GeneralDisorder

When the fan cuts on, it draws a lot of amps out of the system - the reluctor air gap is fireing too often (any VERY close together). The coil isn't charging as much durring this very small interval, and when the plug fires a second time, the spark is weak. Multiple sparks - some weaker and some stronger are causing the distributor to have dis-proportionate forces on the shaft bushings. They start to oscilate, and in the case of mine, it was actually audible - sounded almost like a lifter tick, but much faster. The sound, and jumping tach came and went together. High draw on the electrical system can induce this behaviour.... at least that's my theory on the matter. Can't see what's going on in there unless I could lay hands on a clear plastic disty cap (wouldn't that be neato? ). GD

It doesn't take much - just a tiny bit on the ND's - little more on the Hitachi. His is only jumping about 1,000 RPM's. Mine (being a ND) didn't have much play either - maybe 1/32" or less. Still jumped thousands of RPM's all by itself. It was random - wouldn't happen at all sometimes, and then one day it got so bad I could barely drive it home from work. Wouldn't go over 50 MPH without a fight. Too much random plug fireing. Bad juju. The reluctor air gap is meant to be set with a feeler guage, and is a close tolerance component. Small fractions of an inch are important. GD

Hope it's easier on the EA82 than it was in my EA81. Boy did that suck. It mostly works tho. I made the mistake of trying to put the "cooler" 80/81 dash in. I should have just used an 83/84 cluster and I wouldn't have had so many issues. Took me a month of hand wringing and teeth gnashing to get it hooked up where I was ok with it. Wasn't my daily, so I didn't work on it all the time - just kept walking away, and spending hours stareing and tracing lines on the diagrams to figure out where I needed resistors in circuits that didn't have them, wire colors, connector pin numbering, etc. No thanks - I'll not do it again. My advice - do enough wireing that your indicators work, and the tach, fuel guage and speedo (but that's mechanical anyway). Get the backlights working, your door indicators (have to, or your dome light won't work - all part of the same circuit), high beam, turn signals, etc. The other guages - just replace them with some nice Autometer aftermarket guages. More accurate, simple to wire. The 2.25 inch three guage "sets" are nice. Get one with Coolant temp, Oil Pressure, and Voltage. Digi's don't have the oil pressure sender anyway, so you would have to add one, and the wire for it - better to add an aftermarket one with a readable scale, and do the wireing for that. GD

Like I said - I'll lay money on it - $10 anyone? Who's got paypal? Naru's right on the disty (though not much else I'm afraid ). They gave you one for an 86 Hatchback or Brat. You need to ask for one for an 86 Wagon - that will not confuse them so much. And make sure in the parts catalog they show it's for an overhead cam, and not the overhead valve - OHV is the EA81 version that you have. Incidentally, the disty itself will work, but you would have to swap the drive gears (need to drill a new hole in the shaft), and enlarge the adjuster slot. It *would* work just fine tho. I'm using an EA82 SPFI disty in my EA81 for the fuel injection - works great with the right drive gear. This happens to be an extremely common failure on both types of subaru carbed distributors (do a search if you don't beleive me - I've personally answered a couple dozen threads like this). The ND in my wagon got so bad at 148k original miles, that the tach would intermittantly read 7,000 RPM at idle. Had phiblin (they are local to me) replace the bushings and re-diapham the vac advance. Has been beutiful ever since. They did an awesome job for only $55 too. I've since sent a number of people their business and everyone has been pleased. GD

It's got GOBS of torque, and once I get it tuned and the throttle cable properly adjusted.... well I would say it's at least as good as a weber, possibly better. I got it up to 90 pretty easily last night. My idle is a bit high at about 1,000 RPM or so, and likes to wander around maybe 100 RPM seemingly randomely. I suspect the CTS is shot. Other than that, it runs great. Starts up perfect when cold, and idles back once warm. Runs surprisingly well considering the whole mess came from a wagon with 254k on it. GD

First off - we need more info. What type of carb (Hitachi or Carter/Weber), and if it's computer controlled feedback or not - check for an 02 sensor. GD

