GeneralDisorder

Thank you for illustrating that there is indeed no way to fix stupid. GD

Once again I'll point out that the PH balance of the oil comes into play. If the oil doesn't need to be changed, then you are replacing a PH balanced crankcase of oil with one that is Alkaline and thus corrosive to aluminium, rubber, and other engine components. This will increase wear, not reduce it. Same goes for filters - their particulate size decreases with use, and a quality filter is designed to take advantage of this fact. A decent filter will have a long "middle" life of small particulate trappment, and high flow rate. GD

I disagree for many, many reasons which I'm not going to go into here. Suffice to say that your comment is neither educated about corporate practices nor in line with the generation of vehicles this thread (and section of the forum) is mostly in reference too. The average life of automobiles has been steadily increaseing for the entirety of their ~100 year history. Clearly you aren't seeing the forest for the trees. GD

Talk to Jerry (bratsrus1). He has a air system using an EA81 AC compressor in his lifted hatch. Works great. He used a semi tractor air tank, and it's got a pressure guage on the dash. I've seen it in action - pretty cool. This is a common mod for on-board air systems actually. The oil for the compressor largely stays IN the compressor (unless you roll the vehicle) and you can add a bit now and then just like with any air-tool as the ports are on top of the compressor. If all you want is to air up a tire, a lot of folks in the off-road community just carry two spares inflated to 70 psi, and a hose fitted with two locking shrader adaptors. This way you can repair a punctured tire then hookup one of the 70 psi spares to it and you will have two 35 psi inflated tires as the pressure will equalize between the two. Most quality tires have no issue with being inflated to this level - they are over engineered anyway, and remember that a 35 psi inflated tire will have quite a bit of expansion anyway as the road heats up the tire and air inside. A cool tire with 70 psi isn't much of a problem. SOA ran 60 psi in the little Justy LSR bonneville racer to reduce it's rolling resistance - those were 12" tires running at 120 MPH ! GD

That's what most large fleets, and even owner-operator truckers do. It's also what we do in the Army (AOAP=Army Oil Analysis Program). We don't change the oil unless the testing says so (or testing becomes unavailible due to circumstances) - occasionally that means they want a change, and then a retest after a specific operating condition. Usually this signifies something was amiss with the results and it occasionally results in the engine being overhauled at the depot level etc. The military uses near 30% of all the oil and fuel products consumed by the united states so it makes good sense to test - plus the military operates their own labs (both mobile and state-side) so the cost is negligible compared to the savings. Especially on a truck that uses dozens of quarts of oil to fill the case. GD

Exactly as I stated - the first change is a lower interval due to break in particulates. If you follow the rest of the schedule it's 7500 all the way down. GD

Yes - now that you are done editing your post and choking down your words. He is wrong - for a lot of reasons. GD

New oil is also somewhat Base, as continued use tends to Acidify it. Thus new oil corrodes aluminium and other parts of the engine. Changing your oil more frequently than required will actually harm the engine more than leaving it till the particulate size, PH, and lubricity are out of range for use. GD

Later they changed the filter to 15,000 except on turbo's. GD

So you are saying the SOA owners manuals are wrong, and have been for 20 years? GD

There is from an economical standpoint - which is really all that matters being we aren't talking about an irreplaceable object that warrents extreem overkill in prevention of eventual failure. The returns on your investment are not there. Besides that there is absolutely no emperical evidence that more frequent oil changes in the EA82 result in less failure. Frankly most on the road burn so much oil at this point that you could literally NEVER change it and only replace the filter and add new oil. Well - that site is wrong. I can photo the 86 owners manual for you if you like - and then maybe another photo of the 2007 owners manual would help you too. Get your facts straight - Subaru's oil change interval has been 7,500 and filter at 15,000 for as long as I can remember. The only change that has been made to that is they now recommend the FIRST change be done at 3,000 due to metal content. GD

Depends on the brand of rubbing alcohol - I have a bottle here that's 70% Ethyl. Other brands are made from Isopropyl. Both work as antiseptic, so there's no real reason to prefer either. GD

