GeneralDisorder

I used PB blaster to ressurect some pretty badly rusted jump seat belt retractors. You can actually dissasemble the unit and get to the guts. That's what I did. Took a couple hours of working them - work like new now. GD

The SPFI EA82 will bolt in, yes. The carb manifold from your old engine will have to be used unless you also retrofit the wiring and ECU. MPFI and MPFI Turbo will not work. GD

Anecdotal evidence about how "such and such" EA82 works fine with it's stock radiator means nothing at all. Of course they work fine.... when they are working. Subaru couldn't have sold them if they overheated new.... The problem is that the EA82 cooling system (single core) has very little reseve cooling power. It's got enough so long as everything is perfect, but one tiny pressure leak and the temp will shoot up quick. There wasn't enough "safety factor" designed into the system. An N/A EA82 with a dual-core radiator like the EA82T Automatic's got would have been a better design choice. The fact that there's plenty of them out there that are "fine" with their single core radiators in no way indicates that it's a wise idea to beleive that the car hasn't overheated at some point in it's past, or that the single core will do for South American temperature and humidity ranges. There's a reason they sell 70/30 water/antifreeze premix for "tropical" climates. At any rate - as I said there's plenty of folks that like them and will find reasons to defend them. But it's often a case of wanting to feel that what *they* own is justified. And often their arguments go something like this: 1. "I've NEVER had that problem!" 2. "I did THIS and nothing bad happened to me" Neither of those arguments really holds any validity. Just because people do things that aren't terribly wise and get away with it doesn't mean we shouldn't consider the possibility that next time they won't. I don't "hate" the EA82 (well - maybe the Turbo's ). I'm just willing to admit it's limitations. I've owned them, and driven them as much as anyone else here. What I dislike about them.... a lot of it is pretty trivial. But side-by-side to either an EA81 or an EJ22 from the "mechanics" standpoint you can really *feel* the difference. By that I mean that almost everywhere you turn in the EA82's design things are more difficult to maintain, and more difficult to repair. Most any job will take a lot longer. Bolts are hard to access, accesory belt tensioners are poorly designed, timing covers are a pain, water pump input pipe is crap (held in by one bolt), heater core by-pass hose is pooly designed and innaccessible, valve covers are hard to get to, oil pan gasket is cork (junk), valve cover gaskets leak, cam towers leak, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. I've had each one of these engines down to bare blocks on many occasions - time and again the ones that make me wish I were on a sunny beach somewhere are the EA82's. The EA81 is devine simplicity, and the EJ22 is not far behind - for a timing belt engine it sure is a pleasure to work on - part of the reason for that is the size of the Legacy engine bay - it's larger than the EA82 bay, and the EJ22 is smaller. Lots of room to work on a properly designed engine. We could go on ad-infinitum, but you get the idea. Rather than relate to you how "reliable" my EA81's or my EJ22's are (duh - I'm a mechanic!) - I would rather give you the info on what to expect from these various engines and let you decide for yourself how big of a headache you want. They all can and do break down - my metric is always how easy and straightforward they are to fix, and how reliable those repairs can generally be expected to be. GD

EA81 and EA82 distributors do not interchange without swapping the drive gears. One is run off the overhead cam, and the other off the single pushrod cam. The placement of the gears is different as well. The FI models (except 83-86 MPFI and Turbo) use a crank angle optical sensor distributor, and will not work with the hall effect ignition used in the carbs. The others (83-86 MPFI and Turbo) *may* work although I don't have first hand experience trying to wire one up. GD

Outback struts and some heavy duty tires. But yeah - long before I would do it with an EA82. I would drive it around a bit and get to know it's quirks. And probably still take a few spares. But as for reliablility, the EJ22 is real hard to beat. If the history is unknown I would replace the timing belt/tensioners/water pump etc and some of the seals in the front. Fresh oil, etc. Really it depends on what you find. I got my 94 with a blown water pump (neglected maintenance) - 132k on it, new tires, new brakes, all records. Cost me $750 for the car and $200 in parts to do all the maintenance items. Amazing deals out there... Not hard at all - many, many L series wagons had AWD 5 speeds. I don't own auto's either, and both mine are AWD 5's. Take a look at craigslist - they are all over the place. EA81's are getting long in the tooth - get a Legacy, and all you need is some strut upgrades and bigger tires. Should be good to go and will be real comfortable for a long trip. I've driven my 94 for 10 hours straight and it does great. Been to Reno and back to Portland 3 times with it and not a single thing done to it besides brake rotors (previous owner warped them), and wiper blades. GD

