GeneralDisorder

Hhhmmm - yes if you are in Europe it could have almost anything in it. I've seen pictures of that same body with a factory EA71 carb in it (Isreal I think ). But since you listed the *mileage* and the price is in $.... and it doesn't say "Leone" on the side..... I'm thinking you are in the states. And that looks like a very American Suburb to my American eyes. Especially with the convert. Mustang in the next driveway GD

Yes ABS is no good but PVC is ok for gasoline. (white instead of black). GD

They never fail. You should check the coolant cross-over temp with a temp gun - the thermostat may be sticking open. I've had this happen a lot on my parent's Ford's. All the EJ gauge senders are the same AFAIK. They are 1/8" NPT or BSPT and are on the coolant cross over toward the passenger side - real biotch to access them. GD

Under each cam lobe is a shim - it sits on the bucket - which is like an inverted shot-glass that sits directly atop the valve stem. This is known as the "Bucket and Shim" system. It's specific to the DOHC type engines typically. Other manufacturers use it as well - Subaru is not unique in their use of bucket/shim for DOHC designs. Some makers have gone to hydraulic buckets without the shim while Subaru (in 2003?) went to "shimless buckets" where the shim is now part of the bucket and when you do a valve adjustment you replace the entire bucket...... Clear as mud? And yes - if you so choose you in fact could convert to shimless buckets at this time. Though the cost is about $300 at the dealer parts counter...... GD

The shims are on top of the buckets - which are on top of the valve springs. They are there. Yes - bring the entire head - cams and all. They won't need the valve covers but all the rest, yes. GD

Can't really tell much from that quality of photo. The tiny details are what matter when you are talking about blown head gaskets - The key is to look for a spot in the fire ring where there is carbon tracking or it otherwise looks different from the "normal" look they have after being removed. This cylinder wall damage is interesting - I would lilke a more detailed photo of that if you can get one. This is more concerning than where the gasket blew out because it's unusual and the gasket blow-out is common and expected with the flawed original gaskets anyway. GD

You can do a "hand impact" using your 1/2" ratchet and a heavy hammer. Just let the cam spin - whack it repeatedly till the bolt spins free. Inertia will loosen it for you. Around my shop, we call techniques such as this "using the force". GD

The early tensioners compress in 5 minutes or less. 30 minutes is WAY overkill. You need to go slowely - as fast as it will easily *let* you go. But 30 minutes is rediculous. Leave the cogged ilder and lower smooth ilder off. Line everything up, install the belt and hold the belt in tension by pulling on it where the cogged idler runs. Then install the cogged idler, and then the smooth idler. Pull the pin on the tensioner and double-check your marks. When you have done a few it will take you about 2 minutes to do the SOHC belts. DOHC belts are a real biotch - they take like 3 minutes GD

You have two options - use an impact or remove the valve cover and there are some flat spots on the cam where you can put a wrench. Personally I just use an impact. GD

Your Baja engine is SOHC (unless it's a turbo). The 2.7 is the ER27 - it came in the 88/89/91 XT6 and is based on the EA82 but with two more cylinders. As far as engines - here in the US we have had: 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 3.0, 3.3, and 3.5 I haven't looked but it sounds like they aren't too far off..... No - 105k is the interval for your engine. With the 105k car - my opinion is a definite YES. Do you really want to take the factory water pump to 210k?!? On the older 60k belt cars I say every other belt. Yep - for $65 I'm not going to skip it..... Change both at 105k. I've seen factory water pumps seize at 130k. There's too many factors to estimate it but 100k to 120k is a good safe run for a WP. This is not a Fiat. Quality replacement parts are availible - for water pumps on Subaru's both Aisin and Paraut make OEM quality pumps. It's not a jeep either. Around here we all use the ebay belt kits (theimportexperts, or mizumoauto are my favorite sellers) without any problems. The rule is that if you use the aftermarket kits - replace everthing EVERY TIME. They are cheap enough that it's just good insurance. Subaru belts haven't been spec'd to 60k in well over a decade. It's been 105k since the late 90's. This should be in your owners manual.... GD

