GeneralDisorder

I wouldn't want the liability if I were a professional mechanic either. And frankly a good looking mid-30's nurse needs at least a Legacy. They make enough money.... As for the car - drive it till it snaps in half. That's what they do in Alaska. Usually it's the rear end that gets really bad and one way or another you lose the rear suspension. Either the whole suspension tube folds, or the rear coil-over punch through the wheel wells into the cabin. I've also heard of EA81's where the frame rails were gone like yours and the car folded in the middle where the B pillar is.... doors wouldn't close and the roof buckled. GD

Early Maxima alt's are the same power as the XT6 but bolt-in. Same deal with swapping the drive pully though. GD

That's not what I said at all. I said TRANSVERSE engine's are harder to work on. That goes for transverse inline engines as well as transverse V8's, V6, and so on. Alternators and starters are harder to get at, transmissions are harder to remove, timing belts are often nearly imposible to get to, and so on. Having 2 heads is no problem - V6's and V8's have two of everything just as a Subaru engine. And I very much enjoy working on longitudinal inline 4's - like the Toyota 20R, 22R, and 22RE. Same with the Samuri. Transverse means the engine is sideways with the transmission to the side and underneath. This layout sucks from all perspectives IMO. And most mechanics will agree with me. GD

There is a relay of sorts - it is NOT a typical relay. The block box you are refering to is a fuel pump control unit. It is designed to allow the fuel pump to run ONLY durring these conditions: 1. For a short time (3 seconds I think) when the ignition is first turned to "run". 2. When the ignition is in the "start" (cranking) position. 3. When the engine is running. To do this it uses the tach signal, and the ignition circuits. Internally it's got a timer circuit, and a relay, and some other circuits to supply power based on the tach signal. What I know of these is they are fairly simple, and pretty rugged. They are neccesary saftey items to prevent the engine from running after an accident. I have also yet to see one actually fail - although water intrusion would probably kill one as well as it kills any other relay. EA81's and EA82's with carbs (non feedback) all have them and they don't cause any issue. Try bypassing it and see if that makes the pump work with the stock wiring. At least that will tell you if it's internal relay is damaged. IIRC they also come apart pretty easily and you could check the guts and see if you can clean the contacts, etc. GD

All tensioners I've seen come compressed with a pin installed. I haven't bought any EJ series tensioners, but I don't see why they would be any different from all the other hydro tensioners I've bought. Always pinned. GD

Yes - that will tell you if the drivers side belt is good. Best way is to remove the oil filler tube and shine a flashlight in there while it's cranking. The inspection grommet on the cover isn't real helpful as it's common for the belts to strip teeth off them rather than just break. Verifying that the cam is actually turning is much better and easier anyway (2 12mm bolts). No compression is a good indicator. Either the timing has jumped a lot, or the head gasket is blown. Only way to really tell is to re-time it and check the compression again with known good timing. Yeah - no problem. GD

It does sound like a head gasket issue to me. Both cylinders are very low, and the 20 in one plus the presence of spark at the plugs indicates the timing belt is not broken and the cam is turning. I would say you are looking at a best case of about $100 in parts for a head gasket job, or a worst case of internal engine damage and you'll need another motor (ulikely). But it's not as if you can't find these engines under every rock.... I would say $500 is *ok* if the car is otherwise immaculent. Otherwise pass. I got a low mileage 94 Legacy (in Portland) for $750 that just needed a water pump. Craigslist is full of them weekly. If you get it and need some help I'm close, and I've done dozens of Subaru head gaskets. It helps to have someone with experience with these engines as they are a bit quirky in their design, and some important points are not immediately apparent to the newly initiated. GD

