GeneralDisorder

Yep - those are the ones. When they come up is one sprocket mark up and the other down? (doesn't matter which is up and which is down, so long as they are 180 degrees apart). GD

Yep - I already know how I'll do it. I'll use a spare sprocket, and weld two bolts to two of the holes on the inside, and then weld an old socket to the center for attachement of my torque wrench. I've already made a tool to hold them while removing the bolts, so this will be a nice addition to my "EA82 timing belt tool kit". GD

You have it timed with the valve marks and not the ignition marks on the flywheel right? Time the belts first, then do the distributor - ALWAYS do the distributor after you move the belts as it's driven off the cam. GD

I've known about these for a while, but just today I got one from my local yard. They are a bit hard to find, because they come from late 70's and early 80's Datsun Z cars. Got this one from a 280ZX this morning. It anchors with two bolts, and needs only a single hot lead (use a fuse) and grounds through the chassis. The lamp pulls out with about 4 feet of cord and it's a mini drop light! Complete with hanging hook. Way cool factor upgrade for those who off-road, or just like to see. After some searching, I found a few on ebay. Look for "Datsun Trouble Light" or "Datsun Trouble Lamp" or engine bay light, etc. Here's a few reasonable ones from the bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-280z-260z-240z-ENGINE-BAY-LIGHT-TROUBLE-LIGHT_W0QQitemZ330022434861QQihZ014QQcategoryZ42613QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (mis-labeled at a plymouth part ) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Original-1952-Plymouth-under-hood-small-trouble-light_W0QQitemZ190026908508QQihZ009QQcategoryZ42606QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978-83-DATSUN-280ZX-HOOD-TROUBLE-LAMP_W0QQitemZ8014885954QQihZ019QQcategoryZ42613QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem GD

Sweet - I think I'll build myself a socket for it. GD

Watch your guages and such carefully - many have come before you, and none have suceeded. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 or 5 members of just this board that have tried it, and the usual result is either cracked heads/blown gaskets, or catostrophic piston failure - ring lands collapse, etc. Good luck! GD

No - the side lamps are "markers" they do not flash. That's intentional. The signals are in the bumper. GD

Holy light wallet batman! Last one I did about 2 months ago I took to Napa and it was $30. I dropped it off at 9am, and picked it up at 4pm! And I thougth that was expensive - I was expecting more like $15 - $20. GD

Tool?!? What does it look like? Can we make one easily? I'm all about using the right tool if it might make the difference. Not having an EA82 FSM is starting to get annoying. GD

NA as in? Carb, SPFI, MPFI pistons? EA81 carb pistons are 8.7:1 EA82 carb pistons are 9.0:1 EA82 SPFI/MPFI pistons are 9.5:1 EA82 stock turbo pistons are 7.7:1.... GD

+1 on that. The CAS disties have an actual bearing for the shaft, and aren't as prone to failure as the sleeve bearing older carb style units. Clear the codes, fix whatever *other* codes you get FIRST before you suspect the disty really is bad. Basically ignore the CAS code till it comes back repeatedly by itself.... and if it still runs OK, I might still ignore it . But definately give the shaft a wiggle just for fun. GD

I keep running into pressure plates with no mark on them . A lot of aftermarket units don't seem to have this. I'm not sure if it's an oversight, or the manufacturing process has now exceeded the need for the balance marks. Flywheel I installed last night had one, but not the PP. Oh well - not a lot I can do about it. heh GD

There are test mode connectors that were supposed to plug into *something* that the dealer had. At least that's what I thought. Being there are two modes - test mode, and "u-check" or something like that it seems likely. Who knows tho - I've seen diagnostic plugs on military equipment that the military never bought the diagnostic gear for. We simply never got the goods cause it was too expensive, and in someone's opinion not needed. GD

Have you actually checked for spark? Checked all your fuses? Could be a lot of things - timing belt could have broken which if it's the drivers side belt would cause the distributor to not turn, and thus no spark. Fuel injected or carb? GD

They be a dime a dozen it seems these days. Just got a $100 '93 with a bad 4WD auto. If I had the time I would start buying/fixing/selling the silly things. I'm almost literally in the same situation - I've got EA82's falling out my butt, and I'm starting to have a hard time finding EA81 parts :-\ GD

Yeah - I don't run covers so I get to see the belts every time I lift the hood I'm at 20k on my sedan's belts, and they were used when I removed the covers to do a cam seal. Who knows how many miles are on them - car's got 228k, and the last known belt change was 165k per the sharpie notes on the upper radiator support . Still look alright - no evidence of freying or any cracks, and nicely tight too. The ones you retentioned every 10k that blew at 50.... were those OEM or some other maker? GD

