The answer is too often the same - "EJ it"

[brokebill]

take a deep breath and count to 1,000,000 everyone!

 

seriously though, its good to know the people i seek my advice from are so passionate about Subarus.

thats a good thing.

 

EA82T means turbo?

if so, are the nonturbo EA82 known to be as flawed?

thanks, Bill

[Mykeys Toy]

Not especially. They still have their quirks though not as problematic.. I can't say I will never own a turbo car but it is highly unlikely. With my mechanical skills ( HA!) it would spend more time @ Qman's or Turbone's house getting fixed..

I don't have the money to reimburse them for their time.. God know's I have done that all too often.

 

Mike

[GeneralDisorder]

if so, are the nonturbo EA82 known to be as flawed?

 

They have their place. The SPFI system used in later years was excelent, reliable, and simple.

 

The major problem with the EA82T lies with the heads, and some other ancillery components that non-turbo's tend to stress less. The heads for the NA's are different entirely, and at the power levels of the NA design the inherent problems nearly vanish.

 

The biggest drawback of the EA82 NA is the timing belt setup itself. The belts usually don't last till the reccomended change interval. 50k or sometimes even less is common. They are a bit of an oddity in the timing belt universe, and as such can be problematic to the uninitiated.

 

The carbs had serious drawbacks compared to earlier designs, and the feedback carbs were the worst/most complicated carb design Subaru ever put out (and the last).

 

Generally the EA82 NA isn't a bad engine - it needs more maintenance to go the same number of miles with nearly the same HP as the EA81 though.... The only win is the SFPI, but you can put that on an EA81 with relatively little effort. An EA81 block will also bolt right in to the stock manifolds and mounts of an EA82 SPFI vehicle and only requires minor changes and a drive gear swap on the distributor.

 

GD

[WoodsWagon]

There are a few misconceptions going on here.

1. 1. Putting an EJ22 into a EA82 car is NOTHING like putting a chevy 350 into a RX7. Consider it a lot more like putting a 13b into where a 12a came from. It's not that the 12a is a sackless POS, it's just that the 13b is a lot better. The engines are made by the same manufacturer, but one is a much improved design.
   
2. An EJ22 swap is not expensive. My car as a case in point. I bought a junk legacy for $75, beat the bag out of it for a year, then stripped the body for the swap into my car. We designed and machined the plate ourselves, mad it out of scrap aluminum left over from a reel-to-reel tape machine, opened up the flywheel holes, and ground the engine mounts down. I did a 1/4 rump roast job of stripping the wiring harness down, and if I wanted to, I could plug the EA82 motor and computer back in and drive the car, I left the origional harness. I cut and welded the EA82 exhaust to fit the EJ22 y-pipe, and it worked fine for a year.
   
3. The EA82 isn't a POS. It would top out at 97mph running on 30" mudders. It's just that the EJ22 will do that in 3rd pulling onto the highway without you fully expecting it. The EA82 also didn't have enough low end torque, and stalled everywhere in the woods. Especially the snow. It bogged down and stalled in wet snow all the friggin time. EJ22, not so much. It will pull through a lot more before bogging. What I don't have in gearing, I try to make up for in engine.
   
4. There isn't any reason to "build the piss" out of an EA82t. WJM tried that. And went through engines like babies go through diapers. You aren't pioneering anything or proving anything by building an EA82t.
   
5. I bought a 86 T-wagon. I plan on "beating the piss" out of the motor, and when it blows, something better than an EJ is going in. I plan on loosening the MAF spring, opening up the exhaust, upping the boost, and feeding it extra substances. It should be fun for, oh, a week or so. I kill EA's before I swap them. My last one met a watery death, and then was driven with a bent rod for a while.

[GeneralDisorder]

Besides, everyone knows the EJ22T is the best motor ever, and every USMB thread should start with

"I don't have an EJ22T, but help me anyway". LOL j/k r/ PK.

 

+1

 

GD

[Qman]

There are a few misconceptions going on here.

1. 1. Putting an EJ22 into a EA82 car is NOTHING like putting a chevy 350 into a RX7. Consider it a lot more like putting a 13b into where a 12a came from. It's not that the 12a is a sackless POS, it's just that the 13b is a lot better. The engines are made by the same manufacturer, but one is a much improved design.
   
2. An EJ22 swap is not expensive. My car as a case in point. I bought a junk legacy for $75, beat the bag out of it for a year, then stripped the body for the swap into my car. We designed and machined the plate ourselves, mad it out of scrap aluminum left over from a reel-to-reel tape machine, opened up the flywheel holes, and ground the engine mounts down. I did a 1/4 rump roast job of stripping the wiring harness down, and if I wanted to, I could plug the EA82 motor and computer back in and drive the car, I left the origional harness. I cut and welded the EA82 exhaust to fit the EJ22 y-pipe, and it worked fine for a year.
   
