86 Wonder Wedge

Now where's the fun (and longevity) in that? Well, O'Reilly's said they had the 10W30 VR1 on the shelf, but what they really had was the Synthetic 10W30 VR1... awesome. Anyway, I didn't want to wait 3-4 days and the synthetic was on sale, 4.99/qt. If it springs a leak, oh well. I'll fix it. BUT the prospects of 5-6K mile intervals would be nice, AND having a motor that will last 300K miles is pretty cool.

Well, got the filter sliced last night, but no indepth look yet... But I got to thinking and looking at a new oil, and remembering the faf I went through in finding a good oil for my Turbo T/A (conventional AND high ZDDP) I figured this motor (EA82) would do well with a high zinc oil since it has essentially "flat tappets" and no low-friction coatings, couldn't hurt. However, the oil I used, Rotella T Diesel spec 10W30, I bought up the last of it around me.. So now I'm looking at options such as Mobil 1 HM, Amsoil High Zinc, Rotella T and T5 (gas engine spec) but they are mostly snythetic and the Amsoil runs $11/qt locally! BUT! I then remembered the Valvoline VR1 line of "racing oils"! Conventional with super high zinc and avail in 10W30, 10W40 and 20W50! and it runs about $4.80/qt! I'll grab some later today and send off a VOA (virgin oil analysis) and a 3K UOA to see how it's doing. AND i'll pull out my shim in the oil relief spring to bring the pressure down with using a thicker oil.

No, no unusual noises right now... starts strong, pulls well, and the oil press never dips below 25 or so... I thought 5W30 is what the car called for in the book (especially with the cold weather)? 10W30 might not pump through the pump or cavitate when cold... I was thinking of even trying a 0W30 if it could be found in conventional (since I dont want to spring any leaks swapping over to synthetic) or the BMW's 0W-40 so its thin when super cold and still thick when it warms up.. But ill look at the filter today.. and call blackstone BTW the motor has 124K now, clean as a whistle and no signs of sludge in the oil fill tube nor residue in the PCV system, so I'm leaning towards NOT rings/guides/pistons/valves...

Yeah, I wanted to try and establish what was in my oil (either steel/iron or not), but it's guessing until I bust into the filter... And the valve guides are plastic? I find that hard to believe... brass/bronze sure, but... :/ and are the bearings tri-metal or aluminum coated steel?

So, I did my 3k mile oil change today with the 5w30 gtx hi mile and purolator pureone filter and it looked darker (not terrible) but when I went to pour into container, it looked like a pan full of gold flakes.. Like a tard, I didn't run a magnet over it to see if it was ferrous, but I'm going to cut the filter open to see what's gong on.. I hadn't noticed this last time, or if it's still remnants of the low oil pressure from the P.O. 10k miles ago, it had some seriously low oil pressure, but a new seal and shimmed oil relief valve has fantastic pressure, but it hits close to 70? On the gauge, new sender too, when cold. It drops when the oil warms up, but am I washing out the bearings when it's cold? Or what else could it be? The flakes could be silver-colored, but they seemed to be more gold/brass colored... Wish I had grabbed an oil sample for blackstone... Ideas? Where else can gold colored flakes come from besides valve guides?

Just want you to know, the camber and caster are non-adjustable on stock ea82 suspension, only toe.

The 4WD front struts are the same way. Someone had put 4WD Monroe struts on my 2WD loyale and it threw the alignment specs WAY out (like +1.6 degrees camber! 8O looked like a freakin farm tractor)

To be perfectly honest, you'd probably negate the performance gain (reliably) with a supercharger setup due to the extra weight and unprepared state of the motor. FI'd a non-FI motor is 2 fold the work of actually building/swapping a FI-setup motor. The only superchargers you'd find cheap in the u pull it yards are going to be the Eaton m62, m90 maybe the sc12/14 off the toyotas (more likely the previa vans vs mr2s) Some of the Mercs ran a clutched m62, but those probably won't show up in a wrecking yard soon, and some of the Mazda Millenias had the 2.3 supercharged with the log charger which are starting to appear. Even then, the Eaton m90 (most common on the 3.8s from the regal GS and bonneville SSE) weight close to 30/40 lbs IIRC ALONE. For entertainment and occasional shenanigans, I'd run a small, 50 shot NO2 so you've got the power when you want it, it's temporary and a fraction of the cost of running a supercharger. And an 81 Turbo T/A ran a draw-through carb setup with a one-year only Feedback Rochester Quadrajet. An aluminum plenum offset mount the carb and connected directly to the compressor inlet and dumped directly into the intake it was mounted to. The turbine wheel was mounted right over the valley and the up pipe wrapped around the valve cover making for a very hot engine bay!

