GeneralDisorder

It is very often neccesary to make your own tools for stuff like this. If you brought something to my work (I work for a machinery manufacturer/distributor) I would just make the tool myself if I needed it. We have slide hammers and I would take a peice of round stock (say 1/4"), make a 90 degree bend in it, cut the bent section short and grind it to the shape I needed. Weld that to a nut for threading on the slide hammer and you are in business. Probably take me less than 30 minutes. All you really need is a vice to make the bend, a grinder, and access to a welder for 5 minutes. Your time is definately worth the $270 you'll save. GD

No doubt you are correct in that assertion. The original poster is just not familiar with the tendancy for Subaru oil pressure to read near or at 0 when warm due to the sending unit's being weak with age. And to the original poster - verify all the gauges with proper shop insturments prior to shotgunning parts at the car. Check the oil pressure with a good mechanical gauge and check the temp at the radiator with a laser temp gun. GD

Yeah - that's totally bizzare. That's just a threaded boss on all the EA82's I have. Nothing mounted there either. I'm going to say casting defect, cracked head, or as the previous poster asserted an improper bolt installation. GD

To a point you are correct - thinner oil is easier to pump, and thus should yeild higher pumping pressure's if all things are equal. What you have not taken into account though is that the efficiency of the pump goes *down* with a thinner pumping medium. The slippage through the pump is higher and so yeilds less pressure and less volume as the oil thins. Also as the oil thins it is pushed out between friction surfaces easier - rod and main bearings leak larger quantities of thinner oil resulting in a higher volume being required to maintain high system pressure. These affects generally cause monograde oil pressure's to drop in systems that employ oil pump designs similar to Subaru's. As they approach operating temperature you are likely to see about 10 psi drop in pressure. GD

They had access to parts that we do not and they designed the thing in the first place. Careful mixture control, timing, and boost settings via custom ECU programming. They also increased the RPM quite a bit. Mind you I'm refering to the european rally race versions that semi-reliabily produced around 175 HP. That is not to say this did anything good for the engine life (it didn't), and it's also not to be intended as a hard limit to the HP the engine can make. It can make more - it just won't last very long. The EA82 engine was designed on paper - a stop-gap solution till the EJ engine was ready. It's an EA81 with overhead cams - nothing more. It does not have the crank stability, nor the head, head gasket, or mating design stability for high-rpm/hp applications. The EJ20T was computer designed from the outset for turbo-charging. It produced over 200 HP in it's first variation in the late 80's. GD

The official tool is a slide hammer with a hook. Yes snap-on and all those guys make hooks for slide hammers. SOA part #399094310.... Which appears to have been replaced with this one: http://subaru.spx.com/detail.asp?partid=499097300 GD

If anything I would say the earlier gen heads might flow more due to there being less material. But overall I've never heard of anyone noting a difference. There's no indication of that from Subaru either as there was never anything put out about not mixing them if the need arises. Also the valves are all the same sizes and that is likely to be your limiting factor more than the port dimensions. Porting and polishing can yeild some improvements with less turbidity in flow, but is unlikely to flow more CFM without a change in the valves themselves. GD

I assume you are refering to the three generations of EA82 *turbo* heads? To my knowledge there were only a single generation of non-turbo, single port heads made. They were made succesively thicker in the area of the exhaust ports to prevent cracks between the valves extending into the coolant jacket. The problem was never adequately solved and only by controlling the mixtures to prevent excessive exhaust gas temps and limiting the level of forced induction to about 12 pounds or less are they capable of holding. Eventually the engine was outmoded by the EJ20T and attempts to solve the problems of the EA82T beyond 175 HP were abandoned. Further, the last (third) generation of heads were never actually put into production engines. They were only availible through the parts channels. GD

What year and model? As a rule you have to understand that this IS (probably) a 20+ year old car. You are likely to have similar problems with anything of that vintage. Generally Subaru's are known for their mechanical reliablility even in the face of strange electrical gremlins and other nuisance oddities. They are generally prized for their ability to withstand the the rigors of idiots and regardless of what the gauges say, they very, very rarely fly apart without warning and often will continue to make it home even in the face of severely, outstandingly, retarded owners. The sending unit's are diaphram based and when they fail they are often found to leak out the bottom where the wire attaches. It's directly under the pump to the left of the filter if you are looking from the front of the car. The wire that runs to them gets cooked by it's proximity to the engine and can become freyed around the last 12 inches or so the run to the pump. Just follow it and check it out. If it disconnects periodically the gauge will read zero. If you ground the wire to the block the gauge should peg out. Note that it is not uncommon for the gauge to read 0 (zero) at a warm idle. This is normal according to the owners manual. The pressure is not zero, but it is lower than the gauge can effectively read. From a mechanical or replacement electrical aftermarket gauge I like to see 25 psi at a hot idle, and at least 40 to 50 psi at cruising RPM. Best place to obtain an oil pump is from your local dealership parts deparment. GD

