EA82 the worst motor ever?

Subaman · Post by **Subaman** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 5:08 pm

110kw at the wheels from a stock awd RX? now thats impressive, might nearly be as quick as my tough green one was

As for the EJ being better, yeah take your pic there is loads of broken ones around waiting to be rebuilt and the beauty is they are only half as old as the shitty EA.(sarcasm intended)

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:28 pm

Over the years I have rebuilt 100's of Subaru engines, and I have seen many more. Some of the biggest problems that I have encounted, is a lot of engine reco shops bore & grind there cranks as if they were fords or Holdens.

Did you know , that piston bore clearence on a reco Suby engine should only be .001" . If you did that to a lot of other engines , they would seize up within a minute.

Also you use too be able to buy main crank bearings .001" and .002" over size.

Unfortunately most Subaru engines are done for a price, and as the old saying goes- you get what you pay for if your lucky.

In my opinion there are a well made engine that were so reliable , that they often suffered from incorrect maintance , and got away with it untill later in there life.

Rex.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 7:28 pm

spittin_teeth wrote:throw out the EA and get an EJ

Why? Done that already, don't need the stress with this car.

Rex wrote:Also you use too be able to buy main crank bearings .001" and .002" over size

I'm sure you still can. Will double check at work tomorrow purely out of interest.

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:55 pm

Subaman wrote:110kw at the wheels from a stock awd RX? now thats impressive, might nearly be as quick as my tough green one was As for the EJ being better, yeah take your pic there is loads of broken ones around waiting to be rebuilt and the beauty is they are only half as old as the shitty EA.(sarcasm intended)

You and Jack Sparrow sound like my Grandad telling me how his Grey motor was so much better then *insert any other newer engine here*.

The real proof on the crapness of an EA82 is when you compare it to an EA81 and it loses on all accounts. It's less reliable, needs a lot more maintenance(and costs a lot more to maintain), doesn't perform any better and mostly performs worst than an 81 and takes up a lot more space than it should.

Both engines are long past there usefulness(EJ engines are heading that way too but at least they have good design on there side).

Sometimes I wonder what that extra rotary muffler is on an LS turbo, it quietens them down and puts a green light on the dash but doesn't seem to do anything else.

spittin_teeth · Post by **spittin_teeth** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:28 pm

&quot wrote:
spittin_teeth wrote:throw out the EA and get an EJ

Why? Done that already, don't need the stress with this car.

why not just a n/a EJ motor, EJ20 or EJ18 would be nice.

Subaman · Post by **Subaman** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:59 pm

he real proof on the crapness of an EA82 is when you compare it to an EA81 and it loses on all accounts. It's less reliable

Not according to RACQ

needs a lot more maintenance

I dont recall ever having to continually adjust the tapets on my EA82

(and costs a lot more to maintain)

I thought plugs,leads,oils and filters were pretty much the same price for either of them.

doesn't perform any better

The EA82 was much smoother and more economical than the old 81.

Sometimes I wonder what that extra rotary muffler is on an LS turbo, it quietens them down and puts a green light on the dash but doesn't seem to do anything else

ON 98ron with 15psi the rotary muffler offers a pretty good power to weight ratio, ya see the mighty EA82T was tough enough to handle it if you doubled the factory boost.

(please dont take this seriously anyone, this has been a private joke/sh*t stir between Al, Dave and I for quite some time)

Suby Wan Kenobi · Post by **Suby Wan Kenobi** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:35 pm

Im pretty sure i only ever had one motor that ever had a tappet noise but once i replaced the grease in the engine and put oil in its place it settles down nicely. But it seems with the Ej22s once they get lifter tick its all over for them

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:00 am

Another ea82 bashing thread...hmmm....

didn't Subaru earn its "reliability" tag during the years that they wouldv'e been selling ea82 as the mainstay?

was ported to kingdom come was a bonus

I think with that particular engine that is the problem, never known of a ea82
that could really be modified much in those areas (but as if I know?)
so you have a bit of an experimental engine there...now thats never reliable.........shouldv'e passed that engine by

kept as the basic engine they are super reliable, gee if I read of this pessimism way back, I guess I wouldn't have ventured to places 100skm from any possible repair service - or maybe I was young and foolhardy :P

As I think someone already said, if the ea hadn't preceeded the Ej, it may not be as good as ppl say it is......

but I read the ej has a fair share of issues too on the USMB......

I was told by a subaru service guy that the older engines has asbestos based HG, and be really sure that is the problem, because the new stuff isn't even close to as good.....can anyone else back up this?

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:33 pm

[quote=""Subaman
ON 98ron with 15psi the rotary muffler offers a pretty good power to weight ratio, ya see the mighty EA82T was tough enough to handle it if you doubled the factory boost.

[/quote"]

I'd better give ACL a ring and tell them to run up a few extra batches of headgaskets for the 82's.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:34 pm

Hmm... i thought we were all on the same team here?

