NickNakorn

I've always found that the manufacturers setting is the best compromise between longevity, performance and economy so stick to their recommendation; I run my 1991 EA82 (Hitachi carb) with 20 BTDC.

My intermittant fault has returned! 190 miles out of a 200 mile trip and the heater blower stops - have to keep wiping the inside of the screen to see out. The blower starts again a few miles later and today has been intermittant. Thanks all for the tips above. Will investigate the relay if the problem persists..

You can open the bonnet by operating the latch with your fingers. Reach under the bumper and put your arm up between the radiator and the grill and feel for the latch to which the bonnet wire is normally attached. I used this method for weeks until I got around to a temporary fix. I ordered a new wire on a T handle but ordered the wrong type - don't get a 'piano wire' version get the 'inner Bowden' version. They both cost £4.50 ish

When under full load (when coping with turbulent air, for example) the fan might be pulling quite a few amps so either have a switch rated to take the current (say, over 10 amps and possibly 20 or more) or fit a relay. I did the latter so only needed thin wire to and from a cheap switch and short lengths of thick wire between the fan and relay with an in-line fuse. I think I fitted a 30 amp relay and 20 amp fuse. Live feed came from the original fan feed. If you don't use a relay, the wire and switch must be rated for the fan or you could start an electrical fire. By the way, my solution was precautionary because I did not have an ampmeter handy when I needed to bypass the thermoswitch. The relay was only £2.50 so it's a cheap fix. If you have a meter handy, check the current being pulled under load - it might be lower than I think and you can ignore this post. :-) (though a relay is better!)

Hi Glen, you're most welcome. I ran my red EA82 wagon (very gently for the most part) with severe TOD for a few thousand miles and when I stripped it down the only obvious damage was to the rims of the HLA buckets. The damage was not serious and I used a fine file to remove the turned edges. Amazingly the valves were still fine but the valve seats were somewhat pitted - though, to be fair, that damage could hyave been caused by other things such as overheating. I replaced the valve seats as I was having other work done to the heads and the additional cost was not great. So while there is no guaranteee that TOD will not harm your engine, I can say that in my experience the damage was slight. As my TOD would go away somewhat with sufficient revs, I think the worst damage was to my wallet. Before the rebuild got about 30mpg and now I get nearly 40mpg and I expect that will get better as the engine loosens up.

The cheapest option is to use 3 standard 15mm (or 1/2 inch) plumbing slim-line isolator valves; here in the UK they can be bought for about £1.00 each. Make an 'H' out of standard copper pipe. With olives or straight connectors soldered on to the ends to make hose clamping 'bumps' and two 'T' solder joints with an isolator in the 'cross bar' and an isolator on each 'riser', connect the 'risers' to the heater core in-and-out and the 'decenders' to the engine in-and-out. Pipe - about 12" length : 50pence from junk yard 3 valves: £3 2 'T' connectors: £1.00 4 olives: 20p £4.70 - now that is cheap... What's that in $... about $7.10 When the weather warms up open the cross-bar valve and close the other two.

There have been many EA82 TOD threads here and elsewhere and having read huge amounts and having replaced all the relevant parts I think that any one of the suggested remedies might work or it might take a combination thereof - as well as the HLAs needing to be working, there needs to be adequate oil pressure and oil flow. I started by replacing very leaky camshaft oil seals and had a few minutes without the TOD; next replacement was oil pump seals (all of them) and new oil pump rotor - that resulted in a few quiet miles of driving but the TOD returned. I then tried various oil additives (waste of money) just on the off-chance that snake-oil might work. But there was still a major oil leak from the cyclinder head to cam tower 'o' ring. After that, I took the engine out, re-built it with all new gaskets and seals (amongst many other things) and a set of brand new HLAs. After the first 1000 miles since the rebuild it runs smooth and quiet and I hope it will be quiet for another 100,000 miles. My old green car (another EA82) did 200,000 miles with no TOD lasting more than a few minutes. But that car had a better history. Rebuild pics at: http://www.nagara.co.uk/carhome.htm

EA82 Wagon UK spec; no cat, 200miles at 70+mph and nearly 40mpg - I'm chuffed!

If you're methodical and take is easy, removing the dash is not so much difficult as time consuming and bad for your back (us oldies don't like being upside down!). Once my dash was loose I tied it up with sash cord and then had a friend help me carefully lift it out. When putting it back, I did the same: suspended it on cords while I reconnected everything before finally lowering it to its position. Not all can be connected with it hanging but most can and, because one can lower it gradually (cords through window and over roof), it's easy enough to raise it if a wire gets trapped in the wrong place. Don't be scared of doing it, just take your time and follow the instructuions in the Haynes.

After I flushed my heater core through it leaked like a sieve and I couldn't find another... so.. http://www.nagara.co.uk/core.htm it didn't work completely as planned so when time allows I'll make a better one. Works enough to keep the screen clear in minus10 degrees C but not enough to keep me warm sans coat..!

