FlyB0y

All good info, thanks! I do not smell fuel, but I have not tried to start it much, don't want to run down the battery. Really killed me that I couldn't even get a spark plug loose, thank goodness for AAA!

Yeah, hoping it's just valve covers, cheap and easy to fix, would probably be good to use a little mild de-greaser like simple green and a brush, don't want to risk getting water on old components with something too aggressive, and just see where exactly oil is coming from. Thanks on the cam & oil pump seals, been looking at videos, should have parts in Wednesday to do all the belts, seals and new plugs. Today I will just get a socket and see what the plugs look like, might get lucky! Anyway, not going to risk the timing belt, so not driving it until I get all those parts in and replace them. Thanks again everyone for the info!

Yeah, it definitely didn't break the belt yet, still turns over fine, I tried starting fluid last night, no joy, but that can mean it might actually be something simple (I still need to go get a spark plug socket, possible just needs them cleaned, I was in stop & go traffic for about 1 hour or so when it just quit suddenly and wouldn't even try to start again). The CEL has been on for some time, my friend had it checked out, but it never cleared even though no problem was found, so maybe I'll eventually find something there. I need to go get a socket, so maybe I can borrow a code reader at the same time, where does it plug-in?

Good point on the starting fluid, I haven't tried that yet, was cleaning things up and replacing a bolt on the driver's seat that came loose (put some locktite on it! ) I will go do that now, I feel foolish for not trying that! LOL!

Heya thanks for the responses, The car has 193k miles, but was driven mostly highway by a friend, he got it from his father who bought it new, so I am the third owner. The current problem however is not the T-belt, I wonder if it might be the fuel pump, I bought a '88 XT-6 years ago for cheap because it's fuel pump had stopped working, or rather, the relay had failed. Seems that the fuel pumps might still be a weak link, or just one of the first wear items? (tow truck driver made the suggestion). I believe this car uses OBD-II, I am new to all of that, I have always worked on older carbureted cars with less sophisticated electronics (85 Brat was my last that I really worked on), would renting a scanner at my local Autozone tell me if the fuel pump is out? Otherwise I guess I can just disconnect the fuel line and see when happens when I turn it over? I bought the car knowing I would need to put on a timing belt very soon, as I believe it has only had it replaced once (manual says replace every 60K miles? if so, it's long overdue). The PS and AC belts are also pretty warn, so I have those coming in the mail too. What spark plug socket size do I need? I don't seem to have one small enough to fit, didn't realize they were so tiny on this car, I would guess 14mm? Maybe 15mm? I have ordered a Gates Kit, and as I have no idea how much some of this stuff has been done, I plan on replacing the water pump just for peace of mind, but I appreciate knowing they don't always need to be replaced with the T-belt. Is re-sealing the Oil Pump as simple as using some permatex silicone sealer, or do I need to order a gasket? I have the typical seepage at the cylinder head, not bad, just enough to smoke a tiny bit from time to time when it gets on the manifold, it apparently doesn't burn oil, so I am going to guess until I see a problem I'm not going to need to have the heads re-done. There appears to be a bit of a leak towards the back, really slow leak, but hoping that might be where the oil pump or some other minor easy to service gasket would be? I "could" pull the engine at some point, but right now, I am trying to just get as much out of it as possible before that becomes necessary. I have seen some good deals locally on engines, I wonder if it wouldn't be wisest to find a low mileage EJ22 from a wreck that is otherwise in good working order? I know the AT tranny has been either rebuilt or replaced once, and it has a new radiator as of a few years back. The last owner drove the car 80 miles a day round trip on the highway/freeway, so he regularly serviced things either at the dealer or other trusted mechanic. Can't wait to get it back on the road! When I sold my '85 Brat years ago, I thought to myself, if I get another subie, I should get an Impreza Wagon, and I really lucked out as this is just the perfect model I would have chosen, (even the color!!) needs a little body work (rear drivers door is creased and body panel behind it has a bondo job with a bit of black primer, hardly noticeable) but I just need a daily driver, so until everything mechanical has been addressed that is a low priority. It wasn't really "for sale" but a friend at work overheard that I was looking for an older subie to fix up, and suggested I talk to the guy I bought it from (he JUST bought a new Tribeca a few years ago) so this one had been sitting a few years, but he drove it 40 miles to get to where I bought it, just funny that I happen to drive it one day and it quits lol!

