el_freddo

That’s a factory Subaru spare tyre swing arm. Hen’s teeth! And that’s typical JDM style I never realised the Gravel Express was turbo’d. I always thought they were NA and this was a limited special run spec. I’ve only seen them from NZ though. I wouldn’t think it would be much fun to drive on your LHD roads, much like I reckon driving a LHD vehicle over here in Oz wouldn’t be much fun, even though many ppl do it with their classic American muscle cars that they imported from the states. Cheers Bennie

The only timing issue it could be is skipped teeth on the cam belt. The ECU sets the spark timing. Valve timing doesn’t change once the cam belt is correctly setup. Cheers Bennie

Well this one is probably long gone since the thread is over 7 years old! These days there’s loads more info and ease in converting these L series to NA EJ or go all out with a turbo EJ conversion. If you’re really keen on the old unreliable EA82 turbo you’d need to search high and low for a complete vehicle, or go about collecting the parts to make it happen. The EJ22 is about the same as the EA82t peak power without the complexity and added unreliability of the turbo on the EA82. Cheers Bennie

That vibration could be a drive shaft, it’s possibly running the tripod style inner CV joint driveshaft. Or the tyres are slightly off balance. Cheers Bennie

I find in summer here that my fuel tank can pressurise quite a lot on a hot day. I don’t open my fuel tank unless I’m on empty so there’s no fuel to be sprayed at the filler cap for me. I don’t have an EJ under the bonnet (yet!). The other thing to check out is to see if the purge control solenoid is operating properly on the EJ - it’s under the intake manifold on the RHS from memory. If this isn’t working properly it should throw a CEL I believe. If this pressurisation occurs in the cooler months I’d investigate to work out what’s going on, otherwise I’d just put it down to it being warmer and the EJ circulating the fuel more which to me would result in more pressure in the tank. Cheers Bennie

That’s one tidy looking EA71!

Thanks Westy. I’m wanting to remove the rear window to repair some rust that’s just in its early days in the bottom right hand corner. The strip down isn’t far off doing a respray but not having a shed and plenty of dust from passing trucks puts the brakes on that for now. Anyway, I’ll check out that product and go from there. It’s a slow burn for our Leone and not a priority atm. Cheers Bennie

Looks awesome Westy! That’s a top effort! I was meant to ask earlier - what did you do for the fixed side rear window seals and the tailgate window seals? Mine on our Leone wagon with a similar story to yours minus the rebuild are completely shot. You can put a finger in the gaps where the rubber has split! Cheers Bennie

Smoke testing an O2 sensor won’t show anything. Smoke testing an intake manifold will show up any vacuum leaks. How old is your O2 sensor? And did you check the wiring for continuity? If your O2 sensor is old it could be dead, or if the signal or heater wiring is damaged it may be offline, either way it should be getting up to temp even in extremely cold weather - this should bring it online (once up to temp). With that said I’d rule out the heater wire and focus on the sensor being dead or a damaged sensor wire. What’s the quality of the O2 sensor you used to replace the old one? And is it pinned correctly? Sometimes the pinouts can change and I’ve seen units where you have to correctly pin the plug for your model of vehicle. Cheers Bennie

Fair effort mate! I reckon that black crumbly rust is one of the worst types to work with - so much more needs to be cut out to find good material to work with. I’m loving those rust repairs in the lower A pillar - something I need to do too that I’m not looking forward to. How far along are you now, still chipping away at it or have you got it completed already? Cheers Bennie

Jonno, for a moment there I thought you might be fishing for a compatible ECU that didn’t have an immobiliser unit tied into it. I’ve not come across this issue with specific sensors for a type of ECU, but then again I’ve always replaced like for like as required. Cheers Bennie

Yeah mate it’s looking good! How long have you been working on it so far before you dropped it on us? Cheers Bennie

No worries. To get the wheel bearings replaced/done. You can do them without removing the swing arms or needing a press. You will need to remove the stuck CV cup to access the retainer nut that holds the bearing outer casing in place. You will also need to either make or buy a tool that can remove that retainer nut. Or use a punch to tap to out - not easy to do without distorting the nut edges/flange. I made a tool that slots into the four slot spots once the stub axle is removed. I hammer this out with a block of hardwood or a soft hammer. Then the tool sides into the hub and located on the four slots and allows me to get a big shifter onto it to lever the nut off. Then I use an old solid tow ball with the stub/thread cut off to hammer out the outer bearing casing. I also use it to hammer the new casing in but I usually do this much more gently and stop once it’s located on the retainer tab. Pack the bearings with grease, fit in place, fit the new seals and refit the retainer nut and stake it. Then hammer the stub axle back in, the outer bearing may need the hub to be fitted with the castlated nut to push it in properly - I can’t remember how I did this bit. Put the cone washer, concave washer and castlated nut on and tighten up stupidly tight. That’s basically it. It’s the setting up on Jack stands and removing the castlated nut that I find to be the painful bit that takes the most motivation from me. I hope this helps. Cheers Bennie

