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What is the most reliable and longest lasting suby engine?


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I have an '84 1800 OHV and I used to have another that did 300K miles and was running fine and not burning oil when I sold it. Is that an EA81? What is an EA82 and all the designations? Please explain....

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ea81 over ea82 anyday,

 

imho

 

ej22 then ea81, only because of the carb problems with the ea81, at the subaru shop i worked at i saw alot of 300k ej22's like probably 20 or so in the 6 mounths i worked there,

 

if you take into the reliablity of the cars themselves i would have to vote ea81,,

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But someone please do explain the differences between the engines? And what is it that I have? From what I gather I think I have an EA81 but do not know....

 

yes, the ea81 is the 1800 OHV.

ea71 is the 1600 OHV.

there were other OHVs, 1200,1300,1400, maybe even an 1100. i don't know their designations.

 

ea82 was the OHC 1800 with timing belt driven cam.

they were the engines in the 85-93? "loyale" era cars

the ej series are the legacy/impreza era engines

ej22=2.2 litre, etc.

 

there was also the xt6 engine, the er27.

 

the biggest point of confusion may be that from '85 - '89 in the usa, and later in some foreign markets. subaru was using ea82 and ea81 (in brats and hatches). also in some foriegn markets they put OHV engines in loyale era cars.

 

i probobly just said more than you wanted to hear. hope it wasn't confusing.

 

and in my opinion the OHV engines would be the most reliable and care free, but i don't have much experience with newer cars.

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I've run both EA81s (240Ks) and EA82s spfi (260Ks) well into the mid 200Ks and they were still running when I retired them but were getting low on power (compression - they probably just needed rings, but it was cheaper to replace them with JY specials).

 

I prefer the EA82s - more power, NO trouble or maintenance with spfi except an occasional bad sensor which the ECU is very accurate in tell you about. Down side is the timing belts which can be a pain (broke a few out in the boonies) until you learn how to adjust and then replace them and actually replace them when they are due. Oil pump gasket issue is a hassle but a minor anoyance to me.

 

EA81s are very good engines (still got a hatch I'm going to maybe do something offroad with). Down side is carbs - I've had the '82 era weber-(something) carb and the other carb (Hitachi?) and had problems with both. Weber ran better though. Also the engines I've had were pre-hydro lifter era, so adjusting valves was a nuisance.

 

No experience with anything newer. If anyone wants to donate an EJxx for me to play with let me know!!

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