It's YOU that needs a reality check. You are basing your opinion on two vehicles. Hardly representative of anything. I know of plenty of Honda's that were just as bad as anything Subaru has poorly built. Or for that matter any other company. My girlfriend had a 2004 Accord - tranny went out at 78k. And I just helped a guy on the side of the road who's distributor died on his 95 Accord at 80k. He was a mechanic - has owned a shop for 22 years. He knew exactly what was wrong with it of course because it happens all the time with those engines. And if you think that anything transverse is easier to work on than a Subaru you are dead wrong. That's just plain silly talk right there. There's no Honda on the planet that's easier to work on than an EJ series Subaru. I'm a mechanic - I do this every day and have been since I was a kid. I've seen a lot of makes and models and the reason I DO NOT drive Honda or Toyota cars is because transverse vehicles are simply more difficult and time consuming to work on. And I hate FWD. Give me 4WD for traction, or RWD for fun. FWD is for grandmothers in Florida The "cost to repair" argument is baseless unless you live in an area where one or the other is not popular. There are some areas of the country where Subaru's aren't as plentiful - for me that would mean driving probably a Toyota truck or a Samuri etc. Here Subaru's are cheap and plentiful so that's what I drive. GD

Very bad idea to drive it. You have a 4 cylinder, 2.5 liter, Single Overhead Cam, Boxer engine. Your particular model (Phase 1 2.5) has a known problem with the head gaskets leaking coolant and oil. This WILL cause it to overheat, and should you continue to drive it, WILL result in the complete destruction of the engine. You are going to need to have the head gaskets replaced, and the vehicle will need to be towed to the shop or person that does it. The prices listed above are accurate so expect to spend around $1500 or more to have it done. The extent to which you may have already damaged it is what concerns me. When the temperature spiked all the way to the top of the gauge why didn't you stop driving it? You very well may have warped or cracked the heads at this point - which will end up costing more to fix. Probably around $250 to $300 per head (there's two) so may well put the car beyond reasonable repair costs. It may be cheaper to source a used engine if that's the case. Unfortunately there's no way to tell until it is torn apart and checked. Very bad indeed. Next time when gauges show irregular readings, PULL OVER and stop driving it. You're just doing more damage if you don't. GD

No - I haven't been looking on there recently. Just started a new job and haven't had time.... I would look it over real carefully though - owners rarely know what's really wrong with their vehicles. Especially on craigslist. GD

Generally with good lifters and everything sealed as it should be it won't tick for more than 10 seconds on first startup. I've had my 86 completely torn down for head gaskets and it didn't tick at all. I primed the oiling system by cranking it with no plugs till the oil pressure gauge registered then started it. It never ticked before or after the reseal. GD

Well - you do have a lifted rig, and that may be putting stress on the boot? I haven't had that problem with my lifted wagon. Could just be there was too much grease on the boot when it was installed. Replace the clamp with a stainless steel hose clamp. GD

Hitachi and Carter/Weber use different throttle cables. As for the rest of the stuff - you don't need most of it. In the first picture the two ports on the front of the carb where you have them connected - those are the EGR and Distributor advance ports. The EGR will be the higher of the two. You don't need the hard lines - just run new vacuum line instead. The hard lines are confusing and branch in weird ways to accomidate thermo-vacuum valves and such..... trust me just use new vacuum lines and simplify the hookup. Do some searches as I've covered hooking these things up before, but it's been so long since I messed with one that it would be better if you searched for my old posts on it. I got sick of the antics of the Hitachi's and tossed my entire collection in a dumpster one day. I only run Weber's and SPFI now, and I'm in the process of getting rid of the Weber's too. GD

No GD

You may have an aftermarket unit already. The transmission cooler lines are often incorrectly angled on aftermarket radiators. Never has anyone on this board (to my knowledge) found more than one model of radiator used in EA81's. Even the Turbo's used the same radiator. A "2WD Auto with AC" makes no difference to the equation. The car rolled from the factory "equipped for installation of optional AC" - it will say so on the dash as every other EA81 does.... They wouldn't use a seperate radiator because it would needlessly add to the cost of the AC kit. And I've seen the AC kits - they don't come with one. My conclusion is that your radiator was replaced at some point with a poorly fitting aftermarket unit. Thus the problem with your cooler lines. GD

