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Help! Carburetor/Stalling Issue with '84 Brat


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Hi, I am posting this for my boyfriend (BattleAxeT6) who just bought an '84 Brat. He doesn't have computer access right now so I'm asking for him.

 

The car is in great shape except for one thing: Every once in awhile while driving, the car will stall out. It seems to occur mostly on turns but does happen at other times. What can he do to fix this? It's really not safe for him to be driving around like that, especially if he has constant traffic behind him, he'll probably get rear-ended eventually.

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks. :)

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Check the fuel filters...is this an EA81 Engine? If it is...there are two...one in the engine compartment and one in front of the rear passenger tire right next to the fuel pump. As by stalling..do you mean lke bogging down? Check the timing...the plugs, plug wires and coil. Check the air filter too. Hope this helps. PLease keep us up to date.

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My 82 Brat would do that when I first got it. I realise that when I first filled the gas tank to the top, It was leaking. So the fact that my gas tank leaked means it was rusted out somewhere near the top. So rusted pieces in the gas tank will clog up the fuel lines. Have him check out his gas tank to see what shape it might be in, or if it was sitting for a while before he bought it he might want to drain out the old fuel in the tank and use fresh gas and change out his fuel filters. Just a thought of what I had to do and since my gas tank was shot, I found another one thru someone from this site and had it replaced. Thats how I solved my problem. Tommy....

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Sounds like junk in the float bowl. The Hitachi's jets are down in the bottom, and will act like a drain. When you turn stuff gets sucked into the jets and blocks the fuel from flowing. Either that or the float level isn't adjusted right, or the pump can't keep up with demand (bad pump - blocked lines - clogged filter's - etc). Basically it sounds like a fuel delivery issue, and you should thouroughly go through the entire fuel system top to bottom to locate what's wrong.

 

GD

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Thanks, guys. I'll tell him tomorrow when I talk to him. Sorry I can't be more specific. I just know that out of nowhere it shutdown, almost like when the battery dies. Yesterday was the first time I rode in it and during 40 minutes, it stalled about 4 times(2 of those were after making a right turn), but he said it doesn't happen every time he drives it.

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The right turn sloshes the contents of the float bowl to the left, and then when you straighten out, the contents slosh back again..... right into the jets. Crappy design really. My Brat did that to me for a couple months before I figured it out. Count yourself lucky that it restarts right away. Mine would die, and not restart sometimes for hours, and once it took overnight. Luckily, if I made it to the freeway, and it started acting up, I could run it in 3rd gear at 55 MPH and it would keep going till I reached an exit..... ugly problem to have.

 

The Weber's don't have this problem because the Jets are positioned above the bottom of the float bowl. This way junk can't drain into them.

 

GD

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The Weber's don't have this problem because the Jets are positioned above the bottom of the float bowl. This way junk can't drain into them.

 

GD

Where can he get one of these? He just called me from work and needs to know as soon as possible because today it completely shut down on him on the way to work and it took a few minutes to work again.
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About the cheapest you can get the kit for is $350 or so - I haven't seen any "new" ones for much less.

 

Might be able to find one on ebay for about $100 - $125 (that's usually what I see them go for), then you need the adaptor plate ~$40, and generally ebay models are used - so they may or may not be jetted correctly, and might be in need of a rebuild as well (fairly easy - kit is about $35).

 

Search for "32/36 Weber" or "VW Weber" or stuff like that. It's common to see them on ebay from VW's.

 

You can get a rebuilt Hitachi for about $250 from CCR in colorado.... apparently they do a great job..... I would rebuild your Hitachi, but I don't like doing it for people that aren't local to me, as often they seem to need tweaking after I take the first stab at it. I have successfully rebuilt a couple now, but it's still a crap-shoot. Frankly - CCR is your best bet for a cheap solution to your problem.....

 

How mechanically inclined is he? It's possible to retro-fit the SPFI from an EA82 - the manifold will bolt up, and you have to change the distributor, and fuel pump and do some wireing for the computer, but all the parts should be availible at a junk yard for pretty cheap. Probably cost a bit less than a new Hitachi, and then you would have fuel injection. It's not a slam dunk tho - like I said there is some work involved. Personally I feel the SPFI is the best solution to fuel delivery for the EA81 in terms of cost/performance. They have a lot of low-end grunt, and are virtually bullet-proof once properly set up.