3. The EA82 isn't a POS. It would top out at 97mph running on 30" mudders. It's just that the EJ22 will do that in 3rd pulling onto the highway without you fully expecting it. The EA82 also didn't have enough low end torque, and stalled everywhere in the woods. Especially the snow. It bogged down and stalled in wet snow all the friggin time. EJ22, not so much. It will pull through a lot more before bogging. What I don't have in gearing, I try to make up for in engine.
   
4. There isn't any reason to "build the piss" out of an EA82t. WJM tried that. And went through engines like babies go through diapers. You aren't pioneering anything or proving anything by building an EA82t.
   
5. I bought a 86 T-wagon. I plan on "beating the piss" out of the motor, and when it blows, something better than an EJ is going in. I plan on loosening the MAF spring, opening up the exhaust, upping the boost, and feeding it extra substances. It should be fun for, oh, a week or so. I kill EA's before I swap them. My last one met a watery death, and then was driven with a bent rod for a while.

 

How exactly can you write those two things in the same paragraph and not laugh as histerically as I did when I read it? Most of your post is double talk and rhetoric. I apologize for my bluntness but come on. Make a point or don't post.

[Phizinza]

So much text...

 

RE: EJ22 most reliable.

When I had my EA81 (I believe one of the best motors Subaru ever made) I never got stuck on the side of the road. No matter what went wrong with it, I could always drive it home.

EJ22'ed it and I had to leave the car twice. Once was because of that damned stupid timing belt. It didn't break but the mud got in and made it slip screwing up the timing. I couldn't figure out why it was only running on 2 so I had to leave the car 300km away from home.

 

Ok, they may be more reliable then the 25 or the 82, but 81 FTW! We even stuck an ea81 in a mates 88wagon!

[s'ko]

Audio_file,

 

In the end it's all up to you on what you want to do with "your" car and how you want to spend "your" money.

 

I am in the middle of my RX swap and I was talking to an Impreza swap shop and he said to me "dude... what are you going through all of the trouble of building a EJ frankenmotor, when you can buy a WRX motor for about 2k and put that in there. Then you will have spent less money and have a better platform to work with.

 

My answer: BECAUSE I WANT TO and I can't spend 2k in one shot b/c the my other half will kill me:dead:

Ultimately it was b/c I want to.

 

When I was doing posts about my EJ18 BRAT people said to me.. why don't you put in a EJ22 instead. my answer... the EJ18 was FREE.

 

You just have to move on and ignore the "EJ it" crowd. (of which I am a registered and dues paying member:grin: ) and do your thing.

 

Have fun with "your" car and tell us what you do with it.

 

BW

[WoodsWagon]

1. The EA82 isn't a POS. It would top out at 97mph running on 30" mudders. It's just that the EJ22 will do that in 3rd pulling onto the highway without you fully expecting it. The EA82 also didn't have enough low end torque, and stalled everywhere in the woods. Especially the snow. It bogged down and stalled in wet snow all the friggin time. EJ22, not so much. It will pull through a lot more before bogging. What I don't have in gearing, I try to make up for in engine.

How exactly can you write those two things in the same paragraph and not laugh as histerically as I did when I read it? Most of your post is double talk and rhetoric. I apologize for my bluntness but come on. Make a point or don't post.

I'm sorry if you came looking for a knife fight and I dissapointed by not stabbing the carcass of the EA.

 

I can say that, because the EA82 in my loyale did a good job for what it was. I didn't do a lick of maintenence to it other than scab in a vacuum soleniod. It got me to northern vermont, I tore it up up there, the engine put up will boiling like a bastard everytime I stopped. I daily drove that thing without worrying that it would leave me stuck. What impressed me most about it was the night I hydrolocked it. How many engines can be hydrolocked at 4k rpms, suck in so much water that when I pulled the rubber intake boot off, there was water up to the injector, and then be able to be restarted without any tools? I was able to give it kicks with the starter and get all that water to leak past the rings. I then drove out of the woods in a hurry, nailed the oil pan on a rock hard enough to rip the hoses off the radiator, and have it keep running. The engine may not have had a lot of power, but it was a tenacious little bastard. It was still running when I pulled it to do the EJ swap. That's what makes it NOT a POS. I've got good memories of that engine. So ************ off. I'm not going to call it crap just because it's low powered.