It's a nice ride, I can attest to that. With the addition of a lift and tires it will make a great little trail machine. I would have to put it's value closer to $750 - $1000..... the value of a decent condition EA81 wagon (in OR) is around $500, and the other stuff does sweeten the deal - the Weber in particular is worth another $250 easy. If you put a lift+tires on it, I would say $2500 easily - people seem to go for those turn-key solutions rather than doing it themselves. I guess my point is that the demographic targeted by it is the off-road community (otherwise it's unlikely they would consider the lights, Weber, etc to be of use), but you have two types in that demographic - those that want one pre-built, and those that are handy and can do it themselves. Your wagon lands somewhere in the middle and so is neither inexpensive (do-it-yourself oriented), nor fully equipped (turn-key oreinted). As such it's a going to take just the right person..... GD

Yes - that's the one. You are doing yourself a diservice by changing the oil and filter at 3,000. That's really too often and is a waste of money and effort at todays oil prices. Some may argue, but Subaru sugests a 7,500 interval for the oil, and 15,000 for the filter. GD

Subaru TSB says it's fine. I've never repaired the cracks, and those that have tried either end up worse off (dropped valves or seats) or they just crack again anyway. I've done a dozen or more HG's on EA82's and never have the cracks been a problem. 15,000 miles on Fel-Pro's in my sedan and it hasn't lost a drop of coolant - all I did to those heads was block sand them using a peice of 2x4 and 300 grit paper. These things aren't swiss watches despite what some people think - you just have to observe caution in some specific areas. Once you know what those are it's a pretty simple matter to run an EA82 block out to 300,000 or more. GD

Bad inner joints (DOJ's) are usually accompanied by severe vibration as the grease is flung away and the joint will bind without lubrication. Proper CV grease (moly grease) is generally black or grey in color - this is due to the moly itself. No other colored grease is appropriate, and bearing grease is NOT the same stuff. Sounds like perhaps you have a joint that has had water intrusion and you are seeing the grease colored from the iron oxide (rust) mixed into it. I would dissasemble the joint, clean out all the grease, repack with moly, and put on a new quality boot. The cheap boots are thin and will fail rapidly so beware. Better to pay $20 for a decent boot than have to replace a $6 one in 5,000 miles. GD

There's no hoses in the cabin. The likely culprit is the core itself, or the coolant control valve. Either way removing the dash will be neccesary unless you want to cut open the heater box - I prefer a clean proffessional job so I pull the dash - gives a chance to lysol the ducting and replace deteriorated foam. Takes about 4 to 6 hours usually. Hope that it's the core because the control valve is dealer only, and they are $120 One taste isn't going to do it. Lethal dose is approximately 1-1.5mL/Kg which equates to over 1/4 of a cup of 100% Ethylene Glycol for a 150 lb individual. Being that anti-freeze is generally diluted by 50% it would take about 1/2 a cup to by lethal. That said, ingesting a mouthfull of it would definately produce toxic symptoms that may need to be treated. It would not likely be fatal however. A simple lick or taste is not cause for concern - even the medical literature on the subject admits that: "If the concentration is >20% then a mouthful could be toxic, and in children anything more than a witnessed taste or lick may be a cause for concern." ....this sugests that a "taste or lick" isn't even cause for concern IN CHILDREN. So no - tasting it to determine if it came from the cooling system is probably not dangerous. Do I reccomend tasting random fluids that may or may not be vehicular in nature off your floorboards? Of course not. But there's no reason to scare the man. GD

To answer your question: Cheap paper, cheap glue, and cardboard bypass valves is what's wrong with them. For me it's WIX (napa is the same) or OEM. The fact is that the WIX filter is nearly twice as large as the OEM, and Subaru's interval for filter changes is 15,000 miles (7,500 for oil). The WIX construction is excelent and the added filter area makes me more comfortable with the 15,000 interval. GD

