TomRhere

If charging the battery doesn't help, it could be the battery cable ends. I've had a few issues with them failing after unhooking them from a battery. Especially with the "molded on' ones. Have pulled those apart with little effort.

And isn't this the type that has that pesky little screw for the rotor that likes to fall out?

1st time I swapped heads out with the engine in a BRAT, I used a small mirror & penlight to make sure they were where they should be. I wasn't real comfortable going with just the feel of it.

Oil pressure at idle is 20 psi or less. That may not be enough to pump up a sticky HLA. A mile or two drive down the road would get oil pressure up, and may get it to stop clacking. A mis-seated rocker would cause some noise. If a rocker has fell out of it's home; on the intake valve, you would have a definet miss, (no charge getting into cylinder) on the exhaust valve, it would backfire thru the intake, ( no place for spent charge to go until intake valve opens). If you do pull the cam cover for a look; pull up the disty cap, turn engine over by hand until rotor points to #2 plug tower. That will put you with both valves closed. Check for excessive movement of the rockers. Do the same for #4 cylinder. I can't say how much, if any, movement of the rockers is ok. But do know a lot of movement is not good, and would point to that HLA being the culprit.

Happy Birthday !!!

Bought the last few cans from Wal-Mart, but yeah, Auto Part Stores have it as well. Without going out to the garage and looking at it, I can't give you "Name", but you'll find it in the same area as WD-40, PB Blaster, and the likes. Look for a "spray lube" marked with "White Grease". Wonderfull stuff for hood latch/hinges, door hinges, and the likes.

Had that problem on a few cars, and a shot of White Lithium spray lube helped them.

The 4WD lever is bolted to the body, shift rods run thru, and are attched, to the trans with no real allowance for any mis-alignment. So weak/bad trans mounts can cause issue there. Bad trans mounts can also cause front drive axle DOJ boot failure from the trans moving around, when it shouldn't be. Like I said, just a thought on possible cause of problem.

Think the 1st thing I would do is check/replace transmition mounts. Chances are they are the originals, and are weak/saggy or broken. Bad mounts will let the trans sit lower, and put some what of a bind on the 4WD linkages. The fact that you can change the noise by pushing down on the lever is what made me think of the bad mounts. Could be something totally different, but that's my thought.

It has more to do with the amount of shifting gears then actual miles driven. 200 miles of city type driving would do more than what 600 miles of hiway driving will. The ATF will clean the varnish off all of the internals of the trans. The more shifting one does, the more it works it's cleaning on the sliding gears/shafts and syncros. And don't be to surprized when you drain the ATF out and it looks like old engine oil in color.

Made a 270+ round trip down to 86subaru's (Jim Wood's) place to get some parts that I have been ((_SLOWLY_) paying for for over 2 years. Gots lots of headlights now... Hoping I really don't need to replace that many sets.......... Got 5 sets o'lights. Lot's of other items too. Filled up the Chevy HHR... Need to take another trip down to grab what he has left of the EA82 parts. I'm happy to finally close the deal we made. He's happy to have a bit more space around his place.

This the same BRAT? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127960 Both of you are from same town, some simular issues in both posts, so I had to ask.

Didn't the '81's have a "Single Range" transfercase? I'm not sure. But it could be your's had one, and it was swapped to a D/R 4-speed. Pics look like standard D/R 4-speed shifter setup, minus that added plate.

Hose is for the PCV system, and is the "Fresh Air" intake. With it unhooked, unmetered air, (air not passing thru the MAF), was intering the intake system of the engine. ECU couldn't account for that air, so no extra fuel was added, hence the stalling. Fuel injection doesn't need a long "cold start/ high idle" like carbs do. Your's sounds like it's right.

Possibility of the Hi/Low selector being between gears also..

In the 2nd pic, you need to put that hose back on the fitting. Hose is right under it.

For the dim lighting issue; I would check the main body ground. Small gage wire coming from the battery - cable end. Make sure there is a good clean connection where it attaches to the body. Also clean the connections at the battery and where the negative cable is bolted to the engine block.

The threads in the engine case are deeper than the tensioner bolts are long. Therefore, you can get a longer bolt in the threaded hole. Something like a 1/4" longer than what is from the Factory will do you good.

I have most of the parts needed for you to swap it to 5-speed FWD. Trans/shifter, flywheel/clutch assembly, pedalbox, starter. Should have clutch cable too. You'd have to source the proper center console for it though. And for the right amount of cash, I could be talked out of the Weber carb, mounted on an EA82 intake already to go.

Welcome....

When you do that 45* angle thing with the car, set your engine to the T-belt timing marks also. That will put the pistons at the center of the stroke, giving you more area for the liquid.

Yep, it's in the alt on that one.

Nice BRAT!!!!!! Sounds likee you experienced typical torque bind in 4WD. You shouldn't use it on dry pavement especially turning corners. It can be done, if you drive with the tires on one side in loose stuff on the shoulder of the road occassionally. There is no "center diff" in the trans, so front and rear are "locked" together.

Your 205/60/15 is about 24.5 inches, a 215/75/15 is 27.6 inches, 225/70/15 is 27.4 inches.

Issues I've had with my BRAT's and their rear lighting has been the connection found behind the rear side panel on Passengerside of the bed. Can also be reached by removing the light assembly. May want to check the Driverside connectors too. I've had the wires break, or corrode off, on more then one BRAT.