darsdoug

I cannot seem to determine what the high idle problem is with my ea82? The idle wants to shoot up to 2500-4000 and the only way I have been able to bring it down to at least 1500 is by pulling the idle air control valve hose out of the air intake boot. I've replaced the mass air flow sensor and oxygen sensor and also backed off both the idle speed and mixture screw on the throttle body. The timing is dead on at 20 BTDC.

Finally got the new MAF sensor in but now I am plagued by a continuous high idle after reaching operating temp. It idles at 3000 RPM and the only way I can get it to come down is by pulling the IACV 5/8" hose out of the air intake duct. That brings it down a bit to 2500 RPM. I can bring it down another 500 RPM if I pull the PCV hose that comes from the passenger side valve cover by pulling it out of the air intake duct. Which do you think is the problem? The CTS or the IACV? Yes, the idle mixture adjustment screw and the throttle body idle screw has made no difference..

Took a closer look at my suspected bad MAF sensor today. A good magnifying glass revealed melted plastic coming up at the base of the tiny goal post's (for lack of a better description) the hot wires are attached to. That tinder dry air filter catching fire last month sure didn't help. Of course my tendency to set ignition timing incorrectly hasn't helped much either. I admit I've had a history of making consistent mistakes in equations while studying algebra. Ha Ha. Musta been the telephone pole replacement I got billed for back in the 70's? Nevertheless I made the 150 mile round trip yesterday (in my 1990 ej22) to pick up a known good MAF in Mt. Vernon.... only to discover the configuration of the hold down screws are a tenth of an inch different from the holes in the aluminum housing my wagon has. The MAFS have the same exact Hitachi part numbers too. Sheesh!

Hey thanks for the link Dave. I'm picking up another MAF this week to see if it possibly cures the rich fuel mixture problem I'm still having. I checked my EGR diaphragm today and it moves when I rev the engine. Would a bad EGR solenoid cause bucking while accelerating? That is what's presently going on daily with my 88 SPFI DR Subaru wagon whenever I drive it on the street. "It's almost fixed". Getting closer anyhow. The CO and HC's are still off the grid according to my olfactory glands. Whew!

It's only throwing code 34. (EGR or solenoid circuit) hmmm? "That's enlightening".

You helped me out bigtime Tom. "Thanks again". Now I just need to determine why it's delivering such a rich fuel mixture and sometimes bucking under load at part throttle. There does seem to be a sweet spot at half throttle. I'll figure it out sooner or later. With help from the experienced people here anyhow. The rotor screw fell out this morning when I was sitting in traffic waiting at a stoplight.

All this time and I just had the cylinders mixed up? (oh my god) Thanks Tom.

Another afternoon lost in the vast corridors of thought. I had to take a step back and review my work by memory today but it appears to be paying off. Firing order 1324 and rotor turns counterclockwise. Cylinders 1 & 2 located front to back on passenger side and 3 & 4 are front to back on drivers side. Did I overlook being certain #1 was at TDC of it's compression stroke the last time I installed the distributor? even though I had the "0" lined up at the flywheel? (yes! that was one blunder I fixed today) Also, could the steel sheet metal screw I'd substituted to secure the rotor to the distributor shaft have been another mistake? (The original brass screw had been misplaced during my chaotic work, har har) At least it will start and run now but #2 cylinder is still a dead horse when I remove a plug wire. I even switched spark plugs and got the same result. Another poster told me a vacuum leak can in fact kill one cylinder. hmmm? Isn't the TBI "ea82" a single runner intake manifold?

I tried that wire swapping strategy but there was no difference. Yes I should have got better wires but I'm a little strapped at the moment. Now I am leaning toward the distributor being wonky also. I think I'll take it apart and see what I can find?

I pushed down real hard on the dist. cap when I was putting on the new plug wires to make sure they seated good. Now it runs and sputters 100% worse. Looking like a bad distributor now? Keeping my fingers crossed. These Duralast plug wires are good enough for now. And what is the black connector with the two blue wires for?

