Well I may be picking up an 82 4wd Wagon with 175k on for $500.. it needs a water pump at the minimum though, so to make sure it's good to go I'm replacing it before I buy it, owner was cool with it too

 

The deal is the water pump pull sheared off and I actually found ball bearings stuck in the grease on the engine When pouring coolant in the radiator it immediately flows out of the pump. The pump and alternator were on the same v-belt, and the car does have AC on a separate belt(which is missing, not a problem we don't need AC here). I was able to start the car jumping off my Suburban, ran it briefly to see if it did run(and it did). No water in the oil and no smoke so I'm hoping it doesn't need head gaskets.

 

I'm not new to wrenching, I'm a Chevy truck guy, however I am new to imports. This thing is remarkably simple looking, however I've never done any repairs away from my shop.

 

So what advice can you all give me? What tools are needed? From what I've read it looks like a 10mm socket, extension, and ratchet will do the pump. However, I was looking and didn't see how to adjust the v-belts. I think I may have missed it under the grease, but I couldn't find it..

 

I'm hoping with a little TLC I can use it as a daily driver this summer. I love my Suburban(A '91 V2500, lifted, with 35's), but at 11mpg it's a pain the wallet to fill up.

 

I read some folks suggest hoses and such at the same time, however I only want to do the pump and see how it runs and do a compression check. If all checks out, I'll buy the car, tune it up, replace the hoses and belts, and then drive it. Water pumps are cheap and the belt is good.

The EA81 engine is the simplest subaru engine I've seen (I haven't seen the EA71's and EA61's, which might be simpler). I believe that if you have a 10, 12, 14, and 17mm sockets and ratchet, you can pretty much take that entire engine apart. Hopefully it wasn't overheated when the pump failed -- if not, then you're probably good to go with just the pump.

 

I think the V-belt is tensioned by moving the alternator on the alternator bracket on that one, but I'm not certain on that -- I could go look at mine, but it's dark and raining outside right now

 

I've owned a few of the '82 4wd wagons, and one '82 2wd wagon (which is actually going to a different forum member tomorrow morning). Working on putting fuel injection and a 5 speed dual range and 14" tires and a slight lift on the the 4wd wagon (very very slowly.... been collecting parts for three years, and the engine's been under the bench in the shop for a year..)

V-belt is tensioned via the altenator. 12mm wrench or socket for the bolts.

 

There's a 5/8" hose off the waterpump that is one of the heater core supply lines, (it runs under the altenator). It can be a pain to get off of the pump after all this time.

 

Best bet is to get a Gates 28466 hose, it's a "trim to fit" replacement. A couple of hose clamps for it too. You have to remove the altenator to replace the hose, if needed.

You have to remove the altenator to replace the hose, if needed.

 

Really good advice. Remember to get the surface where the old water pump was nice and clean. That old gasket material is hard to get off. I used black RTV for the gasket. 5 10mm bolts and your off, just be careful with them bolts.

Awesome, sounds easy as cake. Removing the alternator isn't a big deal either...

 

One other question, where is the coolant recovery bottle at? The owner had a shop put a radiator in it last summer, but they didn't hook it up and it's either missing, or somewhere I can't see it.

EA81's do not have an overflow tank. They just overflow onto the ground. Make sure and catch all the coolant that drains out when you are taking this thing off. Don't want to be causing extra trouble for yourself. Also make sure and follow the correct burping procedures or you will get stuck with a big air pocket in your system. If you do use RTV make sure and let it cure for more than a hour before firing it up.

Whats the burping procedure on an EA81? Leave the cap off and let the t-stat cycle?

 

Good to know on the overflow bottle..

 

As far as a gasket for the pump, should I use a gasket(fel-pro) or rtv or both? Last water pump I did was on a ranger and we rtv'd the hell out of it, but I hate that stuff.

 

Any torque info I should be aware of?

Here is my thread from last year:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87147

 

It should get you going. I took the gasket and coated it with RTV before I put it on there. I did have to seal up a bolt a couple weeks with some more RTV. In all reality, my cooling problem was a $5.00 radiator cap.

Whats the burping procedure on an EA81? Leave the cap off and let the t-stat cycle?

 

Good to know on the overflow bottle..

 

As far as a gasket for the pump, should I use a gasket(fel-pro) or rtv or both? Last water pump I did was on a ranger and we rtv'd the hell out of it, but I hate that stuff.

 

Any torque info I should be aware of?

 

make sure the heat selector is cranked hottest when filling and burping, so it can fill the heater core and get the air out of there too.

Here is my thread from last year:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87147

 

It should get you going. I took the gasket and coated it with RTV before I put it on there. I did have to seal up a bolt a couple weeks with some more RTV. In all reality, my cooling problem was a $5.00 radiator cap.

 

How's your GMB pump doing? That's what the parts store got me.. new with a lifetime warranty.

It was doing fine up until the day I sold the BRAT to buy my RS. I say go with it man. I used the same technique for tightening the water pump bolts as you do with lug nuts. Start with one bolt then go to the opposite side.

Awesome, thanks. If all works out I'll be coming home with an '82 Wagon today

No problem man. Please post lots of pictures if you buy it.

Well it was a no go.. needed a lot more than just the pump. I think what happened is it sat through the bad winter we had and snow packed up around the passenger side exhaust manifold, cracking it. Also think it needs an alternator, it wasn't putting out the correct voltage. Decided to pass, I hate exhaust work.