TomRhere

Glad to see you getting back to the BRAT. Like the other vehicle threads you have, But, it's a BRAT.....

Yeah, well,,,, still plugging away at it. Seems everything here is wanting my money/time that should be going to the Wagon. Household items needed replaced. And, and,,,both the riding and push mowers broke down. REALLY, both of them?!?!??!???!!!???? So, no money for Wagon related expenditures, other than elbow grease. Which it seems I'm running out of. Man do I ache here lately, all over. And, I also had to refurbish a computer so I could get back on-line. My laptop was dying, so I picked up a used tower system and was using that. Tower died, so smack laptop around some to convince it to work. Then a storm system blew thru here and took it out. Time to beat up the tower system and get it going. That is what I'm on right now. But, I shall press on. I can still drive the Wagon around town, and do so on the weekends. But man,,,, I so want to be driving it to/from work. I miss it, and driving the HHR is getting old.

looking good so far. Done a few "Red-Neck Body Straitening" methods myself. Found that a good stout tree, (properly protected), come-along, various wood chunks, chains, can do wonders to bent steel. Propane torch helps there too. Just enough heat to "Warm" the metal. Warm metal moves easier than "Cold" metal. To add to this. The parts from Maggie, will help other Subaru's live on. "The needs of the many, out way the needs of the one" Spock

Here's hoping that the problem is solved. Chasing electrical issues can be down right aggravating at times, especially if one doesn't have good wiring diagrams. I have never heard the fuel pump "prime" before starting on any of the 4 Factory Stock BRATs I've owned. My '82's pump is hot wired, not by me. I've read on here that some say they should, others say they don't.

How much time between loss of fuel pressure and engine dying? If, the float bowl is full when fuel pressure drops, the engine should idle for a few minutes, until the bowl empties. If the engines dies relatively close to the time the pressure drops, you are loosing the signal from the module in the disty. Bad wiring, faulty module, yadda, yadda. I had an instance of the magnet under the "C" shaped piece in the disty shattering, causing loss of signal and engine dying. That one threw me for a bit, until I started tearing the disty apart. 491987401 for pre '84 491988711 for '84+

Check the wire that feeds power to the fusible link box. Make sure that the connection is good at the box. The center link (Red), feeds power to the ignition switch thru the White wire in the harness. Check to see if you have power there when it acts up again. The Black wire from the ignition switch feeds fuses 12 thru 16 in the fuse box. The FPCU is fed from this wire before the fuse box. If you have power on the White wire, but not the Black wire with key in "Run", check the connector for the ignition switch. The body side of the connector for the White wire tends to lose it's connection. Age and heat from the amp draw are the culprits there.

Ah. You typed M99 in your 1st post. M99 runs right thru this here small town of mine. M66 is a bit further away and to the West of me. Still, it's good to hear you found a "Good Guy" mechanic there in Miles, Mi..

Look at your engine, just left of the disty there is a cast-in box with the engine size in it. IE; EA61, EA71, EA81

You were maybe 20 miles North of me when you broke down. How did you like those storms that went thru while you were stopped? The storms knocked out our power and killed my laptop. Been trying to get this here tower system back up since then. I know the area you were in. What garage did you stop at? Might also have the tailgate handle you're looking for. I'll "try" to remember to look this weekend.

I don't think GreyHound will do a trans, as package has to be easily moved by the handler at the Depot. FedEx, UPS has Freight shipping. Also, just about any Trucking firm will ship it. Item that size has to be on a pallet. Call around, or stop into a local truck terminal and talk to the Dispatcher. They should be able to give you good info. Rates vary between Company's, so checking with different ones may be to your liking.

And it is best to use the Build Year of 1984 for parts searching/buying. Saves the headache of getting parts for the EA82 models. edit; Forgot to say, "Welcome to the Board".

I would check the condition of engine and trans mounts. Bad trans mounts can cause it to pop out of gear due to trans moving around to much. The shifters are bolted to the body of the vehicle. To much movement between them and trans will cause issues. Bad mounts aren't real good for front axle life either.

Nice looking Brumby!!!

The one listed on rockauto is one with a cast impeller. The impeller and drive hub are precision pressed onto the shaft. That doesn't imply that either piece is stamped steel, just how the parts are assembled. I have bought those pumps from rockauto and they do have cast impellers.

I would get the one from Rockauto myself. I like the cast impeller over the stamped one.

I don't understand the, "3 wire connection" part. Installed an EA81 carb type fuel pump into an '88 SPFI Wagon. Just by cutting the fuel pump connector off a leaky EA82 pump, attached those leads to a spare EA81 fuel pump body-side connector. Plugged connections together, hooked up the fuel lines and ran the Webered EA81 in the SPFI Wagon. There was only 2 wires in any of the connections.