I would say (at the risk of being stoned by the EA82 lovers here) that is a more or less fair analisys. The EA82 was a conglomeration of old tech, and new tech. It was Subaru's first Overhead Cam, and their first with timing belts. Most of it's problems stem directly from these "firsts" The belts don't last long. And there's TWO of them - unlike almost all other belt designs. The plastic covers suck massively as well. Add to this that all EA82's other than the turbo models (avoid those like the plague) came stock with a single core radiator, and now you have an engine that is undercooled as well. This contributed to their tendancy to eventually need HG's. The EA81's and the EJ22's for some reason both came with dual core radiators, and the EA81 was the product of 20 years development of the pushrod engines - it's the culmination of everything Subaru new up to that point. They are dead reliable units. The EJ22, although the first in the EJ line, turned out to be arguably the best engine Subaru ever made, and some consider it the best to date. For the EA81 you are looking for an '80 to '84 - Brat's were made till '87, and Hatchbacks till '89 with that engine as well. EJ22's start in the '90 Legacy. '90 to '94 are the simplest as they have no OBD-II system. I drive a '94 as my daily. Consider finding a 90 to 94 legacy wagon - put outback struts on it, and fit you some big 'ole shoes on there. Add a LSD rear end and you should be able to go anywhere you like. Guess what I own? Two Legacy's, and Two EA81's.... got rid of all my EA82's as they just don't "do it" for me. GD

Granted - assuming a trail BIG enough for the 4Runner There's always situations where smaller and lighter wins the day - and of course virtually any Subaru would look exceptionally good in those circumstances. GD

Anywhere you would likely be going you would probably not even need a lift. Maybe a slight one to allow for a bit more aggressive tires. Frankly a stock 4Runner probably *could* outwheel all of the stock Subaru's and a good portion of the lifted ones as well. BUT - you're objective being mostly to get to/from your surfing spots - not to take the vehicle to it's extreems and see how stuck you can get.... you should be fine. There ARE Subaru's that could outwheel a stock 4Runner. Quite a number of them actually. But the time investment to get one to that point, the stuff you will break, and the number of times you will get stuck learning what works/doesn't work.... you really have to love it. And a lot of the one's I'm refering to aren't *all* Subaru anymore - having seriously custom fabrication done, and usually some parts that are nothing Subaru ever intended (additional transfer cases, etc). There's even some folks that have put solid axles under one or both ends - but it's debateable how much "Subaru" is really left in them at that point - mostly sheet metal. On the plus side they are excelent in snow, and are simple/easy to maintain. The gas mileage will be a lot nicer to you than a 4Runner too. I say go for it. But be aware that the EA82 engine (the one in that 88 GL) isn't without it's pitfalls.... they do eat timing belts about every 50k, and some of the higher mileage examples generally need cooling system care at this point, and they will eat an occasional head gasket. They leak oil like mad (poorly designed seals), the oil pump seals are garbage, and the lifters tend to tick if there is any hint of air in the oil system (we call it the "Tick Of Death" [TOD], but it's not fatal at all - quite the opposite as it won't ever really harm anything but the lifters themselves). It's popular to either "downgrade" to the EA81 (pushrod motor) or to "upgrade" to the EJ22. Both have their benefits in different ways, and don't have a lot of the drawbacks that the EA82 had. All that said, the EA82's can easily do 250 - 300k before they actually die. The blocks themselves are near identical to the EA81 - it's everything from the heads outward that tends to give people trouble. There's probably going to be people that will vehemently defend the EA82....but you are contemplating taking a 20 year old vehicle on a road trip to Mexico?! Check my post count and note that there's no WAY I would do that - not by January. I would have to go through the thing top-to-bottom before I contemplated something like that with an EA82. There's almost no parts availibility down there, and breaking down in the middle of nowhere in Mexico sounds like a bad time to me. I've done many thousands of miles in EA81's, EA82's, and EJ22's, and I would take an EA81 or EJ22 if I were going to a third world country with it. And I would still take plenty of spare parts, and enough tools to do just about anything short of splitting the short-block. That is the nature of old cars - wouldn't matter if we were talking about an 88 4Runner.... I would question your sanity on buying something that old and taking it on a trip that soon. GD