More accurate? The heater core gets coolant right from the block directly off the intake manifold - it's going to be the same as the thermostat housing where the stock sender is. Besides that, coolant temp isn't going to change much no matter where you test it. GD

Ran for the first time yesterday. I've cleaned up a few things with the limited time I had today. It's still a royal mess in there, and far from complete visually. But it runs, and drives. Here's some pics, and notes on what needed to be done (so far). Note that all the mess was just to get things ironed out, and running. Cleanup hasn't really started yet. Here's an overall shot of the engine bay just to get oriented. Had to do a lot of work in the area of the distributor, and idle air control valve to get things to play nice. First I eliminated the purge control, and EGR systems (left the solenoids so the computer isn't savy). The ports under the IAC I bent outward and blocked with screws and a dab of ultra gray RTV. The IAC itself I turned around, and used a u-bend bit of PCV hose (no idea what this came from - probably some EA82 carb ASV if I had to guess), a union, and right into the stock IAC hose. Had to remove the front engine hoist hook to clear the IAC with the hose pointing down. Distributor now has plenty of room to fit. The harness for the disty has to have it's metal cover removed from the bottom of the disty to clear the crankcase bolt, and then the modified (more on this later) EA82 disty slides right in. Slot on the disty had to be enlarged a bit - no problem with a carbide bit in the die grinder (Dremel works if you have one). Upper radiator hose is interesting - turns out the lower EA82 hose is a perfect fit - just cut about 1/2" off one end. Had to grind away part of the EA81 fan shroud so it would not rub and cut into the hose. Works amazingly well. One of the cleaner parts of the install so far. For ease of troubleshooting, and wireing, for now I just stuck the fuel pump on the spare shelf. Here's a shot of the messy hoses. It works just fine up front, but it's loud, and I'll be moving it under the car. I have the tank vent line blocked off from when I was running a Weber, and I noticed when I went to fill up with gas, the tank was pressureized (or under vacuum). I'll get a vented tank cap and leave the vent line blocked, or I'll leave the vent line dangling under the car - not sure which just yet. Close up of the adaptors used to step the fuel pump inlet up, and the return line down. Somehow I have to shove this under the dash :-\. I have removed everything from the ECU that is not needed. I punched out the pins I didn't need (automatic related, neutral switch, etc) and removed all the wireing for that stuff. Couple fuse holders I accumulated from various junk yard trips. 80's and 90's GM products tend to have random stuff like these I've noticed. Snoop around the engine bays in the GM section and you will find all kinds of cool conectors, and fuse holders and other sacreligous wireing. These are the fuses for the ignition switch powered circuits. The ignition switch harness - I tapped into the large black wire - it's hot in run, and that's what is feeding the two above pictured fuses. The blue/red wire on the top of the car side of the connnector that runs to the light green/white wire is the start signal to the ECU. Apparently it needs to know when you are cranking. Anyway, that pin doesn't exist on the car side, so I found a pin on the donor EA82 harness in a plug that was unrelated to the SPFI system, puched it out of the harness, cut the wire, and slipped it into the Brat's harness. The ignition switch already supports this feature - it's just not used by the car. Interesting.... anyway worked fabulous. Any questions - feel free to reply or PM me or hit me up on messenger or whatever. GD

It's what we refer to as the "EA81 body", but you could get EA71's right up till 89 in the STD hatch. Many low end DL's and such had the EA71 in the early 80's, but mainly it was the STD hatch model. In other countries, the "EA82 body" style vehicles came with such exotic combinations as SPFI EA71's, and dual carb EA81's. Saw a picture posted not long ago of an EA71 in an '89? three door coupe. Good on gas apparently. EJ series engines came in the 1.5L EJ15 in other parts of the world - in some countries they even had distributors driven off the cam. EJ series transmissions came with Dual Range levers in some models - not in the US..... you get the picture. Strange stuff out there - more than most know about. GD

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/specs/mechanical/engine-specs.html GD

