GeneralDisorder

Head over to www.rockauto.com They show pictures of many of the parts they sell in their database so their site is useful for identifying stuff at times. From what I can tell, if you drill down to 94, and go to the section for "Legacy Sport" (those are the turbo's) it shows both types, but the distinction is in the wheel size - the 91 to 94 Turbo's came with 15 rims, and it indicates the 15" rims had the two-pot units, and the 14" rims had the single pot units. Perhaps that's the confusion. I'm not near my 91 SS right now, but i can compare them to my 94 L and see if they are indeed the two-pot vs. the single pot. But it sounds right considering the 91 has vented rear discs as well - it would seem silly to upgrade the rear and not the front..... at least to me. GD

Yes - that would be correct. The ignition relay will need power in crank and run. It will work, but it may complain about the park switch. I haven't extensively tried out the auto ECU's. I have a Loyale auto that I've swapped in for testing and it ran. But I didn't test it long enough to see about the park switch. GD

That's an RX coupe. 87 through 89. You just have to look harder. GD

They make some, yes. But most of the gaskets, bearings, rings, etc they would be buying from someone else. There's just not the ability to make those type of parts unless you are willing to invest 10's of thousands into equipment and facilities. Some small casting, machining, welding, and such is what RAM does, and they could of course make cork and paper gaskets fairly easily. But making something like a ring set takes serious production abilities that they simply do not have. One thing that RAM may do is outsource (at great expense, and large volume) some of their "special" parts to suppliers of these components. If you have the specs you can have whatever you like made up, but you might have to order 1000 units to get the cost-per-unit down to an acceptable level. GD

I'm going to take issue with some of this.... You are contradicting yourself. "OEM" stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer". This means that the component was made by the SAME company that made them for the factory. It's all there in the acronym - you aren't telling us anything we don't already know. I have a few points of my own you should take note of: 1. NOT all remans are OEM shafts. There are other companies that make Subaru half shafts. GCK comes to mind off the top of my head. They are NOT an OEM, and their shafts could easily be in the reman world. They are by no means alone. 2. Just being an OEM shaft has been re-manned means NOTHING. Did they replace the joints? What brand did they use? Or did they weld up the worn spots on the old joints and grind them? What kind of boots are they using? Quality or not? The only part of the axle that isn't a wear item is the SHAFT itself - but it's got no moving parts - it's just a machined rod. 3. Different part numbers get all mixed together. For example the EA81's use two different front shafts for 4WD and 2WD. Shaft, and joint diameter is different. But they are 100% interchangeable. The remanufacturers know this and just lump them all together. So it's a crap shoot as to what you get when you open the box. This can be a problem for a lot of us that require the heavier duty 4WD axles but can't guarantee we will get them through these builders. Well - that's not entirely clear cut for Subaru's at least. I've had experience with axles that caused severe vibration but when disassembled they didn't look all that bad. It takes a very trained eye to inspect the components and correctly diagnose failures. There's a lot of folks that have reported bad axles right out of the box. The older Subaru's run their half shafts at a much higher angle than most cars on the road and CV's wear proportionally to their run angle, applied torque, and rotational speed. I'll agree to that to some extent. Someone properly trained in Subaru half shafts would probably see the problem. It would have to be a binding of the DOJ cup, and one would imagine you could feel this if you gave it a careful rotation while sliding the joint in and out of the cup. Depending on the boot, and how tight the thing is, it might be difficult to tell though. There's a grey area in there - at what point do you decide the axle is too tight and is transferring vibration to the cabin? You would think so, but in practice the ancient art of Subaru half-shafts isn't always so simple. I've run into my share of strange effects from half shafts. Both from stuff that has failed, and from brand new parts that appear to cause second-order vibration from other parts of the vehicle that are worn out. Tranny mounts on EA series are a good example - some of the GCK shafts are so tight that they bounce the tranny all over the place if the mounts are squishy (as they very often are). GD

You'll probably have to test it. I don't know that those figures were widely published if at all. I understand the desire for MS, but why not just use the Subaru ECM? It's cheaper, and actually has quite a bit of headroom built into it's simple design. It's already setup for a 90 HP, higher compression engine, and can handle a bit on top of that. Should easily be good to 100 HP, and that's not an easily obtainable figure on the EA81 anyway - not with the stock heads, which is the only thing the SPFI intake will fit on. GD

HEY! I resemble that statement..... sometimes. Mostly I just try to help people. Sometimes setting them straight is what they need, and sometimes they need real technical assistance. I offer both in one convienent package . There are times when you just have to let the dogs out. GD

