GeneralDisorder

www.rockauto.com. The Beck-Arnley one's are repackaged OEM mounts. I know because I just installed a set on my hatch. Decent price too. GD

I don't know why but the EA81 Wagon's tend to be that way. My '83 hatch is stiff and I think the springs are the same across all models for 4WD. Must be the weight difference. GD

Why would you replace the springs? Are they broken or rusty or something? They generally are not something you replace unless they are damaged. They are not wear items and their spring rate doesn't change over time in appreiciable degree. As far as the adjustable struts - Monroe makes them and Autozone carries a house brand that has adjustable lower perch. There's no need to buy the dealer items on that account. I'm all for dealer parts of course, but in the specific case of struts I would take a new Monroe over a Subaru stock item that's been on a shelf for 20 years. GD

Calm down - I'm sure it's nothing you, or your mother did. Those are really one in the same question. The idler/tensioner pulleys basically *are* bearings. And more importantly than that, they are JUST bearings - nothing special about them. Almost certainly a 6k series 2RS-C3 of some sort. As to how common bearing failure is I can say with great confidence that no one really knows. Being in the field of industrial machinery I have been over, under, around, and through that topic more times than I care to remember. I can tell you in general what the biggest causes of bearing failure are (in this order): 1. Over greasing (obviously not your problem) 2. Contamination or breakdown of the grease. 3. Mis-handling before or durring installation. The bearings in the idlers and tensioners are sealed (the 2RS part) and come pre-greased. If the seal fails then the grease leaks out and what remains overheats and breaks down. That's fairly uncommon though so we can probably also rule out contamination or grease breakdown as with the low mileage the car has these are likely to be high quality and factory instaled. If it indeed is a bearing failure I would put my money on #3. A simple drop from 24" to a hard surface will cause "brinnelling" of the bearing race and will cause premature failure. It's something that happens more than you think. The monkey's that package and warehouse bearings are just that - monkeys. They can and do drop things without telling anyone. And of course it could have nothing whatsoever to do with your timing belt arrangement. That has yet to be determined. Pull off those accesory belts and do a test. Good idea! GD

The heads can be resurfaced for about $35 each. The parts to do a head gasket job shouldn't run more than about $250. Figure about $350 with fluids and such for unavoidable costs. After that it's just labor. That's just complete hogwash. Any Phase-I 2.5 will work just fine. You simply reuse any of the manual transmission components from your old engine that you need - it's the heads and head gaskets that are in question, not the transmission or the components that interface it with the engine. This statement alone tells me the man is clearly either not well-informed or knowledgable about Subaru's in general or he's trying to pull something over on you. Really? On a 9 year old car.... that's not entirely far-fetched in parts of this country. I've seen it before. Why don't you take a look for yourself though and get us some pictures of this "death rot" that he claims is going to kill the car. Wow - RUN, don't walk, away from that guy. What's his game? He going to use your engine as a training aid for some new shop monkey?..... "Let's have the kid tear it down and we'll tell the owner it's trash - that way it never has to go back together AND we can charge for the labor!!". The $650 doesn't including putting it back together and from the knowledge this gentleman demostrates you don't want him near your car with anything resmbling a tool or sharp insturment. Trust me. Go somewhere else. There is no reason at all to suspect the bottom end is worn out of the engine. Why he would offer to split the case of an engine that merely shows symptoms of a HG failure is beyond me. Your oil smell is likely the HG leaks, or valve stem seals, or something leaking onto the exhaust system. Subaru engine's really don't have a lot of bottom-end failures - ring wear is almost unheard of and past 300k miles you generally see them die of rod bearing failure. GD

Which screw did you adjust? The butterfly stop screw with the white paint on it or the actual idle adjustment screw? The former should never be adjusted unless it was already done by someone else and you have no choice. GD

What about it? It's a trade-off either way. Are you saying he should get a 2WD? The VC's are VERY reliable. I've heard of a LOT more cases of duty C and clutch pack failure. Anything *can* break - it's just that in the vast preponderance of cases they don't. GD

No problem. I've owned a few (currently three) so the knowledge is necessary to be able to order parts and to find what I need at the junk yards. If you haven't looked at them the brochures in the "Subaru's of the 80's" section on the home-page are very useful. GD

Sounds like a classic MAF problem to me. It's the only thing I know of that can cause those kinds of problems yet not set a code. If it were a bad CTS the ECU would surely complain. O2 is ignored when cold. You can try cleaning it with some brake cleaner. If you are using an oiled air filter the oil can cause problems with the MAF. Also check the coil resistances and check the color of the spark. GD

FT4WD (not to be confused with AWD, which is different for Subaru), was a Turbo and XT6 model thing and only from 87 through 90. The EA81's, including the hatchback were never offered with FT4WD. They are FWD or PT4WD only. And PT4WD has NO center diff of any kind. On hard surfaces you must run in 2WD or you will bind in tight turns just like a 4WD truck. GD

Various: STD models: EA71 (1.6 liter), 4 speed FWD or 4 speed single range (S/R) 4WD (no low gear). DL models: EA81 (1.8 liter), 5 speed FWD, or 4 speed S/R 4WD. GL models: EA81 (1.8 liter), 5 speed FWD, 4 speed dual range (D/R) 4WD. (high and low gear), 3AT FWD, or 3AT S/R push-button 4WD. All models (STD, GL, DL) were made from 1981 to 1989. The 1980 hatch's would have been very simlar but they didn't have the EA81 yet. Works exactly like it does on a newer Subaru, just doesn't have a center diff or VC. It's locked 50/50 power split just like a 4WD truck. There is no seperate transfer case - it's a transaxle just like you are used to. FWD. There are many upgrade paths you can take with the EA81 body's. EJ22's are getting popular. 5 speed D/R from the EA82 body is also popular. The EA81 is a pushrod engine - no overhead cams, no timing belts. They came carbed with 73 HP for all hatchback models. MPFI turbo versions were made but not in the hatchback body and they are both extremely rare and difficult to source parts for. For off-road it's the EA81 or the EJ22 that you want. Other options are not as reliable or suitable to the conditions. GD