Seems i'm wrong, or there's dessent in the ranks...

Since i'm building an EA82, full rebuild, its great confidence to read this sort of thread, even if it is all in jest, or partly...

I would say that for all the anti polution stuff that hangs off that engine, plus all the new requirements for engines in the 80's i think they're a very good engine. I'd like to see an EJ last as long in age as the majority of the EA's have... Also the EA82's would have been the EJ's of today in their day...

It really comes down to how you look after your engine and what your engine's history is (i'm sure you all know this). The history of my engine was a roll over that caused the engine to seize. Good thing was that the seizure and heat was done/taken by the big end bearings, leaving the main bearings operational and the castings without any damage. Every bearing is being replaced in this rebuild. It should last me another 10 years, but knowing me i'll be taking the EJ option.

I like Subaman's way of thinking, refer above, the quote's a little too big i think, its easy to see which one i mean...

And i agree with Jack Sparrow that if going to do all top end work and no bottom end work it will end in trouble, most likely a dead engine. I believe that if you do all bottom end work with no top end you'll be fine as this is the foundation to a good working engine that will allow plenty of top end work provided the bottom end's been properly done.

I hope my EA82 shows up everything said against the EA82 on this thread.

Cheers

El Freddo
(aka Bennie)

stamp_licker · Post by **stamp_licker** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 1:59 pm

El_Freddo wrote:

I hope my EA82 shows up everything said against the EA82 on this thread.

Cheers

El Freddo
(aka Bennie)

you'll be right my ea82 has almost 400 000 on it and i got rid of lifter tick by pulling it out chucking it on the ground then putting it back in a week later. having looked ea 82t imports and ej imports the ej r cheaper.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:56 pm

A simple point to case, they don't use EA82s in aero applications as a simple function of (a) their reliability and (b) their power to weight ratio; while EA81s are quite common.

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:23 pm

I sort of disagree

the ea82 had one main designed failure point - the timing belt. by design it will fail,and unpredicatably at that too, so that is why you can't have that in a aero engine.

so making that as an argument is a moot point.
Even out in the bush its possible to change the timing belt, never had to myself, but am prepared for it.
Ok,ok, some will say that is the reliability issue, but I don't think it is, any more than most other small engines these days, how many use timing chains these days?

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:29 pm

But Tim

You sold me a motor recently.

It was an EA82.

Are you now saying that you sold me the "worst motor ever"????

Kev.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:52 pm

LOL!

Pretty much.

I had never really had any experience with an EA82 until I bought the one in my wagon. The one I sold you I bought specifically for the timing covers and front pulley.
Now that I've had a taste of the EA82 I am confident this is my last one. I am sure that when this one carks it, I will wreck my beloved wagon and move on to something newer and more reliable. Liberty perhaps.

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:58 pm

I've now done 1000km with that motor Tim & it is running very well. My old motor would only do about 120km/h in 4th, this one does 135km/h. Thats with my old carb on it, so it's not just a tuning difference.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:20 pm

That's probably because all the bearings are so flogged out you need to measure the clearance in mm and it's warped the heads so much they're shaved down to 12:1 compression . . . LOL

Just kidding by the way, I'm sure tim_81coupe sold you a good motor.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:00 pm

I hope I sold Kev a good motor... I never ran it myself

But seriously, the motor was Vidler's old EA82, from his 92 Enduro, so it can't be that bad. Especially when compared to my clunker.

Glad to hear its going good Kev.

Fury · Post by **Fury** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:16 pm

Definately an apples & oranges discussion.

EA 82 engines, as stated earlier can be up to 20 years old. Technology has come a long way, and these engines were Mr Subaru's learning curve - but they were pretty damn good in their day.
I think Jack Sparrow will agree with me that you can get a pretty good stock EA82, doing some amazing things. Mine does. I am carefull not to over boost, but can still get to the six seconds for the 100km point, with an intercooled, slightly over boosted, jap spec ECU, but stock, ea82, that farts through a full 3" straw. I am sure the G tech meter lies and says that that it has teriffic HP, but it still spins the wheels if you give it a bit, is forgiving and I don't have to spend a fortune on it.
As far as the Aero engine:

the ea82 had one main designed failure point - the timing belt. by design it will fail,and unpredicatably at that too, so that is why you can't have that in a aero engine.

Is not quite true. If it has been built by a registered Aero engineer, hours logged and serviced correctly, It may be used in GA and UL series light air frames up to 4 person capacity. I am currently looking at purchasing a GA "Cobra" 2 person plane, with an EA 82 in it.

Any engine is only as good as how it has been looked after, how old it is and how much work it has done. If you sell a 1/2 million of them, you get more failure stories than if you only sell 100k of them.

Mine is still going strong - touch wood.

[/quote]

Malc · Post by **Malc** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:24 am

Fury wrote: I am currently looking at purchasing a GA "Cobra" 2 person plane, with an EA 82 in it.

Do the parachutes come standard? :P

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