pressingonward

There are two types of stop leak: The common, cheap kind is pellets or powder made of aluminum and other stuff. They stop leaks by plugging the hole with a gooey mess that resembles cardboard that's been put in a blender with a cup of water. They not only stop leaks, they also plug the small coolant passages in your radiator and heater core. You may not notice since the radiator has many coolant passages, and some of them stay open. The problem is it's almost impossible to flush out the clogged passages, so when you swap in your new motor and try to drive over a mountain pass in the summer, or go wheeling in sand or mud, your car will overheat because the radiator can only flow half as much coolant as its supposed to be able to. The fact that your radiator is new means it might be slightly less likely to get clogged, since the passages should be pretty clean still, but more importantly, it means that you REALLY don't want it to get clogged and have to buy another one. The second kind is the liquid glass stuff. I don't think it will clog a radiator, but like I said in my first post, I once pulled a thermostat out of a Ford Escort that was completely blocked off with the stuff, and it had a large chunk of it stuck in the cylinder head as well. It's sort of like epoxy. I don't have as much experience with this style of stop leak as the other kind. I believe it is supposed to actually work on blown headgaskets (The pellet kind really doesn't), and it may be worth a try in your case, but I'd definitely research it more. The Subaru conditioner has some chunks in it (like the first kind of stop leak) but there is a very small amount of them and they are very small chunks. There is no way it will clog a radiator, and I trust the Subaru engineers to have developed a good product. I run it in my own cars.

You can try running the Subaru coolant conditioner. I doubt it will fix your problem, but it won't hurt anything and it's worth a try. I do not recommend using any other stop leak products. I have seen them clog radiators, heater cores, thermostats, etc. I've seen that liquid glass stuff completely block a thermostat and leave 1" solid chunks stuck inside coolant passages in the head. If you are replacing the radiator (and maybe the heater core) along with the engine when you do your swap, then you can try one of the stop leak products. If you want to salvage any part of your cooling system for use with your engine swap I would recommend against it.

I used the lower radiator hose from an EA82 on my brat when I did the SPFI swap.It's tight, but it clears. Specifically, I used a Gates P/N 21779

I've seen a couple bad MAFs on older Subarus. I assume he tried cleaning the MAF that's on the car? If you get the new MAF and have more issues let me know and I can get you sensor values off my SPFI EA-81. I'd rather not take the time to log sensor values unless you really need them though.

You're talking about 3d printing the little clips that hold the chrome trim onto the edges of the bed rails, correct? Does anyone have a picture of the clip they can post? I'm curious what they look like, and I don't want to pull the trim off my BRAT to find out. I would think you'd be able to go to a body shop supply store and get a box of generic clips that will do the job. I've worked with 3D printers a decent amount, and a clip printed from ABS should work fine as long as it doesn't take a large amount of deflection to clip the trim on. ABS is a somewhat brittle material, and it's even more brittle when 3D printed, but still usable. Definitely stronger than the material we use in the stereolithography printer at my work. I could also model the part in CAD for the OP if need be.

If you could post the spec I would appreciate it. I've been trying to find a pdf copy of the 5 speed transmission section of the FSM, but I haven't had any luck so far. I do have a dial indicator. I haven't checked mine yet, but It has somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/8" up/down play.

I have a related question. I have a used D/R that I plan to put in my car and it has some end play on the input shaft.Is endplay typical for these transmissions?

I can almost guarantee you wired the H4s wrong. You have to change the wiring at the light because it is different than for the stock sealed beams. I had the same issues with my BRAT when I got it. Here's my thread on the topic: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/124559-need-quad-headlight-wiring-diagram-85-brat/?hl=%2Bheadlight+%2Bpressingonward&do=findComment&comment=1052484 I can take a picture of my headlight connector if you need to see which wires go where. Otherwise you can just get an h4 bulb pinout diagram off of Google

The charcoal canister is essentially the vent for your gas tank. It absorbs gas vapors when the gas inside the tank expands (like on a hot day) and stores them. When you drive your car a vacuum line sucks the fuel vapor out of the charcoal and into the engine where it is burned. There is NO reason to remove the charcoal canister. It does not hurt your engine's performance in any way, and it captures raw fuel that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere.

