GeneralDisorder

"forward block of the strut mount"?? I'm not following.... perhaps if you post a picture. I know the EA82's use a three-bolt strut top - are you saying the strut tower itself is starting to crack at the forward hole? Do you have seperate blocks for each strut bolt? If so the fix is to make new strut lift blocks that incorporate the three mounts into a single 1/4" thick plate..... and of course weld up the damage thus far before installing it. You need to spread the load out as currently the stress fracture is probably because the weight is on that one more than the other two. GD

I don't pull them - probably because in the vast majority of cases I'm just doing the HG to get the car on the road. The EA82 falls into the same catagory as a camry or a civic to me. Those engines are dead in my eyes and I don't spend the meticulous hours on them that I would contribute to an EJ22T or an EA81 etc. That's not to say that I don't do the job right - I am meticulous when it comes to the soundness of the repair - I'm just not going to steam clean the thing, media blast, paint, etc. I pull the intake and exhaust, radiator, accesory belts and timing set. Then I pull the rocker covers and carefully remove the cam towers making sure to note the posistion of the rockers. I cut a peice of cardboard and make 8 X's with a utility knife and arrows to show the front of the engine with a sharpie. I insert the rockers and the lifters in pairs into the X's in the cardboard and set the whole thing aside. I then pull both heads and inspect. If they need milled I have that done. I generally lap the valves and replace the stem seals. I wire wheel every bolt, chase every internal thread with the appropriate tap, and test fit every one to insure they are smooth and will torque properly without binding. I prep all the surfaces by hand with a razor blade and brown scotch-brite. I properly prep the intake and exhaust manifold nuts/bolts - dissasembling any studs that have frozen to the nuts and wire wheeling as appropriate. I wire wheel the intake and exhaust flanges. When all the parts are prepped I begin assembly. I lay everything out on clean shop rags and take inventory. I jack the engine off the cross member on the side I'm working to assure no coolant is present at the HG mating suface of the block. I install the head gasket and head (no coatings on the gasket or surfaces - just clean and dry). I torque the bolts in the proper order making sure the bolt threads are oiled and there is no binding. The procedure is done in three steps ending at (IIRC) 65 Ft/lbs - this is about 5 or 7 lbs over the book reccomendation and I do it to avoid the need to retorque them after a run-in. It has been my experience and other's here on this board that this works well. That's pretty much it - you reassemble the rest, time the thing and dump in some coolant. I have yet to have one fail after doing a HG job. It does take me longer to do it than most people because I'm extremely anal about my work. But on the EA82's I don't go to the trouble of cleaning things that don't affect the job I'm doing. I scrape enough gunk off to do the job and that's it. I suspect in the future I may never do another one unless it's for a friend - I won't own one and I doubt I'll be accepting any for free except as 5 speed donors - to the scrap heap with the rest of the blighted thing. GD

That is true, but as far as size they are all the same. The baffling isn't neccesary as you can overcome the same problem with a surge tank - a lot easier than finding a turbo tank and you don't have to change the tank (really not a pleasant job). Unless of course you need the 4WD diff clearance - then you are changing the tank - have fun with that dirty job. Not one I'll be doing again if I can help it. GD

Drain the tank (the bolt on the bottom of the tank). Then remove the fuel level sender (carefully as the studs can break off) and look inside. If it's a mess in there (rust, etc) then just replace the tank. You'll have to pull it to have it cleaned and there's just no reason as there's plenty of good tanks to be had for cheap here in the NW. GD

It is not the same as stock if you don't have the exact same diameter hoses as stock. When you are talking about flow rates and directions, hose diameter plays a huge role. Often in vacuum systems you have to carefully "tune" the system by use of very accurate "orifices" that are inserted to restrict flow rates at certain points. I have explained how the system works in other threads and it's tireing to do it over and over. Do a search for "PCV" and my user name and I'm sure you'll find it. GD

The hatch is no different than any other post-82 EA81 4WD. They are all the same. I have never had any trouble getting the right parts when you ask for the the right year. It's a 225mm disc. Try Discount Import Parts on McGlaughlin Blvd. And of course the dealer can get you a kit easily. GD

You don't want a BOV - it will reduce your performance between shifts (closed throttle). The stock BPV is much more efficient. The only reason people install BOV's is for the sound. GD

The first one you got was for an EA82. The second was for an EA81 2WD or 80 to 82 4WD's You need a clutch for an 84 4WD. GD

