hilux_1990

What parts did you paint black? how about the yellow? It looks kinda cool how all the stuff you need to touch (fillers/dipsticks) are painted yellow on the newer Soobies. How about the blue tubing?

I've seen it on the air filter boxes of two carby EA-82's. I would think that the suction inside the airbox would make the engine breath in air through this extra hose as well?

Since I 'upgraded' to an L-series I have been wondering about the purpose of a certain hose, connected to the air filter box, that doesn't go anywhere... It is just a right-angle hose, same size as the PCV hoses, and the inlet inside the filter box is covered by a rubber flap while the other end is uncovered and finishes above one of the cam carriers. Just wondering what it does? thanks...

It is a non-US model, yes. That might be why I'm having problems finding info about it. The white vacuum canister is bolted between the strut tower and the firewall. There is a long, thin vacuum line (uses a 4mm hard plastic pipe) that connects to this pair of valves. Given the length of the vacuum line they must bolt to the engine somewhere... Thanks subiemech.

Here's a photo of the pair of electrically-operated vacuum valves: They are both mounted on a single bracket and are supposed to fit somewhere on an '85 engine.

Unfortunately my carby EA-82 doesn't have any sensors on the Cat so I'll need to just pull it all apart and try and look in one end I guess. Here's a photo of both pipes: The build-up isn't exactly clogging 1/3 of the diameter as mentioned, it's about 8mm thick. Some of it has broken away and probably gotten stuck further down the pipe. I've got another sedan exhaust sitting around here (it has heat shields on the downpipes too! ) but it also seems to have a similar build-up clogging the down-pipes...

Hi guys, After I pulled the EA-82 from my 1991 wagon I noticed the 2 exhaust down pipes had a large build-up of white, crusty stuff. The engine had overheated in a bad way so this might be solidified coolant that was being pumped into the exhaust? Can anyone offer some advice on how to clean out the exhaust please? It has clogged up 1/3 of the diamter and I'm thinking I will probably have to seperate it into pieces? The Cat might be clogged now as well... Thanks, David.

*bump* Would anyone with a 1985 EA-82 be able to help out please?

Great looking hatch... do you know how these various imports came to be in Aus? Also, any other specs we should know about your vehicle? ie. what's that black paint you've got along the bottom?

Thanks for replying subiemech. I know I can simplify it but I am interested to know how it came from the factory (and what those 2 valves are for). I'm sure someone would have a decent vacuum diagram for an '85 model.

Hi guys, I've decided to swap in another EA-82 engine and I want to make sure I know where all the vacuum lines go, as intended by the factory The vehicle was originally a 1991 EA-82 carby, with 5-speed manual trans and air con. The engine I'm swapping in was purchased 12/1985 and is an EA-82 carby with air con (not sure what transmission). I'm having problems with the vacuum lines that connect to the climate control vacuum canister near the strut tower. 1991 EA-82 choke pulloff diaphragm --> my mistake, this hose goes to the A/C idle up diaphragm 1985 EA-82 I am trying to work out where these 4 vacuum lines need to connect? There should be an A/C idle up solenoid here somewhere too. I couldn't find reference to these 2 valves in my Haynes book either. They are both mounted on a bracket and are wired to a 4-way plug. The vacuum line is quite long so they must mount on the engine somewhere? I have traced all the vacuum lines around the carby and everything seems to be accounted for... Thanks in advance, David.

I have done a little gauge swapping myself... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/usmb/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5051 I found the most problems to be had are swapping the cluster from a fuel-injected engine into a carby vehicle, or vise-versa. Then again, I think all the GL wagons I've seen are MPFI... ?? It sounds like you have a few clusters to play with though and at the worst you could always do the red bulbs mod to your existing cluster and swap in the speedo head from another working cluster (the gauges are easy to take apart).

