GeneralDisorder

Yes - see above, and note that 140 is just the book recomendation. Imperical evidence sugests that tighter is better for these. As evidence to support this supposition, VW bus rear axle nuts are the same size, and require 250 lbs. GD

How's the water pump? Check the small right angle hose that goes into the heater core tube from the pump. Check the heater core hoses for splits. Fill it up with water, start the car and rev it while watching the engine bay - the leak should become apparent pretty quickly if it's that large. GD

Now go do a wet test - squirt about 1/2 fluid ounce (about 6 or 7 squirts from your typical pump type oil can) of oil into the cylinder and run the comp check again - if your numbers go up by a lot, then you have ring issues, and if they don't you have valve seat issues. Valves are more common.... For reference one of my EA81's is 160 on all cylinders and the other is 220 GD

Actually sounds like it might be pinging a little - AC could just be upping the temp enough to get the ping noticeably loud.... Try adjusting the timing, and maybe take a look at the air filter, plugs, cap and rotor, etc. A good general tune up is in order, and you may consider checking to see if there are any receipts or notes about the timing belts being done - if not it's about 20,000 miles, and 10 years overdue . 102 yrs old - she may not have done any maintenance since she killed the old man off...... GD

There is no solenoid for the vacuum secondaries - the EA81 Hitachi has internally routed vacuum for them, and the EA82 Hitachi has a single vac line about 3" long going from part of the carb to the vacuum actuator. No solenoids, no electricity - not related to your accesory problem.... Just figured you should know Of the craptacular non-FSM manuals out there, the Haynes has much superior diagrams to the Chiltons.... GD

Beat yourself repeatedly about the head and shoulders with a wrench..... seriously you need to give the Brat away, and invest in a nice stable car payment. Either your luck is horrible, or you simply lack the skills needed to repair this vehicle...... brush up on basic engine theory and operation - lawn and garden equipment is a good place to not make costly mistakes. Everyone is thinking it - I'm just saying it. My intention isn't to hurt your feelings, but really, you are killing this car, and it's a rare peice - give it to a proper mechanic. GD

Every kit I've bought from the dealer included the paper gasket. It's like 6 bucks from the dealer - just have em order it. I wouldn't install it without the gasket, but in a pinch I *might* use anerobic sealant (and not a lot either - very thin smear of it). I would not use RTV as any tiny amount could potentially clog an oil passage or lifter if you have hydro lifters. Anerobic at least would not harden if it got sucked into the oil..... That's my feelings on the matter - personally I would use the supplied paper gasket - only in a *must have now* situation would I attempt any other sealing method. If i had the time and tools, I would MAKE the gasket from gasket paper if I were unable to obtain it any other way. GD

He may not have done the comp check with the throttle plate and choke plate open, and all the plugs out.... lots of folks screw that test up. Any one of those would give a false low reading. Not so rare on the bottom end - the EA engines are 3 main bearing engines while the EJ's have 5. It's actually all too common, but it's usually the main bearings, not the rods that go. Enough swamp water WILL kill them tho. Bad juju. GD

Yeah - tigard is the sherwood yard - it's really between king city and sherwood, but Tigard is a more recognized name I guess. GD

If you didn't have oil pressure and drove around all day - most likely the main and rod bearings are shot. The knocking may be a lot of things - valves, exhuast leaks, rod bearings, etc. GD

Totally useless part - yank it and put an EGR on that doesn't have the pipe for it. GD

Only three that are U-Pull-It's.... sherwood, foster, and damascus. The Vancouver yard is no longer a u-pull-it, and neither is Salem. Ownership changed, prices went up, and two yards went to newer cars that only the employees are allowed to touch. There are many others not owned by FAP tho. Portland Auto Wrecking comes to mind - and some others near it. GD

Sounds like the head gasket let go on cylinder #1. Being an EA81 you have no belts, so valve timing is not an issue. A reading of 0 pretty much rules out rings, and unless a valve is stuck (unlikely) it's the head gasket. I've seen plenty of EA81 and EA82 engines that lost compression in just one cylinder. It's usually overheating that blows them from a coolant passage into the combustion chamber. Bought a wagon like that and was able to drive it 30 miles home stopping to check the coolant level a few times - even got it up to 60 MPH with three cylinders - compression was 0 on cylinder #3. Replaced that gasket and it was fine after that. Sinking it in a mudhole is BAD - did the engine flood out? I did that one too many times to the engine in my wagon, which when I started was in very good shape and only 145k on it. Only 20k later and my lack of replacing the oil pump, and too many dips into the swamp water did the rod bearings in - even with frequent oil changes. I blew one doing 75 MPH on the freeway. 200k is not "tired" for an EA81 unless it's been badly maintained (sounds plausible in your case). Your lack of oil pressure is disturbing, and I fear that even if you do the head gasket that at this point your bottom end may be so damaged that it would be a waste of time and effort. GD