I suppose since I'm the closest thing to a resident expert on the feedback carbs I can take a crack at giving you a rundown of the system. The feedback system incorporates primarily only two sensors (although later EA82 systems used more). The primary sensor it uses is the O2 sensor (narrow-band of course). Ancillery to that is the coolant temp sensor. Beyond the sensors there are two duty solenoids that control air-flow to the air-bleed's of the carb. The duty solenoids operate in a continuous feedback loop with the O2 sensor - the computer interprets a rich or lean signal from the O2 and uses a sqaure wave signal to rapidly turn the duty solenoids on and off. The frequency with which they turn on and off determines the amount of air allowed through them and to the air-bleeds in the carb. Carefully setup, it can control the air/fuel ratio surprisingly well. Unfortunately there are many drawbacks. For one the jetting of the carb has to be set rich so that the duty solenoids can lean it out by restricting flow. When they cease to function or are removed the result is horrible fuel mileage. Additionally, repair parts and obscenely expensive and it really doesn't perform that much better than a standard non-feedback carb. Maybe 1 or 2 mpg - if that. Besides the direct problems related to the system, the fact that they used the exact same carb on non-feedback models means that the whole lot of them are built with these metering ports for the modification of the air-fuel ratio. On the non-feedback models they are still used! The system is complex and uses vacuum valves to direct airflow through the metering ports under different throttle conditions. Basically what I can tell you after many years of messing with these carbs is that eventually my understanding of them led me to toss them all in the dumpster and go with better forms of fuel management. First the Weber (which is nice and simple), and more recently I did a whole write up about converting the EA81 to run on the EA82's throttle body fuel injection. You can read it here: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html GD

It would do a lot of harm - but not much *more* harm than your current system which is not doing the job either. The goal is to remove blow-by gasses from the crankcase - in the old days this was done with a road draft tube, but that became unacceptable with the environmental movement. The PCV system needs a directional flow - in one head and out the other then to the PCV valve. But you need a smaller diameter hose between the second head and the PCV valve going back to the air filter in order to break the high vacuum and prevent oil being sucked into the manifold. GD

For the most part I really don't like RTV. Properly prepared mating surfaces rarely need it and the OEM gaskets don't call for it for a reason (they are graphite impregnated and the RTV defeats the purpose). Especially in places that can come into contact with gasoline as RTV melts when exposed to gas. It's great for turning cork gaskets into psudo-rubberized gaskets as the biggest problem with the cork is that over time it absorbs oil, which eventually carbonizes and turns the gasket to an oily, hard, shrunken mess. RTV stops the absorbtion of oil and provides a decent sealing surface so it's great for that. GD

There are two temp sensors - one for the gauge and another, entirely seperate sensor for the fuel injection computer. You need to run a d-check and see what codes it pulls. GD

Maybe if you had 220v and an electric motor that could do 80,000 RPM. Otherwise no. It's a gimmick. It won't do anything. GD

People have succesfully gone to 10 psi boost with an intercooler (it doesn't have one stock). But you still risk head and head gasket failure. Here's how the EA82T stacks up: 1. The reliable HP limit seems to be about 150 HP. In the 80's Subaru did build some race versions that reached 175 HP used for rally in europe - but as with any race prepped version it got rebuilt often and no one expected it to hold up to long term abuse. They also had access to many custom peices that are no longer available. 2. The head and head/block interface are the main problems. First the heads are thin in the area between the water jacket and the exhaust port - being that both cylinders exhaust into the same port you tend to see sustained high temperatures in that area and as a result they crack. The crack extends from between the valves down into the water jacket and they blow coolant out the exhaust or drip it in the ground. Subaru built three generations of heads trying to fix this problem and never adequately solved it. The solution was to phase out the engine when the new EJ series was ready for production. Second - because of how wide the engine is (due to the overhead cams being an afterthought to the big-picture of the engine design), it would be impossible to remove the heads from the vehicle if Subaru had used studs to secure them. Thus they used bolts. The block is aluminium and the torque values that can be acheived using bolts is insufficient to hold the head gaskets at anything above 10 psi boost. Want to install studs you say? You have ARP on the line you say? Unfortunately they are going to have a price you won't like. Subaru used a very oddball thread size and pitch - 11mm x 1.25. You can have them custom made - about $800 for a set. Third - even if you solved this problem the heads flow so poorly that you still wouldn't break the 200 HP barrier. The design limitations of the engine are just too great. People that have gone this far have broken rods and collapsed ring lands trying to get more power out. And if you *did* somehow manage to reliably get to 200HP - the transmission wouldn't hold the power. Anything over 200HP and the EA series 5 speed will just disintigrate. If for some reason you really wanted it, here's the formula: Forged pistons Forged rods ARP head studs O-ring the block Port the heads The problem is really the cost. I can buy several EJ engines that will have more HP with NO modifications for the price of building one Hi-Po EA82T. And you still have an engine with 3 main bearings, poorly designed dual timing belt system that rarely lasts over 50k miles, and a huge headache to work on - especially now that you have put studs in the block and have to yard the engine out to pull the heads For comparison, my 91 EJ22T (2.2 liter single turbo) was 165 HP out of the box. With only exhaust and an intercooler I'm somewhere around 200 HP. Plus the EJ's have the advantage of a considerable aftermarket in the WRX's and STi's. I can buy almost anything my heart desires and my engine is easily capable of 600 HP+ if I wanted that. GD

XT6 rear sway would be the largest diameter availible in that style. You do have to weld the tabs on for the bar. Make a set or cut them off of another set of trailing arms. GD

