ferox

From my searches it sounds like the disc brake e-brake cable attaches differently at the brake end than the drum set-up. We were looking at them at the yard this weekend then priced them on-line. They are only like $12-$15 so I think my brother is just going to order new ones. That's kind of the way I was leaning. Seems like I saw more aftermarket parts online for that style.

My bro picked up a '93 Impreza about a month ago. We are planning on doing the rear disc brake upgrade and would like to also do a rear anti-sway bar install. I have done some research but still have some questions. I noticed two styles of rear sway bar: 1) Legacy Brighton style with c-shaped end links. 2) '90-'94 Lego style with straight end links. Are either of these a better choice for an Impreza? Do we need an Impreza sway bar, aftermarket, or will a Lego sway bar fit? Thanks

He lives across the street from my parents in Salem. It was just up on craigslist a month or two ago. It wasn't parked in front of his house last weekend, so I am guessing it sold. Not stalking the guy, but it's hard not to notice whenever I visit the rents. Looks like a well built, fun, and capable machine.

Now that I think about it I believe the Justy carb supplants the power valve with the duty solenoid. I checked my rebuild kit and it has %$&(% rivets I hate that. the B/A kits I get for my '81 have self-tappers. Anyway the kit has basically what I said before plus a few o-rings and a steel accelerator pump check ball. If you can't find any good carb replacements you could try swapping the brass and throttle shaft from the Justy Hitachi to an ea82 Hitachi. I am not sure what is involved in the ECVT assembly on the carb, but an ea82 carb is simpler, more plentiful, and no internal duty solenoid. That may throw a cel, but there are probably ways of tricking it and the carb would look stock for inspections.

I have a Beck/Arnley kit at home. They have decent quality parts. New needle and seat, accelerator pump, and all the gaskets, etc,... One thing I do like about the Beck/Arnley kits is that they include self tapping screws for the choke housing instead of rivets. I can't remember if it has a new power valve. I will try to remember to take a look when I get home tonight.

I plan on trying to adapt an ea82 SPFI throttle body and see if the injector will work. If it's too big I will probably look for an injector from a Nissan or other Subaru. I know the SPFI TB has a different footprint than the carb, but the Justy shares the ea82 carb footprint so it's hopefully not too much of a stretch to build an adapter. I don't know of any factory 3 cylinder TBI platforms or I would try a full JY TBI build, so I plan on using the Megasquirt for management and an external aftermarket fuel pump. I think with a trigger wheel I can even keep the stock ignition system. I would really rather upgrade a bit, but I am challenging myself to do the conversion with the least amount of system and parts replacement. If I don't like it I can upgrade later. That's too bad. Hopefully they can find you someone good.

Ah I see. TBI. My plan was/is to try to do the simplest TBI set-up to replace the carb without swapping heads, intake, and exhaust manifolds and do a write up. The thought being to help other Justy owners keep their carbed Justys on the road with the cheapest and easiest FI carb replacement. In that case I would try to make sure you know it's the carb and go for the Subaru reman. Last time I looked at them they were probably the same $ or more than a simple megasquirt set-up, but it'll bolt on and go.

I think the Justy Hitachis have way too much going on. I have a spare for my '88 and a rebuild kit and I think I am just going to sell them. Too many parts to fail or go sub-optimal. I plan on going with Megasquirt once I get the car put back together this summer, but if I don't do that I am going to go with a Weber. For the price of a rebuild done by anyone other than yourself you can by a new Weber kit. With the Weber I think you would probably get a couple mpgs less in the beginning compared to a stock carb, but in the long run the relative simplicity of the Weber would give you consistent mileage. The mpgs tank on the Justys once the stock carb gets a little worn out. Plus the Weber will give a little more pep.

