el_freddo

60L tank Jono. I've driven to rAdelaide from the Macedon Ranges (Hanging Rock area, as in the picnic at Hanging Rock hanging rock ), about 740 or so kms. I managed to fill my L's tank with 62 litres to the brim. Just before this the engine would surge as you gently pulled up to the lights! This was when my L ran the MPFI EA82, otherwise standard with two passengers and gear for a week's stay interstate. We then did the same on the way home including a few decent overtaking sessions along the way. So I've come to the conclusion that the owner's manual is correct with the fuel tank being 60L capacity. The L wagon also has the biggest cargo area of any Subaru to date - largest floor space and height from floor to roof. With the EJ22 conversion my tank size remained the same as did my fuel economy but power/performance was so much better. Then I lifted it, ran a rear bar with jerry can and spare tyre plus a roof rack. Now if I drive it nice fully loaded I can get 10L/100km but usually manage to pull 12L/100km. Worst was 15.8L/100km across the Nullarbor, loaded, roof rack full, headwind and travelling at 115kmph as that's where the vehicle felt happiest. I was ok paying for it at the bowser. Good trip that one too! That aside, Jono, my L can drop the needle about two mm off the bottom of the "E" mark before I'm really in dire straighs. I don't do that often as I'm not into burning out efi pumps Cheers Bennie

'88 will be a series two, at least in Oz this model was fitted to the gearbox Cheers Bennie

The honda front springs work well in the rear of the L series - especially if you're lifted and carrying some gear/have a rear bar with spare wheel arm. Rear fitted with honda front springs, no weight in the back end: All kitted out: Cheers Bennie

Some awesome info in this thread! I took interest as I've got a TD05-16G turbo to strip and rebuild on my Liberty RS project (Legacy SS). I'm only doing this as the engine had zero bearing left on no1 big end - piston was slapping the head, lots of shavings in the sump and on the pick up. My thinking is that the turbo may have some metal in the bearings so thought it best to do a replacement job and learn a thing or two as I go. Goyale, very interesting (although very frustrating) situation that seems to point at the replacement core. Glad you've finally got it sorted pending a decent run at speed/in general driving conditions. GD, thanks for your input and knowledge on turbos through your experience, really awesome and something that money cannot buy. Keep the good info flowing! Cheers Bennie

Cool rig mate! I bet it sounds awesome (and loud!) with that straight off the turbo dump pipe! To identify if it's a turbo block for that era you need to look at the block under the original alternator position and on the back of the engine where the start motor mounts to the gearbox. If there's a small cross hatched pattern in the casing in these areas it should tell you that it's a turbo block from the Legacy SS. This also means it'll be a closed deck block - so if it's been properly worked you can really push this engine and not worry about the cylinders "walking" under high boost applications. From the pics I can't see enough to be sure about the origin of the block. If it was in Oz it'd be pretty easy since our Legacy SS equivalent (Liberty RS) was a 2 litre DOHC engine with the same casting marks as described above. I'm keen to see a video of the rooster tails this thing kicks up! Cheers Bennie

Hey Shell, I can't be sure on specifics - I'm in Oz and haven't pulled one of these apart, but I'm sure there's something that's interchangable between AUD and USD markets. CNY Dave has my other suggestion - gears intalled backwards or a second mounting point for it to run in the opposite direction. Might be worth pulling it out and having a close look at it's setup to see what's up Cheers Bennie

Was the arm from the transmission fitted correctly and not upside down/180 out? Cheers Bennie

Anything that replaces the broken section of rail or spreads the load along more rail would be the best option. To me this is a relatively easy fix. I've not heard of this issue before though. Usually the mustache bar bends before the mounts for this bar start moving - sounds like there's something else at play :/ The square bar would be easiest fix I reckon, probably wouldn't look very nice but really how many people are going to see it? Cheers Bennie

One cam sprocket marking should be at 12 o'clock, the other at 6 o'clock when the flywheel is lined up on those ||| marks. I made the same mistake with my first cam timing fix in my pre-forum days :/ Cheers Bennie

Hehehe... Us Aussies typically know a drive shaft as a "half shaft", or CV shaft is another common name from the gearbox to the hub. The driveshaft mentioned above is known as a tail shaft or prop shaft, not typically as a driveshaft... Always interesting. Cheers Bennie