1. Warm car to op temp. 2. Remove spare tire. 3. Remove flywheel inspection hole cover (small rubber boot with a pull tab) 4. Connect timing light (if adjustable, set to 0 (no advance)) 5. Connect green connectors by fuel filter. 6. Set timing to 20 BTDC 7. Double check idle speed (should be around 700) 8. Unplug green connectors 9. Go for drive Also, my 91 is near the end of its adjustment range as well. Looking down (from driver's fender) at the bolt closest to the coil, the bolt sits almost completely to the right of the slot.

You can do the 4 wheel disc swap, run nissin rear calipers with the-ebrake and run impreza front calipers (bolt in to the existing brackets and such) OR just run w/o an e-brake... but that is not recommended. at all.

Pretty much. I think the OTR are to blame SLIGHTLY for the vibration at higher speeds (since I can rock back and forth by hand, fairly easily, but no slop..) but that DOJ is a JOKE. ANYWAY, SOLVED THE PROBLEM (well, 95% of it). Had to swing by a wrecker that somehow still had 2 non-aftermarket EA82 axles. (For NE Ohio, that's amazing...) Got there, and they were both remans ( ) HOWEVER, one was a subaru reman! It hadn't been on the car in YEARS and had some surface rust on the bearing and seal surfaces, but cleaned and resurfaced those, cleaned and rebooted the joints (and new high-moly grease) and slapped her in. The new DOJ slid right on, but had a MUCH more solid mounting to the stub than the old axle. New roll pin, and the shudder is GONE. Now, I will say I believe the roll pin had a lot to contribute to this. It only took half the effort to remove the existing one versus the new one. What I believe was happening is that the old axle (which was an EMPI, btw) had a smaller roll pin hole than the stub shaft (since the roll pins used vs new one were different diameters) and the axle was sort of "pivoting" on the roll pin on the stub shaft. I also believe this is whats going on on the driver's side even though that axle and roll pin are original (when I refreshed the other axle. It still has a slight wobble compared to the "new" pass side). TL;DR Removed unknown EMPI axle, installed subaru reman and new roll pin, problem solved. EDIT: Also compared the the EMPI axle (LARGE DOJ cup and large diameter shaft) to the subaru reman (small, grooved DOJ cup and small dia shaft) and the subaru reman is AT LEAST 30% lighter than the EMPI. I'll get some real weights soon, but that should help the PTW ratio... XD

Actually, new set of tires and already rotated around, and no changes. Brakes are also new(er) and work great, no shudder.. I'm just about sold on the damn axle.. now to find a good used one to refresh and soldier on.. until the ej204 finds its way into my engine bay..

Installed new rear KYB GR2 struts and mounts.. fixed the floppy pass side mirror. Dealer broke my heart on the Subaru Reman Axle program. No more axles available for the 2WD 5 speeds... but the good news is there are 14 brand new axles available. at 399. each. Anyone got a lead on a good used one?

91 Loyale, 2WD, 5 speed (single range :-p ) 123K, regreased/booted original Drivers side axle, unknown new/reman axle Pass side O.k. Upon medium/hard accel and 30+ crusing, I get this short wavelength vibration through the wheel, shifter and floor. Both axles have the original roll pin in them, and both "move" when shaken at the trans. At first I panicked thinking the diff/stubs were worn beyond belief, but upon reading, it seems normal... However, the pass side (non original axle) seems to have more play at the inner joint/stub shaft. I get lateral play AND transverse play (about 50% MORE than driver's side) I've been on the hunt for a good, low mile original to clean up and put in hearing the quality issues with reman and even new axles, but they aren't a dime a dozen around here (NE Ohio...) Also, hubs are tight, steering is tight, no nasty clunks or grinding (but I DO hear a 2nd gear whine...) and after a new axle seal, I believe the driver's side (when I refreshed the axle) seal is leaking.. but still checking vs. PS pump leak.. :/ Any other ideas?

listen for the TOD/air bubbles in oil (tick of death, but not really fatal...) It's a lifter tick, very sharp ticking noise. Driveshaft excessive play or rumbling Check the CV boots/shafts for wear or damage Exhaust can get expensive at the front clean/complete engine bay Rust around strut rods and rear subframe mounts

You can change the oil pan gasket with the motor in the car... granted the motor has to come up a bit (loosen the motor mounts, undo the pitch stopper) and is a bit of a PITA, but can be done.