I did not post earlier hoping someone that works on ea82s would chime in, but the diagram is reminiscent of an '84 ea81. I work on ea81s so full disclosure, but going from the diagram I am fairly confident you can remove: Silencer Reed Valve Air Control Valve Vacuum Valve Anti-Backfire valve Thermal vacuum valve Hot Idle Compensator If you live in a warm part of the country you can remove the air cleaner vacuum motor vacuum line. The "motor" just directs pre-heated air drawn over the exhaust pipe into the intake during start-up. If you don't have a foil pre-heater hose connected to the exhaust and air cleaner, then it does nothing anyway. You should be able to remove the Bowl Vent Solenoid and connect the bowl vent hose to the charcoal canister. You can probably leave the in-line check valve if you want. On the diagram, if any of the lines you are keeping have an R on them that means they have an orifice restrictor in them. They are a small brass pellet with a tiny hole in the middle. You will want to make sure you keep them and re-install them when you replace hoses. After you do all this you will have to re-adjust the carb for sure, and if it's a feedback system then it might take some adjusting, then driving, and adjusting some more until you find the sweet spot. On feedback ea81s we just remove the computer. I am not sure if Aussie ea82s have a more integrated computer, so hopefully someone else can advise on that one.

I think the HG problem is history. If there is a problem with 2012 models, they are not old enough for anyone to know yet. My parents have a 2011 Lego CVT and love it, no problems. They recently drove it to the Dakotas and Northern Mexico without incident. With the CVT they average about 32 mpg. There were a couple factory recalls that were remedied easily, but the 2012 models probably don't have those issues.

Do you feel the vibration through the steering wheel or somewhere else? Did you massage the DOJ boot to get the grease mushed into the bearings before install? EMPIs are made in Taiwan to tight tolerances; however, they don't necessarily take the time to get the grease into the bearings adequately. This means that sometimes the Double-Offset Joint (the joint near the transmission) can bind until either the grease works it's way into the bearings through use or there is adequate wear or both. There are plenty of other places that can cause this vibration but the DOJ is the first usual suspect when vibration occurs after an axle shaft replacement. Bad Trans/motor mounts are more typical of the ea81s and possibly ea82s. The ea81s had tiny trans mounts and wore out easily and quickly, not to mention that they are all old and the cars were probably abused in 4WD at some point in their lives. A '98 Outback has more robust mounts. With 200k they may need replacing if it has never been done, but that is probably not your problem in this case.

It "seems" that my instrument cluster contains the problem. When I unplugged the main harness connector to the cluster the resistance jumped up. When I unplugged the pin-connectors they each made the resistance jump up by approximately 1/3 of what the main harness disconnect indicated, so that did not really narrow down the possibilities. Diodes checked out ok, and the VR does not have any continuity. One thing that comes to mind is that the brown slime that I find on a lot of these ea81 dash connectors was prevalent between the circuit board and cluster (see photos). What is this stuff? I have always assumed it's the old style of dielectric grease that was brown. Is this stuff conductive? Everything else looks great except the fuel gauge. On the bottom of the gauge there appears to be a bi-metallic switch that I am guessing is for the low fuel light. One end of the wire wrap is frayed and I can't see the other one. It seems to be coated in the brown slime and slightly cooked. Obviously that is not a good sign, but I also don't get any continuity through it, so it does not seem to indicate that it is the problem just a problem. Also found out that the gauge face paint does not like isopropyl alcohol. I think I know the answer to this, but will an '82 fuel/temp gauge work for an '81 or am I limited to '80-'81?

I have been running an '83 Hitachi on my '81 hatch for 7 years now. If I wasn't planning an EJ swap in the near future I would probably swap to a Weber. I don't mind the Hitachi. It's worked well for me, but I also put a lot of time into learning them. I have a tote full of them in my garage. I wasn't a member here when I did my first Hitachi rebuild, so I didn't even know about the Weber at the time. They don't have a real progressive secondary, they've got a little vacuum pot instead, and most of them are totally or partially worn out at the throttle shaft. If you find a decent one it can be made to run well. A properly tuned Weber will get you close to the same mileage. I don't think there is really an hp increase, but there is better low end feel and a real secondary. The trick with the Weber is keeping your foot off of it. If you like puzzles, don't need to have your vehicle operational everyday, and can find a non-worn-out Hitachi, then taking the time to fiddle with a Hitachi might be ok for you, but if you can afford a couple hundred bucks the time you save, reliability, and performance of the Weber is well worth it.

Cool thanks, I'll report back on what I find.

Yes I managed a decent scan of my FSM wiring diagram. I'm working on tracing connections. Thanks, it's probably going to take a while, but at least it's systematic. To be clear, do you mean disconnect things one at a time, check meter for resistance, then plug that thing back in and move to the next item? The idea being that there is a short somewhere allowing too much current to pass through the fuse, correct?

