GeneralDisorder

You almost certainly pulled it free from the guage cluster then. Reach up under the dash and reconnect it :-p Oh wait.... EA82..... maybe not. Might have to pull the cluster but I'm not sure. EA81's you can just reach under. GD

If the belt is broken, then the head gaskets are fine. The valves are partially open becaues of where the cam stopped. That's why the comp. check reads so low. If you want, I could assist you with the timing belts. Get me a case of Rolling Rock, and I'll make the job easy by tutoring you along. I have plenty of other mechanicing to do this next weekend anyway. Get the car, order the timing belt set from ebay for $60 and bring both here next weekend.... GD

83 and up automatics all have Hydro lifters.... that's how I knew . Hydro push rods are solid steel - solid lifter are aluminium with steel caps (with knurlings). So yes - you have hydro. The adjustment procedure involves letting them bleed down and then setting them a select number of turns past "zero point" where the rocker just comes in contact with the valve. GD

You don't need a special tool. Just a 12mm wrench, and a 6mm?. There is no clearance between the valve and rocker on hydro's. They are supposed to be in contact at all times. Follow the procedure. I would be taking those things apart and installing new head gaskets though. Those aren't going to hold. These are graphite gaskets and with that layer of sealant they will never seal to the metal. GD

Yeah...... that's NOT the right stuff. That's not even close in fact. You use that and I can almost gaurantee you a blown head gasket - if it even seals. GD

Yep - Subaru did it. It's called the EJ22. Fabulous engine to work on. Easiest timing belt job I've ever done. 140k original on mine and no leaks anywhere. Properly designed gaskets and mating surfaces are things of beauty. Whoever designed the EJ22 sure knew what they were doing. Just think of how massive that changeover was from the Loyale to the Legacy, and they got it PERFECT the first try. Whoever was in charge of the coversion to open-deck should take lessons That said, I think your o-ring idea has merit. It's never a bad idea to try to improve on this stuff. For example - I coat all my cork gaskets (oil pan, and EA81 valve covers) in a layer of RTV and let them setup. Basically I'm making a rubberized gasket that is impervious to oil. The plain cork will absorb oil and engine heat will cook it into a hard, oily, flat mess. GD

Could have bought an engine hoist for that much. Mine was $199 at Harbor Freight. Would have still saved a bundle. I don't ever pull transmissions if I can help it. I always pull the engines on Subaru's. I'll pull transmission on transverse cars, but that's it. I've *replaced* plenty of transmisisons on Subaru's, and I can tell you from experience that engines are ALWAYS faster. GD

Well - yes the 5's are better in a lot of ways.... But there is fabrication required to put the EA82 5 speed (4WD) into an EA81. The entire transmission crossmember is different as are the mounts. Cutting, and welding is needed, and some banging of the tunnel if you don't use Jerry's kit. The linkage needs some welding as well to make it totally stock looking. If you are talking about just a 2WD 5 speed then get the tranmission from the newest Loyale you can find, and you'll need the cross-member and radius rod plates from an EA81 2WD 5 speed as well as the flywheel and clutch, pedal set, speedo cable, and perhaps a few other small items. GD

Might be cheaper to just use Anaerobic sealant though. A lot of folks swear by it although I haven't had any trouble with Ultra Grey RTV once the groove is thoroughly clean and with proper bolt torque. GD

Loctite makes an o-ring fabrication kit - we have one at work. Lets you make o-rings of any size. http://equipment.loctite.com/productDetail.cfm?productID=40488&productLine=O%20ring%20fabrication&pl=32&categoryID=292&category=O%20ring%20Fabrication%20Kits&subcategoryId=534&subcategory=O%2Dring%20Fabrication%20Kits You can probably just buy the cord stock size you need and the "glue" and solvent to adhere the ends together without buying the whole kit. But even the whole kit is not too expensive at $85 GD

The EA82 feedback is a lost cause. Only fix for it is to throw on a Weber. Instead of giving yourself a headache, take it from someone that spent the time to understand how the feedback systems works and beat his head against that wall for several years on both the EA81 and the EA82 feedback systems. GARBAGE. The EA81 feedback *is* workable. It's relatively simple by comparison to the EA82 system (which isn't saying much, the system is still horrifically complex) and if you can bite the bullet on the relatively inexpensive O2 sensors, and the coolant temp sensors it can be made to work reasonably well. Sadly the EA82 system is far more complex, has more sensors, and can't be made to work well without a LOT of time and money. It's got one sensor (Manifold Pressure Sensor) that costs so much that it's worth it to buy a Weber just on that sensor alone. On top of that it's always the one that's bad - I pulled half a dozen at the junk yards here and all of them were shot. Learn from my mistake - chuck it in a dumpster. Or at least convert to a non-feedback Hitachi (and watch it devour choke springs ). GD

They should be installed dry, and the only ones to use are the Fel-Pro perma-torques. They do not require retorquing later (and haven't been sitting on a shelf for 20 years). GD

Pressure plate design is entirely different and the EJ pressure plate won't work with the EA transmission. GD

Definately not EA81. I know them well. GD

Well - we are going to need a lot more information to assist you. It sounds like you have some issues with fuel delivery (Hitachi carb right?), and possibly some ignition problems. We need to know if this thing is feedback or not for one thing. Fuel, Air, and Spark. Give us something to work with. What tests have you done - what was good and what wasn't? Do you know how to read a vacuum gauge? You can tell a lot from a few vacuum readings.... GD

