GeneralDisorder

I would at least inspect the ball joint on that side - the off-camber and high vibration situation may have left in a less-than-adequate state. Still - a relatively easy $20 fix if that's gone south. +1 for pics. GD

He's refering to the coolant passage that runs through the block on top the EA81... the later EA71 had it cast into the block as well The early engines had a bolt on flat cross-over pipe under the manifold that bolted to each half of the block. Coolant still runs through the manifold as well on both. As for the EA71 with the side-mount starter, it was in the STD model hatchback (4 spd, FWD, Dual Round headlights) from 80-89. The 81+ ones had the side-mount starter. No on the hydro lifters (for the STD hatch), but the JDM engines did have them. Only place to find the bell-housing for the side-mount from a US car is the STD hatch.... as far as I know. No other model was equipped with the EA71 after 1981. Even the DL had the EA81. GD

R&R your ball joints. Steering with the brake or gas pedals is a sure sign of some really bad ball joints. Check everything else while you are down there. CV boots, etc. GD

Replace the cone washer under the axle nut. They get worn, and do not fit the hub properly - they wear and then the nut is loose. This will cause a very "CV like" sound. Also if the shop didn't press the axle all the way in it may have pulled through further and the nut can be loose. When you tighten the nut - pay no attention to the subaru 145 lbs - just make it "as tight as you can". If that mean 300 lbs, then fine. VW bus rear nuts (pre-67 I think??) are the same size, and spec'd to 250. When you put the brake pads in, did you make sure the anti-rattle clips were in place? There is a legion of them for each wheel. Five "clips" and a backing plate for the outer pad. Without them the pads make a very "CV like" sound as well. Next time - pull the axle into the bearings with a couple screwdrivers and the axle nut. Don't need a shop to do this. Bearings as well - a brass drift will knock the bearings out and the new ones in without much difficulty. I've done the bearings without ever removing the knuckle from the car. Brass punch can be had for about $5 anywhere. GD

There are only two types of heads - large valve and small valve. There really is no such thing as "hydro lifter" heads. They are just large valve heads with the hydro rocker assembly. So yes - they will work fine. But your cam may not be correct for the larger intake valves. Gd

All the top of the line "Full time 4WD" auto's were the 4EAT. They aren't any more uncommon that other top-of-the-line models. I see em here in the junk yards all the time. In fact the Full Time 4WD manual is much harder to find. Had one in a wasted 88 GL-10 turbo sedan. Offered it to the board with all the wireing and computer and no one wanted it. Crushed it. GD

That's shouldn't happen with a proper snorkel system. If it does then resort to the come along. No other choice. My disty has never been wet - I use the ND, so my gasket actually works. The hitachi's get nasty wet inside - near impossible to seal them. The Electric variety are not really supposed to be operated under water - the hydraulic on the other hand work quite well. GD

Main bearings on a subaru don't vibrate when they are worn. In fact you most likely won't notice they are worn at all. I've heard of engines being torn down that ran ok, only to find very sloppy mains. Rod bearings won't vibrate either - they will make a ticking noise then get pretty loud right before they blow. When you rev it, can you see/feel the engine vibrating? Or is it just the shifter? GD

Dang - that's got much of the suckage. Well hope things get better for ya. Where you people at? I guess I'll try that number in the morning.... GD

Nope. Different parts. GD

Well - it looks like Scrap thinks he may not be able to go anywhere.... I am down still tho, and promised the GF that we would be going. I have some work to do tonight.... So what's the consensus? Without other lifted rigs it won't be much good to go to Scapoose. I'll end up horribly stuck with no recourse but shovels and a come-along - how about what's going on at Crooked Finger? Truth be told my wagon hasn't been out for a while, and some lesser-than-hardore for it's first outing this year might be a wise choice on my part. Breaking things is fun, but with the GF with me, I'm not so sure it's a good idea. Pooparu.... so what's the word? Where do you want to meet up in Portland? RiSan? You down with crooked finger? About an hour from portland it sounds like....? Ok - back to the shop for me - much to do, much to do. GD

