ferox

OK. I have seen a lot of dialog about feedback vs. non-feedback without a proper definition. If I understand this correctly then non-feedback systems stopped in 1981? Will there be any other effects from removing the ECU?

I just worked on this same problem in my girlfriend's '84 wagon. Her's was a lot worse actually. The PCV filter material was crust. We replaced the filter material and valve, but not enough time has elapsed to say it definitely took care of the problem. If I doesn't, we will install an additional in-line PCV filter somewhere on the hose. I am wondering if there is extra blow-by occuring in the crankcase to produce so much oil.

If you can find an industrial bearing supply place in your area they can probably find the seals from the part # or other information on the seals themselves. If that doesn't work, then you can go to matching dimensions with them. Prices are often better too.

I have an '81 4WD M/T 1.8 California model hatch. I removed all the feedback/emmissions stuff from the engine compartment a long time ago. I have an '83 hitachi carb in right now with non-feedback jetting, and I am wondering if I switch out the ECU to one from a non-feedback hatch if it will help mpg's or overall driveability, or even just idle stability. Or should I just unplug the ECU since the non-Cali '81's didn't come with ECU's? If I should swap, will an ECU from an '89 hatch work? Any thoughts on the best (most compatible) year. I have a couple '84 hitachi carbs I am going to rebuild to swap out the '83 also. The '83 works pretty good (25 city/31 hwy grandma style driving), but pretty good isn't good enough. My point here is that an ECU swap will be working with an '84 carb not the '83. Thanks

I have a 15365 on my ea81, but it could be a bit different per individual set-up. I estimated with a string and bought three belts. I returned the two that didn't fit.

The 100 amp GM's come in a lot of cars. When I did mine I think I found 1980 chevy blazer v8's and cadillacs had them. It's part #7157. In the Engine Electrical section of this forum RavenTBK did a write up on the install. My install didn't go quite like described in that write-up, but it wasn't too hard and was well worth it. That said, you might also consider the 90 amp Nissan Maxima alt. as well. I chose the GM because I know just about every parts store has one, I thought there were minimal mods, and it seemed like the best option for swaps in the field. I did have to do more grinding of the ears than I anticipated(angle grinder required) which defeats my reasoning for going with the GM. I am sure there is some variability in the space between the ears...pun intended but not directed. So if you get one you may not have to grind as much. I also had to put a spacer on the pulley for belt alignment and a spacer on the adjuster bracket (see pic). You will probably want to do some wiring upgrades. I went to #6 for the power supply wire and #12 for the field sensor wire. I have an '81 so I was removing an external voltage regulator at the same time, but yours should be similar. The ignition power wire was factory spliced into the alternator power wire about 16 inches down the alt wire from the fusible link box. If you replace your alternator wire you will have to locate that splice and connect ignition power to your new alt. wire. Here's the bracket spacer. I will make a new one out of thicker metal someday. This one works great so far, but it makes me a little nervous. The field sensor wire should be upgraded and run directly to the main power supply wire just before the fusible links. You can kind of see where the f.s. wire splices into the supply wire (please excuse the toddler-like mouse-writing skills) Finished fitment GD helped me out a lot on this, so if I have made a mistake here he will surely correct me. I would check the Maxima alt. before jumping into the GM. The GM is great, the mods aren't much, but it could/would be a difficult, time consuming swap on the side of the road. Hope this helps

I check out this site from time to time. They may be able to give you more precise info. http://www.japanoid.com/

I ordered one from 1stsubaruparts 3 weeks ago. It was on back order from Japan and they just cancelled my order. Other parts places said they are no longer manufactured, so I guess it's ebay, etc,...Obviously the valve lash can be adjusted manually, but it's kind of a PITA. If anyone has got a line or info. on some of these I would also be interested. The Justy uses the same tool. I have "customized" some tools for this procedure, but no matter how hard I try, I can't get the gaps to be consistent with each other. It seems like they are reasonable similar when I am setting them, but if I check a week later they are all different from each other. Getting them within tolerance is easy, but it seems like the engine would run better if the valve lash was consistent all around. Any other pointers would be appreciated.

I'm not sure on the Carter-Weber carbs, but the Hitachi carbs have a little round window on the driver's side of the carb. You will probably have to take off the air cleaner to see it very well. It allows you to look into the float chamber. There is a little dot in the center of the window, your fuel level should be close to that dot. If you can't see fuel there, you may not be getting gas to the carb, or you have float issues. You can also disconnect your fuel line from the carb, put the end of it in a container of some kind, jump the pump, and see if you get gas.

I assumed you were checking and re-installing you disty, but reading your post again I realize you didn't mention that. If you haven't done that, try it the way GD described. I see you have a couple brats so I am not sure what tell you to trouble shoot. If your engine is in decent shape and just needs to be tuned, the ea81 is super easy (relatively speaking) and the manual will have all the necessary specs with pic's on hand. If you have two ea81's in the brats I would swap out the disty from a known runner and see what you get.

Which distributor do you have? Nippon Denso or Hitachi? And did you line up the punch mark on the disty shaft with the mark on the disty casing above it? I think your rotor should point directly at the #1 pick-up when the flywheel is at 8 degrees Btdc. It will still be pointed in the #1 direction at 0 degrees, but it's on it's way past it. The pick-up and rotor blade are still interfacing, but it's not pointed straight at it at 0 degrees. I guess I'm thinking you might be a gear tooth off.

+1 On Richie's shop. The only problem is that they have such a good rep. that sometimes they can get stacked up. They're fast, but Portland has a lot of subaru owners. Even if you do the work yourself you can get parts through them. I get almost all my parts there even though I now live about 35 miles away. He'll give you a good price, good advice, and you know you are getting the correct part.

