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Dead wagon, weird symptoms


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'86 GL wagon 4x4, 1.8L carbed suddenly died on the freeway. I had normal power and was going about 75, when it lost power immediately. Has gas, oil, power, and cranks but no runny. Seems to be cranking strange, though...rpms are all over the place, between 200-3K or so. I'm thinking timing belt, but have never had one go on me before. If it sounds like that could be it, I'll pull the covers in the morning and find out. Maybe it lost compression, so I can EJ it!?! :lol:

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Thanks guys, those will be some easy checks before tearing into it. I looked up some good replacement instructions here, but is there anything extra I'll need to do if one snapped?

 

Besides re-timing it? Nope, not that I know of. if you want a great write up, check Milesfox's trashwagon.com, under "My Subarus" or some thing. you'll see all the write ups with pictures.

 

-Tom :)

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just bring it over I can help done a few of them, or just donate the the whole car to my pile :lol:

 

Thanks for the offer, but I only had to tow it a few miles home via strap...up to your place is a different story. If only I had a tow bar or something to use! Got all the rest needed to finish it now, but half here and half there wont do. Think I'll get off my duff now and get 'er done.

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Ok, so it was the driver's side that was busted, so it's all tore down now and I'm tryin to get the belts on. (here's where Scott's expertise would have helped me, had I gone over there!) Marks on flywheel lined up, mark on cam sproket "straight" up and pointed at the gap in the plastic cover, and I can't get enough slack to get the belt on. Any tips or tricks there, and just how straight up does that cam sprocket need to be?

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Make sure you do both belts at the same time. You might as well while you are in there, cheap insurance. Also, check the idlers for play or binding, and if they dont roll like they should better replace them.

 

Make sure when you do the belts that you do the passsenger side with the marked lined up at the top notch on the cover, THEN ROTATE THE CRANK 180 DEGREES and then do the drivers side the same way. If you dont do it this way, it will not run right or at all. Also, it is my preference to leave the covers off after this, to make it easier for the next time.

 

As for the salck, if you need more slack, loosed the mounting bolts of the idler pulley, then tighten them when you get the belt on. Be carefull not to damage the belt or it will probably fail prematurely.

 

-Bill

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Thanks Bill, I got enough play now to get the belt on. I had to pry a little with a screwdriver to get the tensioner all the way up, then tighten a bolt to hold it. The only prob now is that once the belt is on, the cam mark no longer lines up with the slot, but it is what I would call straight up. I am replacing both belts and leaving the covers off. I may just cable tie the covers back on, but not right away.

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It's alive!!!!!!!!!! :banana:

 

...but not well. :confused:

My concerns about how inaccurate the cam marks are, were apparently valid. It now sounds like a ricer, and doesn't have the power to shift into 5th. I did the driver's side first, lined up the cam mark with the notch in the plastic cover, turned the crank 360 with the mark down, lined up the other side, then rotated another 360 to make sure the III lines were there. This was all done to the best of my ability, so I guess the procedure is much trial and error!?! Tomorrow I'll try doing it with the cam mark straight up and down, instead of lined up with the notch, semi-up and down At least I made it run again. :-\

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Its probably 1 tooth off, thats a pretty common mistake. That is also a really good reason not to run covers, you dont have to tear into it so deep just to fix a simple little oops like that... Had the same problem when I did my last timing belt project, luckily I left the covers off and had it fixed in 5 minutes :banana:

 

-Bill

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Its probably 1 tooth off, thats a pretty common mistake. That is also a really good reason not to run covers, you dont have to tear into it so deep just to fix a simple little oops like that... Had the same problem when I did my last timing belt project, luckily I left the covers off and had it fixed in 5 minutes :banana:

 

-Bill

 

Yeah, you're prob right...I just need to quit whining and fix it now! Oh, and my idlers seemed fine, without any play. They're a bit spendy in the local parts stores, so I'll eventually get some off ebay or amazon.

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Hey SoobieDoo

FYI: I just bought a set for my 86' from ebay. The seller was theimportexperts. They are over there by Bill. The brand is PCI. Total was $67.58 thats with tax and shipping via UPS. They shipped them out on MON and I had them TUES night.

 

Ed

 

Not bad at all, that was the price for just one from napa!

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It has both belts, both tensioners, and the idler. IMHO, Not a bad deal at all.

 

Ed

 

Oh wow, I thought that was for just the idler...too bad I just blew $42 on belts!

 

It took me 6 tries to get that mark to line up the first time I did ea82 timing belts.

 

Cool, I'm better off than you than! At 3 attempts, I think I got it. The problem was the driver's side notch in the plastic back cover. After reading that you can just line up the marks with the valve cover seam, I checked and the notch was about 3/8" to the right. Someone must have messed with the cover at some point, and didn't re-align it correctly. After my second attempt, I checked with the timing light and it was way off. Around 28btdc. After this last time, it was right at 8! Of course, I advanced the timing up to 20, just for a little more power. Anyone know how much advance is good for performance? I get no pinging on this rig, so that method is out. :-\

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I dunno, not to crap on anyones paraid. but I got mine on the first try. Its easy (At least to me) The whole thing was easy, its like working on a lawnmower lol..

 

 

-Tom :)

 

It is easy, when the notch is where it's supposed to be. I'd much rather work on the soob than my lawnmower, it's a PITA. On another note...

 

It's Alive!!!

And I think the 12 degree advance is perfect. I took 'er out on the freeway for a test spin, and achieved 80mph for the first time since putting bigger tires on. And that was not WOT! I've always thought that my car was slow, even for an EA82, so maybe it's been off a tooth since I've owned her? :eek:

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

~Eric

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It is easy, when the notch is where it's supposed to be. I'd much rather work on the soob than my lawnmower, it's a PITA. On another note...

 

It's Alive!!!

And I think the 12 degree advance is perfect. I took 'er out on the freeway for a test spin, and achieved 80mph for the first time since putting bigger tires on. And that was not WOT! I've always thought that my car was slow, even for an EA82, so maybe it's been off a tooth since I've owned her? :eek:

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

~Eric

 

cool beans! When i got my wagon the timing was a tooth off on each gear.. thought the thing was horribly slow too.. same thing on my XT was a tooth off on one gear...

 

now both of my cars can really get up and go.. you should run stock tires just for fun and see the real power you should have :banana:

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cool beans! When i got my wagon the timing was a tooth off on each gear.. thought the thing was horribly slow too.. same thing on my XT was a tooth off on one gear...

 

now both of my cars can really get up and go.. you should run stock tires just for fun and see the real power you should have :banana:

 

Ah yes...the sheer power of an old soobie. MWWAAHAHAHAHA!

No, I'm never putting the stock wheels back on; I'd have to drill them out to 6-lug. The weber swap probably compensated just enough to satisfy me.

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It took me 6 tries to get that mark to line up the first time I did ea82 timing belts.

 

 

i feel ya. i only had to put it together once but i swear i took the belt on and off 20 times because i swore it was off. lol guess im just too much of a perfectionist.

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