GeneralDisorder

Yeah - I bet they installed it with no heat sheild. A normal cat on a subaru y-pipe without special preperation will destroy the boots in short order. GD

You'll lose about 10-20% or more of your low end power due to loss of scavenging from the opposite bank, and it will idle like poop as the exhaust pulses can't even each other out. It will sound mean - but what you are hearing is the engine running a little ragged. Much better to keep the cross-over - it's there for a reason. GD

Hatch's are the exception to a lot of rules. Being they are shorter, a lot of rear end stuff is different. It very well may require cutting. Longer shocks are definately the better option. GD

Vac solenoid is easy to diagnose - actually if you want you can just remove it and connect the bowl vent line to the carbon canister directly. Basically I think removing the vent line changes the pressure in the float chamber and usually unsticks the float. I've had the same effect before, and then at other times when it stuck, pulled the vent line wasn't enough to fix it. The Hitachi I've had the most difficulty with I rebuilt a grand total of 7 times. Eventually I had sucess with pulling a needle and seat from a junkyard carb and using that. It seems that the rebuild kit needle and seat I used were not of very high quality. The end of the needle was rubber, where the stock unit is solid brass. I have a feeling this may be part of the problem. Of course this is all conjecture as there really is no way to see what's going on in the darn thing, and by the time you take it apart, it's already fixed itself. GD

Lean mixture can be caused by the float being improperly adjusted, and other issues like dirty fuel filters and clogged jets. Rich mixture can be: float (again), dirty air filter, exhuast restrictions, etc. GD

Your car is as road worthy as you make it, and as reliable as you are innovative. Example: Today on my daily drive (I drive ~ 100 - 200 miles every day - '86 sedan with 226,000 on it) I lost an old AC compressor belt. Not so bad of itself - I had never replaced either of the belts since I bought the car, and I drive a LOT. I also just charged the AC because it's been hot, so was probably stressing the belt quite a bit more than usaul. It snapped, shredded, and part of it sucked under the alternator belt, and popped it off the pulley. Of course dash lights went wild, and the heat started to climb (nothing driving the water pump). I pulled over as soon as I could, but as I had been stuck at a stop in a contruction zone, that was about a mile after the incident occured. By that time it was in the red. Radiator boiled over into the overflow, and I lost nearly all the coolant. Situation: No coolant - I had a half drank bottle of water - about 6 ounces.... so I drank it. No water pump No alternator Good belt, but it's not exacly ON, and I couldn't get it on since the alt was still adjusted to "tight" Possibly worst of all - No tools. (I know - I should know better!) 4 miles from the nearest town Old road - not much traffic. I tried like hell to get the belt on, but couldn't stretch it that far. I had a 20" crowbar, and a copper mallet (yeah - weird I know, but that's what I had). I used the end of the bar and the hammer to unwind the 12mm adjustment bolt like a chisel - that worked, but now I had no way to tighten it down again . I put the belt on, tightened it as best I could, and started driving again - had to stop and start about 6 times to let it cool before I got to town and borrowed a 12mm from a jiffy lube (finally found a use for that place after all). Still no coolant so I stopped and grabbed an $0.89 gallon of water, and drove 30 miles back home. No problems other than the AC woulndn't work. That sounds like a lot of wasted time, but it really wasn't - I probably lost about 30 minutes total on that mishap. That's also the first time it's stranded me since I bought it. It's all a matter of your frame of mind. Frankly any car you could get for $3000 is going to have just as many, and possibly more difficult to fix problems than your EA81. The EA81 is like a good old truck - easy to fix, and simple to maintain. You break a belt on an EJ serpentine system and see where your day goes..... can you say "tow truck" ?? GD

If you are just doing a reseal there is no need to split the block. Are you doing bearings and rings too? GD

So what is your question? As to the boot - well grease is potentiall flamable, and I'm guessing this was on the passenger side? You probably have issues either with the cat being plugged, or the engine running far too rich and causeing the exhaust to overheat. The cat gets very hot and will easily cook the axle boot. Also - what brand of axle did you use? A lot of the boots used by the crappy rebuilders are paper thin, and not sufficient for subaru use. They also don't want to approve your lifetime warantee, and a torn boot will void it - so they use boots they know will tear open easily. GD

No doubt - me too GD

No one said anything would change - we all stated that the dampeners are there for boundery conditions - high voltage, low voltage, pump sucking air, and other exceptional situations. That being the case, you would not notice it's absence till it's too late and your have borked your injector or pressure regulator. Think of it like a fuel filter..... would the engine run without it? Yes. Would you notice any difference by removing it? Not for a while anyway. Just because you don't fully understand the implications of removing something doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't serious. GD