 

Actions speak louder than words, and the fact I've got an EJ22 in my loyale says the power was important to what I need. That's why EJ's are the solution to power needs, and EA's never will be.

 

Most of your post is double talk and rhetoric.

Show me where the double talk is. Rhetoric? No, I'm speaking from personal experience. And since you have reading comprehension issues, I'll paraphrase it for you:

1. EJ swaps are not blasphemous like chevy into ford swaps are.
   
2. EJ swaps don't have to be expensive. Mine cost me under $100
   
3. Just because I swapped doesn't mean I hate the EA82. It had it's place, and I respect it for that.
   
4. Building up an EA82T is throwing good money down a hole.
   
5. I have an EA82t, and I plan on letting it make more power than it's capable of, for a short time, because I plan on swapping it.

[audio_file]

"I don't have an EJ22T, but help me anyway". LOL j/k r/ PK.

 

ROFL!! Thank you all for taking what was a very frustrating subject for me and reminding me that its not the end of the friggin world

As I've mentioned, my plan is the same as what has been practiced by more than a few people here, build an EA, drive it like I stole it, take pictures when it blows chunks through the hood- and go from there. (read "ok, ok you win, i'll put an EJ in it later . . .)

 

Until then, I think OZified said it best . . .

 

chris

[Numbchux]

So much text...

 

RE: EJ22 most reliable.

When I had my EA81 (I believe one of the best motors Subaru ever made) I never got stuck on the side of the road. No matter what went wrong with it, I could always drive it home.

EJ22'ed it and I had to leave the car twice. Once was because of that damned stupid timing belt. It didn't break but the mud got in and made it slip screwing up the timing. I couldn't figure out why it was only running on 2 so I had to leave the car 300km away from home.

 

Ok, they may be more reliable then the 25 or the 82, but 81 FTW! We even stuck an ea81 in a mates 88wagon!

 

indeed. the EA81 is a wonderful engine. I've NEVER said that the EA engines in general are junk. just the EA82. unfortunately, in this part of the world, EA81s aren't an option, because they've all rusted down to a pile of dust.

 

 

 

I also wanted to mention. I've owned 5 EA82s. will never buy another without the intention of swapping it. And just bought a '96 2.5l Outback for my girlfriend. I have way more faith in the EJ25d (even a '96 with HLAs) than any EA82.

[Numbchux]

build an EA, drive it like I stole it, take pictures when it blows chunks through the hood- and go from there. (read "ok, ok you win, i'll put an EJ in it later . . .)

 

you pretty much summed it up there, except by making the mistake of saying EA. please don't insult such wonderful motors as the EA81s by lumping them in with the EA82s

 

you said "WHEN" it blows up. and we all know it'll happen. yet you're mad that nobody suggests this as a good idea?!

 

 

fine, if you have an EA82. you want a bit more power, you don't want to spend the money on an EJ swap. put an EA81 with a Weber and a delta cam in there. but even then, it's still a 1.8. if you really want power, get more motor (that said, I'd never swap a 2.0l, turbo or not, still isn't worth it IMHO). and there isn't any other way to do that.

[audio_file]

ya know, i think the EA (82T for those of you insulted by the general reference) will last longer than you expect. i fully intend on enjoying this build and the aftermath for quite awhile . . .

 

you pretty much summed it up there, except by making the mistake of saying EA. please don't insult such wonderful motors as the EA81s by lumping them in with the EA82s

 

you said "WHEN" it blows up. and we all know it'll happen. yet you're mad that nobody suggests this as a good idea?!

 

 

fine, if you have an EA82. you want a bit more power, you don't want to spend the money on an EJ swap. put an EA81 with a Weber and a delta cam in there. but even then, it's still a 1.8. if you really want power, get more motor (that said, I'd never swap a 2.0l, turbo or not, still isn't worth it IMHO). and there isn't any other way to do that.

[86BRATMAN]

I've seen too many stock ea82t's in junk yards with the writing bad motor on the windshield for me to believe it will last even as long as it an optomist would hope for.

[Qman]

ya know, i think the EA (82T for those of you insulted by the general reference) will last longer than you expect. i fully intend on enjoying this build and the aftermath for quite awhile . . .

 

It will last a long time with proper maintenance. They have been known to hit 400-500,000 miles. But, from a performance perspective, they still suck. Too many bad designs at one time.

 

I too speak from experience. I have ran them with holes in the top of the blocks. And with axles so bad they were literally flopping in the cups. I have even owned EA82T's. I have one now. Put belts on it and set it up for my kid. Nothing better than a slow car for a teenager. After putting it back together I had to call Turbone and have him drive it. It was so slow I thought something had to be wrong with it.

