DJ_Kuehn

Thanks for all the help guys! I'll try to respond to each of you here. Barracuda: I don't know if it's got hydraulic lifters or not. It's a 1980 motor, the first year for the ea-81, so probably not. I'll probably only mill off what's necessary to get things flat again. Crayola: Soobs are actually VERY common in hovercraft and aircraft. They can do anything CCRinc: When I say zero compression, I mean I can turn it over with my finger over the plug hole and feel some compression, but it's not enough to blow my finger off. It's probably like 15psi or so. Does that make any difference? And yeah, I know both bobby and billy very well, I'm friends with both of them. Are they getting motors from you now? I know they have some bad feelings towards another subaru rebuilder so I figure they've found a new source by now. If they're buying off you, I'm sure you got to hear a good story about a timing gear. 4x4 welder: Thanks, but that's a bit more creative than I plan on getting LOL I REALLY REALLY hope its the head gasket. I'm glad to hear that the valves are as tough as everyone claims, I was afraid I'd be buying new heads and valves. HOwever, I never thought of the sleeve issue. I'll probably cry if those came loose. I may have to send some money CCRinc's way It will probably be a couple weeks before I can tear it down and I really hate not knowing! If anyone else has any suggestions or ideas, please feel free to jump in. Thanks, Jason

Awesome, I hope that's all it is. If I do mill it down, how much can come off? Also, I've considered doing that before, but I've been told that increasing compression doesn't do any good unless you change cam profiles. Is that true?

Hey guys, I race hovercraft and have an ea-81 powerplant. The motor is all stock except for a holley 5200 carb and tuned exhaust headers. It WAS a low milage motor with only 27,000 when I put it in, but that's shot now. Here's the short version of what happened: I was racing, doing quite well actually, and was really putting the heat on the first place guy trying to pass. Well, he had to turn to avoid hitting someone, which caused me to turn to avoid hitting him, but it didn't work so well. We hit hard, but when youre racing and everything is still running, you keep going and hope for the best :cool:. Turns out, my radiator got punctured in that accident. I went about 4 more laps (this is non-stop full throttle, btw) at about 1:45 per lap, finally passed and got into first place then my engine started sounding wierd and went to idle. About 30 seconds later it backfired a couple times and died. I then turned around and found out that I had no coolant whatsoever. SO, I have what was a great running ea-81 that went around 5-7 minutes at full throttle with no coolant. I've tested the compression and here's what I found. Cylinder 2 had 150psi and 4 has 135psi (drivers side) Cylinders 1 and 3 have nothing. Here's my question... I know these are very tough motors and I might not need to do a full rebuild. What is your suggestion for fixing this up? Could it just be a head gasket issue since both right side cylinders have no compression, or did I burn my valves up? I haven't had time to tear it all down yet, but would prefer to have parts ordered so that I can put it back together right away (that way I'm less likely to forget how it came apart!). How should I proceed? Thanks guys! And, since I know someone will ask, here are the pictures of race. I'm the orange #23. http://prophotoproductions.exposuremanager.com/g/Sunday5&gallery_page=&gallery_all=&view=1&photo_page=3

If you are concerned with weight, the 81's are quite a bit lighter than the 82's well. I use a soob in my hovercraft, so weight is a big issue there.

Alright, got all my issues worked out finally. Here is the good news... for those of you who have an older model ea81 with the external ignition module, here is a way to save about $340. Get a GP Sorensen model EL102 ignition. It is used on tons of GM cars from chevettes to camaros and only cost $14.88. It works great and I like the price much better than the $358 stock module.

Thanks for the response, I've got it figured out now. I had it running all weekend and had a blast. There were several reasons I had so much trouble, one being the wiring diagram was wrong, and second, I have an external ignition module and everyone kept telling me it was built into the distributor. I guess 1980 is an oddball year where everything is external (volt reg and ign mod).

