Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

EA 82 stumbles bad after 3000 rpm under load


Recommended Posts

Hello all !!,

My Car Is a 1985 GL 10 wagon 5 speed dual range 4wd with the HITACHI CARB

After finding a 57000 mile ea 82 with good compression,I got it to replace my 262k with a broken block.

I took  it all apart, NO cracks between the valves!!. Took heads for resurface and valve job/seals, cleaned and re sealed oil pump and disassembled all lifters,cleaned re assembled, and pumped up. Put all new gaskets on re assemble.I had to use my old  2 wire distributor(see post )(HELP! 2 wire distributor). I ended up rebuilding the vacuum advance.MY PROBLEM IS the engine now stumbles HARD after 3000 rpms under any load.The engine will idle around 800,and rev up pretty good with no load,but shakes a little at idle,and it seems to "bind" a little when cranking,the timing is 8*btdc. I do not know whether to blame vacuum or distributor??I have re built the carb and cleaned it out real good. I used Indian head gasket sealer(it was old,but looked fine, it was liquid like new) for the intake gaskets and the carb base gaskets and spacer.As for the distributor,I COMPLETELY disassembled it to clean it and free up the advance plate.I did notice some wear from the counter weights on the inside of the disty housing,but it did not have any wobble or play I could feel.I have deleted the egr since this ea82 (1989) has no place on heads for it,and plugged the  lines I cant figure out.I do not want to spend 250$ for a new disty if that is not the problem....How do I diagnose the issues? Do I need a vacuum gauge? I'm stuck................Any help is GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks for looking..............And I still have some extra parts I cant use from this '89 model.....1)Optical 4 wire disty w/cap ..1) intake for throttle body injection ..1) throttle body carb? injector ..1) Power steering pump.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Dave T,

 

Plugs are Brand New NGK gapped at .039 per Chilton. wires are fairly new and working well. Just pumped all the

old gas out (it was kind of orange) and installed new fuel line AND new Wix fuel filter so the newly rebuilt carb would

not get any crap in it..As for the fuel pump, it's really quick, it took only a couple seconds to fill the new filter,and the filter stays

completely full.The exhaust system has been recently re done - no catalytic converter-new muffler,new pipes all the way

back.

 

Thanks for the response...........hope this helps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where do you have the vacuum advance on the distributor hooked up?

 The Distributor vacuum connects to a hard line that I traced beneath the intake and to the front left of the carb.

I hooked a line to the port on the right center top port on the Hitachi.There are two similar ports in the top center of the carb,I did not hook it to the bowl vent...Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh okay. As long as it doesnt have vacuum at idle.

 

I dont know what else to tell ya, other than; any time ive ever dealt with higher RPM stumbles under a load...it ended up being distributor related.

 

It could still be fuel though too. If for some reason the air/fuel mix runs too lean at the top end, itll be fine until you put a load on it, and then you will feel the lean misfire.

 

Most of my experience runs around american V8s and straight 6s, so most of that still applies...but im no guru with the specific quirks our subaru stuff may have.

Get a weber! That pretty much sums up my carb'd subaru wisdom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally figured out MOST of the problem...I adjusted the timing to 18* ,then ..Thanks to a can of starting fluid,I found my intake gaskets are leaking!!

I know my intake is a little warped,so I used TWO gaskets on each side and Indian Head Gasket Shellac all around each gasket.

I also anti seized the bolts and went by the Chilton for torque specs...........So when I put a wrench to them today, I got about a full turn on each bolt.After that NO Stumbling after 3000 rpms....Probably going to re do the gaskets and TORQUE the crap out of the bolts next time.

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Intake leaks, yeah, that would mess things up.  Extra gasket thickness, yeah, they would loosen up.   Be careful with torque with anti seize.    I have found it usually lubes better than what the manual recommends when torquing.  Which can lead to stripped threads, or stretched bolts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chances are that the intake is hitting the seam where the case halves come together. I have ran into that a few times swapping intakes onto other engines.

 

If you place the gaskets where they belong, then sit the manifold down and it rocks side-to-side, the manifold is sitting on that seam.

 

My fix for that is to mark the area the manifold crosses, take the manifold off, then lightly hit the area with a grinder. Replace gaskets and manifold, check for rocking, hit it with grinder again if needed.

One could also hit the underside of the manifold where it crosses the seam of the engine.

 

I have 2 SPFI manifolds here, one would rock when sat in place on my current engine, the other one didn't, so I bolted it down.

Edited by TomRhere
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chances are that the intake is hitting the seam where the case halves come together. I have ran into that a few times swapping intakes onto other engines.

 

If you place the gaskets where they belong, then sit the manifold down and it rocks side-to-side, the manifold is sitting on that seam.

 

My fix for that is to mark the area the manifold crosses, take the manifold off, then lightly hit the area with a grinder. Replace gaskets and manifold, check for rocking, hit it with grinder again if needed.

One could also hit the underside of the manifold where it crosses the seam of the engine.

 

I have 2 SPFI manifolds here, one would rock when sat in place on my current engine, the other one didn't, so I bolted it down.

It did actually hit, I noticed that when I put it on,so I took some blue painters' tape and applied it to the crankcase,then rubbed the intake around a bit to mark the high spot on the tape.I then took a 12" flat file and filed the seam of the crank case down enough for clearance.When I put the intake on without gaskets, it would rock in a front to back motion probably .015-.025 If I was guessing.I wanted to get REAL Subaru Gaskets, but the Dealer didn't have any and suggested Fel Pro which is what I used.My closest Machine shop said it would probably require a c&c to flatten it out(which he does not have) so....I will probably re do it when I get a chance.It is running pretty good for now.Thanks for the input...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:) Gotta like how we are now told about the warped intake, the two sets of intake gaskets , keeping a little info from us - to test us huh ? :)

 

Noticed this happens a lot on forums - might be guilty of it myself, not wanting to cloud an issue :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:) Gotta like how we are now told about the warped intake, the two sets of intake gaskets , keeping a little info from us - to test us huh ? :)

 

Noticed this happens a lot on forums - might be guilty of it myself, not wanting to cloud an issue :)

WELL, I have to admit, I REALLY thought I had that part all tied up.....the last time(on the previous engine) I had  a severe issue with it,two gaskets and Indian head gasket shellac fixed it ..for ever ,,or so I thought.....figured this time would be the same............obviously not..I guess I need to stress here I  am learning  to ALWAYS CHECK THE BASICS.Too many times I have been a "parts changer". This has been a GREAT learning experience for me and I owe a BIG THANKS to ALL contributors and USMB!!!! THANK YOU ALL!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...