It's been here for years. I probably took that picture 4 years ago or more. It should already be in the USRM or in the old version - check the links on the home page. GD

The real concern is if the duct tape should get involved with the joint parts inside the axle - grease isn't going to mix well with shredded duct tape. If you must cover it up, use saran wrap. It won't be a big deal of the joint decides to chew some up, and it will probably last far longer than you think it will. GD

Brake cleaner works fine on the EA82 unit's. Newer stuff, or other brands may be more sensitive to such cleaning agents but the EA82 technology is pretty basic. "MAF" cleaner is just diluted brake cleaner anyway. Make sure to clean out the by-pass hole and slot in the MAF housing - that's what allows the MAF to have adequate airflow. Carb cleaner should not be used - WAY too harsh and doesn't evaporate without leaving a residue. GD

No - because like many luxury/performance vehicles, owners rarely work on volvo's unless they are the older models. You still see the really old 240's etc here, but anything between those and the late models has to be crushed because of the expense in maintaining them. I had an 850 turbo, and while it was indeed fast, it was a nightmare of a car to work on, and quite expensive. GD

5 speed linkages are completely different. 4 speed's don't have the linkage "shelf" you are refering to as the transmission is physically longer and serves as it's own linkage pivot point. See the above image posted by Skip.... GD

1. Aftermarket axles are cheaply made. We know this. 2. A HARD connection between the engine and the supension/body can transfer vibration. That's why engine/tranny mounts are made of rubber, not cast iron. 3. If the aftermarket axle's DOJ were to bind slightly due to poor machineing, poor grease distribution, or anything else, it *could* create a HARD connection between the tranny and the suspension. Thus transfering vibration when it would otherwise be isolated by the engine and transaxle mounts. What's so hard to understand about that? The ability of the axle to absorb vibration transfered through the DOJ lies in the ability of the joint to slide in and out freely. If that were comprimised by a poorly made axle then it definately would transfer lateral vibration through to the knuckle and this would be felt inside the cabin. End of story. BTW - I'm a mechanic too, and I DON'T have 35 years experience. But I understand - I work with a lot of people that do, and I have to correct them all the time. It's because I actually READ and comprehend the manuals. I'm constantly having to pull down manuals and look stuff up to correct folks. GD

+1 You'll be just fine if you grease it every 100 miles. Your vibration is the joint wanting grease - it will most likely hold together if you grease it. When/If it blows, you'll just lose power. They don't tear anything up or cause you to lose control. It will make some pretty ugly noises and you'll lose forward power. Just coast to the side. GD

Depends on what it looks like. If I'm tearing the engine down I'll replace it. If the engine is just pulled forward for a clutch job then it stays unless it's leaking. Besides - if you want an o-ring then go get a damn o-ring or make one. It's JUST an o-ring. You measure the diameter and the thickness with a caliper and go find one like it. There's nothing special here. If you can't find a size you like (unlikely) then you make one. GD

There is no slot - you have to CREATE the slot. That's actually a photo-shopped picture of my transmission when I did that mod a few years back. Mick photo-shopped it to show the short shifter mod, and he made the slot longer. Making the slot longer should help. In that picture the bolt being used is a 3/8" because I drilled both of them out so there wouldn't be as much play. Of course it was done with the tranny out of the car. Otherwise taking that picture would be nigh impossible. What I experienced, and the reason I don't think making the slot longer would work for me personally, is that the smooth inner sufaces of the rod and the sleeve still have no real gripping ability on each other. I'm a "spirited" driver, and I'll shift as fast as the tranny can handle - with Redline synthetic. In doing so I exert enough force on the gear shift when it hits it's limits of travel that it eventually works loose again. I've had to tighten it up a couple times. It's not easy to move, but it does move, and the hammering action of my shifting doesn't do it any favors. The other reason I don't like cutting the slot is that it precludes the new fix I've come up with..... but then I've never tried that fix as it's just silly to not install the 5 speeds.... It's worth a try - it does work for a while - we have consensus on that. If it doesn't loosen for you, then great. If it does maybe by then you'll be up for the 5 speed anyway. GD

It's not. How do I know? Because I own multiple "leak free" EA81's and none of them have one. I suspect it's to prevent oil from getting to the flywheel friction surface in case of a rear main failure. But that's just a guess, and oil wouldn't easily take that path. Maybe if it was really DUMPING out of there - but then you have bigger problems. Know how many rear mains I've seen fail on EA81's? You guessed it - NONE. I've done a couple front's, but rear's just don't seem to fail. It's aweful rare if I haven't seen it in the dozens I've owned. GD

