GeneralDisorder

I'm not 100% on this, but I beleive the bell-housing's can be swapped between some of the later EA71's with side-starter's and the early one's with top-starters. So, in theory, you could put the top-mount starter bell-housing on the later hydro lifter engine and have a compatible setup. And before someone asks - no, you can't do this with an EA81. The top-mount starter bell-housing won't fit the EA81. GD

Axle (CV) strength is directly proportional to the angle and speed they are run at. They are strongest at 0 degree's and weakest at their max angle. The joint at the diff is not the problem - you can easily replace those with u-joints in the rear. A set of modified Z car axles could be used and are proven on the Baja circuits at upwards of 20" of travel. The front joints are a whole different animal. The compound angles required to steer the car require that a CV style joint be used. The trick is to run them as flat as possible most of the time. That will take care of 90% of the problems most people have. GD

The shifter on the push-button 4WD is a bit different than those used on the EJ series transmissions. The 4WD shift assembly uses a "shelf" that contains the pivot point for the shifter as well as the D/R shift lever for the older non-pushbutton style transmissions. If I were you, and wanted to use the kart-boy stuff, I would probably just switch over to the entire EJ shift linkage system. You would have to mount the rubber "sling" for the pivot rod but that wouldn't take a lot of fab work. Being that you don't need the shelf to mount the D/R lever to it shouldn't be that big of a deal. GD

Subaru already solved the stub-axle problem for us. The '95 and up diffs don't use stub axles anymore. They use a male axle that snaps into a c-clip inside the diff. Here's the problem with CV's in general - the higher the angle they are run at, the less torque and speed they can handle before breaking. Currently, one of the best designs out there that's readily availible and reasonably priced is the Porsche 930 CV joint. They can handle angles in excess of 45 degrees and are proven in baja racing with travel of 30" or more. You have two basic options - use the stock axles and work towards a portal setup that can yeild less stress on the stock axles and thus allow both higher ground clearance while running the axle flat as well as larger travel both due to the stress/speed reduction and the fact that you can flex them both up and down equally by running them near flat. Or, you can work toward completely custom axles using something like a 930 CV joint, completely customizing the suspension, etc. This doesn't change the stress factors and you still have the problems related to not enough gearing in the Subaru transaxle. You still have to take a running start at most things as there isn't sufficient gearing for crawling. Larger tires are only going to make this worse. To my mind, any solution that doesn't include better gearing either using a second transfer case or by running something like a portal hub at each wheel is not going to acheive anything more than what folks have already done. I did some of the math, and it would only take a 1.6:1 reduction at each wheel to dramatically reduce the stresses on the driveline and to still allow freeway speeds with a 5 speed D/R. Off the shelf sprockets and chain aren't difficult to source. It's just doing the machine work - cutting splines and building all the custom peices needed for it to work. This also allows use of the Subaru transaxle's because it still uses both the front and rear output's - most people are dissapointed by the divorced t-case setup because you end up eating the rear output gear set on the transaxle. GD

I guess I was about 21 or 22 at the time. Got an EA81 wagon for $400 at a dealer auction. Not exactly. No one in my family owned a Subaru prior to me. And my father never worked on a car that I can recall. He worked 35 years for a lumber yard though so I grew up no stranger to tools. He was a C-130 mechanic in the Air Force and I later joined the Army as a generator tech. I took everything apart that I could get my hands on as a kid. Used to fix lawn mowers and tillers as a young boy. Bought them for a few $$ each from the city dump. My education history is long and varied. Everything from Software Engineering to Industrial Machinery.... I get bored with stuff fast. I soak up information like a sponge but don't ask me to remember anyone's name. . It's got to be some kind of disease or brain damage - or maybe I just don't find "people" or their problems very interesting. ZatAoMM...... yeah. GD

Hhhhmmm - you can't really take a measurement of a crank journal effectively with a caliper. They won't give you a repeatable, accurate reading. Also the fit of the crank to the bearings (mains and rods) should ALWAYS be double checked with plasti-gauge. More than once in the history of engine rebuilds has a replacement part been mis-packaged. One oversized rod bearing insert and the whole game is lost..... The tollerances on these engines are quite close. You really need to measure crank journals with a metric micrometer. Trouble with sae measureing devices is they measure typically down to .001" - which is larger than .01mm.... metric mic's and dial indicators are actually more accurate (and typically more expensive here in the US) than their sae counterparts. A metric mic., telescoping gauge set, and plasti-gauge should be on the "must have" list for rebuilding these engines. A bore gauge is nice too but an inside mic. will also do the job if you are careful. It is expensive stuff, but how much is it worth to only have to do the job one time? GD

By "long travel" - I take that to mean 30"+ *at least*. You won't achieve that with stock components. The stock travel of an EA series is about 8" to 10". You are talking at least Porsche 930 CV's and this is not just fabrication territory, You need a full machine shop at your disposal. I'm not going to the trouble of building something like that unless it's going to have a real good chance of surviving Paris to Dakar. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I can't do the concept justice..... yet. Which is why you haven't seen one roll out of my shop. Someday perhaps. But before I do a long-travel setup I'm going to build chain driven portal hubs. They would be the perfect addition to a Subaru. GD

