GeneralDisorder

Defrost runs the AC which runs both fans. That's normal. Sounds like you caught the gas mileage problem with the CTS. I don't see a problem here unless you verify that the CTS wasn't the mileage problem. GD

I know what you mean. I'm laid off right now myself. You are right about the won't part. I think a lot more people could do the job if they only had some confidence and understood that it's really only a gasket - only thing required is basic hand tools, and a manual. Most people at least know *someone* with a garage. GD

That's out-of-this-world high. The parts alone *might* be around $750 if you used OEM parts from the dealer (some items should only come from the dealer). Maybe another $100 in machine work for the heads to be refinished. That's way out of line on the labor though. That's about a 6 to 8 hour job so labor should be no more than about $600 to $800. I wouldn't expect to see more than about $1500 for a head gasket quote, and that's about what you do see from the dealership's. Your engine has a good amount of miles on it, and those are known for other problems besides head gaskets - thrown rods, and piston slap (benign) are relatively common as well. If the engine runs fine other than the head gasket and hasn't been driven a ton with them bad - I would say go ahead and replace them. If the car is beat to heck and the engine is questionable..... replacing the engine with a good used EJ22 would probably be the better option or just parting out the car and finding another. The EJ22's can be had very cheaply these days. You lose about 30 HP but it's worth the reliability. If you can get the car up to the Portland area I could do the work - either way if you want to swap the engine out or do the head gaskets on the one it's got. I'm typically not the fastest with turn-around but drop it here for a week or so and I can make sure it's done right, with OEM parts, for a good price. GD

Yes - the clearance with the exhaust is a concern as well. You *could* fab heat sheilds but there's no reason to go with a larger filter so there's no reason to build those either. GD

That's perfectly fine. My response wasn't intended for you. It was for all the people that might read your post and get completely screwed up by it. Besides - you'll read it. You won't be able to help yourself. I took psychology as well.... GD

That is simply not true. The level of fitration increases as the filter absorbs larger particulates into it's filtration matrix. The smaller the filter, the quicker it will reach it's minimum fitration particulate size. It's a balanceing act. You want the filter to acheive minimium particulate size quickly and maintain it for the longest amount of time. Too big and you never acheive it at all before the filter is changed - too small and the filter plugs up before being changed. The filter needs to be the RIGHT SIZE for the application and change interval. You people just aren't listening. Read that last paragraph about a dozen times, then go sleep on it, then just step away before you stick your feet in your mouth again. OEM is the RIGHT SIZE. Subaru's engineering division spent plenty of time doing the math. Why does everyone always question the people that build the damn things? GD

Well - I don't know what to tell you other than changing the transmission just because you *think* it's the issue is the wrong way to go about diagnosing the problem. Shotgunning parts at the thing till it stops is both expensive and not very fun. I think first you should verify that the drivetrain isn't moving as a unit before throwing a transmission at it...... again if the transmission had enough play in it to cause a noticeable bucking of the car like that it would be VERY loud. I've had a fair number of Subaru transaxles torn down and seen my share of failures as well - none of them ever involved anything like you describe and some had 1/4" of slop in the input shaft bearings..... GD

Yeah that's not cheap - but worth it for a proper restoration and frankly probably not a lot more than they would be new from the dealer (assuming you could get them which I'm guessing you can't) anyway. Still - VERY nice. I would definitely consider something like this when I get around to doing the full restro on my Brat. Thanks for shareing! GD

You want a 5 speed from an '85 to '89 EA82 vehicle (any with that boxy body style of the late '80's but not the '90 to '94 Loyale's - no D/R on them). Yes - it can retain stock appearance on the inside. There is a member here that sells a kit for bolting them up - do a search for it. You also will need the clutch and flywheel that go with the 5 speed as well as it's driveline to the rear or have a new single-peice driveline fabbed up to the correct length for the 5 speed's. This is all covered a lot on here so a search is you best bet. GD

