GeneralDisorder

I recently did a clutch for an older gentleman in a '90 Legacy. 250k on the original (he bought the car new in '90). Driven by someone that knows how to drive a clutch they can last a LONG time. He also own an Audi S4 and several show quality vintage american cars so he's not just driving like grandpa - retired Air Force - in his 70's now. GD

Yes - headliners and upholstery are nicer in the GL-10's. Usually plush material like a Legacy. Even the sun visors are covered in padding and fabric. Insturment's do change - the DL's have no tach, no oil pressure, etc. GL's have all the gauges. GL-10's typically have all digital gauges and a trip computer. GD

Fluid.... oil.... same thing. ATF is Hydraulic Oil.... and gear oil. What's inside of an automatic tranny is *mostly* gears just like a manual - lots of manual transmissions run ATF these days in fact. Being a manual - you could use just about any 5MT from about '95 to even present day stuff. Even the 90 to 94's will work if you fab up an exhaust hanger for them or swap your rear output section over. You might need a matching rear diff depending on what it comes from but that's usually a simple thing to source either from the same car or from a member here on the board. It's probably either 3.90 or 4.11 - count the ring gear teeth through the drain plug hole with a flashlight. But it's likely that you don't need a tranmission at all - popping out of gear is usually a result of worn linkage on the 5MT's. It may indeed be internal - it's not the syncro's though. It would be one of the ball-detent spring's that holds the shift rod into proper location. Probably an easy fix if you open up the back of the tranny. They are pretty simple units. GD

You won't be able to see the modification to the bell-housing with the engine still mated to the tranny. If you can take a bright, clear picture of the flywheel from the timing mark hole I can tell which flywheel you have. Another way is to look for TDC on the #1 cylinder and see if it corresponds to the timing marks - and if it does - is there another set on the flywheel about 30* away from the correct set? That will indicate a 5 speed flywheel that has been retro-fitted. GD

That is correct. The primary fan on all Subaru's is on the passenger side of the radiator. Any fans mounted to the driver's side on an EA vehicle (be they mechanical or electric) are for the AC system if so-equipped. Non AC cars have only the electric fan on the passenger side. On EA81T's, EA82's, and EA82T's the secondard AC fan is mechanical. On EA81's the secondary fan is electric. If you can source one of these EA81 electric AC fans it can replace the mechanical fan on the EA82's. The mechanical fan is of the passive thermostatic clutch type and is not capable of sensing coolant temperature and reacting accordingly. It is purely for added cooling to assist when the AC evaporator is hot. GD

I've searched for a couple hours and tried a couple things mentioned in various threads but the information is scattered and very confusing - I'm not sure if half of the threads are talking about pulling the TCU codes or the ABS codes...... Anyway - I have a '95 Legacy with the 2nd generation ABS system (ABS-2E I think it is?). The light is on and I've checked and cleaned all the wheel sensor's. I need to pull the codes and find out what it's problem is - I've located the self-diagnostic connector and the two ground pins that are attached to it - found references to pin's 5 and 6 needing to be grounded as well as a picture of the pinout.... but I'm not having any luck with it. Either that is for the TCU codes or I'm not doing it right..... well something is wrong anyway. I'm looking for a clear explanation of what I have to do to pull the darn codes and a list of what they mean. My Haynes manual is of no use as usual since it says to take it to the dealer . The endwrench article on ABS systems is of no use either since I don't have an FSM to reference the pages they say have the info on pulling the codes and what they mean . GD

It's hard to tell from your description - are you looking for an automatic or a manual transmission? I'm assuming automatic but...... GD

That's an '87 4WD "STD" model hatch. It will be a 4WD, single range, 4 speed with an EA71 (1600cc) engine. Don't be scared of the 4 speed - that just means that 4th gear is overdrive (yes - they do fine on the freeway), and the rest of the gears are a little farther apart. It's not a problem - but you would eventually want a 5 speed for the dual-range 4WD option. Look for rust. The "oil leaks" are no big deal. Probably just pan and valve cover's - maybe a front main seal. It's 10 minutes to change the valve cover gaskets, 20 minutes for a front main, and about an hour to do a pan gasket. No big deal. That would make a very sweet offroad candidate - needs an engine and transmission swap but that's a great body to start with for a wheeler. A lot less electrical to worry about on the STD model (fewer gauges). You would want to add a tach and an oil pressure gauge at least. Price is right if the rust isn't bad. GD

No - for trim line badging in the US (for EA82's) there were DL, GL, and GL-10's right up through '89. There are no hard and fast rules as to what differentiate's a GL-10 from a regular GL. You could order all the same options as a GL-10 on a regular GL - at which point they would probably only differ in upholstery. In addition, the options included in the packages changed from year to year. The only thing you can get from the bading is a general sense of the how "luxurious" the car is. DL's have the quad sealed beam headlight arrangement and crank windows. GL-10's typically have things like adjustable delay wipers, premium uphostery, digital-dash, and sunroofs. But there just aren't many "rules" as things changed over model years and there's lots of odd-ball examples out there of cars that have many options seemingly beyond their trim level. My '84 wagon - badged as GL - had every option availible except turbo and 4WD - still wasn't a GL-10. GD

GL-10 typically means "most availible options". It does not always indicate a turbo - it's a trim level and so can be any level of trim higher than a GL. GL-10's existed before the first Subaru turbo and can even be 2WD's - there were plenty of EA81 GL-10 coupe's, etc. There were also GL-5's and other designations that were used. In Japan you could buy an EA81 coupe in a "GFT-5" trim. Lots of different badging was used in the GL days from the 70's to '89. GD

