MilesFox

i worked as maintenance at a truck stop and found all kinds of bottles of pee and ziplock bags of dook the truckers would toss behind their trucks as they parked for the night. i would have rather found the dook on the ground, where i wouldn have had to pick it up, let nature recycle it. pornos with stuck pages too. them truckers

pulling the whole shabang can be a pain in the rump roast. first you have to take off the starter. then you have to try to hoist the whole works out at a good 45 degree angle, while dripping gear olil all over you ride as the rig gets hung up on the spare tire well. it s really not a time saving feature and it can actuall take you longer and be more headache. and on top of all that you will probably find yourself having to jack the car WAY in the air to get the 45 degree angle without the tail end of the tranny dragging the ground and hanging up. if the spare tire wasnt under the hood and the firewall wasnt designed like it is then it would seem reasonable, but trust me, its not the way to go with a SUBARU the entire frame can be dropped out the bottom in the time it takes to pull the motor itself, if say you were swapping 4wd into a 2wd i would pull the motor first, then take the trans out the top as well. you can leave the crossmember on the tranny doing this. this is easiest. if you take the tranny out the bottom jack the car on its side so the bellhousing will come out of the trans tunnel, you will hae more clearance this way if the origin of your question has to do with pulling the motor forward enough to get it out, jack up the tranny so the motor lifts up out of its motor mount holes on the crossmember if you really want some on eto tell you to take the motor and tranny out together, "Yes you can do it but its a pain in the rump roast"

why a plug? the knock sensor fits into a boss on the engine casting, there is nothing in the hole to plug. even NA blocks have the same boss

87 and up bumpers are styrofoam insude, so if you mount something to it the crew wll only bite through the top skin 85 and a6 bumpers are metal inside, so you can mont something to it i have a light bar i made from a shortened ea81 roof rack spar, and my lights are mounted to it, the spar mounts to the bumper

if you find yourself having to drive the car run STRAIGHT WATER in the radiator to keep from tearing up the bottom end, run with the cap off if she pukes. i had to do this for several 300 mile round trips you can get a block sealer from napa but the instructions call for using it with clean water, run for 20 min, drain and let dry. this worked for 2 of my cars, one lasted till it overheated it again on atv trails with no fan. anyway it will buy you time to get around for the head gasket repair

if you wanted to do all this with a non turbo tranny, say a 4wd d/r, 23 spline, you can swap the 23 spline "fat doj" fom a TURBO 3AT axle, ithas the larger diameter doj that will fit on a legacy axle, but it has 23 spline for the non turbo, non full time trannies but only the 3at turbo axle doj will fit on the legacy/impreza/xt6 axle, for 23 spline if you cant find an xts lower controlarm you can drill the ball join hole out, if you do so just make a stepped hole with different sized drill bits, to simulate the taper, as i did on my 5 lug gl-10

1/2 would be ideal. i made mine from 3/8" before i knew about the 12mm difference, starter ws too close. anyway going half inch if you are a millimeter off try putting a flexplate "hub" behind the flywheel to space it about about 1 mm

shift at a piont where the rpms land around 3500 in the next gear, dont be afraid to take it to 4500 between shifts. subarus have a short throw crank and the power comes on between 3000 and 4000 rpm if you are shifting at like 2-2500 rom the motor will just not touch its powerband one example is baja'n in mud. to the floor at 25oo and nothing exciting, bog bog bog. but if you can bog your way up to 3-3500 rpm in the same mud the tachometer takes off like a roket anyway i make laps in the field all day at 5500 rpms and the mtor doesnt complain i coudl agree with not wanting to break the old timing belt. you can get the rpms up and be ok just be gradual

there are 3 actory ac setups, as well as the dealer add on setups. the hitachi setup has the big round compressor, the matsu************a has the square compressor with outboard alternator, and the panasonic has a square compressor with the inboard alt i find the inboard alt setup commonly on 87 era turbos depending on these setups you willhav a short or long water pump let me put it nice and somple right here: ---the long water pump is 110 mm, it has studs on the pump itself and the pulley slides onto the studs, then the fan ---the short water pump is 105 mm, the pulley itself BOLTS to the water pump, and the fan studs are on the pulley itself so if you take the fan off and the pulley comes off too you have the 110mm pump. if you see bolts after taking the fan off you have the 105mm now heres a secret. you can use either or water pump on any motor as long as you have the right pulley to go with it

you will want to adjust the clutch so the cable takes the free playu out of the fork, but does not exert pressure on it. once the nut id hand tight you can turn it a few times and be right on. the tighter you make the cable the higher the clutch engages off the floor, if it s too tight it stresses the pressure plate and cable, so it only needs to be tigh enough to take the slack out i like th eclutch so it engages immediately off the floor, i keep my heel on the floor when working the clutch , i dont like to hover my whole leg for a high pedal make sure the clutch cable is where you want it before adjusting the hill holder cable

sorry to post too late, but if you didnt have a welder, i have seen a soup can and hose clamps as an exhaust patch!

