Alexx

I noticed that close to 10 people a day sign for this forum, perhaps it's just a matter of time before someone from that area posts here.

You could be right and they don't want to fix it. It could also be that if it's not a subaru authorized or subaru recognized parts supplier, they don't want anything to do with it. Lets face it, corporate decisions usually involve the option of purchasing parts that are mass produced, not piecemeal production of parts in ones and twos. It's probably just corporate policy. Does anyone know of any Subaru dealership that will still replace or rebuild a carburetor?

No need to limit this topic post to just Southern California. The whole USA is fine by me. I specifically asked this Sube Dealer if they had any mechanics from the 80's still working there, and I was told yes, and that's who looked at my car. I was disappointed that in this day and age with the internet available that dealers don't investigate new alternatives for their customers. It seems that once they have made up their mind that a certain part can no longer be obtained, they just give up. In my opinion, having a 20 year old subaru drive up for maintenance work should make it EASIER to sell new cars, especially to those who are considering buying a subaru for the first time. Many companies seem to have made permanent decisions about parts availability well before the advent of the internet and they refuse to consider new internet options that were previously not even available to them when they cast their company policies in stone.

General Disorder, thanks for the info. It seems that if the steam cleaning created the problem, meaning before the steam cleaing the car shifted fine, then somewhere along the way some waxing is still better short term until I have the cable changed. I welcome the knowledge of the do it yourselfer, but I'd rather pay someone to change it. The catch 22 seems to be I'll be paying more to someone who knows less and will take longer to do it wronger.

Basically, the car needs the carburetor rebuilt, and since Subaru went to fuel injection in the mid 80's, Carburetors don't exist anymore, (according to the dealers point of view) because they can't get the parts anymore.

Can anyone recommend how and what I should use to relube the clutch cable after I had the car engine steam cleaned? Are there any other engine components that will need to be relubed after an engine steam cleaning?

That's all good stuff. Yeah, the person who rebuilt my carburetor two years ago probably just used a carb rebuild kit that did not address what you are talking about, and 18 months later, I'm dealing with the same problem again.

Thanks for the leads. It just dawned on me that if those responding could specify if your subie mechanic contacts are for fuel injection Subarus, Carburetor Subarus, or both, that would be much appreciated. I know there are several other designations and categories we could add, but carburetion versus fuel injection is a very broad distinction to start with.

I would like to keep my 1981 Subaru for at least five more years. I would appreciate it if the members of this forum, based on their own personal experiences, created a database, or at least posted to this topic thread contact information of Subie Mechanics that will work on older Subies that have actual Carburetors in them. The Subaru Dealer that I went to in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County made a big deal out of telling me that Subaru stopped putting Carburetors in their cars in the mid 80's. It cost me $112.00 to find out how little they could help fix my carburetor problem. I'm learning from this forum who specializes in Subaru maintenance but how about a state by state contact list? A state by state database of specialized Subaru services could be real handy. I know many here are do it your selfers, but it's always important to supplement "the do it yourselfers" by doing business with those who can capably make a living by maintaining our older cars. Clearly the Subaru dealers have little desire to support the stalwart specialized subaru mechanic who is a whiz with rebuilding criticial Subaru components no longer availabe via Subaru so it really is up to us to make a Older Generation of Subie Mechanics Contact List a reality, or is one already available?

That magnet design is different than the one in my subaru.

Would it need to be rebuilt, and would it work on an 81 Subaru?

The carburetor was rebuilt a year and a half ago. However, word from the real subaru specialists is that the carburetor kits are generally not "good enough" to get the carburetor back to normal. I would have to agree with that opinion because after the carburetor was rebuilt, the ran fine for a short while, but it still had a "hesitation spot" which over a short time got worse and worst. Plus I'm pretty sure the Distributor needs rebuilding. I sure am tempted to drive to Colorado and have Kerry do the rebuild. But I've calculated two days driving each direction and one day there, that's five days of lost work plus all the exrtraneous expenses. Plan B is probably going to be to purchase the carburetor from Colorado and have the carburetor expert I spoke with today actually install everything.

