GeneralDisorder

Almost certainly the DOJ on one of the front axles. GD

4WD in a subaru is EXACTLY like 4WD in any other vehicle. In 4WD you will experience torque bind with any truck or SUV unless they have a center differential - this is refered to as AWD, or Full Time 4WD. A lot of trucks you have to backup 100 feet to get them out of 4WD. Clearly you haven't driven ANY vehicle with 4WD, or haven't used it. GD

Yep. $60 well spent. Replace the cam and crank seals while you are in there. Repack or replace the tensioner and idler pulleys for the timing belts, and leave the covers off. Check the belts of course - and the water pump. GD

Vitually nothing you can "mod". Changing the gap will end up damaging your coil - .5 is too much for a stock coil. Aftermarket "high power" coil is possible, but will stress the ignitor in the distributor. Going to a larger spark gap will net you zilch in the way of power. A properly tuned stock ignition system is more than adequate for the stock EA82. You can drill some holes in the bottom of the air-box as the stock intake under the fender is small, and has a lot of sharp bends in it. That will give you better throttle response. K&N filter or a cone filter is a nice addition as well. And you can change the muffler to a "turbo" muffler. The stock one is fairly restrictive. You could change the cams - Delta Cam in Tacoma WA has several grinds for EA82's. That requires quite a bit of work tho. Other than a few simple things, the EA82 has almost zero aftermarket for it. There's plenty that can be done to the turbo models, but largely the N/A versions are a dead end. The SPFI is already 9.5:1 compression. The heads flow terrible so high HP is not really possible. There is plenty that can be done with the low-end torque curve for off-roading and such, but you have to start with new cam grinds. GD

Sure - but a good cleaning and re-install will usually fix that. The EGR is not a consumable - it's designed to be cleaned every 60k, and last the life of the car. GD

Well - what do you mean by "what can I do?" For starters you can.... drive it..... GD

EGR light on older models (carbs mostly) is mileage controlled - you just have to swap some green connectors under the drivers side dash and it will go away for another 60k miles. GD

Replace the PCV valve - some aftermarket onese are known for this. And also REPLACE the PCV foam filter inside the airbox. Cleaning is not enough for this one - get it from the dealer for a couple dollars. GD

Gen 2 Brat tailgate trim?? (and the little plastic clips that hold it on) They made the Brat elsewhere till at least '94, so there has got to be a stack of them somewhere. Plus they are small and light. I guarantee you there would be a LOT of buyers for this one small little item. They garner quite the price on ebay. GD

If you just disconnect the vacuum line, it's the same as blocking it. It will not open so it's basically a big block off plate itself. Plate serves to make it nicer to look at. If you have the one with the pipe going to the anti-afterburn valve on top, just get an EGR that doesn't have the pipe - such as from an EA81/82 feedback carb model, or an EA82 SPFI model. GD

NEW radiators are $120. You can have an old one recored for $80. I would offer the guy $50 if it really looks "almost new" as he claims. Dissasembled engine.... I wouldn't even take it for free unless you like a big project. $25 for the scrap metal value. GD

Useing the Brake AND the clutch can "simulate" a locker or LSD in certain situations. By modulating the brake you can get traction to wheels that are grounded by locking up those that are not. That's the technical aspect of what is going on - and thus the need for something to hold the throttle while attempting this sort of thing. I used to do this a lot in the ARMY H1's since they have open diffs, but since they are all automatics I didn't need a hand throttle. The trick with using the brakes works surprisingly well although generally an air or detroit style locker is better. LSD's are virtually useless for real crawling. Especially the soob versions as they were for rally and street use - ie: no good for low speeds - the clutch packs in them are too small for the high torque at low speeds. GD

Fo-Sho that's a Lada Niva - probably taken in Canada... Actually - by the look of the URL - might actually be IN russia. Didn't know they got ru's. GD

