GeneralDisorder

Yep - that's how I do it. GD

I like to run a 4 guage "battery cable" from the output of the alt directly to the positive terminal of the battery. The stock wires usually look pretty bad after 20 years, and although I redo the terminal lug also, the extra large wire seems to help especially if you have a lot of high-draw accesories. GD

Not *always*, but 20 years takes it's toll for sure. If you reseal them properly with quality gaskets and such they last a long time before they start leaking again. GD

IIRC, the door ajar/dinger switch is part of the lock mechanism on the EA82. The cold weather may have been the final straw for some small plastic bit in there. I can't see a way for the switch to cause the low voltage situation... the switch might ground out in the door, but that would cause a fuse to blow. Here's a question for you - does the dome light stay on when you have the dome switch all the way to the rear? And does it stay on when you close your door with no key in the ignition? If so I would say you are almost certainly looking at the door switch as the problem. I had the wire to the door switch on my Brat get pinched by the plastic trim on the bottom of the door and it would randomely cause a similar problem with my drivers door - but only in wet weather, and only sometimes. I finally located my culprit when running a new fuel pump wire for another project. GD

There is a pressure switch, but it wouldn't tell you if the AC was turned on or not. It's only there to cut the AC off if the system loses refrigerant charge. So if you wired to that, then the fan would just be on at all times. I'm sure there is some relay's you could use also, but I'm not sure where they are located. Basically if the clutch is powered, then the AC is on. I would use the clutch power wire to power a fused relay circuit for your second fan. It's easy to get to, and it's in the same area as your fan will be. GD

I'm dancing for no more pointless, word-salad posts. And for no more "invisibles". Along with the beutifully succesful auto to D/R swap that left my garage with a happy owner today - this makes my day AND it was payday today.... man Oct 1st is AWESOME. GD

He said he already cleaned it - he just mixed up the acronym in his first thread. Thus I sugested the idle switch in the TPS. You'll probably have to remove the AC and alternator bracket, and when you put it back together it would be wise to leave the bottom screw out of the picture for the TPS. GD

Sure - works just fine if you use only the stub from the bad axle. Getting the axles apart is more work than replacing them tho. GD

It's a lot like the EGR and Purge solenoids of the SPFI system - it will look just like them and it's somewhere on the manifold. There are probably a couple of them. Also, is this an EA81 or EA82? The feedback systems are not the same between the two. GD

What possible difference would it make anyway? Seems totally pointless to me. GD

I thought the same thing - but would it still chime with the ignition on? I didn't think they would do that..... can't remember tho. GD

Sadly, this is all too common. The problem is the ignition switch itself - it doesn't pass enough current to the starter solenoid. It's made worse in the automatic because of the inhibitor switch in the shifter mechanism. I'm not 100% sure I've got it completely licked in the one I've been messing with, but after installing a relay in the starter solenoid power circuit it helped quite a bit. She says it still does it now and then, but I can never get it to perform for me - I have a feeling she just hasn't got it in park all the way or something. Lately I haven't heard her complain about it in about a month and it's getting colder here so I'm hoping it's fixed GD

Actually it's impossible to tell. Since the serial was stamped at the factory in japan, it's not specific to US only numbers. You need to know how many EA82 engines were made total for ALL markets. GD

Verify that the TPS idle switch is working. The top two pins (A and should show continuity with the throttle closed. Also check the intermediate connector between the manifold harness and the body harness - the two big round connectors. Maybe just something corroded. GD

Alternators can die in different ways, and effectively 9/10 volts pretty much is 0 from the alt. The battery is picking up the slack and so your guage is reading battery voltage only. It sounds like possibly the alternator is putting out some AC current. This would indicate a bad rectifier. But definately have it tested. AC will cause some random indicators to glow (door ajar in your case), and will may explain the seat belt chime too. Rebuilt units don't seem to be all that reliable. Much like axles. I seem to have better luck handpicking alternators from the junk yard . Get one with a lifetime warantee if you can - at least that way you won't be out any money when it goes next time. If your battery is ageing, you might consider replacing that at the same time. Old batteries can actually *cause* alternator failure, and replacing both at the same time isn't a bad idea especially in cold weather conditions. GD

OTOH, I had an EA81 in my garage for a couple years, and it was in another board member's shed for a few years before that. I replaced the oil pump and seals, changed the oil and filter, squirted a bit of oil in the cylinders and fired it up. 200 - 220 psi in every cylinder . Maybe I'm just lucky, but it runs awesome, and no special steps were taken - it still had really old, black oil in it from an 83 coupe. If it were me, being the EA82 is easier to work on with it out of a car, I would pull the heads, mill them and do a simple valve grind, replace the head gaskets (Fel-Pro's are $15 each), cam tower seals and o-rings, intake manifold gaskets, oil pan gasket, oil pump seals, and the mains. THEN store it completely dry. Get one of those rolls of plastic "shrink wrap" used for moving furniture and encase the thing in it to keep bugs and moisture out. Should be fine for a long time. GD

Yes - it's 9.5:1 stock GD

Yeah - that engine is worth a LOT. I wouldn't be giving it away. Definately a collectors item in the US. GD

Those look like PS lines below the head. GD

Sounds like corrosion in the bowl maybe. Time to tear that carb apart. GD

I've seen that style on an EA81 before. Contact Yakima nad find out if it's the same part number. GD

What year is that engine or do you not know? EA81 or EA71? Two possibilities - either they are the older small valve heads use in pre-83 EA81's. Or they are dual-carb heads with reversed valve oreintation. Basically the intake and exhaust valves are reversed like the EA82's all were. That would make it a JDM engine as we didn't get those here except as import engines. The heads and the cam are different being the valves are reversed. The JDM dual carb engine was 108 HP in stock form - did you notice if it had a butt-load of power? All the EA81 heads have that wall, it's just up in there further on all the post-82 large valve's I happen to have here to look at right now. I don't have any small-valve heads to look at. Was the power steering a retro-fit to the Brat? GD

Maybe, but that's often associated with corrosion on the wire(s) comming off the sender from the tank. Depends on the sender, but some also have a ground wire that is supposed to ground through one of the bolts that holds the sender to the tank. I would check everything back there. GD

Probably bad grounds in general. The Headlight ground is behind the left front speaker. Check the ground behind the battery on the left fender wall. Also check the ground on the left side of the intake manifold, and the one from the tranny to the spare tire shelf, and the one on the drivers side strut tower..... The alternator grounds through the engine block. Check voltage off the back of the alt and compare that to the voltage at the junction point (fuseable link box). It's normal for the back of the alt to be about .5 - 1.5 volts higher depending on accesories turned on. GD

Is the choke working? Do you have power to the idle-cut solenoid? If this is a Hitachi, on the side there is a bowl viewing window - do you see fuel? Can you get it to fire if you hold the gas pedal down? Don't bother with seafoam - if it's clogged remove the top of the carb and clean it out. GD