If you have an OReilley auto parts in the area, they should lend out (with a credit card deposit that you get back once you return the tool) a brake piston retractor tool set like this one: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PFM0/W89200/N0675.oap?ck=Search_N0675_-1_-1&pt=N0675&ppt=C0067

If your right CV boot is ripped I'd start there for sure. Regreasing it may or may not work, depending on how worn the joint is due to road grit getting in there. I've heard of people taking the joint apart and reversing the inner CV ball guide (not sure what to call it, the piece that splines onto the axle shaft with grooves for the balls to run in) since it should only be worn in the forward drive direction. Half the time aftermarket CV joints are junk out of the box, so it's probably worth a try regreasing and rebooting yours. You can check the wheel bearings before you start on the axle since you'll have it jacked up anyways.

CV joints can be worn out without the boots being ripped. Much less common, but it does happen. It sounds like a very rapid "click-click-click-click" when you turn sharply at 0-10 mph and give it gas (like pulling in and out of parking spaces). Bad wheel bearings can also make noise, but they tend to make noise if you drive along at 10-15 mph and turn suddenly (sudden, but not an extreme turn. Just enough to load the bearing; I usually turn the wheel an instant quarter turn on a wide empty road or in a parking lot) Wheel bearings are usually easy to confirm if you jack the car up and grab the top and bottom of the wheel (with the E-brake off) and try to rock it in and out. If it has noticeable play the wheel bearings are bad. Bad CV joints will feel "crunchy" if you pull the axle out of the car and rotate the joint. The only real test you can do on the car is to grab the center shaft with one hand and the cup (either inner or outer) and twist them back and forth to see if there's rotational play. They should be tight with no noticeable play. That doesn't guarantee that they are good though

"At Adapter Kings our wheel adapters are made from the highest grade aircraft aluminum. This aluminum is used in several different military applications. We feel if this aluminum strong enough to protect our country then it is strong enough for your ATV" Well this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. They don't even say what grade of aluminum it is. Calling it aircraft aluminum has no meaning whatsoever. If it's the same aluminum they use for their car spacers it's fine, but they might use a cheaper aluminum for ATVs since they're lighter. I wouldn't run these without getting some actual data from the company. Hopefully they have an engineer on staff and aren't just relying on their "feeling" that it's strong enough

It's a 12V solenoid so the wires don't need to be shielded. Shielding is really only important on sensor signal wires, which are usually 5v (TPS, MAF, etc) or 1v (O2 sensor) extremely low amperage circuits which are far more sensitive to slight voltage fluctuations and interference.

That looks way better than most gauge pods I have seen. Nice job!

It does sound like the button is bad, but since you have to wack the starter with a hammer handle it sounds like your starter has issues too. It's very likely that the starter draws too much current, which burnt the contacts in the button causing it to go bad.

I enjoyed reading about your van. It has to be very difficult working on a rare vehicle without any factory data in the right language... I know nothing about these vans, but I can confirm that your sweet tasting fluid is definitely coolant. I assume the engine is in the rear of the van? Check your hoses and radiator carefully for leaks. I've seen vehicles with pinhole leaks that spray a very fine stream of coolant out. Sometimes the stream is so small you can't really see it. This could be how the coolant is ending up on the bumper. It could also be the radiator cap like you suggested. Look for the leak or for a buildup of corrosion/crystalized coolant which would indicate a leak. Your intermittent starter problem sounds like a bad starter to me. They short out in a certain spot and draw the battery down (makes all your dash lights dim) without cranking, then may start clicking as the solonoid loses voltage and clicks on and off. I usually replace the whole starter, but in your case that may not be possible. You'll have to pull it apart and see if you can clean and repair it. Sometimes the brushes get damaged or are so short they twist sidways and make contact where they shouldn't. Here is a youtube video showing the guts of a starter: Your van probably has a gear reduction starter (large solenoid mounted on the side, smaller starter body), but the operation is similar. Starter gears and flywheels can have substantial tooth damage and still work ok. Some rounding of the forward edge is to be expected. Badly damaged teeth will cause it to make a horrible grinding shriek instead of turning over, but this can also happen when the starter is not operating properly and the gear does not extend fully. Since you are having issues with it drawing down your electricals, solenoid clicking, etc., I think this is the case for you. Good luck!

This is incorrect. Nitrile (AKA Buna-N) is NOT recommended for brake fluids. EPDM (AKA Ethylene-Propylene) is the commonly available, recommended material. Here are a couple sources for this info: http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/oring/oring_chemical.cfm?SC=Brake%20Fluid http://www.allorings.com/compatibility.htm (look under "Automotive Brake Fluid") Standard O-rings are Buna-N. I would recommend getting the right O-rings and doing it right from the start rather than having to redo it and re-bleed the system.