While this may seem like a good idea at first...... you have to remember the cam and crank seals, plus the water pump and oil pump are all inaccesible without the timing "system" (whatever you use) removed. While the chain may last 300k, the water pump will not, and the oil pump will need at least a reseal - likely a replacement sometime after 200k. GD

I've had excelent service from both of these: www.thepartsbin.com :Good for OEM stuff, and most "common" parts www.rockauto.com :Pretty good selection of harder to find stuff. Shipping isn't cheap, but their prices are really low on a lot of things to offset that. Ring and bearing sets - Fel-Pro gasket sets - etc. Got my chrome rings, and full Fel-Pro sets from them. GD

Miles - you rarely keep a car/engine long enough to find out ... and do you even *really* have mud in Indianna? J/K It's not just that they are replete with bearings of all shapes and sizes, it's how much easier the whole front of the EA81 is to work on. Sure - without the covers you *could* replace the belts quickly - even in the mud, but who wants to have to do this? Not I. It's all preference really. Some people prefer Jeeps too - are they wrong?...... yes they are, but they just haven't figured it out yet. People (lots of people - myself somewhat included) are also very apt to defend the stuff they already have - admitting that your car/engine/whatever choice wasn't the smartest is hard to do. I like the EA81 because I have two EA81 vehicles, and plenty of backup engines and parts. That in itself is a big factor. I have an EA82 as well and it runs very well - I just don't like working on it as much..... and I just can't see those belts running UNDER muddy water and doing it reliably for a long period. I enjoy deep water on occasion (well - "on occasion" actually works out to be every chance I get, so maybe more often than that), and having a belt idler chew itself to bits a mile down the trail is just NOT cool. One less thing to worry about in my opinion - actually five or six if you count all the parts I don't worry about on my trail unit GD

Did the same thing to one of my EA81's - always seems to occur right there under the manifold, and always out the top - never seen one go through the bottom.... :-\ GD

Find someone with a diamond grinding wheel - it won't cut into your flesh. Use a lot of water to keep the metal cool too. Better to soak it in HOT water and make the metal expand - then use baby oil on it. GD

Yep - you would be appalled by the things I've broken, and seen others break. Only had to tow it home once so far tho - my fault for running a 2WD clutch... that was years ago. My rule is that if I break it - the next version is bigger and stronger, or in some cases it's eliminated if possible. I just broke out a rear window for example - replaced with plexi. GD

The 4WD gear takes the place of the 5th gear, so no - you would still be 2WD if you actually managed to make it work (doubful they would fit anyway). And yes - MUCH easier to just install a 5 spd D/R. That, and the 5 spd has a lower low range, nicer shifter setup, and WAY better syncro's. In fact the 4 speeds are pretty crappy overall. GD

The Weber's are nice too - good low end from the progressive linkage. I'm going with the SPFI because it will run at any angle, and scales with the engine easier than changing jets, etc. Plus I want to play with mega-squirt too. GD

If you have an Autozone near you, get the GCK axles - they are hands down the best (and they finally started makin them for EA82's!). Brand new too so no core charge. I'm sure other retailers can get them as well... www.gck.com GCK part number: SB-8004 GD

Probably the pressure plate has broken, or the clutch fork. Either way you are doing a clutch replacement. Pull Engine or Tranny. GD

YES - and they look cool too. Thanks for reminding me! GD

Believe me - you would NEED it if you tried to take your outback where a lot of us old gen types are going. Not saying an outback couldn't do it - but why trash a $10k car needlessly? I'm sure their day will come too. Have to cut some weight and add gearing tho. It may just never really be feasible except for a few people (there will always be a few ). The new gen is just too heavy, and otherwise ill-equipped for serious trail use without a lot of mods. This is the exact reason people (a LOT of people) have done, or are seriously considering doing, the EJ swap into an EA chassis. We love your engines, but hate the rest of the car. It's like a newer Land Rover - more for shuttling kids and "rustic family outings" like camping with the young-uns in tow. GD