el_freddo

How many miles on it? And what’s the service interval for the timing chain? Easiest way to determine whether your suspicions are on the right track is to do a compression test. If there’s a cam timing issue I’d expect one bank to be far lower than the other. If a chain let go, I’d expect some sort of grinding/crunching noise of the broken chain and spinning components when cranking the engine over. If the chain is intact, it could be a tensioner let the timing chain skip some teeth. Either way, if this is the issue, I see some very un fun times ahead. Last thought: check the cam sensor and rule out that there are any issues there. Cam timing sensor is used for spark and injector pulses from my understanding. This could change the engine tone/noise when trying to start. All the best

Awesome trips as usual. Still loving your pics of creatures in your environment. It baffles me how many ppl head out bush and don’t look at what’s around them, especially the small animals! Good to hear both vehicles went well for you! Interesting about that auto input shaft snapping, not seen that before!

What revs was the engine doing at each of these readings, and same gear/load? That could tell you a lot about what’s going on in your engine.

True. On the flip side I’d rather a known fact that it’s NON-interference than a bet that it is. I’m 99% sure the last non interference engine Subaru produced was the gen1 EJ22E. The Gen2 EJ22E used roller rockers that helped bump the compression ratio for better power but the downside was the engine became an interference engine. Since the H6 is chain driven, interference or non-interference shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re trying to settle a pissing competition between you and a mate.

I’ll put my bet in for interference. But chain timing rather than rubber belt cam timing, so something needs to be pretty catastrophic for valves to hit pistons in this engine - anything is possible though!

^ this. although this thread seems like it’s missing the original post/question…

They slow you down bushy tails?

I usually go by the shape of the wiring as this is something that’s never changed in my brumby. Someone on here will know for sure. I can check it out thoroughly in a few days and report back if it’s not urgent.

A mate of mine here in Oz swapped over to the newer tensioner style with its backing plate recently. Far easier to get replacement tensioners than finding the original style. All the best with your search!

There could be two leaking sources of coolant. I’d test again after that gasket is fitted on the throttle body before adding coolant. The other issue could be the O ring in the block between the two case halves is corroded and leaking - I reckon that’s a long shot but who knows. Cracks in the head are more likely than that ^ and they will usually occur between the valves and head down the exhaust port as they become worse. Once really bad these cracks will dump all the coolant into the exhaust on cool down. Not your issue here though. I wonder if you can use a bore scope in each spark plug hole to look around the cylinder and the combustion chamber when you have coolant in the cooling system - with air pressure at the radiator (if possible) to “load up” the cooling system and hopefully exposing the coolant leak.

I had a “problem” with my first and last EA82 rebuild - turns out we missed the bit where you fit one cam belt then rotate the crank one revolution and fit the second cam belt. When the crank is lined up one cam will be at 12 o’clock and the other will be at 6 o’clock. This is the key to EA82 timing belt alignment - don’t miss that crank rotation between fitting belts!

^ driving to the trip meter, that’s always fun!

Brat/Brumby/MY - yes, I agree it’s a common problem. L series - never seen or heard of this issue before with one of them. @scoobydube - make sure the clutch cable isn’t doing any sharp corners that will make it work hard. What do you replace your clutch cables with - second hand OEM/new aftermarket?

Other than what bushytails says above, if the sender unit was installed with Teflon tape it might not be getting a good ground through the oil pump and block. Make sure all your earthing straps are in good shape too.

It should be doable - if it uses the speedo cable that’ll sort a major hurdle. If it requires a speed sensor it will need more wiring added to make this work. The rest should be repinning as needed. Don’t worry about the height sensor indicators. You could probably look up what resistance will show low and high, then pick what ride height you want to see all the time and wire that in. It’s a super cool looking instrument cluster! We didn’t get anything like that over here - not even in the Vortex range. Maybe us Aussies weren’t 80’s enough to handle a digital cluster of that era (we got the MY touring wagons with digital clusters so go figure…), I doubt it though.

Not having a charcoal canister with the purge control still in use makes sense. From what I understand of this setup is the charcoal canister collects vapour from the fuel tank vent system which is then burnt off in the cylinders when the ECU determines the right conditions are present - usually a cruise and light load revs. No charcoal canister means no vapours which is effectively just sucking air and leaning out the fuel mixture. Add in a faulty valve that could be open all the time and you get your stumbling revs/misfire like running symptoms.

The only “code” you should have is the one that states what market it was sold in. Eg here in Australia we have seven short flashes from memory. In my experience without starting the engine you shouldn’t have any codes to begin with.

Apologies, I thought all bajas were turbo for some reason. I’ve only ever seen one in person when I was in the states in 2009, even then that was in traffic on the Las Vegas strip so not an up close for a good look over it. I’m out of ideas. If the re-ring was done properly I can’t see where it would be potentially sucking oil in to be smokey and consume oil. We’re all rings replaced and were they gapped correctly?

Sorry I misinterpreted what you were saying. And yes, you’re right about what I was saying with the first quoted paragraph above. I get that the OP wants to use what he’s got, however I think this is not possible without other parts. The time and effort to machine bits to make them fit the Single range AWD gear to make it a dual range would be better spent earning the coin to import the parts that will make it happen.

Have you looked at the turbo? You could have a blown seal that’s leaking oil into the intake or the exhaust.

You don’t need to machine a single range casing for the AWD dual range - just use the PT4wd front cases. Really to achieve this the easiest way possible you need to import an EJ dual range gearbox or at the very least the internal gearsets minus the front and centre diff.

Drop the subframes an inch or two as bushytails said. This is definitely your issue with the CVs!

I’d say the most effective way would be tank out and clean with whatever method of choice. You could source a good, clean tank, put that in and be done with it too.

DOHC EJs fit in an L series engine bay without chassis rail mods. The dual range gearbox is only good if you’re going offroad - or might have situations where towing up an incline requires traction and “leverage”. If you’re building a road hugger, I’d go with the AWD box for better traction under acceleration.

And in the back of it too