TomRhere

Still not on the road yet.. Shortly after the last update, we got news of Del's Mom not doing to good health wise. So all monies were diverted for needed trips to Kentucky. Sadly, Virginia passed away last week of October. Since then I've been slowly scrapping money together, buying needed items, and wrenching on it when I can. Bought some Goodyear Viva 2 tires in the 185/65-14 size, still need to get them mounted. Interior is all back together now, sound system included. But,,,,,, Now, it seems I get to pull the engine back out, and drop another one in. Not sure what the problem really is, but there is a definete noise coming from the engine that I didn't hear before. Didn't have the exhaust fully hooked up before, but now I do, and that uncovered the engine noise. Can't really describe the noise, but it don't sound good, as in terminal. One thing I am curious on though. Would to much back-pressure from a clogged exhaust cause engine noise? I know the Y-pipe is good, but the mid-pipe and muffler are unknown really. Mid-pipe was under car, muffler, (really looks almost new), came from another vehicle. Kinda thinking maybe something is blocking the system, like a mouse nest. Engine doesn't want to idle now, and it was before I finished the exhaust, so.....? Don't know.... Just bummed about it.

Yeah, why cause an issue if you can avoid it. If it truly is clogged, you're not going to do much in improving flow really. But,,, there is that chance that you could do so. That's why one should swap the "feed hose" between both lines multiple times. You "just may" clear the blockage.. Then again,,, if you put 35 plus PSI against a system that's blocked and only "rated" for 13-18 PSI in hopes of clearing it out, and you actually split a seam, what did you gain? NADTA!!!

File has been sent.

Just looking at all of the pics. It looks as if the 2nd set of plugs would go between the White ones in the background there in the 1st pic. Just going by size of the connectors shown. There has to be a set of connectors of simular size to the "patch" connectors close by.

Garden hose works good for flushing the heater core. But I wouldn't clamp it. Pull both hoses off at the engine side and hold the garden hose to each one by hand only. Switch between each hose after a minute or two. Your house water pressure is way above what the system is designed for, you could cause damage if you clamp it to a hose and there is major blockage/resistance to flow thru the core.

195/55/15 = 23.4 Been searching tire sizes myself.

I have a pdf of the '83 electrical system. It's not a great one as pages are missing, but it does have the lighting diagram. PM me your email addy and I can send it to you.

Yes, I'm positive they are back-lit. Can get pics, but it will be the weekend before I have time/oportunity to do so

Going strickly off a few years of memory here. Do have some spares here I could get pics of. But there's atleast two bulbs that light the heater control area. Bulbs shine thru some plexiglas to cover the area and the cigarette lighter socket. Small wiring harness from them to the main harness. Could be bulbs are blown, or harness came unplugged. None of the 5 BRAT's I've owned sounded the door-open, or key-in-the-ignition, or seatbelt chimes everytime. Some days they worked, most they didn't. The '85 seems to want to work the best, the '86 was the least functional.

Could be hanging up on the centerline of the engine halves also. Have an intake here that's been on 3 different enginges counting the orginal one.. Had an issue with that area on this last engine. Little bit of grinding at that seam area, and it sat down like it should. And I do mean "a Little bit" of grinding.

Could be the swaybar too. Put the front wheels up on some car ramps, and have someone bounce the BRAT while you listen for source of squeek.

If charging the battery doesn't help, it could be the battery cable ends. I've had a few issues with them failing after unhooking them from a battery. Especially with the "molded on' ones. Have pulled those apart with little effort.

And isn't this the type that has that pesky little screw for the rotor that likes to fall out?

1st time I swapped heads out with the engine in a BRAT, I used a small mirror & penlight to make sure they were where they should be. I wasn't real comfortable going with just the feel of it.

Oil pressure at idle is 20 psi or less. That may not be enough to pump up a sticky HLA. A mile or two drive down the road would get oil pressure up, and may get it to stop clacking. A mis-seated rocker would cause some noise. If a rocker has fell out of it's home; on the intake valve, you would have a definet miss, (no charge getting into cylinder) on the exhaust valve, it would backfire thru the intake, ( no place for spent charge to go until intake valve opens). If you do pull the cam cover for a look; pull up the disty cap, turn engine over by hand until rotor points to #2 plug tower. That will put you with both valves closed. Check for excessive movement of the rockers. Do the same for #4 cylinder. I can't say how much, if any, movement of the rockers is ok. But do know a lot of movement is not good, and would point to that HLA being the culprit.

Happy Birthday !!!

Bought the last few cans from Wal-Mart, but yeah, Auto Part Stores have it as well. Without going out to the garage and looking at it, I can't give you "Name", but you'll find it in the same area as WD-40, PB Blaster, and the likes. Look for a "spray lube" marked with "White Grease". Wonderfull stuff for hood latch/hinges, door hinges, and the likes.

Had that problem on a few cars, and a shot of White Lithium spray lube helped them.

The 4WD lever is bolted to the body, shift rods run thru, and are attched, to the trans with no real allowance for any mis-alignment. So weak/bad trans mounts can cause issue there. Bad trans mounts can also cause front drive axle DOJ boot failure from the trans moving around, when it shouldn't be. Like I said, just a thought on possible cause of problem.

Think the 1st thing I would do is check/replace transmition mounts. Chances are they are the originals, and are weak/saggy or broken. Bad mounts will let the trans sit lower, and put some what of a bind on the 4WD linkages. The fact that you can change the noise by pushing down on the lever is what made me think of the bad mounts. Could be something totally different, but that's my thought.

It has more to do with the amount of shifting gears then actual miles driven. 200 miles of city type driving would do more than what 600 miles of hiway driving will. The ATF will clean the varnish off all of the internals of the trans. The more shifting one does, the more it works it's cleaning on the sliding gears/shafts and syncros. And don't be to surprized when you drain the ATF out and it looks like old engine oil in color.

Made a 270+ round trip down to 86subaru's (Jim Wood's) place to get some parts that I have been ((_SLOWLY_) paying for for over 2 years. Gots lots of headlights now... Hoping I really don't need to replace that many sets.......... Got 5 sets o'lights. Lot's of other items too. Filled up the Chevy HHR... Need to take another trip down to grab what he has left of the EA82 parts. I'm happy to finally close the deal we made. He's happy to have a bit more space around his place.

This the same BRAT? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127960 Both of you are from same town, some simular issues in both posts, so I had to ask.

Didn't the '81's have a "Single Range" transfercase? I'm not sure. But it could be your's had one, and it was swapped to a D/R 4-speed. Pics look like standard D/R 4-speed shifter setup, minus that added plate.

Hose is for the PCV system, and is the "Fresh Air" intake. With it unhooked, unmetered air, (air not passing thru the MAF), was intering the intake system of the engine. ECU couldn't account for that air, so no extra fuel was added, hence the stalling. Fuel injection doesn't need a long "cold start/ high idle" like carbs do. Your's sounds like it's right.