There are no rockers on the DOHC - just the cams. When you remove the cams the bolts will be accesible. 6 of them. It's best to have an engine stand so you can put the engine at a 45* angle to the floor - that way the buckets and shims won't fall out while you are loosening the head bolts. After you remove the head, reinstall the cams but don't torque the cam bearings or anything - the machine shop will need the cams and bucket/shims to do the valve adjustment when they grind your valves - they will have to take material off the stems. As a side benefit though the machine shop should be able to reuse most of your shims which will save you $6 each on those. If it had any piston slap you could replace the pistons with the coated one's that Subaru provided to cure the problem for customers that were annoyed by it and complained. But in the interest of saving money it's really not neccesary as piston slap is not a serious problem. If the rear main is not leaking - don't touch it. They typically only fail after someone replaces one. They are silicone and typically last the life of the engine. DO replace the oil seperator plate and bolts. Likely it will already be leaking anyway as you will have the plastic one. Cam/crank seals for sure. Cam seals will come out when you pull the cams anyway and you should pull the oil pump, reseal it (loctite 518) and replace it's o-ring. Water pump, timing belt and all components of course.... As for online dealers - here's the two I've used: www.subarupartsforyou.com www.1stsubaruparts.com Both are dealerships so both will sell the 4 layer gaskets - it's the only gasket availible for your engine according to the parts listings so you don't have to worry about not getting the right one. GD

Last I checked the American V8 from the 50's to the 80's needed a new timing chain and sprockets about every 100k miles. They get very sloppy and risk skipping much past that. Some of the more modern stuff is better, but the older one's are not going to last 300k - hell the whole freakin engine is just about shot at 150k on most of them GD

Search - it's been covered weekly for years. Search for "EA81 5 speed swap" or "EA81 five speed swap". GD

No - none that I've seen. EA71/81 pistons have no such markings nor is it discussed in their respective FSM's. I would go with what Gloyale is saying that it started in the later '80s with the SPFI engines. I have a set of unmarked SPFI pistons in my shed for a (someday) EA81 hi-po build so they must be from an earlier engine. IIRC it was an '87 FWD GL Coupe that I scrapped..... I was not aware that Subaru did this with any of the EA's - but then I don't mess with the turbo's at all and the later SPFI engines aren't really worth the trouble to tear down - if they have an internal issue I've always just sourced a cheap used engine. Such is the nature of the EA82 around my shop. I've had heads off but markings are usually obscured by carbon.... GD

I just wasn't that impressed with the EJ22 in the Brat (neither was Jacob). I mean - sure it was a little faster than the EA81/Weber and I'm sure it would be much more fun with torque cams, etc.... but it just didn't have the WOW factor that I half expected it to have. It was definitely an upgrade but the EJ18 would be 25 fewer HP and I can't imagine that being very amazing. Once we put in the frankenmotor with the torqe cams though - . Now it's got WOW factor. When you get on the skinny pedal the car LEAPS forward. It's so fun to drive that Jacob leaves his STi here parked in front of my house . Since I know they have 150 HP EJ20 N/A's over in AUS.... that would be the route I would go. I'm just saying.... if you are going to all the trouble then why not have as much power as you can reasonably obtain. The EJ20 would be basically the same amount of work. I suppose you could always do that later if you already have the EJ18 and this is a budget build. But these older EJ's are getting really cheap so why not drop a few hundred $ on some real power ya know? I suppose a carbed option would be interesting - but that's even less power than the SPFI/MPFI EJ18 I'm sure.... you might as well build a hi-po EA81 at that point as 100 HP is easily obtainable. GD

Yes you should definitely check out your battery and the current draw while the car is off as Ed noted - a bad battery can make the alt work very hard (the battery is the only device in the system that WILL pull every amp the alternator can make for extended periods), and a draw while the ignition is off will drain the battery and make the alt work hard at every startup to replenish what has been lost. I like the Bosch reman's. I've had good luck with them myself both on EA's and EJ's and even with the Maxima alts. I actually have not had one fail yet and I have three - two of which are used from the junk yard To test the VR sensor line and the output line, you simple run a DC voltage test (engine running) with your meter between the output lug and sense terminal on the alt and the main junction (positive side of the fusible links). You should see very little voltage drop across that run - 0.25 VDC or less. It's somewhat misleading how they have it wired from the factory - the sense line is only about 12" long and is crimped back into the the output line just downstream of the alt..... so if you have a big drop on one and not the other then the problem is at or near the alternator. If you have a problem on both then the problem is likely over near the fusible link box. EA81's are especially prone to this type of failure as the battery is way over on the other side of the engine bay with that wireing running down along the lower radiator core support near the ground and road salt, etc. With the EA82 and up they moved it to the other side so the run from the alt to the main junction is very short and you don't see this type of failure. Since you have a stereo, etc - you might want to install an actual "amperage gauge" - for those that know how to read them these are much more helpful than a voltage gauge. Ideally you should have both, but there's a reason cars used to have "charge gauges" (amp gauge) - the reason is two-fold - first because older stuff had generators and they wouldn't charge much (if at all) at idle. And second - the man of the house used to understand how to read one and what it meant GD