Yeah - it's going to break - no question about that. To put it in perspective.... if I (or anyone else around here that knows EA series engines) were to purchase an unknown EA82T and wanted to put it into daily driver type condition it would probably take around $1000 in parts and many hours of labor to put it up to spec and be reasonably certain that it wasn't going to leave me stranded. They had undersized cooling systems and the first thing that must be done is replace the radiator with a dual-core and change every hose (there's a lot) in the entire engine bay. Keeping them cool is paramount as the heads and head gaskets will not take even a single overheat at their age. A full reseal of the engine would be in order if DD status were to be assured. Pull the engine - replace head gaskets with fel-pro permatorque's, and replace every other seal on the the thing. New oil and water pumps, new timing belts, and all new tensioners and idler. You WILL NOT get away with anything less than a full engine pull and reseal with new accesories. Really you would probably be lucky if you didn't have to replace the heads with some Gen III's - they tend to crack. Basically with any EA82T purchase you are lucky if you get a runnabl short block (and that is by no means assured). You have to figure the rest is garbage or the rest WILL be garbage when something goes south. Best option is to yank the engine and install a newer Legacy engine without the turbo. More power - no problems. GD

Interesting. You might have a bad vacuum brake booster. Try doing the same thing but using the E-Brake instead of the brake pedal and see if it still does the low idleing thing. If it doesn't I would be willing to bet your brake booster is leaking. GD

I had one of my EA81 Hitachi's stick almost completely closed about a dozen times before I finally figured out what was going on. It would happen anytime - at a stop light or cruising down the freeway - hot, cold.... didn't matter. Finally replaced the crappy aftermarket needle and seat that came in the rubuild kit that I had used with an OEM set from another carb and the issue never returned. I would say there's a good chance you are having a similar issue. Just one of the reasons people have come to hate the stock carbs. Also because they are gutless and a waste of perfectly good aluminium..... but I digress. GD

Right on - hope it works out for you. Don't expect a lot of reliability from the EA82T though. More than one person has had to seek professional help due to the communist gnomes making weapons inside their turbo engine. GD

Sometimes. They are made transparent so you can see the element inside them. If the fuse is blown there will be a break in the element and often a burnt looking spot on the plastic. You can also check them with a circuit tester - that's just a probe with a light bulb and a battery that will light up if the fuse is good or not light if it's bad. You can pick up a circuit tester at harbor frieght for less than $5. Very useful for things like this. Well - it does two things. When the engine is cold, gasoline (which only ignites as a vapor) tends to condense into liquid droplets (which do not ignite) on the cold cylinder walls. Much like moisture from the air condenses on the outside of your cold beer can. Same effect. Until the engine warms up and this condensing of the fuel ceases, the engine needs extra fuel to compensate for the condesation losses. The choke provides this extra fuel by restricting the air supply to the carburetor. Think of the carb as a metering device for fuel and air - the engine's vacuum sucks in fuel and air through the carb and depending on how the carb is setup (jetting, etc), the posistion of the throttle (gas pedal), and the posistion of the choke, you will get different ratio's of air to fuel. Ideal ratio's for combustion are around 14.7:1, but when the engine is cold it may need 10:1 or less for proper operation. Thus the choke restricts air flow and thus decreases the ratio of air to fuel. At the same time it also increases the idle speed to insure the engine warms up in a timely manner and runs smooth durring the warm-up period. It is an elecric device and so is provided 12v from one of the fuses. It may not immediately be clear which fuse operates the choke so I reccomend you check them all to be sure. Is that with the parking brake on or with your foot on the brake pedal? GD

Yep - that's how I remember it working. I do have a cherry picker and often an open bay in my garage for stuff like this. In the future if you need a hand and a place to work send me a PM and we'll talk. It wouldn't be the first time I've had someone's dead rig in my garage GD

It's actually quite easy with the engine in the car. I never pull them for a simple head gasket replacement. What specifically are you having trouble with? GD

If there is any resistance in the sense wire the alt will try to keep up with an imaginary load and it will fail in short order as they are not designed for constant high-load. I have fought this on EA81's in the past as the wireing and connectors for much of the harness are old and poorly insulated against water intrusion. GD

The choke isn't working entirely as designed. There are two parts to the choke - the choke plate iteself, and the mechanism that increases the cold idle through a three-notched cam. It's basically not serviceable easily on the car. If you dismount the carb you might be able to correct it on the bench but it also might just be worn out. If it's otherwise running OK and you just have to baby it for less than a minute in the mornings..... leave it be. The Hitachi's are complex machines and if it's working good beyond the first 30 secconds.... you are miles ahead of where you could be and you might cause more problems than you solve messing with it. GD

Pull the wire on the plug end. Just follow the wire from the distributor to any of the 4 plugs. Obviously you have spark now though since it's running. The nature of problems that are transitory is that it is going to be difficult for someone with no in-depth knowledge of internal combustion engines to postulate on the possible causes because by the time you come back to it the problem has dissapeared. It sounds like possibly a choke issue. Check all your fuses to start with. Pull each one out and see if any are blown. GD