 

Alternatively - he could try his hand at rebuilding the Hitachi himself. I will help as much as I can though the board here. Worst case if you try this - you are out $35 for the kit, and it doesn't run at all anymore.... however - if it runs fine now, except for the dying part - there's a good chance that he will be succesful just by cleaning out the float bowl, and putting in new gaskets, etc.

 

This is all on the assumption that the carb is the problem of course..... which is hard to say for certain. Based on the "right turn" issue, I would have to say it's the #1 suspect, but it could still be a weak fuel pump. Testing the fuel pump pressure would be a good place to start I should think. Discount auto places sell guages for about $10 that you can hook up in-line with the pump to check the pressure. Also - start carrying a multi-meter to check if the pump has power or not when it dies. Might be the fuel pump control unit, which is a little black box under the dash.....

 

Oh - and have the fuel filters been replaced? There are two..... and check that tank for rust. The way to tackle this problem is to isolate - then destroy. Throwing parts at it without a complete diagnostic is expensive. It might just be that you need to replace some filters.....

 

One more thing - you should verify what carb it currently has - some of the EA81 cars and brats came with a "carter/weber" which is obscure, difficult to find parts for, and uses a different manifold that the 32/36 Weber WILL NOT bolt to. If you go with a Weber, then you would have to switch to a Hitachi manifold as well if you have one of these.

 

GD

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Thanks, GD. He is going to try all of your options/ideas starting with the smaller ones first.

 

 

 

About the cheapest you can get the kit for is $350 or so - I haven't seen any "new" ones for much less.

 

Might be able to find one on ebay for about $100 - $125 (that's usually what I see them go for), then you need the adaptor plate ~$40, and generally ebay models are used - so they may or may not be jetted correctly, and might be in need of a rebuild as well (fairly easy - kit is about $35).

 

Search for "32/36 Weber" or "VW Weber" or stuff like that. It's common to see them on ebay from VW's.

 

You can get a rebuilt Hitachi for about $250 from CCR in colorado.... apparently they do a great job..... I would rebuild your Hitachi, but I don't like doing it for people that aren't local to me, as often they seem to need tweaking after I take the first stab at it. I have successfully rebuilt a couple now, but it's still a crap-shoot. Frankly - CCR is your best bet for a cheap solution to your problem.....

 

How mechanically inclined is he? It's possible to retro-fit the SPFI from an EA82 - the manifold will bolt up, and you have to change the distributor, and fuel pump and do some wireing for the computer, but all the parts should be availible at a junk yard for pretty cheap. Probably cost a bit less than a new Hitachi, and then you would have fuel injection. It's not a slam dunk tho - like I said there is some work involved. Personally I feel the SPFI is the best solution to fuel delivery for the EA81 in terms of cost/performance. They have a lot of low-end grunt, and are virtually bullet-proof once properly set up.

 

Alternatively - he could try his hand at rebuilding the Hitachi himself. I will help as much as I can though the board here. Worst case if you try this - you are out $35 for the kit, and it doesn't run at all anymore.... however - if it runs fine now, except for the dying part - there's a good chance that he will be succesful just by cleaning out the float bowl, and putting in new gaskets, etc.

 

This is all on the assumption that the carb is the problem of course..... which is hard to say for certain. Based on the "right turn" issue, I would have to say it's the #1 suspect, but it could still be a weak fuel pump. Testing the fuel pump pressure would be a good place to start I should think. Discount auto places sell guages for about $10 that you can hook up in-line with the pump to check the pressure. Also - start carrying a multi-meter to check if the pump has power or not when it dies. Might be the fuel pump control unit, which is a little black box under the dash.....

 

Oh - and have the fuel filters been replaced? There are two..... and check that tank for rust. The way to tackle this problem is to isolate - then destroy. Throwing parts at it without a complete diagnostic is expensive. It might just be that you need to replace some filters.....

 

One more thing - you should verify what carb it currently has - some of the EA81 cars and brats came with a "carter/weber" which is obscure, difficult to find parts for, and uses a different manifold that the 32/36 Weber WILL NOT bolt to. If you go with a Weber, then you would have to switch to a Hitachi manifold as well if you have one of these.

 

GD

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