I want your gauge cluster! That's a JDM Gen 2 RX style cluster.... but I had no idea they existed for left hand drive. Please locate one for me! Hehe A picture of the engine for us to drool on?? GD

They turn the mating surface of the pressure plate (on the flywheel), and the mating surface of the disc. So it's like a brand new flywheel again. The whole clutch assembly just moves a couple hundredths of an inch towards the engine - this is ok as the splines on the tranny input shaft are quite a bit longer than the clutch disc spline interface. Does that make sense? This should if that doesnt: Properly Turned Flywheel = Brand New Flywheel GD

The easy way to do it - take the lower control arm bolt out, and the sway bar link off and the axle will drop right off the transmission - no need to remove the strut top bolts or the ball joint. Much simple and will yield a lot more room to work as well. The taking the strut top loose you'll have to push down hard on the knuckle to gain the clearance for the axle to clear the stub. Taking the ball joint loose is just asking for problems - those pinch bolts are a pain, and you have to lever the bloody thing down with a prybar to get it out. Control arm to cross member bolt, and sway bar link - very easy. No need for alignment in any case. There is only ONE alignment adjustment on the EA82 - toe adjustment with the tie rods. Don't mess with the tie rods.... not neccesary at all. Put the nut on the threads before beating on it - I use a copper hammer myself - little heavier than Brass, and little peices don't fly off it as easily. Lead works too. Good solid hits - not too hard or you will damage the threads. Moving it a little at a time is better than hitting it like a frieght train and driving it out the other side of the car - totally mashing the threads on the process. You'll make the rebuilders job harder, and the next guy's install harder too. GD

I would say you can safely rule out cam timing - in fact you can rule out anything he didn't touch, and in a transmission install there would be no reason to touch the timing belts. So did you ascertain if he touched the clutch and flywheel assembly or not? Have him loosen the bolt he tightened down - easy enough to test that possibility. Although you have fairly low mileage, and once again one would expect this to have shown itself prior to the trans install as you are using the same shift linkages. Just my logic on the situation. Could be a funky tranny too - but I've never had one vibrate on me. That's just strange. I've heard them make noises, and grind and stuff - but vibration - serious vibration as you describe would cause the transmission to fail rather rapidly I would think. You can have him check the front axle "stubs" on the transmission - there are bearings there that could be on the way out. That's not very common tho. GD

There is an easier way - leave all the pressure plate bolts loose. Loose enough that the disc slides easily with your finger. Install engine as normal - disc will slide onto tranny input shaft and center itself. Tighten each of the pressure plate bolts through the starter hole. I've done all of my engine installs this way for over two years now. Works great. One less silly tool to have around. Don't think I even have a subaru alignment tool anymore. GD

These are decent come-alongs for the price - 2 ton rating: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2DW4004DB&N=115&autoview=sku And for a winch, here's a couple low cost options: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MMK%2D76%2D50115&N=400059+115&autoview=sku http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MMK%2D76%2D50112&N=400059+115&autoview=sku GD

You have to realize that if you dig around in the wiring harness you'll find tons of connectors with no apparent purpose. They didn't make a different custom harness for each trim package, so the white connector is likely for an option you don't have. With the cruise control, you may need to adjust the clutch and brake pedal cut-out switches. The clutch gets out of adjustment and the switch won't let you turn on the cruise system. GD

