GeneralDisorder

I have a question that is in no way intended to detract from this awesome product. In fact I am in the market - which is why I ask. How has the exact location for the transmission input shaft been determined? There are no locator pins that I can see in the design - such as the engine bell-housing has - for precise location of the input shaft into the flywheel pilot bearing? In discussing this with others at one of the shows a while back it was pointed out that many designs fail to take this into account, and it could result in premature pilot bearing or input shaft bearing failure if it were not fairly well aligned. It seems by the locating dowels in the stock bell-housing that Subaru didn't think the bolts/holes were enough to insure this on their own. Anyway - I haven't made an adaptor plate before - so perhaps I'm overlooking something obvious that would accurately determine this without the dowel pins.... so forgive me if I'm completely in the rough with this question. GD

It will likely come back. Nothing ever got fixed by leaving it sit in the yard. GD

Yes you can fit a modern aftermarket head unit, but you can't fit a newer Subaru head unit with weather band. They are 1.5 DIN tall. GD

Alternators fail in a multitude of ways. Each one has it's own set of symtoms. Once you understand how an alternator works, it's relatively easy to work out what failed. Here's a quick run down off the top of my head: 1. Bearing failure. This usually just causes noise, but the vibration can cause the brushes to arc and this will damage the regulator and rectifier. 2. Rectifier diode failure. This happens when one or more of the diodes in the rectifier bridge fails. This WILL result in some measure of Alternating Current to pass through to the system. AC doesn't charge batteries, and it doesn't allow the regulator circuits to work properly. This has the side effect of defeating the diode's in the warning light power circuits of the guage cluster and causes them to glow dimly or "flicker" as the half-wave rectified AC current flows backwards through the shared power circuits of many of the warning lamp bulbs. This is what people refer to as the "Christmas Tree" and is one of the more interesting, and poorly understood of the alternator failure modes. 3. Regulator Integrated Circuit failure. This happens usually because of heat (bearings, ect), or because some other component failed and put too much strain on the regulator circuits (usually resulting in a heat failure). This causes the alternator output to go above or below the "regulated" output (14.5v +-0.3v) - depending on what exactly failed in the circuit. This is where you see either the whole system run out of power, or the voltage spike up to 15+ volts. If the regulator fails low, then to a lesser or greater extent the "charge indicator" lamp will glow. What people fail to understand is that the charge indicator is not an all-or-nothing type of lamp. It indicates the differential between the battery output and the alternator output. If the battery is putting out 12.5, and the alternator is putting out 11.5, then you have only a 1 volt potential across the charge indicator - it will glow VERY dimly - probably so dim you can't see it in daylight. Thus the alternator is not charging the battery - as the input voltage to the regulator dies off, so does the output, and you have a situation where the battery dies, the car dies, and you are left wondering why the charge indicator didn't come on. You just have to understand what is going on, and what that lamp is reading. It illuminates when you turn the key to "on" without the engine running because there is 12.5 volts potential across it due to the alternator not spinning at all. You also need to understand that any one of these failures can QUICKLY lead to any of the others - as in within seconds under the right conditions. So what you usually have is a combination of these failures. GD

You need to post in the "new generation" forum. This is pre-90 and Loyales. GD

Do you really want to crawl inside the head of the engineer that put the drain plug there? I don't. GD

Only if they are both 4WD. If the wagon were 2WD, the mid-pipe would be different. GD

Dealership GD

You'll yard the gears right out of a D/R. Just as an example, the EJ22T had the JDM 5 speed to handle the 160 HP it puts down stock. Modded to 200+ HP and we are seeing gears strip right out of them. The difference is that you can put RA gearsets in the 22T AWD tranny - there is nothing made that will work with the EA D/R to hold 200 HP - let alone 300. Since you'll need an adaptor plate, and you are obviously going to be doing a T-case swap anyway, there is no reason to bother with the D/R at all - in fact it's pretty silly. Use a Nissan 720 truck transmission along with the T-case, or a T-case from a Samuri. The Sammy t-cases have a high range reduction of 1.2:1, and can be geared for a low range of 6:1 or more. At least that combination has a chance - and it's lighter anyway - what do you need a whole transaxle for when a simple transmission will do? GD

As long as you stay away from the 4WD lever on hard surfaces you can run any sizes you want front to rear. Each axle should be similarly sized though. GD

