GeneralDisorder

If the axle stubs on an EA81 are lower than the diff stubs it's because of how the torsion bar is adjusted on that vehicle, or the torsion bar is simply broken. That is NOT how they are supposed to be from stock. stock EA81's have MORE ground clearance (and thus higher diff's) than a stock EA82. Ground clearance at the lowest setting of my Brat's torsion bar is 7.5" under the rear diff. GD

Just installed it on my 83 hatch. I wanted to see what a stock EA81 runs for EGT's, and wanted to feel out the way the gauge works. The thermocouple that comes with it doesn't have an exposed tip junction so the response time is a small bit slower than you would want for EGT - it's fast, but my feeling is that fastER is better in this case. They sell an exposed junction thermocouple that I'm going to order for that - actually two of them - one for each bank on my 22T. The thermocouple that it comes with however, is exclent for cylinder head temp - I've decided to run two additional monitors for the right/left cylinder head temp on my 22T as well. EA81 temps: Idle: 550 to 600 degrees F Cruise (55 to 60 MPH): 850 to 900 degrees F WOT: Highest I've recorded is 1125 degrees F It has a nifty max function that will store the maximum reading till you clear it (even after powered off). It also has an alarm functions that illuminates a blue LED on the unit, and closes an internal relay for sounding buzzers or activating cooling devices, etc. I'm definately sold on these. I'm getting 6 total - two for CHT, two for EGT, one for Coolant Temp, and one for Boost monitoring. Will make a nice little display out of them for somewhere in the console of my SS. GD

Those splices are usually pretty well protected with a rubber covering, insulating wrap, then tape - and then sometimes flex wrap, and more tape. You have to understand that they are now 20 years old and long past their life expectancy. They do sometimes cause problems for sure - but I understand the reasoning behind them, and it's more of an annoyance than anything. GD

It should prime for about 1.5 seconds after key-on regardless of tach signal. Of course that's not long enough to get much fuel flowing to the filter - but the pump should still run. incidentally - what was wrong with the distributor? Was it something the shop did? GD

The locking tabs come with a good gasket kit, so you might see them on some solid lifter engines as well if they were added later. Best way to tell hydro from solid is to look at the end of the pushrod itself - the solid's have aluminium pushrods with steel "caps" on either end which can be clearly seen with the valve cover removed. The hydro's have a solid steel pushrod with no cap. I'm not entirely sure about the way to tell small-valve vs. big valve heads apart - the best way is to measure the valves of course. The intake valves are 2mm larger on the big valve heads. The casting differences may also indicate small valve if there are two bolt-holes on the bottom of the head for 10mm bolts that bolt to the older block castings. Later solid lifter blocks (83/84) and all hydro blocks do not have the large boss on the block casting for those bolts. I don't have any small-valve engines at the moment so I can't get pictures of these differences. If someone wants to take pictures of the head/block mating area from under the vehicle on their 80-82 small valve engine then I could supply comparison pictures of the larger valve varieties. GD

I don't have the same lift as you guys, but it solved much of the problems I was having, yes. The breakage problem is usually a result of over-extending the axles when you get them in the air, or when you stop them on hard surfaces when they are spinning fast. The axle droop is too large and you can see many times where the cage & balls have impacted the wire retainer and walked right over it - usually splitting the cup in several places. GD

Yeah - I was bored that day I guess. Hope you guys find it useful. GD

http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/axle_rebuilding.html GD

I actually took some readings with my DMM's thermocouple today to double check the readings on the cluster of my Brat. I monitored the temp over several cycles of the radiator fan both on the radiator and on the thermostat housing. The thermostat housing cycled between about 170 and 200. The radiator (top, middle) was a bit lower on both ends at around 150 to 190. I think it's a mistake to run it as you were without the cap in place - that will not allow the system to pressurize properly and as a result your coolant would be approaching boiling point at very near the temp you measured at the 1/3 cylinder head. Boiling point of 50/50 is 223 degrees... with the cap in place it would be about 40 degrees higher than that. Assuming the system can build pressure properly - if you have leaks that may prevent the system from pressurizing. GD

