GeneralDisorder

I am a member over on Nasioc (still GeneralDisorder) - so it's legit for Rob to enter the hatch I think. I'm sure somoene will let me know if it wins or something . I'm not over there too often. GD

There are only two possibilities. Either the radiator cap is bad and opening at too low of a pressure, or the head gaskets are bad and allowing exhaust gas to pressurize the coolant to much higher than the rating of the cap. It's almost always the head gaskets. Radiator caps are a pretty rare failure. It is not your water pump. If it were seized it would be makeing aweful noises and smoke from the burning belt. Not to mention it wouldn't last more than a few miles. GD

It was a brand new pump from the dealer - along with reman lifters from Mizpah, new pump seals, and new cam tower o-rings. Like I said the only thing that hasn't been changed is the relief valve springs. The ticking did go away for quite a while. But it has returned apparently. My feeling is that the lifter buckets are worn. GD

Hard to say - when it starts to overheat and the heater core goes cold - is it displacing the coolant into the overflow bottle? If so then either the radiator cap is bad or there is exhaust gasses pressureizing the coolant. That is a typical failure mode for head gaskets. If that's the case you can gain some time by gutting the thermostat but it won't be a permanent repair. Problems of this nature are almost never the water pump. Water pump failure is almost exclusively either leakage out the weep hole or complete sezuire of the pump. GD

It's wear. Plain and simple wear. Both in the bottom end and in the lifter buckets in the heads. With that engine there is nothing more to be done - new oil pump, seals, and reman lifters. It's going to do what it wants without a complete tear down and rebuild. The one thing you might try is replacing the banjo bolt relief valve springs in the cam spray bar. Could be weak and I never replaced them. GD

13 Ohms eh? That's pretty strange - check your meter against the 47 Ohm resistor you bought..... GD

As you surmise - you don't need the PS. An EJ swapped Brat is not going to feel radiacally different than it did before since it still has the same manual rack that it always had (unless it's a turbo Brat). Power steering on the EA81's wasn't the big deal it is on the newer stuff and really only made any difference at all at very low speed and stopped operation. Go ahead and leave it off - no worries. GD

Replacing a "pressed" bearing of that size does not require a press. A socket and a hammer will do just fine and a two-jaw puller can be used for removal. I used to rebuild motors all the time when I pulled wrenches on industrial machinery for a living. Small alt bearings are childs play - a press is like killing a fly with a shotgun. WAY overkill. I own a press and wouldn't use it. Sealed or sheilded bearings are greased from the manufacturer. People do lots of things on you-tube that they really shouldn't do. Dissasemble the alt, write down the bearing numbers, and get replacements from a bearing supplier. Simple as that. GD

Should be a sealed bearing (and a very cheap, small bearing at that). I woukd just replace it. Unlikely that adding grease will help. GD

Yep - I do 80 - shoot the middle of the range. For the end caps I beleive it's higher - like 120 inch lbs. They don't need to be crazy tight and these are only 6mm bolts. GDw

Yeah - try a used set of crank/cam sensors and if you still have issues try a used ignitor. GD

If you need a family ride - get a unimog. GD

Stainless is not really going to help - it will gall something fierce. You are better off going with zinc and treating them with copper anti-seize. The stock studs and nuts are zinc coated. I buy the studs from Subaru but their prices on the nuts are outragous - I buy 50 nuts at a time in both 8mm and 10mm from the link I posted above and the quality is very good. GD

Sure - I'll be here all day working on a Mercedes :-\. Text or call me tomorrow - 5o3-88o-4o84. GD

Well - the 4 speed's are problematic - they have terrible ratio's, a higher low range, crappy linkage, and a tendancy to eat 3rd gear's syncro, etc. The 5MT by comparison is a wonderful transmission and has none of these flaws. Thus it's a popular conversion. It's easier on a non-hatch because you can use the two-peice driveline from the EA82..... sadly the hatch has a shorter wheelbase and they never made a driveline that would fit. So custom is the only way. I know the specs because I've done quite a few of that particular swap and lots of more complicated swaps that would blow your mind! GD

The stock plug for the DOHC engines is always a double platinum - not because a cheaper plug won't work fine - but rather because it's such a huge pain to get to them. The NGK double plat's are about $10 to $12 each.... I get the Denso double plat's for about $6 each and they works just as well in my experience. Though on turbo's I typically will run Iridium's for the longer life. GD

They are 10 x 1.25..... you will not find them under most metric listings. They are known as "JIS serrated flange nuts".... JIS stands for Japanese Industrial Standard - which calls for 6 x 1.0, 8 x 1.25, and 10 x 1.25. I buy mine from here: http://www.nutsandbolts.com/nuts-metric-flange-nuts-jis-c-35_195.html GD

The bell-housing unbolts from the 4EAT and you could change it to the EJ one from the old tranny. GD

What they come with when new is a tiny allen wrench shaped pin. It's just an L shape made from about 1.5" of hardened wire. A tiny allen wrench works just fine typically. If you drill the burr out of the piston hole you can also use one of the tensioner pins from a new-style Subaru tensioner - they are longer and have a finger loop in them. GD

Sounds like the timing belt went and caused mechanical interferance. Either the valves are bent and a head rebuild will fix it or one or more valves could have been broken off and have seized up a cylider or punched a hole in a piston, etc. When the belt was replaced did they do the idlers and the water pump at the same time? I've seen seized water pumps and idlers at less mileage than 180. I've seen water pumps go at 130 and idlers at 150..... the belts are very strong and usually do not break unless some other component causes them unusual stress. GD

Have the plug wires ever been changed? If not you need to do that first - if they have you should make sure they are OEM or NGK wires. Other brands have a history of not working well for members of this forum. Your engine calls for double platinum plugs. This is due to the innaccesibility of the plugs. NGK or Denso double plat's work well. I would swap out to those. Coil pack is a good sugestion - have you Ohm'd out your coil pack to see if it's showing it's age? Another possibility is a failing ignitor - it's in the center of the firewall - straight back. Has a 5 pin connector IIRC. You can try a used one. Run a compression check? I've seen strange things happen including loose cam sprocket bolts causing damage to the cam nose and advancing the intake valve timing..... compression should be no more than 185 to 190 and not significantly less than 150 but depends on your gauge, altitude, etc. A properly calibrated test at close to sea level on a good engine will be about 185 psi. GD

Replace the radiator. GD

Just about any parts house can order the edelman (or their house-rebranded equivelent) rebuild kits for the Hitachi's. No one will stock them - have to wait a day or two. I think I have one laying around though if you wanted it quicker. Either way they are about $40 to $50 locally and about $30 or so online. If I have one I'll let it go for $40. For the Weber - Discount Import Parts has them in stock. Several varietys from both Redline and EMPI as well as power valve kits, jets, air filters, etc. Much easier to get repair and tuning parts for them. GD

Yeah - '95 was a big facelift. They are essentially unchanged mechanically. There are slight changes but for the 2WD Auto you can use any 4EAT from 90 to 95. You could also likely even use a 2WD 4EAT from a turbo EA82 - which were made from '88 to '90 using the 4EAT in one form or another. GD