GeneralDisorder

It could be that the coolant temp sensor is telling the ECU that the engine is cold. Thus the code and the rich mixture. No amount of cleaning will fix the ECU telling the carb to run rich. Fix the codes first then worry about cleaning and adjusting it. Otherwise you can't tell what good your cleaning and adjusting does. If your run part alcohol you will lower your HC numbers. Denatured Alcohol is available at most home improvement places. It runs hot though so don't go over 1/3 alcohol to gasoline to keep it safe. GD

Your crank circuit up to the starter solenoid wire from the switch is not passing enough current to fully pull-in the starter contacts. You need to install a relay between the battery positive lead to the starter and the solenoid spade terminal using the original ignition switch lead to pull in the relay coil. This will fix your problem and prevent the ignition system from suffering further damage due to the repeated starting attempts overheating the small gauge wiring and harness plugs. This happens on many makes and models when they get old. Poor battery/cable maintenance or a burned set of starter solenoid contacts causes intermittent starting and the repeated attempts by turning the key overheat the wiring and break down the contacts in the ignition switch. Adding the relay is an inexpensive alternative to replacing the ignition switch and the entire harness. And your mechanic is a worthless hack. If he can't use a DMM enough to figure out what the problem with a simple un-fused crank circuit is then he has no business touching anything more advanced than a spear and a loin-cloth let alone your car. GD

The idle-up solenoid is only used for air conditioning, and is entirely mechanical on these carbs. It cannot set a code. Your hard starting is likely a broken choke spring. The end of the bi-metal spring inside the choke heater housing wears through and falls off leaving the choke butterfly wide open all the time. Someone probably turned the idle speed up a bit due to vacuum leaks or worn throttle shafts making it idle rough or die at the proper 700 RPM speed. You have a classic worn-out feedback carb setup. The carb needs to be completely rebuilt and the throttle shafts rebushed, then you are going to have a hell of a time with the feedback system. Some of the common failure items in the EA82 feedback's are insanely expensive. You'll spend more keeping that system running than the car cost or is worth. Being in CA, you are limited in your options as you can't install a Weber. You could convert to the Single Point Fuel Injection (SPFI), but I don't know what your level of mechanical/electrical knowledge is so that might not be for you. Given where you live and what you have brought home I don't envy your plight. My advice is that you get out from under that money pit of a fuel system and either instal the SPFI, or if your skills aren't ready for that challenge, get into a nice 90 to 94 Legacy with the EJ22. They are dead reliable. Yes - and you'll want to get the seal on the transmission side of the cable from the dealership. You can, but in the EA82's you have to rewire the fuel pump relay as it is controlled by the ECU. The car will run like poo and get mileage in the high teens to low 20's without the computer due to the jetting. If you are so inclined the carb is the same as the non-feedback carbs and can be rejetted to their specifications and will run fine without the ECU that way. This would involve rebuilding the carb which is likely needed anyway.... but it would be illegal in CA so you would have to register in NV or OR probably. GD

You wouldn't experience any oil in the cabin. The speedo head inside the cluster is where the oil has gone. The parts inside are very small, very old, and very plastic. To clean it would require MORE work than replacing the whole cluster as either way you will have to remove it. The dash itself will stay - only the gauge cluster would be removed and replaced. There's no harm in trying I guess but you are going to have to disassemble the cluster to pull the speedo head out, and the head unit itself is not an easy thing to dismantle. Further you are likely to damage it with anything strong enough to wash away the gear oil. Then after you are done you'll have to install it and see if it even works. Replacement of the cable and seal in the tranny is obviously required as there is no way to clean the cable (it's dry-lubrication has been comprimised), and you don't want this to happen again. GD

Rip the computer out and rewire the fuel pump relay . There are a set of connectors under the dash near the computer that allow you to put the computer into read-mode, etc. But it's not neccesary as the feedback ECU's don't store codes after they are shut down. Disconnect the battery for a few minutes if you want to make sure. But seriously - there's no fix for the EA82 feedback system but to rip the carb off and throw it in the nearest lake. GD

From your other post about the codes you are getting I can see you have a feedback computer controlled carb system. Trust me - rip it off and install a Weber. It's the only way to fix it. Search for the posts I've made in the past on feedback systems as I don't want to bother covering it again. GD

22 is related to your broken speedometer (the sensor is inside the speedo head). The seal in the tranny side has gone out and the speedometer is sucking gear oil through the drive cable sheath and into the dash. It's dead - once they suck oil like that they are toast. Best option is to replace the seal, cable, and gauge cluster with a used set from the junk yard. 24 indicates you need to replace the CTS for the feedback computer. It's on the manifold somewhere - should be a two-spade sensor threaded into the manifold coolant jacket. You will need one for a feedback carb model. 73 is a generic code for the ignition system. It's probably nothing - just clear the codes and see if it comes back first. GD