Could just be a carb adjustment problem then. That cylinder might be leaner than the other's and when you pull the plug wire it's just not making *as much* of a difference as the other's. Hard to troubleshoot without being there. You can adjust the stock carb's idle mixture with the needle valve on the throttle base - they are often blocked with a roll pin so you may have to remove or grind that away first. GD

I would have no issue getting you a pic but I don't have access to any two-peice EA82's at the moment - all mine are converted EA81's (and EJ's) and the tunnel/etc. is enough different that it probably wouldn't help you (and all mine have mounts that i've fabbed up so aren't stock carrier mounts). GD

NASCAR isn't in the buisiness of having engines last half a million miles - they are NEVER a good resource for how to run your commuter car engine - I get that you like NASCAR and wrestling but neither are real life my friend. Touting any race orginization as the reason for doing something stupid to your car/truck/boat/tractor is a pretty nieve way of causeing serious damage to your power equipment. And keep my engineering degree out of this. I have plenty of relevent education and experience in the field being discussed on this forum - the fact that I have education in a non-related field really has no bearing on this discussion. That's a personal attack and is not appreciated or relevent - nor does it strenghten your posistion. I've sited good reasons NOT to follow your examples with respect to filtration and frankly you have provided us with basically nothing in the form of evidence to the contrary. I've gone through entire training courses on filtration from the likes of Parker, Mann, and other sources that are a ton more expert on the subject than you or I. There is a LOT that goes into filter design and one does not go and change the factory reccomendation without DAMN good reasons. There is more at work than just threads and seals and relief valve settings. And NO ONE attempts to clean throw-away filters. That's plain dumb - they are $3 and both my time and the cost of the solvent to attempt to clean one are worth more than several new one's. Besides the fact that introducing harsh solvents to products manufactured with unknown adhesives and paper elements - big question marks arise about what it will/will not do to the inside of that filter. It just isn't done and to sugest such a thing to people that are asking for sound advice on how to maintain their car is bordering on irresponsible. Go ahead and do it if you want but don't tell others to perform such foolish acts. GD

I've worked on plenty of serviceable oil filters. The reason they went to fiberous, disposable filter elements is because they filter better and are a LOT cheaper to produce and easier to maintain. Cleaning those old filter elements is time consuming, troublesome, and messy - and it's near impossible (IE: Very, very expensive) to produce an element that will both trap 5 micron particulate as well as release it on demand - thus limiting their useful lifespan (yes - they don't last forever). Time and mess = money. A monkey can change a spin-on in 30 seconds. You would have to pay for 30 minutes of that monkey's time to clean the serviceable element. There are other reasons besides "it's a goldmine". In short - there are damn good reasons no one uses serviceable filter elements anymore. I'm not going into all the reasons why you shouldn't clean a throw-away filter (There's a short story there I'm sure), but mostly the solvent will stay in the filter media, break it down, as well as break down your oil. This is a REALLY bad idea. It's paper and it's glued together - you folks can do the math on that one. GD

Ah - well if you have spark then make sure it's strong and the plug is properly seated - then remove the valve cover and take a look at the rockers as you roll it over by hand. GD

OEM's are Nippon. They are made in Japan - they are blue, and yes they are small. Purolator might make one that meets "OEM" standards or they might even have the same parent company or something, but the parts store purolator is NOT the OEM filter. GD

I'm sorry for your luck and your families Christmas.... for sure that sucks. And it's true that not everyone has the resources to do it on the cheap. But part of owning a car that's out of it's warantee stage is dealing with the potential for breakdown's or repairs. Either by purchasing a warantee package or by putting aside money for the potential. It's really no different than buying health insurance for most people - you take your chances if you don't. Same with cars. There are things you can do if you can't afford repairs or warantee's to minimize the risk - mostly that involves doing a lot of homework on what brand/model to buy that is least likely to have a breakdown in the first place. The Phase II EJ25 is typically not that bad but the head gasket issue is well known and should always be dealt with premtively or at least money set aside for the repair as it can happen just about anytime on those. GD

