GeneralDisorder

Fuel injector cleaner is BUNK. For the most part fuel is a solvent and injectors don't need to be cleaned. Eventually they need to be rebuilt, but cleaning rarely helps an injector that needs rebuilding. You DO NOT need to clean your injectors at 30k miles. That's just sillyness. GD

You might have a peek at the shock towers - I've seen extremely rusty examples such as yours where rear coil-overs end up punching through the wheel well into the cabin (trunk in your case). That's pretty much THE END for an EA82 unfortunately. I've seen pictures of it more than once. GD

I wouldn't be the slightest worried about the 24 and 34. Neither will cause you any real difficulty other than the 24 causing possible erroneous idle speeds when cold. The other two however are quite disturbing. 11 means there is a possibility of the distributor crank angle sensor being intermittant. That might get worse - at any rate there's no chance it will get better. That could indicate distributor shaft bearing failure, or electrical. Either way I would take an extra known good distributor and your timing light with you for your trip. 14 isn't so hot either - this MPFI or SPFI? Either way I would bring along an extra set of MPFI injectors, or an SPFI injector for the road. They aren't hard to swap out. Along with those parts I would take at least another ignition coil and ignitor, a MAF sensor, and a TPS just in case. The MAF, CAS and TPS are the three really critical sensors on the EA82's. It will run without the rest. Don't leave without a set of timing belts, accesory belts, plenty of water, a gallon of coolant, oil, and other fluids. And of course your tools. GD

You are wrong. Hook up a vacuum gauge and see for yourself. "Ported" vacuum means the port is right below the venturi in the carb, thus reversing (basically) the manifold vacuum curve. What you describe is manifold vacuum. This is a common misconception and I've had this argument with others on here before. Take a look at my post count - I know of what I speak with regard to EA series distributors and carbs. Again - ported vacuum (called for by the EA distributor design) rises with engine speed and throttle position. More specifically, and to clarify the distinction, there is a difference between the vacuum produced by the engine, and the ported vacuum SUPPLY on the carb which is entirely artificial in nature. It's produced by the difference in pressure between the two ends of the venturi in the carb. So while you are correct that there is no ENGINE vacuum at full throttle, there is PORTED vacuum at full throttle. Just as there is tons of engine vacuum at closed throttle, and no ported vacuum. It's reversed, and it's designed that way on purpose. GD

Yep - 87 saw a makeover of the EA82 line. 86 was the introduction of the SPFI. As such the high end 2WD GL's (GL-10 included) got it (85's were MPFI non-turbo). 4WD's didn't get SPFI till late 87. The steering wheel changed, and the controls were changed to incorporate the "universal" driving standard using the stalk controls. There was a movement in the later 80's by a community of auto manufacturers to try to make all cars similar with respect to the location of various driving functions. Everything you saw on that 86 was normal for 85/86's - but it's comparitively rare to see the 86 SPFI as it only came on some 2WD GL's. Beware the strange connectors on a lot of the SPFI components. They should be electrically similar though. GD

That's cheap compared to the dealer. Used is the only other option. I looked into this once and even with my wholesale discount the dealer wants about $65 each. I used a universal one from autozone for like $10 or something. GD

A good distributor shop can rebuild you vacuum advance for about $20. These are the guys I use - they are local to me: http://www.philbingroup.com/ That is incorrect. Full advance will never be achieved without the vacuum can. Vacuum supply to the advance pot is "ported" and rises with increased throttle posistion and engine speed. Max advance is split between the vacuum and centrifugal units and will max out around 15 degrees without the vacuum, and around 25 with it. In practice the vacuum can not working will generally not be very noticeable at all. If everything else is in good condition there won't be an off-idle stumble. It just won't advance fully, mileage will take a hit, and max power on the freeway will be reduced by a small, but noticeable amount. The off-idle advance due to the vacuum pot amounts to only a degree or two - not enough to cause any kind of obvious stumble. I've run with plenty of bad vac cans, and you can't really tell. I would estimate that by this point 75% or more of the EA series engines on the road have an innoperable vacuum advance pot. 9 out of 10 of the ones I've tested were shot. GD

I wouldn't run anything other than stock. There's nothing to be gained by an aftermarket coil anyway. They generally aren't as high quality as the originals, and most (including MSD and Mallory) are made in Mexico these days where the quality control stinks. The spark plug does one thing - it ignites the mixture. It's a boolean function - there really isn't a such thing as a "better" spark (talking practical terms - as they relate directly to stock EA series engines). As long as it's igniting the mixture close to 100% of the time that's all that's required of it. The stock ignition system is more than adequate for a non forced-induction engine. If you were running special fuel, or extremely high compression (IE: forced induction) then there might be a need for the spark to jump a higher density air gap, but short of that there is no good reason to "mod" the ignition system. I can think of much better ways to spend $40. GD

Hatch for sure. GD

Hitachi = 4WD ND = 2WD They are interchangeable, but you need to swap to the same brand coil as well so the coil resistance range matches that of the distributors ignitor. If you don't you risk burnout of the ignitor or the coil. GD

It doesn't live up to a lot of the hype, and isn't worth the price they are asking..... that doesn't mean it doesn't "work" for some scenarios. It's a Zinc catalyst and the properties of zinc do work to stabilize the gasoline molecules - it helps to reform the carbon chains into the appropriate configuration - chains of 8. This is a well known property and is used by many good fuel stabilizer treatments. It may be hyped to death, not well understood by the consumer, and entirely outragous in it's pricing - but it does do some of what they claim, and could in specific cases be useful. Basically it's something like the space pen developed by Nasa - needlessly complex and expensive when you consider that the Russians just used pencils. GD

