GeneralDisorder

Buy a fuel cell and keep it in the trunk. Summit racing has a 16 gallon for $160, or a 12 gallon for $99 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2D290102&N=115&autoview=sku GD

85 Brat: #809067, build date of 05/85 Block from my 84 wagon went to the recycle. something to do with the softball sized hole in it.... engine that's in it now is #410105 - strange thing tho - it's a hydro lifter block. If they were already in the 800,000's in 05/83, and 83 (automatic) was the first year for the hydro lifters..... this isn't adding up. Turbone said the engine came from like an 83 4WD Auto Sedan (or was it coupe?) he bought for parts.... Of my spare engines I can only get to one right now (garage is a mess!): hydro lifter, #651390. Uknown history. The EA82 in my sedan is #000808. 12/85. Wow - now that's a low number! Seems to indicate that subaru used a simple numerically increasing serial numbering system for them. One of these things is not like the other - NV Zeno - you should double check that engine. Does it have hydro lifters? The number seems to indicate a much later engine than 05/83. But I think more numbers are needed to give a good estimate. Maybe they started from 0 again with hydro engines GD

(I know - old thread - but you are still having the issue so....) Probably just a gunked up main jet or venturi in the carb. It's probably not a real clean spray pattern, and you might need a new gasket between the two carb halves - might be sucking air. Accelerator pump is only used when you are actively pushing down on the pedal. When the pedal is held still it's not used. Shouldn't be hard to clean it a little - just pop the top off the carb and spray all the passages with compressed air. Replace the top gasket and give it a go. Can also use the redneck trick and hold a rag over it while revved up to suck some of the crap out of the carb. GD

Don't need to take the ball-joint out. That's actually the reason I DONT take the ball joint out. Too much hassle. Disconnect the sway bar link, and the inner control arm bolt where it attaches to the engine cross member. Much easier. GD

Weird - my EA82 sedan did that the other morning. Wasn't a no start tho - it started and ran rough (somewhat unsual), and a HUGE cloud of white smoke/vapor poured out for a minute. I of course shut it down and drove my Brat that day instead assuming the hot weather the day before and large amount of AC usage had finally done in the HG at 220k miles. When I got home it started up and there was nothing. Runs fine, and no strange incidents since then. This was several weeks ago. I checked the coolant when I got home too - it took maybe a half a quart of water. I'm thinking intake manifold gaskets probably. I've got a weber on it, so carb base is new. I suspect it was just the angle I parked it at and one cylinder got a little water in it. Either that or it could be the rust hole in my trunk and the leaky trunk lid - perhaps I had a bunch of water that ran out onto my exhaust. Who knows - I care nothing about this car, and it's simply an experiment to see how many miles I can go on a car I've spent less than $500 on. $260 so far and over 9,000 miles. (I'm not counting the cost of the Weber, since of course I'll take that back off if the car goes away - different expense catagory much like oil and filters). GD

Unfortunately, there is *mostly* no way to tell if the engine has been replaced so we would have to go by what each person "thinks". But yes - with enough people, the statistical anomolies could be weeded out, and possibly we may discover the formula or pattern that fuji used for their serial numbers. Heck - I'm willing to get the numbers off mine.... probably want to make a new post or maybe a form page for users to fill out and just click a submit button. Pretty simple to do, it's just about finding the time. GD

I think I would have a look at the driveshaft u-joints. Have to unload the rear wheels (get them in the air) and then check for play in the shaft. I had a similar shaking with a bad u-joint in one of my shafts. If you can, jack each wheel up, and check carefully for play. Try to shake the wheel up and down and in/out as well. Also check the axle nuts to make sure they are tight, and that nothing is working loose. If something is wearing out the nut's can work loose and make even more noise as well as more damage. Your front end "creaking" sounds like possibly a strut top bearing. I've had one or two that would do that under full lock turns. Might be dry in there. I'm not sure these can be repaired (ie - bearing replaced) - may need to replace the whole strut top. As for a new vehicle - if you are seriously at the point where you cannot work on the Subaru yourself, it may be wise to find something else that can work for you. Especially if the mechnics in your area are just not up to working on it. Thing is - few cars are as simple as an EA series subaru, so I just can't understand why this mechnic cannot seem to get things right for you. GD