Yes - we all know this. There's also quite a few engines missing.... EJ18, EJ20, EA63, EA71, EA81T, etc, etc What's the point of this post? GD

Don't like that style as it bit me rather hard in the Mud. I went through some stirred up gunk about halfway up my doors in the beast - following another lifted beast. I made the mistake of feathering my clutch a little, and it failed on me. Turns out that lip of metal covering the fingers filled with silt when I pushed in the clutch, and then when I released it.... well it didn't. So I got to AAA it to the garage and pull the silly clutch out. Tossed that one in the round file and went with the stock style that has open PP fingers. Not really an issue I guess for street, but I don't like it all the same. Subaru had their ducks lined up when they built these things, and I'm wary of aftermarket parts that differ in design. Reman is cheaper at Napa too - had good luck with them before. I tend to use junk yard clutch parts now - cheap like a $20 hooker. GD

If it's an EA81 with a feedback carb (sounds like it if it has a legion of connectors) then unfortunately there is nothing quite so complex in all the land. Vacuum hoses, wireing, strange do-hickery abound. The polls say rip it off and put on a Weber (or SPFI like I just did ). Seriously though - the wireing at least - as NW pointed out - should all mate up without much work. The length of the wires, how they are perma-bent, and the connector should make it all pretty obvious. The vacuum hoses are less obvious, but start by looking on the chart under the hood if it's still there. After that I'm told it's best to LEARN what the bit in question does, what it should be hooked to, and if all else fails, re-route around the hard lines so you are 100% sure of where the vacuum lines are routing. GD

Yep - check the cable first - the routing, and the cable design make them eat themselves alarmingly fast. At least they are reasonable (less than $20, and less than $15 if you can get wholesale). The other possible cause would be a bad pressure plate. Not terribly likely however. GD

Restore - like most "magic bullet in a can" crap sold to the uninitiated vehicularly impared, contains large quantities of Dupont Teflon - which has shown to decrease friction, and increase compression and power output in the short term. It's long term effects unfortunately are the problem. Among other things, it embeds itself into the bearing material, and causes spalling of the bearing surfaces. It also clogs up oil filters and passages, and just generally wreaks havok within the tightly controlled oil-rich universe of the combustion engine. Dupont recognized these problems, and tried very hard to stop third party companies from purchasing their product for this use. They lost a court case or two on the subject, and now they simply have an official stance that their product (yes - THEIR OWN PRODUCT) has no recognized benifits when used in gasoline engines. Slick 50, Restore, etc tout their claims louder, and have their name on many a race car so you can imagine how well this has worked. When used in a race engine intended to last a season or less, it really doesn't matter, and the money they get from the endorsements would cover the occasional mishap anyhow. Here's a little more detail to chew on: http://www.msgroup.org/TIP043.html GD

If you've done a V8, then it's the same, but you take out JUST the engine, not the combo. Just label stuff, and start taking out bolts - it will all bocome clear. Not that hard - I can have an engine out in about 30 minutes. Putting them back in is the tough part - make sure you put a jack under the tranny, and keep it there. Jack up both, and then support the engine weight with the hoist - unbolt everything and it should slide forward, and up. Leave the transmission jacked up till you are ready to put it back, then just do the opposite. You have to use the jack for the engine mounts to clear the cross member underneath. GD

Now try the oil squirt step - that will tell you if your low readings are rings (unlikely) or valves. Yeah - those numbers are ok, but a little low IMO. Anything over about 80 or 90 is ok to run, and yours are looking alright in that respect. You may benefit a lot from a valve job. For reference, my Brat pulls 140-150 in each, and my wagon is about 220 on each (I have no idea how it got so high, it's just a stock engine AFAIK). I have yet to test my sedan, but it runs good, and doesn't overheat so I have little reason to..... yet. A newly rebuilt EA series should run in the 175-200 range (after break-in) if it's been done properly. Chrome rings may increase that a bit once they break in. I kinda have a feeling there's already something like that in the wagon's engine - very strange high readings. Oh - and another thing. I've tested engines with bad HG's that ran but overheated, and still got good readings. The gasket was allowing small amounts of compression into the coolant, but once the cooling system was pressurized, the compression readings in the cylinder were normal. GD

