GeneralDisorder

Valve stem seals - probably not rings. Stem seals won't affect a leakdown test. GD

You have a vacuum supply problem to the heater control system as well as a burnt resistor pack for the blower motor. Pretty simple fixes really . GD

Yep - grounds and power supplies. Probably not the ECU. Ignition is handled by a seperate unit on the EA81T's - so I would say your ECU is missing power or ground, etc. GD

You can use any AC compressor including the one's that are used on Subaru's - you just have to know a bit about compressed air systems and how to build it. You would need an oil seperator and an orificed suck-back line to insure the oil stays in the compressor. And of course you need a check valve on the outlet side, and an air tank of some sort plus a regulator system to shut it down at an appropriate psi - at the very least a pressure switch, etc. It could definitely be done and someday I may build one - but I wouldn't sugest that most people try it without a lot of research - compressed air in the 100+ psi range can be very dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. The first step is to aquire your air filter, oil seperator, air tank, etc and then plan out your plumbing and mounting. Any good fitting and hose supplier should be able to modify the AC inlet/outlet flanges for use with JIC fittings and then it's a simple matter of some plumbing. Lots of commecial air compressors (mostly the rotary screw type) are oil-flooded and depend on oil-seperators and suck-back systems to insure the oil stays in the compressor. The york pumps are arguably not a better choice because the oil-flooded pumps will last longer and stay considerably cooler at higher pressure. GD

It's not the pistons that are the problem - on the EJ25D the valves interfere with each other, not with the pistons. GD

If you drift the bearings out with a punch and use them to push out the seals you can very often just clean them and reuse them. Unless they are cut, etc. PM me if you want to drop by my place - I built a pusher for these bearings, etc to make installation easier. GD

Just drain the tranny fluid and check the number of ring gear teeth with a flashlight through the drain plug hole. In any case you can always swap the rear end to a matching one if the tranny doesn't match the Loyale. I've had to do that several times to use a good working tranny in the car I needed it to mate with. GD

No - easily done with the engine in the car. Timing belt is good for 105k on that engine so no need to do it for another 20k. They don't fail prematurely like the engines of old - they are rated for 105k and will likely do twice that before breaking. GD

Thats's a good engine with low miles. I wouldn't worry about it. When they *do* leak they leak externally and the Subaru additive usually takes care of it for quite a while. GD

You are probably remembering the pre-'87/post-'87 FI distributor connector pin-out change. But definitely check them just the same as it's possible they are different. Generally speaking there is less knowledge out there about the '85/'86 setup because it was used for such a short time and most of them are off the road now. GD

You could just hard-mount it. Rubber is squishy and fails - and it's for nancy-boy's that can't handle a little vibration . With a little clever work you can likley use any EA or EJ mount. They are all pretty similar. I think EA82 mounts are the same or very similar if you just swap some brackets around. Did you check rockauto? GD

Electrical is a lot of fun . PM me if you like - I'll help as best I can from this distance. GD

No - while it technically can be done, it is VERY not fun and the issue is primarily one of cleanliness - you just can't do a good enough job of cleaning block surfaces, etc with coolant dripping out of the engine, and the chance of damage to the head or block surfaces or to the new head gasket durring installation is higher. Removal of the engine saves as much time as it takes and the end result is higher quality - also that oil seperator plate, etc is pretty much a deal killer for doing the EJ25D head gaskets in-car - why skimp out on a $37 part that will stop a major oil leak? GD

If you think it's lost power over the year..... has it had a valve adjustment? They are required every 105k miles. If one is missed you can count on a burnt exhaust before you hit the next one. GD

The mark is on the protrusion that interacts with the crankshaft angle sensor - look all the way to the back of the timing belt sprocket. It is not on the accesory belt pulley. The matching alignment mark is on the end of the crank sensor holder on the oil pump. Then the cam marks must also align - the marks are at the top of the intake cam, and to the right/left on the exhaust cams respectively. These align with notches in the rear belt covers. They also have two hash marks that align with each other (intake sprocket hash marks point to exhaust sprocket hash marks). GD