Nope. We can narrow it down with more info tho: 1. Check for gold sticker on the valve covers. If it has these (they indicate hydro lifters), it came from an 83/84 automatic, or 85-89 Brat or Hatchback (any trans). Between these engines (being the last of the EA81's built for our market), no differences exist. By this time focus was all on making the EA82 and later engines successful, and the EA81 was only put in value cars. Thus they are virtually identical. 2. If it does NOT have the stickers, then there are some differences in the castings of the large intake valve and small intake valve heads. Small intake valve heads have two 10mm bolts on the very bottom of the heads that later heads (and blocks) do not have. 3. Very, very ealy EA81's (1980 - *maybe* 81) had no (or at least very, very rare) options for AC, or power steering. So the crank pulley only has a single groove for the alternator belt. All later engines were equipped with the three groove pully for optional AC and power steering. 4. The brand of distrubutor (assuming it's original) can tell you if the car was 2WD or 4WD. ND disty on the 2WD, and Hitachi on the 4WD. Those are all the difference that *I* know of. I'm sure there are more obscure little differences that cropped up over the years. As far as figureing out what body type it came from - that's virtually impossible. Subaru prided themselves on makeing very few different parts for all the different models. If it could be the same, it was. This kept cost down. The serial number on the engine..... well it may be possible to cross-reference that info, but the data may not even be availible to US dealers. Might have to contact subaru of Japan for that sort of info. At any rate - there's no real point. They are all mostly the same. GD

Sure - any 5 speed, Dual Range 4WD trans setup is going to be identical. Doesn't matter what body it came from. You will find them in 85-89 EA82's. (looks just like a Loyale, but will be labeled a "GL" or "DL" or some derivitive of same). For lifting, and wheeling etc, you definately want "Four Wheel Drive" as opposed to "All Wheel Drive". And you want the transmission with the low range, refered to as the Dual Range, or just D/R. AWD is rare for the GL's, and isn't geared porperly for anything but street use. GD

They suck in Mud, and water. Good for sand, snow, etc. Useless for rock crawling, or racing (no good for high speed). And you need an almost limitless power pack to turn them effectively (V8's and V10's are good) Oh - by all means try it out - you'll need some investors to fork out the $25,000 for a set. The problem is they have very bad aproach angles to them. They are mostly designed to spread the weight of the vehicle on highly unstable sufaces. They are excelent for what they were designed for - snow mostly. Some folks use them in sand, but really that just chews the heck out of them. If this was such a great system, you would see the army putting them on H1's. Why do you suppose they got rid of the halftrack? Couple reasons - unreliable, too slow, too heavy, and just plain not as effective for varried terrain. Heck - even our armored personel carriers are wheeled now. We still have a few tracked small vehicles - mostly for arctic equipped units tho. (Tanks are another story - much like a dozer, 46 tons of DU plate and 150mm cannon are just too much for anything inflatable..... they aren't unstoppable - they get stuck quite a bit..... and BOY is that a mess ) GD

You'll need: Flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate (different size clutch for 4WD) Transmission Shifter linkage and interior consoles Driveshaft Gas tank (some 2WD's apparently already have the "dent" for the rear diff, but others don't - just depends on year I think). Rear diff, and diff hanger Rear trailing arms, brakes, axles, etc (basically the entire rear end) It's really easier to just buy a messed up donor car, as there are always little things you run into.... GD

Ya - it's cool - this IS a forum and all us gear heads are entitled to our (admittedly sometimes quirky) opinions. I use the 100k as a general rule for all subaru's. The EA81 and the Justy both share this common fault it seems - biggest downfall for those engines. With new oil pumps both will last 500k+. I agree that the EA82 is much better about this tho. I'm just so damn paranoid about oil pressure after losing the battle with my wagon's engine. I'm a pretty meticulous type, and to have basically caused the destruction of that engine causes me great pain. I did change the oil regularly (usually after each off-road trip). But I drowned the engine in swamp water at least 4 times, and who knows how much dust managed it's way into the crankcase on gravel roads those few summers.... the rat bastard digi-dash with no OP guage I blame for half of it. By the time the idiot light on the dash started flickering at idle it was too late.... I miss that engine - it was quite strong. GD

There are models of the EA82 carb that had the feedback computer, but most did not (same goes for the EA81 as I'm sure you know). Largely it was CA models, and 2WD's that got it. I have a sedan that *used* to have that setup. I gave a whirl at fixing it, but was confounded by a sensor that I can't find a good used replacement for, and the dealer wanted my soul.... unfortunately I already sold it to a Ford dealer a number of years back..... so yeah.... Anyway, I guess my point being that he may not have he ECU controlled carb - in fact most did not use this rather horrific configutation, and it seems that the ones that did have largely been shot full of holes somewhere on a logging road, left to die in a back yard, or have been eaten by other hungry feedback EA82's. Mine was about 60 seconds from going to the junk yard when I saved it with a Weber transplant. GD

