EA81 Overhaul thread

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:21 am

My Brumby has head gaskets or heads gone. the first symptom apart from running rough was there was all this sh!t in the air filter. found it was coming from the return pipe from one of the heads. A couple of weeks later (when i needed to go to subareck) i checked the dipstick, and there was water in there to, along with loss of radiator fluid.

Cheers Cam

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:39 pm

steptoe wrote:blocked air filter ? why do you ask? blocked with oil will certainly do it if it is oil soaked paper element, easy, try without the lid. I wonder if welch plugs in head then - seems too concidental as you had these heads on your old motor.
If you have buttermilk in sump it is good to drain it and refresh with good oil that may end up going same way - this stage I use a cheap oil until problem sorted.

You almost need to clean out rocker covers, PCV stuff and start up again all clean and fresh and watch progressively how sh1t hits the fan again to see how this problem develops

Well I don't mean "blocked" as such just in need of replacement maybe. Is there any damage or corrosion to be seen on the welch plugs if they are leaking? How are these welch plugs replaced then, take the heads of again?

Again I don't understand how this could happen all of a sudden after these heads were in such good nick, on the other motor whenever you took the rocker covers off it was all oil, and now they leak a ton of coolant? And again I must have jinxed myself the other day when I thought maybe this was all nearing its end, I'm never saying or thinking that again

Cam there's no coolant on the dipstick and inside the air cleaner is clean as a whistle...just heaps of coolant inside the rocker covers and sludge up the PCV hoses.

*Edit* Rang Paul and he thinks it is welch plugs as well, says they're probably the factory steel ones and not brass ones. When I told him there was coolant in the rocker covers his response was "are you serious??"

So somehow I'm going to get this car to subareck for a fix. I went and drained the sump; there wasn't as much coolant in there as I thought and the oil was still good. I drained it into a pan, and poured most of it back in until the coolant at the bottom started to creep in, then topped it up with clean oil. I think there must be only 1 welch plug seeping into the passenger side cover, other side was mostly oil and a little bit of sludge. Cleaned out all the PCV hoses and such, cleaned the rocker covers of all sludge and water. Getting a new air filter element and PCV valve tomorrow (this valve doesn't look too good) and hopefully nurse the car across town this week some time, with a car following and the number for a tow truck

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:31 pm

Pull motor not heads to do welch plugs is easier than trying to do in car - just not enough room to swing hammer. Rocker cover off in car and an inspection mirror may reveal something.

Oh, one sided buttermilk - got that with my EA82T and its LHS welch plug - 20mm I think.

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:16 pm

Flat top I hear?

Cannot beat POLITE Towing (in the same font as 'POLICE')

Linky

Keep going mate, you have to be close now? Maybe just ask Paul for 'a get it going price?' while it is there?

Sven

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:33 pm

sven '2' wrote:Flat top I hear?

Cannot beat POLITE Towing (in the same font as 'POLICE')

Linky

Keep going mate, you have to be close now? Maybe just ask Paul for 'a get it going price?' while it is there?

Sven

I'll take the number with me

And I'm not going to say if I'm close or not, last two times I've even thought that something else has popped up. So, to be safe, I'm going to say I'm miles off

Friday is the day it seems, getting mum to follow for a lift home and someone to shout at me if it all goes wrong half way across town

Just have to pick a time when traffic might not be so bad.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:33 am

chuck some safety cones and triangle, flouro shirts and SLOW paddle pop signs i the back before you go. Gees, if it is a coil or dizzy module not fuel.... or carby ...it has all of us stumped so don't blame yourself , more the opposite - character building

There was a member in here that got my diagnosis spot on a few years back and took a sequence of fixes to try first based on ease and cost - valve spring weak. he is an Adelaide dude with an EA82T in a fibreglass beach buggy - SCOOBIDOO not said a thng in here for years, sure he'd have a theory too.....

showthread.php?t=6988&highlight=weak+va ... ing&page=2

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:15 pm

Car isn't going this week now, will have to wait another fornight

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 1:29 pm

Suppose I should say what's happening, it has been a while!

It's not going to subareck this week either, has to be next week Wed or Thurs. I will have to remember to make it clear over the phone they don't have to fix it that day. The two times I've called and asked if I could bring the car in one day they said no they're busy or some such, I forgot to mention I don't care if it takes them a week

I haven't really touched the car since my last update, except for today. Dad is home from the UK now and he had a drive, we looked under the bonnet and swapped ideas. Finally he looked down at the dizzy/timing adjustment bolt and said "that doesn't look right"

Before I go further let me say I did set the timing after I put this manifold on, it was spot on....I just don't think I disconnected and plugged the vac advance line

Well you know what's next, the timing was more than 10 deg after TDC

Put it back to -8 deg (with the vac line plugged this time!) and sure enough that was the problem

After much facepalm-ing and cries of "how could I be so stupid" I'm relieved it wasn't something serious

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 1:39 pm

So it is running as it should be now? Awesome!