The reason why you drive in 4wd without the rear drive shafts in is because the tail shaft isn’t spinning when driving without the driveshafts fitted. This could potentially allow the rear output seal to leak if the tailshaft isn’t spinning. Cheers Bennie

I’d swap out that crank timing gear for a replacement where the teeth haven’t been damaged. That won’t be doing you any favours! I thought all EJ253 had that valve timing gear on it otherwise it was just a 251? The other unknown is the long block itself. Why was the vehicle sent off to be wrecked? Cheers Bennie

The “extreme” end of the spectrum for the cause of this vibration is a worn rear diff. It could also be the centre bearing in the tailshaft. Cheers Bennie

It makes the vehicle feel much sportier as you can effortlessly throw it into corners with PS vs the manual rack! MHO anyway. Has this actually been done though - fitting an EJ rack to an EA82 engine crossmember? I know it doesn’t work on the EA81’s. Cheers Bennie

There’s loads of info about this spread out across this forum. Do a google search with “site:www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum” at the end to bring up results from this forum. The EA82 should bolt up to the EA81. I’m betting the auto bellhousing is the same. It was the earlier engines that had the starter mounted above the gearbox that are an issue from what I understand. I’ve not swapped an EA81 auto for an EA82 manual but I’ve done the EA82 auto to manual without issues. You’ll need to source the manual EA81 flywheel. From memory you can use the EA82 clutch pressure plate once the EA81 flywheel step is machined to match the EA82’s step depth. I can’t remember what measurement it is exactly now but it’s here on the forum somewhere. Rupart is right about the difference with the diff stub axle spine count. This box runs the same as the EJs - larger diametre with 25 splines. Check to see if that turbo wagon is part time 4wd or AWD. You guys got some different combinations to us so that could potentially be an AWD box. Being a turbo manual gearbox, if it’s dual range it’ll have the poor 1.19:1 low range compared to the NA 1.59:1. Huge difference between the two if you need the low range! Two piece tail/prop shaft from the EA82 can be made to fit the EA81 body with a centre bearing mount added to the trans tunnel. If drilling holes or welding brackets to your EA81 body isn’t your thing you can have a one piece tailshaft made up too. It comes down to preference and dollars… Cheers Bennie

Check the hose between the remote reservoir and the pump. There could be cracks in it. This hose gets brittle over time so be gentle with it - give it a squeeze to see how flexible the hose is. Then try gently bending the hose, looking for cracks across the hose. If you’ve got cracks this is your issue with the PS system. Replace hose and see if the issue remains. Cheers Bennie

It’s the big purge to push us towards EVs - because everyone can shell out for a new EV tomorrow… Sad to hear about these parts drying up, collect while you can! Cheers Bennie

It’ll be interesting to hear what the straight cut gears have to say! You’ll know you’re in low range Cheers Bennie

It might be time then to download the FSM for both vehicles and pull out the ECU wiring diagrams to compare the wiring pin outs for each ECU, find any that are different and rectify if possible. And run all the sensors that are factory to the ECU you’re running. It would pay you well to also cross check the wiring for each sensor as there could be wiring changes at the plugs - namely for the O2 sensors off the top of my head as they’re a plug that can have a four plug wire but only three wires in use. If any of these are the wrong way around it will spell trouble. Cheers Bennie

I love these epic updates! Kudos doing the gearbox work out bush! Was it difficult to keep it clean from the dust? That black outback is definitely looking pretty cactus! Over here in Oz that would’ve been condemned a loooong time ago!! Cheers Bennie

The “secret” to engine swaps in Subarus if not going NA to turbo is to get the correct engine phase (1 or 2) to what you have and AVCS or not. Remove intake manifold from old engine, bolt onto new engine that’s the matching phase (if wrong intake won’t bolt on), ensure the crank and cam wheels match the gear on the old engine coming out of the vehicle. And you’re essentially done. Injectors could be too big or small depending on which way you go with the swap in terms of engine size, the ECU will adjust what it can with what’s there AFAIK. No need to go swapping wiring or ECUs. You could find there’s some subtle wiring differences in the looms between the two vehicles. Cheers Bennie

Which O2 sensors are you running? I’d say they need to be matched to what your engine management system was running before the swap. In my mind that would resolve these O2 sensor issues you’re experiencing. Cheers Bennie