If you aren't buying the Nippon's from the dealer then the only brands I would even consider outside of that is Wix or Napa (rebranded Wix). I'm sure MANN also makes a decent one though I have no idea who would carry it. GD

Is the plug all the way into the hole? If it's cross-threaded it could hold the plug back from getting good spark to the fuel. The compression number is good. Unless it's an automatic, then you have solid lifters that require adjustment. Make sure the exhaust valve isn't stuck closed (bent push-rod) or something. What makes you sure this cylinder is dead? BTW - these aren't much like VW engines. They are basically an updated, 1950's Lloyd engine. GD

Very nice! What type of places should a person look for to do this type of restoration work? I know some places that do chrome and such but I doubt they would take on something like a Subaru badge..... And what does something like that cost? GD

A larger filter, at the lower change interval's that are commonly in use (3,000k miles, etc) will never reach a state where it filters down to it's potential. A filter that starts out as a 25 micron filter can reach a saturation point where it will filter to 5 micron's for quite a long while. It takes time and mileage for this to occur and thus the filter change every other oil change. If you change out the filter all the time or use large filters that never reach saturation you will never get to the point where it filters to 5 micron. GD

Yeah - really not a big deal at all. "Head Gasket Job" has been interchangeable with "boodogle" for some time now - it's really not that big of a deal - it is just a gasket after all. Especially these as the engine's are otherwise very sound and rarely overheat due to these leaks unless totally ignored. GD

What he's saying is that with a larger header you will lose effeciency and gas mileage. You lose scavenging which is important for non-turbo engines. If you want sound, performance, etc - you will lose effeciency by changing the header. Just pull the muffler off and put on a straight-through. Will be plenty loud due to the unequal length stock header anyway. GD

Run a d-check and see if you get any codes. I suspect you may have a leaking injector - flooring the pedal while cranking puts the computer into "flood clear mode" and will basically shut down the injector. Might want to clean the IAC as well. GD

No - get your filters from the dealer. They are supposed to be small. The size of the filter has little to do with it's filtration ability and if you change the filter every 15,000 miles (oil every 7500) per the book you will be fine. The filter actually gets better as it ages and that won't happen as quickly with a larger filter media. GD

I own a '91 Sport Sedan (5MT). They *can* be reliable. There are a few trouble spots - the upper water tank nipples are almost always a problem at this age, and you will want to replace EVERY coolant hose on the car if you want daily driver reliability - the turbo's are extra hard on the cooling system. The stock exhaust is very restrictive - plan on upgrading it. An upgraded, free flowing exhaust is easily worth 15 or 20 HP without changing anything else. They have no intercooler but benefit from one greatly - the added cooling will extend the life of many components and the engine as a whole as well. Plus it's good for a bit more power. The mileage frankly sucks. I've driven trucks with better mileage. I average 16 to 18 MPG. I don't drive like grandma and it's not my daily so if you keep your foot out of it mid 20's are possible - but what's the point of owning a turbo then? As other's have stated - the Automatic's, while reliable, are really a waste of this beautiful engine. I wouldn't own one with an auto. If you buy one - plan on going through the entire cooling system (about $200 in hoses), replacing any hardened hoses in the PCV system, etc, the knock sensor (they crack), doing the brass-nipple mod to the upper water tank, timing belt, tensioner/idler bearings, cam and crank seals, water pump etc. These engines are fairly valuable these days and it's often the case that the engine will cost more to replace than the car cost in the first place. It may sound like a lot (well - it IS a lot - probably $800 to $1000 to make one a reliable daily), but it's better than being stranded somewhere. Turbo's are finicky creatures and must be given a lot of parts and time compared to something like the EJ22E. The manual transmissions often suffer from syncro failure past 100k miles so it's fairly common to see people swapping in WRX transmissions. The stock unit's won't hold much over 250 HP either so people often rip gears out of them after a couple mods bring them up to WRX performance levels. GD