You can buy them still from the dealer. Also check in the for sale forum here - there's posts there at times selling sets. You may need to purchase an 89 FSM, and then find the supplements that address changes for 90 and 91 as there probably wasn't true FSM's made for the Loyale years. GD

There is, but an FI filter would *work* for a carb. It's bad to go the other way, but an FI filter is rated at a higher pressure than a carb filter so it's just overkill. They generally have a metal casing for their higher pressure rating although I've seen plastic one's in some applications such as the early Bosch FI in my 78 squareback. Did I mention I prefer glass? GD

Not much. If it's got a 5 speed D/R and your's is a 4 speed, then with a few modifications you can install that. If it's got rear disc brakes those will fit. Otherwise there really isn't anything that will fit an EA81 without modifications. GD

+1. What you have is an example of what I stated above - ANY fuel filter will work. You could plumb in virtually anything you want. These are VERY nice, and you can actually see what kind of junk is comming out of your tank, and the replacement elements are 2 for $3. Bottom of the page - "Universal Glass See Through" http://www.empius.com/2008_catalog/empi2008_pg106.html You posistion it above the shelf so rocks can't get to it, ect. GD

Have you replaced the alt yet? You are going to chase your tail till you do. GD

You can use any filter. I like the EMPI ones for VW's with the clear glass tube and a replaceable/cleanable element. About $8 GD

Nothing about what you want is simple. It will require a large amount of custom fabrication. The rear is completely different. The only thing that will fit in 5 lug is the XT6 rear disc brakes. You can clock the torsion bar to lower it. The front is also completely different, and much harder. The axles are shorter than newer gens including the XT6, so custom axles are required to fit any other hub. The ball joints for the XT6 hubs don' fit the control arms either, so those have to be modified. The strut tops are two bolt rather than the later 3 bolt so modifications there are required as well. Basically there is no combination of parts that will bolt on so you might as well just do a full custom install of whatever you can get in Norway for reasonable money. GD

At this point we are talking about whatever we like cause this post is two years old and the original poster is long gone (he was worthless anyway). GD

Poor voltage from the alternator regulator will kill fuses - you want to fix the alternator first or you'll probably just keep blowing them, and bulbs - maybe smoke a few more components. GD

The alternator definitely is putting out AC - replace it. You may also have blown fuses from the sounds of it. GD

Any play is bad. For the cost of an EA81 pump, and considering your recent cooling system problems, I would replace it. Be VERY careful if you haven't ever had the pump off. The bolts are small, and easily broken off. Work them back and forth till they come out. Chase the threads in the block and run each bolt through a die. If you buy any pump besides the OEM, toss the cardboard gasket and use RTV (1/16" bead, and let it setup for 1 hour before starting the engine). If you buy the OEM pump it comes with a Three-Bond coated cardboard gasket that works very well dry. Replace the heater core bypass hose, and if it's looking sad, the bypass pipe as well as the smaller coolant hoses that run to the carb base. This is a good time to block those if you don't want it. Use new hose clamps all around, and get the German "embossed" clamps with the rolled edges. GD

That's a dual Hitachi. I met the guy that built that a few years ago before he died. GD

The going rate for a used transmission of that type (in good condition) is around $75 to $100. You can buy 5 to 10 of them for what a single rebuild will cost. The Subaru 5 speed's generally last 300k+. Usually outlasting the engine by quite a bit. GD

You are going to be looking at a minimum of 1 hour's labor on a blast cabinet to do a set of rims. Probably closer to 2. At my shop our hourly rate for shop time is $82 - we don't do media blasting as a seperate service, but we have the capability to glass bead parts and components of machinery as part of a rebuild or service procedure ect. I often spend an hour or two doing various parts that our hot-tank will damage, or that need to be extra special clean. I've heard it's around $100 to have a set of rims blasted around here locally. It definately beats the hell out of sanding things by hand. I often stay after work to play in the sandbox with various Subaru parts GD

There is no machine shop service required for bearings. Knuckle doesn't even have to come off. And the roll pin holes are not tapered. They go in either direction. The EMPI axles should be at least as good as the GCK's - I've got a set to put on my hatch soon so we'll see. Can't beat $58 each and no core for brand new units. GD