jdub

Incredible! EXACTLY as you say: I pulled the plastic cover panel and found that the groundside wire (driverside) connection was not connected - both ends simply hanging there. Plugged it in and I now have full defrost across all wires. I'll cinch the connection up with some electrical tape to make sure this doesn't happen again. Many, many thanks!! John

If I find the wire melted as you say, what gauge do you suggest; 10g? Thanks mightily for the information. This 'board rocks! John

Not sure if I can pull a/the cover: the electrical lines from the defroster spades, each side, go into the upper steel window surround section of the rear hatch (this is a station wagon) and from there emerge, together as a bundle, at the top of the hatch to disappear into the upper section of the car. That is, it appears to be all metal. Is there an inspection plate on the '87gl that I might use? For the continuity check, I see that I would be checking the circuit from spade to spade: good idea! I guess that'd tell me if the grid was dead, but even if it was wouldn't I be getting some juice from a space-to-ground test? Many thanks! John

This is a Hitachi carb'd EA82. Here's the deal: no joy at the rear defrost grid. The grid is in great shape BTW. Relay clicks, lights go on both at switch and on dash, and numbers 17 and 18 15amp fuses look just fine (I believe #12 handles the dash/switch lights). Hooked a multimeter at the rear defrost spade (tried both sides) and to ground, but nothing. Tried several relays, all without success (and all click just fine). Any ideas? Any other fuse or otherwise? The only thing I can think of is a break in the line? I suppose I could check continuity from the fuse to the rear defrost spade(s) but I don't have a set of lines that long! Many thanks in advance for any help you can give. John

Never been to Pull a Part. Do I bring my own tools? Do they stock parts they've pulled? I need, for an '87 Subaru GL Wagon, Carb'd: = A gulp valve, a.k.a anti-backfire valve = Relay for the rear defroster = Driverside corner light assembly, front = Driverside corner light assembly, rear I figure I ought to be able to find these parts, though I am not certain how to check an anti-backfire valve to see if it works. Blow into it...? Many thanks, John

I just contacted them and what a world of difference from Suburb! Many thanks - scheduled a looksee for Thursday. John

Car has quit idling. I don't think it is the carb, have not yet checked fuel pump delivery, but need help ASAP to get my '87 GL WGN on her feet. Any and all help appreciated. No, Suburb Service won't touch it - ancient history they say! Many thanks in advance, John

Thanks for the reply. I was careful not to get any water in the engine bay, and did pop the dist. cap to check it and the rotor. Jw

Many thanks in advance for you help on this idling problem. Car is an '87 EA82 Hitachi-carb'd GL station wagon. Problem is bad idle that appeared suddenly. I can't spend much money on this so I need to narrow down to what I can do at home in my workshop. Drove car home from work, operates nicely, 1/2 a tank of gas. Park and wash. Restart later: idles high in choke mode, but barely holds an idle after warmup, instead holding at about 3-4hundred rpm. Later, cannot even hold this and dies (must rev. to keep from dying). Level, constant pressure on gas pedal produces uneven idle, but not a constant miss, just rough and uneven. What I've done: Replaced gas filter @ tank, plenty of gas flowing from gas tank. Removed gas cap and ran: no luck, still bad. Filled tank with 92 octane. Checked choke cycle; carb butterfly returns to normal fine. Gumout down barrel. Inspected and replaced plugs (all OK). Air filter fine (ran with cover off: problem persists). Vaccum hoses all connected. Good (~12+v) current return at battery (no electrical problems whatsoever). Fuses all check OK, including those in eng. comp. Have not checked gas flow at carb. Cannot find anti-diesel valve. Cannot check timing (no idle). Also, idle would increase or decrease depending on selection of Defrost/Heat using buttons prior to this problem (never caused under 800 idle however). Anything obvious I should try? What could possible have happened to turn the car from idler to this? Many thanks, John

Either the left, right, or both rear brakes on my '87 4wdGL wagon are pulsing when the car is driven for a time (presumably they are getting warmed up because this doesn't happen when car is "cold"). Any idea what this might be? Clearance problem? I have done no work in that area nor have I bled the brakes - this just came outta nowhere. The only consistent fact is that the car hadn't been driven in some time, so I wonder about internal corrosion on the drum surface from water ingress? Many thanks! jw

Do I need the middle muffler (resonator) in my exhaust line? We determined that it has a hole in the topside and I am tempted to just remove it, put in a pipe, and retain the catalytic converter (at the front) and the standard rearmost muffler. This is a carb'd model. I am unsure if the resonator (in good shape) is designed to do anything in terms of maintaining pulse or otherwise? I need to do this on the cheap so if any of you have hacksawed and clamped your own exhaust system I am all ears! Many thanks, John PS: Guy quoted me $60.00 to pull the resonator and put in a pipe. Why shouldn't I take this money and open up the exhaust from the tri-bolt triangle just aft of the cat. on out?

