I found a white 4wd DR wagon for $600 which was amazing considering no rust (except 1 surface spot). Has great running ea82 carb engine, has 230,000 k on clock, and has been serviced regularly. It also has roof rails and tow ball. I am unsure wheather it has timing belt, because none of the service papers seem to indicate that, (I thought ea82's did). The other thing that struck me was that there was no tach (does that mean DL)

Perfect 1st car in my opinion!, I'm not registering it until at least P plates though

That would be an EA82 here in the US and yes they all have timing belts.

I am in Australia

Either way all EA82s have timing belts.

 

For good preventative maintenance Replace all the pulleys and belts.

 

While the belts are off I personally reseal the oil pump, replace the cam seals, cam cap orings and crank seal. Timing belts need removed to address any of those items. I prefer Subaru seals if possible, particularly on older gen. Ive had aftermarkets EA82 crank seals not fit well and leak.

Here in the States I think that was the last year of the dual range. I probably have a couple dozen posts exclaiming my love for that transmission. Lol

Enjoy it !

 

As mentioned above , don’t skimp out and buy cheap crap seals etc.

 

Do the kit as mentioned and have peace of mind going forward. Careful on the “Mickey Mouse” oil pump seal and O-ring that they stay in place as you install. A little grease is suggested to hold them.

Good find man! There are not many of those body styles left driving despite the fact that they built them for 9 years. It breaks my heart to see one in the junkyard which is a rarity these days.

I got my 86 gl a couple of years ago for $450, dual range like yours, and she ran great on her ea82 for about 10,000 miles until she skipped a tooth on the timing belt. Then last year over 8 months I did an ej22 swap. Now she hauls balls nicely and gets nearly 40 mpg on the highway, i did the math!

The thing i love about these cars are that they are SO easy to work on, the engineering is simplicity at its finest. You can remove the entire engine and trans in a couple of hours working at a leisurely pace. You don't even need a hoist if you have a buddy help you lift.

I helped my friend remove an automatic transmission from his e46 bmw and i was like wtf?

Probably due for a timing belt if it's not on the service paperwork. People cheap out on servicing, especially when it costs as much as the car.

yeah, the simplicity is 1 of the things that drew me to them, 

It's also got a subtle boxer rumble

L series with the ea82. Don't stress if you break a cam belt as they're a non interference engine. Clean up the guts of the old belt and slap in a new set, properly align the cams and you'll be off once again.

 

I hope you don't have the lifter tick. That drove me nuts! An EJ22 is a good remedy for this.

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

Edited December 15, 20178 yr by el_freddo

When i hear how people talk that they buy those old gens i think as they live in different planet because noone here have one as they would rust away long time ago i guess haha. They cool looking old subarus for sure.

When you replace the timing belts, replace the 3 idlers. The 5 parts are all near end of life at the same time, 50k miles, sometimes a little less. The idlers can make it past 50k, but they won't make it to 100k.

Just out of curiosity- My car doesn't have a tach - Does thaat make it a DL model,

I thought that the DL model had quad headlights as opposed to combo- mine has combo.

I also thought that only the GL came with the D/R 5 speed tranny

DL is the non tacho L series model. The GL (touring wagon) is the one that came with the tacho. If you're super keen you can wire in the touring wagon's instrument cluster but it's a bit of work! Or do what I did and swap in a complete MPFI touring wagon loom

 

All L series are combo lights in Australia. Only the MY/brumby models came with the quad lights except for Guyph's L series in WA that sports a set of American quad lights that he imported

 

A lot of parts are interchangeable between the L series but be aware of the series one models - interior instrument/dashboard controls are different. The series two is better

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

Edited December 24, 20178 yr by el_freddo