pressingonward

In my experience parts store's computers always default to RTV silicone if they don't have the proper gasket. RTV makes an excellent replacement for the stock cork gaskets on EA81s. Just redid my oil pan using Ultra-Black. No more leaky. I think the diesel Subaru motor has a timing chain, but you are right, that's not really topical to Subarus. I worked in several independent shops so I've worked on pretty much every make and model out there. My point about the ultra copper and exhaust gaskets was that it can't handle exhaust temps, and for everything else on the engine the other types of RTV can handle the temps no problem. Anyways, I'm sorry if I've derailed this thread. I'll restrict any further comments to oil pump resealing.

I've never liked the Ultra-Copper RTV sealant. It is designed for high temps, but it does not handle high enough temps to be useful for things like exhaust gaskets. All the other Permatex RTV's can handle the temps associated with an engine and are better suited to their individual applications. Every car I've seen come into our shop with ultra copper used to seal an oil pan, valve cover, or timing cover has leaked like a sieve. I'm sure it would work ok if they had prepped the surface properly, but there are better options. In the case of the oil pump, it would be acceptable to use Ultra-Grey, which is designed for high clamping loads (pretty much any rigid aluminum parts bolted together fall under this category, including transmission cases), as a replacement for the paper gasket (as you said). My only concern would be that the slight tolerance change due to the thinner rtv seal would have an effect on the oil pump's functionality. Probably not a problem since the paper gasket is very thin. Non-rigid connections (sheet metal parts such as the oil pan or valve covers) do better with Ultra-Black, which has superior oil resistance, but that's somewhat off topic

My 85 Brat washer pump died the other day. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it would do nothing, sometimes it would make a horrible noise. I grabbed a used pump off a Loyale and stuck it on and it works great. I actually grabbed two pumps, I think one was a rear washer pump. One had the right plug, one didn't. The outlet nipple was also in a slightly different location, but the line reached just fine with a slight reroute.

My primary reason for wanting to swap to the EA82 crossmember is to get powersteering since I prefer it and my manual rack is shot. This is the first time I've heard that the powersteering rack will fit with minimal modification. I'll have to think about which direction I want to go now. Thanks for the info everyone!

I would be cautious about the type of grease you use on the O-rings. Some greases don't play nice with rubber O-rings. Napa sells a 100% silicone grease called "Sil-Glyde" which is safe for any type of rubber. I recommend it for lubricating O-rings, it works really well. I resealed my oil pump recently and it was pretty quick and easy. My only issue was that I didn't realize there were the two screws holding the pump halves together. They were hidden under the paper gasket. Once I found them and removed them everything went smoothly. I use Permatex "Copper Spray-A-Gasket" spray sealant on paper gaskets to ensure they seal well. RTV silicone is not really a good choice for sealing paper gaskets.

Does anyone have any pictures of this conversion? I'm planning on doing it soon and it'd be nice to get a visual of what is required. Specifically, I'd like to see the mounting ear that needs to be moved, it's a little hard to visualize from just a description. What is the effect of using the EA81 radius rods vs. the EA82? MilesFox recommended the EA81 and Gloyale recommended the EA82 radius rods. I'm just wondering what the difference is. Thanks!

The neutral switch tells the computer it's in neutral so it knows when you are engine braking and when you are coasting. At least that's what I've read here on the board. I do know for a fact it is wired to the ECM, at least on SPFI cars

They should be 8x1.25 mm threads with 12mm head. 10x1.25mm bolts have a 14mm head and are used on other parts of the car.

There is a LOT of misinformation in this thread, especially regarding oil pressure and oil weight. Please read through Bobistheoilguy's oil basics section http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/ and be very careful what you take away from this thread. In a nutshell here is what the oil basics section explains: The first number in the viscosity rating should be as low as possible (0w or 5w) as this indicates how thick the oil will be when cold (Your oil will always be thicker than ideal when cold, running say a 20w-XX instead of a 5w-XX only makes it worse). This is especially important for cold climates in the winter. 10w is ok, but lower is better unless you live in the Arizona desert or it's a dedicated race car. The second number indicates the viscosity when hot. The best value depends on your car and climate. You need 10 psi of oil pressure for every 1000 rpm while driving in your usual manner (20 psi at 2000 rpm, 30 psi at 3000 rpm, etc). Run the weight of oil that gives you this. Anything thicker will reduce fuel mileage and reduce oil flow rate, which is much more important than pressure (assuming you have the minimum pressure required of 10 psi for every 1000 rpm). Start at the factory recommended oil viscosity (although if it's 10w-30, I recommend 0w-30 or 5w-30 due to their superior performance cold as stated above) and see what your pressure is (I recommend an aftermarket gage to verify the factory gage accuracy), then increase or decrease the viscosity to reach your target oil pressure.

