GeneralDisorder

Is the tranny a problem? The one that's in my Brat might be availible in the next month. I'm planning an RX trans swap.... assuming I can find one. GD

Look for a torn innner boot - sounds like a bad DOJ to me. Also check transmission and engine mounts - might have torn one. GD

You mean stuck under the dash? Hehe - yeah that's a possibility. I was stuck for several days once.... luckily I had someone to bring me food and water (J/K). I really need a shop midget for stuff like this.... "hey - run on up that down pipe and check the bearings in the turbo would ya?" LOL GD

If you look across the spring washer, there is slight bubble to it - like the surface of a lens. The bubble goes out towards the nut.... GD

I edited my post above with a couple additions you could make.... GD

Lookin GOOD! Couple of additions to it tho: 1. It should be emphisized that the washer between the axle nut and the conical ring is a spring washer, and only goes on one way... 2. Getting the hub off is easiest if you just smack the end of the axle with a copper or brass hammer.... 3. You should never have to pop the tie rod end out of the knuckle.... you can always put the key in the ign. and turn the wheel some if you need to tho. 4. Axles don't always go into the bearings as easily as your's did. Especially if the bearings are new also. Sometimes a LOT of force is required. A couple large flathead screwdrivers are usually my choice.... and some brute force and ignorance. This needs to go in the repair manual - Shadow.... where are you? GD

If you had the oil pump off, I would have it off again and make sure it's properly sealed, and the o-rings aren't buggered. Since the engine had no oil in it, you should remove the spark plugs, and fast-crank it till the oil pressure registers on the guage..... this ensures both that the oil pump is working, and that the guage system is also working. It's not wise to start an engine without oil. That could be the end of it - and possibly the source of your "knock". Chewed up bearings can happen quick without oil. GD

The manual I have says the 1980 model year was when the water passage switched. This coincides with the introduction of the EA81 (which has always had the water passage in the block) so it makes sense from that perspective. Addmitedly, this manual is a Clymer, so it could be wrong. But it would be tough to prove one way or the other as many cars have had their engines replaced with ones from other cars, etc. It's a crap shoot as to what you will find under any given hood anway. GD

Well - it actually is easier to change just the boots as well - you can change the boots without pulling the axle. Just pull the inner joint, and dissasemble it on the car - slip the new boots on and reassemble the inner joint - if you had a lift, you wouldn't even need to remove the wheel!! But if his axle is clicking already, then it's a gonner - new boots won't help. GD

Where did you get this 9:1 block? Turbo's were 7.7:1, carbs were 8.5:1, and SPFI was 9.5:1.... WJM tried a 9.5:1 turbo - didn't last long. Do a search and you'll find his threads on it I'm sure. Not a good idea with the stock turbo setup it seems. As for cam's - Delta Cam in Tacoma can grind whatever you want. Several people here on the board have Delta cam's of various grinds in their EA82's GD

Well - that's generally done with EA81's, but if you remove enough off the front (radiator, etc), you might be able to do it with an EA82. I'm not sure there is enough room tho. Also remember the EA82 is quite a good deal heavier than the EA81, so manhandling it around like that won't be easy. It's not easy with an EA81 really, but it will just get you by if you don't have a lift. At any rate, in order to get the engine to come forward you also have to drop the exhaust, and unbolt the engine mounts - then jack the engine up till the mounts clear the cross-member. Then you can slide it off the engine, and slowly lower it down till you can get the clutch out. GD

Looks like you are in my area..... hard to say what your noise could be, but it definately could be exhaust. If you brought it by some time I'm sure I could diagnose it pretty easily. Drop me a PM if your interested. RitchieRich here on the board has a shop in Portland too.... if you want to just pay someone to fix it. GD