Use the search GD

Proper jets for a subaru can be found in many previous posts - use the search. 140 is NOT too big. It's the size that comes with the Redline subaru kits. GD

I would just use the straight 134a - not the stuff with "sealant" in it. I would tend to fix the leaks and go with straight stuff rather than band-aid the system with some goop. I got a selection of o-rings from Autozone for $2.99 that took care of all the lines in my 86 sedan. Again tho - I used R12, so didn't need to vacuum my system as it was using the same as the original charge. I frankly have no idea how much I put in - approximately 24 - 28 oz I would say, but my charge line leaked a bit on the first two bottles (actually a LOT), and then I fixed it and put a whole third bottle in. It's cold, and that's all I care about, so I guess it's ok. GD

It should be directly under the drivers side kick panel - mounted to three studs on the steering column. It will have a round hole in the front to view the LED diagnostic lamp through..... we had them in most of the 2WD's, and all california models. Actually pretty common here on the west coast. The EA81 computers are generally black, with a pretty decent sized 20-or-so pin harness connector. GD

Seriously - the so called "dirty" bottles are not that bad. If I ruin a compressor every couple years I'm fine with that. Used junk yard compressors are like $20, and the only other thing that would need replacement is the drier and maybe some of those switches. The drier I might get used, but then they are relatively cheap so might get a new one too. You can pull a vacuum on the system with some simple home made devices. I just filled my system with some 20 year old bottles of R12 I had laying around. I replaced all the o-rings at every fitting point, and the system still had a tiny bit of pressure in it so I knew it would hold for a while. I get ice cold air now, and if it lasts for this season I'll call that good, and fix it if I need to next year assuming I'm still driving it. If it becomes more troublesome than replaceing some o-rings or the compressor then I'll use the windows instead - it's not that important, and definately not worth pouring more than a few bucks for refrigerant, or a spare used part into. I would rather spend a couple extra bucks on a stick of deoderant for my glove box..... AC systems are not rocket science - especially these 20 yr old R12 setups - They are simple. Wire the damn compressor clutch to "ON" and it will run all day - might frost up a bit, but who really cares? GD

With limp rope, I just use a phillips screwdriver to stuff it down the hole. Usually takes about 4 or 5 feet of rope to stop the engine (depends on thickness of course). GD

Wow - ok I'll have to dig out my FSM and take a look. I'll reply back when I can describe all that stuff in detail. I'm not going to commit to anything, but largely I think that stuff is evap related.... Before I go digging around in the FSM, I NEED to know if you have a feedback carb or not. Do you have an ECU under the dash? GD

The stock shocks do not limit the travel - it's limited by the bump stops on a stock setup. The shocks can actually be damaged internally if you compress them hard till they bottom out. Since with the PK setup you are lowering the diff as well, the axle angles are still stock, and slightly positive at normal level driving. This means that you will be able to compress more as with a stock height soob they never get compressed much beyond level due to the bumpo stops. With the addition of some EA82 DOJ cups they can stretch quiet a bit more, and you can go negative on the compression without harming them - it's the same as extending downward as far as forces on the axles is concerned. Best combination would be the longer travel shocks, and lower the bump stops to limit your compression to a safe amount. Also adding some limiting straps to limit the down travel would prevent over-extending the axles in either direction. Again - EA82 DOJ's will help tremendously with the maximum operating angle - just remember they aren't any thicker, so you are at a greater risk of damage the larger you make the max angles. Speed is also a consideration - a lead foot will break axles when they are at higher angles. The larger the angle, the more torque the shaft has when it changes speed abruptly (such as a high speed wheel spin into a rock). Think of it as a wrench handle - the longer the wrench, the bigger the bolt you will be able to use it on, or in this case twist in half. As the angle grows, the lever arm effect becomes more pronounced, and will overcome the strength of the DOJ cup at high torque. GD

Air correctors are wrong - should be 170/160 you sure you didn't read 110 but it said 170 - sometimes they don't stamp them very clearly. GD

VW = 4x100, Subaru=4x140 GD

Dude - start your own thread - this thread concerns EA81 problems, you clearly have an EA82. GD

Rope trick - thread enough 1/4" nylon rope into the cylinder to stop the engine from rotating. Safe for the engine - don't have to bump the starter, no risk of dropping strange metal objects down your bell housing, and works on automatics too. GD