LOTS of wiring. Would be a lot easier if you are pulling the dash anyway to just swap the whole car's harness to the GL harness. Sad to ruin a STD like that though. Why don't you trade your STD to me for my GL? I've always wanted a STD.... GD

It will if you didn't coat the whole gasket. Even faster if you didn't use an OEM gasket. Cork just sucks as a gasket material. It absorbs oil over time. Engine heat then breaks that oil down. Then you have shoe leather. That's why they are always stuck to the pan. If you coat it in RTV (very thin layer) on both sides and the edges you are preventing it from absorbing oil. This in turn allows the cork to retain it's "springyness" and maintain pressure on the bolts so they don't loosen. Letting it dry allows you to reuse the gasket next time you pull the pan, and you won't ever have to clean the surfaces again. It's a compression fit so the adhesive qualities of RTV are not needed, only it's oil-repellant qualities. This goes for the valve cover gaskets on the EA81 as well. N/A to EA82 valve covers as they are rubber. Effectively you are making your own rubber gasket with the RTV layer over the cork. In fact I've never had to replace one. GD

Actually that looks like galvanic corrosion - which can happen if not enough/old coolant is run for WAY too long. Coolant contains zinc which functions as the sacrficial anode. If too much water is used in the coolant, or the coolant isn't changed about ever 2 to 4 years (even if it tests good in a hygrometer), then insufficient zinc will allow corrosion of that type to take place. The result is that the aluminium itself becomes the anode and aluminium ions are stripped from the heads or block from the inside of the coolant passages. Eventually this can eat all the way through. Of course this is most often seen in aluminium heads attached to cast iron blocks, but there is sufficient iron in the bolts, and things like the stock heater core hose couplers to cause this in an EA81 over time. Of course the picture is small, and there could be some other cause - you'll have to disect the head to know for sure. But that's my gut feeling on your leak. Crack's just don't look like that - they look like cracks - not huge gaping holes with smooth surfaces like that appears to exhibit. If that's the case, then the whole engine is suspect. Toss it. GD

Only automatics were hydro in 84, so that is correct for you car. GD

I looked it up - it's just there for centering the flywheel to the shaft. Plus it's often lost on vehicles that I've done clutches on. Never had a problem without it. GD

Mostly it was the linkage - mudrat's cobbled together linkage never properly engaged reverse till I modified the tranny mounts to use EA82 mounts. It was half gone by that time though. The tranny's are quite strong, yes. But almost all of them have suffered from the poor linkage design. The 5 speed and the 4 speed have almost identical reverse gear systems - just the 4 has the linkage with the tendancy to not fully engage gears. GD

Then your thermostat isn't closing properly. 160 is too low - the thermostat should close and restrict flow till the engine is at 193 degrees. That's it's job. GD

4 speed linkages suck. It's best to drop the tranny if you intend to redo the linkage properly. Although some have done them in-place. The tranny shift rod has a hole in it that lines up with the hole in the sleeve for the shifter - they are pinned together with a roll pin inside another roll pin and then a special "capped" cotter pin inside both of those. It's strange, it's weird, and for all it's weirdness it didn't work well either. The problem is that the shift rod itself is what wears, and of course it's the one part of the linkage you can't replace without splitting the transmission open. You have a couple options at this point. In order of preference (yes, I'm serious): 1. Install an EA82 5 speed. 2. Fix the linkage.... ALL the problems with it. It's possible, and I have a pretty darn good idea of how I would do it. But it requires some welding skills, patience, and you absolutely HAVE to drop the tranny for it. I've done all the methods below (except #3 because I'm not THAT ghetto ), and I'm certain I could fix one and make it stick. BUT #1 is so much better of an option all around that I've never bothered. 3. Weld it solid. Great option for fixing the problem, but getting it apart again would seriously suck. Tractor mechanics only of course.... 4. Cut a slot in the sleeve for clamping force, drill out both the sleeve and the rod to 3/8" and bolt them together. This works well for a while, but will eventually loosen up again. The slight amount of movement wears down the clamping surfaces as they are smooth. You could perhaps cross-hatch both the rod and the inside of the sleeve to make them grip better, but if you do that you have to drop the tranny and you may as well ask me about #2.... wherein my answer will certainly be "why aren't you doing #1 ?!?!" 5. Bolt the linkage together using a bolt the approximate size of the old roll-pins..... half assed version of #4. Will loosen quicker than #4 and wear out the hole in the rod even faster. 6. Replace the roll pin..... probably not even much good at this point. 7. Who needs reverse anyway? Get out and push. GD