timing belt is pretty much the only thing that can go wrong. make sure your cooling system is in good working order. take a spare thermostat and a jug of coolant. going into altitude in the mountains will make the cooant more likely to boil over if you do the timing belts i recommed leaving all the plastic covers of, so in the event of a belt failure you can fix it of the side of the road in minutes. if you install new belts keep the old ones as spares, you will only need one ratchet, one 12mm socket, and one 22mm or 7/8" socket to make the repair, open belts of course put on your best tires and take a spare, if not 2. keep a gas can with gas for emergency fuel up when going through the more desolate regions like dakota dont pass up any gas stations. if you are 1/2 full and see one tank up, exits can be 50 mile apart, and any town or gas could be 50 miles from the exit take a basic of tools with you, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cuters, spare wire, 10, 12, 14mm wrenches and or sockets. make sure you have a jack and anything to change a tire, in the dark even. any kind of cb radio would be ideal also keep basic survival aids like drinking water and non perishable food, blankets, clothing to keep warm should you be stranded somewhere cold which way do you plan to go? i suggest keeping off the toll roads around chicago, you can catch the 80/90 at the joliet ill. interchange. if you take us 30 from the west side of ohio you can stop by jims or my place for a pit stop. i have made the trip so if you want suggestions which way to go, how far things are apart, i can lend my expertise. somewhere i have a log of my miles and times between stops. pace yourself and dont get tired behind the wheel, dont rush and enjoy the trip! are you going through iowa or the northern states?

the haynes manual can be obscure, a lot of people will argue the proedure is wrong. the procedure is dscribed correctly, bu the pictures can be misleading, as it shows both cams pointing up. the cams will be 180 relative to eachi=other. what the haynes book says about rotating the crank 360 degrees, it will make the driver side cam point down when you installthe passenger side up. common overlook due to the pictures! anyway read this its noce and simple, cant go wrong! www.warpthree.com/milesfox/subaru/service/timingbelt.htm

when observing the cam sprockets, after the belts have been installed, you can locate TDC from the passenger side cam, the dot will point to the top ridge across the center of the valve cover, you can use this mark to verify you are not 180 deg off here is the timing belt procedure it runs through the belt sequence one full course then align the disty http://www.warpthree.com/milesfox/subaru/service/timingbelt.htm

i had the same problem it was disty related having the accel coil will stress the ign module in the disty. this left me stranded at a gas station over night. the next morning i got it started with a jump but it died when i pulled out. i swapped the stock coil back in and managed to get home i would think the ign module got hot and temprarily failed till it coiiled off. try swapping the stock coil and try again, not because the accel is bad, but it may be too hard on the ign module.

i think an equal length header would be ideal if you keep the stock pipe diameter and run it like i had described the stock y's characteristics are more from the pipe diameter than the bend of the pipes, the y pipe is shaped like it is to fit around the body and suspension.

it it possible the shifter lincahe ha stweaked it the bottom of the car grounded out. if so the car would shift but the alignment of the shifter will be off is the car 2wd or 4wd? does it make any noises when in gear?

if you drop the whole frame out the bottom you can suspend the car body by the bumper with teh cherry picker, high enough to drag the frame out from underneath it will get tight pulling the motor and trans together, you have to come up at a sharp angle to get it out. remove the starter if so, you may have to jack the car up enough that the motor/trans can stand at a 45 deg angle to clear the body as it comes out

its a hatchback. althoug they quit the ea81 style for wagon and sedan in 84, the hatchback continued thru 89

well since there is spark at the plugs we can rule out a broken timing belt. has anyone ever worked on the motor before. check the distributor alignment it will point to #1 on the cap, the farthest back to the right of the clip on the cap. it is possible the disty could have jumped a gear but the only time i have seen that happen was due to a cam retainer havong stripped thread allowing the cam to walk.. it is more likely for the timing belt to jump a tooth also lets verify the ign alignment and go from there read this and run through the alignment procedure, you can remover the outer belt covers http://www.warpthree.com/milesfox/subaru/service/timingbelt.htm

