GeneralDisorder

If it's being forced out the top of the reservior - that usually indicates an over-pressure condition - either a bad radiator cap or combustion gasses causing the system pressure to increase beyond the set-point of the cap. When the cap opens the coolant is forced into the overflow and that usually is accompanied by a bubble of combustion gasses that stop the flow of coolant and over time (depending on how large the leak is - could take several hours of driving or could take 10 minutes) will cause the temp to suddenly spike. Pressure check is meaningless because the leak could only open when the engine is hot - I've seen engines that would run fine indefinately without a thermostat in place but would overheat when run to proper operating temp. The exhaust gas check is usually a better test but there's any number of reasons it could have failed that. The bubbles in the coolant are an indication of exhaust gasses pressureizing the cooling system. That is seen on almost 100% of these engines when then HG's let go. An air bubble will cause the coolant to stop circulating and could cause a blown head gasket, yes. The fact that the engine was rebuilt does not make any real difference and depending on what parts were used and how the work was done could make it MORE likely to have blown a gasket. Anything but the OEM gaskets from the dealer are prone to failure unfortunately. GD

Phill from Mizpah Precision is in need of "core" lifters for EA82's. He will pay $1 per core lifter off your rebuild order for each additional core lifter you send him. So, for example, if you send him 16 lifters (8 to be rebuilt, and 8 for his core stock) you will get $8 off your rebuild. Rebuilt price on EA82 lifter is $4.50 per lifter. Please contact him at: Philip Dreher Mizpah Precision MFG 11522 Bartlett Ave Mizpah, MN 56660 Phone:218-897-5922 Fax: 218-897-5905 Email: Mizpah@paulbunyan.net GD

Bubbles in the overflow . CLASSIC head gasket symptom on that engine. It will get worse. With EJ's - you pop out the vent plug, fill them till coolant comes out the vent, close everything up and you are done. That's it - no other burping or fussing should be needed. If it overheats then it's either leaking it, burning it - bad head gaskets. GD

Temp gauges spike when the coolant stops flowing. This is due to there being a big air bubble at the top of the engine - the water pump can't circulate coolant past the air bubble. The bubble is either air from a loss of coolant (leak) or it's combustion gasses. It's obviously not leaking out the cap if the reservior is dry so scratch that as a possible leak..... look around. If you don't find a leak then it's probably burning the coolant which is a head gasket failure. *usually* these engines push exhaust gasses into the coolant and displace it into the overflow bottle - but that's not the only way head gaskets fail - sometimes they will drink coolant. GD

Flywheel resurface is about $30 at your local machine shop - no real reason to replace it if you are going with OEM unless it's been resurfaced two or three times already. *edit* - just noticed you say it's been resurfaced twice..... I would go for a third but that's me. They don't take off much - usually .005" to .010" so three times would still be less than .050". Unless you have another reason to want to replace it. You could also go for a used one and have it resurfaced. GD

Head gaskets - pretty much a sure bet on that engine. Spiking temp gauge - dissapearing coolant..... yep. GD

Yeah - could need the governor plunger "dressed" so it slides more freely. Or it could just be the tranny is about to fail . The 3AT's are not renown for their reliability (by the usual Subaru "benchmark" of lasting 500k miles ) but seem to do pretty well if maintained regularly (every 30k or so) with new fluid, etc. GD

Your clutch cable isn't tight enough. GD

That would be pretty neat . Go for it and show us what you got. Would this be something that would come to market? GD

PM me - perhaps we can work something out on your harness needs since you are local. You should consider dropping by and checking out renob123's Brat - he will be here Sunday afternoon (that's the plan anyway). There's some things you can learn from his swap - start your "shopping list" based on some of the stuff he has used, etc. . GD

Getting the crank timing sprocket off can be a real biotch. I've dealt with fretted sprockets before - last one I broke two of the crank sensor tits off before it came off (not a big deal - plenty of spares around) - took 45 minutes of working it to get the sprocket off - that's with the engine out of the car on a stand . The key was shattered and a peice of it resides inside the sprocket to this day - sitting on a window-shelf-of-shame in my garage . GD

No - there is no transfer case on a Subaru. It's all one unit called a transaxle. In '85 they had both push-button single-range, and lever-activated hi/lo selectable 5 speed's. Yes - it bolts up with minor modifications to the driveline, transmission cross-member, and some swapping of clutch parts. It's definitely the most common transmission swap on the older Subaru's and is very well documented on this board - check out the retro-fitting forum and the USRM links, etc. It's been done by probably hundreds of members here. GD

NO SEALANT. OEM gaskets installed 100% dry - 12 Ft/lbs. Chase all your threads and anti-seize them well. Never seems to matter in my experience. Just install it and it should be fine. I've never paid any attention as most of the aftermarket clutch plate's aren't marked for orientation and most flywheel's have had the marks machined off . GD

The EJ pulley/balancer's are not an interferance fit - you should not have to use anything but your two hands to slip it over the crank nose. If it's not fitting then there is a burr or corrosion, etc. Inspect carefully. GD

