EA82 the worst motor ever?

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:25 pm

Those timing belts are know for breaking, but are we replacining them when we should?
The replacement interval is 100,000km. Many of these motors are up around 300,000km now. Have they all had the belts replaced religiously?

Aircraft are very strict on servicing. I expect that belt replacement would be much more conservative then our cars. Also they should have a dual ignition setup. I wonder what that would look like on an ea82?

A couple of years ago I helped a mate with his VW aircraft motor that had had problems that found him flying without much power & caused a scary landing. All it was was a sticky valve stem. This motor was built with aviation in mind and had only done around 50 hours. The valve was easy to unstick & run well again in on the ground testing, but he had the whole head redone again. After all, seatbelts wont save you if the motor fails at 1000 feet. I think that a well serviced ea82 would be just as good as that VW motor.

Fury · Post by **Fury** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:51 pm

There is a major service (equivelent to a rebuild) every 1000 hrs on light aircraft ( i'd rack that up in a few months in the car) and minor ones in between. They also have to reach full operating temp before leaving the ground.

I am not sure of the ignition system, but I do know that replacment aircraft spec EA82 heads cost around 4k! 8O

Full load is on takeoff, and most modified road use engines fail or show signs of failing on the take off roll, if they are going to fail at all.

Some pilots who have Ultra Lights, dont have their engines serviced properly as UL laws are different to GA (general Aviation) laws. VW motors, I believe, are not GA rated. EA81 and EA82 engines are. Not sure about any others, but I believe they are rated at 140 hp !! So they must be built well.

Clearwater99 · Post by **Clearwater99** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:24 pm

Funny kind of question .. however .. my stock ea82 has taken me to the beach about 20 time's .. fraser island once .. and drives me to and from work every single day .. i change the oil .. i change the oil .. i change the oil .. seems to work for me ..

Wraith · Post by **Wraith** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:14 am

i have to agree with clearwater.

i change the oil and filter every 5000kms.

it just keeps going and going

i got it with 150,000 on the clock, 2 years later it has 230,000.

timing belt is due in another 10,000kms

but it has been the most reliable vehicle i have ever had.

and while i may not give it shit like some people on this forum do to their cars, it has been an amazing workhorse, and has done things that i had serious doubts it could do at the time.

sure, its not powerful, but i have kept going, when other makes and models and stranded.

maybe i just got lucky?????

dunno

but i love my stock L-series.....

KERRY · Post by **KERRY** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:35 am

I had two previous subarus one was a 1983 model and the other a 1975 model.
When I purchased the 1988 model this year I had high expectations, I expected it to perform better than the EA81 which did 400,000 klms and never even had a head gasket changed. I sold it for a bush basher to a friend on a property as it had rust issues.

I thought the EA82 would atleast perform as well as the EA81 but to my dissappointment it shared none of the "love to rev" and "stay at peak revs" through kilometers of soft sand without an issue.

I have a good short EA82 with only 200,000klms on it and was serviced. After drowning it in sand due to front bash plate holes and not then lifted, I discovered both heads were cracked between exhaust valves and plugs , same as old VW's used to.

The second hand motor I had replaced it with could have any ammount of kilometers on it. In Bundaberg the Aircraft Industry snap up the good ones for "Jabiru Aircraft" this one was passed up and I bought it.

No real issues except dissapointed with performance and fuel economy, even after a fully rebuilt carurettor.

I would rather an EA81 in my Lseries 5speed dual range over these EA82's any day. Saying that I am a scrooge and when this one stops I will be looking for heads for my good short motor to replace it. After all these ahve expired, if that ever happens I will look at "Turbo Options" meanwhile I will just "Flinstone" around with the NA EA82's

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:39 am

You could fit an EA81 to that L series. Wouldn't be too hard, I've done the swap the other way around and I'd say the EA81 -> L swap would be heaps easier than EA82 -> MY.

And to those who don't know I've just purchased my 3rd Subaru, a 1980 EA81 automatic sedan. This joins the driveway along with my lifted EA82 powered MY wagon, and my EJ20T powered MY coupe. Guess what I drive to work everyday? The EA81!!!!!

grytvikken · Post by **grytvikken** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:01 pm

bloody good point i also think my old MY was a better performer than my L. the motor was bullet proof and it returned better performance with 195r14 tyres than my L does with 185r14's. i wonder whether a twin carb ea81 would be a good option are they hard to find these purpose built twin carb engines?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:54 am

I happen to like the EA82's, might say that about the EJ's one day too.

Willy Fisterbottom · Post by **Willy Fisterbottom** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 1:25 pm

Carby EA82's are gutless but keep going, injected EA82's are great. I've always been quite happy with the power out of my Royals and Vortexs.