 

I have built many motors over the years. Some were good investments. Some were not. The only advice I can give is to make sure that anything you do to it is done with a simple formula. Air in - air out. Anything you do to improve the air in has to be done to allow air out.

 

And to 91Loyale...pfft. You'll need to do better.

[audio_file]

I have one now. Put belts on it and set it up for my kid. Nothing better than a slow car for a teenager. After putting it back together I had to call Turbone and have him drive it. It was so slow I thought something had to be wrong with it.

 

ROFL, that's too funny

Imagine how I felt going from my tuned G35 into a carbed ea82 wagon?!

But I love my wagon in ways that eclipse it's lack of performance- it is so versatile, it goes anywhere (almost- as you've witnessed), and it has personality . . . sometimes these newer cars feel too "sterile"

With the RX, its just about busting my knuckles on an ol' lady who deserves better than to rust away in a field, learning as i go, and maybe having some fun too

chris

[audio_file]

I've seen too many stock ea82t's in junk yards with the writing bad motor on the windshield for me to believe it will last even as long as it an optomist would hope for.

 

do you remember where? i'm obviously going to need a lot of parts

[86BRATMAN]

do you remember where? i'm obviously going to need a lot of parts

 

I can think of 5 right now within ten minutes of my house. Spare parts-o-plenty:headbang:

[Qman]

do you remember where? i'm obviously going to need a lot of parts

 

ROFLMAO!!

 

You'll be just fine Chris.

[Subarutex]

I too get tired of the "EJ It!" message. Even though I am a convert... owning 2 EJ swapped EA cars.

 

Atleast I took the effort of doing what I could with the stock engine, blowing it up countless times, then made the decision to move on.

 

I support people wanting to work with the EA engines, and try to answer any questions I can. Obviously... i'm better at pointing what WON'T work than what will :-P

 

With that in mind... we need to get together and talk shop. Is there any interest in a north seattle RX meet?

[tizzle]

My theory on the EA82t is to "lightly" modify it. I put on nice TWE exhaust, p&p'ed the turbo, k&N drop in filter. But the most important things i did were to replace all the hoses and sensors, and stuff like that. I have replaced the engine 1 time, due to the original being bad when I bought it.

 

My RX still has bugs that aren't fixed, but I drive it anyways and enjoy it. My other car is a STI RA swapped legacy. It is much nicer and faster, but I enjoy driving the RX just as much.

 

I say mod it, but have a backup car to drive while you work out the kinks:)an ej powered subaru will suffice

[Sonicfrog]

My theory on the EA82t is to "lightly" modify it. I put on nice TWE exhaust, p&p'ed the turbo, k&N drop in filter. But the most important things i did were to replace all the hoses and sensors, and stuff like that. I have replaced the engine 1 time, due to the original being bad when I bought it.

 

My RX still has bugs that aren't fixed, but I drive it anyways and enjoy it. My other car is a STI RA swapped legacy. It is much nicer and faster, but I enjoy driving the RX just as much.

 

I say mod it, but have a backup car to drive while you work out the kinks:)an ej powered subaru will suffice

I second this. C'mon, were not buying high end expensive sports cars - We're buying GL Subarus!!! Sure, the engine might leave some wanting more, but they're cheap, they have a go-anywhere suspension, the fantastic turn radius rocks, and the ease of working on this cars engine if - OK, WHEN things go foul to me more than make up for the shortcomings.

[86BRATMAN]

I second this. C'mon, were not buying high end expensive sports cars - We're buying GL Subarus!!! Sure, the engine might leave some wanting more, but they're cheap, they have a go-anywhere suspension, the fantastic turn radius rocks, and the ease of working on this cars engine if - OK, WHEN things go foul to me more than make up for the shortcomings.

 

I can agree with all of this. But when someone wants to make them into a performance machine, there is one logical way to do it. Put a motor in it that has been tested and proven its stones. Not one that has been tested and left it's stones on the road.

[audio_file]

we need to get together and talk shop. Is there any interest in a north seattle RX meet?

 

that would be awesome, do a little show and tell, you'd have to put up with my RX being pretty ugly right now, but i sure would love to see/hear everyone's experiences (the good, bad, and ugly )

[Turbone]

that would be awesome, do a little show and tell, you'd have to put up with my RX being pretty ugly right now, but i sure would love to see/hear everyone's experiences (the good, bad, and ugly )

 

Yeah, I would be up for that. The sooner the better

Never know when mine just decide to grenade.