89 RX ea82t f/t4wd 5spd hi-lo range. i picked it up tonight (thanks craig), and its been sitting not started for a few years. i know these are finicky motors, with love/hate relationships, but its the first ea82t ive owned.

 

is there anything i should do before i put a battery in it and try and start it? other than obviously checking all the fluids and putting fresh oil in it. P/O said it ran good before it was parked, and was taken off the road to do t-belts and stuff, never got around to it, and it just sat.

 

im not looking to spend a ton of money on it, and theres a box in the trunk with some new filters and stuff. ive read about the cooling systems, so if i get it running ill spring for a new radiator and some hoses. im hoping to end up with a good winter runner, and down the road use some stuff on my xt6.

 

thanks in advance

Edited September 17, 201213 yr by themoneypit

If it still runs then I would replace EVERY coolant hose in the entire cooling system, new dealer thermostat, ect. By them time you have discovered you have a cooling system problem (IE on the freeway) it will be too late.

ok will do. any chance you have the part numbers for the bypass hoses and stuff? isnt there one under the turbo that is a MF to do? if they are the same hoses that an xt-turbo would use, then i have a parts manual for that and can look them up myself. or if someone has a parts manual for an rx, or a link to one, that would work to.

Id take out the spark plugs and squirt a little oil in the hole, then turn the motor over by hand for a few rotations. sometimes a motor that sits will bind to the cylinder walls and tear things up when it starts. its not always a problem but I wouldn't try starting it till you make sure it will at least hand crank.

 

also my dad used to use a drill to run the oil pump for a bit to circulate some oil in the valve train before starting it. you cant use the same method since the oil pump isn't driven by the distributor, but if there is a way I would do that as well.

 

woundnt be a bad idea to check the timing belts and distributor to make sure they are installed correctly. if it was pulled for timing belt replacement and never got back on the road it may have been because they messed something up (assuming thanks craig is craigslist and not someone you know named Craig).

... was taken off the road to do t-belts and stuff, never got around to it, and it just sat...

 

Good point to Start: Check Both Timin' Belts.

 

I Kindly suggest you to remove their front covers to do a proper inspection of their shape and their tensioners' ball bearings.

 

 

 

...replace EVERY coolant hose in the entire cooling system...

 

I Agree, Absolutely.

 

 

 

Id take out the spark plugs and squirt a little oil in the hole, then turn the motor over by hand for a few rotations ... to use a drill to run the oil pump for a bit to circulate some oil in the valve train before starting it ...

 

Very Good Advice and Ideas given, I Agree too.

 

Good Luck with the RX.

 

Could you Post Pics? ... we Love Pics here!

 

Kind Regards.

I've got a small lot of EA82T hoses and maybe the turbo gaskets too. I'll do my best to dig it out for you. Been meaning to list that stuff forever ....

 

Send me a PM sometime soon and just keep trying me until I crack - er uh , manage to get storage under control.:-p

+1 on the replacing all coolant lines. No need for specific part #'s. Go buy 6 feet of 5/8" (for the heater core hoses and the coolant bypass off the water pump. The turbo coolant like "should" be 1/2" (been a while since I dicked with a RX)

 

Timing belts, yea would be cool to check but its a non interference motor. so you wont be hurting anything if the belt breaks. If you are gonna do belts afterall, might as well do oil pump seals/front seal/cam seals/cam seal holder 0-ring.

 

Flush all the old coolant out, oil change in the engine/gearbox/diffs

 

I was gonna say to really watch the tailpipe after the engine warms up, but yours should have Gen2 or Gen3 EA82T heads on it so the coolant jacket cracking into the exhaust port isnt near as common on the 89.

 

Nice score, if you decide to get rid of it or part it out I want the tranny!

well it runs!! i turned the motor over by hand, and all was free. so i put a fresh battery in it, turned the key on, and listened for the fuel pump to prime. instead, it was squirting gas out onto the trailer LOL. i know thats common for them to rot out when sitting, so i pulled one from the shelf for my xt6, swapped it into it, and tried again. this time it primed without leaking, so i cranked it over, and it fired right up. WOOHOO

 

exhaust front pipe has a leak, no big deal, and it actually ran pretty good considering its got 3 year old (atleast) gas in it. i stepped on the brake, and sure enough its got a few lines that are rotted, so i cant attempt to drive it just yet. lines are cheap enough, so if i can get the brakes to work, and take it for a spin, ill decide what im going to do from there.

 

i did bleed the cooling system while it was running, and at idle it didnt show any signs of getting hot. someone removed the a/c (parts are in the trunk), including the secondary fan, so ill get that fan back on and probably wire it to a toggle switch.

 

its got some rust, but still somewhat solid. would def make for an awesome winter crasher, even thou i dont need ANOTHER one LOL (ive got my 05 baja turbo and 00 outback sedan for winter). but it wouldnt cost me much to put plates on it and run it, so who knows...

 

next step will be to get the brakes working, and wire up that secondary fan, and take it for a spin. ill know better then what im going to do with it.

heres a few pics. its got the turbine wheels (5 of them) with center caps, so thats a score!! plus came with 2 other sets (one of them snows on rims)

I'm Glad to Know that your Car is Alive and it does Look Very Good!

 

Kind Regards.

It's like watching my kid go off to school for the first time. I told you it ran!

That is great!

yeah im pretty excited about it. i hope to get going on the brake lines soon. im also hoping i can weld up the leaky front pipe to quiet it down some. theres a new t-stat and gasket (oem) that came with it, so i will get that done with all the hoses and flush as well. ive got a busy weekend coming up, so not sure how much ill get done, but im not in a huge rush since winter is still a few months away. just knowing it runs makes me happy (i am dying to road test it though).

got alot done today. changed 3 rotted brake lines, a couple leaky fuel lines, and took it for a ride. i dont think the turbo is spooling up. the light doesnt come on on the dash, and no boost when in the throttle, so is there any way to test a turbo? can it be seized up from sitting? a spare came with it, i dont know what condition that one is in either.

My understanding is if there is a good exhaust leak between the engine and turbo, don't expect any boost from the turbo. There is a vacuum line from the intake manifold that runs to the wastegate controller. If you pull it, that takes the controller out of the loop and the turbo will boost to who knows how high. Just a test to determine if the turbo is producing any boost at all.

ok awesome, ill check that out tomorrow! also, there is a pretty good exhaust leak in the front pipe, ill have to look into that as well and see if it can be welded. thanks!

Cool to see another RX alive! Figure out anything with your boost issue?

Hey I just remembered that Craig you bought the car from. Hey Craig!

Good guy !! Geez , my old turbo wagon is probably still for sale and very solid.

 

Craig , long time but I recall your enthusiasm for the turbo.

Hope all is well. Take care, Paul