I'd follow what GD has mentioned to you about cam duration etc. I made a set of solid lifters for my EA82 and was running MPFI too. Below 4000rpm it was sluggish at best, above 4000G especially with WOT, it was a screamer as far as an EA82 can be a screamer. Problem with that is 95% of your daily driving is done well below 4G rpm with small amounts of throttle. I also wonder how it would've been with a carb setup as injector pulse timing/rate would've been a huge factor in its performance. If you're going to build an engine, I'd recommend going with some pistons that are capable of working with some boost. Either drop a small turbo on the EA81 or put it on later, it doesn't really matter - just that I recall in my reading on the forum that EA NA pistons typically crack the ring landings after a while under boost. Food for thought Cheers Bennie

In the front of a late 80's honda prelude... Will make the rear sit a bit higher Cheers Bennie

Thread dig: Interesting. In Australia - L series 5spd 4wds: Series 1 ('85 to '87): single range = 3.9, I believe dual range were a mix of 3.7 or 3.9 depending on DL or GL. Series 2 ('87 to '94): no single range available. All dual range were 3.7. I believe the 2wd boxes were all 3.7 too. Cheers Bennie

This issue could be two things: 1/ a stuck switch 2/ broken wires shorting out on eachother The switch you're looking for is at the back of the gearbox up high on the RHS from memory. Stolen from another thread on here: Looking at that pic you can see all the switches at the back of the gearbox. There's the 4wd light, lo 4wd light and the reverse light. Thinking about it the switch could be on the LHS - it's been a while since I've played with one of these boxes properly. Cheers Bennie

must've been a good quality muffler :/ so she's all apples again? cheers Bennie

Always repack bearings from the shop. As stated, the grease in there is simply packing grease. Use a good quality high temp bearing grease and learn how to pack the grease into the bearing properly before installing into the vehicle. Cheers Bennie

Have you got the correct gearbox bracket fitted? There's a left and a right hand bracket. Get them mixed up either side or have two the same and things won't line up from memory. Cheers Bennie

not a performance application so I wouldn't bother with the OEM unit unless you're working the engine hard in situations such as offroading. If it's a daily you wouldn't need the better flow/efficiency of the OEM unit as you wouldn't see the high revs regularly or for long enough for the cavitation that can occur to do any damage. That said, if you want the most efficient cooling system the OEM unit would be best to use. Your call. Cheers Bennie

Wow 13 year thread dig! Epic!!

1. As said, economics. Rather than repair an older car that has all the basic needs a car could want they'd rather dump it and get a new car with all that technology that is great while it works, but could mean either higher repair costs or an earlier death of the vehicle due to... Economics! 2. Rust. Over here we can't weld in entire panel sections from a slab of sheet metal unless it's engineered afterwards - or it's done on the sly. 3. Age/personal image I think comes into it. I see many young drivers on their first year probation in high end brand spanking new vehicles and wonder how far in debt they are for it. 4. Safety ratings for some drivers may come into play too. One of the reasons I think many ppl are poor drivers these days - distracted by technology in the car and not actually driving or relying on the safety technology to do the job of the driver for them rather than driving properly in the first place! 5. Power/fuel economy. People like to go fast even if they're not good at it in the first place, and they don't like to pay heaps at the bowser for this either. I reckon that's about it. Personally I love the older vehicles for many of the reasons other have mentioned already. DIY is the best way and is also why we've got our main vehicles for over 10 years now having out about 300k km on each in that time. The Subaru has had the harder life with the off-roading and associated mods. It's doing well for ~520k km on the body, drivetrain is all Subaru Lego stuff Cheers Bennie

Check fuses. Replace ignition module in dizzy if not done already. Check cam belts are not broken/dizzy spins when cranking. If no spark/running after this, check cam belt timing. If all else fails. An EJ conversion always sorts this issue out without the lifter tick of death (which is noisy but not harmful) Cheers Bennie

Checked fuses? Replace the ignition module in the dizzy. Make sure cam belts are not broken, then check their timing as well if things aren't happening after the module change. If all else fails EJ conversion will sort it out. And will never have the lifter tick of death (which is just noisy and not harmful). Cheers Bennie

We should get jackets! Even factory fitted HIDs are garbage. Who ever thought they were a good idea should be shot. Cheers Bennie Edit: best bang for buck is an auxiliary wiring loom that references the factory loom but provides more amps/voltage at the globes due to newer/better wiring. This also allows you to run higher wattage globes if you so desire. Always stick with 55w low beam globes though or run the risk of a lot of blinded angry drivers that might have brighter high beam lights than you do, like this:

Restricted exhaust will usually occur at a set rev or throttle load. For instance the peak speed will drop when climbing a hill due to more throttle required to get up said hill. You can also gently tap the exhaust sections to listen for internal rattles as this can indicate a blockage. The cat would be most suss as these can break down and restrict performance until they have the guts blown out of them if it ever gets to that point. Cheers Bennie

Rookie mistake :/