So today I put in new NGK spark plugs BPR6EY-11 and a cheap set of duralast ignition wires for $16.99 but now it runs worse than yesterday. I'm still leaning toward a bad MAF sensor as being the problem. I pulled the plug wires off while it was chugging away and noticed there was no difference when I pulled the wire off #2 spark plug. I immediately did a compression test and it was 150psi on that cylinder which seems o.k. So I have good spark and good compression on #2 but it acts likes it's dead when I remove the wire from that plug. Jeez. Hopefully I won't go crazy before I get it running right.

Just leaning over the engine compartment after dark this evening and observed blue spark traveling down the porcelain side of #2 spark plug. Looks like time for some new NGK plugs and wires. Could this possibly be the turd in the punchbowl? I sure didn't see that little anomaly during daylight hours.

oops, I never did dump a little water on the head to make sure.

That's a drain hole in the casting to allow water or other fluids to drain away from the spark plug concave's.

It's gotta be the MAF sensor. I can keep it running when I first start it if I give it a little throttle (add air to the mix) then when it will finally roughly idle the exhaust fumes coming from the tailpipe will make your eye's water. (more fuel than air).

The parts guy's instruction's makes sense to me now that you've mentioned it. The cleaner probably works better when the wires in the MAF are cold? With the key on I believe they heat up to around 800 degree's? and as the incoming cooler air passes over them it sends a signal (a change in resistance) to the ECU. I believe that's why they are referred to as "hot wires".

I switched them around a couple weeks ago thinking I had them mixed up but it wouldn't even start after that IIRC? Oldsubfreak sent me a pic of his fuel line arrangement to go by. He has an identical 88 SPFI ea82 DR wagon. I wonder if switching them around could have damaged the regulator? I've been driving it after it warms up. It just won't idle until it warms up. Then while driving it bucks at part throttle but takes off good at full wide open throttle. When I come to a stop the RPM's stay at 2000 for a few seconds then they drop down to 800. My vacuum gauge has been reading steady at 13 lbs. but I can't find any vac leaks anywhere. I put a new 02 sensor on yesterday but it didn't help. Waiting for OneEye to see if he can locate a spare MAF sensor for me to swap in. I did spray mine with CRC MAF cleaner with the motor running. RPM's increased and engine ran smoother with each spray. Starved for fuel perhaps? hmmm? I recall reading that a bad MAFS can mimic low vacuum.

You might try cleaning the MAF sensor if you have one? Normally two small screws on top of the air filter housing hold it in place. Lift it out and spray it gently with CRC mass air flow cleaner. It's a e-z fix if its just dirty. They don't always throw a code when they start acting up. The clicking is possibly your fuel pump relay.

Didn't even have to pull the distributor. Just turned it counterclockwise a tad and locked it in at 20 BTDC with my trusty timing light. Still idling rough and burning rich with all the other dirty MAF sensor symptoms. I'll get a can of MAFS cleaner and clean the hot wires. It's on my things 2-do list anyhow.

o.k. I'll keep trying that. I want the rotor to fall back clockwise (retard the timing) one or two teeth. Gotcha.

It does have a MAF sensor in the airbox that might be the problem? I doubt it will run good without one. I never did get around to taking the fender off. I did remove and replace the timing belts and distributor per the MilesFox instructional video. I put a timing light on it and it's idling around 40 degrees BTDC which is well past the desired 20 BTDC. It has a persistant misfire too. It bucks until I give it full throttle. I'm at a loss tonight because I've had the distributor in and out about six times and it's still reading in the neighborhood of 40 BTDC and not completely burning the fuel. cough cough. I'm going to pull the spark plugs tomorrow and read them.

On a hunch I uncclipped the air filter housing and set it over to one side a little and started it up.....and it runs so much better! I'll be pulling the fender to get a visual on the plenum inside. Possibly a blob of melted plastic from the air filter fire I'm guessing? Restricted airflow?

Alright. Took her for a test drive yesterday and it seems to be getting better the more I drive it. ECU catching up now that it's ambulatory? Dirty throttle body injector? MAF sensor cleaning itself off? I dunno? Sure happy though.

I bought a new cap and rotor last week and immediately noticed the top of the cap was stamped "1-3-4-2" going counterclockwise. duh? I could have sworn it's "1-3-2-4". I bet they got a huge discount on those. I sure didn't.