Heya all! Been away a while when I sold my brat, but I am now back into the Subaru game, wanted to get some advice. Going to need to do a timing belt change here real soon on my '98 Impreza Outback Sport with EJ22, and I wondered if I should just get my info online or bother with a Chilton or Haynes manual? I just got the car, as the 3rd owner, I know that the timing belt is due, so I have already ordered a kit that includes waterpump, new idlers and such, this will be my first foray with an EJ22, kinda funny the last time I had work done on my Brat, I traded a low mileage Impreza motor for some work on it! (Thanks again John!) Anyway thanks for any and all advice!

Oh, I forgot to mention, the car is here with me marooned in Oregon City (it really is a nice place, but less rain in Montana where I'd prefer to be ) So, feel free and come by to check out my brat and if you got a basic impreza wagon to trade with a smaller motor (1.8 would be perfect) that is easy on gas and 5 speed if possible, but AT is fine too with 200k miles or less, I'd consider a part trade. Otherwise, I'll put her up on Ebay and start at $3000 and see what happens. Dayn 503 723-5698

:eek: Well, ok, I'm not REALLY a ghost, but I've been away from here forever. This is kinda a farewell post, I've been gone so long, it's really late in coming, for that I am sorry. I have been very limited by my condition (most likely Fibromyalgia, but the VA swears that can't be it) the other possibility is low grade radiation poisoning from my trip in the sandbox in 2001 while I was in the Air Force. Long story short is, I really miss this place, but mainly I miss being able to really be a part of what goes on here! :-\ The last time I was able to do ANYTHING close to off-road with my brat was when it snowed 24" or so deep here in Oregon City a few years back. Truth is even after spending all the time building and buying to make my Brat the most off-road AND on-road capable vehicle around, I never really took it off road much at all. This car spend almost 25 years in Montana, land of the dry heat and salt free roads, thus nearly zero rust on it at all. Now fast forward a few years, it's been here in Oregon, and it started to rust a bit (It's been here about 3 years now) so I promptly sand-blasted the bed and sealed it with POR 15 (this is the same stuff they have coated steel bridge supports in the Puget Sound in Seattle that have stayed rust-free 30 years) So other than a few minor spots here and there of surface rust that might have creeped up since last years sand-blasting and treating of the nastier surface rust, it's rust free. I HATE that my health limits me so much from doing things like off-roading, hunting and such, and I almost hate as much that my brat just sits all the time now hardly driven. You all here have been a big part of my life, and helped me in so many ways to better enjoy my Subi (even though I am a bit of a wuss and never really wanted to seriously off-road my brat and ding it up ... Nells can contest to this hehe). I haven't been active anywhere much these days, but I have been able to ride bicycles, and I now build electric bicycles to try and make a little money while trying to survive on $240 per month disability from the VA. Sooooo I know I always make things into a Novel, I'll try to keep it short! THANK YOU ALL!! You are all so kind and good friends if I tried to thank you all this post would never be finished, here I am trying not to cry like an idiot, I hate to see my brat go to waste, and I have decided to sell it. I can post links to my brat if you like, but if your not farmiliar with my brat, just search my name and you will see all the kewl stuff I have put into her over the years .......... I will list it on Ebay if no one here is interested, but in an idea situation I'd do a part trade for something more inexpensive, maybe an early 90's Impreza wagon, really anything clean and daily driver type, even a nice RX or XT that is 200K miles or less and $1500 to trade. I'm sure just in cash that I have well over $8,000 invested, and it's not like it eats tires or axles, I have great new strut lifts curtesy of Jerry (bratsrus1) who gave me a better deal than I ever expected or deserved trading for a complete condensater that I built for him. I used this rig on the street 99% of the time, that is why I went with the smaller low-profile tires that are 14's but the same outside diameter as stock brat 13's so I didn't have to use my GPS for a speedo anymore. I never had any wear problems on my street tires, but now that I have Jerry's strut lifts (he machined these beauties out of combine axles!! they are so tightly in tolerance that I had to sand the paint down on the new struts I put in last year or so just to fit!!) I will include the monster 6-ply ATV tires and the wheels they are attached to, the seats that I modified to bolt down in the bed, I even still have the original seat-belts and head rests to go with them, just never go around to installing them. I just put in a heavy duty XT6 Clutch pack, so the 5-speed low range is gonna last another 200k if you treat it right. I first got this brat about 7 years ago with 80k original miles, and it only has about 130k on it now, never abused, all the cylinders show very close to maximum compression, I just took it into the local Subaru Shop (Mountain Tech Subaru) so they can confirm that everything is in tip-top shape. I just put in a $189 re-manufactured disty (this isn't you're daddy's remand, it's re-machined to factory specs, not just into acceptable tolerances, all new electronics and bearings inside) about 4 mons or so ago since the last JY replacement was starting to go out. Fact of the matter is, since I can't do a 9 to 5 type job, I make custom Electric Bicycles to order, and I need to get some more cash flow to get established, and the brat is just sitting being neglected, I don't really want to sell it, but I can't just let it sit when someone else would really enjoy it. Again. Thank You all for the great times! Maybe when my health improves I will be back, and buy back my brat he he ..... I can dream can't I? I'm going to offer the brat here for cheap, and if no one takes me up (remember I'd really prefer a part trade for a daily driver and some cash) my brat does fine on gas and all, nothing wrong with how it rides on the road, I just need to get some stock ordered to build electric bikes, and this is the quickest way to get some capital going. So, Ideally, I'd like $3500 cash, or even better, part trade and get a daily driver + $1500 for her. Dayn 503 723-5698

