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What Have You Done to your Soobie lately? (Please post in here and keep it going)


Ricearu
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Replaced 6 engine wiring harness connectors due to corrosion on my ea82t 86' XT. Cleaned & inspected MAF, replaced all underhood vacuum and coolant hoses. Also replaced the o2 sensor, TPS, wires, plugs and cap (waiting on rotor)

 

It's still having engine stumbling upon throttle on/liftoff on the highway, idling low after restarting a hot engine and and getting 16mpg instead of 25. No engine codes, no vacuum leaks I can find with carb cleaner.

 

I guess after the rotor arrives, I'll move on to ignition coil, timing and clogged cat/exhaust leaks as other possible culprits. :/

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Replaced 6 engine wiring harness connectors due to corrosion on my ea82t 86' XT. Cleaned & inspected MAF, replaced all underhood vacuum and coolant hoses. Also replaced the o2 sensor, TPS, wires, plugs and cap (waiting on rotor)

 

It's still having engine stumbling upon throttle on/liftoff on the highway, idling low after restarting a hot engine and and getting 16mpg instead of 25. No engine codes, no vacuum leaks I can find with carb cleaner.

 

I guess after the rotor arrives, I'll move on to ignition coil, timing and clogged cat/exhaust leaks as other possible culprits. :/

 

Have you done a compression check/vacuum reading? Before I'd go nuts, get those numbers and also check timing.. I had the same symptoms JUST before the headgaskets let go. (Confirmed by the overheating, MASSIVE white cloud on startup when warm and then coolant in oil. Gasket blew due to headbolts being stripped/backing out)

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Have you done a compression check/vacuum reading? Before I'd go nuts, get those numbers and also check timing.. I had the same symptoms JUST before the headgaskets let go. (Confirmed by the overheating, MASSIVE white cloud on startup when warm and then coolant in oil. Gasket blew due to headbolts being stripped/backing out)

 

Well, it just failed an antifreeze combustion leak test, a leakdown test showed ~20% leakage on all cylinders, low on coolant. I could do more tests but it looks like I've won the EA82t prize :(

Edited by derburger
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Well, it just failed an antifreeze combustion leak test, a leakdown test showed ~20% leakage on all cylinders, low on coolant. I could do more tests but it looks like I've won the EA82t prize :(

 

That's a bummer. What's your plan? Fix the EA82T, EJ swap it, or are you calling your Roo done and will find another Roo to replace it?

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Yes, for most owners, that is the way to go. But only when the N/A EA82 has had it. But in my book, the EA82T should be swapped with an EJ right away. Turbo or not, it's still a jump in power and a giant leap in reliability.

 

Yeah, I would love to EJ one of the BRATs or the '88 Wagon. But the cost of getting a donor vehicle in these parts kinda prohibits that.

I can rework one of the 2 SPFI, 2 Carb EA82 engines, or the 2 EA81 engines I have here, for a lot less money.

Plus, I could always shoehorn one of the 2 ER27 XT6 engines I have into one of the vehicles. Only issue there is the radiator placement.

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That's a bummer. What's your plan? Fix the EA82T, EJ swap it, or are you calling your Roo done and will find another Roo to replace it?

 

I'm close to calling it quits on my XT... I believe the front frame rails are rusting from the inside out, plus it's horribly dented, needs paint and now a headgasket job. Gonna poke around with a screwdriver tomorrow. Welding, fabricating and bodywork are way out of my league, unfortunately.

 

For a replacement, I could watch NASIOC for a few weeks and see what lightly modded new gens I can get. 2k4 FXT, 2k5 Legacy GT, WRX, etc. Including other makers, there are really too many options for what a car guy can buy.

Edited by derburger
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The pass. side frame rail of my XT appears to be layers of sheet metal, and the second layer is solid. Some light poking with a screwdriver make that hole.

 

And the headgasket on the passenger's side near the turbo is seeping coolant, so I'm guessing that head needs much more work than a quick milling flat.

 

The car is awesome and I'd like to keep it, but realistically it's done...

 

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idk, cost of rust repair probaly wont be higher than the cost of replacing. and a head gasket job isnt terrible either.

 

due to both, I could easily see selling it as is to replace with a different one in better shape, but your always gonna have some problem with whatever you buy.

 

We throw away too much as it is, fix it if you like it. dont get hung up on prices and car values, if you like the car and it can be fixed for less than it costs to replace with something you like better, then keep it imo.

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Lookin' good, mm88swrt!

What ground controls did you go with?

 

they are the impreza 8" coils, and went with a 300 for the front and 250 for the rear. working out an ignition issue right now to get it running again and break the motor in. then i will know how they handle on the road. but they feel like they will do just fine!!! and thank you!!! she's not pretty but she is super funcional!!!

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Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted. I've still got my postal wagon. I let ricearu borrow it because both his legacy and outback decided they wanted motor rebuilds. Well, my car has a quirk. It will work just long enough for another car to get going, then I have to tow it home with the truck. When Ricearu drove it this last time, the transmission decided that it didn't want the front diff to have teeth anymore. It still crawled it's way onto the trailer, but that's it. So far, I've upgraded the front brakes, converted the rears, put wrx struts wheels and lowering springs on it, build a 2.5/2.2 frankie motor for it, gt front bumper and wing, and an outback rear bumper. Now, because of previously mentioned transmission shredding, I've decided to do a 5mt swap to the car. Not nearly as easy as you think. It's been broken since june, and on jack stands since about august. I've found and installed a 4.11 trans and diff from a first gen 5 speed. And after a long and excessively stressful period of time I finally got the clutch pedal assembly from the UK. That's also been figured out to work. The only things I'm short now are the starter (which I had to hit to make work anyways) and the drive shaft. As it turns out, the front half of the drive shaft is about 1.5 inches shorter on the first gens vs the second gens. I can find the starter just fine, but I am having hell finding the correct driveshaft. I wanna drive my car!!! I don't wanna sound desperate, but I kinda am. Anybody know where I can get one that fits correctly? I think a forester might have the correct front length, but I'm not sure.

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Ordered a new all aluminum Mishimoto radiator for my wrx. My stock one decided it didn't want to hold coolant anymore yesterday on the way into town. I also got all new hoses for the engine and radiator along with it. Now I just have to wait for them to come in :popcorn:

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