+1 GD

They have their place. The SPFI system used in later years was excelent, reliable, and simple. The major problem with the EA82T lies with the heads, and some other ancillery components that non-turbo's tend to stress less. The heads for the NA's are different entirely, and at the power levels of the NA design the inherent problems nearly vanish. The biggest drawback of the EA82 NA is the timing belt setup itself. The belts usually don't last till the reccomended change interval. 50k or sometimes even less is common. They are a bit of an oddity in the timing belt universe, and as such can be problematic to the uninitiated. The carbs had serious drawbacks compared to earlier designs, and the feedback carbs were the worst/most complicated carb design Subaru ever put out (and the last). Generally the EA82 NA isn't a bad engine - it needs more maintenance to go the same number of miles with nearly the same HP as the EA81 though.... The only win is the SFPI, but you can put that on an EA81 with relatively little effort. An EA81 block will also bolt right in to the stock manifolds and mounts of an EA82 SPFI vehicle and only requires minor changes and a drive gear swap on the distributor. GD

"Dealing" with it involves fixing it a LOT, and replacing it a LOT. If that's he answer you are wishing for, then POOF - you get your wish. The "quirks" aren't "fixable" without redesigning major components. If you can do that or afford to pay someone to do it, then there's no reason to ask for help here - there's no one here that hasn't come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time and money.... the one die hard EA82 lover we had was banned because he was crazy (quite literally), and even were he here he couldn't help you due to his mental illness. The problem is that you are refusing to accept the best help we can give you. I understand that you don't like to hear it, but from experience - myself, and many others here have found that there is NO way to deal with the quirks of that engine within the scope of a reasonable budget, and with parts readily availible. What you are failing to understand is the years, and years of tinkering that the members of this board represent - if we had good answers for you, then you would have seen them already, and people wouldn't be doing the EJ swaps. Face reality - you (unknowingly I bet) made a poor choice with respect to the power-plant in your vehicle. The RX is a cool little body style, and as with a lot of cars, people often buy them based on looks without realizing what they have got themselves into. Just accept it and move on. Do more research next time - know what you are getting into. RX's and some other EA82T's change hands like most people change underwear - it's because of that engine - it drives people to the verge of insanity. GD

He's not a topic Nazi - he's a moderator, and it's his job around here. This is a post about EA series Subaru's - it's fine to use examples of other vehicles where applicable, but continue your side-conversations through PM or in off-topic. I don't care to hear about Mopars here either - I'll go to a Mopar forum for that. GD

I willingly changed it to that based on the sugestion of a prominent staff member . But yes - that's is basically correct. Just to clarify though - I can change it at any time. Sadly, I rather like it And as Zap pointed out - rump roast is not a swear word in the sense I'm using it. It's draws a correlation between myself and a certain stubborn animal.... I am not using it to insult anyone. It's also not censored by the board. GD

EMPI makes a direct replacement for the rubber "donut" in the steering shaft where it connects between the column and the rack. It's for VW bugs, and it's Urethane! Best of all it's like $8. I've used them on all my EA81's and they are awesome! It fits EXACTLY like stock, it's just Urethane instead of natural rubber. The original one's are usually perma-bent, soft, and cracked. Easy to replace too. Couple wrenches, and 20 minutes. Here's a link, but many places carry these: http://www.jusbugs.com/catalog/steering-coupler-urethane-p-946.html?osCsid=ae4e8189af210a34478e146245d19a52 GD

