP-306. But it shouldn't matter - just tell the parts people you have an '84 and it's a two-barrel. GD

Why didn't you drill/tap the holes for the power steering pump? Anyway - without splitting the block some of your metal from honing is now inside the engine. That isn't real good for it. What type of hone did you use? What grit? And what angles? Have you done a compression check? New rings often are hard to start till they seat in. If you did the hone properly they should seat within a few thousand miles - unless you used chrome faced rings, in which case you may have to wait a lot longer. GD

You installed new rings without honing the cylinders? (you couldn't have left the distributor in place unless you didn't split the block - thus it sounds like you installed rings without honing). Did you gap the rings or even pay attention to where the gaps were in relation to each other?? If that's the case it's probably hard to start because the rings will never seat and you have poor compression. GD

EGR solenoid does nothing but generate a code 34. You can wire in a 5 watt, 33 Ohm resistor to simulate the solenoid. Either way - code or not - your bogging problem is not related and will not be fixed by replaceing the solenoid or tricking the computer. You have other issues. Run a D-Check. GD

Yes - weld a nut on them. Spray them with penetrant while still hot Then let them cool for a minute or two before turning them. It may take 5 or 10 tries but it will come out - carefully work them back and forth and don't give up when the first 6 nuts snap off. The heating and cooling action helps break them loose. This method rarely fails - I've used it to remove broken turbo flange studs on many 20+ year old OEM peices. GD

If you can't afford a lift then you likely can't afford to build one either unless you have access to at least a bandsaw, drill press, and skill with a welder. Just the proper metric hardware to bolt things together will run you about $50 to $100 depending on how you do it. And 2" is pretty worthless unless you are just doing it for looks. It takes no more skill and maybe an extra $25 in materials to do a proper 5"/4" - which is needed to run any serious tires. EA82's really aren't well suited to lifting without quite a few modifications anyway. Too heavy for one. GD

Oh please - weld some nuts to the remainder of the bolts and turn them out. Big deal. DO NOT drill - DO NOT use an easy out. You will regret it. Those are last resort options. If you can't handle a broken bolt then you shouldn't be installing an engine - let alone an EA82T. GD

Because you asked, and no one answered the question properly - to check timing on the engine without it running you set the flywheel to the desired timing (8 degrees BTDC in the case of the EA81's), and then you verify that the distributor rotor is pointing at the #1 plug tower. I have never been more than 1 degree off by "eyeball" method. Incidentally the plug wires can be hooked up in 4 different, yet all correct, ways. It matters only that they proceed counter-clockwise from whichever you chose as #1 in the order 1,3,2,4. GD

None of the emissions equipment is power related. If it's working incorrectly it may cause drivability issues but it will not increase the power any significant amount. Hollowing out the cat is effective if it's clogged but the muffler you simply replace. I often remove the guts from the cat's because they break apart and rattle. GD

Impossible is a real strong word. In fact RAM engines makes an EA81 that does 140 HP, and a superchaged version that makes 200 HP. You wouldn't like the price tag. Agreed - EJ swap is the way to go unless you need pushrod reliability to prevent using the parachute. GD

AWD transmissions generally ARE single range. Unless you get a european dual range AWD. Never produced them for the states though. Gear ratios are all over the map. Different years of the same transmissions had different ratio's. It's all about what the transmission came from. If you don't know exactly what it's from then the only way to check is to verify them manually or split the tranny. GD

That's because there's not many of us that pull transmissions apart. And people are going to continue using it regardless of what I or the few people that actually have some knowledge about these things say. It gives results (for a while) and like anything that gives results without any real work it's going to attract a following - like the Atkins diet. Ultimately there's no talking to people that beleive in that kind of a remedy. They have to experience it themselves. GD