idosubaru

a bad headgasket can still show decent compression readings under certain conditions. the water in the cylinder/around the rings can actually make up for the loss in a minor head gasket leak. seems like the leak down would have showed it though. depends what you want to do with your "extra" motor. if you'd like to keep an extra motor for later or to sell...keep the good one and just replace the head gasket(s) on yours. better to have a good motor than a bad one sitting around. that will also allow you to pull the heads while the motor is in the car. i did EA82 heads this summer, there is ample room in the 4 cylinder motors to do those head gaskets easily and quickly. i'm used to XT6's, the 4 cylinder was awesome, very easy to do. if you swap motors - i'm guessing your motor has similar HLA's for the valves that my XT6 has - i'd assume one of those is frozen or sticky. i just wrote a really long post about addressing them a couple days ago or yesterday or something. maybe you can find it under "lifter noise", "tapping"...or just search my posts, you should be able to find it.

i'd clean up all connections you came close to touching. it could be the bolt you removed, or maybe you bumped something else in there that caused it to start. for instance - my XT6 didn't start. new alternator, battery and wires and terminals. starter was the only thing not new, i assumed that was the problem. so i got out and hit the starter with some random tool, cranked right up. time to rebuild my starter. did that 2 or 3 more times through the week....then it wouldn't start at all and i hadn't rebuilt the starter yet but had an extra in the trunk. i decided to check my grounds and connected my negative terminal of battery to ground before swapping starter parts....car started right up. i ran a heavy gauge wire from negative terminal to ground when i got home and it's been fine since then and i haven't touched the starter yet. i really need to rebuild that freaking thing.

84gl, it's a good idea to use a more descriptive title for many reasons. like "EA82 trouble codes" or "code-alicious".... okay for real, easier for others to sift through and also makes it easier next time you or others want to find it using a search. enjoy

just read that last post - i'd check into the ignition itself, the thing your key goes into. could you have a bad contact in there? i've never really had a problem with those so i'm not sure how to trouble shoot. i think i'd start by giving the starter 12 volts directly. make sure it does indeed turn over. then check battery and connections/ground. that's the order i would go in i think. it would be nice to get it started to narrow it down.

check your grounds. first thing i woud do is attach one end of jumper cable to the NEGATIVE battery terminal and then clamp the other end to a very good ground. on the XT6 there is a ground wire that bolts close to the oil filler cap. i'd try that. you see what i'm saying right? don't actually try to jump the car, just attach one clamp of the jumper cable to the negative terminal and the other end of the clamp to a ground on the motor. you won't use both sides of the jumper cable. of if you have some good electrical wire lying around, just attach it to the negative terminal and a ground. best to have good thick, heavy gauge wire. i've seen this cause the exact problem you're encountering. with a bad ground wire, jumping with a good battery won't start the car. and of course have the battery professionally tested, sounds like one cell could be bad. autozone/advanced and others test batteries for free. check your alternator connections. car should start, but if they are bad that may cause some problems.

you wanted to put the cat in the garage to eat the mouse, then you say you don't want to kill it. essentially the same thing - either way your decision would be the demise of the mouse, wheter by cat, poison or trap. if you're okay with the cat doing it...then tell yourself you're okay with the trap doing it. either way you're putting *something* in the garage to kill the mouse. in a controlled or semi-controlled environment (in a garage or house...er uh a car) they can breed any time of year. there may be non-fatal traps available as well. similar to what they use for skunks and larger animals.

contradict away, i'm trying to track this down. the EA82 spfi motors use the exact same internals as the ER27. same pistons, rings, valves, springs....just more of them. the other EA82 motos, i don't know. but the different EA82 motors are beyond the scope of my question - i'm really wanting to know if the EA81 pistons fit in the ER27. since it's the same set up as the EA82 spfi, i figured that might help since people know more about the EA82 than the ER27. if one of the EA82 motors has different compression, it's likely the later model mpfi EA82 motors - but that's irrelevant to this thread. CCR seemed to think the EA81 pistons would fit, but i don't know that they were 100 percent sure of that.

i know XT6 motors like the back of my hand but i know EA82 motors like the back of YOUR hand, so i may be a little off in details. i've done one EA82 motor and let me tell you, it was very easy. much simpler all the way around than the XT6, which im proficient with by now. i'd personally check out www.thepartsbin.com. that place rules in price and service. i've bought obscure XT6 parts, which noone else has or gets wrong, from these guys and it's always been perfect. super fast service to the maryland area when i order. they are also very inexpensive. i bought a complete set of timing belts, all timing belt pulleys, water pump...all the reseal stuff from these guys for an EA82. the timing pulleys are inexpensive for the EA82, not bad idea to replace them at all. i never did anything but change oil in an EA82 (and that was over 10 years ago) until this summer i helped a dude out with blown headgaskets. i went in not knowing anything about the EA82 and the timing belts were very easy, but it was very similar to the XT6 (much easier though). on the replacement, it's fairly straight forward and the timing belt alignment is easy. i'd recommend getting a set of factory service manuals. or if you have a decent dealer around, they may photo copy the timing belt section for you (i've done this before for friends cars). maybe they'd even let you borrow or rent the thing? sometimes places are nice, sometimes they are not. or maybe someone on the board can give you detailed directions. basic idea is you line up the driver side cam (tick mark on cam sprocket with tic mark in timing cover) when the flywheel mark is lined up (middle of 3 dashes on flywheel with arrow on bellhousing). install the belt, make sure the marks are still lined up. then rotate the crank 360 degrees, bringing the flywheel (or flexplate if you have an auto tranny) mark back to alignment with the arrow on the bellhousing. at this point your drivers side cam which you just put a timing belt on will be pointing DOWN. then line up your passengers side cam at the same time the flywheel is aligned (as described above) and install that belt. the cams are 180 degrees off. that's the basics. you won't need any extra tools. the trickiest part doing this the first time will be loosening the crank pulley bolt most likely. and have plenty of PB Blaster to spary on rusty radiator and water pump pulley bolts if they are rusty. otherwise they shear off . while you're in there, reseal the oil pump, replace the crank and cam seals and replace the water pump and you're good to go for a very long time. with the timing belts off, all of these items are easily accessible. good luck and have fun

correct. the ER27 pistons are the exact same as the EA82 spfi pistons.

