el_freddo

When you say the master cylinder was done - what was done? Replaced or flushed and bled? If replacing I hope they replaced the slave cylinder too. It’s a lot of work for not much more effort. And typically if the master cylinder needs attention the slave will most likely go shortly after…

What year is the donor vehicle and engine management system from?

@itb482 - what’s your dizzy doing or not doing that requires it to be replaced? My first thought was to have the cam belts checked to make sure they’re not broken. If the LHS belt is broken your dizzy and cam won’t spin when cranking. I doubt you’ll find a turbo any better than the one you have now. You might be able to adapt a new one from a turbo ATV, they’re probably about the right size. Cheers Bennie

I Tee’d my mechanical coolant temp gauge into the heater hose on the outlet from engine hose. Works a treat. Personally I wouldn’t like to Tee into the factory location, moving both sensors away from the direct flow of the coolant wouldn’t be an accurate reading. I’ve not seen a coolant pressure sensor as a standalone aftermarket gauge, but I’m not looking for one either. Many ppl feel comfortable with electric sensors and gauges over the older mechanical equivalents. I’d buy from a reputable brand that you can get some after sale service with if it’s ever needed. Cheers Bennie

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation of cylinder washing. I wouldn’t think you’d lose that much compression though unless rings are super shot already. But I could be wrong on that too. I too said it was unlikely all four cylinders would have a stuck valve. This one seems almost the same as removing the spark plugs and cranking. Cheers Bennie

Master cylinder is becoming gummy. It could be worth flushing the clutch hydraulic system. At worst you might need to replace the master cylinder. Or have the whole system overhauled. Also, the clutch pedal when it goes to the floor will not naturally return, at least in my Gen 1 RS Liberty it doesn’t.

A complete loss of compression suggests it’s mechanical. It would be odd for all cylinders to lose compression, yes, but stranger things happen though. Someone even suggested that the cylinder walls were washed and will come good. I don’t know what that means exactly though - but it is something mechanical that’s the issue. I’d be flushing out the old fuel rather than having the engine eat it. I’d put the highest octane fuel you can get and run that for several tanks, then return to your regular fuel octane rating you use. Cheers

Worst case scenario your valves are stuck open from some gummy crap. You should be able to pull them closed again with the rocker covers removed. If it happens again afterwards, I’d be looking at spraying some sort of solvent or fresh fuel down the intake while cranking to hopefully clean up the gum that’s holding them open. Cheers Bennie

If you wanted to test the pump you could re-route the fuel lines so the pump is sucking from a Jerrycan and the return line is sent back to another container to push out any other crap that’s still in the fuel system. Just remember that the jerrycan will empty pretty quickly! Cheers Bennie

Try looking for a flexible hose with the correct sized banjo bolt fittings on each end. Mamba on eBay sells good products, you just need to find what works - an early RS Liberty/RS Legacy or wrx one could work if the banjo bolts are the same size. Cheers Bennie

Love your work fellas! Cheers Bennie

The throw out bearing looks to be correct. Those little retainer clips are easy to deal with, just bend them until the desired shape/tension is achieved. When you say the clutch became loose, what do you mean - the feel of the clutch pedal was loose? It could be a snapped/breaking clutch cable or an issue with the pedal box cracking. The cracking issues is apparently common. This can be plated to put strength back into the pedal box so it doesn’t happen again. Cheers Bennie

I’ve never seen those devices before. Californian unit? We certainly didn’t get them in Australia! They almost sound like air pumps. Cheers Bennie

The ECU will be under the rear parcel shelf in the Vortex from memory. Glad it was an easy fix. You’ll probably find your fuel pump will need to be replaced, I’d be doing it anyway. The relay is probably fine, it’ll be the pump that’s seized. You can easily test this at the plug for the pump, stick a test light on it and turn the key to the on position. It should illuminate for three or four seconds when the ECU triggers the fuel pump relay to prime the fuel system before starting. All the best with it. Sounds like you’re well on your way with this one! Cheers Bennie

I don’t think the EA82 era ECUs were integrated into the dash anymore than having a check engine light and referencing a reed switch on the speedo cable for the VSS. Do some research into issues with the digi dash, the EA81 MY’s digi dash was known for issues with some of the components dying, taking out the dash with it. You could have a similar issue in the EA82 digi dash. Cheers Bennie

Have you checked the timing belt to make sure it’s not broken?

Fuel related yes. Two are fuel lines, the chewed one is the vapour from the tank to the purge control solenoid/carbon canister. Unsure which one it is exactly, definitely vapour line though. Cheers Bennie

That mounts to the steering column mount bolt. You can see the marks from the flat aluminium/metal plate “washers” that fit in the same area. Cheers Bennie

Even on the EJ25D? I thought these were a thick composite gasket which was half the issue with these engines… Curious. Cheers Bennie

Check out dextron IV - the description will no doubt tell you that it’s suitable for vehicles where dextron III is recommended/required. Cheers Bennie

When squeezing the return line and getting the higher psi reading, how does the engine run? Better or worse? Cheers Bennie

Geez, that front end took a fair hit! It’s worse than I thought it was going to be. I love how you look at the issue and go “we got this” and get stuck into it. Over here that would be a write off for a regular vehicle unless it was something special to its owner and they either know how to fix it or know someone that does and is willing to do the work. Looking forward to the detailed pics of the work done! Cheers Bennie

I don’t know the SPFI well at all, are you sure the fuel pressure spec is 21psi? I thought it would be more inline with other EFIs like the EJs up at about 40psi. I’ve used the same external fuel pump for a NA MPFI EA82 and an EJ22. No issues. My thinking is that your fuel pressure is half of what it should be. This could be the fuel regulator or the fuel pump itself, or both. Pull the vac line for the fuel pressure regulator and make sure it doesn’t smell of fuel. If so, it’s dead. Cheers Bennie

Late to the party, if only doing clutch I drop the gearbox. On our 2000 Liberty/Legacy, I pulled the gearbox and managed to slide it back enough to work on the clutch and swap it out for a new one. This saved dropping the gearbox, I can’t remember if I managed to get away without removing the drive shafts. If I needed to it was an easy wiggle one way then the other with the gearbox because my model has diff stub axles, yours will have the male driveshafts into the gearbox to contend with. I used two steel rods that sat on the engine crossmember and the front gearbox crossmember piece. The rear crossmember and centre piece was removed, as was the gear linkages, tail shaft and exhaust. Where there’s a will there’s a way. These days I find it easier to drop the gearbox rather than lift out the engine. I put the car on ramps and go from there. If dropping the gearbox out all together I use a motorcycle jack and usually need to get the car up higher to clear the bellhousing as the engine comes out from under the car. Cheers Bennie

That’s where the thermo fans kick in! My brumby with that dashboard conversion (we never got them in the brat/brumby from factory like you guys in the states did) does the exact same thing when there’s not enough airflow through the radiator - typically when in traffic. Unless you were pulling highway speeds I wouldn’t stress about it, particularly if it came back down to normal op temp just above the first black line. Cheers Bennie