Using a small chisel to spread the slot in the knuckle may help you get the ball joint out (I assume that's what you are struggling with). The ball joints on my BRAT were so badly rusted in place I had to use an air hammer with a chisel bit to get the ball joints to start spinning in the knuckle, then I walked them out using the air hammer at an angle to spin and "twist" them out. I spent about 6 hours trying to get them out by hand before pulling the knuckles off to take them to a shop where I could use my air hammer.

Stock cam, motor has never been rebuilt. Timing properly set at 20 degrees

GD - what ever happened with this car? You mentioned that you swapped throttle bodies and it had a high idle with the IAC disconnected. Did you figure out why it idled high with that throttle body but not the other throttle body? I am having the high idle issue with my SPFI swapped BRAT. Idles around 1100 rpm when warm. If I disconnect the IAC it idles at ~900 rpm with the air adjustment screw all the way in. No vacuum leaks that I can find. I know this is an old thread but I was curious if you came to any conclusions with this car

Nice writeup Jeszek! I would add one note of caution: You recommend frequent oil flush treatments, which is fine, but for someone with a car that has not been properly maintained and has sludge buildup, these treatments can break enough sludge loose to clog the oil pickup and starve the motor for oil. On cars such as these it is better to just change the oil frequently and not perform a flush unless you are prepared to pull the pan off and clean the pickup screen afterwards. Again this is really only for cars with a lot of sludge/carbon buildup.

If the computer and/or distributor and/or coil are not getting power the tach will not move upon cranking. There are tons of wiring diagrams available on the board and the power circuits are very simple. Use a multimeter or a test light and test for power with the key on. Once you know which circuit doesn't have power you can see which fuse/relay/fusible link feeds that circuit.

Nice Gladiator in the background there. I used to have a 1964 J200 Gladiator. You don't see many of them anymore

So do you have spark or not? Your post is not clear. Lay a spark plug against the bare metal of the cylinder head or intake manifold and crank it over, see if you have spark. Does your tachometer wiggle at all when you crank it? If not you have no crank signal. This could be a bad distributor, bad ECM, or a problem with the wiring/fuses/relays. Get out a wiring diagram and make sure you have power going to the ECM on all of the power supply wires (4 or 5 if I remember right), and good grounds. If you don't have power trace it back to the appropriate fuse or relay (or bad wire, but that's less likely)

Even with good compression you can still have a valve problem. It could be a hydraulic lifter that is pumped up and holding a valve open slightly, or a valve that got bent slightly. Do a leakdown test if you have access to a leakdown tester. You can also hook up a vacuum gauge and see what it does. A rapidly fluctuating needle indicates a valve problem. You can see animations of what to look for here: http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/186.cfm look at scenarios 5-7

Use the R12 oil. Ester Oil is not as good of a lubricant. It is important to add the correct amount of oil. Keep in mind that some of the oil is sucked out when you evacuate the car, but a lot of it is still in the system. If you flush the system you need to take the hoses off and flush each component individually. My A/C service book recommends blowing shop air (non-lubricated obviously) through the component for 30 minutes after flushing to blow out/evaporate all of the flush. Here are my A/C book's recommendations for oil amount: 1. Add the amount that the A/C machine sucks out 2. If the car has a receiver/dryer that you are replacing, add 1 oz. If it has an accumulator that you are replacing, add 2-3 oz. An accumulator is on the low pressure side of orifice tube systems (between evaporator and compressor). A receiver/dryer is on expansion valve systems and is located on the high side of the system. I'm not sure which system Subarus use. 3. Add 1 oz for a replaced or flushed condenser 4. add 2-3 oz for replaced or flushed evaporator 5. If you are draining or replacing a compressor (DO NOT flush the compressor), take it off the car and pour the oil out into a measuring cup while turning the compressor over by hand to drain it fully. Pour the same amount plus one additional oz into the new compressor. If the compressor has a lot of oil in it (say 7 oz and the system oil spec is 8 or 9 oz) the system was probably over-oiled. Guestimate how much oil is in the rest of the system and add the remainder to the compressor (at least a couple oz for startup lubrication) Make sure you evacuate the system and hold it in vacuum for 20-30 minutes to boil off any moisture in the system.