The next time it acts up, perhaps try disconnecting the knock sensor. The knock sensor may be sensing whatever is causing the noises and retarding the timing enough to make the symtoms so pronounced that it's impossible to pinpoint where it's comming from. If the ECU doesn't see the knock sensor it will retard the timing only to safe (limp mode) levels and that may be just enough difference to locate the source of the problem. It's an idea anyway. If you can get it to act-the-fool again for you try pulling some plug wires. If both plugs on one bank don't affect the way it's running then something is wrong with the coil pack - since it's a bank-fired wasted spark ignition there's only two sides to the coil pack. I worked on a Hyundai recently that had the exact same symtoms. The coil pack had failed (only 130k on it) and it would work fine for a while, and then all of a sudden would miss on two cylinders. When it was running right it was as if nothing had happened. Being it was an OBD-II car it would throw a misfire code (to protect the cat).... but I don't think the OBD-I legacy can detect that. It ran very rough when the coil pack would act up, and had no power at all. Perhaps the differences in noise can be explained by the way the OBD-I's ECU handles the misfire - what it does to the timing, and the nature of the boxer design. Perhaps..... The amount of noise it's making though sure sounds aweful. The Hyundai sounded rough, but didn't sound like a bag of hammers. Pulling the plug wires one at a time while it's performing for you could also track down what cylinder it's related to. Perhaps a valve is sticking open. GD

"Bad Gas" is extreemely uncommon. As in when it happens, TONS of folks will be complaining, and it will make the news. I vote for checking on your knock sensor/circuit. GD

And I've never had a Subaru ignitor fail. It happens, but it's a lot more rare than the Honda's. And Subaru eliminated Distributors in '90. That's entirely based on your experience with the crappy dealers in Indiana. I've NEVER needed a VIN at my dealer, parts are cheap, and they are happy to print me off sections of the service manual if I need them. Also there's several guys here in the community that can order service manuals for us for cheap. And the dealer prices aren't really much more than other brands. There's a lot of good aftermarket manuals as well, and there's this web forum and others. I've never needed more than that - over 30 Subaru's to my name (6 right now) and never bought a factory manual yet. They are simple for people that can turn a wrench. Parts are cheap and plentiful - my dealer happily gives me wholesale prices on all the parts I buy, they are friendly, helpful, and some of the parts guys have worked there for 20 years. Perhaps your Honda dealers are better than your Subaru dealers, but out here things aren't quite the same. Never the less, even if I lived in Indiana I wouldn't buy a Honda. Not with the experiences I have had with them. They can't handle the nothwest driving conditions, their reputation exceeds their abilities to an extent that it abnormally inflates their value in the used market. I would rather spend the same money and get a used Audi - they are just a crappily built but at least are FAST and have AWD. Plus they are DIRT cheap used. GD

You did use OEM gaskets, and torqued the bolts to 12 ft/lbs yes? Make sure all traces of old gasket was gone (I use a wire wheel chucked into a drill motor)?.... clean bolts and chase threads? ..... just eliminateing possible hickups. Perhaps pop the carb loose and make sure the JB weld is still in place. At least that's easy to verify. Did you have to use multiple applications to fill the hole or did you use some screen to keep it from oozing down into the passage? JB can be a pain if it's on an angle or trying to fill something like that where gravity becomes an issue. GD

Does it throw any codes when you put it in read mode? Sure would be nice if the ECU could help us out a bit... I can't off the top of my head remember the OBD-I procedures, but if there is a "dealer check" mode it may report things that normal driving mode does not. The tendancy is to program them to be less strict with component diagnostics when they are not in "check mode" so as to not confuse and alarm the consumer Sounds ignition/wireing related by the intermittant nature of the issue. The coil pack you mentioned.... 1. How much did that seem to change it's behaviour? 2. How long before it came back? Abnormally long? 3. What type of replacement did he use? In my readings at legacycentral.org I've found a good many folks swear by the "Diamond" brand coil pack from the AWD manual transmission EJ22's.... the auto's were apparently equipped with an inferior brand pack. Another possibility - you said he replaced "one" idler pulley. What about the others? I'm wondering if a change in the timing belt tension, or the phase of the moon caused one of the other idlers that were not replaced to go sour. A bad idler bearing might come and go like that making a nasty racket.... Some thoughts anyway. What say ye? GD

How long did you let the JB weld set up? GD

There's a 93 Impreza on there in Hood River that needs the rear diff replaced (so he says). $400 - excelent deal. Fix it, sell it, and buy a nice legacy. GD

Interesting - all aftermarket radiators come with the AT cooler so they should fit an AT car no problem. The difference must be that the stock AT radiators have the cooler, but the *stock* MT's don't have one at all. They all fit the same though so as long as you route the AT cooler lines properly you should have no problem at all. Radiators get replaced all the time, and mixed and matched all over the place. Since no one has ever complained here that an aftermarket didn't fit their rig you should be fine with any aftermarket that comes with the AT cooler lines (they all do from my experience). You may have to lengthen the lines a bit, but that's no problem with a few $ of hose. That said, the 3AT is a peice of trash, so you might just consider swapping it out for a 5 MT if you really like the car. GD

It's only the engine section and the engine parts manual. Not useful for the rest of the car.... and not terribly useful otherwise unless you are into rebuilding EA81's. GD

Distributor vacuum advance is always present. It's the EGR and Evap. purge that are thermo-controlled to only activate once the engine is warm. The engine ALWAYS needs vacuum and centrifugal advance to run properly. GD