Well my beloved '81 hatch has developed a troubling issue. The gauges and fuel pump are not receiving power. The [ig coil/fuel pump] fuse blew and continued to blow upon replacement. My first suspect was the FPCU so I jumpered my fuel pump to 12v and it pumped great. Next I bypassed the FPCU and the pump will run for a second before the fuse goes again, so I don't think it's the FPCU. The fuse element melts fast and hot, so I am done with the powered troubleshooting and diagnosis. I am getting ready to pull the instrument cluster and maybe the steering column for access, so I thought I would check in before I do so. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on something specific I should look for, something common to the gauges and fuel pump perhaps. Ignition switch? Ground(s)? Many of the lights in the dash light up like open-door lights and such, just not the gauges and clock. The seatbelt chime works also. I checked the coil and it's fine. I switched to an internally regulated charging system years ago with no problems so the external VR is not an component.

Check your timing and make sure your spark plug wires are all connected and functioning properly. You might pull your distributor and check for shaft play too, but I would check timing and plug wires and plugs first. Your spark plugs might give you an indication of what's going on.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the externally regulated set-up has a lot more 32 year old wiring between the alt, battery, and regulator that is generally considered to have been undersized out of the factory. Additionally, there must have been a reason or reasons that external regulators went away. Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to help the op, but of the three ea81s I have owned and restored the externally regulated system did not perform nearly as well as the internally regulated system. I don't think anyone is suggesting throwing a battery at the problem, so much as to make sure the battery is in adequate condition. I think you would agree that with a charging system every component has to be at a threshold of functionality for the system to work properly and not cause failures in other components. It is difficult or impossible to assess one component if the others aren't up to snuff, as the saying goes.

You might consider getting rid of the antiquated external VR and switch to the internally regulated alternator. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47847&highlight=alternator I did this years ago on my '81 and it has been great, no problems. I also switched the in-line fusible link set-up of the 80-81 MYs to the 83-84 version which is a small plastic box that bolts to the spot where your external VR is currently located. You can probably find a decent used Nissan Maxima alt in a junkyard for cheap and get 90 amps of internally regulated goodness. Your car will run better, mine did. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=100559&highlight=maxima If you do this I also suggest, as heartless did, that you get a new battery or at least a newer one and make sure it is fully charged before you start the vehicle. Lots of people get "bad alternators out of the box" because they install it in a sometimes already compromised charging circuit and try to use it to charge a fully dead battery.

Covered on page 1 I will also add that he often has to leave for work around 4 am so if it freezes overnight he will be driving on it.

Here's an old thread I started a few years ago in response to, then recent, stolen subies for joyrides. The discussion of firearms refers to other concurrent threads at the time. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94742&highlight=%26quot%3Bkill+switch%26quot%3B

Yeah and I think it's safe to say that my bro's driving would represent "ideal" conditions for comparison.

Actually this plan is all mine. I am going to buy one and drive it for a while so I can have adequate time to track down any issues and go through some of the deeper maintenance items before handing it over. I have spoken with him about this particular Impreza set-up so I know he is definitely interested, he just works a lot and doesn't know cars like I do. I don't mind traveling for one, but I live in Portland Oregon so these come up all the time. Now that I know which model years I am looking for that will make things a lot easier. I did not realize it was that direct of a swap. Does that mean the ECMs are interchangeable between the 1.8 and 2.2 for '93-'97?

Yeah even though he really likes the high miles per gallon it's kind of incidental to his driving style. After driving truck all day I think he likes to not have to shift gears on his commute. I hear what your saying, but knowing him he would probably value the automatic transmission over a little better fuel efficiency. He gets crazy mileage out of anything he drives without even trying. I'm not a super agro driver, but I couldn't drive like him. He's the kind of driver you what behind the wheel of a fuel truck though.

Thanks John, Lot's of information on that link. Looks like '97 was the last year of the 1.8L. Seems like the challenge may be finding a 1.8L AWD wagon model with auto and cruise. It makes it a lot easier knowing the '93-'94 MYs are all 1.8s. I am definitely only interested in AWD. Since my bro drives fuel truck and doesn't have seniority at the shop he works at, he's expected to make it to work regardless of the weather.