Yeah, I just got off the phone with Philbin earlier today, and I think my problem is that I only replaced the TOP bushing, the bottom one is probably the one that is so much trouble, that, and they replace everything needing replacement top to bottom for $159, seems worth it to me for the peace of mind. I just hope I can still take back the bushing.

Well, I spoke too soon, I don't know if the shaft is just too warn, or if putting it in last night not having rotated the engine made it seem tighter, but I still have considerable play in the shaft, and it's doing the same thing again. Guess I should stick with the original plan and get a good replacement. Thanks for all the info though!

W00t!! Thanks Naru! You guys rock!!

Well, yes, it's not really "fixed" because there is play where the plate screws down, and I was thinking I might just try to even it up, but I was hoping there was a specific gap it needed to have? Never been this far into a distributor before, so any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, well, I am happy to say that the replacement of the bushing was VERY simple and only required marking the distributor & block so that I got it back in the same place again. ***Edit!!*** sorry, I ment to mention that this is the distributor for my '85 subaru brat *** The only question I have now is related to the star shaped "gear" on the rotor shaft just below the rotor. I noticed that these "lobes" come very close to two tabs that are part of a plate that is attached to a magnet with two screws. I'm guessing there is a specific gap that needs to be between this "gear" and these tabs? I can't see any specs in my chilton book, guess that is because most just replace the whole distributor. zzz Thanks! :cool:

Thank you VERY much for the info and the offer Ed! However, I think this time around I will buy a remand, the last used one I had only lasted a few years, and although they aren't that hard to replace, I'd just rather not have to replace it so soon again. Wonder what the life expectancy of a typical remand is?

Yikes! Sorry to post back again so late, life has been a bit busy. Well, I have been riding my bike more and more, so my brat's VERY jealous now! Anyhow, I rebuilt the carb (needed to be cleaned anyway, oh well ) and then it finally clicked that the tach was jumpy, I checked my cap & rotter, not good, this cap has low miles on it, and it looked like it was being cooked pretty good, so I cleaned them up and tried again, then it hit me. Checked my distributor, and wouldn't you know it, there is 1/16 - 1/8 play horizontally on the shaft, and a lot more vertically!! Oh well, I got this ditsy used about 5 yrs or so ago, so I guess I got my money's worth. Not doing the JY special this time though, anyone have advice where to get a good rebuilt cheap? Best I have seen so far is $150 at discount import auto. And where do I look to identify whether it's a ND or Hitachi ditsy? Thanks!

