GeneralDisorder

Probably valves. Do a search for wet/dry compression test. Or "Leakdown test". GD

It very much sounds like you broke a ring (the smoke), and probably broke or seriously damaged the rod on that cylinder as well (the hammers). Does it still have fluids? Doesn't matter much at this point - your supposition that the engine is lunch is well..... correct. Time for a new one. Pull the engine - tear off the heads and see what the damage is. Likely the cylinder(s?) is scored. It isn't worth rebuilding at that point. GD

If you are going to the trouble, you might as well do all the bearings and rings. You'll need a complete gasket set, etc. You are looking at right around $200 in just parts. And it would be a waste to bother leaving the engine stock - add a cam, and mill the heads. And of course you will want a valve job too..... Simple answer - not worth it - get another engine. Unless like me you have a desire for HP, and a dislike of timing belts for off-road. Plus - how do you know it's rings? Have you done a compression check? GD

Check the ignition switch connector under the dash - they get burned - probably want to replace the whole switch with a good one, and possibly grab the harness connector from the junk yard too - solder it into the harness. Clean all the grounds - including the one behind the drivers side dash speaker, the one on the passenger intake manifold bolt, the one from the negative battery cable to the frame, the one for the radiator, the one from the transmission housing, and the small one near the drivers side firewall. GD

Actual numbers vary, and are not important. What is important is that the cylinders be within 10-15% of each other. Numbers can vary - I've seen as low as 125, and as high as 220. I would say that 80-100 would be the low end. GD

I have a picker you are welcome to borrow - I'm in West Linn. It's the folding 2 ton type, and should fit in a wagon. Fits fine in my Brat. GD

Depends - you want it for parts? Basically the owner probably isn't comming back for it - if it sits more than a few days (on the side of the road) likely it's abandoned. Now towing it yourself isn't on the right side of the law - unless you own a towing company and it's reported to you by the local government as towable. Here's the difficulty - the tow company will tow it and then attempt to stick the owner with a huge tow bill that they likely will never pay. The car will then be auctioned or sold to a yard to cover *some* of the tow bill.... so in one respect you may be doing the owner a favor if you get it yourself - but that's a risk of course. If it was me - I would let it sit. Maybe stop and pull some parts off it - only if it sits for a long time tho, and is obviously abandoned. Especially if the local kids have broken the windows, etc. Then I say pull whatever you can and leave the hulk for the tow company. You can't use the body anyway as you won't have a title and can't ever get one. One more thing - if you do pull parts - do it during the day, and in plain view. If you try to be slick and covert people will suspect foul deeds. If you look like you are working on a broken car no one will bother you. They may even offer to help. GD

First - do you have an accelerator return spring attached? And how is your cable mounted? Pictures for me would be good. Is this weber new or off something else? Sounds like it needs a rebuild and the jets checked to make sure it's jetted for a soob. GD

Yeah - Scrap decided he did want to go after all, and we were both going to get out there, but both located some things that had to be fixed before we could see mud again. Both my front ball-joints were worse than shot, and I had a little engine/tranny mount issue that was my own doing . It just wasn't in the cards for me this time around - the digi-dash blowing out, and followed closely by the rod going through the block, then the new engine destroying it's clutch pressure plate (release bearing locked up) has really set me back a good 12 months of wheeling. It's all fixed now, even with a couple new modifications, and we'll be heading out probably this weekend - and the next. We should all meet up. I'll look for your new meet thread. GD

Does not need to be two step - Center line of the three on the flywheel - drivers side cam mark up - passenger side down. Throw the belts on. Adjust tension and you are done. Also - getting the belts on is much easier if you remove the bolt from the slot in the tensioner and push them down farther till the belt goes on easily. GD

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