hmm i sense a write up... anyway start by diconnecting all the hoses and electrical from the motor, throttle cable and what-not. disconnect the speedo cable, wiring, and clutch cable from the tranny. remove the anti-pitch bar leave the exhaust mounted to the motor, and to the mount on the back of the trans. disconnect the rear half of the exhaust then go in the car and disconnect the cables from the parking brake lever, take out the clips and shove the cables thru to the outside drain any trans fluid and pull the driveshaft. find a way to suspend the car by the body only. place a jack under the engine crossmember right on the luttle mini-skid plate under the steering rack drop the 3 bolts on either side of the tranny crossmember, let it hang by its weight with the jack supporting the engine crossmember, disconnect the brake lines from the body. leave all the tie rod and axles intact. undo the top of the struts from the strut tower. let them hang by theit own weight inside the fender. now disconnect the steering shaft from the rack bt removing the pinch bolt on the splined part. now the crossmember is ready to drop, undo the 14mm nuts 2 on each side of the crossmember and let down the jack. get the car off the ground and drag the assembly out, toss on a seat and a gas tank and drive the whole rig around!

i would check or replace the pcv valves and clean out all the involved hoses. my car has a low mile motor and it does the oil fill noise for the sole fact all the pcv is not hooked up properly if you have any ticking ots more an annotance than a mechanical problem and a now oil pump seal will usually cure it. really the only thing that can go out all of a sudden is a timing belt, if you dont know when it was last done you may as well put on new belts for peace of mind, and do the engine seals while you are at it as far as the clutch goes i like to pull the motor, good idea if you change any seals. although pulling the motor is not necessary for eaither, but i prefer do do it that way. may as well get the rear seal while you are there but they usually hold out for a while you can drop the tranny out the bottom, i find it easier to leave the shifters attatched to the tranny, take the bolts out on the car end of the levers, and drop it out all as one. you will want to drain the gear oil as it will leak out once you pull the driveshaft you could easily squeeze 300k out the motro considering it sounds to run good with its current mileage oh yeah if you DO break a timing belt it WILL NOT crunch the valves, as these are non interference motors, so dont let anyone tell you different, not even the subaru dealer:rolleyes:

here is a picture of the dual exhaust notice how it x over under the diff this is what the pipe looked like after it fell off the car. i made some changes to the design for my use. the pipe is 1 3/4". you can see the skinny class packs i though this design choked it down in the high rpm, buthad great bottom end and midrange. what i would do is make the flanges just past the x where it straightens out, and use a pair of glasspacks with a 2" outlet, and run 2" the rest of the way back. this design, the 1 3/4" pipe off the heads and thru the x will give the right tuning for scavenging and exhaust pulse. the mufflers immediately after will give the backpressure for torque yet be open enough for flow. all the pipe the rest of the way back will be pure flow and sound characteristics. you can go as big as you want after the mufflers. hard to see but this is a stock y with a cherry bomb immediately after, and 2.5 inch out the back. from my exhaust setups this is the one i favor for throttle response and the sound, the sweet sound, runs quiet and revs smoothly, let off the gas and SNARL. very good midrange and very good highway driving, high flow but still torquey if making a custom header use 1 3/4 pipe to the collector under the diff, then 2" for about a foot to a 2" inlet and 2.5 outlet muffler (or whatevers closest) all of the pipe after the muffler is for flow and sound

i would agree that the factory y is just right for the engine's characteristics. i favor a setup of a stock y pipe, with the muffler at the flange and big pipe after the muffler as far as making a pipe i would keep the same diameter as the stock pipe, for about the same length to a collector or muffler. if you remove the heat shileding you can see the pipe is much smaller than it firt appears. as far as a collector i would locate it just behind the engine crossmember under the tranny, where the front diff would be if making a dual exhaust setup it would be ideal to make your pipes cross in an X fashion under the front diff i would also agree that making a custom header would gain in performance as long as you keep respects to the dimensions of the stock y pipe

taking the motor and tranny may have an extreme angle to pull, i prefer to take the motor , then the tranny out the top. if you are swapping platforms and you may want to do a lift at the same time, you can drop the entire front crossmembers including motor, trans, axles suspension and you are simply unbolting the entire front half of the car and swapping it over in one piece. all in all its less work than individuall pulling things, for the time it takes to swap a motor and trans you can swap the whole driveline, you wont even have to disconnect the exhaust from the motor! all the mounting points will have to come down anyway to fit the lift, so you may as well swap the whole rig, or take it down, mix and mathc the parts you want on it, and install the whole thing as a unit