Ok, today I drove it around and it ran just fine around the block, so I headed down towards mountain tech to buy a positive cable, and it quit on me, and I was able to determine for sure it's not spark I am loosing with a timing light. This brings me to conclude that since I have fuel and spark, the carb must be due for a cleaning, it has been sitting a lot the last 2-3 years, going to try that and if I still have issues, I'll have to go deeper again.

Oh, hey! I know, I will just by-pass the relay and make sure it's just tied to a hot lead that is only hot with the ignition on. I did this on my XT6 and it seemed to pose no problems, the only thing I can think of that might be a problem with my brat is since it's been weberized, I only have one fuel line going into the carb, no return line. My understanding with the XT6 was that it had a by-pass so that even though the pump would run continuous, if it started to over-pressurize it would just go through the by-pass, is this by-pass in the pump it's self? P.S. I have confirmed it's not an electrical issue, and I have good flow from the fuel pump, so the relay makes a lot of sense at this point, thanks!

Wow, lots of good stuff here thanks all! Michael, I am just above Mt Tech about 2-3 miles away, to be honest, you all have been working harder on this than I have! Hope it's not just jealousy, because I have been out riding my mt. bike (Nishiki) instead. I'm going to start with the basics, spark, fuel and the air filter is definitely clean, that's as far as I got last friday, gonna check the filters and that relay if I have spark, then make sure the carb isn't plugged at the float valve. You know, it's pretty kewl that your in Wilsonville, Michael, I am going to be biking to Newburg this week for a nice test of my endurance. I'll try and get at least the basics covered on the brat before I go, but I fear it will turn into more than I can afford once again, was planning on going to Montana middle of this month.

Hmmmm you know, I did replace the ditsy with a JY special about 2 years or so ago, hadn't thought of that one! Also thanks on the advice about determining the health of the coil, I will have to check that. ATM I am just checking the basics, fuel, fire, air. I opened up my K&N filter box and handful of pine needles came out (of the filter side, not the carb side ) but you can very easily and clearly see day-light through the filter, so unless it's dried out, I think it's ok, going to check the spark plugs next to see if they are sooty, that would be a good sign that it was a plugged air filter. Then I will start chasing the fuel from tank to carb and make sure it's flowing free, just had to replace the fuel pump in dad's Datsun (that's whole other can of worms, I finally had to just refuse to drive it for him until he agrees to FIX things on it instead of just "make it run" zzz it was a good truck when it was maintained about 30 years ago, now every-other time I drive it, I walk home ... ) I hope that's not the issue with the brat. Oh well, back to work!

He he I wish I had the cash for a second car, but I think I would get an Impreza Wagon instead of another brat, I got enough trouble with the one I have! Having Subarus is kinda like having kids, at times you can feel like you can never have enough, at other times even ONE is too much!