You don't - or more accurately you don't know how much life is left in it. They are constructed in such a way that it makes them impossible to see the bearing surfaces or the state of the grease in them. Just replace it as they are cheap and you don't want to have to open it up for a $20 bearing. You really can't - the transaxles aren't easily services except by those with intimate knowledge and experience. Expect to destroy 1 or 2 units in the attainment of said knowledge. They are not easy to dissasemble or reassemble, and once open it takes detailed knowledge and tools to check out the components (which there are litterally hundreds of). Just install it with good mounts (here's my write up on the 4 speed mount situation: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/4speed_mounts.html ), and make sure to modify the shift linkage so there's no slop. The 5 speed is absolutely THE best upgrade for an EA81. It's simple, looks 100% stock on the inside with only the addition of an extra gear. They are more rugged, have a 1000% better shift linkage, and the spread of the gears means 25 MPH is no longer lugging in 3rd or reving out in 2nd. There are more clutch options for it as well. I can't stress enough how amazing the difference is. The 5 speed you want will be a 5 speed dual range 4WD tranny from an 85 to 89 EA82 body wagon, sedan, or 3 door coupe (87-89). You should also contact "bratsrus1" (Jerry) as he sells a kit for $100 that will make the installation much, much easier. There's plenty of threads on this if you do a search, and I beleive there's an article in the online repair manual about it as well (maybe several). GD

Yes - there's always a couple little divits there where the release fork rides on the bearing carrier. The bearing is a two peice assembly with a "holder" made of cast steel, and the bearing itself which is pressed on. If you buy a new bearing make sure you get the right size, and it would be best if you could have a machine shop press the old one off and the new one on as they are rather tight. None that I've ever seen. The bearing holder slides forward and back on a rigid tube that surrounds the splined input shaft for the trans. Being that it slides with the action of the fork there wouldn't be a use for any sort of washer or spacer. At least I've never seen one. Otherwise what you describe sounds typical. I would replace the bearing even if it sounds alright - having to replace it a few thousand from now would suck. It's a lot easier to pull the engine than the trans, but it sounds like you already got it out. Putting it back in sucks and if it were me I would be installing a 5 speed for sure. The 4's suck with a vengance. GD

He's around but probably not on this board - got hiself something other than a soob - can't recall what at the moment. Best to email him probably. GD

I've owned my sedan for a year and a half now - only washed it twice..... twice to get the tree sap, needles and moss off it from sitting in the guys yard for three years - it took two times through the wash to get it clean. Hasn't seen soap since and probably won't. Don't care, and it's 20 year old silver paint - what would washing it accomplish? Lightens my wallet too much. GD

I said under "closed throttle COASTING". The wheels are driving the engine, and under closed throttle when the engine speed is above idle (Crank angle sensor in the distributor tells the ECU this) then the fuel is cut. It's been tested and verified by several members. GD

True - especially if you buy used tires like me. Most tires will be "ok" to nearly twice their spec'd pressure rating. Be careful though as the reduced contact patch can spell bad times on wet pavement. Plug wires rarely do anything but cost money unless they are actually bad (rare) or poor qulity and arcing (less rare). A good cleaning of the air filter and properly gapped plugs should be about all you need I don't, but if you must.... the savings is negligible because while the 3 percent seems low, the savings is equally low and thus rarely works out anything more than a break-even. Again - the original coils are 100% adequate to do the job required of them. You will not save a penny by doing this, and you may end up stuck because of it (and out $40). Actually that's a misconception - A/C will save you money because the drag of having the windows down will cost you more in mileage than the A/C itself will. Mythbusters had an episode about it - don't take my word for it..... I agree on the slow speed but not the rest. For one thing we know for a fact that the SPFI system shuts off all fuel flow under closed throttle coasting conditions so that saves you nothing. Stopping at lights happens quickly enough that it's not a savings because of the ECU's startup parameters in open-loop operation. It uses more fuel to start the engine and it takes time for the ECU to enter closed-loop operation - durring that time it uses more fuel. This makes very little difference in practice, and while taller tires seem like a good idea, it would be better to have shorter tires and still retain the alloy rims as a smaller diameter means less rolling resistance. a 175/70r13 like the 2WD's came with will generally result in higher fuel econemy. I switched my GF's 2WD 87 coupe over to 185's and saw the mileage drop because of it - it has stock 13" X alloys. I regularly get 28-29 with my sedan - it's got a Weber carbs and I drive like a bat out of hell. Just slowing down alone will save you 10%. The rest is probably the aired up tires and the tune up. If you really want to save draft a semi - 100ft behind a semi will save you 17%. 10ft will save you 37% About every 6 months someone on the board comes along and thinks this is the next great thing in fuel econemy. You will find out like they all have that it does nothing at all. The "friction" of the rear diff is so tiny compared to the wheight of the vehicle as to be virtually unmeasurable. You would be wise to just leave it alone. GD

Is that an 86 SPFI distributor? GD