I agree that you can get them to that level for our climate. Out here I have been able to tune them as you say. My hatch hasn't dieseled once since I installed the Weber and my tuning was done with a wide band O2 sensor. But I hesitate to claim that this is possible everywhere. Elevation, temperature, and humidity have a large effect on mixture and timing settings with respect to engines that do not have computer compensation. I also point to the stock equipment as evidence that Fuji engineers recognized this potential and neatly avoided it by using the cut solenoid. Also, certain states of tune (as may be required to pass emissions testing in some locales), WILL diesel due to the lean nature of such settings. The solenoid can eliminate it in these cases as well. GD

Ok - I found the thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=739865&postcount=37 Specifically, after having a heck of a time with it, he disassembled the tranny and found: So I guess that settles it. GD

There was a discussion about this a while ago - I believe the solution after much cursing was to loosen the bolts that hold the case halves together. GD

The dieseling is not a "problem" per-se. It's a result of quite a few factors - engine design, timing, idle speed, idle mixture, climate, ect. It cannot be avoided in all cases with the Subaru EA engines - that's why the stock carbs have anti-deiseling solenoids. You can adjust the idle speed/mixture and the timing and get it to stop most of the time but it will often return on a hot summer day. The solution if you want it gone permanently is to get the anti-dieseling solenoid for the Weber - they are about $40 and they simply replace the main idle jet holder on the front of the carb. Takes 5 minutes to install because the wireing for it is already there. You just screw it in, crimp a female spade terminal to the existing anti-diesel solenoid wire and hook it up. The #4 cylinder tap could easily be one of the lifters on that side. Solid lifter's should be adjusted every 15k anyway so you might want to adjust them again. It only takes 30 minutes or so to check and adjust them all. If you have a set of long metric feeler gauges they make the job a bit easier. I also use a "midget" wrench set to do the adjustments - came with a Craftsman mechanic set I bought years ago - tiny little things just perfect for the valve adjusters. I've also done it with a 6" crescent but it doesn't give as nice of a feel. GD

You need not have bought a new distributor - they can be rebuilt. A used one that's rebuildable generally runs about $25. I usually have a few sitting around. These guys do all my distributor work. Usually runs about $75 to $100 to have one completely gone through. http://www.philbingroup.com/ For the coil buy one from the dealer. You are almost certain to get the wrong one if you go to any other parts source or aftermarket. You don't want to damage the ignitor - trust me. GD

Last set I did took about 4 hours. You take a few measurements, go to home depot and get some 1"x3/16" flat bar, cut 8 2.25" sections, drill and tap a hole in each one for the EA81 rail bolts, and then weld them to the EA82 seat bottom. I wrap the area in wet towels so I don't have to remove the covers. Then you just bolt the rails on, and bolt them into the car. It's straightforward and simple. Welding is the prefered method of attaching the brackets as it is both secure and low-profile. A bolt-head will not fit between the rail and the existing mounting holes. Possibly a socket-head cap screw or using 1/4" flat bar and counter-sinking them would work but I'm tall so I don't want anything thicker than it has to be. GD

You can get an electric choke for the Weber's for about $40. I sugest you do that rather than mess with the manual. I put a manual choke on the stock Hitachi that was on my hatch - it worked but not as well and confused the hell out of my woman. GD

Some welding required for all but original EA81 seats. The closest thing to bolt-in anyone has found is the late 80's Isuzu Impulse seats. Three of the four holes line up with the stock rails. Good luck finding a set GD