For anyone that happens to be using the search function I figured I would let everyone know about my successful gauge cluster swap. The primary vehicle is a 1991 DL Wagon with an EA-82 carby that previously had the basic instrument cluster (ie. no tachometer). I managed to find a donor vehicle for all my parts, a 1987 EA-82 fuel-injected Loyale sedan. The DL Wagon has a blue interior so I was planning to swap in the grey interior from the sedan (I like grey interior!) This worked out perfectly because the wiring loom is actually part of the dashboard so it was a somwhat, um.... 'simple' exercise to remove the original dash and plug the donor dashboard into the car. Once the up-market Loyale dashboard was in place it now provided all the connections for power windows, central locking and 4-speaker sound (none of which the basic DL wagon had). To connect all these power features also required the wiring loom/relays that were concealed under the carpet in the donor vehicle. Naturally you have to install the power window/lock motors in the doors as well. The Loyale dashboard also has the tachometer, along with connections for various other minor luxuries such as a glovebox light and the roof-mounted map light. If I had been able to source a dashboard assembly from an up-market carbueretted vehicle this project would most likely have been complete. Unfortunately there are a few minor differences in the dash wiring looms of carby vs. fuel-injected vehicles that required a bit more work. The tachometer required an additional wire due to how it is connected to the ignitiion coil on carby engines. The temperature gauge also required additional wiring due to differences with the sender units. I imagine the fuel-injected engines require a far more complicated wiring loom to interface with the computer but, given it's only a carby engine, the large blue plug under the dash for the computer is now unused. A further issue was that the odometer on the donor gauge cluster now read over 350,000km while the vehicle it was going in had only done 160,000km. Before I put everything back together I decided to experiment with winding back the odo. Keep in mind I had a genuine reason. Using a spare speedo cable I was able to hook up a power drill but due to the internal gearing of the speedo it would still have taken days (even weeks!) to wind back so many KMs. Also, a speedo is only built to handle around 180km/h max. so I was worried about the damn thing exploding too. In the end I pulled apart the whole gauge cluster until I was looking at the speedo unit. I picked up a medium-sized DC hobby motor and a plastic worm gear from an electronics store that I connected to a 12v power supply. By removing the reduction gears from the speedo unit I was able to blu-tak (or plasticine) the motor in place so the worm gear meshed with the gear on the odometer. With a few checks in between to make sure it was running in the right direction the odo was where I wanted it later that afternoon.

The dashboard is a complete assembly. You need to remove: the steering wheel and plastic shrouding on the steering column radio, trip computer, etc. the heating/AC controls, including vacuum lines (mark everything!) The trickiest part I found is removing the surround around the instrument cluster. Once you have removed the screws you will find one end pops out easy, while the other end (closest to the window) will need a rather worrying 'yank' to get it free. If you look inside the drivers side vent (move the shutters up/down) you will see the plastic tabs that hold the surround in place. Then you can remove the instrument cluster. The dash is supported by some large black bolts, 3 of which are hidden behind plastic covers along the top edge of the dash. Sorry if I have forgotten anything but they key is, while it looks like it will come apart in more pieces, the dashboard is one very large assembly! (requires 2 people to lift it out)

Hmm, it appears my reply disappeared.... As I was pulling the engine apart it looked like it had been running on chocolate milk, hence why I decided to split the block as well. It had also run hot enough to melt the belt covers around the bolts which meant I had to break the covers. All the bolts came out pretty well although the threads were all gummed up with oil sludge or loctite from the factory. Because I don't have a lot of precision measuring tools I had assumed this engine builder might be able to give me an objective opinion on the wear and measurements of all the parts I gave him. I have now asked for an itemised quote so that should be interesting. We have various parts yards, although the going rate for a running (and alleged 'reco') EA-82 engine is ~AUD$1000 from the wreckers. Good idea on replacing the main bolts as well. Thanks for your thoughts guys.