I'm having a similar problem (and HAD a similar problem in my XT) in my Loyale (91, 2WD, 122K 5 speed) but the top of the motor is "moist" and I have fluid pooling near the bellhousing and fluid underneath by the CV axle seals (new) and drain plug (JUST cleaned the area and pipes to see if it was leaking, but didn't use a new copper gasket.. my awesome Subaru Parts Dealer couldn't get... ) the tranny fluid is remaining solid as is my PS. However, when it gets cold, my PS pump is starting to chirp.. even thou the fluid is new (swapped at 114K for 120K service). I'm going to pull the filter thing and check the REAL level. The little filter thing told me my pump was full on my XT when it was BONE DRY (even thou it was leaking and was already shot... thanks P.O.) Pull the filter and then check the level.

You can do the job with the motor in the engine bay. (It's worlds easier to pull it and plop it on a tire, but not necessary) If you're also drinking coolant or blending it, then it sounds like a headgasket. Do you have any record of who did the valve/HG job before? On the last EA82T i worked on, the HG blew not b/c of the gasket, but 3 of the head bolts had worked themselves out and stripped the block. Now, I fixed it by boring the M11 out to an M12 since an M11 tap wasn't readily available (and it was a beater w/ 165K) and it held great! So incase that's also your issue, there are options. If you do it, just be sure to follow the torque specs TO THE LETTER (NUMBER/ whatever). 3 stages and never overtorque or you'll strip that aluminum.

Well hold on now, my 91 Loyale (which I thought all EA82s minus the XT were Loyales were after 89?) has all of that minus the map lights and rear dome (just one center dome). I've got PL, PW, PM, rear deck speakers, lumbar support, A/C... The driver's window is even one-touch down AND up. My 05 9-2x (impreza clone) didn't even have that!

Has anyone (even your "ASE certified" mechanic) inspected the pass side timing belt/cam alignment? If you have a jumping/off belt, it can cause intermittent no/hard starts and the "spitting" back through the intake (i.e. the engine starts to compress before the valve closes and is spitting the oil/air mix from the PCV out..) You could also have a dead/dying HLA (lifter) either failing to open OR close. I almost wrote-off a rebuilt EA82T for "No compression" until I discovered the HLAs were stuck in the bores... I'd pull plugs 1 and 3 and compare to 2 and 4 and do a compression and leak down on 1,3 and 2 (2 for compro sake). Can't make bricks without clay!

Welcome! The picture above shows it, but it's easiest to remove the spare tire first... Small, black (more rubber than plastic) nearly dead center on top between engine and trans. There will be 3 inscribed lines on the MASSIVE flywheel/flexplate. Keep rotating it around until you see them. (NOTE: You will also find the timing marks. Those are a series of large AND small lines with numbers and letters. Ignore those when doing the T-belts. Keep rotating the engine around until you find 3 lines, evenly spaced about 2mm apart and equal length) When you're aligning the cam gears, however, there is a small groove in the top of each belt cover on the front of the motor, that you will have to align with the dot on the cam gear, once you start putting the new belts on.

Good Lord! That looks almost as sharp as the new LCD dashboards the newest cars have! Now all you need is a touch screen!

These EA82s have a "captive rotor" design meaning the rotor bolts to the hub, and the hub must be removed to remove the rotor. easiest way is to take MOST of the load off the car (wheel still attached), remove wheel cover/hubcap, pull the cotter pin and while holding e-brake (or wheel chock) loosen the center castle nut. Then remove the wheel, caliper and bracket, then the whole rotor/hub assembly SHOULD slide off the CV axle spline. (It MAY require some persuasion from behind, just be gentle: you can damage/dislodge the wheel bearings) Now you can undo the 4 bolts holding the rotor to the hub and knock off the rotor. POW!

Bonus question! Do you know WHY ATF is spec'd in some newer manual transmissions? (Like the BorgWarner T5 and the NewProcess 2 speed transfer cases) Because instead of using traditional brass synchro rings as the "sacrificial" metal to join gear and shaft, they use friction pads made of the same material used in automatic transmission clutch packs on the synchronizer collar and the gear to "match" the rotating speed of the input and output shafts. Food for thought! and absolutely BEAUTIFUL work on that EA81! with that high quality of work, your car and your customers will look like that for another 180K miles! Cheers!

Right below the fuel filler door, infront of the rear tire. Its on top of a plate, you'll see hose in/hose out and an electrical connector. cant miss it