Just for future reference.... The relays on the carb'd model sit just above the driver's left knee, above the fuses, in a small rack that features half-round clips that hold the circular upper section of the relay. You will need to remove the lower panel, below the steering wheel. Three screws sit vertically into the panel above it, and three plastic screw-type "flower" holders must be removed on the lower section of the panel. Unplug an electrical block connection to have the panel fully away from the area, and reach up and left to access the relays. The color coding matched exactly what was referenced by Skip. To test a relay, you can swap out a known good one. Otherwise, I do not know what the resistance, etc. needs to be as I combed my manuals and there is no testing procedure for the relay. Many thanks for you help, John

Maybe mine is falling out of range - sucking on the hose does cause a nice shift in the plate, but then again is it enough? Thanks to all for this information. I must say, as slow as the carb model is, it does get me around the ECU and whatnot. After messing with the Digifant II setup on VWs I can really appreciate the (relative) simplicity of this car. John

that lets the dog run out a bit, but holds at the very limit! At idle, I have mucho vacuum, and this limits the advance of the mechanical advance plate mechanism. As I hit the pedal, vaccum decreases (closer to atmospheric) and the plate is allowed to run out via centrifugal force. So, if my engine is pinging, it would stand to reason that the vaccum is not enough to prevent the mechanism from advancing too much, too early. Hmmm. How can I possibly effect this (if I have this right) unless I were to "fool" the car by retarding the timing from 8degrees to 6degrees or more? Seems I would lose some performance. John

After careful research last night I thought I understood that the hose from my manifold, to the distibutor diaphram pod, was pulling on the internal distributor plate to cause retardation. Can that be so? I have rarely seen any vaccum that was used to dampen a mechanically-activated advance. Is that the case for my Hitachi dist. on an '87 GL Wagon 5-speed Carb'd model? Reason for this query is to put to rest, once and for all, that the rattling I am hearing is pinging from a too advanced state. The weird thing is that I checked timing last night and plate movement via hose (works fine) and all was spot on (8degreeBTDC@700rpm, hose plugged). I left the hose plugged and drove in this AM and the car did not rattle that I can remember... John

I have the carb'd model, so no ECU. So I should look somewhere above the steering column? Are the relays easy to get to (you'd think so!). I'll poke around this afternoon and see what comes up. Many thanks! John

Sort of a bump - there does not appear to be a relay associated with the rear defrost? I looked at my fusible links and they all seem just fine (there are three). So last call - does anyone know if there is a relay I ought to be looking for? The '88 manual's electrical diagrams don't seem to show anything... Many thanks, Jw

I live for litte projects like this! I'll pull the starter and clean the contacts. Many thanks! John

I had the same problem - first time ever. This followed an oil drain and I replaced the 10w30 with 20w50. I returned to 10w30 after 150 miles. The ticking went away. I am calling that an expensive oil flush! Jw

The guys at the Vortex BBS told me to take a pair of vise grips or Channellocks and carefully crush the rotor! I wouldn't do this unless your dist. has a cover between the rotor and the body of the dist to prevent junk from falling in. However, if you are careful, you might be able to cause a crack in the rotor body and peel it away. BTW, the rotors on the VW are glued on. That's why they are such a PITA. John

Thanks Subiemech. It is not the grid per se, it is the current to either connector at either end of the grid itself. There is no juice at these connetors, but there is at the switch and at the fuses (that is, they are not blown...). I have fixed my Targa rear grid using the paste you refer to. That does take a bit of skill! Many thanks, John

I knew there had to be something else - anyone have any idea where that relay might be located? Or, if someone has an electrical diagram I can go at that... John

I guess I just want to be sure I am doing this right... Rear window defrost grid ('87 GL Wagon) does not defrost. Hooked a multimeter at the right and left connectors after removing them from grid on window. There is no voltage across these two connectors. However, the dual 15amp fuses are fine at the fuse box and the switch lights up, as does the glyph on the dashboard. Is there any other fuse/? I ought to be looking at? This seems so simple: all electrics are "there" but no joy at the rear glass. Many thanks! John

Hi folks: When the previous owner went to have an engine rattling sound diagnosed, the tech told them to use a better grade of gas (pinging), but pinging is not what is happening as far as I can tell... I can say without a doubt that the rattling is not pinging. It happens not under load, but rather on the overrun, when you've pulled your foot from the accel. pedal. It also happens when the engine is revved, again not under load. I have been told that the driverside camshaft-to-distributor can cause a sound - is it a rattle? The belts are under 20K and I hear no flapping whatsoever that would tell me the belts need a re-tension. Can anyone tell me if this is a typical sound for the EA-82? Should I stop worrying? Many thanks in advance, John

Anyone using these? Comments on street versus off-road (specifically snow)? I found a set in amazing condition for cheap but want to see if you folks have an angle on their worthiness. Many thanks guys, I am taking an awful lot of bandwidth at this 'board and I appreciate your help very much! John