As long as they are tested thoroughly there shouldn't be any problem. At a minimum I would expect to see compression numbers - both wet and dry, check each cylinder with a boroscope, and pull the valve covers and oil pan for inspection. Any lack of maintenance in the engine's past should show up on one of these tests with a skilled technician. I see no reason why there should be anything but a very small percentage of engines sold by a reputable importer that aren't in good condition after a full technical assesment. It all comes down to the reputation/warrantee of the import company and US retailer of the engines. And that's generally not too difficult to asses with a bit of web searching. GD

Sounds like a steal, although I wouldn't call an EA82 "modern". They aren't bad if in good shape though. She's going to regret getting an Audi. Super expensive to maintain. I've worked on a lot of them as I have some crazy friends that keep buying the damn things used because they are so cheap. No resale value at all much like other european luxury brands. People in the market for them almost always buy new ones so there's no market at all. GD

Seems to be some sort of Zinc catalyst. The consensus from reading a few reviews seems to be that it's best used on equipment that might sit for a time period. Gas breaks down over time, and this will assist with reforming the molecular bonds. But it can't help if your gas isn't old or poor quality. I say not worth it for a car that's driven on a regular basis. And it can't possibly give you any better results that fresh gasoline could. Frankly there's many proven, reliable additives for gasoline storage - I don't see the point of spending $180 for the same effect as a $5 bottle of fuel stabilizer. Conclusion: Expensive, and uneccesary. GD

Scotty's Cocktail. It's AWESOME. My 94 GT shifts like new..... maybe better. 1 Qt Redline Lightweight Shockproof 1 Qt Pennzoil Syncromesh 2 Qt Castrol Hypoy-C 75w90 A ton of folks at legacycentral have used it, and I have to say that I'm a convert. I've tried just the plain Redline synthetics, but there is no comparison between them and the shockproof. Before I changed the fluid I was getting some slight grinding after warm-up, and couldn't go into 1st above 5 or 10 MPH. Now I NEVER get a grind, and can hit 1st at over 25 MPH rolling. There's also concern that using plain MT90 will eventually cause front diff damage to the Subaru transaxles. Unlike other manual transmissions, ours have an integrated hypoid differential. MT90 isn't a differential oil, and doesn't contain the required sulfer. Thus the Hypoy-C in the cocktail.... besides this works better than MT90 hands down. The shockproof is some really crazy stuff - it's bright blue in color too! About $10 a quart same as the MT90, but the other components are cheaper - $4.99 for the Castrol, and $6.99 for the syncromesh here. GD

Weld it and paint it - shouldn't be hard. GD

Could be electrical - use a noid light to make sure the injector is even fireing. GD

Not just uneccesary - they will crack again even if you close them. It's just the nature of that head design. GD

Cracks between the valves are normal, and not to be fixed. You won't find a set that doesn't have them. GD

Used - probably around $250 to $750 depending. The "healthy" part is debatable. I would rebuild anything used while it's out. Surely you jest! EA82T's are renown for their ability to leak - mostly coolant and compression. But such is the nature of 80's turbo engines in general. The EA82T's have a tendacy towards head and headgasket issues more than most though. Your best bet, if you want reliability, is to get a rebuilt engine from CCR. Unfortunately that will cost you more than a decent Legacy - like around $1200 or more. Personally I would go with the Legacy. GD

Mine was $750, low mileage, and needed a water pump. But then I did go looking for one. Water pump and t-belt were by far the easiest on any Subaru I've yet touced. Exceedingly simple. Just got back from a 1500 mile trip to Reno and back to Portland. Flawless, and comfortable. While I was there I did the "Scotty's Cocktail" to my 5 speed. Shifts like new (possibly better - I can put it in 1st at over 25 MPH rolling). I'm sooo loving the simplicty. Looks it may not have, but in almost every other way save for raw off-road capability, it trumps all older gen's, and as far as I'm concerned it's easily one of the best values in a used car you can get. GD

They aren't pretty, but that's not the point. I don't want to be noticed. It's a daily driver that's reliable, quick, AWD, and won't get me profiled. I'm not tempted to try to "mod" it, nor am I going to drive it with spirit. I don't mind racking on the miles, nor would I be heartbroken should it get wrecked.... "Cool" looking is the last thing I want in a DD. I can have more than one car, and the above characteristics are more important IMO if you can only own one. Thus the reason I sugested it over bothering with the problematic money pit that he has. GD

Prius 0 to 60: 12 seconds..... 2005 Suzuki swift (1.3): 11 seconds. The prius has the MPG edge by 1. That's right - the Swift gets 45, and the Prius claims 46. Nevermind that no one ever seems to get that. Then there's the battery replacement costs when they exceed their useful lifetime. I beleive someone mentioned that was around $8,000 :-\ That's about all anyone needs to know. It's complicated, heavy, and just plain stupid. They are simply selling them based on misinformation, and buzz words. It's a "Hybrid" so it MUST be better . GD

With the combination you have, you should get around 25 if it was in tune. That said, I would dump it and get a gen 1 Legacy. They are cheap, 130 HP, the fuel injection is more reliable. Mine gets 25 city, 29 freeway. And it's a lot more pleasureable to drive. GD

JB weld isn't plastic - it's metallic powder with an epoxy binder. It's excelent for refinishing mating surfaces like that, or repairing various other cracks and non load bearing parts. GD