beamsbox

Hey all, my outback has spit out its third cam seal... not sure why. But I think it's beyond me, anyone know where I should take her? Anyone in Northern Colorado with a good reputation? Cheers!

As for the light, The ecm is flashing trouble codes, you can search the forum, but expect some with the Weber installed You lose dash light too?

EJ, meant that, been a while since I looked. Thx Bennie

New to Colorado (from WA), living in Loveland now. I have an 86 GL Hatch, registered in WA, but will need to be registered here soon. It has most of the emissions stuff removed and a Weber carb. I’m not sure my options, but I’d rather not lose this car. I think my best bet might be to just swap out the EA81 engine for a fuel injected EA82. Do you know of anyone in Northern CO who would be interested in taking on this kind of a job? Any tips/leads would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, all! Love this community.

Is it gone?

The ND and the Hitachi are not even close to the same. I did however get a brand spanky new Hitachi, swapped the ICM to the old. No go. Then put it back in the new, no love there either. I figure it must be the coil, first thing I did when this all started was buy a new coil. Like a dumbass I tossed the old one. Now, that's pretty much the only thing that isn't original, tried a handful of ICMs.

@carfreak85 do you have the Hitachi disty? Cause I've been having issues with mine. Thinking it's the coil.

As the title says, looking for an OEM Hitachi coil. Anyone got one sitting around? I'm in the Seattle area. Thx all!

The only thing I could find are these by (A1) Cardone Hitachi: p/n 31-810 ND: p/n 31-812 I did get a Hitachi and it worked fine for two years. Make sure you have a Hitachi coil if you plan to use the Hitachi distributor, otherwise it can blow the little electronic ignition control module inside the distributor. (Not sure about this issue with the ND though. Update: never did update this thread... cause still have the same issue. I think the aftermarket coil is not compatible with my Hitachi coil whatsoever. Totally bought a new Hitachi, no love. Its gotta be that damn coil... works great with my old ND. Go figure.

Didn't know. I see the capacitor, I see no ceramic resistor. I believe the original ND is no points.

Coil is tested good. Carbon brush is in place.

...no can on that one... Original disty is a Nippon Denso.... Will get part numbers later.

Thanks for the input everyone. I really appreciate it. Is there anyone in the Seattle area who might wanna take a peak at this? I could bring by all the necessary tools, etc. I'm kind of at a loss with this thing, other than buy a third set of cap/rotor. Did that, spark is good from coil wire. (Though it isn't super strong looking, not sure normal on these, but its not blue, that's for sure.) I have two different caps and two different rotors, all are new. No combination of them will fire. @pksjeep: those are all good assumptions, did all that. Check: plugs and wires are all good. Checked connectivity from top to carbon button inside cap. Perhaps this is related (it)? When the cap is installed, I dont have direct connectivity from the top (coil input) of the cap to each of the four points. Should it literally touch each one along its path? Cause if so, I'd say this rotor is short for the cap (times two, apparently?) If I move the cap off center a bit, just slightly, and rotate the rotor until it touches one of the pins, I have connectivity from coil input across rotor to spark output. Thing is, it does that for both caps, both rotors. I haven't checked connectivity through the cap on the working distributor, so I'm not sure if they need to be actually touching (or just super duper close)... @jono: not sure what you mean here... but here's the side of the disty, tough to read...

Whats your oil pressure say?

Thx Bennie. The spark from the coil is when I turn it over. After I replaced the module, I started getting spark, telling me it was working too. Not so sure about that now though, perhaps the module isn't working 'correctly?' The reluctor (star) is in such that the pulse it generates while spinning (CCW) would ramp then drop out. Same as this: I know the problem lies in the distributor, as when I swap in the old one, it starts right up. Plus everything else is new...due to this problem... ;(

Ya, I have the right cap. They are different between EA81 and EA82, they are both keyed (notched) to fit. Spent the day dickin with this guy. Still no go. I'm guessing perhaps the wrong module? The one I found on Rock Auto we're these: https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?partnum=LX515 I've tried multiple methods to check it out to no avail... Saw a video where you could check continuity of the module leads while rotating the disty, again no love. I do have this handy electronic component tester. You plug stuff in it and it tells ya what you got. It reads the original module as multiple diodes. But it reads the new one as a transistor. Not sure if that helps someone smarter than I. The only thing I have is spark from coil, no spark at plugs, still...

Hmmmm... I thought the tach mechanically followed the engine speed... I would start with the distributor you removed. Does it look good? Feel good? Have chipped teeth? Anything seem abnormal? Pics of it maybe?

Have you seen this: https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/3839-requesting-ea81-ignition-lock-removal-how-to/ ...maybe its helpful... And if not, maybe this will help? Its an EA81.

Hello all, I have an EA81 with a Hitachi disty I bought about two years ago that slowly died over about 6 months or so. It seems I replaced the Nippon-Denso one with the Hitachi, but failed to understand the necessity of replacing the coil to match the Hitachi. So, I assumed I had burnt the electronic control module inside the distributor. Eventually, I ended up with no spark, not even coming off the coil lead to the disty. ...so I replaced the little module... and assumed I'd be good to go. But no love, I now have spark on the coil lead, but no spark at the plugs... The gaps on the star piece (which I removed) inside the disty seem even. I am running on my old disty at the moment, starts right up, so I know the disty is the culprit... just not sure what/where. Is there a way to determining what it might be in the disty? What are the processes of checking out a distributor? It seems like it should be working, everything is static, with the exception of the rotation, but still... seems pretty basic... any tips or tricks? Thanks again!

Been looking around, and I think my issue is different that most, so I'm starting this new thread. Sorry if it ends up being a repeat. I've got a Weberized EA81 and I am getting oil in the air filter housing. It is definitely sucking in from the passenger side, which is weird cause everything I've read suggest that air should be flowing the opposite direction. Why would it be blowing back out the passenger side? It wasn't doing this when i first installed all this, ran clean for about 2 years. Also, could this oil be causing my car to flood/have difficulties starting both hot and cold? Cause that's happening too, lol. My current setup is: Large diameter hose from air filter to passenger side valve cover. Another large diameter hose from the driver side valve cover to the PCV, this large hose has a reducing T to a 1/4" hose that goes right up to the air filter housing. PCV is non OEM, I know this is not as suggested, but I wouldn't think this would cause pressure to blow out the passenger sider valve cover. Any help or thoughts appreciated. Thanks, USMB.

Has anyone got these? What do ya think about em? Also, for a GL hatch, which ones would suit me best. Tires and wheels are not my strong points...

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but did you ever find out the electrical issue? I recently have the exact same thing going on. I am thinking its the cluster plug too, but it could be an intermittent ground issue too. I haven't noticed the temp affecting mine however. One thing I did notice on mine, the fuel and temp gremlins seem to appear simultaneously with the battery gauge dropping. I know the voltage is good and constant, but for whatever reason, my battery gauge has always been a bit low on the gauge, like say I measure it at 12 and the gauge shows 10. I took the cluster out at one point, I showed a high(er) resistance between the ground on the cluster and chassis ground.... just not sure where that is happening. Anyways, if anyone has some ideas, please share. I'm about to start digging through the cluster schematics.

Got it. thx. Worked great!

Boy, you'd be amazed at how blowing into a hose can dramatically increase your gas mileage!

I believe I replaced all the hoses around the fuel pump when I first got this thing and replaced the pump and the filter... maybe I inadvertently tossed the valve?