GeneralDisorder

The thicker head gasket means the head is farther from the deck and that means less rigidity. The cylinder walls move around with thermal expansion and contraction and over time this breaks down the gasket and abrades the mating surfaces where the fire rings seal. GD

The pistons hit the cylinder head. It won't even turn over. At TDC the block has negative deck height.... or negative quench height/volume.... whatever terminology you prefer. GD

These are two coolant temp sensors. Which one "seems" fine and how did you come to this conclusion. The dash gauge does not use the sensor the fuel injection uses. GD

What do you mean by new? Used? They all bolt up the same. GD

A bit ironic, for sure. I too am a big war machine buff. I was in the Army though and hey - I like all machines. Having that broad knowledge of machines enables me to see when one is over designed and under engineered - as is the case for the marketing fluffball known as the EA82. It served only to provide the aging EA81 with a marketing update - something they could show off to the press and put "New for 1985!" in their advertisements. At it's core, it is an EA81 with a bunch of crudely designed bits and bobs tacked on for the sake of a "SOHC!" marketing buzzword circa 1980's. Sounded impressive back then. GD

Well unless you are going to resurface your own heads (can be done - we do), then you will have machine shop costs as well. Being a 25D you will almost certainly have to change some or all of the exhaust valve shims. You can thick head gasket it, but that's not the long term solution to the HG issue. 251 pistons and thin head gaskets is the long term solution. Factory pistons would be best but aftermarket with knurling will work also. It's probably more in the $800 parts and machine work. Hard to say what the costs will be exactly - depends on where you buy the parts and what kind of discounts you get. My costs are wholesale and would be meaningless to the DIY'er. GD

Why the hell would you do that? GD

Well I have direct experience with using the 80's Ford F150 frame rail mounted high pressure pumps and they work just fine. To a large extent it doesn't matter so long as you don't get a pump that's produces vastly too much pressure... which is unlikely since virtually all automotive (port/throttle body) injecton systems are 43.5 psi or in the specific case of Ford - 39.15 psi..... the F150 pumps put out 50 psi if you dead head them. Which is what the SPFI pumps do. The F150 pump has a similar outlet size to the SPFI inlet which means it's going to flow similar. At any rate they work fine. Go with that. GD

You can bolt on all that stuff but it's not going to get you to a reliable 5" or 6" lift. The axles can't take more than about 3". You will need to do subframe spacers, strut base extensions, steering linkage extension, brake lines, and camber correction... plus a lot more. Honestly you might as well buy a truck because after all that you're still going to break axles and strut tops left and right. Suspension reliability is pretty poor at those heights. Expect to do a lot of repairs. GD

Can't be done right for $500. I live by the words of my grandfather - "If it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing right". GD

It is wise to cut open the oil filter (with a proper filter cutter as to not introduce false positives) and if possible send off an oil analysis prior to assuming the bottom end is still good. Also all the 2000 to 2004 engine should get upgraded oil pumps as they were mostly equipped with 7mm and 9mm pumps. Fortunately the 25D's all had 10's. GD

I've seen them break. It does happen. But it's very rare compared to EA's and in most cases there are circumstances - poor quality parts, or obvious signs of distress from a bearing, etc. Anything can be broken if you try hard enough. If you break a belt on an interference EJ, you bend all the intake valves. That's it. Intake vales are about $8 each, so $128 plus a head gasket job. I have never seen any other significant damage from it. Sure you can find examples of it. Doesn't make it common. I see a dozen of these engines a day or more. They don't just do that without warning the way the EA82 does. The EA82 belts are lucky to go 60k. I'm sure we can get a list of the EA82 design flaws going but it's kinda pointless. Try an EJ. You will like it. The FA/FB engines are turning out to be great also. The early ones had ring issues but can be corrected. Other than being open deck so far, they appear capable of quite a bit of power. More in line with what the old EVO engine could do. Better bore x stroke ratios, and twin scroll turbo's placed right off the heads.... looks like excellent potential. GD

This whole EJ timing belt "interference" argument is baseless. They just simply don't break. In 20 years of wrenching on these engines I have seen it maybe a couple dozen times in total. It's super rare and there's usually ample warning like serious idler bearing noises, water pump leakage, or tensioner knocking, etc. A sheared off belt with zero warning is basically unheard of. Even when NOT changed at the required interval they rarely fail with less than 175% to 200% of rated life. GD

