GeneralDisorder

Actually that's a fabulous idea Shawn! Grounding that wire will peg the guage.... which is like 75 on the EA81, and 60 or something like that on the EA82. That will tell you if the guage is capable of reading higher numbers or not. It should actually go up above the red mark at the top. The one on my EA82 did that a few times when the wire was flopping around after I installed the mechanical guage.. BTW - the cheap wall mart model has really crappy tubing and tubing fittings. They leak if you leave them loose enough not to damage the tubing, and if you tighten them more they will cut into the tubing and then you have a serious leak. The guage itself is cheap as hell too, but it seems to work ok. It was all an experiment to see what it would take to install one for me - parts list and such. Just a weird thing I do sometimes. The VDO brand guages come with plenty of tube for a soob - they are designed for older VW's with rear engines, so lots of tube (15 feet I think) is included. Only get like 5 or 6 with the silly wally world model. GD

Sure - awesome idea in principle. I have aftermarket guages on my EA82, and on my lifted EA81. Here's the catch - cheapest guage you can get - $10 from wall mart. Then you need to plumb it - it doesn't come with the appropriate adaptor so you are forced to either make one (I made one from an old sender) or buy a whole package of "metric" adaptors which runs about $15. Second cach is that the cheap tubing you get with the guage is too short to reach into the cockpit as the sender is all the way on the front of the engine so you have to buy more tubing. That's a trip to wall mart for the guage and another trip to some other parts store for fittings and tubing..... now your looking at being $40 into this silly aftermarket guage foolishness..... $60 would have got you a new pump and complete peice of mind. As for the dash guages - they aren't bad except they have no markings for accurately telling the pressure. They have 0, a halfway mark, and a top mark. Pretty much 1 step above an idiot light.... GD

They are smaller than my 28's (different brand), so yes very close to 27". Mine are 215/75r15 if that helps. I had to do some serious beating with my original 3" blocks to get them to not rub on turns. I replaced my blocks (4") and have my struts turned up, and no rubbing at all now. GD

Once again - always people trying to save you money at the vast expense of time I guess. That, and there's a few folks on here that haven't played much with EA82's and are basing their opinion on the EA81 - changing the pump on an EA81 is about a 15 minute job.... vs. 2 hours on an EA82. Seriously - the dang pump is $60, and will take you 2 hours minimum to get at. If you pressure is low just do the whole pump and be done with it. They need to be replaced every 100k. New seals, New pump, and possibly a new sending unit if it's leaking at the screw on the bottom. If you don't have pressure after that your engine is seriously fubar inside. GD

There's probably a crapload of ethanol in it too.... And you are forgetting that in the US octane is calculated differently than the rest of the world. GD

Sounds like your cooling system needs an overhaul. I see a new radiator in your future.... GD

Octane is a rateing of the resistance of a fuel to spontaneous detonation - nothing more. 100+ octane on it's own means little other than it can be compressed much more before detonation will occur. With higher octane comes a lowering of BTU's per gallon - the measure of potential energy the fuel contains. For best performance and econemy you should always run the LOWEST octane your engine will stand without detonation. "Race" gas probably contains some very corrosive octane boosting agents that would not contribute to the longevity of your engine. Racing engines are just that - for racing. They are not designed for long life or reliability over a time period. They are designed usually to run at high RPM for sometimes as little as 1 or 2 races before being replaced or rebuilt. This allows the use of corrosive octane boosting agents, as well as the use of oxidizing fuels like NOS. So no - don't run it in a soob engine - unless you built it with 10:1 compression just for racing. Your mileage would decrease, and your power would decrease with 100+ octane in a normal engine. GD

If the Redneck trick worked a little bit, it really might be time for a good rebuild on that carb - a teardown and overnight soak in carb cleaner and all new gaskets should make it right again. Unfortunately this seems to be fairly common with the old Hitachi's. They get awful finicky with age, and the jets are sunk into the "floor" of the float bowl where dirt and debris can just get sucked into them.... or have you put any thought into a Weber conversion? I'm sure there are members in your area that would lend a hand. It's actually quite an easy conversion. They tune well, and your entire driving experience will improve 100%. I recently did the conversion to my 86 sedan, and this time around I went with a used carb from a board member ($80) and after a rebuild, a couple new jets, and changing the choke to an electric style I got the whole job done for just under $200. Daily driving will probably help some, yes. The new gasoline will dissolve some of the old varnish in the carb. Gas treatment works wonders..... at cleaning your wallet. Being that your question is engine related only, this forum is fine - the engine in your Brat (EA71) was availible in the Gen 2 body's till 89, so it's largely a toss up. If you have body or trim or interior questions it will probably best be put in the other forum. Frankly tho, you'll get much better results in this section as most people (like me) don't go over there a lot. GD

What voltage does the injector work at? Maybe someone else on here knows. You should be able to apply whatever voltage it needs directly to the injector wires and get the injector to open and spray.... assuming the fuel pump is running at least that will tell you if the injector is going to spray properly or not. Don't worry - we'll get you to the bottom of this eventually GD

Easy way to keep the tailgaters at bay: In town - large hastily scrawled note in the window: "Learning to drive clutch - stay back!" On the freeway - just scoot way down in your seat or lean over to the passenger side like you are looking for something on the floor - swerve slowly into the breakdown lane and then jerk back into your lane violently - then repete this process with the lane next to you, or into the gravel, etc. They won't be mad - they will think you are nuts and either drop way back or pass you. Yes - I know I'm insane. How many of you have rammed someone on the freeway (on purpose) with your lifted ru? GD