Went to the auto parts store over lunch and learned a few things. In order for the MSD or any aftermarket performance ignition to work, you still have to have the stock ignition module installed so that the MSD gets a pulsing signal. All the MSD does is boost the signal to the coil. So, the guy there (advance auto parts) helped me find a generic module that we think might work in place of stock. It is the standard ignition for tons of different GM cars from chevettes to v8 camaros. If it doesn't work I'm out $15 instead of the $358 it costs for the 'stock' module. I'll post an update tonight and let you all know if it works. Might save everyone some serious cash if you need a new one.:cool:

So it IS an external piece from my distributor? In that case, I will buy an aftermarket 'performance' ignition. The 'stock' setup is over $350!! I can get any number of generics for way less than that. Here is a question... are they all pretty much the same? Would something like this work? http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?categorycode=4013F&mfrcode=PRF&mfrpartnumber=66944C It's cheap and has two terminals on each side, like the original. Does it work the same way? Thanks so much for all the help guys.

Ok, just found another manual online. Now i have one manual (the chilton 1970-1984) which says there is a "transistor ignition unit" mounted on a fender by the coil. The other manual, Gregorys 1970-94, says the control unit is inside the distributor under the rotor on Nippon Denso distributors (which I have). Do I have an oddball year motor where the control unit is separate (like the voltage regulator). If so, I think I'm seriously going to go bang my head on a wall cause that thing costs almost as much as I paid for the entire motor.

Well, I'm just starting to learn these motors, so I don't know that much really. I know there is a reluctor that sits where the breaker points would be, and there is a pickup coil which generates the high voltage. The ignition control unit supposedly controls the flow of current to the pickup. Now, I don't know what this control unit looks like, but I've been told it's a small box inside of the distributor under the rotor. However, the wiring diagrams always show it as a separate box. I know this will sound really ignorant, but is the control unit outside of the distributor or in? If it's a separate box, then I think I know my problem because I don't have one!

Cool, thanks man. Would you happen to have any idea what an ignition control unit would do with the polarity reversed? Would I damage it, or would it simply not spark, like I have now?

Cool, thanks ross. If you have factory manuals, you'll probably be able to find out alot more than I can with this POS chilton book. Yes, my hindsight is 20/20 and I REALLY wish I would've got an internal reg alternator. I bought the "stock" alternator off ebay for dirt cheap ($20 new and shipped) not realizing that an external VR was needed. I found that out after the fact. Now I have a new alternator and a new VR, so I'd rather not spend more money unless I have to.

Yes, this is sort-of a new problem in the same general nightmare. Here is what I've discovered so far, and it all boils down to external voltage regulators are a pain in the arse. I have it turning over now, but it won't start. The wiring diagram WAS incorrect in that it is missing the wire from the switch to the starter solenoid. I believe the wire that goes from the voltage regulator to the starter actually goes to the same connection as the switch/solenoid. This charges the coil during cranking, but once the engine is running, the coil gets it's power from the alternator. That way, if the engine dies, the fuel pump power (also from the VR) gets cut off automatically. This is all just my theory, but it seems to make sense. It's got me to the point of a charged coil and the engine turning over, so I guess i'm farther along than i was! The issue with the shielded wire wasn't exactly what I thought. Turns out, there were two wires in the shielded wrapping all along, but one got sucked down into the wrap when it was cut by the salvage people. After I heard that there had to be two wires there, I cut another inch off what I had and then discovered that there was indeed another wire farther back. Now those two wires are my problem. The colors on them do not match the colors on the diagram. Every document I find keeps talking about a yellow and black/white wire, not the solid red and solid white i have.

I'm not that familiar with the 82's but do open valves clear a piston at TDC? I know in some cars, if you break a timing belt it can bury the valve in the piston, which is why they recommend replacing them so often. If they don't clear, then it's possible that's why he's having blowback in the carb. One of the intake valves might not be sealing.

This may be a simple question... I have a 1980 EA81. I bought it from a salvage yard, so, of course, all the wires were just snipped off instead of being unplugged. In my chilton wiring diagram, the two wires that come from the ignition control unit in the distributor are shown as yellow and black/white. Black/white ties into the lead from the voltage regulator to the resistor (then to + side of coil), and yellow goes to the negative side of the coil. However, on MY motor, these two wires are solid red and solid white. I looked through every wiring diagram for every year and they're all shown as yellow and black/white. Does anyone know which is which. Maybe being reversed doesn't even matter, but I don't want to take a chance on frying my ICU since it's like $350 for a new one. I'm wondering if the Chilton manual only shows the hitachi disty and maybe those are a different color. I have the ND disty. Thanks!