The 4 speed is the only real weakness of that car (the Hitachi carb isn't great either - swap to a Weber 32/36 DGV ) - if you swap it to an '85 to '89 5 speed dual-range you can get half a million miles out of them with good engine maintenance. GD

When I did my first set many years ago all I had was a dremel tool with a carbide burr and a single-speed 1/2" drill that was older than my father. Patience and attention to detail is what is required. I drilled the holes - piloted them with 1/8" through the center punch and then 1/4", and then up to the lug size. Then I carefully beveled the holes with my dremel tool - I made a small 60* gauge from a bit of sheet metal with my tin snips and checked my work as went. They run straight and true and all my lugs are bevel-side toward the wheel . GD

As SW says - you don't need a press. And you don't even have to remove the knuckle from the car. Just remove the axle, drift out the old bearings (brass punch works well), clean everything and install the new bearings and seals. Then just reinstall the axle. Get your bearings from a BEARING SUPPLIER - not from the auto parts store. They are much cheaper and bearing suppliers know how to handle bearings - auto parts people are much more likely to drop one and then put it back on the shelf. For a couple dollars more you can get 6207-2RS bearings which are sealed and pre-greased. Usually about $12 each. You should be able to do the entire job for about $35 for the two bearings and new seals and it takes about 1 to 2 hours. GD

You have to get the car up high enough to drop it - I use 6 ton jack stands. The tranny's are pretty heavy so it's best if you can get a transmission jack - I use the harbor frieght $80 one and it works fine. I used to wrestle them in by hand but that's just too much frustration. Wrestleing the tranny out and in again is always a chore - this is why most of us pull engines for clutch jobs rather than mess with that transmission . Only time I remove transmissions is to replace or rebuild one. It's just that much of a pain. I can do them in about 4 hours. But I've done a lot of them. GD

Sounds like a ticking hydraulic lifter. An easy upgrade would be to install the '97/'98 solid lifter rocker arrangement and just eliminate them. Acceleration and a cold engine both increase oil pressure - thus the lifter doesn't tick when fully inflated. GD

They may not have surfaced the flywheel when the clutch was done before - leading to premature slippage, etc. I wonder it they also reused the clutch plate and only replaced the disc . Hhhmmmm It's sounding like the clutch job was hokey considering the price and the issues you are having. When *I* do them it rarely comes in under $500 for a full clutch job with new parts, resurfaced flywheel, and oil seperator plate (and occasionally rear main) replacement..... got to figure $250 in parts and then you know my labor rate. I'm cheap compared to most any shop so I can't see how they could have done a quality job for what you paid. Discount Import Parts - see how much a clutch is there. I'll make you a good deal on pulling the engine and installing a new setup. I have an EJ flywheel we can have resurfaced and ready to go in so there will only be an afternoon of downtime. GD

Transmission input shaft bearing - the rear one. Been there, done that. Find a used tranny (not hard). GD

I could see how it could add up to that easily. You have an H6 - that's going to be an expensive unit to maintain simply because there aren't as many of them - thus parts are more expensive from a supply/demand point of view and that engine is very tight to work on - especially around the spark plugs and valve cover area. Add in more labor for the oil cooler, etc and you are right in the ball-park. Is it a rip-off? Absolutely. But of course you have the choice of doing it yourself and it's going to be a frustrating job I'll tell you that right now . You'll spend an entire afternoon just getting the plugs out on your first go-around with that engine . GD

So what is wrong with the knuckle? It's a peice of cast steel and there's really not much that can go wrong there. Is it a wheel bearing problem? They take 6207 ball bearings (2 per side) - $10 each at your local bearing house. If the seals aren't nasty you can reuse them if you use a drift to drive out the bearings and push the seals out - or they are about $6 each. So what's the issue exactly? That car is what we call an "EA81" which refers to the engine. These cars are very near bulletproof - simple and cheap to repair and maintain. There is almost nothing on the road so simple and reliable in the light 4WD vehicle catagory..... GD

The ratio of time in storage to mileage for service and maintenance depends entirely on *how* the vehicle is stored. We had cold-storage procedures in the military that allowed equipment to be stored for long periods of time while suspending the maintenance program on it. An hour-meter would be most helpful to determine when fluids should be changed. As long as all trips the car is used for allow it to reach operating temp and stay there for a good 15 minutes or longer you should be fine. Short trips that don't allow full operating temp to be reached cause serious problems and a more rigorous maintenence schedule has to be adopted. GD

The term "spindle" refers to..... well basically nothing on a Subaru unless you are talking about the rear 4WD stub shaft that drives the hub from the rear axle. That is a spindle in the usual sense of the word. I can't see how that solid chunk of steel would have "failed" and need to be replaced unless you are also going to be replacing a lot of other stuff that got broken in the process of getting hit by that train...... What are you talking about? Front or rear? Axle? Hub? Knuckle? Wheel bearings?!?! No way to tell you what to do since that's not consistent with Subaru parts terminology nor does it ring any bells with my knowledge of machinery in general as it relates to a Subaru drivetrain. More info required . GD