Keeping the EA82 cool

[SakoTGrimes]

Is apparently very important. A few nights ago, I took my 87 wagon down to Roseville CA. Even though it was snowing and the heater was full blast (when it worked) the temp gauge continued to climb. When it would get to the red I would stop for a while and then take off again.

 

It started getting real bad, because I had forgotten to replace the coolant filler cap and coolant was gushing out of that. I made a few 1/2 mile runs and cool down til I got to a rest stop and refilled the radiator (took almost a gallon) and MacGuyver'd up a new cap with a latex glove, a different cap and a zip tie. That kept her nice and cool for a while until I got to another pass, the gauge started to rise again and I was needing to use more throttle than I should have to go up the hill.

 

Then I heard a loud pop from the hood, I immediately lost power (just like the time my Loyale's radiator hose burst) and steam was going everywhere so I stopped. Now there was chocolate pudding (oil/water mix) on the oil filler cap and spurting out of the EGR in the air cleaner assembly. Great, a blown headgasket in BFE. I filled the rad again, when it got near full, water would pour out of what looked like the CENTER of the engine. WTF!? (see below for more on that) I gently drove up the hill and stopped at the nearest gas station to rewater the car and my plastic bag for water. Then I found the culprit - the heater hose! the dang thing had burst and whenever I filled the radiator, very hot water would gush out of a gaping hole in it. That must have been why my heater started blowing cold air. I tried to block it off with tight zip ties and vice grips, but it was still leaking. At midnight in the middle of nowhere with no money, my only option was to keep going.

 

Just a few miles later I was going through Anderson at maybe 50mph, everything was going alright until again I lost all power, but this time it was accompanied by bad noises. Can't recall exactly what they sounded like, but anyone could tell you they were bad. Like metal on metal bad. Under the hood there was spilled oil and water everywhere and now the car wouldn't even start. I knew she was dead so this is where I left her.

 

What I learned: 1. Always, always, always carry water, no matter what, at least 2 gallons. 2. Always carry spare heater hoses. When one of those goes, it's just as bad as a radiator hose. 3. Overheating will break a timing belt. 4. The EA82 is not as willing to drive in the red as I thought.

 

I really like the EA82, I think it's neat. But I also really hate it's tendency to break timing belt(s) at very inconvienent times. Both times it's happened to me the belts were new.

 

What I want to know: Can you air cool a watercooled engine? Seriously. I'm not suggesting foregoing the original cooling system at all, I'd throw in a VW 1600 if I wanted to do that. I mean, would you get any significant cooling factor if you very carefully made some aluminum cooling fins and welded them to the heads and other parts of the engine? You know, to help keep the engine alive in water-less situations? Couldn't hurt could it? Maybe add an air dam under the engine to force air up and over the fins.

 

And somewhat related, I know it's already been gone over in detail, but I'm gonna ask anyway. EA81 engine into EA82 body with 5 speed dual range: how hard?

[Reveeen]

Always, always, always carry water, no matter what, at least 2 gallons.

 

I always carry water in those windshield washer fluid jugs.

 

Can you air cool a watercooled engine?

 

No, though one time my wife blew a heater hose at -43C and drove an Escort home 10 miles empty.........air cooling worked good that night.

[woundedbrat]

best way I have found to deal woth a burst heater hose is to disconnect the good hose from the fire wall and reconnect it where the burst hose comes out of the engine. This isolates heater from engine and seals system:rolleyes:

[misledxcracker]

I've blown a Ford Escort up by driving it without water, I had forgot to put on the radiator cap when I filled it up, and still got about 200 miles with no cap. All of a sudden, the temp gauge went to COLD. I kept driving it for about 20 miles... Then, two valve seats dropped, I blew the head and the head gasket, snapped the timing belt, and destroyed the timing belt driven water pump. Luckily, I had a towing package on my insurance, and it only costed me $40 to get it the 80 miles home. And I fixed it Stupid me!

 

If the only reason the wagon was overheating was the heater hose, I would've bypassed the heater core, and threw on a jacket or three until I got to the nearest place where I could have got a new hose. Garden hose works too, I've been stuck doing that before... I couldnt tell you if it's a permanent fix though, as I replaced it with normal hose about 300 miles later.

[joostvdw]

I worked for a bit at a road service company (the people you call when your car breaks down) and one of the things I learned there is how to fix coolant hoses on the fly

 

first, wrap self vulcanising tape tightly around the rip/gap/hose, warm it with your hand and mold it into 1 piece, then tightly wrap electrical tape over it, lastly, wrap duct-tape over it, the different types of tape work together, just like reinforced concrete and this will hold for several 100 km's

 

just don't use it on new BMWs, their cooling systems runs at 7 bar

[DaveT]

The best way to avoid these problems is to replace ALL 6 [edit - make that 7!] of the coolant system hoses every 5 years or so, don't wait for them to fail. Use coolant system hose for the small ones, not fuel or oil line. Something about the composition of the rubber doesn't stand up well to the hot coolant.

 

 

Same with timing belts, change at 40K miles, and inspect the idler bearings. Check the oil and coolant level at least 1/week. Coolant check includes squeezing the top radiator hose while listening for the jiggle pin, and looking at the level in the overflow tank.

[subaruguru]

hey as for youre ea81 to ea82 tranny thing it will work you will just need a clutch plated from an 85 subaru (needs to have 6 springs) because the standard 4 spring ea82 plate wont fit the ea81 flywheel and pressure plate.

[Gloyale]

 

I really like the EA82, I think it's neat. But I also really hate it's tendency to break timing belt(s) at very inconvienent times. Both times it's happened to me the belts were new.

 

 

This means you didn't do something right, and/or you used REALLY crappy belts.

 

I've put well over 200,000(probably more like 400,000) miles on EA82s over the last 12 years. The only time I've ever had a belt break was on new to me cars with oil soaked old belts or rusty tensioners.

 

Quality new belts, properly installed, with new or at least inspected and passed tensioners, and no oil or coolant leaks on the belts, they will last as long as any other timing belt on any other car.

 

I am so sick of this perpetuated MYTH that EA82s have some flaw in the timing belt setup. If this were true, these cars wouldn't be driving around in numbers 5x greater than other cars from the same era. The flaw is in the owners who neglect repairs on 20 year old cars and then say "ahhhh.... this S***ty car sucks"

[subiemech85]

seems to me that all you would have had to do is:

loop over the heater hose, refill rad, and replace the t-belts on the side of the road, after all, it's a subaru

 

and be sure to have a set of coveralls just in case

 

I advise you to reuse the intake, carb, and air box from the ea82

[Gloyale]

seems to me that all you would have had to do is:

loop over the heater hose, refill rad, and replace the t-belts on the side of the road, after all, it's a subaru

 

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