And the guy only had the car since 105k. So the first 105k (presumably) was his sister. I only have suspicions... but there is a spot on the leather shift knob of my SS where the leather is nearly worn through - exactly where a woman's ring would sit..... 165k - melted cylinder liner (no joke!), blown turbo, blown radiator, blown heater core . Beutiful interior and exterior . GD

My problem is that I can't make a personal rule till I have fewer projects in the queue (which sometimes's has the tendancy to act more like a "stack") than the rule would allow. This point is never reached and I'm afraid I'll probably die with so many projects waiting that they won't be able to find my body for weeks. I need counseling..... and probably a flame-thrower. GD

Yeah - and it's how I drown out the rediculous shows the woman has to watch :-\. Why do we have to watch people looking at houses to buy (House Hunter's)..... I'm not in the market for a house and I really don't care what these strange people want or are looking at 3000 miles from me..... WTF is the fascination with the drivel of other people's lives? GD

No one capabale of weilding a screwdriver has ever given this car the time of day. I beleive the mileage. It *feels* right despite the failure's and lack of maintenance. The way the engine runs, cosmetic's, and just the overall presence of the car is inline with 113k. The guy I got it from was out of work, moving to a new place after living on a relative's couch, and didn't need the car as his other half was given a Civic or something. He had bought the car from his sister and had never registered it - so I have the title in her name signed off by him..... the guy was a total wreck of a human being - he didn't even clean out most of his stuff from the car - full of crap and about 3 tons of sunflower seed shells..... no, I'm 105% that no one ever changed the cluster on this poor thing. It was just abused. Amazing that it survived these people long enough to find a new home with me. Kind of like an abused animal from the pound I guess ... or maybe I'm the poor sap running the pound. GD

And I did fix a lot of it with used parts. But I don't do used clutch's, timing belts, water pumps, or axle boot's. No Beuno. I get pretty decent prices, but clutch, flywheel machine, timing belt/WP kit, and axle boots.... that's $257 right there...... add the fluids I've replaced - motor oil, gear oil, coolant.... some shop supplies. Hell I'm over $300 right there. You really feel good about using used stuff here?!? And selling the car?!?!? I put in a used tranny (two of them actually ) and had to change the diff to match - that was $200 from a board member (known history, low mileage, and came with diff to match - I consider that a good deal). Where are you getting u-pull-it transmission's for that cheap? Here they are $129 plus core..... I put on a used wheel bearing/knuckle from u-pull-it. Not a common failure so...... I will get two used tires but I still have to pay for an alignment. I don't think you could have done this car *right* for $300 in parts. At least not around here you couldn't have. I will NOT sell crap, and used wear items is crap IMO. This car is also going to a friend's daughter - as much as I want to make a big profit I won't screw someone over. GD

With enough money you can do anything. It's going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $20,000 to make it work properly and not just be a time-bomb. GD

Depends on how you lower it. If you lower it with a jack or transmission jack then you can push it to the left/right to get the axles off (after you drive out the roll pins). But yeah - remove the y-pipe, disconnect the driveline, the linkage, and the engine. Should basically drop out on the ground. GD

Well - it's 7:30 PM here in the great state of Oregon. Although it's true that I only sleep about 7 hours a night for some strange reason. I visit the board on breaks from the garage and from the laptop while watching the TV. GD

Well - it's sold. I have a few loose ends to tie up, but she liked it. Got her first lesson on driving a stick too . So now to fix the tires/alignment and do the timing belt/WP. Soon I'll be rid of this monster! There goes several weeks of my life I'll never get back Gone are the days you can buy an old Subaru for $1000 or less and keep it on the road for peanuts. Shame. GD

The front hubs are all the same across the EA81/EA82 4 lug stuff. ONLY the hubs though. The knuckle, axle, brake, etc are all different. But the hubs are interchangable. Check for spline wear, grooves in the lip seal surface, and clean cone washer mating surface. Pulling the tranny is not that hard - it's putting them back in that's the pain. Before you pull it - remove the drain plug and look at the diff teeth with a flashlight. After you pull it look for evidence of seal leakage on the input shaft and check for play in the input shaft. Then make sure it feels smooth and there are no strange crunching noises as you rotate the input shaft and go through all the gears. GD

As some of you have read in other posts concerning this particular automobile, I bought a '96 "L" series Legacy to flip. Got it for $750 with supposedly a "bad clutch". As the car only has 113k on it and books for over $2500 in this area I figured it would be a slam dunk. I completely underestimated this car. So far: 1. BAD clutch. Down to rivets, flywheel and pressure plate wasted. 2. Bad transmission. Blown 2nd gear. Drive and driven gear's completely eaten. 3. Bad transmission #2 (first replacement). Input shaft bearing wasted - cage cracked and inner/outer race has 1/4" of play. My bad - I should have more throughly checked it out. 4. All 4 front axle boots blown. 5. Bad front driver's side wheel bearing. 1/8" of play. Very loud. 6. Water pump leaking, overdue for timing belt. 7. Stereo was stolen, surround broken, cup holder busted. 8. Front alignment is WAY off and inside edge of both front tires is down to the belts. What is up with Subaru's quality? If this thing had higher mileage or was older I could see it, but jeeez. I'm getting real sick of this albatross. Cross your fingers - hopfully I sell it tonight and maybe break even GD