Where did you get replacement O-rings and what material are they? Brake fluid attacks many different types of rubber, including some of the common O-ring materials. Do you know what the sizes are for the O-rings?

SPFI will run the pump for 2-5 seconds when you turn the key to run, without a tach signal. Then it will not run again until it sees the tach signal or you cycle the key again (turn it off and then back on)

Yes you can. It will probably result in brighter headlights too since the power won't have to run through the ignition switch. There's a writeup somewhere, maybe in the repair manual section. The way I would do it is run your own ground straight to the headlights, then run a FUSED power wire from the battery (or starter post, or alternator post) to two relays, one for high, one for low beam. Run the power output of the relays to the respective headlights. Also run a power wire from the headlight switch power output to each relays' signal circuit. Then just run the ground wires that used to turn the headlights on to the other side of the relay signal circuit. You'll have to verify the wiring for the headlight switch, I think it might go to headlight relays already, but you'll want to bypass these in favor of your new relays which route power directly from the battery.

Sounds like you have the Quad-4 headlight setup. The lights are supplied constant power to the single terminal that is usually grounded on every other brand of car, and ground is supplied through the hi/low switch to each terminal to turn the respective high and low beams on. I don't think the H1 bulb will work since the conductive housings will cause it to be on at all times. The previous owner of my Brat swapped in H4's without repinning the connectors. Took me a while to figure out what the problem was. You can read about it in my thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=128890. Basically I re-pinned the main lights using a diagram I googled and all was well. I still have sealed beams for the two inner high beam lights. I'll probably swap them for H4s at some point and just re-pin the connectors to run the high beam filament only.

You are referring to the Fuel Cut Unit. It was called the Fuel Pump Control Unit on EA81 cars if I remember right. It cuts power to the pump if the engine dies. They are black on EA81s and located where you say. I believe the wiring and operation is slightly different between EA81s and EA82s

I think the negative resistance reading you get when it's running is because that ground wire is tied into other sensors, and when it's running you get a tiny amount of voltage running through your meter to ground, changing the resistance reading. In my experience symptoms of bad MAFs aren't that intermittent. They're usually good, bad, or somewhere in-between, but usually steady-state. Plus you say that it still pops a bit when unplugged. That suggests to me that the MAF is reacting to the problem and exaggerating it, but isn't the root cause. A bad injector is an interesting idea, but again they tend to be either good or bad or somewhat bad, but not intermittently bad. My bet is that you have a bad distributor. Distributors rotate so they love to do things intermittently. The camshaft position sensor inside the distributor is the primary signal to the ECM to inject fuel. If it sends out a garbled signal it will cause the coil and the fuel injector to fire at the wrong time or for the wrong duration (fuel injector), giving you a nice popping noise, hesitation, and fluctuating idle. Make sure your timing belts didn't jump a tooth. If it's only one tooth on one camshaft it can make the engine run funny but not horrible.

It sounds like you're on the right track with the fuel pump relay or ECM. There might also be a fuel pump control unit ('fuel cut unit') as well. Loyales had them, but I'm not positive about the GL wagons. Here's the wiring diagram from the Subaru manual: The fuel pump relay (on a Loyale at least) is under the driver's side dash to the left (I think) of the steering column. It is a cylindrical metal relay and should be next to a square brown relay (ignition relay). It gets power from fuse 11 (which is good on your car since the fuel pump runs with the check connector) and signal ground from the fuel cut unit. I about pulled my hair out trying to find a wiring diagram for the fuel cut unit, but didn't have any luck. Basically the fuel cut unit gets a tach signal (yellow or yellow/green wire) from the distributor, a key-on power signal (or key-on ground from the ECM? I can't remember which, but that would make more sense), a constant power source, and a hot-in-start signal (black/red wire) from the ignition switch. From these signals, it will run the pump for a few seconds when you first turn the key on (from the key-on power signal/key-on ground), then stops until it sees the hot-in-start signal and then a tach signal indicating the engine is running. The fuel cut unit is a blue box about 2"x3"x1.5" with a 6-wire plug going into the side of it. It's up under the dash near the fuel pump relay if I remember right. Hopefully that is enough info to begin your diagnostics. There is a test procedure for the fuel cut unit which basically tells you to check each wire for the appropriate signal. I can dig it up if you need me to.