If I were doing it I would likely just shorten the control arms and also reinforce them at the same time. Kill two birds that way and don't have to mess with the x-member. Just cut out a slice in the straightest section - make it 1/8" more than what you need to remove. Then weld the two peices back together with a section of 1/8" flat bar inbetween to reinforce. Then fully box the ends for strength. GD

Bad sending unit or partially shorted wire. But you may also need a new pump anyway. Subaru's are often neglected and the oil pumps take the hit first when people fail to change the oil and it bypasses the filter for prolonged periods. GD

This is a common subaru failure. The seal in the transmission that keeps gear oil out of the cable has failed. The cable acts like a screw and sucks gear oil into the speedo head. The speedo, cable, and seal will all have to be replaced for an effective and lasting repair. Anything less will last only a short time or not work at all. GD

Because of the location of the ECU in the XT body, it is somewhat common to have the wireing loom become corroded and damged where it runs through the body and door sills, etc. At this point it is almost a sure bet with the amount of work you have had done. You should remove the carpet and trim to access the wireing loom and inspect for corrosion damage. The stock wireing loom has "splices" that consist of bare wire crimped with copper rings then covered with a rubber sleeve and electrical tape. The tape gets old and hard, then the water leaks in and the copper turns to copper sulfate (green stuff). GD

Threebond is a brand, not a type, of sealant. There are many varieties of Threebond - just as there are many varieties of Permatex. Some of it is VERY different from the stuff availible in the states. I happen to have occasion to use actual Threebond products in my work. For the case halves, use loctite 518. RTV is not reccomended.

I really don't think that will work well. The inside tire will not slow at all in a turn so you will be pulled straight off the course....unless it's straight line drag racing in dirt... But I've never tried it so who knows - maybe in dirt it won't matter so much. I would expect the handling to be very unpredictable - based mostly on how hard or soft the dirt is on any particular day. Welding is great for slow speed crawling and mudding, etc. It's not really a good choice for racing though. Lockers are one thing but you can easily turn them off. GD

How much different is the VF7 flange compared to the TD04? I was under the impression they were the same..... at least my TD05 is the same as my VF11 on my legacy. You have any spare stock turbo's Rob? GD

Unfortunately if they have been allowed to tick like that for long they will likely need to be replaced again. When they tick they wear due to their increased movement as they are not cusioned by oil. You oil pump should be replaced, as well as both the relief springs on the lifter supply banjo bolts - they get weak and allow oil to bypass the lifters. The pump may be putting out enough pressure, but it likely has issues with sucking air due to worn spots in the pump drive shaft and clearance issues. Fixing the problem often entails replacing the pump, all the lifters, and the relief springs. GD

If you can't feel it then it's not a problem. GD

Doesn't look that bad to me. The second compression ring should be below that anyway. I would run it. These aren't swiss watches. Run iron rings - chrome faced rings will take forever to seat in. GD

Center lamp means it's an 82 GL. They were not equipped past 82. 80 and 81 would have center lamps but the door is a larger chrome subaru logo. The 82 center lamp door is black with a smaller logo. Also 82's would have chrome bumpers (even 4WD's) and chrome trim rings around the tail-lights. GD

Get hold of yourself man - it's an 82 wagon. It's worth less than your shirt. GD

Tons - the difference is they use air bags and press a button while you are out busting your knuckles on a silly nut that is going to stiffen your suspension and throw off your camber. Seriously - it's a stupid feature and only results in people going places they shouldn't go without a lift and causing uneccesary tire wear and poor fuel economy. If they served a useful purpose I would be all for it. Sadly they do not and thus the reason the feature was dropped on EA82's and up. GD

Agree with Monstaru - the adjusters are silly and unecesary. They throw the camber way off and they make the front springs too stiff. They should be left down at all times. If you need the extra clearance make 1" spacer blocks instead. They are also a pain in the royal butt to adjust as most often they are rusty or full of muck and mud. GD

The small clutch is a bad option for large tires. It slips like crazy trying to take off. It's no good off-road either. GD

They are availible in the aftermarket - Autozone carries them. I've seen them personally and they are adjustable exactly like the originals. GD