Stubies Subie

I'm going to assume that you have a SPFI engine. I do to, and I'm experiencing exactly the same problem you are. My engine has also been completely resealed recently. I think it’s more than a coincidence. Here’s what I think: I see three potential problems that can lead to the oil sucking through the vacuum system. The PCV valve feeds off the driver’s side valve cover, and in long sweeping right hand turns, the oil can accumulate over at the driver’s side head and be sucked through the vacuum system and the PCV valve. (This is Subaru's theory) I believe the problem to be a little more involved then "only happening in sweeping right hand turns" hence the burnt oil smell after a nice commute to or from work. Take a look at the following pictures, this should be the setup you have right now: In the above picture you will see the way the PCV is plumbed, it pulls off of the drives side valve cover only. Here’s another picture of the same side, showing where it “T”s into the PCV valve: The way this SPFI vacuum system are plumbed, it draws a considerable amount of vacuum off the driver’s side valve cover. So any time you have the throttle open, it’s going to suck oil out of the drives side valve cover, and with a freshly re-sealed engine, that pressure is going to be greater than an engine with oil leaks that has not been resealed. Subaru offers a PCV hose re-route kit that consists of the following parts: And installed it ties the left and right side of the engine together into the PCV system as shown in the following picture: This is supposed to eliminate the oil sucking problem. I just ordered this kit and will be installing it when I get home tonight, this should improve on the oil sucking problem. I will report back on that one. Through some intense internet research on the subject, I've also read that using an aftermarket PCV valve can lead to the oil sucking problem as well. So you want to use a PCV valve from the Subaru dealer only. I’m not 100% convinced on that one as I have no idea who’s manufacturing the PCV valves for the Subaru dealer, but I suspect it is not Subaru themselves, so it’s quite possible you could get the same PCV valve from an auto parts store that the Subaru dealer stocks. If the PCV valve re-route kit doesn’t work, I’ll try a new PCV valve from the Subaru dealer. And last but not least, if both of those remedies fail, there’s always the oil catch can which I will try on mine if the hose re-route and new PCV valve don’t work. Hope this helps, Stuart

It's day number two and that starter I got from GD is working just fine

yeah, the auto parts store wants 50 bucks for one ....ouch! I might get one off ebay a little cheaper.

The sending unit for the factory stock oil pressure gauge went bad: Is there one that's better then another or is it something that should come from a dealer? Or can I stop off at my local auto parts store and pick up something aftermarket that will work? I'm thinking that something from the auto parts store would work just fine, but like the cooling system thermostat that should only come from the dealer, I thought I'd ask first. Stuart

http://www.streetperformance.com/part/bosch/starter/3863343-1608002.html this says it fits GL, DL, Loyale, Legacy from 1980 to 2004 I got to this link by doing a google search

The starter went out in ol’ KC, and being short on money right now due to Christmas, I had settle for a used starter out of the wrecking yard, or so I thought. Someone in another thread had suggested that I stop off at the Subaru dealer and get a set of copper contacts for the wrecking yard starter, which I did. The Subaru Dealer isn’t to far from General Disorders house, so on my way to the wrecking yard, I stopped off at GD’s place to show him the contacts and make sure I got the right ones. GD happened to have a nice used starter out of a Legacy that he said would bolt right up and work fine, so I traded him the new contacts for it and when back home for the install. It worked perfect, and in my opinion, it might have been a little easier to install then a Loyale starter due to the fact that it’s a little smaller and easer to work with. Anyway, I thought I’d post a few pics of both starters so you can see the difference, the contact points on my starter were fried, so I didn’t want to rebuild it, the one I got from GD was much nicer, ….Thanks GD. Here’s some pictures so you can see the different between the starters.

One of the guys I work with just bought a fancy ford 4x4, $50,000 with $600 a month truck payment, now ad to that the cost of his full coverage insurance for it, and it comes out to be pretty close to a house payment, that would buy a whole lot of EA82's My little car is paid for, no monthly payments, and I have minimum liability insurance on it which costs me $45 a month, I figured why put full coverage on something you can replace for less then a paycheck? and as you said, I can still go to work in the same snow that Joe Ford does, and park right next to his big shiny truck, and not be concerned about the door dings he puts in my roof top while he takes up a parking spot and a half, I take up the last half of that second parking spot his truck is in, I wonder if he's noticed the door dings in his running boards yet from my car?

the Legecy starter is a little shorter then the GL starter but everything else looks to be the same and GD said in a bolt in swap, I compaired the two and it looks like it will work to me, I'll take come compairison pictures when I get home tonight, right now my girlfriend is trying to shuffle me out the front door so I gotta go ....

Here's a picture of my shop, it is kind of a mess, it seems to also be the family catch all, plus the kids use it for storage, but I still have room for the boat and a place to work on the car out of the weather: I did go to the Subaru dealer today and picked up the copper contacts, they were $5.00 each and I got 2 of them, then as I was headed to the wrecking yard to pick up another starter, I decided to stop by General Disorders house and show him the contacts to make sure I got the right ones. I told him where I was headed and he said he had a nice starter out of a Legacy that would bolt right up and he reached in a drawer and pulled it out, so I traded him the contacts for the starter and headed for home, I have a Christmas date with my girlfriend tonight so I'll have work on the car later, but at least I got the parts to fix it now

I want to do custom bumpers for both front and rear with a 2” hitch mount on both bumpers so I can mount a portable winch either end of the car. Here’s the mount: I think a 6,000 lb winch would be perfect And having it removable you can use it either front or rear.