Cheers

Bennie

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:59 pm

Great News!

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:23 pm

Yes! Just once round the block but it felt great, plenty of pull as it should have, up to speed quickly and smoothly and sounds fantastic. Quite happy now, just welch plugs to sort out

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:38 pm

I am not going back through looking to quote something to the tune of "it is gonna be something so simple you'll smack yerself"

I am happy for you. Effin glad you didn't pull the motor out eh for this one ?
If it is still welch plugs comes out anyway. Wish my dad was as a good a sounding board as yours !

A tip for you if it is welch plugs. I just tried tapping my old heads plugs out, by first tapping in - following?? One, I managed to spin it on an axis so it stayed in the plug hole so I could flick it out. The others were not so easy and still stuck in the head cavity and no idea how they are gonna come out. They are quite a deep dish and by the time they knock in to drop out inside they jam against the casting stuck never to come out - maybe never to be used again!

Next time I will drill them out, or tap a hole and use a puller or something.....

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:56 pm

I did smack myself

How are the welch plugs held in there anyway? Interference fit? I mean to put a new one in do you just push it in and it holds itself? Anyway I won't be doing it myself, don't care if it costs me to have it done but I really don't want to hop back on the merry-go-round I'm within sight of leaving...you know what I mean

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:48 am

interference fit with some silicone , three bond, stag for good luck

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 6:36 pm

I rang up Steve at Rising sun at last

Taking it in on Monday. So I decided to get the leaked coolant out of the sump again for Monday, I was thinking after these two weeks it may have seeped in slowly and built up at the bottom of the sump. I was wrong, there wasn't a drop in there

I thought it must be because it's only been run up to operating temp once, so there has been no pressure forcing out of the leaky plug.

I decided then to take off the rocker covers to see how much sludge had built up after yesterdays few times round the block...nothing!??! Completely clean! Both covers! except for the little bit of oil. No white sludge, absolutely no sign of coolant like there was before, and the PCV hoses are clean as a whistle still. But the coolant level has definitely dropped a fair way...maybe there were just air bubbles somewhere? I'm most likely still going to take it in on Monday, that sludge and coolant from before didn't just appear from nowhere. When i get there though I'm going to quickly whip the rocker covers off, after the 40k+ drive to see what's what.

Anyway after I put the oil back and topped that and coolant up I decided to drive it myself round the longer block. And all I can say is wow, what a car

It's so fun to drive, it pulls and pulls and wants to keep pulling, I had to stop myself from letting it get up to 100 in and 80 zone, it just wants to go and go

And, from a standstill it spins the wheels like mad if you let it in 1st AND 2nd gear...

I've got my car back! And it's back with a vengeance! Couldn't stop smiling when I got home again

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:13 pm

Excellent!!! Thats what i want my Brumby to do! Should when everything is fixed, especially as its lighter than a wagon.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:56 pm

Is your dad reading this ??

This is your used block with reco heads and correctly timed and your chirping into second ? I could do that with my 20/60 cammed EA81 with only 2000km on it

Let us know when you do you box or CVs in eh

Mate , get some Silver Seal for about six bucks - it's good stuff. I'm sure it stays in system ready to clog up any odd leaks - or settle above your head drain plugs

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:57 pm

it is a good feeling isn't it Sam ? Shees, when was Easter ?

Can see you discussing the find with your engineer contact when you see him next - hey ring him !

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:55 pm

Oh lord, don't remind me about Easter

Seems like such a long time ago now. Not too worried about the box crapping out, it's the original 81' 4 speed, never been touched, it's worn out anyway. Curiously though, before this all started with the old engine, old leaky carb, it would always crunch into second gear unless you held the clutch, counted to 2 then changed. Now you can change as quick as you like and it doesn't crunch at all, not that I'm complaining

As for the Engineer, I'll be driving this car to indoor flying on Sunday morning for all to see

Just found out last week a new guy there is into subies as well, up until recently he had a Brumby that he turbocharged (EA81) and has had a few wagons in his time. Drives the classic shape WRX now.

Cam, all the best with yours, looking forward to your rebuild thread

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:13 am

Amazing what a new clutch will do .... so time to change the future plans list