Since it cranks with the key, and you had the engine out.... Almost a guarantee that you forgot to hook something up, or a connector isn't tight. Go over each connector in the engine bay and make sure you didn't miss anything. A thorough check of everything.... several times is the quickest way. If that doesn't work then you will have to start going through the ECU inputs and power leads. And that's a lot more complicated. GD

It's got nothing to do with "Subaru's" - I don't expect you will understand that, but in a few years perhaps you will. 1. You are driving a 20 year old car. You can't restore and drive at the same time. 2. You caused the problem by your own inexperience - rather than checking for oil leaks you just drove away after working on the engine. That's a no-no. It's also not the car's fault, or Subaru's fault - If you had owned a Nissan would you swear you would never own another one if you had done this to it? 3. Learning to wrench is fine - but you have to understand that it's YOU that is causing a good percentage of your problems, and the need to work on it every weekend. Not always because you are doing things wrong, but often because your inexperience leads you to misdiagnose things, to fix things incompletely, and to either not notice impending failure items, or to not have the resources to take care of them in a timely manner - often causing further related, or collateral damage. 4.Your Subaru is a poor example of Subaru's in general. Without a doubt it was one of the worst engines they ever made. That's not to say it's a bad engine, but they are problematic - even for those who aren't 17 and have no experience with troubleshooting and mechanics. Likely you will blow off my post anyway - like 99% of the people out there you are going to have to learn the hard way. But maybe you're the 1% that listens.... GD

Here ya go Dave: http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/04/ba/2b/0900823d8004ba2b/repairInfoPages.htm For the O2 "trick" you use two of them coupled together with the one attached to the O2 drilled out to allow room for the sensor probe. Sure is fortuitous that they saw fit to provide us the same threads for both O2's and plugs eh? GD

Yeah - that's rough. You probably did the best thing though - better to let the hand heal and deal with the dealer. Too bad you aren't near me... Typical - lots of "kids" working at dealerships these days. Very few older techs with experience and knowledge willing to work piecemeal anymore. They push people too hard because of the flat rate work. They do the job as quickly as possible and without much regard to quality. That code is determined by the difference between the front and rear oxygen sensor's - it's highly unlikely that both are bad in such a way that the ECU hasn't detected an O2 malfunction, but was still able to determine a high level of emissions... But it's too bad she doesn't know that $8 would buy a couple of spark plug non-foulers to set the rear O2 sensor back out of the exhaust stream about 1" - allowing for a sufficient different between front and rear sensors to eliminate that code (even if you gutted the cat). I've done this a couple times with vehicles that had converters that were damaged by severe misfiring ignitions, and other issues. Works fantastically. It's soooo beautiful that the test centers now just rely on the validity of the on board computer rather than the actual emissions from the tailpipe. I can make the computer tell them anything I want it to. Absolutely correct my friend - absolutely! Ain't it beautiful? GD

Actually that makes it harder as the transmission tunnel sheet metal for the FWD 5 speed is smaller than the auto's - so small in fact that not only is it *more* difficult than normal to install a 5 speed D/R, but it's even difficult to install the 4 speed D/R. You will have to beat or cut the tunnel to allow enough room for the transmission. I fixed mine by lifting it , but if you don't be aware that it won't fit without modification. All the transmissions had different part numbers for the tunnel and front floor pan sheet metal - weird I know - but such is the case with EA81's. GD

They are supposed to deflect debris from the CV boots in the rear. Branches, ect. Some of us have added larger rubber flaps to offer greater protection. GD

Good - you are thinking now I hope? Study that diagram and it will start to make sense. The lines are wires, and the boxes are.... well.... labeled. The crank circuit is the simplest in the vehicle. Print that diagram out and follow the leads to from the battery to the starter with a crayon - whatever you go through on your way to ground needs to be checked. GD