I got grease, and I'll stop by the dealer tomorrow and pick up some contacts. that is a nice bumper, at some point, I'm going to get one on mine, but it's probably gonna be a while

I figured my starter was junk, I can save the wiring, most of what melted was parts on the starter instead of the wiring going to it, other than the protective rubber boot over the positive contact point on the starter. I'll get a used one, clean it up, and when I have more money, maybe kit it or something, but for now, I'll be happy just to get the car out of my garage Christmas time really throws a monkey wrench into my car expenditure funds.

It looks to me like that Carb is about like the ones they use on Model airplane engines, only bigger. For aircraft use, you need something less complicated and reliable.

the problem is, it got so hot that it melted the wiring to the starter, and the nylon/plastic isolaters on the starter, so I was thinking that I would be better off getting something in better shape out of a wrecking yard, and I can rebuild the wrecking yard starter. and funds right now will only allow for a used starter

my starter went out, so I pulled it out of the car and am waiting until Saturday to go to the wrecking yard and get another one. on another note, I got to try out my new (to me) tire machine, I mounted some tires for Rugby_subie, I can't balance anything yet, I have a wheel balancer but am waiting on buying some wheel weights for it, but hey, DIY tire mounting is bound to save a few bucks, and even more bucks saved when I get weights for the balancer if anyone local wants some tire work done, hit me up, heck, I'd even do it for free just to be abe to play with my tire machine

wow, I didn't realize that what I said would stir up so many responses.

I've noticed that with mine, the more I drive it, the better it runs and drives. I've done a lot of reading on the boards, and it seems most people are really down on the ea82's, they just don't like them, they claim that the Legacy’s with their EJ22's are better, and that may be true, to some degree. but what I've found for such an unwanted car, for the most part, (because no one wants them) you can buy one really cheap, and when I go to the wrecking yard, while most cars are pretty much completely stripped clean of any usable parts, I find that the old EA82 cars are virtually untouched. You can buy a used motor for one for dirt cheap, 100 bucks or so, and lets face it, while it may be a higher maintenance car then a Legacy with an EJ22, it’s still cheap, and easy to work on. An EA82 is something a lot of people are comfortable with, and have confidence in, and in the grand scheme of things, let’s face it, there are other makes and models of vehicles out there that are a whole lot worse than an old EA82. People say, swap out the EA82 for an EJ22, if your after horse power and you have the money and don’t mind spending it on such an endeavor, I suppose it’s ok, but when you add up the cost, a EJ22 motor, tranny adapter plate, wiring harness, and everything else that goes with a swap like that, then figure in your experience, or expertise to actually get the job done, and it becomes obvious that for some of us, we’re better off sticking with the old stock, slow, underpowered, yet cheap and easily fixable EA82.

I think the aftermarket CC was located on the dash next to the rear window wiper switch, but that wouldn't work for me, I've got power side mirrors and that's where the controls for them are located.

ok, so if it done come with some, my next question would be, how hard would it be to install it if I got one from a junk yard? if I did find one in a junk yard, I'm not sure what all I'd have to grab off the doner car.

The rear winder wiper on Ol' KC (My Loyale) really bugs me, it's either on or off, no fast, no slow, no intermittent, just one speed fits all. Did those rear window wipers ever come any other way? And is there a way to either make mine multi speed or intermittent. A simple modification would be nice, one that wouldn’t require an engineering degree from Harvard.

stupid question, did the EA82's with manual transmissions ever come with cruise control? I'm thinking I'd like to have cruise control, but kinda think it might be somewhat fruitless on an EA82 with a 5 speed Manual tranny

I taught my daughter how to drive a clutch, she really likes the subie and the doc says I should be out of the whiplash neck brace in about 4 weeks man that girl knows how to jack rabbit a car

Here are some pictures of my auxiliary fan setup, General Disorder is going to know more about it then I will as he’s the one that’s done the work, but to the best of my knowledge, here’s what I got. This is a picture of the water pump with the fan removed, the pulley is still installed as it’s needed to turn the pump, the studs were shortened because the fan is no longer installed, and I didn’t want big ol’ long studs sticking out, so GD ground them down: This is another picture of the same pulley and pump, just a better view of it, it’s really tight down in that area and hard to get the camera down to it. Here is how it is wired, on the left, circled in red is the fuse, and on the right circled in red is the relay, he used a junk yard relay out of a Legacy. The fan is wired to the relay, the relay is then fed to ground and battery positive, and the yellow wire coming off the relay is to go to the switch that turns on and off the stock fan. And this is the fan, it is out of an older Legacy, and just about bolts right up, I used one stock screw to aline it up, and two self tapping screws to anchor it down so it wouldn’t move around., it is screwed into the radiator core cap both top and bottom just the same as the stock fan is:

The fan I'm using I believe is out of a legacy, and it just about bolts up, you could just about wire tie it, it’s a very simple process. I'll get some pictures of mine posted when I get home