baccaruda

i have access to an air compressor but i need to come up with a fitting for the spark plug holes.

OK, I checked the timing belts. they appear to be on. the dots on the cam gears are each about 1/8" to the inside of the notches in the plastic case. This is equivalent at the most to about a half a tooth each and I would guess that it is within allowable specs? ... there are no funny noises like a slappy distributor.. I didn't check the distributor timing as I had done that a while ago, and the distributor being off doesn't affect the compression anyway... ??

those are great, thanks!

Hi, can someone with an exposed EJ bellhousing give me some measurements please? I'd like side to side at the widest points, and top to bottom.

subarino has a really great post on this. it should be archived. where are the archives? they should be easier to get to

stripped timing belt, popped head gasket, or bad water pump?

noooooo, i want the analog dash back now actually.. is there any chance you could hook me up with some wiring diagram goodness? I wouldn't mind having the diagrams you used for this in case i want to do it later (i see analog turbo dashes at the JY from time to time) and I would also love to have diagrams for the transmissions' wiring harnesses (pushbutton 5 speed in wagon)... I'll send you beer money for photocopies..... ??

nice nice nice! any chance that the skidplate fits back on easily?

are you goingto chop the airbox next? orrrr..maybe get some 1/4mile or 0-60mph times WITH the airbox/snorkus intact, and then repeat with that sucker gone. we've never gotten some hard numbers on the effect of de-snorkus-izing the airbox, only seat of the pants estimates. granted, i've contributed some of those, and i stand by my estimates, but numbers would be nice...

wow. you did that faster than i shipped it to you! thanks for the plug. so you made an adapter for the car's wiring harness? that does seem like the best way. Now since I'm going to try to fix the wagon's engine, I want the dash back. no, really.

yes, it can have a stabilizing sort of effect on your system. there is no exact spot to do it. stock locations have one from the battery to the engine and (at the same spot) the engine to the frame, and also from the tranny up to the frame at the side of the spare tire support (passenger's side i think) .. also, the main engine harness usually grounds to a bolt on the intake somewhere. all you have to do are make sure those locations are clean and can get good contact, and add additional grounds from the engine and from the trans to the frame. anywhere on the frame is OK.

i'd suggest you investigate on xt6.org. sounds like a neat idea though.

hi and welcome.. there's been a lot of interest in switching clusters. i'd suggest some research, and you could start with searching for "dash" and "swap" together... some people have done it and some haven't felt it's worth the work.

i think you might need a lawyer

oh no, skeet's escaped again! back into your hole, you!

how did the other 3 of you get home?

do it, it looks killer. shortening those rear 1/4 windows will be a pain, maybe use plastic/canvas Jeep style half doors and windows?

brian, isn't it past your bedtime?

thanks for the inputs, guys. i guess the first/easiest thing to do would be to double check the timing belts..and distributor timing. 22-25 BTDC right? i will need to come up with an adapter to do a leakdown test so i will do ANOTHER compression test and the leakdown test at the same time later... i recall that I tried the teaspoon of oil trick earlier with no notable effect..

rob, if there's one thing that's not a problem on this car, it's restrictive exhaust

hi there. as much as i appreciate brian's kind words, i don't have much to add to the above advice at this point.. you said the problem went away for 3 days after the distributor was replaced and is now back? i'd suspect your cap/rotor or a vacuum leak somewhere. the stumble is what exactly? a decrease, or a total loss of power? and the car's electrical system is unaffected (dash lights stay on?) check your codes first http://www.troublecodes.net/Subaru/ check for vacuum leaks (spray carb cleaner around until engine RPMs change and investigate further.. careful spraying near the turbo as CC is flammable) also, in case it's electrical, check your engine compartment ground wires (battery to engine and engine to frame are right next to each other, and there's a tranny to frame that attaches to the spare tire support.. i think that's it. add another one from the engine to frame and tranny to frame, use some burly gauge wire like 8 or 6 gauge) as bad grounding is an infamous cause of problems. Hopkins is a pretty good shop. I wouldn't be surprised if he told you that it might not be worth your time and money to have him chase problems like this on an older car? I brought mine to him and that's basically what he said; he could fix it but it wouldn't be worth the money. I appreciate his objectivity.

*update at bottom* well, this is what you get for not buying my wagon... a ton of questions from me about the engine problems! that'll teach you guys. Catch-up: engine has 12k on a rebuild by rguyver, his customer overheated it and had rguyver reseal it at one point during the 12k miles. then the ba$tard sold it to me without mentioning this occurrence. I have absolute confidence in rguyver's quality of work but as of now, after the overheat, the compression is 80-50-90-50 in no particular order. I have the cooling system in excellent condition, new water pump, new radiator, new thermostat (napa), etc. the car does not overheat and did not run abnormally hot last summer. The car gets crap for gas mileage. earlier this summer i removed the crossover pipe and examined the bottom ports in the heads and they were uncracked, so I suspect that the compression problem doesn't lie in the heads. Would I be reasonable to suspect the rings as the cause of the power/compression loss? The car uses some oil but when the RPMS are high enough for the turbo to wake up, it runs much stronger. I don't know enough about bad valve/lifter symptoms to know how/if they would affect this problem but I have to think that with the loss in all 4 cylinders and the oil usage, and no weird noises coming from the engine (doesn't even have much of the standard lifter tick), that it probably isn't the lifters/valves. I would appreciate any and all opinions regarding this. My plan to fix it at this point involves getting a carby short block (easier to find than a good turbo short block) and milling the heads true, and reassembling with new head gaskets. thanks...

"STOKED!" congrats bro! can't wait to ride in it.

sounds like a power steering cooler might be in order?

i'm sure that the sudden expression of shock and joy and confusion over whether to say anything would have given me away.. delivery guy would wonder why i was suddenly thinking so hard (and drooling)