GeneralDisorder

Well - I don't wish to give offense when I say that your car is a hard sell. It's a 92, yes - but to the members here it might as well be an 89 because it's not a Legacy. 90 to 94 Loyale's were stripped down to make way for the flagship Legacy models - so it's less desireable than a fully equipped 89 GL.... It's not 4WD. It's not unbeleivably low mileage, although it's got another 80k or more in it most likely (drivetrain wise). It's got an unknown electrical/fuel injection issue that is going to ultimately take someone throwing parts at to fix (which may be difficult to source in your area). The SPFI can be a bastard to troubleshoot at times. If you fix the problem, I would say try to sell it on craigslist, and make sure the listing comes up under lots of keywords besides Subaru and Loyale. Your best bet is to sell it to someone that just needs transportation not a Subaru "enthusiast" as it's totally not what people here look for. I'm not trying to be mean.... but you did ask so there it is GD

My local Autozone was the same way - I just said "no thanks" and ordered them online instead. They were clueless and didn't care to find out the reason for the price difference or match the price for me. Nice guys.... GD

Stab in the dark here, but you should definately check your Air Injection valves, the AIS (Air Injection System) uses passive "suck" valves with a reed inside. When the reed breaks raw exhaust is allowed into the intake, and it will melt the plastic "silencers" used to muffle the sound of the system. This plastic then gets sucked into the carb and jams up the throttle plates and fuel passages. GD

That's normal - the hub anchors the outer bearing when it's together. Without the hub there's nothing holding the outer bearing to it's race. You don't need rear wheel bearings. GD

You need to post in "New Generation" - this part of the forum is not for Legacy's of any vintage. There is no low-oil warning on any Subaru - even '08's. I haven't seen any japanese car with one. Some German stuff.... Your CEL may not even be related to the low oil - pull the codes and see. Any Autozone or other parts store should do it for free. Stopping the leak (which may only be part of the oil consumption equation) will involve pulling the pan and replacing that seal. Not difficult if you have an afternoon and minimal mechanical skills. GD

Try this first: http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=215795 GD

Really tight new axles will often make other issues more pronounced - like bad transmission mounts or engine mounts. If the mounts suck the tight axle may be moving the whole tranny. GD

The EJ water pump gaskets are rubber coated metal - I wouldn't use anything on them other than a torque wrench. 5,000 on my water pump install and no leaks with the OEM gasket installed dry (per FSM). The pump itself will fail long before that gasket does. Front main is a good idea anytime you have the belt off - they are cheap. GD

It would work. The only sticky parts would be: 1. The wireing (relativley easy unless the 86 is FI) - reverse lights, and 4WD indicators are backwards. 2. The linkage (also relatively easy - it's the reverse of the 5 speed EA81 swap). It can be made to look stock by shortening the 4WD lever by about 1" and mounting the back portion of the 5 speed's "linkage tray" where the pivot for the 4WD lever is located directlt to the underside (fabrication again, but not real difficult). 3. The transmission cross-member (have to fab something as it will be completely different - medium difficulty - you can look at my write up on using 5 speed mounts on my EA81 for ideas [not the same though] - http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/4speed_mounts.html). 4. Exhaust hanger bracket (little welding - not much problem - doesn't have to be pretty, so I'll say this is an "easy") 5. Clutch will have to be the EA82 flywheel resurfaced to the EA81 pressure plate step, EA81 pressure plate, and EA81 disc. OR you could use the EA82 pressure plate, EA81 disc, and fit a Nissan 720 truck release bearing to the EA81 bearing holder - so you have options. 6. Use the 4 speed single peice driveline. GD

Yeah - that's INSANE. Headgaskets (Fel-Pro is the best) should run no more than $100 for the complete head SET (valve covers, manifold gaskets, etc). You could get the entire engine gasket set (every gasket in the WHOLE engine) for like $220 from any Fel-Pro dealer - but you don't need those. His head shop is way out of line too. My cylinder head shop (that's all they do is cylinder heads) charges $35 flat rate for all aluminium head resurfacing. They are extremely good at what they do, and are used by all the shops in my area. Up front there's something you should know so you don't get totally hosed. The cracks you WILL find between the valves in the heads are NORMAL. They do not affect the engine, and can't be fixed by welding them - they will crack again in short order. There is an official TSB from Subaru stating these are not to be fixed unless the crack extends into the water jacket - which never happens on N/A engines. It does happen occasionally in the Turbo engines but those heads are physically different and the engines are under a lot more stress. DO NOT HAVE THE HEADS WELDED - no matter what your mechanic or anyone else says. Source used heads if there is evidence of exhaust port cracks. GD

Most modern roads don't have near as much of a crown. Alignment has had to change to keep up with road construction techniques. Modern graded roads and low pressure tires have led factory alignments to change from around 3 degrees positive camber on front wheels to around 1 degree in the 80's and 90's and even less in more modern vehicles. His may be excessive, and the dealer dismissed him as being a paranoid new owner. You shouldn't have to actively stear it left - it shouldn't require concious movement to correct. But a slight drift to the right is prefered from a safety standpoint - just as consumer cars will always understeer rather than oversteer or zero-steer. GD

HG's: $40 for both (Fel-Pro permatorque's) from Autozone. Intake/Exhaust Man. gaskets: $15 from the dealer. Cam Case o-rings: $6 from the dealer. Milling: $70 ($35 per head - 24 hour turn around, sometimes less) 6.5 hours: 487.50 (at $75/Hr shop time, which is high) That's a bit over $600.... where's the rest going? You already have a new water pump and I'm assuming the rest of the timing setup is kosher or it would have been done by the last shop.... Sounds like a poor deal to me, but a few hours of my weekend isn't worth $75 an hour so perhaps I'm biased. Even dealerships don't charge much over $80/Hr, and he quoted you about $100/Hr unless there's other parts involved (I've done this job [many times], and there shouldn't be). GD