Hi jj421, It never occurred to me that the tail lights might be cool! I'm not sure what the regulations are but that layout is pretty standard here in the UK though there are many variations. Though I might have some spare units, I'm going to keep them because all but a very small number of these cars have been scrapped so I can't afford to let them go. How few? See here: http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/subaru_1.8_4wd_dl

I had similar problem with my '91 EA82 wagon; the heater blower had a life of its own and often refused to work but, since rebuilding the engine, the problem has gone away. The only thing that could have made a difference in my case is the fact that I had all the earth straps (ground straps) off. Since they have been put back there's no problem. It occurred to me that you might check all your earth cables too.

made a comment - realised this was 10 years old and now cant delete the comment - only edit it - how do I delete a comment?

:-) Vintage Panasonic 1980s - tape player doesn't work but I have the radio on all the time - :-)

Great to be back on/off the road again! After sorting out a suspension knock (right rear) due to my own stupidity fitting an insufficient washer to the top of the strut and putting a strobe on the timing (Thanks Tris!) to get the car running more crisply - it's still a bit tight after the rebuild so only driven it gently so far - I thought I'd see how it felt off the tarmac. At only 420 M elevation it was bitter up near Haytor - wind chill had my hands numb in about 5 minutes and the ground was crunchy underfoot. I've driven up and down this lane on several occasions before in this car and it's normally just like you see here - just a bit bumpy over the slate. But a little way up the lane part of it had turned into a waterfall and there were some new drops greater than my ground clearance - thank goodness I didn't drive up it as getting down backwards would have been thwarted by rear overhang. But inching it over the drops it slithered down OK and didn't dent anything (as far as I can tell). Foolish to go on these short jaunts on my own.

Thanks guys!

These late 1980s/Early 1990s optional L-series KN alloys for the UK market are pretty rare; I've never seen them on any other car - possible because nearly all L-series were bought by farmers. I have only 3 badly damaged centre-caps - all missing their thin stick-on Subaru logos so I'm going to make some new ones. The wheels were in a bad state when I bought them but after a huge amount of work they are now ready for paint.

All the cosmetic stuff will have to wait and for the next couple of years the car will be a ratty, tatty daily driver and company work-horse. Feels good to have this on the road again. My Honda CRX is now in the workshop and will be ready in a few weeks so if any UK readers are interested let me know; it's low mileage so will not be cheap.

This thread reminded me to sort out my weeping (very slight) water pumpt-to-heater transfer pipe. (Above) The original transfer pipe had several very, very tiny pinholes; rusted through from the inside. You can see where I've wire-brushed the paint to reveal them. The original pipe was too thin to weld successfully. As I had decided I'd had enough of the useless small bore pipe from the heater transfer to the inlet manifold (hose to nowhere?) I did not bother to make provision for it. For the replacement I used 15mm standard copper water pipe. Here it is in position: (Below) Eventually I'll probably remove the small outlet at the manifold and seal it with a threaded plug but for now I've closed it off with a small piece of tube and a stainless steel bolt. But the cavity relief pipe from the block to the thermostat housing has been replaced with a length of new silicone tube and some (temporary) worm drive clips pending the arrival of my wire bale type clips.

The MOT test. In the UK we have to have cars tested every year for safety if they are more than 3 years old. My L-series is now back on the road and has a brand new MOT. But it was not without yet more work being done - several small areas of rust that I had not noticed under the under-seal and a leaky rear exhaust silencer. Below is a pic of one of the repair pieces I made,,, As usual there are loads of pics on my pages at: http://www.nagara.co.uk/MOT%20Odds.htm Or you can follow the whole thing at my usual address : http://www.nagara.co.uk/carhome.htm

Scoobiedubie, you're right; I have a non-turbo Hitachi carb version and it's not clear what function they serve other than to provide a bit of extra heat to the inlet manifold - not something we need really unless in a very, very cold climate - but, even then one wonders how much heat they manage to distribute. I have retained them as I did not want to have to go the trouble of blanking off the outlets. But, in truth, it would not have taken long and might increase reliability purely by lowering the opportunity for leaks. I also thought that Subaru must have had something in mind but maybe I was being too unimaginative to guess what it is!

hi, I recently spent 1/2 hour at my local Subaru garage's parts department looking for both of those small bore water hoses; they too could not find them on their systems. I have in the past used 6mm internal bore (1/4 inch) fuel hose but I've found it doesn't last (not rated for higher than 65 degrees C). I've just ordered some black silicone hose of the correct size from an e-bay seller that is rated for both temperature and pressure so will get rid of the fuel hose as soon as the new silicone hoses arrive. They are available in many colours (boy racers in the UK prefer blue it seems) but I've gone for ordinary black. I paid under £4/metre (About $6/yard??). I also ordered new wire clips as the Subaru clips fall to pieces after a while and worm-drive clips are too crude for small bore pipes and the quality of modern worm-drive clips is often very poor.

Seems like a huge amount of work to make a car that in almost every respect will be worse than a small stock rear wheel drive V8. One of the Subaru's greatest assets is that it is light and dainty so it seems a huge waste of money to turn it into a heavy, conventional carv - why not buy a small reawheel drive V8; there must be a massive choice...?

I've always thought Thule were way too expensive for what you get. I've had these two Paddy Hopkirk roof racks for years and years. They are only rated at about 40kg load each but I've had about 1/4 tonne on them (shared over both racks) and they are still OK though a tad bent. Here on my old green car: And here on my current red car: They were about £30 each.