GeneralDisorder

Your's are staked - his 84 u-joints are easily replaceable. Big difference. GD

Again - replacing the EGR itself will do nothing. The code is telling you that the egr SOLENOID is bad. Trace the rubber vac hose back from the EGR to the little black thing with the electrical connnector on it - that's the solenoid. Any old solenoid will work - some have used ones from older toyota's, etc. Frankly, no EGR is needed, it will not help your mileage or anything else for that matter. Replace the solenoid with a resistor, clear you codes properly, and you will NEVER have this problem again. GD

Coolant temp is probably your hessitation. Those are pretty cheap. Check www.thepartsbin.com. You need the two blade version for the feedback carb. The code 25 is the ugly one. That's the $300 part (it's actually a "boost sensor" located on the passenger side strut tower), and I tried about 5 of them from the junk yard when I had that code and none worked. It's a nasty little bugger and can't be fixed either. I took one apart and well.... don't bother. If you want that code to go away..... well sorry since you live in CA you are either stuck with the code, or you need to do something like swap to a Weber and keep your old manifold and setup for passing the emissions tests. If you swap out the carb with a weber it's an instant fail as the Weber isn't street legal. Same problem with swapping to the SPFI - not orginal equippment so you can't swap it over unless you are prepared to swap back each time you need to test it. The code 65 is just the vent solenoid. Those are easy to find, or replace the thing with a resistor that will shut the code off. Does not affect your mileage or the emmissions test so don't worry about it. GD

I just use a standard relay like is used for the headlights under your dash. Rating doesn't matter much - any old relay will do for the crank circuit. Just make sure you use at least a good 14 guage wire for it, and probably a 10 amp fuse. 15 if you blow the 10. Bracket? Hose clamp sheet metal screwed somewhere to the firewall works fine, and a bit of foam or a peice of a rag wrapped around the relay for vibration dampening. That's my usual operation anyway. I'm big into functionality - not much into looks. As long as the relay is somewhat protected from the elements and is secure that's really all that's needed. I'm sure there is expensive cool plastic crap you could buy too if you are into wasting money Usually I just snag a relay and it's harness connector from another soob at my local yard (or whatever other car make is handy). I solder my wires to the existing wireing going to the connector and call it good. I HATE crimp connectors. I solder the wire, put a dab of RTV on the connection, and then heat shrink it. Waterproof, and permanent. GD

You need to add a relay into the crank circuit. The wires melt after prolonged starting attempts, and basically the problem will keep comming back unless you add a relay to switch the starter solenoid power. You can try replacing the switch and/or harness under the dash where the intermediate connector is between the body harness and the switch, but last time I did that it didn't help. I think it was probably melted back at the body/engine bay harness connector - and I wasn't about to dig that far back into the harness. Besides - putting the relay in is a permanent fix. The original wires are not up to continued starting attempts - they just get hotter and hotter and eventually fail somewhere - usually at a connector. GD

You have to dissasemble the carb. It will require you to remove the top of the carb, and pull the plunger out. It's the thing with the rubber bellows on it. It's pretty easy to spot. GD

Definately check your ground wire to the engine from the battery, and the power wire to the starter. I've had them rot out from corrosion, and it can be hard to tell. Also the EA82's have a common failure of the ignition switch harness. Basically the way to fix it is to put a relay into the crank circuit. Replaceing the switch doesn't help, as the problem is somewhere in the harness. Probably could track it down, but it's easier (much easier) to just add a relay. Should have had one to begin with. This may or may not be your problem, but I figured it should be mentioned. GD

There's some that have a gear reduction inside them, and some that are straight drive. The difference seems to be associated with CA or 49 states vehicles, and in some years auto vs. manual. One spins faster than the other, and personally I like the faster spinning one. Although it's so much of a non-issue to me that I haven't even taken the time to figure out how to tell the difference between them. They all work just fine on any engine I've tried them on. I noticed I had a faster spinning one on my wagon, and transfered it to my daily driver because it "sounds" better. It doesn't sound like my battery is about to die.... There's some different brands too that look a little different from the outside. I have a few that are black with zinc plated bits, and others that are silver. I've seen a few painted ones. Bosch, Denso, Hitachi, and I've even seen some Delco rebuilds. Strange stickers abound, but they all mount up the same. GD

Yeah - while the rest of the subaru is pretty reliable, those older Hitachi alternators don't usually make it much past 100,000 miles. That's Hitachi for ya. But then alternators and starters are like that it seems. I've had toyota, GM, Ford and everything in-between and always about the same mileage for alternators. At least they are SUPER easy to get at on the subaru.... unlike that toyota paseo I did not long ago. Wow did that suck. GD

+1. The reverse gears are far more of a problem. The problem is the linkage on the 4 speed. It wears, and does not fully engage reverse. Then you are running on only half the gear, and being a straight cut gear the edges start to bevel off. First it just starts poping out of reverse, then after a while reverse will just strip off completely. The 5 speed has the exact same problem, but has a VASTLY superior linkage so doesn't exhibit it as much. It has another problem however, as the linkage sometimes goes the other direction and the gear travels too far and extends off the back edge of the driven gear for reverse. This eventually results in the same destruction. The 5 speeds are virtually unchanged to this day, and the RX FT4WD tranny is more or less a legacy/impreza transmission with a different bell-housing. Fairly tough unit really. Subaru was putting 175 HP through them on the race-spec EA82T's.... Just watch the linkage and especially the reverse gear engagement. It NEEDS to be fully engaged. That goes for the rest of the gears as well. GD

