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Help! Ea81 wont turn over.


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Sooo the belt attatched to the alternator .. Only belt on the thing .. Is turning and its making a whinning noise , but it won't turn over .. This is my first subaru . 83 gl wagon . just replaced the hg.even tho it was a feeze plug that popped .. Anyways , new accel pro stock ignition .. Batery is new . Idk wtf is wrong . I have the Haynes but it's all pretty confusing to be honest . it ran before I put it all back together . HELP!

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I'm confused on your terminology... Turning over means when you turn the key the engine spins, it sounds like that's happening. Do you mean it's spinning but won't start?

 

The belt also goes around the water pump, make sure the belt is on correctly, if it isn't I can see it squealing. Did you get the plug wires back in the right place and the correct ignition timing? It's a pretty simple engine, there isn't too much to go wrong.

 

 

Also, since you've accidentally posted two of the exact same thread, I'd advise editing the other thread. Just say to look at this one. Otherwise you may get replies in both and it's confusing.

You can edit your post by clicking the edit button in the bottom right of your post.

Double threads can happen because sometimes posting goes slowly, if you click the post button a second time two threads happen. 

Edited by 987687
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Are you sure cylinder 1 is firing in the compression stroke? I've accidentally gotten ignition timing 360 degrees out before so it's firing in the exhaust stroke...

If you're 100% sure ignition timing is right, dump a bit of gas down the carburetor and see if it'll fire, you might not be getting fuel.

 

83 has solid valve adjusters, right? Make sure it's not adjusted too tight holding valves open.

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easiest way of knowing if its compression stroke or exhaust stroke is to turn the engine manually the direction its suppose to go (don't remember now) on the crank pulley and right before piston #1 is about to reach the top of its stroke (using a straw rising helps), cover the spark plug hole with your finger, you are suppose to feel a push on the skin of your finger, it ain't much but works for me..

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I'm not 100% on the timing .. Also it says 83 on the inside of the door so its an 84. Right? Ha.

 

not necessarily, in the 80's subaru had about a 5-6month delay time on year models so say your vehicle says 6/83 or 7/83 on the door tag, who knows, only the title could tell you, but if its before 6/83 its probably a 1983 and if its after 7/83 its probably a 1984.

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easiest way of knowing if its compression stroke or exhaust stroke is to turn the engine manually the direction its suppose to go (don't remember now) on the crank pulley and right before piston #1 is about to reach the top of its stroke (using a straw rising helps), cover the spark plug hole with your finger, you are suppose to feel a push on the skin of your finger, it ain't much but works for me..

 

If your by yourself you can use a wad of newspaper, big enough to not fall through the spark-plug hole of course!

 

Squish it into the hole and 'bump' the motor over until you hear the pop of the wad being blown out, winding the motor a few degrees back a little (If need be) should see the timing marks line up.

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You can find out MY by the VIN.

It's the 10th digit, and depending on what the digit is it tells you the MY.

 

To read more about the VIN's individual character definition or to find the chart for MY to the digit go here

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

 

It's just the Wikipedia page. Scroll down a bit til you find model year.

Edited by golucky66
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Fml it won't let me upload them for whatever reason . At any rate.. Flywheel at 0.. The metal part of the rotor is pointing a little to the right of the 12o'clock position if Youre standing directly in front of the car .. The block I put the cylinder heads on was one that was in the backseat of the car when I got it (guy I got it from couldn't tell me much other than its a subaru..) looked to be a bit cleaner than the one that was under the hood so that's the one I went with .. I used the same clutch plate pressure plate and the same flywheel as aposed to the other ones that were in the car with all the other parts .. It also came with a spoob ton of other parts . pretty much a whole other cars worth . wiring harness and all .. Even a transmission which I believe is a awd tranny. Thas what I was told at least . oh and some random v8 cylinder heads, valve covers and intake manifold that are from some old GM .. Seeing as they have GM on them . So I'm thinking of pulling the motor in it and putting the original set up back together and dropping it in cause it ran . just had a popped freeze plug . Hadn't ran for 4 years pryer to me getting it. So I did the whole "car sitting for 4 or 5 years" standard procedure. Anyways that's where I'm at . Stuck and frusterated as spoob with a whole lot of hours into this beast ha . This is the first car I've done this extensive of spoob to .. By myself . Just me and the internet ha .

Edited by Jaysus
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Does it have manual adjusted valves or hydraulic valve adjusters??

If it has manual valve adjustments, make sure they aren't too tight holding valves open. That will cause no compression.

ie. if they're manual, set the valve lash if you haven't already done so.

Edited by 987687
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When you take the valve cover off they either have adjustments or they don't....

This post has a pic and some talk about valve adjustment. Basically if yours has screws with nuts where the picture points at the bottom, they're manual adjusted and you should check valve lash. If they're hydraulic, that's probably not your problem.

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Fml so I was just looking at pictures of ea81s on the inter web .. aaaaand I put a few solid pushrods mixed in with the hydraulic ones.. Rookie move smh. At any rate could that be what the problem is or is that just another problem I have to unf**ck ??

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One might be a bit longer than the other, the bigger issue is the material of the pushrods. The ones for solid lifters are aluminum so they expand as they heat up and keep everything in adjustment. The hydraulic pushrods are steel.

 

At this point put the correct pushrods in, confirm you have good compression on all cylinders, and confirm you have your timing correct. I'm guessing one of those is causing you grief.

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I used to get stuck with the TDC mindset until I twigged ....with another Japanese manufacturer...that the flywheel is best et at the timing mark when installing the dizzy and lining up the leading edge of the rotor button to the underside of dist cap contact point.

 

When you think about things, if you measured the rotor button from carbon contact point to edge where rotor dispaches spark to cap, use this as the diameter of a circle, measure up the width of the rotors touch point to cap terminals for each cylinder, you work out the degrees of the rotors turn it is within easy reach for the spark to jump, it doesnt just happen at and on that 8 degree mark, it continues for a few degrees, if you get my drift.

 

Bugger of a job to swap pushrods in place :(

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Yea, that's usually how I get dizzys lined up. You get close enough it'll usually run so you can use a timing light. Otherwise you're just stabbing in the dark.

 

And yea, is it even possible to change pushrods in place? Do you have to jack the engine up and push it all the way to one side to get clearance? sounds nasty...

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Those rubber bung plugs in the chassis? You got them? Or just the hole after thirty years bung plugs can go AWOL. I'd give the rails and engine and bay a good clean first of all dirt, grit etc. I did it in my rhd ute ea81

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Pulled the motor last night.. By myself and without a cherry picker cause I do dumb unsafe sh*t quite often. At any rate got it on the engine stand and I'm about to just put everything back on the engine that was in it when I got the thing (also an ea81) a few months ago. I cleaned the original one best I could without sspliting the block or pulling the pistons out.. Now all I gotta do is take cylinder heads and stuff of one and put it all BACK on the other.

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