regularman Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 I was going to do and engine swap but now I'm having second thoughts. I bought a 1989 rx from my nephew who bought it from another guy. Anyway, it blew a head gasket with the first guy and my nephew bought it from him and attempted to fix it He took the head off and got a new head gasket and attempted to put it on. Only he put the wrong bolts in the wrong holes and broke one of the long ones off in a short hole (17 years old ). So I helped him drill the broken bolt out of the block and then we drilled and tapped the hole out for a 1/2 20 bolt. Anyways he puts it back together and it runs like a champ for a couple weeks then it blows another headgasket(he was racing somebody). He takes the head back off and screws up some more bolt holes, so now there are three that are 1/2 20 bolts and one in the middle he put a helicoil in. He puts it back together and it misses and puts out white smoke from the start this time. He gives up on it, says its a dog and lets it sit around for a few months and then I bought it for 200 bucks. The body is in excellent shape and the interior is good too. Since its and automatic, I want to fix it up for my older mom and day to have as a spare car. I have thought of removing the ea81 motor from an old wagon that I have and using it, but then that might be a pain with the wiring and all. I have this EA82 turbo motor pulled out and in my basement/garage and the head doesn't look that bad. It has some small cracks between the valves and the warpage is about .003 from checking with a straight edge and a feeler gauge. The reason that it smoked and missed the last time was because the helicoil he used was sticking out of the block a few thousandths and this caused the headgasket not to seal right. The block and all the different bolts and stuff has me worried though. I think that I did find out the real reason for the orignal and second blown headgasket though. the little vacuum valve thing that opens the wastegate for the turbo is seized up and wont move at all not mater what. That means that the pressure most likely went really high on it. What would ya'll recommend I do? I don't want to put a lot of money into this car. 50$ for a headgasket is outragious as it is. Should I go with the old wagon motor or try and put the EA82 back together one more time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regularman Posted May 14, 2005 Author Share Posted May 14, 2005 Well, here I am replying to my own post. Forget about the ea82 engine. I took the oil pan off and its full of metal. I don't know what the hell he did to that thing. I can move the crank and feel play in all the rods, so I figure it totally hosed up. I guess I'm going with the old Ea81 from my wagon into the rx for sure now. I have to pull the motor from the wagon and see what was making it miss at an idle. I might end up having no motor at all for the rx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru_styles Posted May 14, 2005 Share Posted May 14, 2005 ill buy the rx from ya:brow:..if only i was closer... really though, why not invest a little money for a used ea82t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted May 14, 2005 Share Posted May 14, 2005 if this ea81 motor is carbed, hook up the disty to the cool and let all the mpfi harness stay connected as it is to the coil. the coil will work like it was carbed as well as the tachometer. any of the other mpfi connectors just tuck them away and everything will work like its supposed to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regularman Posted May 14, 2005 Author Share Posted May 14, 2005 if this ea81 motor is carbed, hook up the disty to the cool and let all the mpfi harness stay connected as it is to the coil. the coil will work like it was carbed as well as the tachometer. any of the other mpfi connectors just tuck them away and everything will work like its supposed to Thats what I want to hear, Milesfox. I'm hoping to do a re-ring job on the Ea81 and then bolt it into the RX. I will be pulling the Ea81 on Monday afternoon(I'm a shift worker). I want to check it out and see what it needs before buying anything. I just want this car to be reliable so my parents can drive it and not worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regularman Posted May 15, 2005 Author Share Posted May 15, 2005 ill buy the rx from ya:brow:..if only i was closer... really though, why not invest a little money for a used ea82t This little car really is in perfect shape. The only problems with it at all(besides the motor) is the bumpers are dull and some parts of the paint are a littl faded, the radio has been removed, and there is a very minor tear in the driver's seat. I am tempted to put more money into this car, but I have 6 cars and 2 motorcycles as it is and need to start getting rid of some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75subie Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 if you ever do decide to sell the rx, please let me know.i would be interested. if you do want to fix it with a stock ea82t, they are about $350-420 on ebay for a JDM.but you could find some on the board a little cheaper. -Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regularman Posted May 15, 2005 Author Share Posted May 15, 2005 if you ever do decide to sell the rx, please let me know.i would be interested. if you do want to fix it with a stock ea82t, they are about $350-420 on ebay for a JDM.but you could find some on the board a little cheaper. -Jon Yeah, I have seen a few of these listed. Even saw a E82t complete for $695, but shipping can be $$$ and its a lot more than I want to spend right now. I will keep you in mind if I decide to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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