what was the problem?

solution - quit dropping those mcdonalds fries between your seats. for real - pull your door panel and the kick panel under the glove box and look for a nest. without the nest, they won't have much reason to return if you scare them off. but then they'll be in the house, so take your pick. a mousetrap on the floor board or under the car (or both) should easily take care of him. i'd try this first, i can't imagine you wouldn't get 'em this way. i like the smoking him out idea as well, sounds cool. what are those old "smoke bombs" kids used to set off in the bathroom in highschool? is it just smoke, maybe that would do it.

forgot to mention - if you do need to address the HLA's directly. post again later - don't necessarily have to replace them. they can be fixed outside the car. you can soak them, disassemble them and clean them up yourself or have someone else rebuild them. i wouldn't drop the mad loot for new ones, they are quite reliable with frequent oil changes and maintenance.

HLA tapping generally is random and comes and goes as it pleases. as it gets worse, it will be constant. but normally temperature, oil level, driving conditions, etc can make it come and go at will, so i wouldn't guess you have any particular issue that can be addressed any differently than under the umbrella of "HLA tapping". here is how i would start (i always have XT6's). your HLA's could easily be dirty and not frozen beyond repair. what i would do in my XT6 and have done multiple times, but i don't recommend this unless you're very confident in what you're doing. i would drain 2 quarts of oil and add 2 quarts of ATF (do less if you have small oil capacity to start with - XT6 uses 5 quarts). i feel perfectly comfortable driving it like this for a week. get it up to operating temperature at least, since the ATF detergents will work better when warm. ATF has a high amount of detergents and can definitely free dirty, stuck lifters. if you don't like what i'm saying, try 1 quart of ATF or a bottle of marvel mystery oil. i've had much better luck with ATF, but know others that have had good results with MMO. i'd say drive for 100 miles like this - but you can drive driving it once around town for 15 miles if you're not comfortable doing it. if it works, great. if not, you can always try it again. if this is your first time doing this, that might be a good idea to ease into this. in general i never add stuff to oil and don't recommend any additives. but i'm confident in this technique for cleaning up the lifters. and it beats pulling the timing belts and cams to get to the HLA's. 9 of my 12 HLA's just turned 200,000 miles yesterday and i don't expect them to tap anytime soon. now - the oil seal. it's probably a good idea to seal your oil pump as well. first thing to do is crawl under the car and thoroughly inspect around the oil pump. really bad seals will show as leakage around the pump. unfortuantely on the XT's and XT6's (and probably most soobs) the crank seal is above the oil pump so it if it leaks it could also get the oil pump very oily. but - in general look for oil around the oil pump to indicate a bad seal. this doesn't tell you too much because a bad seal can cause HLA tapping even without noticing a leak. but if you see something obvious, it's nice to know for sure you need to address that. if you reseal your oil pump be sure to have some gasket sealant ready. when you replace the oil pump to block seal you'll need a small dab of gasket sealant at 6 oclock and 12 oclock where the two halves of the block come together. don't forget this. the two halves of the block mate together behind the oil pump. you'll see a very faint zig-zag pattern where they mesh. a dab of sealant on that zig-zag mating point is required. i know XT6's really good and other soobs not very good, so if something seems out of place that's probably why. good luck and have fun,

anyone have subarubrat email address or point him to this thread? i'll call CCR and post any good...er not so good, information, thanks kids and have fun,

know one knows for sure or where i can find out if they swap? the XT6 uses the 9.5 compression ratio pistons (same as EA82), of this i am sure. i want to use aftermarket EA81 pistons that are forged, 88 grams lighter than stock, with repositioned wrist pins for slightly higher compression. they have valve reliefs in them as well. don't know that i can find that combination in after market ER27 (or EA82) pistons. if there is a supplier of high quality after market forged pistons for ER27 pistons, let me know. thanks and have fun

from searches i've seen EA81 - EA71 comparisons or mention of EA82 pistons in EA81 blocks, but not lots of solid info on the other way around....using EA81 pistons in EA82 or ER27 blocks. i'm looking at aftermarket forged EA81 pistons i'd like to use in the ER27, they have valve reliefs cut into them as well. i could look into aftermarket EA82 pistons - but i'm fairly set on these EA81 pistons unless i see some really solid feedback on something else. thanks, gary gross moderator - http://www.xt6.net 1989 Subaru XT6 AWD Auto w/ High flow converter, dynomax muffler, locking center transfer clutch and rear LSD 1989 Subaru XT6 AWD Manual

can i install EA81 pistons in my ER27? if you know that they will work in the EA82, that's just as good since that has the same pistons as the ER27. is there a good link to the specific differences between EA81 and EA82 blocks - like the pistons?