ALL car companies are unethical and entirely concerned only with their profit margins. Ethics are not within the scope of corporations and free markets unless they are specifically demanded by the majority of relevant consumers. The corporation has the rights of an individual, but no body to imprison nor soul to save as the saying goes..... Corporations are not capable of ethics. Only capable of responding to consumer pressure, which may involved ethical perceptions on the part of a consumer or group of consumers. If ethical concerns may damage profit then they might be addressed indirectly. There's no need to be a corporate fanboy. Subaru has made, and will continue to make lots of mistakes. I disagree with lots of their marketing decisions and some of their engineering. ALL car companies are this way. Except Ford.... and all the German car makers.... F**K those a**hat's. That is to say - I dont agree with ANY of their engineering. It's all 100% plastic garbage. The EA82 had problems. Some of which were never solved. Some were but far too late.... The EJ25 had issues with head gaskets that Subaru never solved. We have solved them in the aftermarket. There is not, nor will there ever be, a solution to the EA82. Rather, it's being killed off (I believe on purpose) with lack of parts support. It says a lot that you can get an oil pump for a Justy, and for an EA81 - but not the EA82. And we have been told in no uncertain terms that they WILL NOT ever be available again. It is not a matter of them needing to do a production run. They will not be making them. Period. The Buick is a classic. One that I personally was obliged to take on for my aging mother with cancer because she had always wanted one. It is an entirely impractical vehicle that serves the purpose of making her happy. No other. Its existence, other than to improve her quality of life, is just a pain in my neck. Unlike the EA82, though, it has actual real value being appraised somewhere north of $35k. So as to why it hasn't been melted down - well most of them already were and now 60 years later the car is worth more than scrap value. If I had owned it in the 70's it might have been..... If you are waiting for that to happen to the EA82's..... well stop driving it - its sure to be worth a lot more if it still runs and that's starting to look like a real challenge going forward. I'm not very hopeful of the prospects for run of the mill EA82's being worth a fart even in another 20 years. GD

I would try Google image search. Check the trans for input shaft play. Otherwise you might get a nasty surprise on your test drive. GD

EJ251 pistons (new or used OEM), NPR rings, piston skirt knurling, and 2006+ STI head gaskets from Subaru. Aisin water pump. NTN tensioner assembly Koyo/NSK idlers Mitsuboshi Timing belt. Updated metal separator plate and bolts. Wrist pin access cover o-ring. OEM intake, exhaust, valve cover, spark plug tube gaskets. Etc GD

The trans doesn't "talk" either OBD-1 or OBD-2. It speaks ONLY SSM. The OBD-1/2 is in reference to the ENGINE COMPUTER ONLY. It has absolutely nothing to do with the trans. The OBD-2 is a LIMITED, ADDITIONAL, MANDATED interface that was globbed on top of the existing Subaru Select Monitor (SSM) architecture. Only the ECU speaks this additional language if it is requested to do so by a compliant scan tool. None of this has anything whatsoever to do with the trans. It is phase 1. WRX brakes can be installed on any Subaru. I have them on my 91 Legacy. GD

FPR has two 12v leads. An ECU coil ground control, and a 12v output to the fuel pump. The relay should fire when you turn on the ignition (switched power to ECU goes live) and then shut off and wait for cam and crank sync. If you are not getting the fuel pump prime pulse then the ECU is not fully powered, the relay is bad, the ECU is bad, or the wiring is wrong. GD

I looked in one of my old hard drives and found the pictures associated with it but haven't located the actual document as of yet. I'll try again here in a bit. It seems to me that I had it laid out in HTML and later it got made into a PDF by another board member. It's been a long time since I've messed with any of that stuff. Sorry. GD

You're absolutely right. I said they don't make good daily drivers. Neither does the Enola Gay or the Spruce Goose. You made my argument for me. Put them in a museum collection (that no one will visit). The support for driving them doesn't exist. The sad thing is that my 86 Trans Am from the same era makes a great daily. I can get parts anywhere for it. Same with my 69 GMC truck. The 56 Roadmaster on the other hand is very much like the EA82. I have to get parts from specialty Nailhead and Buick restoration shops. Thats why it goes to car shows, parades, and otherwise lives in a garage where it gets wiped down with diapers. I could drive it anytime I like - but that would be stupid. It's also a barge with a Dynaflow and other than attracting lots of attention it's pretty ho-hum to drive. The EA82 would be fine without parts support except for the fact that the engine was, to Subaru standards, absolute junk. The B17 and B29 was, manifestly, not junk. The B36 on the other hand was complete garbage and none of those are flying. Because people would most likely be killed in the process. EA82's are kinda like the B36. Lots of people loved the idea, but the implementation was sh**ty and is best remembered from old news reels rather than experienced first hand. GD

Axles.... GD

Ring of electricity on the plugs? Visible spark on the wires?!?! Pics and vids or it never happened. GD

Leave the Weber on it. The SPFI doesn't give as much performance. Also old fuel injection with expensive parts and no tuneability. GD

Moisture under the oil cap is normal.

I still love and drive exclusively old cars for personal use. 1991 legacy SS Turbo 5MT 1986 GL Hatch (10" lift) 1986 Pontiac Trans Am (daily) 1969 GMC K2500 1956 Buick Roadmaster I just checked - still no love for the EA82. It doesn't really have anything to do with needing to own something newer. It's practicality - being able to get parts for them. EA stuff no longer makes an excellent daily because you can't get parts easily. Even my Legacy is tough being a turbo model. Many parts have had to be custom made. The Trans Am on the other hand - no problem at all. Same with the 69 truck. Practicality - the vehicles I need on a regular basis have to have support. Doesn't hurt if they are fun to drive too. GD