Hi guys. In short, I had a very bad overheat on an EA-82 from a 1991 wagon with 160,000kms (~100,000miles). I yanked the engine and pulled it to bits before taking it to a company to have them check and measure everything. (I asked this Subaru parts/service guy here in Melbourne where he gets his engines done.) Here's what they think needs to be done: crank pretty bad - do a crank grind bores re-bored and honed new pistons and rings rods resized and bushed both ends new main bearings new big end bearings full set of lifters oil pump gears full gasket set heads cracked between seats so they're gonna do a full reco including new seats They quoted me AUD$2200 ready to assemble (I said I would put it all back together) or they said AUD$2600 assembled to the rocker covers. As this isn't a performance vehicle (nor a fancy EJ engine) I'm now thinking of sourcing a 2nd hand EA-82 (it would still need maintenance work for piece of mind). I would rather use an engine that I 'know' so I'm wondering if I can just clean her up, replace all the bearings, rings, seals and gaskets and put it all back together....? I'm also wondering what would be considered the 'minimum' amount of machine work, ie. a head check/straighten/hone? Alternatively I can source a pair of good heads that would only need the mating surfaces checked. Also, the crosshatching on the bores is still visible. I guess this is a pretty broad question, given that I don't even know how close to spec all the parts are, but I'm hoping someone might have some thoughts that will help me in my decision making. Thanking you all in advance David.

It turns out the small right-angled hose above the water pump had literally exploded - there's the coolant leak! I have filled it up with water again, removed the plugs, disabled the ignition and and turned the engine over - I didn't notice any water come out of the spark plug holes. As mentioned, I tested the compression (cold) and it was OK. There seems to be a fair amount of oil on the underside of the engine. Both of the belt covers may be a bit melted - the two rear covers are not sitting flat against the engine. Lastly, when I look in the number 1 spark plug hole and rotate the engine I can see 'something' in the hole. It looks kind of round with maybe a white circle/edging. It appears with each rotation of that cylinder then disappears again. When I look through the other spark plug holes there is nothing that moves this close to the hole. When I rotate the engine by hand (with a spanner) it is sometimes easy to turn, then gets harder, then easier, etc. - is this normal? I am hoping someone may be able to offer some assistance on my next move? I could put the A/C compressor, alternator, etc. all back in and attempt to drive it for a pressure test... Or otherwise one of the other 'symptoms' may indicate this engine should probably be torn to bits or replaced? Thanks in advance... David.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I do check in on the AUSubaru site but wherever we be we all share similar vehicles... Actually the compression checks out okay. It has 170,000km on the clock and would have been due for a new water pump, cam belts and seals, etc. anyway at 200,000km so I'm thinking I might just do that stuff. To visually inspect for any cracks I understand I would have to pull it apart even further? Otherwise, once the leak at the water pump is fixed (I think that's where she's leaking) I can get it pressure tested.

hehe thanks Unique hey, do you know where I can get a POS--> sticker or something?

Thanks again for the help GD. I think I'll look into pulling the engine and see how bad it is.

Another minor update... I tried adding some coolant and it appears to be coming out of both the sump and the battery-side belt cover. I'm pretty sure coolant does not belong in either of these places... Thanks for the reply GD. I have the Gregories book, but no factory manual for this particular vehicle. Getting so far into the engine - do you think a 'rebuild' and replacement of all parts involved would be best? how about dropping in a new engine? Do you think I need to pull the engine, or could I work in the engine bay? These are probably common question when someone blows their engine so I'll start checking the archives. Mind you I don't have any way to lift, nor support the engine.... yet

