Andy FitzGibbon

Easy to say for a lot of us, who work on our own cars. For people who have no mechanical experience, an engine prone to head gasket failure (more prone than most other engines I know, anyway) would probably be considered an unreliable engine. From what the OP says, a stock Outback or Legacy with Outback springs would probably be fine for the type of off-roading he does. I do a lot of rocky national forest road driving with my GL, and I barely ever have to use the low range. Andy

Anything is fixable. It just depends how much time or money you want to sink into it. If he were to pay a body shop to do this job, it would probably be cheaper to find a different wagon. Andy

The doors probably won't seal right again without a lot of time and effort. In the end it would be cheaper to just buy a different EA82 wagon, unfortunately. Andy

+ 1 for what Miles said. If it's not even trying, sounds like fire and fuel aren't happening at the same time. Andy

The PDF links above are to the engine sections only, I believe. Fortunately, they are the most oft-used sections. Andy

They tested one in 4W&OR a few years ago. As I recall they weren't happy with it. They liked the way it worked OK, but it kept burning out the power steering pump on their Ramcharger. I think they went through three or four pumps during the test. Andy

I was thinking of gutting the front differential out of the transaxle case, and then cutting away that area of the case to make more room for a different front differential unit (independent of the transaxle). The case would have to be closed back up by someone who can weld aluminum once the desired area has been cut away. It would be a lot of custom fabrication, to the transaxle case and the body's transmission tunnel. Raising the engine up would probably be a good idea, to get as much room under it as possible. Using an offset front diff would also probably mean using rear wheel drive as the primary drive, as I'm not sure the short-side axle would hold up to constant use. It would probably also require custom axles on the front, which is a pain when you break one. Andy

When Phinzia put the 4.11 ring gear into a D/R AWD box, he had to grind the circumfrence of the ring gear to make it clear the case and the hi/lo range gear set. He reckoned a 4.44 probably wouldn't fit into the case without a whole lot (maybe too much) grinding. The real down fall of the D/R transaxle for off roading is not the ring and pinion ratio- though it doesn't help any, the real problem is the crappy low range ratio. 1.59:1 is hardly any reduction. Most truck transfer cases are at least a 2:1 reduction in low range. The Dana 300 case that all the jeepers like for off roading is 4.0:1 low range reduction. If you were able to swap to the 4.44 R&P from the 3.90, your crawl ratio would change from 22:1 up to 25:1, which is hardly any gain for the amount of work it would take to make the swap (lots of custom machining). Andy

If you got rid of the front diff in the transaxle, there might be enough clearance to use a Toyota front diff from an IFS truck. Thy are offset, and you might be able to sneak a driveshaft up to it (from a rear transfer case) past the Subaru transaxle. Andy

My AA lift has no differential drop in the rear. I think they made different versions of the kits, maybe? Or maybe they just forgot to put those blocks in. Not sure about that. Scott, thanks for the correction. Andy

Do a compression test, that might tell you something. Andy

True- but considering that, how did you come to the conclusion below? The SJR diff drop kit is a 4" drop bracket for the rear and a 3" spacer for the front. You apparently assumed the opposite, since the OP didn't actually "describe" the angle. Andy

AA lifts don't lower the diff at all. 1" difference between the front and rear of the diff actually makes the u-joint angle better. Since the diff is being lowered, tilting the rear down slightly relative to the front keeps the driveshaft and pinion shaft in a more equal plane. Andy

I agree with all that, and I also know not to necessarily trust the capacity instructions, even in the factory owners' manual. I have been sort of "splitting the difference" between the dipstick full level and the 4.2 quarts the books all call for (wasn't sure weather to trust the dipstick entirely, and possibly be running too little oil). Funny, though, that after sitting two months with the heads off and the drain plug out of the oil pan, I still got the exact same dipstick reading when I put it back together with new oil. There couldn't have been that much residual oil left in the engine. I guess 4.2 quarts is just too much. Thanks, Andy

Andy

On my '85 GL wagon, the oil has always read high on the dipstick. When I put in what the manuals say to put in (both original owner's manual and Haynes- I think it's 4.2 quarts) it reads almost a quart over the "full" mark on the dipstick. The dipstick looks like it's the original, with the wire pull loop on the top, and I don't think it goes too far into the crank case or anything like that. I also tried the dipstick from my '92 Loyale in the '85 engine, and it reads basically the same. Does anyone else have this issue? This is true after driving, not just after changing the oil, so it's not that the filter isn't full or anything like that. Thanks, Andy

Make sure you clean out the bolt holes really well. Stuff can get packed in the bottom and brake cleaner and compressed air will not loosen it up. You need to dig around with a screwdriver first and loosen it, then blow it out. Andy

Correct. My floor mats and carpet were terminally wet because my rear wheel wells were rusted out. Since the original poster is from Connecticut, I thought his car might be rusty, so that's why I posted that. Sometimes you can't see the holes by looking in the wheel well, particularly if there is old undercoating in there covering them up. Being that you're from NY I'm sure you're familiar with this (I grew up south of Buffalo)... I hate road salt, Andy

If your rear wheel wells are rusting out, that will allow moisture to get into the interior (and, I suppose, the trunk on a sedan- I've only had wagons). My old beater wagon, before it died, needed ice scraped off the inside of the windshield during the winter. Andy

What year/model is your car? Hooking up both valve covers to one hose isn't the right set up for an EA82. I don't know if 81s or 71s are set up different or not. You want the air to flow across the crank case which it can't do if you have both heads hooked to a common hose. Haynes and Chilton manuals both have the factory PCV system diagram that illustrates how the system should work. Here's a description of how the PCV system works from an old thread:

4WD in/out is the same on single and dual range transmissions. On the aft end of the trans is the transfer box, driven by the aft end of the main shaft (the front end drives the front differential). The transfer box is an in/out box to engage or disengage power to the rear wheels. Andy

If you are a beginning welder you will be frusturated trying to weld sheet metal with a stick welder. As has been mentioned, a MIG welder is the best bet for your application. In my limited MIG experience I've found I much prefer a gas setup over flux-core wire. Andy

I barely ever even get into the secondary on my Weber when accelerating. Makes for good mileage. My timing is set at 8BTDC. The only emissions stuff left is the PCV system. Vaccum advance is hooked to port at base of carb. I don't know what jets are in it, as it was already in the car when I bought it. I haven't ever messed with the jets in these, but off the top of my head it sounds like that could be your problem. Others who know more will hopefully chime in. You might want to start a new thread to get more exposure. Andy

Hey, I was right about something for once:) Andy

When you weld on those gears, you are altering their heat-treatment properties. Heat from welding embrittles the welded area of the base metal- and with the fozzy locker, once welded the gears will be acting as hammers on themselves. They might hold up in a heavier truck differential, but I'm not sure they would in a Subaru. Andy