Any EA series starter - they are all the same regardless of transmission type. There is no relay for the start circuit. That's actually the problem since the wireing harness likes to burn and then you need to ADD a relay to get the starter to turn over. GD

That's weird - I've opened them with the car's antenna before..... but then I've replaced a few lock mechanisms, and seeing how they work helps. When I open them I pull or push the lock mechanism horizontally. That usually gets em open. GD

There is a power window control unit hiding somewhere in the dash..... I vaugely recall it being behind the glove box.... I don't think you will be very succesful making it do the "auto-up" thing, as that's a function of the control unit I'm pretty sure. But wiring it to work like the center console switch should be pretty easy. Just pull the center console and run the four wires from that switch to the door and hook them in. Should be real simple. If you really, really want the auto-up feature, you may need a second control unit, and the wireing diagrams. At least that's how I would do it. That way you don't have to dig around and mess up the wiring for the other windows. Might be easier in that case to grab an EA82 control unit and use that. They have the same feature, but the switch is a little different in that it has an extra "click" for the auto up and down feature..... so actually I'm not sure if that would work without it's switch too. Anyway - some thoughts for you. GD

I have picked up both of the Audi's my friend has bought through ebay (he happened to be out of town both times) and have talked to him about the shipping, and both times he had no problems. Both vehicles arrived in excelent condition (although one from wisconsin was a rust ball after only 2 years there - not the shipping companies fault, but sad still). If it gets towed or something equally horrible, then you have recourse I'm sure. Mostly with the shipping company I'm assuming. Explain to them politely that you have paid, and wish services rendered regardless if they have to pay the impound fees to pick it up or not. Being polite, but firm, and still knowing when you should drop the BBB complaint threat is key. Getting angry with a counter jockey is no good either - get someone with some authority on it. Ask for a supervisor or manager if you don't get action after your first call. And again - BE POLITE. Make a few jokes with the guy, make him like you - if you can succeed at that, you'll have the best service possible. I've had a number of jobs in retail, sales, etc. The absolute quickest way to my round-file is getting lippy, empty threats, etc. Just some tips. GD

1. EA82 carb will not fit the EA81 manifold - you will have to swap the whole manifold over. This entails some mods to the manifold to make it fit as well - there's some threads on it. 2. The EA82 Hitachi vacuum secondary is hose powered, and the hoses like to die. It's on the back of the carb. 3. The EA82 Hitachi's choke spring is junk. The end with the hook wears through and falls off leaving you with zero choke. Other than that, if you really want to, it should flow better. The carb is bigger, and should give you a slight performance boost. Although it's so slight you may not even notice it. Manifold flows better too. I say get a weber or SPFI. But that's me. GD

I've used the antenna - bend the tip into a hook and use it like a slim jim. Just need a pair of pliers to unscrew it, and bend the hook. GD

If that's the case, do as I did with my conversion, and cut the leads next to the ECU and solder the resistor right there. GD

Bad rectifier in the voltage regulator. GD

All RX style transmissions for the US market were 3.70, and 1.2:1 low range. 85/86 were part time, and 87-89(.5) were full time with center diff lock. The other low range (wagons and such) are 1.5:1. There are "not-rx's" out there with all the components, but not the badging. And most of this stuff was an "option" that could be ordered at one time or another, so strange stuff does exist. GD

If the lifters are allowed to tick for long enough, the lifter bore will wear to a point where no amount of cleaning or lubrication will help. At this point replacement of the lifters is required. The lifter don't compress much at all when normally inflated. And they do so under hydrualic force. The air inside the lifter causes them to compress and release rapidly, and being an extremely close tollerance part they rapidly wear to a state where they will continually leak, and require higher and higher oil pressures to stay inflated. This is the reason why many have limited results replacing oil pump seals. Fortunately, the lifters are relatively easy to replace when doing the timing belts, and there is a link to a company floating around the board here that rebuilds them for only a few $$ each. GD

It used to be locted next to your stock radio, but when you cut the console for an aftermarket deck, there is no place for the switch. So most just eliminate it. GD

I've seen single dim headlights caused by bad relays. Easy enough to swap them and see... Otherwise probably a ground. GD

Is it the switch or the keylock that is sloppy? If it's the lock cylinder you can have that rebuilt by a locksmith. That would save you from changing keys and such.... If it's the switch itself..... then I have no idea . I'm sure someone over on xt6.net would know.... GD

The resistor REPLACES the solenoid. You just cut the pigtail off the end of the solenoid, and solder/heat shrink the resistor to the leads. Plug it in and you are done. Don't forget to plug the vacuum lines with a couple small bolts or BB's. GD

Do you have a multi-meter? If not, you can probably stop by an Autozone or the like and have them check your alt for free. If you do, set it for Alternating Current, and test across the battery, or off the back of the alternator and to ground. There should be no AC output. Harbor Frieght usually has digital multi-meters for about $5. Very usefull for an older subaru owner. GD