Hi guys My 2nd Subaru wagon (1991 GL wagon) died on the freeway today. Hopefully it won't have a similar history as the last one, a 1983 wagon that overheated as well. I wasn't the driver and unfortunately it was raining at the time... the usual clacking of the lifters got louder until they were quite noisy, and then smoke/steam was visible coming from under the bonnet and possibly some from the exhaust as well. Like all 'good' tragedies, the temperature gauge wasn't working at the time because I had just swapped in a new gauge cluster! It was hard to find a safe place to pull over so I think the engine actually died before the car was stopped on the side of the freeway. Looking into the radiator there's basically no coolant at all, although opening the drain hole resulted in a stream of coolant. I'm not sure exactly how much is left in there. Apparently it had sprayed everywhere around the engine bay too. There's some oil leakage on the underside of the engine although I haven't worked out exactly where it's coming from. Also, it almost looks like the belt cover on the same side as the oil filter is no longer seated correctly. I doesn't appear to line up properly against the metal surface and the rubber seal seems to be coming out perhaps. It all looks fine from the front, but the rubber seal just doesn't look 'right' along the bottom edge of the cover. There are spots of coolant all over the place but the oil looks pretty much the same as it did before this particular trip. There's no foaming, milkyness or anything. This car was purchased only a month or so ago, and while it was checked over by a mechanic that deals in soobs, I have no concrete service records about the thermostat, timing belts, etc. Next weekend I was actually going to change the oil and coolant to my preferred brands, along with a full flush, thermostat, etc. Sorry for the long post, but I guess I'm interested to know what could have suddenly caused this overheating? and where the heck did all that coolant disappear too? I guess it's possible the engine overheated, boiled all the coolant, and with it raining so hard it took so long to notice. Is my next move going to be to just start tearing her apart? I appreciate any help/suggestions. Thanks, David.

Once again, I'm not sure if you're referring to an EFI vehicle, but I did get the problem sorted I swapped in another ignition coil and engine revolution sensor box (on my vehicle, this is located above the bonnet release on the A-pillar). Still no start, so I used my digital multimeter to see if I could detect any activity coming from the ignition module in the distributor. For those who aren't aware, on the carby EA82 the engine revolution sensor supplies power to the fuel pump when it detects pulses from the ignition coil, and the ignition coil gets fired by the ignition module in the distributor. I didn't have access to the proper testing equipment but I could tell it was doing ~something~ so that was enough to convince me not to bother swapping in another dizzy. By the way, the reason the car was off the road was to swap in the fancy dash from a tacho-equipped sedan. Everything appeared to be a direct plug-in, but I checked the main loom connections just to be sure. I had forgotten to check one plug though! it connects the dash loom to the main car loom on the passenger side A-pillar. This may not make a lot of sense, but my car's ignition coil had an extra wire connected to this plug, but on the dash from the sedan this same connection was wired to the dash lights (*shrugs*) It was essentially shorting out the ignition coil. As the wire wasn't used with the car's original dash, I disconnected it. Thanks again for your help Cougar.

Cougar: thanks for your suggestions. As I mentioned, my suby has a carby, so no ECU. Instead there is this Revolution Sensor box which feeds power to the fuel pump. Power is going in to this, but not coming out. Same goes for the ignition coil... power going in, but no spark.

Hello all... well my '91 wagon (EA82 carby) won't turn over at the moment. Quite frustrating actually as I had pulled the entire dash to install an immobiliser and after putting it back together she won't fire! mind you, the alarm works perfect :-) I've got the immobilser 'disabled' at the moment so I took that out of the picture. The battery has been connected to a charger and is still pretty good. All fusible links (3) and fuses intact. When I try and start it I just get the starter motor but it won't turn over. I did some tests and for some strange reason it looks like a couple of parts have failed... When I try and start it there's no fuel supply to the carby. I jumpered the fuel pump though and it's working fine. The fuel pump on mine is controlled by the Engine Revolution Sensor box, so I checked that and it's not putting out power to the fuel pump (blue wire, red trace from memory). With the possibility of it being fried, I opened it up and there's just a relay and a few passive components, nothing looks 'fried' either. I also checked to see if I was getting a spark from the plugs... nothing there, but they looked a bit dirty. The dizzy cap's got a bit of that white-powered corrosion so I bypassed that and connected a NEW spark plug direct to the ignition coil... still no spark! There is voltage on both low-tension terminals of the coil so it appears the coil might be shot. I'm hoping someone may be able to suggest any flaws in my 'tests', or otherwise shed some light on how these items may have suddenly died when the car has merely been in the garage for a week? Thanks in advance :eh: