markman34

Hi everyone, I'm suffering a car with no heat. I'm certain that my heater core is clogged up and I'm wondering if there is a recommended chemical for cleaning. I have already done a cooling system flush with a prestone flushing product but the heater core is still providing very little heat. (low flow) I plan to by-pass the core so that I can blow out any crap in there and am wondering if there is a recommended product to do so. Of course, I don't want to use anything that will harm the core. I'd rather change the engine than replace the core! Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I've always had the SPFI so I know nothing about the carbs or whether or not the blocks are the same. I'm sure you'll have all the info you need soon enough though. These guys have all the answers! Helped/saved me many times. Cheers!

Well, I will get in to the TPS. It's one of the few things I have not replaced yet. I have the hanes manual procedures but is there a better resource for the testing procedures? Thanks again for the help. This thing has been driving me mad for too long.

I second the HG theory. I've suffered many of these same symptoms with a bad HG. Passenger side is a breeze. Driver's is a little more work. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! I guess I will soak the extra IAC in brake cleaner overnight. I have cleaned it with brake cleaner and tested it's operation (good hard click!) but maybe I've missed something. As for the CTS............... ummm, what's a CTS? lol! I guess I did overlook the TPS so maybe a test on it will reveal a problem. What about this idle switch? Is it a componant of the TPS? I'm sure I don't know as much about the SPFI as I think I do. Thanks again for all the help Cheers!

Hi Everyone, So winter is here again and I'm scratching my head about high idle problems that I never fixed last year. I'm driving my 88 SPFI wagon D/R 5 speed and the idle acts totally differently than my last 88 SPFI wagon. In my last car, I'd turn the key and the idle would jump right up to about about 1500 RPM when cold. The car would idle around 1500 until the car warmed up then it would drop to about 800RPM. If I were to touch the gas pedal while idling high, the idle would drop to normal. (800ish) In the new car, when I start the card cold, the car will stall without any pedal. With a little coaxing, the car will maintain 800ish RPM and after some time, the idle will climb into 2000RPM range. After the car has warmed up a bit, the idle will not drop. Sometimes I see it running at 3000RPM. Too High! Although, when I start the car hot, the idle is fine. So, I've gone though most of the tests. Coolant temp, Idle control valve, ECU and more have been swapped. The problem has been ongoing since I've owned the car(2 yrs), CEL light just came on and I'm getting a 42 on the D-code. I'm stumped:confused: I've done much reading on here about EA 82 SPFI idle problems and have explored most of the mentioned solutions. One thing I have not looked at is grounding. Does anyone recognize these symptoms? I'm sure there's a guru out there that has my answer. Sorry for the long winded story. Thanks. I always appreciate all your help! Marko

Thanks for the response, So last night I looked at the mounts. I didn't get a look at the left side engine mount though. The passenger side engine mount and the tranny mounts are intact. When using a prybar to wiggle it, I can see the mount rubber pulling but it appears to be fixed on both sides. Is it possible that the mounts could be toast without actually tearing out? Is there a tether within the mount to limit the travel? Thanks for the help! Marko

well, I'm not doing burnouts exactly. Living up here in canada we have lots of snow. Traction can be limited. Accelerating around a corner on wet roads. you know...... Tires spin with all those 87 horses.

Hi everyone! I have a couple of questions about my wagon and am wondering if anyone has encountered these problems before..... One problem problem that I've been having is wheel hop or something. When I spin the tires/tire, I get a shuttering/bucking phenomenon from somewhere.(seems like the right front wheel) The shifters for the tranny and t/c really move a lot and there is some terrible noise coming from somewhere when it starts bucking. I have also noticed this problem when the clutch is very hot and I don't disengage it just right. Buck buck, lots of noise. I just did the struts on this car so maybe I did something wrong there but with all the movement in the shifters I'm wondering if it may be a mount problem. Next: When I'm driving the car to my favorite snowboarding destination I have noticed as I start nearing the top of this one big long hill at highway speed, my heater starts blowing cold air. After a short while, maybe 30 seconds, the heat returns. This happens every time I go over this hill. (and others) The car has not been using any water. Always full of coolant. Very weird! Final: For some reason I can't get the indicator for the "right rear door ajar" to shut off. I have inspected the switch in the door jam and it was ok. There must be another location for a common fault in this circuit. I can't wait to fix this as the interior light has acted really weird since the problem started. News: Still trying to figure out the high idle problem. Replaced everything but the MAF so far. The car still idles at 2.5k long after it should have kicked down. If it is shut off and restarted though, it works just fine.... Thanks for everything you all have to offer. With all this help my car will run forever!

Great Thread! If I'm driving with purpose, I'm shifting between 4 and 6k. The EA-82 has nothing for power before 3k. Runs better on mid grade gas. Best tank of gas I had was 800 km . Love the EA-82 engines!

Belt routing is correct but I do need to tighten the belts. I need to look at the tensioner as it's been a while. The car ran quite well getting home. Noisy at idle but the engine ran better at a higher rpm it seemed. I'm sure that the belt is a tooth off. Now that she's home, I can give her the attention she needs. Amazing that a belt slip this bad (must have been 45 degrees out) wouldn't result in valve damage or anything serious. As I have all the belt guards removed, it'll be a pleasure to put new belts on there! I love old gen Subies!

Thanks for the response, well, the belts are VERY loose so I guess it's possible that may be the case. I have started the car a few times and everything is lining up well . When I was turning the crank though, it felt as though there was no compression for 1/2 of the rotation of the flywheel. I'm sure i'll get home ok, I just wonder why the noise. No prob. I have an engine at home waiting to be put together for just such an occasion. Any other ideas? Cheers.