Yep - figure about $750 to $1000 in parts and machine work. That's assuming you do the labor of the rebuild yourself. GD

Yeah - if the rod truely is broken, then the engine is completely shot. It cannot be repaired once damage to that extent takes place. That said, I highely doubt the rod is broken. In every single case I've seen of a rod bearing failure, the rod EXITS the block. As in punches a hole in it. Likely it's something else that's making a horrible noise, and the owner was told that a rod has failed - meaning of course that the bearing is going out but hasn't broken yet. Otherwise it wouldn't start. The rod would almost certainly jam the engine and prevent it from turning over. GD

Could easily be a timing belt tensioner or something equally simple. Not likely that it's a rod knock. Kid obviously didn't take it apart because it's still runnning. Buy it - $500 is a good deal even if it needs an engine. Can pick up NA EJ22's for dirt these days. GD

SPFI pistons are 9.5:1 without any decking at all. With decking.... probably over 10:1 GD

You may have pinched the seal or didn't get it torqued just right. I would try sealing it with some anaerobic sealant..... You DIDN'T use any other sealants besides the paper gasket and o-rings right?!?! GD

The radiators were not replaced for dealer installed AC. It's the same radiator as the non-AC models (which it was before the kit was installed by some dealership). The cooler lines may have been extended as part of the kit but not the radiator itself. A plain old EA81 radiator (pay no attention to the measurements) will fit any model of EA81. GD

I guarantee you don't have a "freak" radiator. There may be differences in how they are measured, but measurements are not important for the purposes of an EA81. ALL (and yes, I know it for a fact) EA81's use the same radiator. They changed from a large cap to a small one in 83 but it doesn't matter - either one will fit in either core support. All EA81's have a three groove crank pulley for optional AC and Power steering. These cars are quite predictable and I do know exactly what you have. I gaurantee my information is more accurate than any parts store or system on this. I know more than the dealership parts guys almost every single time.... GD

Easier to just replace the back half - don't have to worry about pulling the front half out of the transmission that way. Although I would still drop the carrier bearing down to work on it. As for getting one.... I'll see what I have laying around and get back to you here. GD

1600 pistons aren't much taller than 1800. About .007" IIRC. But you might have to do a search on some of my older posts to find out for sure..... it's not a lot though. SPFI pistons are the way to get massive comp. numbers. GD

That's just silly. There's plenty of sources for EA81 radiators. radiators.com for instance.... and there's lots more. Any auto parts place can order you one for around $100 to $120. Last one I bought for my Brat was right around $120 at my local parts store. EA81 heads don't crack. They can warp and even if they did not spend the $80 (~$40 per) and have them milled flat regardless. If they show they are flat and you want to get away cheap use some 600 and 1200 on a sheet of glass to finish the cleaning. I would. It will be cheap and you will learn a lot doing it. Very easy engine to learn HG's on. Quite possibly the easiest you will ever do. Stop being a wussy! Get out your tools and do the job yourself. You'll save a ton of money, you'll gain valuable knowledge about your car, and you'll be investing in tools that you can use again instead of throwing money away having the job done by someone that doesn't care, and would probably just love for you to come back with more problems. Yes. You need basic hand tools, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, and 21mm sockets, ratchets, and you'll need a cheap ($10 at HF) torque wrench. The parts you need will be under $100 for all of them. Fel-Pro for the head gaskets (Autozone), and Dealer ONLY for the rest. Yes. The heads come right off. There's plenty of room. There are some access holes in the frame rails that you use to remove the rocker arm assembly bolts. Other than those everything is accesible from above or below. You ALWAYS replace both HG's. Don't even think about doing only one or I'll fly to Colorado and make you my biatch Factory Service Manual. Barring that - Haynes is a LOT better than Chiltons. If you do it yourself you can easily pocket $500 of that.... maybe a little less if you have nothing in the way of tools other than a pair of tweezers and a butter knife. GD