joebmx

Sorry if I wasn't clear with this the first time around. My HC count worries me because prior to the seafoam and alcohol, it passed at cruise and just barely failed at idle. I will post the results from 2 consecutive tests later this evening. So why has it gone from 1xx ppm and 2xx ppm to 2200ppm? Uhg....

So I went for it. I added some seafoam to the mix. gas, carb and oil. Car smoked like crazy, as I was expecting and then nothing. Seemed good but to ensure that I would pass emissions I added a gallon of denatured alcohol and the result............................ It still failed. It goes a little beyond that though. The O2 emssions were great! .26 at cruise and .006 at idle. Sweet!! And the HC count, 2242 at cruise and 2050 at idle. up a mere 2100ppm's for each. What gives? The car doesn't seem to be running quite as well since the seafoam either. Less power overall and a little rough at idle. I have driven it about 30 miles in all since putting that stuff in. I also noticed something new after using the seafoam, a giant puddle of sludge under the component in the linked pic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/22619255@N00/1435304171/ Notice the crap on the wheel well at the back of the pic. What is the part? Why would it potentially have blown out all that crud and how do i know if it is still good? Everything around it is clean so I wouldn't imagine something else having contributed to the mess plus the under side of the part is covered in the crud as well. Guide me please.

By the way where the heck does the o2 sensor live. I have peaked around before but had no luck.

So the temp gauge reads at just about the middle maybe a little bit below, I will have to check on the choke though I do think it is open. One thing I am realizing as i write this, as i pulled off my pcv hoses and some vacuum lines to clean them some were cracked right where they attached. I brought 2 hoses to the carquest to get replaced and they said they didn't have what i needed and i ended up forgetting about it. Where would be the place to get new vacuum lines? Could this be the problem?

I figured that was what someone was goiing to say. I will give it a try since my gas tank is running low anyways. and I will post my test results without any other tinkering. I would still like to have an idea of what is happening with the emissions system.

Its an 87 GL wagon EA 82 Carb The plugs and wires etc...all seem to be in good shape not crusted over or worn looking. Though the wires on it are auto lite. I know this group seems to be pro NGK. The plugs are ngk though.

So i took the car in for its emissions test and it failed with High HC's in idle and high CO during cruise. I didn't have much idea what to do so I took care of the oil leak, got a new gas cap, cleaned my pcv valve and hoses (they were disgusting) Changed the PCV and Air Filters, took care of a coolant leak, gave it fresh oil, brought it in plenty warmed up for the test and it failed the same way but with way higher numbers. In fact everything increased. for example my HC emissions at idle went from 256 to 390, at cruise they went from 113 to 124 and my CO at idle went .13 to .14, and 1.52 to 1.82 at cruise. My idle also went from 1080 to 1110. I figured since my numbers were so close to passing in the first place what i did would have done the job. Would plugs, wires etc.. do the trick? They didn't look all that bad though they are probably 3 years old now. The car had been off the road for a long while.

here are some pics, When i get home i will trake a look to see if the passenger cam is the same. http://www.flickr.com/photos/22619255@N00/

So a few things. I was finishing up a valve cover reseal on my 87 gl, ea82 carb. when i noticed a small hole in the bottom of the drivers side where the valves live. Sorry I am new to this and don't know its proper name. With the engine running there is no smoke, oil, or coolant, not that there would be coming out. Should i be worried. And how can I fix this? JB Weld?

I found this link. obviously that hose doesn't belong anywhere http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31276

it'a the larger 5/8 in one that hangs just behind the alternator. What for?

I have an carbaurated EA82 and coming out of the air box are a number of hoses, there are the vacuum lines that go to the PCV valve and then there are two hoses off to the side opposite the intake. One goes it into the crannkcase somewhere and another that is about 6" in length that doesn't connect at the end. Should it?

Thanks so much for all the info. I think I am in a fair place for figuring out the problem however I do have another question, as I had mentioned earlier when I pulled a spark plug wire on my no.1 cylinder there was no change in idle. I haven't pulled the plug to see if it is crap or not but for arguments sake let's it is fine, I would assume then that I have a seal issue at that point, correct? So if I get a compression reading that is low it can be either a Head Gasket or a piston ring. How do I differentiate at that point. Someone mentiined that a head gasket would most likely give a low reading on the adjacent cylinder. Will I alway see this pattern or can I expect only one cylinder to have low compression? Am I on the right track or am I getting my stuff messed up? Also, am i going to find a big differnce in $20 and $50 compression testers? Thanks again.

I am at my girlfriends house so I don't have any tools to start pulling plugs to look in the cylinder but I did pull the wires while checking some other things and wouldn't you know it, when i pulled the wire for (i think) the no. 1 cyclinder nothing happened, every other plug made my idle drop significantly. It is for sure getting spark I can only hope the plug is fouled and not firing otherwise I have some more issues. I will be getting my hands on a compression tester in a day or so. Is there anything else I should be looking for at this time? As for my saying earlier that the car seemed to run well I guess I had no idea what a 90hp, 200k mile, 20 yr old subaru running on only 3 cylinders in hilly Seattle was capable of. More and more I am convinced. Let's hope I can get this thing going for real.

ps. any thoughts on what repair manual I should be using? I have a hayes but am not liking it thus far.

I was in need of a new car and wanted to understand what it was that all subaru owners feel for their cars so I went and picked up a 87 GL with 199K for $200. It is clean and runs surprisingly well depite the fact that it had a puddle of anti freeze on top of the passenger side head after a little drive. It hasn't overheated, it haven't noticed oil in the coolant, and it runs absoultely fine. The guy I bought it from said it needed a head gasket, though I am no experienced mechaninc can understand. So how hard is it to do this job? I have a Hayes manual which doensn't make it look very easy despite having spoken with a few folks who say it is very easy. Should I just start tearing apart the head? With it being on the passsenger side and do i even need to remove any major pieces besides intake/exhaust and some vaccum lines. I want to get this car driving asap so i can use it for the summer although right now I don't want to get in too deep on projects . Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. And by the way depite it being a $200 broken car I am already enjyoing driving it.

I have an 87 GL wagon and am having issues with getting the drivers door open. It has not done so from the inside for quite a while now but has recently had the lock cylinder fk'd with and now won't open from the outside either. Any ideas? I tried to do the coat hanger thing to see if I could at least pop it but quickly realized that I am no car theif. Maybe if i had a clue it would work. Otherwise how possible is it to get to the inside of the door with it closed from the inside of the car? My legs aren't that long, I can't continue to step over the front seat from the back for much longer. Thanks

So I found an xt 6 with an H6 2.7 liter 170k miles in it and it runs...for now and an 87' DL 4x4 wagon with a bad head gasket both for 500$. Interior space isn't really a concern although a wagon would be nice but not gonna make the decision for me. How is the XT6 to work on engine wise? are they as simple as the smaller wagon engines. I have seen these things and couldn't believe how tiny and simple they look. But Looks can be decieving especially when engines are a new realm in car fixxing world for me. joey p.

so i am in the market for an older subaru and have come across plenty in around seattle for very little $$$. However, it seems common that many people are saying their cars may have or do have bad head gaskets. Is this common? If I were to get me an older wagon how easy is it to do engine work? I currently own an 89 corolla gts and if anyone has ever peaked under the hood its a small nightmare to do work on. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks joey p