GeneralDisorder

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

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