Discount import around here has the OEM pumps (Parut) for like $60. Here's the deal - on the EA81 they DO need to be changed every 100k or so. On the EA82 only somtimes - but doing the pump on the EA82 is a 2 - 3 hour affair IF you have done it before (timing belts and all that junk - I'm talking WITH belt covers). Personally $60 is worth it if I don't have to tear into it a second time. Oil pressure is the most important fluid spec you need to care for - followed closely by coolant temp. Having already lost an engine (blown rod) to bad oil pressure, I just don't mess around with anything I'll be keeping and driving. All my rigs - both EA81's and my EA82 have new pumps, they also ALL have hydro lifters, and nary a tick to be found. GD

On the other hand, I've experienced some noticeable increase in vibration when installing very tight NEW axles. I get the GCK ones, and being brand new rather than rebuilt they sometimes seem to expose second order vibrations that were not there to begin with. In my case it was a combination of bad tranny mounts, and soggy engine mounts. The axles were so new they simply didn't absorb anything. It's a lot like your describe - vibration while accelerating only. Anyway - something to take a look at. Could also just be really crappy axle rebuilds. GD

EA81.... GD

Strange. Are you sure you waited till the engine was up to temp? Just a thought. Cold engine has higher pressure. GD

Entire engine. Do a search - you'll find plenty of threads on that sort of thing. Bottom end of the engine as well as the heads are different. You need the entire engine. GD

+1 for any MT over AT rating. The AT's just can't clean themselves - at least not out here in the wet northwest. They are awesome for desert racing.... the BFG AT's are used by many desert racers. Mud isn't so much the issue there tho. It comes down to granularity. GD

Gauge itself is not vacuum operated in any way.... so I'm guessing that you increased the idle speed and this caused the increase in oil pressure. The pressure is related directly to engine speed. GD

Well - carbs do need to be "pumped" in order to start. That is totally normal. Most people these days are not used to this anymore being that carbs have all but dissapeared for going on 20 years. FI does not require this. As for running lean, that's probably another story. I would check for exhaust leaks, and make sure your cooling system is setup right. Your should have the stock 190 thermostat.... lower temp or innefiecient cooling system (too hot) can cause mixture issues. Carb cannot be adjusted - they are jetted - so the only adjustment you have is the choke adjustment/pull-off, and the idle mixture. GD

There's probably some phillips screw on the back side of the wheel that go into that center horn assembly. That's the common method for a lot of the EA82 wheels, and most newer ones. Might have to get a stubby screwdriver to get at them. GD

Problem is going to be the rear end - the hatch is just that - a hatch. There is like a 10" lip that runs all the way around the back, and the rear door sits on top of it. On the wagon the door opens all the way to the floor. Oh yeah - gas tank in the hatch is shorter too - too accomidate the difference in rear overhang. Sure - something like that could be done, but unless you are a fantastic body guy, it's going to look and function like poop. GD

The Hitachi's run very well if rebuild properly. Unfortunately, they are horrifically complex for a carb - as many 80's cars were. I have lots of mechanical experience, all the tools, and I've been working with carbs since I was 10.... took me about 7 or 8 rebuilds to get those Hitachi's down. Of all the 80's carbs, the Subaru and Nissan Hitachi's are some of the worst. Particularly the choke system is complicated, and varies a lot from year to year. The power valves are staked in place - good thing they usually aren't bad, but still.... don't lose the accelerator pump check ball, and keep careful track of all the little cotter pins. I'll say it.... WEBER. There - happy? For me, it's more than worth it - sure the Hitachi is cheap to rebuild, but for the time investment I would rather spend around 150 - 200 on rebuilding and installing a used Weber. They are simpler, and provide a much more pleasureable driving experience. If you have more time and money - the SPFI swap is the way to go, but you need almost a whole donor car to do it, and even if you manage to spend half a day at the junk yard and get all the parts, the wiring and mods needed to swap it over will take a bit to figure out. Figure more expensive than a used weber, and twice to three times as long to install. GD

Turbone's right - and a timing belt change isn't $300 in just parts The ER27 has all the problems of the EA82 + 50% more because unlike the EA82, parts are not plentiful, often only availible from the dealer, and usually at a high price. For that you get the same stock performance as the JDM EJ20 N/A, and less performance than the EJ22T. Only slightly more than a USDM EJ22 N/A. Add to that the fitment issues with any chassis other than the original, and you have a pretty dim combination. It's a cool engine for sure, but like a lot of brands, it's a high end engine, and there just weren't many made. As for hacking the ECU - sure it could be done. I'm a software engineer, and I know people that could do it. But the time investment is not worth it, and all the people I know would maybe assist me in doing it as a personal favor, but they would all much rather play with their PC friendly Audi's and Porsche's..... I'm the weird one of the bunch driving old soobs. Best to just go with something like MegaSquirt. I learned a long time ago that re-inventing the wheel gets you nowhere - while you do that, someone else is working on the jet engine.... GD