My experience has been that even when the dash gauges read "zero", if you install an accurate gauge you will get around 10 to 20 psi at a hot idle. It's just the resolution of the gauge and sending unit used by Subaru - it sucks. The oil pressure isn't actually "zero", but so long as the gauge rises to show a reading at cruise and when cold you can be pretty sure you have oil pressure. The ticking means you need to address the lube system. At the very least get an accurate reading on the oil pressure, and then go from there. It may be that you just need to run some engine flush or some ATF through the engine for a short time to clean out the lifters. Or it may be that the oil pump needs seals..... or it may need a new pump, new seals, new cam tower o-rings, new lash asjuster's, and a host of other seals that go along with doing that much dissasembly..... but it doesn't sound likely that you need to go that far. Cut it off at the pass - no amount of ticking is tollerable to me. I will go to ANY length to stop it. This mentality might seem crazy to some, but I'll be the one laughing as I drive by them on the side of the road. "ANY length" does not preclude using any and all EA82's that come under my purview as boat anchors - which is all they are good for IMO. GD

I have experienced rod bearing failure, and on the EA engines it doesn't sounds like a rod knock. It's a very gentle metallic noise - much like a ping. Only does it when warm and usually only under throttle. At the time I didn't know what it was. It never got worse as far as I could tell - till one day I was doing 65 MPH on the freeway and it got REAL loud for about 1/2 mile. Then the rod smashed through the top of the block. Guess which cylinder it was No. 3 is farthest from the oil pump and in my years here I've asked most of the people that have experienced rod bearing failure which cylinder it was - always No. 3 My vote is for a rod bearing. Wrist pins experience almost no actual rotation and they are VERY strong. I strongly doubt it's a wrist pin. GD

The front struts are adjusted up all the way probably. You will find the adjuster's on the lower spring perch of the strut. They are not supposed to be left "up" for normal driving as it will wear the tires unevenly. EA's do have a TON of camber when turned to full lock though. They characteristically wear the outside edge of the tire's in turn's anyway so having the strut's all the way up is just making it worse. You are otherwise correct though - there are NO adjustment's for camber or caster on the EA series Subaru's. Only toe adjustment. Later in the EJ series the camber is adjustable via the knuckle/strut interface and a cam bolt. GD

Fuel/air ratio is a BIG topic. It changes thoughout the RPM band. In general: Best economy: 15.5:1 - 16:1 Part throttle cruise and light acceleration: 13.5:1 - 14.5:1 Full throttle: 12:1 or less Stoich is 14.7:1 and that's where you will get the cleanest burn for emissions purposes. As for why there are different jets on the EA71's - they jetted the auto's different from the manuals, jetting changed over the years to match gearing, and the EA71 went through a couple different revisions including a "fat case" side-starter version and even some with hydro lifter's like the EA81's. Intake valve sizes changed, etc, etc, etc. Jetting a carb is all about tuning them for specific F/A ratio at a given speed, gear, and RPM. Unlike FI, carbs can't run perfect at every point in the RPM curve. There are trade-off's that have to be made. That said, the BEST way to tune a carb is with a wide-band O2 sensor. Unfortunately they start at about $250. Great tool though. You will always notice a lean condition more than a rich one. It will buck and jerk if it's lean, and it will bog and have a nagging power loss if it's rich. It takes a lot of experience to get a feel for tuning a carb with your butt - but it can be done. I've always done them this way and eventually I got a good feel for it - picked up a wide-band a couple years ago and after hooking it to my EA81 I didn't make a single change. Mostly I bought it for turbocharged EJ projects where the butt tuning doesn't work at all. GD

It's "normal" because there's so few people that can or will fix them so they don't tick. They tick because the lifters are not inflated. Don't add stuff to your oil - if it needed to be there, the oil refiner's would have put it there - trust me. The ticking can have a multitude of causes - do a search here on the board for "TOD" or "tick of death". It's been covered every week for years. GD

The big silver box (~8"x6"x2") bolted to the steering column. You have to remove the kick panel to see it. The LED is seen through a window in the side of the box. GD

1: Could it need a valve adjustment? Every 15,000 on that engine.... 2: If the cylinder's have been honed more than once, chances are good that you should be chucking that block in the recycle if it's anything major. Being an all-alumiunium engine, you can't bore them without a bore-plate that simulates the heads being torqued in place. These engines have a tendancy to spin liners if they are bored any other way. 3. Being it's been honed several times.... you may indeed be hearing piston slap as the skirts rock in the cylinder. 4. I have yet to see a wrist pin failure. Rod bearings are the most common internal failure. GD