Hi everyone, Just through a timing belt and after resetting the cam timing I'm still getting a ping/knock from the head. 1.8 EA-82 OHC These are non interferience engines are they not? Anyone know what may have happened to cause or due to the slipping belt that would cause the click/knock in the head. Maybe a collapsed lifter? Regardless, I have to get some new belts. I also have to get the car home. I did this belt on the side of the road so I can make it home but, I just want to make sure that I'm not causeing any other problems. I don't have any of my literature or manuals, and have very few tools with me. Thanks for any help you have to offer!

I have some stuff to sell on ebay! I'm not sure what the hell it all is but I know it's expensive!!! Paypal accepted! lol:lol:

I will look and see tomorrow what position the fuse was in. I can't remember at the moment. Maybe it was the horn location. I was getting a little worried with the car being down. I have some appointments tomorrow including a new windshield! As soon as I get in I will forward the position of the blown fuse. I'm still not sure why it blew but I will know next time it happens! Thanks again all!

You guys ROCK!!!! So I had missed a bad fuse. Must have jumped over it when I was checking the fuse box. Thanks for your help all! The subaru rides AGAIN! Going to take it out for a test drive but I'm sure it's good as new. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Marko

thanks for the reply! So I just checked the fuses under the dash and the fusible links on the drivers side front fender and everything toned out good. Am I missing something? are there more fuses that I don't know about? Is there a power wire that I may have busted? I'm gonna print out the service manual and see if there is something there that will help me. Thanks again for everyone's help! I'm sure it's something stupid like that! Don't think that 2 ecu's went south on me. But, I'm not looking too smart at the moment so ........

Hi everyone, I was tracking down a short on my wiring harness and I think I may have smoked something! I had an short in my aav plug and was removing some tape so I could get a better look and when I got into the car I had no lights on the dash. (check engine, etc.) When I was pulling off the tape the ignition was on and the car was not running. I looked under the dash and my ecu has no LED lighting up. I connected the diagnostic leads and still nothing. The only time I have seen these symptoms before is when I forgot to connect the ground on the engine harness, but the ground is connected! The car will turn over but will not fire. I have no idiot lights on the dash that light up. I have checked continuity for many of the wires in the harness back to the throttle position sensor and all seemed to be good. All of the ground wires have continuity back to the tps. I switched a spare ecu in and nothing changed. No lights, and the car won't start. Does anyone know what could be the problem? I have tugged on the harness many times before and never seen this happen. If anyone has any idea of a possible fix, please let me know. This is my only vehicle and I must get it running! I am going to go check the fuse box and the fusible links. I will check back here after to see if anyone has any ideas! HELP ME JEEBUS!

I've gone to 5/8" ID Hose throughout. Both tappet cover vents 5/8" ID PCV valve feed hose 5/8" ID hose I will take another picture and post it. But, here is the old setup... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2685 I have gone to the bigger hose throughout. The condensator/peanut butter jar hads been omitted. (building a better faster, stronger one) some of the pcv gas is fed into the aav

Yes! Brand new Subaru PCV valve Compression numbers 168-178 all the way around. 250k km on the motor. It just rolled 250k It uses a little oil. But, not all the time. Sometimes its uses very very little. Sometimes a quart per tank of gas ?????? I'm going to set up a leak-down gauge apparatus and try that out. If I get a lot of air into the crankcase, I'll r+r the engine with my spare and tear down the 250k motor. I just wanted to avoid this as I have not split the block on an EA-82 before. Does anyone have any ideas about the high idle? Winter is almost here and I'd like to have that figured out. Is there a test I can do to determine if the aav is getting the correct signal from the computer? Maybe the computer is getting the wrong signal from the thermosensor?..... As I mentioned, I have tries three aav's and three thermosensors. I have doubts that all of these combos have been bad. But I guess it is possible! Thanks for all you help gang!!!! ***** can't wait till that snow flies!!!********

lotsa views, no replies.... Any ideas all???? I'm stumped and could use some help! Thanks in advance

So I have played around with this problem for quite a while. The latest is that my car really stinks at idle. When the revs are up the pcv valve is taking in lots of the pcv gas but at idle the pcv valve is not open and any blow by is supposed to go into the intake boot. Here is my problem..... there is very little suction on the hose leading to the intake boot at idle. so little that there is no pcv gas being sucked into the TB. This results in some serious pcv gas stink at idle. This stink gets sucked into the cabin via the heater fan! BRUTAL! My latest solution has been to feed a little of the pcv gas at idle into the aux air valve. This seems to have helped the stink but.... When the car is cold and I take off the oil filler cap, the car dies. :-\ when the car is first started it runs at about 1000 rpm instead of going to high idle. After I drive it for a bit the thing idles at 2k-2500. Even after it's up to temp. This problem is driving me mental. I have tried a combo of air valves, thermosensors and routing of the pcv gas. Winter is coming and I want to have all of these problems fixed. I like having a high idle that works properly and a heater fan that doesn't choke me out. Still getting awsome mileage though! HELP ME JEEBUS!!!! or anyone else that knows all Cheers

That's the spirit! that's exactly the way I work in my garage. Just yank it. there is surely something else that needs looking at! And, I don't think I've ever seen chrome in the engine bay of an older subie. there is always a first time

Hey all, Didn't they call this unit the "passing" light. I've seen a few but never had one. Only Subaru could think up something like that!

The peanut butter jar condensator is just a filter in the pcv system that goes between the ntake system and the vent for the engine. It has been discussed in depth in http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38290 I have a picture posted there from under my hood. It gets as much attention as the spare tire under there!