Flywheel only mounts one way - turn it till the holes line up. GD

Well - anytime the engine and transmission are seperated the clutch is exposed. And the book says to pull the engine because it's what the Author prefers. Some of us prefer to pull the engine, other's prefer to pull the transmission. Personally I don't pull either, I just lift the engine far enough to pull it forward to where the radiator would be (I remove it first), and replace the clutch with both in the car. Since he was doing the transmission, the clutch would have been a natural thing to check, and him saying he had trouble mounting the transmission.... makes me thing he probably had the clutch apart at some point if for no other reason than just to swear at it and maybe let it know who's boss. The pegs on the flywheel (very impressed you noticed those by the way) - they are spaced evenly and there are three (maybe four - can't recall) ways the flywheel can be turned and line up with the pegs. Sound like he doesn't have a lot of experience mounting subaru transmissions. They are naughty critters sometimes, and there are tricks to getting the install to go smooth. I can usually mount one in 15 minutes or less with one other person to help me. I have done it my myself, but it's sticky without a transmission jack. If your mechanic has a lift and a transmission jack like he should in a proper shop it should be no trouble at all. I don't have those luxuries, and have done many without trouble. The hill-holder is not difficult at all to attach and adjust - in fact it can be done without any tools at all. Fingers only. If your shift linkage didn't rattle before the swap, then the bushings should be the same as the ones you had before.... and that book is mostly talking about the older 4 speed transmission which had a snap-on nylon bushing on the bottom of the main shift rod. They did wear out and rattle. The 5 speed's don't really do that. Mine has 215k on it and it's loose, but no rattle or vibration. GD

Yeah - that's got to be one of the best subaru tricks ever. We need an all-time greatest subaru cheap fixes list. That would be up there near the top I think. GD

Well - mains are cheap enough, but you'll have to split the case to do them... and it's a slippery slope let me tell you. Once you have it torn down, you'll say - gee I should do the rods, and install new chrome rings, and a valve job - mill the heads - replace every gasket in the engine. Oh yeah - it's a $500 job in parts. I'm sure it would be worth it - you'll have a real nice engine on your hands. Could get some nice Delta cams for it, and milling the heads will up the compression just a bit plus compensate for the ground cams. 100 HP is not unatainable at all. I'm not sure what a complete EJ22 swap would cost, but a decent engine will probably run about $300, and then you need the adaptor and flywheel - new clutch setup, etc. It's probably close to a wash, but the EJ22 gives you a bit more power. A lot more wiring involved. GD

Well - I try to help. Some of this Subaru specific knowledge is unknown to generic mechanics, and even to a lot of people here. If the flywheel and clutch setup is out of balance, being that it's all attached - flywheel to crank, crank to engine, engine to tranny - the vibration with increasing RPM would transfer to the shifter to some extent even with the clutch engaged. Should be much more noticeable with the clutch out however, as that will connect the flywheel and clutch directly to the transmission. Be aware that this condition is VERY serious, as an out of balance flywheel/clutch assembly will destroy the engine main bearings in short order. Not trying to scare you, but it's true. Subaru's do not have dampening systems or counter-balance shafts due to their inherintly balanced opposing cylinder design - this makes them particularly vulnerable to balance issues. Depending on the mechanic he may or may not have touched it. If he is a GOOD mechanic, he will follow this procedure (more or less) when the transmission is out of the car: 1. Mark the flywheel and clutch pressure plate to insure proper alignment durring reassembly 2. Remove and inspect the clutch disc, pressure plate and flywheel mating surfaces, and the throwout bearing in the flywheel. 3. Clean all clutch dust from flywheel, and spray entire assembly with brake cleaner. 4. Reinstall the clutch (if it is good - otherwise reccomend replacement to customer) using the alignment marks made in step 1, and a clutch disc alignment tool. If the worn pressure plate was re-installed to the flywheel in a different position than it was removed, then you may have a situation where the flywheel and clutch disc wear pattern is offset in a way that more mass is on one side of the assembled unit. This would cause a vibration just as you describe. GD

I don't know of any shifter bushings that are supposed to be anything but "tight".... shouldn't cause vibration in any case. The problem with verifying the double offset joints is they more or less must be removed to be checked, and at that point they might as well be replaced. Usually the vibration can be felt through the seat or steering wheel as well, but a slight vibration may not be felt, and power steering, if you have it, will diminish how much is felt there... Usually when DOJ's fail they fail quickly, and the vibration is significant and very, very bad. Another option - did your mechanic remove/change/adjust the clutch pressure plate at all? There are alignment marks on the pressure plate, and the flywheel for balanceing - they must be aligned at least 160 degrees apart if I recall correctly. This could cause a vibration in the engine that would transfer into the transmission and then your shifter any time you are in gear. It also matches your description of the vibration being more pronounced at the top of each gear. GD

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56772 n00b.