On the hydro engines, the lifters are meant to be removed with the oil pan off - the crankcase is cast differently to allow their removal if you loosen up the push rod adjuster and pull the rod out a bit. I think you can also fish them out as craig mentioned, but you risk dropping them into the oil pan anyway, and putting them back is a royal pain (again with the risk of dropping them into the pan). Best to just remove the pan, and replace it's gasket (OEM only) - you'll have an easier time, and getting the pan sealed up with a new gasket is always nice.... GD

Common on the Hitachi's I've noticed - you probably experienced a stuck float needle - I've had this happen a number of times with them. Only thing you can do is tear it down and replace the needle and seat. GD

It does shut off periodically - but only if you let it get cold enough - turn the fan down and it should cycle on and off. GD

Easy check - check that the belt sensor is hooked up and properly adjusted. If the system detects no belt movement it will shut the AC down within a few seconds. GD

RAM performance has N/A EA81's pushing 140 HP built for aircraft - they bore out the heads and make them dual intake port heads..... Being that the EA82 N/A MPFI already has dual port heads and larger valves it shouldn't be real difficult to change cam profiles, make custom intake and exhaust, and with some big carbs 140 should be easy. Also - Subaru had all the parts availible in the 80's to turn out 175 HP on the EA82T for their race engines. Someone not long ago posted scans of the part numbers for the cams, turbo, downpipe and such. It can be done, and it can be done reliably, but it requires careful planning and implementation. I say start by getting in contact with Subaru and finding the specs for the race engines. GD

Rev the engine and try your method again - if it still does it throughout the RPM range, then your problem is something like a head gasket..... My guess would be a vacuum leak on that side of the manifold if it only does it at or close to idle. Check the plugs too, but that's not usually a problem for these engines. GD

Backfire is exactly why I told him to check the ASV - they suck in fresh oxygen for the cat, and when they fail it creates a big exhaust leak - this will result in massive backfireing from the fresh oxygen mixing with unburnt fuel and being ignited by the hot muffler. Backfires can be forceful enough to blow holes in the muffler. I've personally seen quite a few of these fail. GD

First thing to check is actually your drivers side timing belt. The drivers side cam turns the distributor, and if the belt broke you won't get any spark. Just pull the distributor cap off and turn the engine over to see if the rotor turns - if not you know the problem. If it's turning, then you may have a bad ignitor module inside the distributor. Best to just get a junk yard disty for 20 bucks and give it a try. Same with the coil - the OEM coils are tough, and I've yet to personally see one go bad. Often replacement cheapy coils die, and I think a lot of those got there as a result of people either replacing the OEM unit because they thought it might be bad, or because it was just old so they figured it would be a "good idea". I've seen a lot more distributor ignitor failures than coil failures, but test the resistance of both units. GD

Here's a simple one for you - check to make sure the coil bracket is grounded. It should be bolted to the body, but sometimes that stuff gets rusty. ......this may seem silly to ask, but you have one of those weird years - 87's are often carb if they are not 2WD I've noticed. Is your car fuel injected or carbed? GD

If it comes with a boot on it, it's greased. GD

Your EA82 only has one. Whoever told you that is mistaking the older EA81 series which has two objects commonly refered to as "filters". In fact one is a filter, and the other is a vapor seperator. They do two different jobs, but most people are not aware of the difference. At any rate your manual is correct - just one for you. You have SPFI on your Loyale - fuel injection filters are under the hood. His 87 sounds carbed, and would have it's only filter under the car near the pump. GD

My check mark goes beside the valve stem seals, or a bent, sticking valve. You may be in for a head job - I sugest as above you do the comp. test and see whats what. HG's aren't dificult on the EA81, so it's not something to be terribly afraid of. Wait - I just re-read and you say the air filter is soaked..... your PCV system is not functioning. The continued burning of oil after pulling the PCV lines is just residual - it can take a while to burn that off. Run some seafoam into the intake to clean out the cylinders. And replace that PCV valve..... the math here is pretty simple - PCV is the only way oil can get to the air filter - that pretty narrowly defines your problem. GD

Actually - I seriously doubt that has ever occured in the history of the EA81. Ask around - if you find any certifiable evidence to that effect I want to see it. Have you ever even seen the EA81 timing gears? They are about 3/4" thick..... maybe with enough grit in the oil you could wear out a set, but not before the engine loses it's oil pressure and blows a rod.... Maybe if you hit the car with a train.... And he needs to check a LOT of other stuff first - if it's still fireing at full throttle then the valves are working. There is only ONE cam, and were the timing gears broken, it wouldn't fire at all, and you would hear some serious, serious crunching and grinding noises - might even seize the engine. Don't scare the n00bs man - not cool. GD

EA81 - no belts. GD

Yeah - universal or junk yard. Autozone carried a uni-fit that I used on my wagon. GD