Ok, so here's a really weird one. Hope someone reading this can tell me where to look first, this is a new one on me. Today, I agreed to do a few parts of the 30,000 mile service for my parent's '07 Saturn Vue. That is where is started I think. Subarus (Brats in particular) have amazing hearing, I wasn't even outside the house when I made this agreement but sadly it was over-heard So the same brat that I had JUST taken on a 50 mile round trip from OR City to visit in Newberg decided it had had enough. First sign there was trouble was the used battery I have bought was dead (just used the car last week) had to jump the car with the spare reconditioned one that I haven't re-installed yet. Everything is running fine, I'm heading out to look at a kid's gas powered bicycle that had been T-boned by a car (he says it didn't hit too hard, only enough to bend the crank!? ) and see if I could get it back on the road for him. Well, I head ALL THE WAY DOWN the big hill in OR City, drop off a bike helmet to a friend, and discover my brat just died for no apparent reason. No weak start, turns over fine, just acting like it's short of fuel or something. Luckily, I am right next to a 76 gas station. I was at a quarter tank, so I decided to put some in and call it good. I have it die once more but go onto the 205 North on-ramp anyway and make it to just the top of the on-ramp (from Mc Loughlin/99 ) and call home to get someone to bring the spare battery. It was a REAL pain to get it in, the terminals were backwards for the main spot (note to self, NEVER buy a spare battery that doesn't fit where the main one does) and after a good hour of pulling my hair out, I finally get it rigged up and merge onto 205 N. NO hesitation, NO sputtering or anything to indicate a weak charging system of any kind (I checked the battery once I got it started again and the alt was pumping out its normal 14V). I drive about 5 miles more, go thought the Fredy's parking lot, and wait at a light and suddenly it just dies! Again no sputtering or surging as if low on fuel, just at idle and quietly dies. After barely getting it started again it dies in the middle of the intersection leaving the parking lot. Fortunately I have enough momentum to make it through, crank it and crank it till it goes again, and for the final 2 miles, everything works fine?! Is there some kind of special way I need to make my brat feel loved again or something?! I have been going almost everywhere with a bicycle and borrowing the Saturn when I had to drive 90% of the time. My first thought was fuel filter, but this is acting strange to be a plugged filter. P.S. I DID notice that my positive battery terminal is all corroded, I have a replacement I have been intending to get to anyway, but how would that explain the sudden engine death? Isn't a Subaru capable of running with a good alt on a battery that is going south? (barring a battery with a short, just mean a worn-out battery) I know of some older cars that could run with-out the battery as long they got a jump or were kept running. Looking for advice as to where to look first! Thanks!

Thanks all for the info! As for the sound, it's probably alternator, since it is directly related to the RPM's of the engine and the noise increases as engine RPM increases. As for the dual battery, I have it running in parallel, but it also has an isolation switch in-case I want to run one battery down while parked, so that the isolated one will still be there to start up the engine. I have had the dual battery system for years with no problems, only recently I removed the secondary one to put in a trailer to power my electric bike project. I will see if that ground is needing attention. zzz

Ok, I found 2 possible items on a thread from 2006, I have engine noise interfering with the AM reception on my stock radio. Some say just put in some shielded speaker wires, others talk about a ground wire for the ignition coil? This has only started happening recently, and I haven't done anything with my coil, but I have been messing around with my dual battery set-up. I know these are cheap radios, but I like the look of the stocker in my dash . Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Well, I understand, I have the gauge that comes with the kit saying I have optimal pressure, but how do I know if I have "too much" of any one thing? I haven't simply added all 30 oz, but I have used the coolant cans to push out anything else in the system. Does this preclude the need to use vacuum to boil out water and remove air? If not, is my "mighty vac" hand pump vacuum able to do the job, and will this mean another round of coolant after? It would seem to me that I must have issues other than coolant pressure, but I have never done anything like this before.

Good info, I have a question: where would you look first if after replacing the the coolant by evacuating the old while adding the new, I have gone through 3 10oz cans of the Coolant/Oil/Sealant combo stuff, and I have only the cheap gauge that comes with the cans to measure the pressure. I did this with the can running AC on max and full fan. The first can I miss-understood the directions and had the can upside-down and at the 3 O'clock position (supposed to be going from right side-up or 12 O'clock position) and I had 3 10oz cans in the kit. Upon adding coolant, after each can was added, I got a decent cool breeze from the AC, but never as cool as I would expect, and after trying the add and evacuate method, I was able to keep the pressure at the recommended level while replacing the old contents of the AC system. However, even though it was running reasonably cool during this process, I would shut it all down thinking it was a done deal, and then start up again and no cooling!? I don't really trust the cheap gauge they give you with the kit, but if I can, it hasn't lost any pressure. Suggestions? (This is on a 85 brat btw if that helps.) P.S. I never did the vacuum method to remove air/water etc. Can that be done now that I have filled with coolant, and if so, would using my "might-vac" (break line bleeding tool) to create the vacuum be doable?