What do you mean by higher octane? It's great that you have such ambitious plans. Are you generating your hydrogen with solar or wind power? I don't want to sound like a Doubting Thomas, and my questions aren't rhetorical, but if you are making hydrogen from household current, then water will not really be your fuel, it will most likely be coal. How much hydrogen per gallon of gas are you planning on using? Do you have to do anything to your valves or valve seats? I could probably figure out sixteen more questions, but I'll spare everyone. I am honestly curious about your project, keep us posted, good luck, be careful, hydrogen is potentially very dangerous.

An '84 should be internally regulated (built into the regulator). I can't tell from your post if your are planning on swapping out the alt from your '80 ea71 onto the '84 or just using it for comparison. If the '84 is an ea81 and you mean to swap from the ea71 I couldn't advise you on fitment, but stock reman's for the ea81' are pretty inexpensive. Snag the hatch! You'll be glad you did.

Bump for comments on an '81 carb before I put it on my car. I have heard qualitative comments that they aren't good, but nothing specific. I changed the accel. pump and needle/valve seat to later model versions. It's the simplest version of the Hitachi I have seen (choke and vacumm), and the jetting is different. Those are the four main differences I know. Here's the pics: (I know there is a spring missing I just didn't feel like redoing the pics)

It is in fact a California model. I have the original window sticker.

Good to know. I ripped, well, removed all that stuff as soon as I got the car. Now that I have an '81 FSM it's obvious that the '81 feedback system is a lot simpler that later versions. I was mostly concerned about MPG, so if the gains are minor I will just leave it the way it is. Thanks GD

I am rebuilding an '81 Hitachi carb to put on my '81 Hatch 1.8 4WD. I have been running an '83 carb for a couple years, and I like to rebuild about every two years. I have got an extra '83 that I have already rebuilt, but I would like to match the carb to the engine/ecu. Hitachi changed the design a bit after '81, and I was wondering if anyone knew the extent of those changes. The accelerator pump design wasn't that good in '81, so I am changing it to a later model acc. pump, but I want to know if anyone knows of any other reason not to use the '81 carb?

First off I am asking about the Duty Solenoid Valves (DSV's) on ea81's that modify the A/F ratio in the carb...not automatic transmission duty solenoids. I have had my DSV's disconnected (along with the other emissions stuff) for a couple years and have been running rich. The car drives great, but I would like to have the correct Air/Fuel mixture. I am rebuilding another Hitachi, and when I install I would like to re-install the DSV's and vacuum switches. Can I test the DSV's for actuation with a small 9V battery and miti-vac? I know I can test resistance and voltage in the car with the DMM, but I'm thinking actuation is the real functional test and I can carry a small battery and miti-vac in a junkyard. Does anyone know a good parts source for new DSV's? Aside from having more things that can fail, are there downsides to having the DSV's installed?

One important thing to keep in mind is that you probably have to check the gear oil level when it's hot, after you have driven around a bit. That's the way it is in ea81's, so I could be wrong since I don't ea82. If you flush it with gear oil let it drain for a little while, put the drain plug back on, and fill it to specifications. If you fill it right, it should read low on the dipstick before you have driven it, then check it when it's hot to see how close you are to hitting the mark. I use a quart of synthetic with conventional and it seems to work good. You might want to double check this, but if you fill it to spec. you shouldn't have any problems.

If I am not missing something my Haynes wiring diagram shows two things it could be: The obvious one is fuel pump control unit that Turbone suggested. Diagram shows a box with 6 wires. The inobvious is labeled as a seat belt timer. Diagram shows a box with 7 wires. With seven wires it must do something in addition to timing seat belts. It's near the glove box area. It doesn't seem likely though. I think I count 9 wires in your picture, so the diagram doesn't match perfectly in either case. The wire color coding looks a lot like some of the wires I spliced when I removed my external voltage regulator ('81 hatch), which I know your '82 doesn't have, but I would put my money on the fuel pump control unit. It ain't much, but it's all I got.

My Justy came with those wheels, obviously the lug pattern is different. It had some funny little center caps from another car. What's the diameter of the center hole on your wheels, I'll try to find the caps and figure out the make. Mine will be painted with semi-gloss black epoxy wheel paint this summer, but I paint all my wheels black. I just can't seem to get into chrome for some reason, but to each his/her own.

It doesn't make a huge difference on these cars, but if you are trying to eek out every bit of MPG you can install a fuel pressure regulator. The one on my '81 hatch is set at 2.5 psi. It's been on there so long I can't remember the performance difference. Since the pump on your car is in the back (mines under the hood), it will probably make less of a difference as far as smoothing fuel pulsations, which aren't huge in these cars to begin with. I think it's just generally recommended for carbed cars anyway, and it's an easy install. The cheapies aren't so cheap anymore, so I would go with a Redline or something that has a rheostat type dial vs. the set increments, so you can dial it in precisely.

I didn't see what vehicle this thread was started for, but the first thing I put on my '81 hatch were new empi brand axles. They sell reman's too, but you can get brand new ones too for a little more. I believe they are a German company and it might be one of those VW/Subie interchangeable things. They have been perfect now for almost three years. The CCR reman's might be just as good though.

FOUND IT! Factory crimp about 16 inches down the alternator wire from the original junction connection. FYI. I hooked it up. Got everything tidy. Turned the key and...it fired up like a new car. Voltmeter shot to 14.5 and didn't budge with headlights and wipers on. Headlights, wipers, and heater fan took it down to 14v Runs more solid than before with more power in higher rpms and up hills.