Just the fact you say parts of your radiator are cool to the touch means it's clogged. Get a new one. GD

Pull each plug wire while the engine is running to verify the cylinder is fireing - it should run worse each time you pull one. If you pull one and there is no change, then you need to investigate further why that cylinder is not fireing. GD

Too low - change the pump. You should have at least 10 psi at idle. If you are going by the dash guage then get another guage to test with as they are not accurate. Even subaru says that it is "normal" for them to read 0 at idle.... of course there's no way the engine really has zero oil pressure (wouldn't run for long if it did) - it's just a matter of a cheap guage and sending unit. Good oil pressure for an EA82 should be above 10 psi at idle, and 50-60 at cruise Good pressure for an EA81 is around 20+ at idle, and 50+ at cruise. The experience I have had with oil pressure (I've managed to get decent OP from at least 6 different engines - EA81 and EA82) is that you will get a slight (3 - 5 psi) increase from changing the pump seals, another slight (3 - 5 psi) increase from changeing the sending unit, and a BIG (10 - 15 psi) increase from changeing the pump itself with a new one. All the engines I've done had over 100k on them so my general rule is to change the oil pump every 100k miles. The added difficulty with getting to the pump on the EA82 (timing belts must come off) makes it more worth just replacing the whole pump as this way you don't have to spend a second 2 hours of your life if just a reseal isn't enough. GD

Sounds like a bad DOJ on one of your front axles. Had one that was just like that. So bad I thought the engine was going to fall out. GD

Change your thermostat first. If it doesn't change, then you need a new radiator. GD

Well - the idle circuit in the carb could be partially clogged.... give the carb a redneck cleaning - rev the engine by turning the throttle valve - get it up there - 3 or 4,000 RPM. Then stuff a rag over the carb opening (with the air cleaner top off), till the engine almost dies. This will create a massive vacuum in the carb and hopefully suck out any gunk. As simple as it sounds, it really does work often times. Also see if your can move the main throttle shaft of the carb (up and down) - sometimes they are worn out to the point that it will never idle smooth without a new carb or having the throttle shaft rebushed. GD

None of that really sounds serious to me. Clock is normal - about 90% of these stop working I would say - it's a known problem. Actually easy to fix - you just pry the clock out, and remelt the solder on the circuit board and it should be good as new. Aftermarket stereo? Sounds like a hack-job installer that wired up the illumination circuit incorrectly - either that or the stereo itself is messed up internally such that the illumination control (it's supposed to dim when you turn on the headlights) has gone tits up. Just have a stereo shop install an aftermarket deck for you - they can be had cheap and installation is like $35. The park issue is probably just the shifter out of adjustment - the shifter is not "electric" it actually moves a rod connected directly to the transmission. If it's out of adjustment a little or the bushings are worn then you may have a situation where you have to jiggle it a bit or work it harder to "find" the park position. Not a really difficult fix anyway. For that matter you should be using the parking brake anyway (for your safety and mine), and you can just leave it in neutral if you like - the parking pawl in the transmission really isn't designed to hold the weight of the entire car anyway. GD

Yep - I took the ones off my sedan just cause I didn't know the mileage on them (209k when I got it). I drive it a LOT for work - like I've put 9,000 on it since I registered it 2 or 3 months ago . I keep a spare used timing set in the trunk and a couple basic tools. It's almost a neccesity if you aren't going to just do the whole mess and know what the mileage is. Plus the belts were a little loose and I tensioned them - sligt "tick" is gone now. When I get a chance I'll snag a good water pump and keep that in the car too. It's worth it not to have to call AAA and waste your entire day.... plus AAA is really for my off-roader in case I totally demolish it at some point or throw the tranny out of it . GD

You have to remove both timing belts to get to it - so no. Figure about 5 hours for your first time with one (if you still have the belt covers on). EA81 is like 20 minutes. GD

Here ya go: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17625&highlight=jump+video+aus There's a video link in there from Junkie.. http://www.funonwheels.net/audio_video/fossvidhi.mpg Later in the post they mention that it crumpled the passenger side of the car, pushed the strut towers up into the hood, ripped the tranny cross-meber out of the frame, and bent the rear diff hanger.... probably more. The car was retired obviously... and the driver was real stiff for a while... lol Over 2 meters of air. GD

There was a video posted a long time ago with an austrailian EA82 wagon that was apparently fitted with a WRX engine. It must have been at least 10 feet off the ground. Someone who saw it first hand said the landing was so hard it buckled the roof. GD

Like it in operating principle only - the justy is transverse, and the drivetrain is totally different. It's simply a single range 4WD with a pushbutton style control. GD

Yeah - I bought one too - couldn't recall off hand what size it was tho. GD

27's are a sqeeze for a stock EA81 and even then you have to beat and cut something fierce to make them not rub on turns. I would say it's safe to bet 29's would be near impossible. *maybe* on an EA82 where 27's will fit without a lot of trouble, but not an EA81. What about the toyota? GD

That doesn't sound right - either you need to have the flywheel machined, you have something together wrong, or they gave you the wrong parts. Check to make sure the splines on the tranny and on the disc are the same... try to slide the disc onto the tranny by itself just to make sure. Don't use the alignment tool AT ALL. It will just make putting the engine back in more of a pain. Leave all the pressure plate bolts loose, and slide it onto the transmission that way. Once it's all bolted up tighten the pressure plate bolts through the starter hole. As for the rotation of the shaft and outputs - that's normal for an open differential. If you grab BOTH output shafts and turn them forward you will see the intput shaft turn. This "differential" action is what allows the car to turn corners. Also means the if one wheel is off the ground the other will have no power at all. GD