Kalbarri_baru · Post by **Kalbarri_baru** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:31 pm

Well as Paul could verify, I love my EA82, I have been poked and proded to get my wagon EJ'd but I just couldn't do it, sure my carby EA82 is slow and can barely go up hill more than 70km, But put in soft sand and I can eat it with low revs and it will not get hot or tired.

I know the wagons old and showing its age, but hey so am I, to call the poor ol EA82 the WORST motor ever is just a little bit too harsh.

Cheers

WayneO...................

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:39 pm

EA82's are a good engine, given they were developed some 30yrs ago.
Yes there are things that are somewhat wanting but just look at how many were made over approx 10yrs of production. (not so many going around these days - admittedly)
They will be for around a while yet. If I wasn't so stubborn I would give in to an EJ conversion!

All hail a relic that has well past its peak but wont die out just yet

J.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:06 am

What we need is a 16V head as a bolt on !

M0rpH · Post by **M0rpH** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:13 am

Funny thread.

One thing i did find that helps is taking the dizzy apart and make sure the weights are free to flow and not covered in surface rust.

Aside from that, i like how my L gives me a bit of tappet noise when she needs new oil

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:38 am

Got the ea82 MFPI in my Wedge. For what it is, great daily drive motor, great fuel economy and so far problem free (though with only 200k on the clock). With the wedge it will sit on 110kms not a problem with enough power to get around trucks and slow traffic. To call them a bad motor? I donno about that. It certainly isnt the Best motor, or even a really good motor but it gets the job done for me.

Regards

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:28 pm

steptoe wrote:I happen to like the EA82's, might say that about the EJ's one day too.

WOW.. talk about digging up the oldest post you could find.

I doubt you'll hear this said about the EJ motor, as like the EA motors, these are available in so many varieties, so unless you something like EJ25D is the worse EJ variant.

Kalbarri_baru wrote:Well as Paul could verify, I love my EA82, I have been poked and proded to get my wagon EJ'd but I just couldn't do it, sure my carby EA82 is slow and can barely go up hill more than 70km, But put in soft sand and I can eat it with low revs and it will not get hot or tired.

I know the wagons old and showing its age, but hey so am I, to call the poor ol EA82 the WORST motor ever is just a little bit too harsh.

Cheers

WayneO...................

Yes WayneO.. your EA82 is one of the most loved EA82 engines I've seen in a long time. Can't wait to see your smile once the Weber is fitted

Subydoug wrote:Got the ea82 MFPI in my Wedge. For what it is, great daily drive motor, great fuel economy and so far problem free (though with only 200k on the clock). With the wedge it will sit on 110kms not a problem with enough power to get around trucks and slow traffic. To call them a bad motor? I donno about that. It certainly isnt the Best motor, or even a really good motor but it gets the job done for me.

Regards

Doug

They are a great little engine for the day but they are now becoming a little slow to keep up with traffic. The EFI EA82 is at least kinda close enough and probably the best of the EA82 bunch but I'm definitely with you guys.. very harsh

Esubie · Post by **Esubie** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:04 pm

OPs probs seem to have come from mods but I'm not going to read all the old posts.

EA82 is hardly the worst ever engine. Gutless yes, but that's what you get for copying an old VW Beetle.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:00 am

Steptoe made me eat my words via PM - I'll let him dig up the actual post as I can't be bothered...

Subydoug wrote:To call them a bad motor? I donno about that. It certainly isnt the Best motor, or even a really good motor but it gets the job done for me.

^ I love this description! It's a bit Top Gear of you Doug!

Either way, if I had another L series with the EA series engine I reckon I'll be looking for an EA81 for the job.

But really, you can't go past the EJ... Just saying

WayneO, I think anyone on the forum who's read any of your posts knows about your EA82 affair! I don't know if Paul ducks for cover or gets excited about going fishing when you head to his warehouse

Cheers

Bennie

Kalbarri_baru · Post by **Kalbarri_baru** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:36 pm

El_Freddo wrote:WayneO, I think anyone on the forum who's read any of your posts knows about your EA82 affair! I don't know if Paul ducks for cover or gets excited about going fishing when you head to his warehouse

Cheers

Bennie

I am not really sure about that one,

but now you mention it, does anyone know if that severe nervous twitch that Paul has is there all the time LOL

Cheers

WayneO............

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:15 pm

Kalbarri_baru wrote:I am not really sure about that one,

but now you mention it, does anyone know if that severe nervous twitch that Paul has is there all the time LOL

Cheers

WayneO............

Happens when I take the wedge around too WayneO

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:00 pm

Kalbarri_baru wrote:I am not really sure about that one,

but now you mention it, does anyone know if that severe nervous twitch that Paul has is there all the time LOL

Cheers

WayneO............

Subydoug wrote:Happens when I take the wedge around too WayneO

Me as well, doesn't matter if I show up in the brumby or the vortex

TOONGA

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EA82 the worst motor ever?

I am dissappointed with the EA82 over my past EA81 and 1975