There's no way they would use "any old stock" that's lying around. Beleive us when we tell you they replace a LOT of these and there aren't any old stock left in the system. Dealerships rarely have more than two sets of HG's on hand at any one time, and the warehouses would have disposed of the depricated gaskets. It's not a good sign that they "didn't know" - I would have asked to speak to the tech that changed them. Also doesn't inspire confidence that they didn't furnish you with the "used" parts as a rule. I work in a shop and we ALWAYS keep the old parts to everything we work on for several months after the job is done - in case there is any question at all about the work performed. We also return them to the owner upon request. We would never just "dispose" of them in the shop sweep. And if we did dispose of them it would be into the garbage, not the sweep as that is hazmat. GD

Well - that spare rim is pretty weak - that's why we tell folks not to run them off-road (people are constantly tempted as they are 15" rims). They are thin and wimpy. GD

Yep - part time cars were 3.9 diff ratio, and FT4WD's were 3.7. That's why you need to convert the LSD's to 3.9 for use on a part-time car. Or if you found one of the extremely rare XT6 FT4WD's with a rear LSD.... but I've never even *heard* of someone finding one of those. Some Legacy's also had 3.9 diffs that weren't "open" - they were VLSD's, and really only good for street as they only lockup at higher speeds. In any case, welded diffs are FAR superior off-road to the little Subaru LSD's. That's not to say you won't get some benefit from them, but it's not as much traction as welding will give you. In snow.... they can be squirly at times. But if you have tires that can dig it's not a problem. If you have crappy tires then a welded diff will just make you lose control that much faster. GD

All the ones I've seen are part of the shifter mechanism. Usually interlaced with the rest of the wiring and part of a larger plug consisting of the wires for the dash indicators and so forth. GD

Well - all the help that can be given.... has been given. This is a pretty simple problem and you are going to need to step outside your box and LEARN something now. Thowing up your hands isn't going to help, or engender faith from board members that further explanations will not fall on deaf ears. That's a really, really plain and simple daigram with everything labeled. Study it for an hour and I'm sure something will sink in. If it doesn't.... buy a new car with a warrantee because I've got some news for you: You can't wrench. GD

You're just scared of the labor :-p. It's not that hard really. Takes an afternoon to do both sides. Well - then you don't have much experience with gasoline engines. As I said the EJ Subaru gaskets *should* be able to last a LONG time - often it's a tie between the HG's and the bottom end on the EJ22's. But you can't say that about *all* gasoline engines. Many, many engines are still using cast iron blocks and aluminium heads - these are not at all the same animal just because they are "gasloline, naturally aspirated". No - it's not at all like saying that, and in any case, they don't. The crank bears against the con. rod BEARINGS, which ARE a wear item. Lets also not forget that even at startup there should be a residual oil film present, and ideally there shouldn't be any metal-to-metal contact, or very little. That's why oil composition (the additive package) has been largely responsible for the increases in potential mileage that can be seen over the last 3 or 4 decades in automotive engines. Head gaskets do not have this luxury - they bear directly on the metal with no lubrication, and massive torque bearing down on them. It's impressive that they often last as long as they do considering the conditions they exist in. GD

A push button would not have the LSD rear. Since it's part time 4WD, not FT4WD or AWD. And LSD's only came stock on FT4WD Turbo 5 speeds, and only certain years. GD

86 and 87 were imported as trucks and as such did not have jump seats (there was no point). Consequently there was no side steP. 85 and older have a single step on the sidewalk side (passenger side) of the vehicle. For cosmetic reasons a blank was added to the other side to make them not look lopsided. But only one of them is a true step. Hatch's do not have them - don't know where you got that notion. GD

Yeah - you don't need the tool. Probably helps if you are doing lots of them every day. I've adjusted plenty and couldn't rightly see a reason they even designed a special tool for it. GD

Sure you can. Weld the spider gears to each other and to the case. Shove some bolts in the gear teeth and weld it all together. Done it several times myself - haven't had one break yet. If you are really good, you can weld the spider gears in such a way that they have a limted rotation so there is just a few teeth of rotation in either direction. This allows some differentiating which can make turning tightly easier. GD