No one really knows the answer to that. Depends on what you want - if you want raw N/A power then you want a solid lifter, big intake valve engine - 83/84 manual tranny model. Less drag on the valve train with solid lifters. If you want easy maintenance and quieter valve train noise then you want the hydro's. In reality either one is fine and the power difference is pretty much negligible between the lifter types. With a Delta cam, EA82 SPFI pistons (9.5:1) and a port and polish you can pull 100 HP out of the EA81 pretty easily using either a Weber or the EA82 SPFI. GD

That's what I've always heard as well. Sounds right to me. I would rather drift out than towards oncomming traffic. GD

No. Hydro lifters came on 83/84 automatics, and all 85+ EA81's. All others were solid lifter and require adjustment every 15,000 miles. In addition, pre-83 engines also had smaller intake valves so the heads don't flow as well. GD

I don't get it?? If you don't like it or it seems to be failing get another alternator - what's the big deal? GD

Different cam, pistons, heads, and entire intake/turbo ect. The block is the same as any other hydro lifter EA81 block. Mounting the turbo in it's stock config would require the turbo engine cross-member, all the wireing, the ECU, intake, turbo, and all the exhaust bits. Also have to convert the existing fuel system to high pressure for the fuel injection. Or you could do a carbed turbo and make it all custom - but that's never been done that I know of, and would require a lot of old-school turbo knowledge that few people have now. GD

Need a better picture, and the stats on the car - auto/manual, 2WD/4WD, engine, etc. There's not a whole lot of folks looking for EA81 coupe's - especially not the 2WD variety (which your's looks to be from the stance). It's all about finding someone that wants it - as EA81's go the desireability runs towards 4WD's, and mostly hatchbacks and Brat's. If I had to put a price on it out here on the west coast I would say probably no more than $800 to $1000 - they aren't nearly as difficult to find as it might seem. A lot more on the easy coast - probably nearing the $2000 mark to the right buyer. That's just my opinion though. I would say it's worth as much as any other reliable daily driver of similar vintage, but for comparison you can often find 90 to 94 Legacy's for around the same price or just a bit more - got my 94 wagon for $750 needing a water pump. So you really have to find someone that specifically wants a 2WD EA81 - that's a tough sell IMO. GD

Roller rocker EJ22's have solid adjusters starting in 1997. That was part of the power upgrade - solid lifters have less drag on the cam. They require adjustment every 100,000. They are obvious as they have an adjustment nut on top of each rocker. The picture you posted is a standard hydrualic lash adjuster (HLA) for the EJ22. Here's the endwrench with all the details: http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/2.2Liter.pdf GD

Front main seal. GD

My understanding is they rarely fail - usually lasting the lifetime of the engine - 300k+. The procedure calls for looking for leaks around the shaft seal, and compressing them slowely - taking at least 3 minutes to fully compress the tensioner before pinning it with a small hex key or bit of strong wire. The part is fairly expensive ($100 give or take) and being they rarely fail and the 2.2 is non-interferance I see no reason not to reuse it assuming it checks out ok. GD

The VSS is inside the speedo, so replacement of the cluster with a used one is your best bet. GD

The oil pumps did most of them in long ago. I've heard the pumps are now difficult to find - possibly even out of stock at the dealers. The pumps only last about 100k or less. Low oil pressure quickly leads to rod bearing failure and off to the crusher they go. Too expensive (labor cost) to fix at that point. A friend of mine has one with 285k on it - third engine If you keep up with their appetite for oil pumps and rod bearings they will last just like any other subaru. The CVT is universally recognized as the death nail for the Justy - it's reputation puts that specific model of Justy (all the automatics) in the top 100 worst cars of all time. It was an upscaled version of a transmission designed for snowmobiles and it can't handle the weight of the car. Sometimes lasting only 40k miles, they were expensive ($4,000+), not dealer serviceable, and cranky when they worked. Some CVT's were converted to manual's by their owners, and a few are still on the road due to grim determination, or blind luck. GD

The ECU won't react to it being disconnected right away. O2 sensors are interesting creatures - they don't begin "reporting" till they reach a specific high temperature. The ECU will not throw a code until it is unable to get a reading from the O2 for some specified amount of time, or possibly a specified number of start cycles. Depends entirely on the software of the ECU itself. It will not jump to conclusions about anything immediately - especially the O2 - unless it is in D-Check mode where it's internal test routines are much more stringent. Most ECU's I've seen won't pull an O2 code till you have driven 5 miles down the freeway, and NO single-wire O2 ecu will report an O2 code till the engine has reached operating temp and it kicks over to closed-loop operation. Till the engine warms it operates in open-loop mode where there is no O2 signal availible and it uses pre-determined fuel maps - ignoreing the O2 output entirely. GD

HG's are easy, and your block isn't cracked. EA82 blocks don't crack (especially not the N/A ones). You can do the job yourself with basic hand tools - no need to pull the engine. Both heads are accesible in the bay. Ratcheting box wrenches make the job easier but aren't required. You will need at least a cheap torque wrench to do the head bolts. And this would be a good time to do the entire timing belt/tensioners/water pump/front seals as well if they aren't new. But all things considered, if you can't do the work yourself find a low mileage gen 1 legacy. Sounds like this one just needs to be retired as it will never be worth what you will spend for paint and all the repairs. When HG's blow - they usually result in coolant being burnt, and overheating. Exhaust gasses in the coolant are possible as well. The shop doesn't sound knowledgable enough about the EA82 to me. They should know these blocks don't crack. Subaru are different animals, and take special knowledge that many "import" shops just don't have. GD