markjw

I checked out they're website,Bob...I'll have to stop by there when I get up to Tacoma. Thanks for the tip. I can't get OEM intake gaskets till the end of next week. I can't wait that long 'cause I'll forget how to put the motor back together.So, I bought these over at Schucks. They are better quality than I expected. They are some kinda multi layer metal gasket. Should I spray the copper on them,or install them dry? What do you think?

The filter is forward of the rear,passenfer tire about 10 inchs. Inboard about 8 inch's. There,you will find a triangular plate secured with three 10mm bolts. On the plate will be the fuel pump and a filter. Also a filter in the engine room by the firewall.Drivers side.

I was hoping someone was gonna say that. I'll eventually get a oem rad cap,but I really don't wanna pull the intake off after I wrap this up. Wow! Much more involved than the ea's I have been working on. But,I like the fact there is no water passage in the intake. About those head bolts. Are we positive we can re-use them? I have done HG on other vehicle's where the general consensus was to Not re-use stretch bolts.

I took the heads to the machine shop today. They'll be ready on Friday. I went to the Subaru dealer,too. That didn't go so well. I could only get the Headgaskets, thermostat and exhaust gaskets. The intake gaskets are a week out. So is the radiator cap. I can't wait that long. I'm going to have to go with whatever NAPA can get.

Well,my cylinders don't look that bad. I can't detect the carbon ring. I know what it is,I've seen it before,just not showing well in these cylinders. At least I can't see them. I know that the subject of assessing head gaskets is a much debated subject,but I wanted to post a couple pic's,anyway. The lower portion of both HG's,around the water jackets are in Very bad shape,especially on the 2&4 side. If I had to guess,I'd say the gas intrusion is at the dark spot,on the metal ring,in the first pic. There are some dark areas within the cyl..They run lenght wise within the cyl. wall. (Pic #2) They are as smooth as the surrounding area,but I don't recall ever seeing them before in other cylinders. Any one have any ideas about them? Heat spots,maybe?

Hmmm....Nice place. I love the color of the Sedan.

Thanks,man...Good stuff. I have seen the carbon line you are talking about,but I had no idea of the significance of it. It makes sense that an uneven line or fading line would suggest ring damage. I intend to replace the radiator and the thermostat,too.

It's not using any coolant,but the expansion tank is showing a constant stream of bubbles after it warms up. I have burped it so many times now (following the recomended ways of the USMB archives) I lost count.All done on ramps. I have replaced the thermostat with three or four othere's with the same overheating results and I have tried three diffrent rad caps,all with the same pressurized,overheating,cooling system results. Initally,I replaced the failed water pump with a new one,and a new timing belt,so I think that part is Ok. I don't want to overheat the thing anymore.Really at this point,I've decided I'm going to re-seal the motor no mater what. I'm going to use this ride to get me to work and back. 240 miles,round trip.So,I need it to be reliable. I'll do the comp. test before I tear it down,but I wanna get some of the "stuff" out of the way. I'm kind of double posting here.I went over alot of this in my timing belt thread. My apologise. So,what I'm wondering,is this motor worth re-sealing with all the overheating that's been going on,or,should I find another? From what I've read,they are pretty resilient motor's.

I've been messing around with this '91 legacy wagon for a few days. It had a failed water pump when I got it.And,the PO said she defenitaly overheated it.To what extent,i don't really know. After repairs,I have driven it about 150 miles,mixed driving,and have overheated it twice.Both times the needle didn't reach the red,but got close,and I was able to turn the car off within seconds of the temp spikes. So,at this point,I am going to replace both HG's and all related cooling components with OEM stuff. I'll take the heads in for pressure testing and flattening. My question is,with this much overheating,might there now be other problems that a standard,quality HG job won't fix? Are there other things to consider,aside from normal HG work, now that the car has been overheated a few times?

That's the Same special tool I use. It works everytime.

$400...The CL ad started off at $600.By the time I got around to making a offer,she Really wanted it out of the school parking lot. She didn't even flinch at $400. Thats a heck of a thing trying to sell a broken car to a stranger from the place where it broke down. Doesn't really give the seller much negotiating leverage. I don't think I took advantage of her. By the time I'm done with the HG's and all the running around associated with that,I'll be into it for about $800 plus my time/labor.

The girl I got the car from had the thermostate replaced on Dec. 3.Last month. Along with oil/filter change and a few other maintainance items.She gave me all of the service records. The bill from the shop she went to listed also possible water pump going bad. Thats what failed on her on her way to school,about three weeks later. She wouldn't say,but I think they quoted her several hundred dollars to replace the water pump,and she declined,electing only to change out the thremostat. The thermostate looks new.So,I just re used it. Also,she paid someone to replace the radiator recently.I can tell you for absolute certainty,this radiater is several years old. Here's where I'm at. When I got back from my last test drive,I drove it right up on the ramps and parked it. I let it sit for an hour,went back out and checked the fluid level.I easily put another quart maybe a little more into the radiator. The overflow tank was the same at the full mark. I went back out for another twenty minute drive,and the temp guage stayed constant below the halfway mark. And,the heat from the heater never went cold. But,I'm still seeing a few bubbles in the expansion tank. I'm going to the Subaru dealer tomorrow for a oem thermostate and oem rad. cap. I'll see where that gets me. I'll start all over again with the burp proceedure. Thanks for your help,Fairtax.

