GeneralDisorder

Those 2000 to 2005 NA Legacy engines had the smallest oil pumps Subaru ever used - 7mm. Not great long term. These engines die from a lack of oil flow to the rod bearings - this is due to the engine block main bearing journals being opened up from thousands of miles of crankshaft flex and being made of soft cast aluminium alloy that has a similar density to Oak. As the main line clearances open up, they drop oil pressure and volume to the rods eventually leading to rod bearing failure. Subaru is well aware of this effect - take a look at the failed Subaru diesel engine - they knew the aluminium block main journals would never hold the cylinder pressures of a diesel, so they cut out the mains and made the journals from cast iron inserts that are bolted into the aluminium block. Alas they crack and this was the end of the diesel Subaru experiment. They were junk. 280k is pretty well done. Stick a fork in it. Without a main line hone it's a waste of effort. Best option if you want to keep the car on the road is a reman short block from Subaru for $2350 and comes with a 3yr / 36k warranty. Or a new short block - can still get those as well. Main line hone, while possible, isn't economically viable for a non-turbo block. GD

Since they are side feed injectors you can simply swap them around. Swap 1 and 3 and see if the kill test lack of roughness moves to #1. GD

For sure. I prefer the electric choke. The manual is fun to play with but it gets old and one tends to forget about it. GD

The 1985 EA82 MPFI, and I believe also the 85 EA82T used an electronic distributor with a separate knock sensor and ignition control module just like the EA81T. Good luck finding any of that stuff in the US anymore. It's all been crushed and is entirely unsupported with replacement parts..... of course so are the rest of the EA82 parts with things like engine oil pumps being essentially impossible to source. Hopefully this will result in the EA82's dying off eventually so we don't have to keep telling people they are a terrible investment and basically a dead end due to lack of parts support. GD

Why? You are already aware the Hitachi is garbage. Putting it back stock will never happen and even if it did you could just drill out the epoxy. But it won't - there's too many parts that can't be sourced for it to function in an "original" way. Vacuum valves, AAV's, and all the plumbing. Doubt it could be done and be functional without a pristine donor and if you had that.... just drive the donor. If you really want to plug it with a gasket, then TIG some additional material to the adapter, mill or block sand it flat, and cut a new gasket from a sheet of gasket material. GD

I would cross-reference the Subaru part numbers on parts.subaru.com GD

The coolant passage is connected internally to the cross-over inside the casting of the manifold. Plugging the rubber line does NOT stop coolant flow to the bottom of the carb. You ARE contradicting me and my recommendation stands. In MANY cases people think they have plugged off the port with the adapter and gasket only to find their engine hydro locked days, weeks, or months later when the gasket blows out because the overlap between the manifold and adapter was 1/16" or less. To ensure a COMPLETE seal EVERY TIME the port must be welded up or blocked with epoxy. GD

You have a serious lean condition. The two trims added together should be no more than plus or minus 5%. Here's the possibilities: 1. MAF is under-reporting airflow. Seems unlikely considering the reading from it. 2. O2 sensor is skewed and reporting a lean condition. Or you have a constant misfire - which is interpreted as a lean. 3. Fuel pressure is low or injectors are partially plugged. Resulting in unpredictable injector flow and the ECU is compensating by raising the fuel trims. Post a video of the engine idling. And do a kill test of every cylinder by unplugging the injectors one at a time. GD

The redline adapter castings are not all exactly the same (because they are castings and castings shift). In addition the Subaru manifold is cast and the port is not always exactly the same. So telling people they won't have to plug the cooling port hole in the manifold is irresponsible - some will seal with the gasket and adapter and some certainly will not. I have seen both many times as I've likely done more of these swaps than anyone else on this board. So - notwithstanding your enormous statistical sampling of one whole car, please don't contradict my advice on the subject and you can also stop gravedigging posts from 2 years ago. GD

The US never got an EA81 with a points type distributor. GD

I'll make this easy. Don't flush it. It's not necessary. If the radiator is original, just go ahead and throw that right in the trash. Order a radiator (Koyo), and new hoses from the dealer. If you really want to drain it all, pull the thermostat housing off the water pump. And pull the plugs off the bottom of the engine block. If the car hasnt had a timing belt in 10 years or 105k then it needs to be done along with the water pump. At which point all the coolant gets drained again. Subaru's aren't hard on coolant. It pretty much lasts forever or till the water pump shitz the bed. Manual..... what manual are you using? Let me set you straight on something - people that do this for a living (mechanic's, technician's, etc) don't consult manuals for changing coolant. We just don't. And generally you drain what's in the radiator and put in new. Whatever that amount is.... not all that important really since all the fluids we use are in bulk. It is what it is. And unless the coolant is REALLY nasty (like rusted shiz), changing 75% of it is perfectly acceptable to renew the additive package (zinc and stuff). Don't worry about the coolant. Worry about the radiator and the timing belt. Those are what's going to strand you. GD