And just a note on going back to R12: If your R134A conversion used Ester oil you'll be fine. If it used PAG oil, it may or may not be compatible with the R12 (depends on the type of PAG oil). You can get cans of A/C flush from NAPA, but flushing isn't very effective for certain parts of the A/C system, especially the condenser

The charge for R134A is less because it is a different refrigerant with different operating characteristics. How are you charging your cars? If you are over-charging them the high-side pressure will go up along with the temperature, which could cause the car to run maybe 10 degrees hotter. Define what you mean by "running hot" anyways. Are we talking at idle, cruising down the road, heavy throttle? How hot does it get? A thermostat that will not open fully can cause the car to overheat under heavy load because it restricts coolant flow. It might flow enough to be ok under normal conditions, but not under heavy load. Regardless I doubt that is your problem, it's a pretty rare thing to happen.

Switching refrigerants will NOT solve your problem. Like someone else suggested, make sure that your electric fan kicks on when the AC cycles on. A plugged radiator could definitely be the problem. A thermostat that only opens halfway could do it too. I've also seen water pumps that the impeller is corroded away to nothing that cause vehicles to run hot under heavy loads (running the AC constitutes a heavy load)

A few comments on suspension angles and tire wear: I'm not sure you're reporting your camber angles correctly. Positive camber is when the top of the rim is angled OUT vs. the bottom of the rim, negative is when the top is angled in vs. the bottom. When you load the car the suspension will push the tires outward slightly as it compresses. Because of this you need to move the car to settle the suspension before measuring your angles. You can push it about 10 feet, or drive it forward and let it coast to a stop. Do not use the brakes or engine braking to stop it as this will change the load on the suspension and change the angles. Camber up to 1 degree positive or negative should not affect the tire wear significantly. For best handling you want it slightly negative, but in a fully loaded Subaru this probably isn't your primary concern. I'd probably shoot for -0.5 degrees fully loaded, that way if the load gets a little lighter you'll still have ok camber. The primary cause of premature tire wear is incorrect toe. Toe can be checked by measuring the distance between tread grooves on the tires on the front of the tire and on the back side of the tire. You want the tape measure as close to the center of the tire height-wise as you can get it while still having clearance for the tape (IE if you go too high you'll hit the oil pan/crossmember, etc) If you have any play in the tie rods, steering rack, or ball joints your toe measurements will be pretty much meaningless since it will move around as you drive. You want to be pretty close to 0" of toe for optimal tire life and fuel mileage. Up to 1/8" of toe out (front of wheels further apart than the back side) is ok since fwd cars tend to toe inward under power. If it is toed out too far it will tend to feel squirrelly and follow every line and groove on the road. I don't think the rear toe is adjustable on our cars, but I'm not positive. You'd probably want it set as close to 0" as you can get it, maybe slightly toed in for stability. You definitely want to upgrade your rear suspension to handle the greater load. It is important to maintain ride height to keep the suspension operating within the angles it is designed to handle on a daily basis. I think the EA82 coilovers might be the way to go (You can also change the springs on them to adjust to your specific needs), but I have no direct experience with any suspension mods on these cars. I am an ASE certified auto tech, which is why I am familiar with camber and toe settings. Make sure you run your rear tires at 35 psi+ to handle the weight.

What wheels are those? I want them!

That will definitely make it run rich since it's sucking in unmetered air. Good luck finding that part, on most cars it is called the air intake tube or intake boot or something like that. If you can't find a good used one (they tend to be cracked) you can fab together an intake from a piece of pipe and a couple of silicone couplings.