If you don't want to do an EJ swap, then buy an EJ based vehicle. No need to do a swap at all. Gen 1 Legacy's are cheap as dirt now. Either way you are talking about a 15 to 20 year old motor. Price differences are negligable. If you can't afford mods to one, then you can't afford mods to the other - you just can't afford mods. Perhaps a different line of work.... People come here because they are frustrated or to get opinions. People like me generally give anwsers in the best intrest of saving their money and time. If you are into wasting either or both, then you shouldn't ask me, or anyone else here - you should be able to accomplish that on your own. Wireing is ubiquitous - repair, modification, old, new - it's all the same. Automotive wireing is something you need to learn if you intend to work on cars effectively. People never swap those into EA's - they swap the EJ22's. The EJ22 is nearly flawless to 300k - almost always. If that's what you consider fun.... perhaps Heroin is for you. Specifically that's almost always in reference to "modding" the EA82 Turbo. Other EA's are treated with the respect they deserve. The EA82T has earned it's poor reputation, and I for one wouldn't shed a tear if they were all junked. You won't see anyone downing the "true" EA engines (pushrod). They were all excelent motors. It's the stop-gap EA82 (EJ series began development in '85 - EA82's were just EA81's with poorly designed OHC's) that is treated this way.. I generally ignore EA82T posts. But that's my preference. I don't dislike the EA82 body series, but I think that most times severe problems would be best solved by either ripping the thing out and replacing it with an EA81, or EJ22(T), or by just buying an EA81 or EJ22 vehicle. That's my veiwpoint, and that's the beauty of forums. I don't quite understand posts such as this ranting about veiwpoints that aren't going to be changed. Offer up your opinions, and leave it at that. People ask questions here to get the opinions of others. Just because they differ from your's doesn't mean they shouldn't be posted. Opinions are what forums are all about.... now blatantly incorrect, false, or misleading information is another thing entirely. GD

You aren't going to save money or fix your problems with an O2 sensor. The problems are related to your duty solenoid's and the sensors that drive it. There's more than just the O2 on these. There's a coolant temp sensor (CTS), and a manifold pressure sensor that come into play, and all of this stuff has to work together to provide the ECU with enough information to properly supply the air metering ports on the carb with filtered air. The O2 sensor is the least of your worries. It's probably a bit slow from being old, but that really doesn't affect cruise conditions much at all. You best bet is to install a non-feedback Hitachi DCZ-328 from an 85 to 87 EA82. It will bolt right on, be cheap to rebuild, and will give your 27+ MPG without any sensors at all. GD

You may want to order some ball-joints as well. Every EA81 I've owned has had worn out ball joints - they usually clunk and knock going over bumps, and make the car steer with the loud pedal. Very sketchy. I haven't found a lot of "bad" struts out west here - definitely good to replace them though. GD

I've never seen an EA valve get stuck open. I've seen valve seats come loose, and whole valves get sucked into cylinders. That will pretty much stop the engine from rotating though. You almost certainly have a blown head gasket. It doesn't have to be burning coolant - could just be a compression leak to the outside, or to the push-rod cavity. If you squirted oil in to seal up the rings and it did nothing, then you don't have a ring issue. Either you have a hole in the piston, or there's a problem with the head / head gasket. Pull the head and see. GD

Could easily just be a head gasket. GD

His swap instructions are for installing only a very slightly more powerful alternator. For the GM 100 amp, the sense wire should be larger, and should be located at the point where you want the voltage to be regulated after any line losses due to wireing. It's typical to see around a 1 to 1.5 volt drop between the output terminal of the alternator and the junction. The sense wire will allow the alternator to put out higher than 14.5 volts so that the voltage at the junction remains at 14.5. The other wire is the charge indicator/feild excitation wire. It's wired to switched battery positive, in series with a bulb that indicates failure of the alternator. There *should* be no flow through the excitation circuit unless the alternator fails to create acceptable DC current. It will flicker and flash (along with other indicators) if the rectifier goes, and it will come on steady if the brushes or the regulator die. Bearing failure will usually take out the rectifier diodes or the VR as it often causes the brushes to skip and arc - voltage spikes will kill the VR quick-like. GD

It's not a bad swap, you just have to get the external vs. internal wiring right. Remove the external VR. Any circuit that goes through it should be rewired to work without it. That may include your fuel pump but I would have to check the FSM to know exactly. Run a new sensor wire - forget the one in the VR because the white wire from the VR plug WAS the sensor wire - all of it. The external VR contains the sensor - not the alt. You need a good sized wire for the sensor, so run a new one from the junction to the new internally regulated alt. GD

EA82's have baffled oil pans - there's quite a bit more going on inside there than just a simple bowl shaped pan. It holds a lot of oil and residue. You may want to take it off and give it a cleaning. Some of your capacity may be taken up with un-drainable sludge. GD

Start with the most basic circuit - the crank circuit. It has no fuses, and no relays. It runs through the fusible links, and through a transmission neutral lockout switch. Obviously the problem is not the switch or you would have power everywhere else. I would suspect a bad connection at one of the links, or a bad ignition switch. GD