Magic. GD

It's not that simple I'm afraid. It could be a number of things, but check to make sure you have all the air from the system before you suspect other problems. There are three places that the coolant can leak and not make a puddle on the ground. 1. Intake manifold gaskets. 2. throttle body base gaskets. 3. head gaskets. It's a closed system, and if the radiator is full (of coolant - not air), the level in the overflow tank should only go up, not down. It will go up when the system over pressurizes, and it will go down when the system returns to normal. It should not drop below the level indicated on the side of the tank. This indicates a leak. However - the fact that you bring this problem to us after having recently worked on your cooling system exposes the possibility that there is either a lack of understand about the system's operating principles, or that you did something incorrectly. It's difficult to say from afar if this is the case, but I suspect it strongly. I would not jump to the conclusion that you have a blown head gasket - that's just silly. Especially since it's still running. I would buy a new cap as well - that is a good idea for one place to start. GD

Well - I would remove the radiator and take it to a radiator shop. If it's still cooling well, then maybe it just needs a seam re-soldered. They can pressure test it, and like I said - as long as it's cooling efficiency is still up there, it's going to be cheaper to have it gone through by a shop. GD

'92 don't help me much - but I'm sure someone will appreciate it. GD

Yep - that's usually how I do it. Just make sure not to leave the cap off very long as the system won't be able to build pressure. GD

Was it using any coolant before you flushed the radiator? GD

First, EA82's don't have a rear fuel filter. That's an EA81 thing. Second, putting the fuel pump under the hood should be fine. Most older cars, including Gen 1 Subaru's had the pump under the hood (electric pump mounted to the firewall). Going way back you see a lot of mechanical fuel pumps mounted directly to the engine block.... quite common. Please don't put it in the cabin. Some people have also mounted SPFI pumps under the hood of EA81 cars when installing SPFI onto the EA81 engine. The carb pump feeds the SPFI pump under the hood. This is done because the car's original fuel line wasn't designed for the high pressure SPFI system. I would go with an aftermarket Carter fuel pump. Check jegs or summit - they will have what you need. GD

I run a straight pipe on my lifted wagon. Gives it a nice sound I think. Cheap too. Cost about $3 for the pipe. Really not all that loud, and People ask me all the time what sort of custom exhaust I have..... I tell them the muffler fell off (it did!) GD

Hey Will - do the dealerships have access to anything on CD? GD

They are vac controlled, but here in the states the line is regular sized vac hose, and is located on the passenger side of the firewall..... where are you fuel lines over there? Here they are on the drivers side..... GD

I would say it's more difficult to replace the whole knuckle - you have to pop the tie rod end to do that. Silly if you ask me. GD

It depends a lot on the condition of the engine as to how long you can go without coolant. For example - I recently did the head gaskets on my Brat, and about 3 days after, the heater core return line burst and I lost every drop of coolant - I'm talking BONE DRY. I didn't see the guage right away - I did notice the engine start to ping a little. It got worse is a hurry. I pulled over thinking for sure one of the head gaskets I had just replaced had blown. I looked at the guage and it was pegged out - way above the red. Who knows how hot it was. Anyway I decided to drive it anyway figureing the damage was done, and hoping it would get me home. I restarted the engine - temp guage was still in the red. Started driving and the pinging was still there - getting worse by the minute. I drove about another mile to the next exit and pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot. By the time I shut the engine down it was pinging so badly it sounded like a severe rod knock, and I couldn't go over 30 MPH. I called a friend who brought me a hose, and some coolant. I let it cool for about an hour - made the repair and filled it up. Started right up like nothing had happened, and I drove away. As far as I can tell 7k miles later no damage was done. The engine was so hot that the grime on the block had started to smoke. The guage was pegged out, and it was still getting hotter because the pinging got much worse as I continued to drive. I'm now a believer in the Fel-Pro permatorque head gaskets - they survived that punishment, so that's the gasket for me from now on. Seriously tho - I would think nothing of any of the situations you described. It sounds like you have cared for your car well over the years. I wouldn't hesitate to drive with no dipstick, no radiator fan, and my radiator only half full. I've driven with about 1 quart of coolant before and it only got slightly hot (right at the bottom of the red). My wagon idles for long periods sometimes when I'm off-roading. The digi-guage sits at about 3/4 most of the time when it's doing that. Hasn't hurt it yet. GD

Adam - there was change in the crankcase design in the 1980 model year to make the water cross-over internal. Older ones had the exteral cross-over like in those pics. This change also brought about the new style water pump that's fully integrated to the block. GD