A few possibilities: 1. There is a voltage drop on the VR sensor line between the back of the alt and the main junction or between the main output lug on the alt and the main junction - this will cause the alt to pump the voltage up higher to compensate for what it thinks is heavy circuit draw..... 2. You are putting the belt on too tight and borking the bearings. It need only be tight enough not to slip - if it's old and hard that means it will have to be *too tight* for the longevity of the bearings so it's best to replace the belt and have nice soft rubber and keep it as loose as it will allow. 3. You are working the alt too hard - you have too many circuits drawing too many amps. In which case you need a larger alt and added wireing to compensate. 4. You are buying cheap reman alts and they are simply junk. GD

If you give it some thought.... the water choke actually tracks engine temp. The electric choke simply tracks with the choke heating element which depends on how long it's been on - it doesn't know if the engine is running or just the ignition is on.... etc. And even if you hook it to a tach-signal controlled relay it's still not tracking engine *temp* just whether it's running or not. The only drawback to the water choke is the extra hoses and properly routing them. GD

EJ20 or EJ22 would be a better choice - the EJ18 is somewhat lacking in performance though it's a slight upgrade to the EA81. The EJ20/EJ22 is more "worth" the effort. GD

Sythetic is amazing stuff - but it's sole benefit IMO is that it simply lasts a lot longer. Easily twice as long as typical non-synthetic oil. It resists heat much longer before breakdown. Unfortunately there's no way to tell when it's got to be changed without oil analysis so for the typical car on the road it's not worth the price when you are just going to go with X number of miles for a change interval anyway. It could expose gasket leaks but on the EA81 that mean valve covers and oil pan - which are not a huge deal to replace anyway and if they are indeed old and subject to leaking they probably should be done regardless of the type of oil you run. Either way those three gaskets are not a concern IMO as two of them take 10 minutes to change and the other about 30 minutes. Run 10w30 - that's the only thing you should be using. Having tore down many EA81's and other Subaru engines I can tell you that the clearances in the engine don't change to any appreciable degree - I've pulled apart engines with over 200k to find the bearings and crank still well within spec. The argument that "heavier oil will fill in enlarged bearing clearances" is simply not born out in the data I've collected - I would submit that anything (clearance wise) large enough to need a heavier oil is way too far gone to get any benefit from it and is sure to blow up shortly regardless of what you put in it. Oil that is too thick will cause accelrated start-up wear mostly. It won't do much when the engine is up to temp. Heavier oils in the SAE rating are mostly for things like Diesels where the bearing pressure's are much higher. The insanely thick oil will not hurt an EA81 when at operating temp - but that thick sludge will cause serious engine wear when cold. It's also best to avoid oils that have a very low "w" rating in comparison to their SAE rating. This indicates a higher level of viscocity modifier - which is basically little plastic cork-screws that uncurl as they heat up. It means less oil in your oil. So unless it gets down to zero degree's where you live (in which case you should have a block heater ) then you should run 10w. IMO just about everyone should be running 10w and if it's cold where you live then get a block heater - they are a whopping $35 from the dealer. GD

The '82 and up cluster's should all have the sensor built into the speedo head. 80 and 81 did not and the cluster is totally different..... where does this sensor you have actually go? I'm curious as to if you have found some kind of non-cluster related sensor, etc? This would be a find if it could be adapted to the 80/81 cars that don't have the speed sensor in the speedo head. GD

You don't want to leave the rope in-place while you are doing the timeing belt. The valves may need to be moved to line stuff up..... Seriously - there's very likely almost no rust on the crank bolt threads - it's just the edges under the head of the bolt that might be a little stuck. Just put a 1/2" ratchet on it and smack the end of the ratchet handle with a heavy hammer (3 to 4 lbs) - half a dozen hits and it's loose. No problem. I don't like using the bell-housing hole, etc - you could break something doing that. *probably* not - but it's possible. Best method is to use an impact or the "hand impact" as I outlined. GD

I use a 1/2" ratchet and a 4lb drilling hammer to get them loose. Works every time. The rope method is good, but takes longer than the "hand-impact" method. GD

Use the water choke - it's better anyway. GD

I buy all my kits from theimportexperts or mizumoauto on ebay. Great prices and both have always sent me quality parts - I haven't had a single part that I balked at from a quality perspective. My veiw on the aftermarket bearings, water pumps, etc is this: 1. The quality is probably not a good as OEM. 2. The quality should be FINE if you replace ALL the parts at EVERY belt interval for 105k belts or EVERY OTHER belt interval for 60k belts. 3. The cost to replace them all with aftermarket every single time the belt is changed is still cheaper than a failure or replacing them every belt change (on 105k belts) or every other belt change (on 60k belts) with OEM parts. This is the conventional wisdom around here. The price for dealer parts on all this stuff can easily run into the $600 to $800 range - thus we have developed these "rules" to forgo the high prices of OEM parts. GD