While it's possible to turbocharge a carb, it's a mess to do it. Carbs work on principles of differential pressure, venturi, emulsion, ect. When you start changing the incomming air pressure these things change dramatically and some of them break down entirely. There are two basic types of carbed turbo setups - blow-through and draw-through. Both have advantages and both have severe problems as well. 1. In a blow-through setup you push air through the carb. This changes the pressure inside the carb to higher than atmospheric under boost. There are all kinds of problems with this setup: a. Either the carb has to be very well sealed, or has to be contained inside a pressure vessel. It's generally easier to just put the whole thing inside a sealed box and avoid spraying air-fuel mixture out of your throttle shaft bushings when the boost comes on. The Maserati BiTurbo used this method. b. Fuel pressure has to rise linearly with boost pressure. Otherwise the float bowl will not be a consistent level or the boost will just slam the needle shut against the seat and you'll starve for fuel. c. Because carbs are designed around differential pressure, and you are cahnging that with the turbo, you will have a very hard time tuning the carb to run well both on and off boost. In the case of the Maserati they used a sequential turbo setup that made it much easier to keep the engine under boost most of the time - the rest was mostly idle and that circuit is seperate so much easier to tune. 2. In a draw-through setup you pull air through the carb. This is easier in that the carb works as normal because it's not exposed to the pressure. This would seem to solve the problem except for the new one's you create: a. The intake runner's have to be quite long to go from the carb, to the turbo, and back to the engine. This has all sorts of bad implications for tuning. The carb lags a bit behind the engine demand. b. You now have highly explosive air-fuel mixture INSIDE your turbocharger, and intercooler . One good backfire through the intake durring tuning and you'll blow the intercooler up like a bomb. This is what makes the draw-through setups dangerous and for all their problems the blow-through aren't nearly as likely to put you in the hospital or burn the car down. GD

The driveability of the SPFI has no equal in the carb world. Weber's are nicer than the stock Hitachi but the SPFI is so plentiful that you really can't go wrong either way. The SPFI will give you performance like a Weber, better fuel economy, and availibility of spart parts. I highly reccomend either one, but the SPFI will give the greater return for your investment if you are concerned about money. It will likely be cheaper, take a bit longer to setup, but will return that time investment in improved driving and economy beyond what the Weber can do. Obviously I suppose I'm a bit partial being that I wrote the conversion guide but I'm here to help if you decide to give it a try. My next one is going to be an "SPFI in a box" type conversion where all the electronics and electrical components will be in a water-tight box in the spare tire area. GD

You are correct - long bolts put high stress loads on the capture nuts - they were not designed for this and that should be taken into account when properly designing a lift. It's a poor design. On all my lifts I have used the original bolt's to secure the blocks to the body and then separate bolts to secure the suspension components to the blocks. This avoids almost all the unnecessary stressing of the capture nuts and the uni-body. On 4" lifts this is super easy as the lift blocks are just 2" sections of 2"x4"x1/4" wall channel. I gusset the channel on the open sides as well leaving an opening to slip the bolts through and get a ratchet/breaker bar on them. GD

Metal fatigue probably. I would wager they got loose and you wheeled too far before inspecting and tightening all your lift blocks. Under normal circumstances, with the bolts all tight, that would be nearly impossible to accomplish. But if the bolts work loose a bit they can apply forces that the body wasn't designed to handle when they bounce in the holes and pull sideways ect. You should check and tighten everything after every run, and several times durring the first outing with a new lift, or modifications. GD

It's there for a reason. It likely serves a pressure relief purpose of some sort. Without it I would expect either the engine to starve for oil, or the oil to bypass the filter. I haven't looked closely enough to see what it does but I would never attempt to use a pump without the spring. GD

About 210 to 215 at the highest. Around 220 you start breaking down the oil quick and engines that run that hot will generally spec out synthetic. Since it's a new engine I would be running synthetic anyway. I wouldn't shop for a gauge at shucks - get a decent Autometer 3 gauge setup so you can monitor Coolant Temp, Oil Pressure, and Volts (or amps if you prefer). GD

Easiest way to do it is to change the front engine sub-harness over to a complete front harness from an SPFI car. That involves pulling the dash out, but it's a lot better than trying to hack together a conversion into the existing harness. You'll need the harness and the computer and maybe some other peices - anything you find attached to the SPFI harness you should grab in case you need it. You may find you need to use the SPFI fuel pump but the turbo pump should work I would think. It's higher pressure but the regulator on the SPFI TB will step it down to the required 21 psi. GD

Stock thermostat is 192 degrees - the fan switch is generally around 10 degrees higher than that. 200 degrees is fine. The gauges aren't known for their reliability but you had better install a quality aftermarket gauge as the EA82T's are known to not handle overheating well at all. I would also reccomend you replace EVERY cooling system hose in the vehicle. They are too old to rely on if they are original. That includes the small hoses that run to the TB, and the coolant supply and return hoses from the turbo. One weak link and you'll be looking for another engine. GD

Having a column machined would cost just about a fortune - the splines are what kills the idea. Besides that there is just no need for it. You just cut and add the neccesary length to the T-bar that connects from the u-joint to the rack. In the case of power rack's it's even easier as you just add a second u-joint. One thing you will find out real quick - you won't like not having power steering with big tires. Everyone that has driven with PS on lifted Subaru's agree's that the difference is amazing and would never own another one without it. GD

You do know there is a filter screen in the Weber carb top behind the nipple right? I would be checking that. GD