Well, they say no good deed goes unpunished. I had the engine steamcleaned so the dealer's mechanic could really investigate what was wrong. What I'm upset about is they didn't advise me that that the odds were at least 50-50 that they wouldn't be able to repair the problem. I was pitched that if I approved the work that needed to be done The $112.00 would go towards the repair, but never was I informed of the likelihood that they would not be able to do the repair work that was needed. The only saving grace now is if I do get the carburetor properly repaired they will do a "free" dyno" test to see if it will pass smog. Replacing the clutch cable might not be that easy. But can I "relube it" as I just had the engine steamcleaned just a few days ago?

I had my engine steamcleaned before taking it to the dealer, (the dealer basically told me what the problem was but that they couldn't fix it, and thank you very much for the $112.00 "estimate" fee). Now the clutch pedal feels very stiff and I'm having trouble shifting some of the gears. Is it possible that the clutch cable had whatever lubrication on it removed by the steam cleaning and it will need to be lubed again?

That looks like a great lead! Now I'm torn about bringing my car to someone who I have already talked to and seems to know what he is talking about or the link you have provided. Do they sell rebuilt Subaru Carburetors or do they rebuild the carburetor that is on my car?

Thanks for the lead. I think I stumbled across a few every encouraging leads via the internet, plus good old telephone calling once I found the internet leads. However it will require me leaving my car and probably taking Amtrack back.

The Subaru Dealer Found the Engine Problem with my 81 Subaru DL Wagon, the Carburetor needs to be rebuilt or replaced. I'm located in the San Fernando Valley, can anyone recommend a good place to either rebuild my Subaru Carburetor or find me another one in good shape? I just had it rebuilt less than two years ago. The Dealership said they don't do carburetors anymore because Subaru switched to fuel injection in the mid 80's and they rarely if ever get a car in with an actual carburetor so they can't recommend I go to anyone in particular. Help!

I just realized I'm a wagon only guy also! They sure come in great for video production. I went from my very first car, a ford country sedan wagon, to my subaru wagon DL. My spare car is a very old toyota corolla wagon. Even with the SUV craze instituted by Detroit marketing goons, I still think the roominess of my 23 year old Subaru Wagon combined with 27 MPG (combined city & freeway) is still a pretty good deal, and no car payments.

I took my car to a Subaru dealer to see if they could figure out why my engine slightly hesitates. The repair shop supervisor asked if I was remotely interested in a new car and I said "no" so quickly that I then apologized. I bought a 7 year old subaru back in 1988 and I've now had that car for almost 16 years.

I think the question was meant to help identify which engine matches a subaru engine when it comes to the correct length of spark plug wires. If one orders a V-8 set one gets extra cables for not much more money but which engine would give one the proper length cables for a subaru.

Yeah but now I want one. Um, what is a passing light? By the way, does my car have a check engine light, and where on the dash would it be?

Thanks for the suggestions! If I decide to take my car to a Subaru dealership and more specifically to the Subaru experts, should I print out this thread and show it to them and see how they respond?

hahahah. About those fool filters that I can't find. I was wondering if when the car is first started there is fuel in the line already and it takes 20 or 30 seconds for the fuel pump or fuel filter to begin to cause trouble again.

Thanks for the helpful offer. I wish you were a bit closer. I just changed the EGR valve and the car seems to run better but as the car warms up it the idle speed is not constant. It's weird because when I first turn the car on when it's cold it idles at a constant speed for about 20-30 seconds, then the idle becomes rough and inconsistent. I wonder what would let the car engine work perfectly for 20 seconds, then begin to cause problems.

I did a search and typed in 1981 DL Wagon and not much came up, that's why I thought I'd just be Mr. Obvious and create a topic that is specific to my car so that way it will show up in the search engine for others that join later. UM, I hope there is something meaningful for them to absorb!