TomRhere

Thanks for the info GD..... Spiffy, Just a thought here. Is it possible to use some flat steel to move the mounting point of the vacuum pot closer to the carb so you can attach the cable?

Ditto on the cable routing.. EA-81 here, but same applies. The '85 BRAT had a way stiff pedal when I bought it. Got to checking it after driving it home. Cable was ran over the column and heater hoses. Re-reouted cable properly and clutch is nice and easy now.

The charge light doesn't come "on" until the voltage drops to 8 volts or less. Dash lights "on" when they should be "off" is sign of bad diodes in altenator. Wiring issues would make troubleshooting the random "engine dies" and "won't start" issues extremely difficult.

Interesting... Both my '85 and '86 BRATs have cruise, although neither of them work and I haven't checked into the whynot yet. Everything is "in the cabin". On/Off switch on the dash, Control lever on the RH side of steering column, Control is mounted under the column, and operates pedal via a beaded chain. Wondering now if it was a "change over" thing due to the EA82's coming out. The CC setup doesn't match any of the books I have for EA81s.

Type your city/state in the city info box, click the save changes button.

Real good looking Wagon!!! Welcome to the USMB!!!!

I need to get another charger, mine died a while back. Got it from Wal*Mart maybe 20 years ago, 2/5/50 amp. Right now, I'm using a .7 amp 12VDC power pack to maintain some of the batterys around here. Seems to work ok, but a charger would be nice.

http://mshoup.us/docs/fsm/EA81/83/ It's an '83 FSM, but the info in it will cover yours.

You need to put a jumper in, or cut/splice, the wires to the Neutral Safety Switch, which was located on the auto's shifter. The NSS kept the starter from working unless shifter was in Park or Neutral. I can't tell you the wire colors though.... 5 lug swap info can be found in the USRM section of this site. http://subaruxt.com/ An XT/XT6 site, you should also join there.

The adapter kit also comes with the wrong length bolts. A trip to the local hardware will get you the right ones. Would be best if you could get the small water passage on the front of the carb port of the manifold welded shut before you bolt on the adapter. A few of us had the gasket blowout at that spot. Engines don't like being flooded with coolant. I tried JB Weld after the 1st incident, didn't hold up, it be welded now. I also used a small grinding stone in my drill to smooth out all of the port opening after bolting the adapter to the manifold. Not nessecary to do so, I just did it to do it.

Pretty sure the ND disty will be a straight forward swap. You should use the ND coil with it also, as there is a difference in the internal resistance of the coils and you could damage the disty module. Had the disty in my '85 BRAT die on me. Turns out that the magnet under that "C" shaped piece had shattered. Not sure what caused that to happen, but it's something you can check.

Really nice looking BRAT!!!!! The Mustang seats and the emblem on them do sort of fit. In Austrailia, the BRATs are known as Brumby's. A Brumby is also a free-ranging horse down there. So the Mustang thing sorta fits.

I find it helps if you sit the bottle of lube in a bucket of "hot" water for a few minutes. Helps it flow easier.

Have the radiator fan(s) been re-wired to be "always on"? Could be source of drain, could be cause of run-on of engine after key is turned off. I have seen the latter of that happen a few times. Spinning fan motor acts like a generator, putting power into the system until it spins down. A coil will produce spark with less than 6 volts, so it is possible.

An EA-81 engine has the distributor up front on the passenger side. Has EA-81 cast into the engine case, just behind the disty. No timing belt covers. An EA-82 engine has Black plastic timing belt covers on the front of the engine. The distributor is on the back of the driverside head. EA-82 is cast into the engine case same location as the EA-81 engine.

I could see it happen if the car was in gear and you leaned against it while working. But,,,, you'd have to lean against it pretty good. Now,, letting the grey matter run rampant and going to extremes here. I can picture carbon dust from the starter brushes causing a path to ground internally. Just enough to make starter want to turn, but not enough to make it actually crank the engine over. Way out there,,, I know. Easy check. Disconnect battery negative cable from battery. Disconnect the main battery cable from starter. Secure it so it can't touch anything on the loose end. Un-plug the small solenoid wire also. Reconnect the battery negative cable to battery. See if you still get a drain on the battery.

Over the last few months, I've tried different wiper blades on the '86 BRAT, tried every brand I could find. I still get the "jittery don't clean the water off" sweep on the wipers. So, I'm thinking that the spring in the arm is weak. Especially with the blades wanting to float off the glass at speeds over 50 MPH. Noticed the '85 BRAT does it also. Has anyone on here tried to swap the arms from a newer vehicle onto thier EA-81 vehicle? Ifso, what vehicle? Just asking 'cause any arm from an EA-81 would more than likely have a weak spring in it due to age. Or do I just have wierd wipers?

Welcome to the Board. Lots of good info on here. Currently own 3 BRATs myself, '82, '85, '86. Want more, but Wife says "NO"! :-\

Welcome back...

Check the dome/interior lights, make sure they are off. They will drain a battery overnight if "on". And it's not as obvious as some would think it would be, especially if you only work on vehicle during the daylight hours. Brake lights staying on would be another drain possibility. But those being "on" are a bit more obvious than the dome light(s). Still, it's worth looking into.

Check disty timing. Put #1 cylinder at TDC. Pull the spark plug and put your finger over the hole, turn engine over with socket on crank pulley bolt until you feel the air pushing on your finger. Then align the timing pointer to "0" on the flywheel. Cylinders: 3----4 1----2 Disty cap; --1-- 3---4 --2-- Rotor should be pointing at #1 plug tower on the cap. Plug wires in proper rotation.

Had that same problem on my '86, was the PS wanting to hang. Ordered loaded calipers thru rockauto for under $50.00 each, they're on closeout sale right now. 0790523 = L 0790524 = R 1494959796054 5% discount code

I called AZ yesterday to see what they had to say. Seems they'll take the GCK's back on warranty, and sell me some Duralast axles. They have to order those in though, so I told them it'd be a bit before I'd do so. Thinking I'll try to find some new boots for the GCK's. Then again, maybe not. Just sucks that I can't get the GCK's replaced "free of charge".

Nice find... To bad they're across the Atlantic, shipping would be a killer. I sure could use some of those parts though.....

Good to hear. The one I have wouldn't have worked all that well. Glass is good, but the lip seal has shrunk some, leaving a rather large gap. Definetly would be a leaker.