Ok..I got a different cap.Still a off brand one but,something changed in the symptoms. I drove it about 20 miles and, although it seems to be running a little hot,about half way on the dash guage,it didn't spike. And,No bubbles in the coolant tank. But,the defrost air is still getting cold at idle. Hotter than it should be at cruising speed. So,now I'm stumped. idk..I think I should do the hydrocarbon test or atleast bust out the compression tester. I really do not think a comp test is going to reveal much.Maybe it will. The lower radiator hose has a tendency to go cold. I only notice it at idle,thou. You know,when I can reach under the car and feel for it. I can't get my son to climb onto the hood and feel for it while we're going down the road.

Also,from what I've read on the board here,seeing bubbles in the expansion tank is a dead giveaway for a leaky hg. Is that not true?

I did. But,I bought a really cheap POS at Schucks. The subi dealer is 30 miles from me.I guess I shoulda went that way on my test drives. Should I buy a oem one? I will eventually,but is it probable the Schucks one is that much of a piece of junk? I haven't done a compression test,either. I can,but just haven't. Thanks,btw.

I got it all back together. And,it runs...I think I was trying to make the timing belt install more complicate than it is. I almost fell for the stamped arrow on the crank sprocket being the crank timing mark,instead of the correct timing mark on the plate behind the crank sprocket. I know,I gotta get a book. So,I replaced the water pump with a new one,new timing belt,too. I burped the heck out of it seven diffrent ways,and it's overheating. Not too much,but enough to where it needs to be delt with sooner than later. I bought this ride from a college student at Evergreen here in Olympia. The water pump failed on her on the way to school and she continued to drive the thing. She said she lives about 5 minutes form the school,so,whatever happened,it happend in that amount of time.I bought it right out of the school parking lot over the weekend. In the last two days,I have put a hundred miles on it,just trying to make it overheat,and it does. Bubbles in the reservoir tank,sporadic temp readings,full reservoir tank,defrost air going cold,pretty much every classic symptom of bad head gasket. I called the Subaru dealer and was quoted $45 apiece for the headgaskets and $10 for the intake gaskets.$20 for the thermostate. I called the machine shop I usually use,and they want $90 to pressure test and flatten the heads. So.if all goes well,I'll still be into this wagon for well under a grand. I gotta tell ya.GD is right on the money. This car is 10 times the car a ea82 is. I love this thing. By the time I'm done,it'll run as good as new.

Well,it's pretty much just sitting,you know,amongst a couple hundred other end of life cars,at the Tumwater Pick-A-Part. It's the only ea81 I've seen there in a really long time. This one just came out.

There is a '86,4wd Hatch there. It's orange or maybe more of a red orange. Its kinda smashed up a bit.The pass. door is nice.Left fender is nice. Rear hatch is good.Grill is good. All the glass is good.And,the motor,interior and d/r 4sp. haven't been touched,Yet.

Did you try spraying starter fluid into the intake? If it starts and runs for just a moment,you can easily eliminate a no spark situation.

Alright...Those are good ideas. Thanks.

1991 Legacy Wagon AWD. (I just got it today) I have searched the archives and,I understand the timing belt replacement proceedure,for the most part. One thing I'm not clear on,thou...If I pull the timing belt off,replace the water pump,and re-install the belt,all without ever turning the crank or cams,can I just put the belt back on without going thru the crank/cam sprocket alignment proceedure? I can certainly do the timing proceedure,but is it necessary? What do you guys do?

Ugh..At first,it doesn't look too bad. But,the angle of the hood latch hole and the gaps between the radiator and core support,well,that looks pretty bad. Sorry,man. Any clean ea81 that gets smashed really hurts.Especially one on your guy's side. But, it looks like you have a ton of good parts for your next ride.

If you can find a exact matching year,I guess that would be good.But,that's not always an option at the wreckiong yard.I have interchanged the dizzys from '87 all the way up to '94 on the ea82 and have only had to change the connections. The diffreance between a hot and cold compression test is going to tell you little at this point. Personally,I'd do a compression test right off the bat,and determine if the motor was even worth messing with.

Any distributor out of any non-turbo ea82 motor will work for you. I think all of the ea82's were Hitachi distributors. The Nippons were used in the ea81's. I'm almost certain of that.

If you just want to check the compression,you certainly do not need a distributor. There is a section of the belt covers,more toward the center of the engine,that is removeable for belt inspection.