2WD or 4WD? Idle quality is probably a number of things - there's lots of vacuum lines so some leaks are likely. The stock carbs are notorious for weird idling issues as well as cold starting issues, and progression from idle to mains. Best to rebuild it or replace it with a Weber. GD

Same car - both are Loyale's in Subaru's terminology. They just changed the badging in '90 to differentiate them from the Legacy. GD

He isn't - it's an aftermarket case built by/for a Canadian company - you will not find it in any car. But for $45 he can get you the case and any delco 12si alt can donate the internal components for it. GD

The US didn't get carbed EJ's - no EJ distributors of any kind here. GD

It depends on how you wire it. You can set it up so it can be switched between the car and the welder. Most off-road setups will run fine on the deep-cycle battery for a short time (and dual battery's are cheaper and more redundant anyway). Depends on what kind of duty cycle you want. If you plan on welding for an hour straight it's probably a good idea to have a seperate alt - but for a 10 minute job it's no big deal. How much are we talking for a 160? Or how much for just the cases and then people can rebuild them with a high-output kit? GD

I do like the idea - with the custom casting that makes it a lot more attractive. The Maxima alts that I sell are just used one's that I've picked up, installed the v-belt pulley on, and tested..... you tend to see a lot of cars at the yards that have had recent component replacements - like alternators. I guess people try to fix them up and then lose the motivation. While I try to find newer one's and I test them, they still don't have a warantee. But a new AC-Delco Reman is $100 on rockauto.com and then you just swap the pulley over. Rockauto has them for as little as $72 after you get refunded the core charge. The $100 I charge covers the price I paid for the used one, shipping, and my time to install the pulley, etc. And even at that I haven't sold very many - people are here are tight-wads and they say they want one but the money never comes though. Point in fact I've only sold two of them. I think you should offer these in larger amp versions. Both for on-board welder setups, and maybe the occasional gigantic stereo that a few folks around here are intent on having. I don't think it makes sense for the 90A simply because the Maxima option is already there. I would consider something in the 150 amp range to power an on-board welder though. GD

I agree with both of you to an extent. Yes it's a bolt on - but the key for asis and for a lot of folks like myself is that it's not a bolt-on from a "major supply chain". IE - if you dissapear and no one replaces you in building these alts then your choices for replacement are either to rebuild it or to find someone that can build another one like it. The single-wire setup is a bad choice for anything that has much in the way of accesories - the remote sensor is there to insure there is no voltage drop at the main junction and the charge indicator lamp is very useful in indicating a problem with the VR. I would reccomend the three-wire optionfor anyone running one of these in a Subaru and the GM alts are already setup the same as the stock Subaru wiring anyway. As for the availibilty concern - either the GM or the Maxima alt can be had in a matter of a day or two at about the same price for the 90's through any of the major auto parts chains. In either case the original Hitachi can be used as a temporary spare in case of failure since both of them bolt on. It's down to a preference thing really. I prefer the Maxima alt personally for a simple, bolt-in solution to the weak 55 amp units on the car. Rick

Don't know what the comp. will be, but the manifolds will swap between the 1.8 and 2.2 so there should be no problems with that. You can change the comp. ratio some by picking the right EJ gasket. GD

Why? The Nissan Maxima alts are already 90A and basically the same price new as the GM units - they don't require any modification other than changing the pulley - they have the same dimensions as the stock alts and the wireing also plugs in. Now - if you were doing 120+ amp units - it might make more sense. But not for a 90. GD

As long as they keep a tow strap attached and coiled up on the hood so I don't have to go waist-deep to hook on. . GD

I won't dissagree with that. Mostly it's getting to be that they are just too old - difficult to find parts for since only two years of production are out there for used parts, and most are in need of having everything gone through. The ageing electronics, injectors, and sensors would have me on edge just driving around on the street - let alone bouncing around in the woods or mud. I wouldn't reccomend it for a wheeler just because of those reasons - the EA82T is much worse and I cannot reccomend it for a wheeler even with a decent parts supply out there for the later (87+) versions. And a straight EA81 with a modified cam and Weber or SPFI should come close to the performance level of the EA81T - without all the complex MPFI parts and turbo.... GD

Don't use any RTV on the mickey o-ring. Hardened RTV can clog oil passages and it should not be used around them. There are types of RTV that would be safe for this - Three-Bond makes some, or you could use anearobic flange sealant (very small amount) like Loctite 518, etc. GD

Sure - I got no problems gutting a cat for you. For off-road and racing purposes only of course . That's my story and I'm sticking to it..... I have also heard that Mountain Tech in oregon city is expensive - I know a few folks that have gone there in the past. I have never taken any car to a shop, never owned a new car, and don't see either happening anytime soon. GD

In a word: Complexity. Ultimately you want the simplest machine for a wheeler. The turbo's have WAY too much going on under the hood and that translates to a severe lack of reliability. And it's not just off-road either - they suck just being driven in a stock arrangment on the street. They have problems - lots of them. Too many to go into here - but you don't want one for a wheeler. Many an EA82 owner has *downgraded* to an EA81 engine because of all the complexity of the EA82's.... and that's the non-turbo's..... running the turbo's off-road is just asking for problems. GD

Not too bad considering it's most of what you would need for the swap. It's either buy something like that (which is nice that it comes with a warantee) or buy a wrecked WRX and then have to pull all that crap out of it. More work and no warantee. The reality is that swaps like this are expensive, and while it surely could be had cheaper - I think I would rather buy from a reputable importer and have a warantee rather than not know what I was getting. I have no experience with this company - I'm just saying it's definitely something to look into. On the plus side the EJ20T's from Japan are usually more powerful than the EJ20T domestic counterparts. Somewhere on the order of 260 HP vs. the USDM's 230 HP. GD