These could be related - you may have a timing belt tensioner bearing going out or something similar. Bad bearing have a way of making knocking noises and then making nasty squealing noises as the RPM's increase. If the belt goes because a tensioner locks up, or strips the teeth off because the cogged idler, there's about an 80% chance you'll do serious damage to the valve train at least. GD

That's just incorrect. They are not load bearing components or wear items. As such you inspect and replace only as necessary. That is basic mechanic knowledge. These are not specific to Brat's. They are plain metric roll-pins. They are used on all Subaru's from the mid-70's to the 90's and they are all the same pin. Gauranteed you could walk into any Subaru dealer and they would have drawers full of them. GD

I just installed two brand new EMPI axles on my hatch. I'm pleased with their quality. Any EMPI dealer (VW aftermarket shops) can order them. They have a whole line of CV's now. They were $58 each from Discount Import Parts in Beaverton Oregon. Unlike the GCK's, the EMPI joints aren't so tight out of the box. They also include both the axle nut and the roll-pin which is nice. GCK didn't include one of them IIRC. http://www.empius.com/2008_driveaxles/drive_axles.html I really don't know what happened with the GCK stuff. I bought four of them when they first showed up on the market and all of them are still going strong. Two are in my lifted wagon and have been off-road half a dozen times before it got parked two years ago. Drove all the way back from hood river to portland with bent struts and nary a problem. GD

Sounds like the idle switch inside the TPS is either malfunctioning or improperly adjusted. Try adjusting the sensor and if that doesn't work get another one from the junk yard. You'll need one from an EA82 Turbo car - probably an '87-'90 with the hot-wire MAF. I don't know if the '85/'86 TPS is the same but probably not. GD

Codes? Have you run a D-Check? GD

If you are looking around the 10 year old mark, follow these guidelines. They have served me well. 1. Stay away from the first generation 2.5's. They have head gasket issues and although they can be fixed and many have, I wouldn't trust one that I didn't do myself. 2. Stick with the AWD 5 speed manual transmissions. No risk of torque bind, and they are near bulletproof. A little better mileage but the difference isn't much. Sportier as well with the 2.2 only putting out about 135 HP. 3. The 2.2 (EJ22) is an excellent engine. Of these the best are the 96 and older models, and of those the 90 through 94 are arguably simpler due to their OBD-I ECU. If you can find an EJ22 Turbo they are a lot more fun than the non turbo - a bit more complex, but no less reliable. Other than that, take a look at what models were available and search accordingly. Don't be hasty with your purchase - there are lots of good deals out there and you definitely don't want to pay too much. When I look for an AWD 5MT 90 to 94 Legacy in the NW I look to pay no more than $1000. Last one I got was $750 and needed a water pump. It was immaculate and low mileage. Here's a site with a lot of info on models over the 90's years. http://www.cars101.com/ GD

You need to do a battery load test before you do anything else. It definitely could be just a dead battery. Try jumping it from another car if you can't get to a parts place with a load tester. Nearly all auto parts stores will test batterys for free. GD

Brian is correct - it's just a metric roll-pin. 6mm I beleive. Fastenal could get them I'm sure. You don't need an account to shop through them unlike Granger. GD

Junk yard. Any older Subaru will have some on it. Just knock out a handfull with your 3/16" pin punch. Probably won't cost you anything beyond the entry fee and you'll get a chance to look for other stuff. They are virtually always included with new/reman axles so once you have done a few axles you will likely have spares comming out your ears. I have a whole drawer full of them in my garage. GD

I know Baxter Auto Parts carries generic brake components in metric. One thing to consider - it sounded in another post like this is going to be an off-road project. If you plan on doing any lift at all you may need to lengthen the lines or you may want to run additional steel hard line and change the way the soft lines are mounted. I don't like the tabs and the spring clips for off-road. I prefer to cover the brake lines with a slit rubber hose and then zip tie them. If they snag on something it will break the zip ties before it rips the line in half. That's the theory anyway. Baxter also has various lengths of steel brake line that you can bend to your needs. I got a couple 12" metric sections for a rear disc conversion I did on the VW sqaureback a few months back. www.rockauto.com has Beck Arnley's on close-out for $11.95 (one left) and regular price for $21.79. They are very likely repackaged OEM parts. Much of B/A's subaru parts are like that. GD

Yes. GD

Unfortunately no one sells wheel-well sheet metal. You can fabricate your own though. Body work is like sculpting. Seats are the same way. You'll have to find a used set. They generally aren't cheap due to the general rareity of them. Brat's are rare, and they haven't yet hit an age where people with the money to reproduce these parts are collecting them. It may happen eventually but thus far there isn't much. GD

I would hook 12v to the pump to see if it works... if not make sure there isn't something in the gas that's burning them out, ect. If it is then perhaps the fuel pump relay is malfunctioning. As noted above I would check the pin on the ECU that is responsible for grounding the coil in the relay and check to make sure it grounds that pin while cranking. GD

SPFI is more worth while. It has more power potential - it came off an engine with 16 more HP and will automatically handle upgrades beyond that due to it's computer controlled feedback system. SPFI is also more desireable off-road as it naturally has no problems with severe angles. The Weber will starve for fuel if you get it on a really steep incline due to the float bowl not being level. GD