Yeah, the roof is the "brace" for the stiffness of the body. Can't say much on Hatch, Wagon, or Sedan structure for the "A", "B", etc.., etc.., pillars. But did cut the roof of my 1st BRAT, an '86. Serious layering of sheetmetal in those pillars. Hit a salvage yard and find any make of convertible and take a look under it. You'll see differences in it's floorpan vs. that of same make that is a hardtop. It will give you a good idea of what is needed to be done. You basically have to tie the front and rear sub-frames together. They have turned a few of these Subaru's into convertibles, so it can be done.

FPCU's can be Blue or Black. Don't believe you will find a new one, so a parts yard or someone on here with a spare would be your best hope. And yeah, weird how replacing pump lets it start then it dies. Have you tested any of the "used pumps" to see if they are in fact bad?

I has no idea on those BB's. No "Ball Bearings" in these disty's that I have ever seen.

There is a Fuel Pump Control Unit (FPCU), that powers the pump. It may be your problem. I "Think" the FPCU monitors signals from the pick-up coil in the distributor, (or is it the alternator output), and feeds power to the pump as long as the engine is running. Safety feature in case of accident to cut fuel flow. Engine not running, no fuel pump power. The FPCU's really don't fail often, but it has happened. I would check the wiring harness, looking for corrosion and similar issues. Don't take much corrosion to cause issues.

I put this in your other thread, (Post 21 I believe), but I'll put it here and add a bit more. A = Accessory; Blue wire B = Battery +; White wire I = Ignition; Black wire S = Starter; Black/White wire (wire stripe may look Yellow from aging) R = Resistor; Only used on Point/Condenser type distributors to feed full Battery voltage to distributor to aide starting. Engine then runs on 1/2 Battery voltage when key is released to "Run" position. When Ignition switch is in the; "Run" position, both the "I" and "A" contacts are fed power. This powers all of the vehicles electrical systems, minus the "Start Circuit". "Accessory" position, only powers a few circuits. IE; heater fan, cigarette lighter, and a few others. Usually, dash gauges, alternator charge circuit, coil circuit are not powered. "Start" position, feeds power to the starter solenoid and the "I" for the coil. Also feeds the "R" position, and is the, "ONLY TIME",, "R" is fed power. I would seriously start looking for a replacement wiring harness for that BRAT. It has been hacked way to much. You will be chasing wiring issues for a long time. edit; To add more info... If you have the Black and Blue wires swapped around on the switch, you may not be feeding power where it needs to be fed during Starting. Same with switch in the Run position. This may cause odd things to happen, like fuel pump not getting power when needed. A carbureted vehicle will start and run, "IF",, there is fuel in the float bowl. But if the fuel is not being replenished, it will stall out due to lack of fuel.

To start with, you would need to do some underbody strengthening before you cut the roof off. Otherwise, it would start to fold on you. And it will do so starting as soon as you cut the roof out. Front end sheetmetal is basically all the same on the EA81's. Difference in the radiator support for the different headlight systems plus their trim pieces. I know a few "Old Skool" body men that have the skill to do all of the needed cut/fit to piece together a vehicle. But that is here in Michigan. Maybe there is someone around you, don't know. Do know in talking with these guys, it is a dying skill. Doing the needed work won't be cheap either.

The ground wire is Black with a large ring terminal end on it. Should be on the Left side of the steering column, and attached to either the ECU or steering column mounts. Only fasteners in that area large enough to accept the ring terminal. If you don't see it on one of those, you need to search for the loose end, and get it grounded.

As I was getting the 30' ladder out of the garage so I could continue slapping paint on the house, I noticed the Left-Front tire was soft on the '88 Wagon. About 2 hours later, Wife decrees that I need to go to the store. So I decided to take Wagon. Been a bit since it has seen road time. Aired up soft tire(s). Get close to the store, and see a "Donation" type car-wash going on. Hit the store, for needed items, then hit the car wash. I'm "NOT" a "Dirty Old Man", but there is something about having a bunch of scantly clad young females washing your car that intrigues me. :)

The connector could be for the Hitachi carb. Fed the choke and Idle Stop Solenoid power. Does it have Blue wires along with Black ones? Make sure you didn't get the plug leads on the wrong plugs. That has happened many times. Ignition and tach wires come out of the body harness under the coil. Black/White is ignition feed, goes to coil +. Yellow is Tach feed, goes to coil -. The wires from the disty go on the coil in the same manner.