Yep - backfireing out the intake is a sure sign of valve timing problems. You put the belt on wrong. GD

You have blown head gaskets - I noticed you are in my area and I replace these often - if you would like some help with your problem I would be happy to take a look at it and give you an estimate, etc . Basically - the engine has to come out of the car - and there are some other services (valve adjustment, etc) that should be done at the same time. It's also an opportune time to replace leaking oil seperator plates and bad clutch's, etc. It is not a stuck air bubble if you are using the bleeder screw when filling it and the car is level or nose-up. With the bleeder out you just fill till it comes out the bleeder and you are done. If it overheats after that it's not due to an air bubble. 99.5% of the time - the symptoms you outlined are indicators of head gasket failure on that engine. It's very, very ,very common - so much so that these engines rarely make it past 150k (somtimes not past 50k) without blowing them. The good news is that the replacement gaskets from Subaru are excelent and the problem will never return. If you have not done so - you need to change the oil. When the engine is overheated the oil breaks down - this will contribute to rod bearing failure down the line. Then you will be looking for a new engine and you will be very sad Contact me - I can save you a lot of money and frustration. And if it turns out that you just have a more simple cooling system problem then it will be a simpler, cheaper fix - though I doubt that's the case from your description. My email: cropper(at)gmail(dot)com. GD

That has happened on an EA or two that's I've owned - seems that if you get water in the flasher unit (leaking windhsheild, etc), they will just stay on all the time. Annoying but easily fixed. GD

You aren't running it long enough - takes 15 to 20 minutes for the fans to come on at idle with the hood open. The vapor from the engine is from the work performed - pretty common with a head gasket job. Nothing to worry about. Watch the gauge - if it climbs *above* half shut it down. They will run at 1/2 on the guage all the time since it's a dummy gauge. Fans don't come on till you reach the set-point in the ECU for that to happen and first the engine has to reach operating temp, then the thermostat opens, and only after the engine drinks up all the cold coolant from the radiator and can't get anymore cooling from it..... only THEN will the temp rise above the setpoint of the ECU and kick the fans on. As I said - 15 minutes is not uncommon. GD

PS pump leak is more common on the EJ's - that's been my experience. The oil pressure idiot switch is not that common of a leak. GD

Some have seen it - few have lived to tell the tale . Marshal got to clean and organize it - after signing a gag order of course. He went home with several items to insure his compliance. A good dog never bites the hand that feeds . GD

I can talk on the phone, eat, smoke a cigar, AND drive a stick. I have not mastered smoking my pipe while driving a stick - that's still a few years off I would imagine. Either that or I need to start driving my "old codger" truck with the 4 speed w/granny - 35 MPH and you are in 4th from then on so it might as well be an auto. I think that's how all the old pipe-smokers do it . GD

Could have been replaced with an '86 unit, etc. Should still work fine. GD

Do you know what years the engines are? An '85 FSM would only cover the older (85/86) engine that uses a standard hall-effect distributor in conjuncion with a stand-alone ignition module that incorporated knock control (the "knock control unit"), which the '87+ EA82T's uses an optical pickup distributor that is the same part as the the SPFI/MPFI distributor but with a different connector. Does one have a vacuum advance and the other have nothing? That would be my guess. Basically that engine ran from '85 to '90 and there were changes over the years so the distributors had to change. There were only two types though and interchangeability within those types is fine regardless of part number if you make sure the pinout of the connector is the same, etc. GD

Yes - as Numchux says they are very simple. Obviously you will also need the EJ22T ECU as well as the changes he outlined. The turbo only added the boost control stuff and changed a few wireing pins. Also I will mention that the few wires which need to be swapped can be done at the ECU pins with much less drama than out at the actual sensors since many of those wires are sheilded, etc. GD