You are draining the radiator..... Lets get educational: 1. What other items contain coolant but were not drained? Format your response as an essay. One page, college ruled, double spaced. 2. Write at least two paragraphs, in the argumentative essay format, convincing the reader that radiator flushing a 2008 Subaru is both useful and necessary. GD

You will have to source an EA82 carb distributor. The fuel injection distributor is not capable of running a coil. It is only a cap and rotor with a crank angle sensor in it - there is no provision for triggering the coil or adjusting timing. It would have been much easier and better overall to just fix the fuel injection. The old hillbilly carb swap trick is not the hot ticket here. Leave that for Billy Bob and his cousin Skillet. I suggest you put it back to stock and do the proper troubleshooting to effect repairs on the FI. EA82's did not use "points" distributors - In fact neither did the EA81. You have to go back to the EA71 of the 1970's to find an actual "points and condenser" unit. Same with the US manufacturers - which by the late 70's had gone away from points and to electronic solid state ignition. Exactly how old are the Jeeps you are working on? You might want to step back from the Fuel Injection or get yourself some education on the subject. GD

Inspect the distributor body for burr's. Should see a shiny spot where it's binding and that will tell you where to file it down. GD

You need to be looking at long term and short term fuel trims (LTFT bank 1, STFT bank 1). It's not going to show AFR. It has a narrow band O2 sensor which is going to dither between 0v and 1v - typically they will cross 0.5v every second or two and bounce between 200 and 800 millivolts. This is called closed loop. The fuel trims are what the ECU is adding or subtracting to accomplish closed loop. Timing jump when idle drops is a result of the stall saver logic - adding timing speeds up the engine. No. None of this live data interpretation is in the service manual. It's a skill you learn (sometimes in school) and that is honed over many years of experience and tuning. GD

You need an OBD-II scan tool. MAF grams per second. GD

3AT's are complete garbage. Unfortunately it's likely toast. GD

What are your fuel trims? What is your MAF G/s and voltage at idle? GD

Correct - the thermostat is a form of wax motor. It is surprising how many people do not understand the basic operation of components like this. Then they go and make themselves look really dumb on YouTube. GD

They overheat when the combustion gas bubbles collect on the thermostat and cause the thermostat to close. Varying throttle conditions and driving angles means this happens differently. And the amount of coolant that's in the system has an effect also. It is generally expelled into the overflow bottle with combustion gasses when the system pressure rises above the cap's pressure rating - venting gasses and coolant - eventually leading to cavitation in the water pump. It's all academic though - you definitely have a bad head gasket. The mechanic is correct. If you want to fix it permanently you need to install 251 pistons and STI 770 gaskets. GD

Very unlikely that an old Subaru is going to be an "investment". Even the most valuable old Subaru's - typically the pristine low mileage Brat's, etc - only fetch about $10k. Not very impressive in the scheme of automotive investments. I expect my 1984 GMC Jimmy (K5 Blazer) will be worth $25k+ within the next 10 years. Being I have $5k into it - that's likely a 500% ROI. An old Subaru is likely to have cost more than it's worth by several times over during it's lifetime. The net profit will be negative after you consider the purchase price and all repairs over it's lifetime. It will not be an investment at all. Especially the most common of Subaru's - the station wagon. They are not what people are looking for - sure some people are, and some have fond memories of their parents EA82 they grew up in, etc. But those people will be few and far between compared to more popular and memorable vehicles like sports cars, lifted trucks and SUV's (4x4's), etc. The relative numbers that are available (they are still common), and the lack of demand means there's a surplus of supply - driving down the values. And when people look into owning one they find they can't get parts and service for them - further reducing their viability for collecting - vehicles in this category aren't collected for their rarity or their performance, etc. They are only collected to be used. The types of vehicles that attain great value are pretty easy to recognize - they are rare, or sporty, or unique, or iconic. Trust me no one is really looking for a Chevy Citation, an 80's S10 truck, a Ford Granada, a Celebrity Station Wagon, or an endless number of other vehicles that are just forgotten history. Why? Because they weren't special. The Subaru EA82 station wagon is not special. And will never be worth anything with the exception of a handful still out there that are basically unused with just a handful of miles on them. Anything with more than 50k miles will be essentially worthless. GD

That depends on who you are - what your skill level is, and what your purposes are for the "old car" Owning, driving, and wrenching on older cars, being part of my professional career, has not cost me a dime. It has made me a fortune. My "old cars" are like business cards. They are rolling billboards for what I do. GD

The heads are completely different and very odd. The EA81T heads have injectors mounted right on them. They are nigh impossible to find. Also Turbo Brat's were only made in 83 and 84. Not made in 86. GD

Better make sure it's not the wiring harness to the valve body. Are you absolutely sure they ruled that out? GD

The battery indicator shows if the voltage potential is higher at the battery OR the alternator. So a poor connection, bad alt, or bad battery could do it. Generally though if the light goes out at higher rpm it's the alt. May have just been light corrosion on the slip rings that will wear off as it runs. GD