Have the wheels rebalanced. The shops these days do a crappy job because they are used to everything having power steering. The wheels must be carefully balanced with manual steering, as there is no fluid to dampen the vibration. Make them understand this. Check the rubber donut in the steering shaft where it exists the cabin - the VW bug urethane ones are a direct fit if you need one, and make sure the rubber rack & pinion bushings are in place, and tight. Bad wheel bearings are an unlikely cause of vibration - the will make aweful dying animal sounds, but I've never had any sort of vibration from them. You did check them with the parking brake off right? You won't notice any play with the parking brake set. GD

It's not neccesarily the mileage - engine will run even when the vehicle is in traffic, etc. It's also the age - electronic bits get old, solder connections get crusty and shrink, etc. If that's the original alt, then it's 13 years old. And yes - it's fairly common to have to replace them every 100k or so. Cheap and easily replaced, so not a big deal. GD

1. It functions to shut the valve off on those models equipped with a feedback (computer controlled) carb. 2. No, as your Brat does not have a computer or the solenoid to turn the valve on and off, it's best to just eliminate that part of the valve - otherwise you would need to supply it with constant vacuum for the valve to stay open durring operation. That said, those valves are not necessary - they are a LOT more trouble than they are worth, and just removing them entirely will improve the overall running quality, and eliminate a possible failure later on. If eliminateing them is not possible because you have underhood inspections, undo the pipe from the head to the valve, slip a quarter (yes - $0.25) into the valve body, and thread the pipe back on. This will disable the valve, and leave it in place so the inspection will assume it's still working. They really don't do much, and if the engine is tuned it should still pass a tailpipe sniff - if you still need it to pass for some strange reason, repair them as you planned, still use the quarter, and just remove the quarters when you need to hit the smog shop - otherwise they are just a time bomb waiting to happen all over again. Here in OR, I don't need to smog any of mine, so they are all gone. Ports welded up - never to be seen again. Note - if you swap out to the SPFI from the EA82 you no longer need these valves as the function is provided by the fuel injection computer..... GD

10 minutes to remove? I want video to prove that. On an EA82 you first have to remove the crank pulley, and the bolts for the belt covers are almost always stripped. With a die grinder maybe. Besides that, it's still near impossible to change the belts on the side of the road with the covers in place. Without the covers you can slip them over the crank pulley without removing it, you can check the tension any time you like, repack the grease in the tensioners, and easily inspect the belts for wear or crack. 15k now for me on no covers, and old belts. I removed the covers just in case since the belts are old (209k when I got the car, so no telling) and I keep an extra set in the trunk if they break. I drive around to construction sites all day - I'm a drywall estimator right now. I see plenty of rocks, and other debris. Nary a scratch to be seen on my belts. GD

No - the rotors and calipers are vastly different in size and cannot swap from front to back. Bolting pattern to the hub is different, and stub axle diameter and spline count is different too. GD

They are, so long as you also change to the corresponding coil - the different brands have different resistance values and mixing them can damage the ignitor in the disty. Other than that, they will swap with no issues. GD

Code 05 is just the model designation for a manual trans 49 states vehicle. Doesn't really mean anything - mine did that too - they all do when you first turn the ign. to ON. GD

Well - I'm willing and able to take pictures of my setup for you if you like. I simplified the wireing as much as possible, and it's not real bad now that I've done it. I haven't put anything "away" yet under the dash - it's all sitting on the floor (I just started it for the first time tonight). I planned to do a write up anyway, so I'll snap some pictures of the important bits, and make a few notes. I don't see why we can't get yours running without a lot of trouble now that I know a little more about the system. First question - where did you mount the fuel pump, and how is it being supplied? I mounted mine under the hood, and just routed around the existing pump under the car with a bit of hose. Worked fine, and kept the rear filter in place. GD