Yeah - don't let anyone scare you, subaru's are one of the easier cars to do a clutch on. At least you don't have to pull front axles or work completely from underneath the car like most FWD transverse vehicles . It's really an ideal learning car for clutch work. Be careful, take your time, label things if you aren't sure you'll know where they go. Put every bolt back in the threads it came from or in a labeled tin, etc. Being a good mechanic is 90% patience and thinking things through. GD

Working on a newly aquired EA82, and found the culprit that's likley reponsible for most early t-belt breakage. The belts DO stretch. We always hear about how they last about 60k or so, but I've talked to others that have run them over 100k without breakage - the answer? You MUST adjust the tension. Now as to how often this should be done, that I'm not sure of but I have a set on my sedan without covers that has 20k on it since I took the covers off and they are still tight. I didn't replace them, only removed the covers, replaced a bad cam seal, and put the old belts back on. It may also be that once *new* belts have stretched, they will not really stretch a lot more, so one good adjustment at the proper mileage may be all that is needed for a long belt life. (videos are short - about 10 seconds each. 2MB or so, so those with slow connections be patient). http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/belt1.avi http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/belt2.avi The mileage on these belts in the video is unknown, but for sure it's considerable. Engine runs like a top, but was obviously a replacement engine to the car I pulled it from (yellow "I'm a junkyard engine" paint pen on the torque converter read "EA82" ). I almost couldn't beleive it ran without shredding the belts (and ran quite well really) - there's at least 3/4" of slop in both belts. I'm not pushing on them really at all with my hand in the video, I'm just lifting the belt up and down to show the play in it.... GD

They are checking this with both front wheels off the ground right? Tranmission a manual? Really doesn't sound right the way it's desbribed, so I'm starting to question the testing methods..... GD

Yeah - I'm thinking that the splines are probably worn out, and it's just catching on random bits of spline that are left in the hub. That's my guess. That's the only thing I could see happeneing that would allow the partial turning of the wheel and him still being able to drive it. Any CV or DOJ that had that kind of play in it would surely make an ungodly racket going down the road if it didn't fail immediatly. Failure mode for the axle components is either severe clicking, or catostrophic failure.... there's really no inbetween for those. If you have ever taken one apart you would understand.... they are close tollerance machined parts, and any little amount of play would turn into a big BANG - the forces at play on them is too great to allow 1/4 of a turn to not destroy one. GD

I've gone that route on several occasions. The ratio of disc to flywheel/pressure plate replacement seems to be about 2:1 or even 3:1 in small cars I've noticed. Basically the flywheel and pressure plate are like brake rotors and the disc is like the pads. Reality is the flywheel and pressure plate do not wear at anywhere near the rate of the disc (cast iron vs. organic disc material isn't much of a contest). I usually only resurface them if there are serious grooves or discoloration showing it's been overheated. If I had limitess $$, I would just replace them every time, but as most subaru owners I don't. Incidentally I've NEVER replaced one - only resurfaced. As for doing it yourself, that is definately possible. It's not really all that hard to disconnect and pull the engine out. You can rent or borrow a hoist for a day and have the engine out in 2 hours or less. Takes me about an hour to pull one usually. Clutch replacement is striaghtforward, and then back in takes another few hours usually for the uninitiated. Easily a saturday afternoon job if you have some tools. GD

Probably badly torqued castle nuts - I've had that problem repeatedly on one EA82 that I worked on. The hubs will strip out as they are cast, and the axle will just wear down a bit when they grind. The result is the hub is totally chewed, and the axle is worn to where it *looks* alright, but will destroy more hubs in short order. The way to fix it for good is replace axle, hub, and nut/cone washer. GD

There's only one style that has the screw on cap (with the exception of the EA81T, but not likely you'll get anything like that) - just ask for the part, and look at it when they bring it to the counter. If it's got holes for the screws, and the rotor has the set screw on the back side you're almost certainly good.... at least that's how I did it when I got one locally. GD

Low end power will increase dramitically, mileage can be very good but remember that has more to do with tuning, and a LOT of other factors on the car. That said, I've gotten over 29 MPG on my 4WD's, and when I had 2WD in my wagon, I got 32-33 MPG. The carb will hit the PS pump. You will have to make a largish dent in the reservior with a ball-peen hammer. I used the stock hitachi spacer under the adaptor plate for more height, and then contoured my "dent" till I got a good fit with clearance for the choke. The other option is to turn the whole carb around backwards, but then you have issues with the throttle cable not being long enough, and replacing the fuel lines, etc. It's easier to just make a spot for the choke. Doesn't hurt the PS pump at all, as you are only denting the fluid tank on top. Remember to attach the disty vacuum advance prior to bolting the carb down as it's inaccesible once it's behind the PS pump. Other than that, it's really pretty simple and can be done in a few hours. You'll find that you will be throwing more stuff away than putting things on. GD

No - carbed EA81's are 8.7:1 compression, and carbed EA82's are 9.0:1 compression. GD