4Cornered

Hi, I have a 1984 GL 4WD Wagon (EA-81). The tachometer is acting strangely. I started the car this morning (22 degrees F, low of 16 overnight). The tach showed no response. I drove the car about 8 miles, closely watching the temperature gauge and the tach and being a bit of a hazard to others. The temperature gauge showed a typical increase to normal operating temperature. The heating system was putting out heat and the fan was running. The tach slowly moved up to about 1700 rpm at 55 mph, which is incorrect. After unloading with the car idling for about 3 minutes (the electric fan came on briefly during this time, 26 F outside air) the tach was responding faster, but still reading low. Drove 2 miles, then 10 more minutes idling while loading. Drove back with tach responding in normal fashion, showing roughly 2700 rpm at 60 mph in 4th gear. Tach has been working fine all summer. My questions are: 1) Any ideas what is causing this? 2) Any suggestion on trouble shooting? My best guess at this point is lubrication failure in tach or binding due to material contraction. Thanks for any thoughts.

I have an 1984 GL wagon with a failed resistor wired between one of the ignition coil posts and a ground. The resistor shows infinite resistance on my meter and no continuity (bench tested). The coils says it should be used with an external resistor. The car wouldn't crank over until I replaced the resistor with a simple wire. It hasn't been run with just the wire, merely cranked over. I have a couple of questions. First, the ignition coil seems to be a replacement. Does this vehicle actually need a resistor between the coil and ground? If so, how many ohms? Is it likely to cause harm if it is run without the resistor? The resistance of primary and secondary windings seems to be in the range expected. If I decide to replace the coil, any suggestions as to brand, such as Nippon Denso or Hitachi? There are some other problems, such as not starting below 40 degrees, but one step at a time. Getting it to crank was cause for celebration, it hasn't done so since coming back from the body shop a couple of months ago.

More confusion. Opened up starter, cleaned everything, did continuity testing, reassembled and repeated bench test. Everything works fine. Reinstalled in car. Reinstalled battery. Turned key, no dash lights, nothing. Any suggestions?

Had to leave car sit while traveling. Since original post, swapped in battery from truck. Same results with battery that happily starts cold soaked 1983 Dodge truck. Pulled starter and tested with good battery. Solenoid works, but motor does not spin.

I have a 1984 Subaru GL wagon which has stopped starting in a rather confusing fashion. I had to replace the drivers side tail light due to an unfortuneate encounter with a pickup bumper. It took a while to find a replacement and repair some other plastic parts. I then took the car to a body shop to get the minor sheet metal damage repaired. While at the body shop, it sat outdoors during the warm part of elk season (Note to self: do not schedule work during hunting season.), then the battery was pretty much drained when they tried to start it without plugging in the block heater, and left the door open and the ignition on overnight. So it was pushed into the shop, the body work done, and it was hooked up to a battery charger / jump starter to test the lights. All worked. The car was then started and driven home. I pulled the battery and hooked it up to a charger (low amp battery minder) for 3 days in a heated environment. Here is where it get confusing. I put the battery (charged to show 12.9 volts) back in the car. I cranked the engine briefly and the car showed roughly 8 volts on the dash voltage indicator. The second attempt at starting, nothing on the dash showed any indication of getting power. I've pulled the battery, checked the voltage, still 12.7, cleaned the terminals, checked the fusible links for continuity, pulled and examined all of the fuses, nothing. There are no clicks when turning the ignition. I put the car in gear, moved it back and forth and observed the belt moving and no sound from where the starter is bolted on, so it seems unlikely that the starter gear is jammed. I hoping someone can offer trouble shooting suggestions. As is all to often the case, the weather is not making this easier to work on, well below freezing, and the car is outdoors. 40 years ago I worked on another Subaru outdoors in Fairbanks in the winter, which is an experience I had hoped not to repeat; I'm getting too old to work on cars with snow drifting into my ear. I'm going to pull the battery from my 1983 truck and see if that yields any results as a way of checking for battery damage. Any suggestions on sequence of tests would be appreciated.

Funny you should mention carb icing. Back in the 70's I had a Subaru in Fairbanks that formed enough carb ice to jam the carb wide open while driving. Was a scary few moments there with the car didn't slow down when the accelerator wasn't being pressed. Took some icy corners way faster than I wanted. Then Subaru sent out a TSB to install a little plastic shield to slow the airflow past the carb. My current car has one just like it.

Opened distrbutor, pulled reluctor, disconnected and pulled pickup coil/ignition module. Can get a replacement for about $60. Going to make leap of faith and get replacement. I'm pretty sure the tach wasn't showing any RPM's when I tried to restart after stopped. When failure occured, no noise associated with event; in fact, no misfiring, just complete combustion cut-off. Using car and waiting for another failure is not something I want to pursue. Last time, my poor balding head got sand blasted by pellet snow and 30 mph winds during the three mile walk home. However, I am curious about why an electronic component should fail, then operate, fail, operate, repeatedly? In the first instance, the car wasn't stored in real cold conditions and didn't run long enough for heat to be a factor. The it sat exposed to wind and roughly 35 degrees for a couple of hours. Could there be a reset? After the third failure, I pulled the battery cable of the post, waited a few minutes, and reconnected. No change. Car cranks vigorously thoughout the whole episode.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll dig into those today. I replaced the fuel filter this fall when I did the pre-winter maintainence. Bozeman is not too far, and Subarus are one of the most popular brands so I should be able to get parts, albeit, not cheaply. Since I lived in Fairbanks for a fair part of my life, I have winter gear in all vehicles.

I have a 1984 GL which is doing something strange. In the last two days, the car has stopped running 3 times. Each time, after sitting for a couple of hours it starts. On the first case, I had driven about a 1/2 mile after starting the car in a 52 degree garage. I had to leave the car by the side of the road for a couple of hours in roughly 35 degree weather. It then started right up and ran for about 1/4 mile. I towed it home, dumped in a container of Heet (thought the problem might be condensation in the gas) and it sat outside for a couple of more hours. It then started right up and I drove it into the garage and it ran fine for about 20 minutes. I shut it down since I couldn't see anything wrong. The next morning, it started promptly and I drove it a couple of miles to an appointment. It sat in 35 degree weather for an hour. It started fine, I went about a 1/4 mile to the NAPA to purchase more Heet for future use. Started fine after a roughly 10 minute wait. Drove 1/4 mile and filled tank with gas. Started fine. Drove about 1/4 mile, stopped running. Walked home and returned roughly 5 hours latter to tow. Started right up and my wife drove it home and into the garage. I've checked the primary and secondary resistence on the ignition coil, both within spec. I noticed that the voltmeter on the dash was showing a red light when I tried to start it after the 3rd failure. The battery is fine and the engine cranks with plenty of speed when trying to start. The reason I checked the coil is I think (but don't know for sure) that the tach dropped to zero just before it stopped running the last time. Since winter here in southwest Montana can be dangerous if your vehicle stops running between settlements, I need to figure out what is wrong. Any help would be appreciated, possibly life-saving. Car details: Non Turbo, 4-speed Trans, Dual Range, station wagon, mileage: 78890, purchased from father in law, who bought it new. Original, execpt for replacement battery, tires, wipers and such wear parts. Car is in regular use. Put in the new module, car worked fine during 20 mile test drive. Starts fine, no tach abnomalities. Thanks for all of the help. Have some other stuff to do with the car coming up, will probably ask more questions. While working on the car, was once again impressed with the quality of the parts, 3 wingnuts on the air clean with neoprene washers. Contrast that with the plastic snaps on my other car, and suspect that there will be a difference in lifespan.